Steven Overly

Commissioner O'Rielly: People 'Missing the Debate' on Section 230

Outgoing-Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O’Rielly participated in his final FCC meeting Dec 10 before Nathan Simington is sworn in to take his seat as one of the agency’s Republican commissioners. Although there were many appreciative send-offs, the departing commissioner also touched on the hot-button tech issue that likely led to President Donald Trump killing his renomination this past summer: Section 230.

Chairman Wicker Eyes Trump's New FCC Pick

Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) is planning on moving forward with Trump’s recent nomination of Nathan Simington, a Commerce Department staffer that President Donald Trump chose to take over the seat of GOP veteran Mike O’Rielly. Chairman Wicker met with Simington Sept 23 in a meeting that a senior aide called highly detailed.

So You Wanna Get 5G?

Can Americans actually get 5G? The rollout of high-speed 5G hinges on a mix of domestic and global telecommunications policies, many of which still need to be resolved. US carriers need larger swaths of airwaves to transmit all that data, and new technology to make the most of their existing bandwidth. The highest 5G speeds will also require far more transmitters—think small antennas on every city block, not occasional towers. And on the global stage, 5G standards are still being hashed out by the world’s economic powers. Not all 5G is created equal.

Internal Divides Cloud Tech Industry's Antitrust Defense

In July, the head of the Information Technology Industry Council published a warning against overly broad antitrust investigations that ‘could jeopardize American companies' leadership’ — a message that came amid rising regulatory heat on the group's members Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. But it soon became clear that some in the Information Technology Industry Council didn't want to risk being seen as defending the four embattled tech giants.

FTC went to Silicon Valley to solicit antitrust complaints

The Federal Trade Commission has sent top antitrust officials into the heart of Silicon Valley to seek out complaints about anti-competitive behavior, an unusual move that offers yet another hint about the government’s growing interest in policing the industry's giants. The weeklong tour included private meetings between leaders of the FTC's new technology task force and more than a dozen industry players to discuss the state of their businesses and market competition challenges, apparently.

Why breaking up Facebook won't be easy

Busting up the nation’s tech giants would be much harder than making a campaign pledge. Corporate breakups are a huge, and rare, undertaking for the government, and a social media company like Facebook presents unique challenges that didn't exist with past antitrust successes like the dismembering of AT&T in the 1980s. Here are some of the obstacles standing in the way of turning this rallying cry into reality:

Questions Arise Over Trump's "Bias" Site

Public-interest groups and civil liberties advocates say there's no clear evidence Facebook, Twitter, Google, and other companies suppress conservative viewpoints. And they say they're troubled by the prospect of government officials, particularly President Donald Trump, seeking to intimidate Silicon Valley over the issue. "A more pressing problem than alleged 'censorship' of any particular viewpoint is the proliferation of misinformation, propaganda, hate speech, terrorist content, and harassment online," said John Bergmayer, a senior counsel at Public Knowledge.

Bezos and the Elephant in the White House

Jeff Bezos finally talked about “the president.” After months of President Donald Trump berating Bezos’ two most visible companies, the Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner fired back. “It's really dangerous to demonize the media,” he said. “It's dangerous to call the media lowlifes. It's dangerous to say they're the 'enemy of the people.'" Bezos suggested President Trump take the high road and accept media scrutiny. "You don't take that job thinking you're not going to get scrutinized," he added. "You're going to get scrutinized.

Tech wants Washington to step up in global privacy rules race

Tech companies long averse to regulation are starting to embrace the idea of federal data privacy rules as they nervously eye foreign governments' moves toward more tightly regulating their expansive businesses. It's too late for tech to escape sweeping new privacy rules like Europe's General Data Protection Regulation. But clear rules from the US could serve as a global standard as countries around the world look to impose or tighten privacy laws.  As it stands, Europe's first-mover regulations are already resonating globally.

What could President Trump do to Amazon?

President Donald Trump’s repeated Twitter attacks on Amazon have already dented the e-commerce giant’s stock price. But if he really wants to hammer the company and its ultra-billionaire CEO Jeff Bezos, the president has some tools at his disposal — using the government's spending and regulating powers. Here's a look at the threats the company may face if President Trump follows up his words with action:

  1. Postal rates
  2. Cloud computing
  3. Antitrust
  4. State-level scrutiny

Acting CEO of Cambridge Analytica defends firm’s employees, ethics

Alexander Tayler, the acting CEO of Cambridge Analytica, defended the firm saying, "As anyone who is familiar with our staff and work can testify, we in no way resemble the politically motivated and unethical company that some have sought to portray. Our staff are a talented, diverse and vibrant group of people." Tayler served as the company's chief data officer in 2015 when Facebook first raised concerns that Cambridge had gained access to the user data via British academic Aleksandr Kogan, in violation of the social network's terms of service.

Uber’s ‘fingerprinting’ of iPhones after users delete app has sparked an FTC complaint

An advocacy group known for challenging the tech industry on privacy called on the Federal Trade Commission Thursday to investigate media reports that Uber could identify specific iPhone devices even after users deleted the ride-hailing app. California-based Consumer Watchdog alleged that Uber’s practice would be considered “unfair or deceptive” to its users and therefore violates a statute in the Federal Trade Commission Act designed to protect consumers from substantial and avoidable harm.

The nonpartisan group also asked Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen and Commissioner Terrell McSweeny to determine whether Uber engaged in similar tactics on Android devices and scrutinize whether the company is abiding by its own privacy policies. “They have a track record of not paying any attention to the rules. That’s why it’s important, no matter what they’ve done with Apple, for the FTC to act,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project director.