policy

White Space vote nears

Posted on by joly

The NYC Council Tech Committee recently held a public hearing after the Broadway and TV industries lobbied for a resolution urging the FCC to withhold approval of White Space Devices (WSDs) for broadband access – the concern being that they would interfere with wireless microphones and DTV transmissions

http://nycbroadband.blogspot.com/2008/09/white-spaces-hearing-webcast.html

The FCC, as it now stands, will vote on Nov 4
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-286069A1.pdf

Freepress is strongly advocating the public to encourage the FCC to approve WSDs.
https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?alertId=285&pg=makeACall
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FTC issues report on phishing

Posted on by joly

FTCThe Federal Trade Commission today released a staff report on a Roundtable Discussion on Phishing Education that it hosted in April. Approximately 60 experts from business, government, the technology sector, the consumer advocacy community, and academia met at the FTC to discuss strategies for outreach to consumers about avoiding phishing.

“Participants indicated that the best anti-phishing messages are behavioral rather than technical,” the report states. Evaluating whom to trust on the Internet can help prevent users from becoming victims.

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Cerf, Zittrain & Lessig talk @ Google

Posted on by joly

Jonathon Zittrain & Larry LessigBack in March, introduced by Vint Cerf, Jonathan Zittrain and Larry Lessig gave a talk at Google’s Washington DC offices. Google has, possibly encouraged by its Viacom harassment, just posted the video up on YouTube. About 58 minutes in, after Zittrain has given his book synopsis – with which I trust we are all now familiar, Lessig, drawing on earlier ‘Z theory’, gets into the meat of exactly the privacy issues recently highlighted by Viacom’s actions.

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FCC Announces Public Hearing on “Broadband and the Digital Future”

Posted on by David Solomonoff

The Federal Communications Commission today announced a public hearing to be held on Monday, July 21, 2008. It will be held at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The hearing is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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ICANN votes to add new TLD’s

Posted on by joly

ICANN The ICANN board voted unanimously on Thursday to approve plans to add more generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) to the Internet’s naming system. They also voted to put on a fast track the implementation of a limited number of Internationalized (non-ASCII) country code TLDs (IDN ccTLDs). The vote is the result of a Policy Development process that was initiated in 2005. Final implementation proposals will be presented to the board in Cairo in December.

Transcripts of the ICANN board’s discussion prior to the vote can be found on the ISOC-NY wiki Continue reading →

InternetforEveryone.org is launched at PDF Forum

Posted on by joly

internetforeveryone.org At the Personal Democracy Forum this week FCC Commissioner Michael Adelstein announced the formation of InternetforEveryone.org – a new coalition to advocate universal Internet access in the United States. Headed by Free Press, the coalition involves many and varied organizations including the ACLU and Google. Individuals are also welcome to join.


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Supreme Court to review case of independent ISP vs. AT&T

Posted on by David Solomonoff

US Supreme CourtThere’s been some discussion on the ISOC-NY discuss list as to whether a free market solution or government initiatives are best way to improve broadband access in the U.S. Part of that discussion is the question as to whether there actually has been an open and competitive market for broadband services.

A case where an independent ISP, Linkline Communications, alleged that AT&T charged excessive access fees that prevented them from competing in the broadband market will now be reviewed by the Supreme Court. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had ruled against AT&T but the Bush Administration’s Office of U.S. Solicitor General sided with AT&T, maintaining that federal antitrust laws don’t cover the LinkLine claims. Continue reading →

ICANN 32 – Paris – Jun 22-26 2008

Posted on by joly

ICANN Paris The 32nd ICANN general meeting is taking place this week in Paris, France. There appears to be no webcast. The best way to keep up is possibly via the Wiki updates.

  • Schedule
  • Presentations
  • ICANN blog
  • irc back channel | via web (help)
  • GNSO ICANN issues

  • Twemes: icann
  • Summize icann | #icann
  • Twitter: wseltzer | netfreedom
  • flickr: icann
  • Video: ICANN | dotSub | Qik | Blip | YouTube

    • |

  • Live Question Tool: icann

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    Markey introduces bipartisan telecom accessibility bill

    Posted on by joly

    Representative Edward Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet today introduced the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Rep Heather A. Wilson (R-NM) joined Rep Markey as an original co-sponsor of the bill.

    The bill would amend the Communications Act to ensure that new Internet-enabled telephone and video services and equipment are accessible to and usable by people with disabilities and closes existing gaps in telecommunications laws. Provisions include hearing aid compatibility and Internet closed captioning to real-time text support for emergency services.
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