• Obama To Nominate Rosenworcel To Second FCC Term
    President Obama said this week that he will nominate Jessica Rosenworcel to serve a new, five-year term on the Federal Communications Commission. While at the FCC, Rosenworcel voted in favor of net neutrality regulations and also voted to vacate state restrictions on muni-broadband.
  • Comcast Ends Dispute With Transit Provider Level 3
    Comcast and the transit provider Level 3 have ended their interconnection dispute, Ars Technica reports. The deal comes three weeks before the start date of new net neutrality rules, which will allow companies to take complaints about interconnection problems to the Federal Communications Commission. “Comcast and Level 3 Communications announced they have reached a new multi-year, bilateral interconnection agreement as part of a multifaceted arrangement that will help both companies meet their customers’ needs into the next decade and beyond,” the companies said in a statement. "Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast and Level 3 will enhance their existing …
  • New Tool Lets Users Police Net Neutrality Violations
    Net neutrality advocates Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and the Free Press Action Fund have launhced a new “Internet Health Test,” which offers consumers a way to test whether their broadband providers are following open Internet rules. “After repeatedly watching Internet service providers slow down people’s Internet connections we’re not going to just sit back and trust Comcast, Verizon and AT&T to follow the new open Internet rules,” Fight for the Future campaign manager Charlie Furman said, according to BGR.com.
  • 'Game Of Thrones' Sees Piracy Surge
    The sixth episode of HBO's “Game of Thrones” was downloaded from peer-to-peer sites 3.5 million times, marking a new record for the show, Variety reports. The piracy figures come from Excipio, which tracks piracy on file-sharing sites, but not streaming services -- meaning that the total number of people who've viewed a pirated version of the show likely is higher than 3.5 million.
  • Franken Seeks Investigation Of Mobile Spying App
    Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn,) has asked the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to investigate the app mSpy -- a monitoring app often used by parents to track children, and employers to track employees, The Hill reports. “I believe every American has a fundamental right to privacy, which includes the right to control whether and with whom personal, sensitive information -- including location data -- is being shared,” he said in a letter to regulators.
  • PayPal Dinged $25 Million For Duping Consumers
    PayPal will pay $25 million to settle claims that it deceptively advertised its credit service PayPal Credit, previously known as Bill Me Later, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday. PayPal also allegedly signed up customers for credit without their permission, Cnet reports.  
  • Judge Criticizes Colleagues For Waiting 15 Months To Nix Takedown Order
    Appellate judge Stephen Reinhardt criticized his colleagues on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for waiting 15 months to dissolve an order that required Google to take down the clip “Innocence of Muslims.” “This is a case in which our court not only tolerated the infringement of fundamental First Amendment rights but was the architect of that infringement,” Reinhardt wrote in an opinion issued this week.
  • Tech Companies Warn Against Mandatory 'Backdoors' To Smartphone Data
    More than 140 tech companies, including Apple and Google, are warning about proposals that could weaken smartphone encryption technology, The Washington Post reprots. The companies want President Obama to reject any law that would require companies to create a “backdoor,” that provides for decryption.
  • FTC Weighs In On Sale Of RadioShack Customer Lists
    The Federal Trade Commission is asking a bankruptcy judge to protect the privacy of RadioShack's customers. RadioShack, which is in bankruptcy, wants to sell customer names, e-mail addresses and purchase histories, Reuters reports. The FTC says that General Wireless, which agreed to buy the data, should be required to follow the same privacy terms that existed when RadioShack acquired the information. The agency also says that customer data should be sold to a buyer in the same line of business as RadioShack.
  • Most U.S. Homes Access Over The Top Web Video
    More than 60% of US households watch at least some video through an over-the-top Web service, according to a new study by Parks and Associates. Nearly 11% of those who watch online video via a subscription service like Netflix or Hulu Plus are using an account paid for by somebody else, according to DSLReports.
« Previous EntriesNext Entries »