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By Mercy Gakii, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com; and Rahul Gaitonde, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 - Six public interest organizations, including Consumers Union, on Wednesday filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to protect consumers from misleading and confusing advertising and billing practices by phone, cable and wireless providers. The consumer groups argue that current protections are insufficient and urge the FCC to require meaningful, not misleading, disclosure. These groups would like to force billing and advertising practices which are more transparent and easier to understand. These companies often offer introductory rates and special offers to some customers which then change without consumers knowing in advance when their rates will be affected. The other organizations were Consumer Federation of America, Free Press, Media Access Project, the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge. "When consumers have the facts, they can make informed choices," said Chris Riley, policy counsel of Free Press. "Consumers are being bombarded with inconsistent and incomplete information when shopping for service providers or plans, and then they are baffled by misleading and confusing bills once they sign up. Customers invest a lot of money in these services and spend a great deal of time using them. That’s why the FCC must...

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By the Staff of BroadbandCensus.com

The non-profit advocacy group Consumers Union on Wednesday issued a letter to members of Congress commending the Federal Communications Commission for its efforts to enact stricter Net Neutrality rules. The letter said that the Internet has been governed by principles of openness and consumer choice from its inception. “Consumers have had unfettered access to newly developed content and ideas, and their preferences and choices have determined whether a website, application, or service succeeded or failed,” wrote Joel Kelsey, policy analyst, and Alex Chasick, senior fellow The letter said that such freedom is being threatened, as internet service providers impose restrictions blunting competition and stifle innovation online. “ISPs are implementing traffic throttling schemes that allow them to determine when, how quickly, or even if a consumer may access certain lawful content,” the letter read. “Under these schemes, ISPs have blocked consumers from using their computers to make phone calls, from sharing legally acquired and distributable media content, and even from accessing certain political content.” “We were glad to see FCC Chairman [Julius] Genachowski announce plans for the FCC to codify the agency’s four Internet principles through an official rule-making process to establish clear rules of the road on what transparent network...

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By Drew Clark, Editor, Broadband Census.com

WASHINGTON, September 9, 2009 – The Internet can serve as a means for enhancing consumer protections, provided that government agencies play their appropriate role in regulating and disclosing the practices of broadband providers, according to a several consumer advocates. Speaking at the September 9 workshop of the Federal Communications Commission, the advocates observed that the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission could each play a significant role in enhancing consumer knowledge about broadband. Mike Nelson, a visiting professor of communications, culture and technology at Georgetown University, and a former Clinton administration internet official, said that the flowering of the e-commerce in the 1990s owed was “due in large part to the decision [by the government] NOT to regulate.” “I was involved in the [Ira] Magaziner e-commerce report,” said Nelson. “Almost every page had a promise about what the administration will not do.” The certainty provided by that report was helpful” because in enabled internet application companies to be free from “having to hire as many lawyers” as they otherwise would have to, he said. Sascha Meinrath, director of the Open Technology Initiative at the New America Foundation, a “tech tank inside a think that that provide support for open architecture,”...

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News | NTIA-RUS Forum | Day 6, Session 1

By Jesse Masai, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2009 – At the final day of a six-day public forum about the federal government’s $7.2 billion broadband stimulus funding on Tuesday morning, the discussion made a sharp turn toward a focus on oversight and post-award compliance. The forums, sponsored by the Commerce Department’s National Technology and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service, addressed the parameters of the program being put in place at the two agencies because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the fiscal stimulus package. Beth McConnell, executive director of the Media and Democracy Coalition, a coalition of public interest media advocacy groups in the states and in Washington, said there was need to “ensure grantees are accountable to the congressional intent in the Recovery Act” and that “grantees are complying with the rules and agreements.” “To address both, we need clear and concrete objectives in grant contracts, strong rules to hold them to, and good data to evaluate,” she said. Companies should not be able to evade these conditions by selling their contracts, she said. Additionally, said McConnell, all funded projects should contain a component that will measurably increase adoption. She...

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News

By Andrew Feinberg, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, February 5, 2009 - The three members of the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday expressed relief over Congress' Wednesday passage of legislation delaying the date of the digital television transition from February 17 to June 12. Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps did not present any "grand plan" of action for the next four months, but said at a monthly meeting that it was still important to "take stock of where we are" and assess what kind of efforts will be necessary to create a "new and effective game plan." The DTV Delay Act was pushed by advisors to President Obama, and the president is expected to shortly sign the legislation. Former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had opposed – as had the consumer electronic industry – although his predecessors Michael Powell and Bill Kennard joined Obama in seeking a short extension. Copps, a Democrat, said it had "long been clear...that we were not ready for a nationwide transition on February 17." Copps welcomed the commitments of broadcasters to "step up to the plate" and keep their analog signals on the air until the new transition date. By keeping their analog signals up until June, Copps praised broadcasters as "truly serving the...

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News

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com; and Cassandre Durocher, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, July 31 – Combatants on the subject of Net Neutrality debate took aim at each other on Thursday, with House Minority Leader John Boehner blasting FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in advance of a Federal Communications Commission meeting on Friday. “Recent media reports indicate the FCC is poised for massive, unprecedented regulation of the Internet,” wrote Boehner, an Ohio Republican. “This dangerous path would limit freedom, stifle innovation and entrepreneurship, and kill American jobs.” For about a week, press reports have indicated that Martin had secured the support of the commission's two Democrats, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, to punish Comcast over its network management practices. The cable company delayed and effectively blocked access to the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing program, and the company has been grilled at a variety of FCC forums. The non-profit groups Free Press and Public Knowledge filed a complaint against Comcast after investigations by the Associated Press and the Electronic Frontier Foundation uncovered the blockage in the fall of 2007. Boehner called attention to Monday's Washington Post op-ed piece by Republican FCC Commisioner Robert McDowell. In the piece, McDowell urged the commission – which will formally vote on the matter at...

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Blog Entries

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, July 17 - Communications Workers of America this past week teamed up with a group of telecommunications companies, cable operators and non-profit groups to push for Congress to pass broadband data legislation. In a Friday letter and a Monday press release, the groups wrote "to express [their] strong support for Congressional action to promote greater availability and adoption of broadband high-speed Internet services." They want "a national policy" to encourage more broadband deployment, and they cite economic statistics about broadband's potential. And, as a first step, these companies and CWA want Congress to pass the Broadband Census of America Act, H.R. 3919, or the Broadband Data Improvement Act, S. 1492. Curiously, last month another large coalition announced a similar campaign. They call themselves Internet for Everyone. Led by Google and the non-profit group Free Press, the organization boasts some the Internet's leading luminaries, including Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig and internet "co-father" Vint Cerf, now at Google. "Broadband’s potential to unleash innovation, promote free speech and encourage learning makes this technology the key to the future success of the U.S. economy and American democracy," read the group's first position paper. "But to unlock broadband’s limitless potential, it must be universally...

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