Headlines

The U.S. should aim for 100M bps (bits per second) of broadband available to all U.S. residents by 2012 and 1G bps by 2015 in order to catch up to other countries that are moving forward with broadband rollouts, recommends a study released Monday.

Over at the Communications Workers of America’s blog, Speed Matters, the union claimed credit for the Federal Communications Commission’s recent order requiring broadband companies to provide the FCC with more information, including data about availability by Census tract.

The interception of Internet traffic to snoop on phone calls or track surfers' behavior is a hot topic -- but what's keeping members of ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee up at night is the interception of traffic to and from sites that don't even exist.

The mainstream media's overheated response to Sen Barack Obama's decision to opt out of the public campaign finance system is a textbook example of journalists protecting Sen John Mccain (R-AZ) and his bald-faced hypocrisy.

House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) has told cable operators and other broadband providers to hold off implementing ad-service technology similar to what Charter Communications was planning to use from online-ad network NebuAd.

The National Association of Broadcasters is trying to get a provision removed from a House Federal Communications Commission appropriations bill that would prevent it from implementing its relaxation of the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban.

Meredith Attwell Baker is the acting head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce Department unit responsible for overseeing next year's transition to digital signals.

According to a new study by GroupM, people are spending more time online, from a mean average of 27 minutes in 2005 to 46 minutes next year. However, that time spent surfing the Web did not appear to come at the expense of traditional forms of media, such as television.

The House Telecom Subcommittee discusses Universal Service reform today (see story below and more at http://energycommerce.house.gov/cmte_mtgs/110-ti-hrg.062408.Witness.List.pdf) For this and other upcoming media policy events see http://www.benton.org/calendar/2008/6