Al Franken: The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time This Tuesday is an important day in the fight to save the Internet. As a source of innovation, an engine of our economy, and a forum for our political discourse, the Internet can only work if it's a truly level playing field. Small businesses should have the same ability to reach customers as powerful corporations. A blogger should have the same ability to find an audience as a media conglomerate. This principle is called "net neutrality" -- and it's under attack. The good news is that the Federal Communications Commission has the power to issue regulations that protect net neutrality. That's why Tuesday is such an important day. Although Chairman Genachowski's draft Order has not been made public, early reports make clear that it falls far short of protecting net neutrality. For many Americans -- particularly those who live in rural areas -- the future of the Internet lies in mobile services. It gets worse. It sure is -- but that's exactly why the FCC should ban it.
OASIS: Advancing open standards for the global information socie What We Do The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the commission is the United States' primary authority for communications law, regulation and technological innovation. In its work facing economic opportunities and challenges associated with rapidly evolving advances in global communications, the agency capitalizes on its competencies in: Leadership The agency is directed by five commissioners who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Organization The commission is organized into bureaus and offices, based on function (see also Organizational Charts of the FCC). Rules and Rulemakings Most FCC rules are adopted by a process known as "notice and comment" rulemaking. Advisory Committees See a list of all of FCC advisory committees
Contract Tower Home Page Net Neutrality Brawl: FCC Is Not Happy with Google and Verizon The Google-Verizon net neutrality saga has taken yet another strange turn as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ended closed-door talks with several companies over the future of net neutrality and has lashed out against the practice of paying for faster transmission of data over the Internet. "Any outcome, any deal that doesn't preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet for consumers and entrepreneurs will be unacceptable," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told reporters earlier today. His remarks were in reaction to reports that Google and Verizon are about to strike a deal that would charge some Internet content providers more than others for the transmission of their data to users across the world. Clearly Genachowski is opposed to such an arrangement. The entire affair has blown up into a PR nightmare. Google and Verizon have both denied they are attempting to end net neutrality, but they have confirmed that they are talking to one another.
De Maizière scheint für staatliche Regelung zu Netzneutralität zu sein : netzpolitik.org Bundesinnenminister Thomas de Maizière spricht im Interview mit dem Spiegel davon, dass die Wichtigkeit des Internets als kritische Infrastruktur für die Zukunft der Staatlichkeit, Freiheit und Wirtschaft (nebenbei bemerkt: interessante Trias) auch eine Gewährleistungsfunktion des Staates begründen könnte. Interpretiert man den recht verklausulierten relevanten Absatz, kommt man auf die Idee, dass sich de Maizière dafür ausspricht, dass der Staat verstärkt regelnd eingreifen könnte. Beispielsweise auch, um Netzneutralität sicherzustellen oder um das Internet als Universaldienst festzuschreiben. “Aus meiner Sicht muss der Staat eine Verantwortung für die Integrität der internationalen Kommunikation übernehmen.” Das ist durchaus interessant. Natürlich auch die Frage erlaubt sein, ob grundsätzlich der Staat der richtige ist, um Netzneutralität zu gewährleisten. Wir wollen netzpolitik.org weiter ausbauen.
Consumers Broadband Broadband technology enables transmission of wide ranging information contributing to safety, health and economic well-being. Broadband is a platform for opportunity and innovation in health care, education, energy, job training, civic engagement, commercial transactions, government performance, public safety and other areas. Read more » Broadcast Television The FCC licenses and regulates U.S. television broadcast stations. Read more » Cable Television Cable television is a video delivery service provided by a cable operator to subscribers via a coaxial or fiber optic cable. Read more » International Telecommunications The FCC has responsibility to initiate and direct, in coordination with other U.S government agencies, the development of international telecommunications policies reflecting the commission’s priorities. Read more » Radio The FCC administers and maintains licenses for AM, FM, LPFM, FM translator and FM booster radio stations. Read more » Satellite Read more » Telephone
Meer landen overwegen BlackBerry-verbod Nieuws - In navolging van Saoedi-Arabië en de Arabische Emiraten ligt RIM nu ook in de clinch met Indonesië en Libanon. De BlackBerry-maker zegt echter dat er helemaal geen achterdeurtje in zijn netwerk zit. Eerder deze week gaf Saoedi-Arabië al aan vanaf vandaag geen Blackberry diensten meer te tolereren omdat de overheid van ontwikkelaar RIM geen inzage krijgt in het data- en telefoonverkeer. Indonesië had RIM vorig jaar al verzocht het monitoren van al het data- en telefoonverkeer toe te staan, maar voelt zich genoodzaakt dit verzoek nu met klem te herhalen nu RIM druk vanuit meer hoeken begint te voelen. Eis: lokale server en kantoor Als het aan de Indonesische overheid ligt plaatst RIM een server in het land waarmee de overheidsinstanties klanten de veiligheid kunnen garanderen van de gegevens die nu worden verwerkt en opgeslagen in Canada (het land waar RIM gevestigd is). Ook wil de overheid dat RIM een kantoor vestigt in Indonesië. Nog geen beslissing Bemoeienis VS Master key
Senate Session Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the growing threat of corporate control on the flow of information in this country. Today we have been debating incredibly important issues, and I don't mean to detract from any of them. The first matter before the FCC is the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC/Universal. This is bad for consumers because it is going to put many of these networks out of business. But it doesn't end there. These are all major problems with the deal. I ask the people sitting in the gallery, the Senate staff watching this speech, and everyone at home in Minnesota: How many of you like your cable and Internet provider? And this is what cable and Internet customer service is like today. We count on competition in this country to keep corporations in check, and we have designed antitrust laws to ensure that companies are not getting too big or too powerful. There is nothing wrong with that. But when you go shopping for cereal, you have a lot of choice.
ARCEP (ARCEP): vidéos De quoi est fait le quotidien d’un « individu connecté »? Y a-t-il lieu de se soigner d’une « addiction » aux outils numériques ? Ces outils compromettent-ils les relations sociales ? Existe-t-il un âge numérique, comme il existe un âge biologique ? *Laurence Allard est maître de conférences en sciences de la communication, chercheuse à l'Université Paris 3-IRCAV et enseignante à l'Université Lille 3.
YC-Funded Whereoscope Gives Parents An Easy Way To Track Where Their Kids Are Since the dawn of mankind, and probably even a while before that, parents have been asking themselves the same question: “Where are my kids?” In modern times they’ve come up with a few, imperfect ways to answer it, like instructing their children to send them a text message whenever they arrive at soccer practice — which works well once or twice, until the child completely forgets about it. Now Whereoscope, a Y Combinator-funded startup that’s launching today, may have a solution that’s more reliable and easier to use than most other kid-tracking solutions on the market. Whereoscope consists of an iPhone application that runs in the background (you’ll need iOS 4, which enabled background apps). Of course, plenty of other iPhone applications can use your GPS to track the device (navigation apps do this), but most of these will drain your battery quickly. Wherescope will be competing with AT&T’s own child-tracking service FamilyMap, which allows parents to monitor where their kids are.
Telecomix Spectrum Competition The competitive framework for communications services should foster innovation and offer consumers reliable, meaningful selections in affordable services. The FCC pursues removing regulatory, economic and operational barriers throughout the telecommunications sector. Read more » Frequency Allocation The FCC regulates the use of radio frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum by a spectrum management process called frequency allocation. Read more » Licensing The FCC is responsible for managing and licensing the electromagnetic spectrum for commercial users and for non-commercial users including: state, county and local governments. Read more » Auctions The FCC uses auctions (competitive bidding) as one of the primary means of choosing among two or more mutually exclusive applications for an initial license for most commercial services, including wireless, television and radio. Read more » Enforcement Read more » Equipment Authorization Read more » Interference Read more » Read more »