What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
"Window of Opportunity" will shine a light on the immense potential of the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) to address rural broadband access in even the most remote areas. The event includes an expert panel of current EBS license-holders and other groups using EBS to end the homework gap and digital divide as well as educators, rural Tribal Nations, and commercial partners seeking access to new EBS licenses. Panelists will share their success stories, and discuss how policymakers can enable others to follow suit:
Don't Hold Your Breath on Privacy
Senate Commerce Committee leaders signaled they do not expect to unveil a draft privacy bill along with the committee’s hearing on Feb. 27. “There won’t be any unveiling,” said Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS). “But I know a lot of people are working hard on various approaches.” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) echoed the remarks. “I don’t think it’s that close,” he said of the prospects of a draft bill unveiling at the hearing. Still, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said the panel’s working group has made “steady progress.”
Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are negotiating a record, multibillion-dollar fine for the company’s privacy lapses
Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are negotiating over a multi-billion dollar fine that would settle the agency’s investigation into the social media giant’s privacy practices. The fine would be the largest the agency has ever imposed on a technology company, but the two sides have not yet agreed on an exact amount. Facebook has expressed initial concern with the FTC’s demands. If talks break down, the FTC could take the matter to court in what would likely be a bruising legal fight.
Is the FTC powerful enough to be an effective privacy cop? New report raises questions
The Federal Trade Commission is supposed to be the US government’s top Internet privacy cop. But a new Government Accountability Office report report raises questions about whether the agency has the resources and authority it needs to protect consumers. In the past decade, the FTC has filed just 101 enforcement actions regarding Internet privacy. While nearly all of the actions resulted in settlements that required companies to take action, in most cases the FTC didn’t have the authority to issue fines.
Net Inclusion 2019 welcomes digital inclusion community practitioners, advocates, academics, Internet service providers, and policymakers to discuss:
- local, state and federal policies and policy innovations impacting digital equity,
- sources of financial and programmatic support of digital inclusion programs, and
- digital inclusion best practices from across the country.
Since the 2016 presidential election, the debate over the social role and power of America’s tech giants has intensified. Companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google have found themselves on the receiving end of an array of complaints and regulatory proposals.
NTIA and the U.S. Census Bureau will present information on two large-scale consumer studies focused on computer and Internet use in America. The speakers will highlight the latest data from the surveys about who’s online, who’s not, how and where people access and use the Internet, what concerns they have, and more. Experts will show you how to access the data yourself, point you to open data resources, and answer questions.
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9:00-9:05 am |
WelcomeBruce H. Kobayashi |
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9:05-9:15 am |
Welcome and Introductory RemarksJoseph J. Simons, Chairman |
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9:15-10:45 am |
he FTC’s Bureau of Economics has a long tradition of conducting ex post evaluations of consummated mergers, beginning with (then) FTC staff economists David Barton and Roger Sherman’s 1984 examination of the Xidex mergers of the 1970s. Over the last two decades, FTC economists have publicly released 27 merger retrospective studies.