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Mozilla, BitTorrent, Reddit, Etsy and Patreon are among those driving calls to Congress as part of the Break the Internet network neutrality protest scheduled for Dec 12. That is according to Fight for the Future, which says it has created a tool that will allow protestors to auto-tweet net neutrality messages every 10 minutes in the 48 hours running up to the FCC's planned December 14 vote. 

Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are questioning the privacy and security of Facebook’s new messaging app, which is designed for kids under 13, expressing their concerns in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.  “We remain concerned about where sensitive information collected through this app could end up and for what purpose it could be used,” they wrote.

Diversity groups supporting Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's network neutrality rule rollback have been meeting with FCC officials to make sure that those diverse interests continue to be protected and advanced in a new net-neutrality enforcement regime. 

Sen Claire McCaskill (D-MO), ranking mbmer of the Homeland and Government Affairs Committee, is one of the biggest critics of the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program. In a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai -- who shares her concerns about waste, fraud and abuse in the program -- Sen McCaskill demanded answers for why almost $90 million in fines against Lifeline providers who profited from rule violations had yet to be collected. "Between September 2013 and February 2014, the FCC proposed more than $94 million in fines to 12 Lifeline providers for enrolling ineligible subscrib

Analysts say AT&T’s declaration that it would offer distributors arbitration when Turner carriage deals expire—and its promise of no blackouts for seven years—if its acquisition of Time Warner goes through answers one of the government's biggest objections to the deal. AT&T disclosed the offer in response to the Justice Department’s suit looking to block the merger on antitrust grounds.  MoffettNathanson Research analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson called AT&T's arbitration and no-blackout gambit clever.

Charter Communications recently announced the winners of its Spectrum Digital Education Grants, an initiative for nonprofit organizations aimed at educating community members on the benefits of broadband. Charter announced the program in June. The grants, totaling about $400,000, are part of a $1 million commitment by Charter to provide digital education in its communities. Charter said it received more than 200 eligible grant applications and awarded Digital Education grants to 17 nonprofit organizations.