National Regulation

House GOP Hammers Broadband Subsidies

NTIA’s Strickling Defends Stimulus Programs From Waste, Overbuilding Charges
By: John Eggerton Feb 27 2013 - 2:56pm
NTIA’s Strickling Defends Stimulus Programs From Waste, Overbuilding Charges

WASHINGTON — The gloves came off during a Wednesday House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing over government broadband subsidies.

Republicans on the panel hammered National Telecommunications & Information chief Lawrence Strickling (pictured) over the agency’s oversight of the subsidy program, designed to speed broadband deployments to underserved and unserved areas, and charged it with overbuilding incumbent providers. Strickling returned fire, vigorously defending the effort.

NCTA, CEA Set-Top Energy Coalition Elects Officers

Comcast’s Reynolds to Chair Power-Conservation Steering Committee
By: MCN Staff Feb 25 2013 - 12:22pm
Comcast’s Reynolds to Chair Power-Conservation Steering Committee

The set-top box energy conservation initiative led by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the Consumer Electronics Association on Friday created a steering committee that will be chaired by Steve Reynolds, Comcast’s senior vice president of premises technology.

James Mooney, Former NCTA Chief, Dead at 69

Executive Successfully Lobbied for Industry Deregulation in the 1980s
By: Todd Spangler Dec 24 2012 - 11:21am
Executive Successfully Lobbied for Industry Deregulation in the 1980s

James Mooney, who as head of what is now the National Cable & Telecommunications Association successfully persuaded Congress to deregulate the industry, died Friday, Dec. 21. He was 69.

Mooney died at his home on Bainbridge Island, Wash., after a long illness, according to his family.

Canadian Court Tosses Retrans-Consent Plan

CRTC Lacks Authority To Impose Payment Rules, Country's Supreme Court Says
By: John Eggerton Dec 13 2012 - 1:50pm
CRTC Lacks Authority To Impose Payment Rules, Country's Supreme Court Says
Wikimedia Commons atlas of Canada

 

 

In a 5-4 decision, the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that that country's version of the FCC does not have the authority to impose a retransmission consent regime on Canada's cable and satellite operators.

Another Online Movie Pirate Heads to Brig

Cherwonik Sentenced to Three-plus Years for Copyright Violations
By: John Eggerton Nov 30 2012 - 2:09pm
Cherwonik Sentenced to Three-plus Years for Copyright Violations

Gregory Cherwonik has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for his participation in the Imagine Internet movie piracy operation.

Senate Judiciary Passes Electronic Privacy Update

Would Protect Info Stored in The Cloud
By: John Eggerton Nov 29 2012 - 2:57pm
Would Protect Info Stored in The Cloud
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed an update of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act on Thursday, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which called it "an important gain for privacy."

The legislation, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), updates the ECPA, passed 25 years ago, to require law enforcement to get a search warrant to access emails, social network posts and other info stored in the cloud.

FCC Sources: Chairman Wants Media-Ownership Vote on Nov. 30

Genachowski Has Said Item On Track For Year-End Decision
By: John Eggerton Nov 5 2012 - 1:40pm
Genachowski Has Said Item On Track For Year-End Decision

WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski said in July that the agency is on track to issue an order on its media ownership notice of proposed rulemaking by the end of the year and, according to FCC sources, he is expected to circulate an item for a vote at the Nov 30 meeting.

The chairman's office had no comment.

The FCC had been reviewing its media-ownership rules due to a congressional obligation to do so every four years, as well as an order from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sunlight: $34.5M Spent in October on Senate Race Ad Buys

$100M Allocated Overall throughout Month
By: John Eggerton Oct 24 2012 - 2:32pm
$100M Allocated Overall throughout Month

The battle for the Senate has proved a boon to broadcasters as campaign spending in key battleground states has skyrocketed in the waning days of the campaign, including from Super PACs and other outside groups.

Web Tracker Compete Inc. Settles With FTC

Company Needs Consumer Permission to Track Online Movements
By: John Eggerton Oct 23 2012 - 1:24pm
Company Needs Consumer Permission to Track Online Movements

Web tracker Compete Inc. has settled with the Federal Trade Commission over charges that it broke the law by tracking online users, collecting their personal data, and not disclosing how much it was collecting or honoring its promises to protect the data.

The company, which sold the data to clients trying to boost Web traffic and sales, has agreed to obtain consumers' express consent before collecting any data from software downloaded onto their computers.

NTIA Provides BTOP Progress Report

Grant Recipients Spent $420M of Government Broadband Funds in Q3
By: John Eggerton Oct 5 2012 - 12:54pm
Grant Recipients Spent $420M of Government Broadband Funds in Q3

Broadband stimulus grant recipients spent more than $420 million in federal money to deploy and promote broadband in the third quarter of 2012 (ended June), according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's latest quarterly report on its BTOP broadband grant program.

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