Upcoming event
This briefing will provide an opportunity for individuals to learn more about the draft order, its legal underpinnings, and the ways it will likely harm consumers and the free market. The hill briefing is open to the public.
Moderator: Chris Lewis, Vice President, Public Knowledge
Panelists:
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 14, 2017:
The hearing will examine how actions taken by tech companies and online platforms affect consumer privacy and choice.
After several significant data breaches in recent years impacting hundreds of millions of Americans, malicious actors can now package consumer information from multiple stolen data sets into one stolen identity profile.The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will examine how to verify identities and protect personal data online compromised in this new, post-breach world.
In the wake of the deadly riots in Charlottesville, VA in August, neo-Nazi websites were dumped by a series of technology providers in quick succession. Perhaps most publicly, content-delivery network and security provider Cloudflare terminated The Daily Stormer’s service at the behest of its CEO, Matthew Prince, who, in a subsequent blog post, identified serious questions around the future of online free speech and censorship that his actions raised.
FCC Plans December Vote to Kill Net Neutrality Rules
The Federal Communications Commission is planning a vote in December to kill Obama-era rules demanding fair treatment of web traffic and may decide to vacate the regulations altogether, according to people familiar with the plans. FCC Chairman Pai may call for vacating the rules except for portions that mandate internet service providers inform customers about their practices -- one of the more severe options that would please broadband providers.
Proposed Lifeline Reforms a Mixed Bag, Still Ignore Real Issues
[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai contends his proposed reforms to the Lifeline program will “more effectively and efficiently help close the digital divide by directing Lifeline funds to the areas where they are most needed.” Opponents, however, believe the proposed changes “will gut the program and continue to widen the digital divide.” The likely outcome, if the proposal is enacted as currently written, will be somewhere in between. Some of these proposed reforms are important, positive steps that will improve the Lifeline program’s efficiency.
Electric cooperatives are capitalizing on existing infrastructure and deep community roots to bring gigabit communications to rural communities, and the results can be transformational. Just as rural electrification energized the country in the early 20th century, high capacity broadband connections are necessary for thriving communities in the 21st century. Join BroadbandUSA’s Practical Broadband Conversations webinar to learn how member-based co-ops are making the case for investment and creating new opportunities for economic prosperity.
Speakers:
The Virtuous Circle summit is presented by Internet Association.
The Virtuous Circle Summit is where the most important stakeholders of the internet economy meet for robust discussion of the issues facing the internet ecosystem.
This program will explore the current boundaries between FCC and FTC jurisdiction over protecting consumer privacy. The panelists will discuss: the impact of the Restoring Internet Freedom proceeding, restoring broadband as a lightly-regulated “information service;” the latest on the 9th Circuit’s en banc review of the decision in FTC v. AT&T Mobility; and legislation on the issue, including the Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly (BROWSER) Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
Speakers: