February 2012

As the University of California introduced its 17-man football recruiting class, Coach Jeff Tedford acknowledged that teenagers -- even football prospects -- communicate extensively through emerging social media and that he and his staff need to get on board. "It's just kind of the times we live in now. It's been a very unique recruiting season ... unlike any other," he said. "With the Twitter and the Facebook -- it's just a different day and age."

House lawmakers grilled Google officials for two hours about the company's recent privacy changes, but Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) said she wasn't satisfied with their answers.

Pablo Chavez, Google's director of public policy, and Michael Yang, a Google senior counsel, answered questions from House Commerce Committee lawmakers, including Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Joe Barton (R-TX), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). "At the end of the day, I don't think their answers to us were very forthcoming necessarily in what this really means for the safety of our families and our children," Rep Bono Mack told reporters after the closed-door briefing.

"By being more simple, [the privacy policy] is actually more complicated," Rep Bono Mack said. She said the Google officials gave lawmakers a "thorough walkthrough of the technology that exists" to control privacy settings, but that she remains concerned about users' ability to control the information they share with Google. "The concern of Congress is how much active participation does a user have to do to protect their own privacy," she said. Rep Butterfield emphasized he wants Google to provide a "one-stop" site where users can opt out of tracking across the company's platforms. Google's officials did not fully explain whether users can delete data that the company has collected about them and how long the company keeps the data, Rep Bono Mack said. When asked what she thinks lawmakers should do, she said Congress might not be the answer. But she suggested users might switch to new services "if Google goes too far." Rep Bono Mack said she plans to hold more hearings on privacy issues this year, some of which could focus specifically on Google's changes. "There's a growing angst in the Congress about privacy — there's no question," she said.

The Federal Communications Commission appointed, South Carolina Public Service Commissioner Randy Mitchell to serve on the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. This appointment fills the position held by the Honorable Larry Landis, Commissioner of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Commissioner Mitchell served on the South Carolina PSC with FCC Commissioner and Joint Board Co-Chair Mignon Clyburn.

The Federal Communications Commission has approved Time Warner Cable's purchase of Insight Communications. Time Warner Cable last August agreed to buy Insight for $3 billion in cash. The nation's No. 2 cable operator will acquire control of Insight by merging Insight into Derby Merger Sub Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of TWC, with Insight as the surviving entity, according to the FCC. Insight will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of TWC.

"We have analyzed the potential harms and benefits of the proposed transaction," the FCC said. "On balance, we find that the potential public interest benefits, taken as a whole, outweigh the potential public interest harms. The combined company's broader service footprint, increased operating efficiencies, and greater scale and scope create a potentially stronger competitor to the incumbent LEC especially in light of the combined company's ability to offer IP-based voice and other services to residential and business customers throughout Insight's three-state region. We find that this outweighs the potential harm that could arise from eliminating Insight as a competitor in the limited area in which both companies compete. Accordingly, we find that the transaction serves the public interest, convenience, and necessity. "