The string of broadcast television station ownership deals capped by the announcement of a sale by Allbritton Communications puts pressure on the Federal Communications Commission to keep its eye on the broadcast industry even as the agency is going through its own makeover. Taken together, the deals signal a reshaping of the broadcast business as it consolidates into larger station ownership groups that provide more leverage as they buy programming and sell it to pay-TV operators.
Chairman Walden Proposes Cap on Universal Service Fund; Consultation with State USF Experts on Expansion Proposals
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn regarding the Universal Service Fund (USF) and proposals to expand the program.
Big disconnect: Telcos abandon copper phone lines
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Robert Post misses his phone line. Post, 85, has a pacemaker that needs to be checked once a month by phone. But the copper wiring that once connected his home to the rest of the world is gone, and the phone company refuses to restore it.
Sen Rockefeller Files Media Violence Bill As Amendment To Gun Control
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has offered his media violence research bill as an amendment to gun-control legislation currently before the Senate, according to a committee spokesperson.
House Commerce Committee to Mark Up Internet Governance Bill
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
The House Commerce Committee has scheduled an April 17 markup of a bill that would codify the earlier sense of the Congress resolution endorsing the multistakeholder model of Internet governance.
Hey Internet, where’s the outrage?
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Compare, for a moment, the Internet industry’s outrage against potential government censorship, as they see it, with the seeming indifference to government surveillance. In 2012, major Web sites staged a massive global protest against a law that would have given the government new powers to shut down sites associated with piracy. Yet, as Congress considers sweeping new surveillance procedures over popular Internet companies, those same digital activists are largely silent. It begs the question, does this younger, tech-savvy generation care more about innovation than civil liberties?
Recalculating the privacy debate after Google Maps penalty
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
By now, consumers and citizens may have detected a pattern: New technologies allow new types of privacy invasions, which then lead to ad hoc remedies – until the next type of intrusion. As the string of Google violations shows – along with dozens of new privacy laws passed since the 1970s – the pace of this cat-and-mouse privacy quest has quickened in the Digital Age.
Supporting Innovative Approaches to Spectrum Sharing
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
The President’s strategy for expanding the capacity of high-speed wireless broadband services across the Nation may get a boost from a new Defense Department Initiative to fund research and development of innovative new approaches to spectrum sharing. Under one strategy for maximizing spectrum efficiency, commercial broadband providers are permitted to share spectrum bands that otherwise would be allocated for exclusive Government use, or vice versa; this approach can increase the productivity of a band that was designated for a specific purpose decades ago but is underutilized today.
Telecom Firms Seek to Curb Publicly Funded Web Services
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Sensing a threat to their business model, telecom companies are pushing more states to curb the spread of publicly funded high-speed Internet access, arguing the networks could squash competition.