Ars Technica

More than two-thirds of New York City's 3.1 million households have just one or two broadband providers offering service to their homes, according to a new "Truth in Broadband" report issued by the city government. The report comes as NYC pursues a lawsuit against Verizon alleging that it hasn't met its broadband deployment obligations.

Facebook has quietly altered its terms of service, making stricter Irish data protection laws no longer binding on the vast majority of its users. Now, Facebook’s headquarters in California will be responsible for processing any relevant legal claims, and American law will be binding for those outside the European Union.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn is leaving the Federal Communications Commission after nine years of service. As part of the FCC's Democratic majority from 2009 through 2016, Commissioner Clyburn repeatedly voted for consumer-protection regulations over the objections of Internet service providers. More recently, Commissioner Clyburn has been on the losing end of many votes as the FCC's new Republican majority deregulates the broadband and telecom industries. Clyburn's term expired in June 2017, but commission rules allowed her to stay until the end of 2018 if she had chosen to do so.

Elizabeth Ann Pierce, the former chief executive of an Alaska telecommunications company, has been arrested after federal prosecutors accused her of forging contracts to induce firms to make more than $250 million in investments.

Internet service providers celebrated  when the Federal Communications Commission voted to eliminate nationwide net neutrality rules that prohibit blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. But now Internet service providers in California are terrified that they could end up facing even stricter rules being considered by the California legislature.

Facebook recently teamed up with Google, Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon in order to kill a privacy law that's being considered in California. The five companies each donated $200,000 to create a $1 million fund to oppose the California Consumer Privacy Act, a ballot question that could be voted on in the November 2018 state election. If approved, the law would make it easier for consumers to find out what information is collected about them and to opt out of the sale or sharing of any personal information.