What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
Agenda:
1. S. 2717, Maritime Authorization and Enhancement Act for Fiscal Year 2019, Sponsors: Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Witness
- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai
The United States has grappled for more than a decade with how to regulate Internet access, and the issue has become increasingly partisan as it has moved from an academic discussion and technocratic debate into the hands of the Federal Communications Commission under successive administrations. Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai recently rescinded not just the Obama administration’s common carriage rules grounded in the Title II framework, but the entirety of FCC authority over broadband.
Imagine a centralized database replete with your personal information that links together your and your family’s vital health, education, and social welfare records. Now imagine the database includes an entire country’s population.
How Looming Privacy Regulations May Strengthen Facebook and Google
In Europe and the United States, the conventional wisdom is that regulation is needed to force Silicon Valley’s digital giants to respect people’s online privacy. But new rules may instead serve to strengthen Facebook’s and Google’s hegemony and extend their lead on the internet. That’s because wary consumers are more prone to trust recognized names with their information than unfamiliar newcomers.
Net Neutrality Does Not End Today. We Still Don’t Know When It Will. Which Is Weird When You Think About It.
There is a lot of confusion on the effective date for the 2017 Net Neutrality Repeal Order, aka “Restoring Internet Freedom — Which Is Not In The Least Overdramatic Unlike You Hysterical Hippies.” This is not surprising, given the rather confusing way the Federal Register Notice reads.
FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for May 2018 Open Meeting
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 10, 2018:
Once deemed ‘unsafe’ by Facebook, Diamond and Silk are now coming to Capitol Hill
Republican Reps have invited “Diamond” and “Silk,” two conservative video bloggers who were deemed “unsafe” by Facebook after becoming online sensations, to testify April 26 about allegations of conservative bias online.
The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee comes as Republican lawmakers accuse Facebook, Google and Twitter of favoring the liberal points of view popular in Silicon Valley and censoring conservative opinions. All three companies have been invited to attend the hearing but have not said whether they will attend.
Facebook moves 1.5 billion users out of reach of new European privacy law
Facebook has moved more than 1.5 billion users out of reach of European privacy law, despite a promise from Mark Zuckerberg to apply the “spirit” of the legislation globally. In a tweak to its terms and conditions, Facebook is shifting the responsibility for all users outside the US, Canada and the European Union from its international HQ in Ireland to its main offices in California. It means that those users will now be on a site governed by US law rather than Irish law.
On the Road Again
One way we can expand connectivity is promoting more efficient and productive use of underused spectrum. This month, we tackle mid-band spectrum in the 2.5 GHz range. Significant portions of the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum in this band currently lie fallow across approximately one-half of the United States, mostly in rural areas. And we haven’t granted new access to the entire 114 MHz of spectrum in this band for over 20 years. In other words, a scarce public resource that could be used to connect millions of Americans for a long time hasn’t been put to the best use, if