Public Knowledge

[Commentary] On April 17, the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing on paid prioritization -- an issue that is central to the net neutrality debate. While most internet service providers (ISPs) have claimed that they have no plans to block or degrade traffic once the Federal Communications Commission's 2017 net neutrality repeal Order goes into effect (exactly when that will be remains TBD), commitments (or lack thereof) not to engage in paid prioritization have remained a moving target.

Europe’s new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enter into force in May 2018. Understandably, given that data breaches and privacy violations have been in the headlines lately -- and given that the GDPR will reshuffle privacy protection in Europe and beyond -- many in the United States are looking to the GDPR for ideas of what to do - and what not to do. We think that it would be impractical and ineffective to copy and paste the GDPR to U.S. law -- the institutions and legal systems are just too different. 

Public Knowledge filed reply comments on the Federal Communications Commission’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry entitled, “Bridging the Digital Divide for Low-Income Consumers.”

In the twenty-first century, it is impossible to meaningfully participate in society without sharing our personal information with third parties. Those third parties should have commensurate obligations to protect that personal information. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly clear that too many third parties are failing to live up to this responsibility. It is therefore incumbent on Congress to step in to protect consumers.

[Commentary] Sen John Kennedy (R-LA) has been flirting for months with the idea of being the fifty-first (read: deciding) vote for the Congressional Review Act effort to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's Restoring Internet Freedom Order in the Senate. Yet,recently, Sen Kennedy introduced the Senate companion to Rep Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) phony “net neutrality” bill. This legislation is at least fourteen steps in the wrong direction.

Recently, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 4986 -- a bill that, among other things, reauthorizes the Federal Communications Commission and approves the agency’s funding for fiscal years 2019 and 2020. House passage followed an announcement that the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Commerce Committee had reached an agreement to support the legislation -- framing the bill as reauthorizing the FCC and spurring deployment of 5G wireless networks across the nation.

[Research] Why the government’s case against the AT&T-Time Warner merger is both warranted and consistent with past enforcement practices. The case is necessary to prevent possible coordination among dominant firms that would likely thwart the development and expansion of innovative online video platforms as well as cheaper alternatives to traditional cable and satellite services.