Headlines, Policymakers

The Wireline Competition Bureau has had a key role in crafting the National Broadband Plan ­ and we will be even busier after the Plan comes out.

Federal Communications Commission commissioners had a lot to say about competition and the National Broadband Plan. A lot of the language in the report paid tribute to the notion of consumers having more choice in broadband providers.

Rep Edward Markey (D-MA) on Monday praised the Federal Communications Commission's forthcoming broadband report as a "visionary, far-reaching plan."

Rep Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) will chair the House Terrorism, Unconventional Threats, and Capabilities subcommittee.

Karen Peltz Strauss has been named Deputy Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. She will focus on disability issues, among other things, and will help the Commission to implement the components of the National Broadband Plan that address access for people with disabilities, including leading the effort to develop a proposed Accessibility and Innovation Forum.

In a speech at Columbus University, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt candidly talked about his decision to promote the Internet over broadcasting as the one and only "common medium" for the United States while he was chairman of the FCC between 1994 and 1997.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is slightly off track in suggesting a ban on text-message lobbying during meetings of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and city commissions.

Following the announcement of the National Broadband Plan next Tuesday, YouTube will interview Chairman Genachowski as part of a series of in-person interviews with government leaders answering your questions.

Reps Chris Smith (R-NJ) and David Wu (D-OR) announced the formation of a bipartisan Global Internet Freedom Caucus to promote unfettered Web access in countries notorious for online censorship.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is once again urging President Barack Obama to appoint members to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, which has been languishing since it was first created in 2004.