Gizmodo
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broadband
Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Eric Massa, a Congressman in western New York, has readied a bill that would force ISPs to justify economic need for data caps and volume-based usage fees. This would effectively bringing those practices to an end (for the time being). More »
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Comment by admoseremic: While I agree with what this bill is trying to do, I find the idea of additional government involvement in... 33 Responses | Other threads
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fcc
Congress Pushing For Bill To Reduce The Volume Of TV Advertising
Under a new proposal taken up today, Congress would give the FCC power to limit the volume of commercial advertising to match the average decibels of the show being watched. More »
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By Sean FallonComment by EdgesRazor: When I saw the word "Volume" in the title I thought that meant I'd get a reprieve from the number... 12 Responses | Other threads
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camerphones
Congressman Wants All Cameraphones to Make Sounds, Foil Covert Pervtography
Representative Pete King of New York has introduced a bill to Congress that would require all new cameraphones to have shutter sounds. Why? For the children! More » -
analog shutdown
Obama Wants to Delay Analog TV Shutdown to June 12
More on the proposed delay of the digital TV switchover: Obama's transition team co-chair sent a letter to Congress supporting WV Sen. Jay Rockefeller's proposal to push the transition to June 12. This is dumb. More »
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Comment by wasting_company_time: I agree. My parents are 60 and understand (finally) what is happening. There was confusion of buying a box even... 8 Responses | Other threads
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fcc
Congress Says FCC Chairman Abused Power, Played Favorites with Verizon
What's up with corrupt politicians this week? Congress just filed a 110-page report on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's "egregious abuses of power," documenting his favoritism for companies, and possibly impropriety with some, like Verizon. -
congress
Your Tax Dollars at Work: iPhones for Congress
Right now, the dudes responsible for bailout bills, freedom fries and like, laws I think, carry the standard corporate drone equipment: BlackBerrys. To be precise, House of Representatives members and their staffs have about 8200 BlackBerrys between them. But for a few of the fancier ones, that's not good enough. They want iPhones. More » -
web radio
Pandora and Other Webcasters Saved by Act of Congress
Today the otherwise preoccupied Senate quickly passed the Webcaster Settlement Act many of you petitioned for, granting Pandora and other net radio services the right to negotiate royalties with the record industry's SoundExchange coalition for the years 2006 to 2015. OK, that's a mouthful—what it means is, they will likely not be driven to bankruptcy due to unreasonable royalty rates. More » -
in-fligth calling
Congress Takes First Steps in Banning In-Flight Calling Permanently
Like a gaggle of schoolgirls, Congress traded stories about how they too were annoyed by people using their phones before and after takeoff on flights. Well, I never! One House member relayed the story of how his delicate sensibilities were stomped all over by some woman who talked about her sex life on the phone, shortly to be one-upped by another congressman saying that his wife overheard someone receiving a "Dear John" call before takeoff. Good sir! After the jab-fest portion of this sleepover was concluded, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved, via voice vote, a bill that would make the current FCC ban on in-flight calling permanent. And then one of their dads took them out for ice cream. Best night ever. [Yahoo] -
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fcc
FCC Asked to Get Carriers to Hurry Up Local Number Portability Already
With all the advances in technology we've had over the last couple of decades, you'd think that something as simple as changing your land line number into a cellular one would take hours at most. At least Congress does, and its now urging the FCC to put rules in place that will speed up local number portability processing. More » -
net neutrality
Dems Launch Net Neutrality Bill, GOP Says "Hands Off the Poor ISPs!"
Yesterday on Capitol Hill, two Democratic representatives introduced a House bill that would require broadband ISPs to "interconnect with the facilities of other network providers on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis." It also requires them to treat all content, applications and services as the same, with "equal opportunity to reach consumers," says an IDG story in the New York Times. Any ISPs who start messing around with packets could be subject to antitrust enforcement. Republicans weren't so happy with the bill. More »
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Comment by B: You write: "Yes, I cry for you, poor downtrodden multibillion-dollar multinationals with borderline monopoly arrangements for persistent and constantly increasing... more » | Other threads
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free wireless
Free Wireless Internet For the Masses: Another Dumb Scheme From Washington
A California congresswoman has proposed yet another spectrum auction—the 2,155MHz to 2,180MHz range—with some hefty public-service requirements: More »
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Comment by max crabb: Anyone read that most corporations did not pay income tax between 2000 and 2004? Just saying. The government helps businesses... more » | Other threads
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question of the day
Should Congress Ban Cellphone Calls on US Flights?
Europe may be ok with passengers making in-flight calls on their cellphones, but at least a few members of Congress have the foresight to see how this situation could become problematic in the US. A new bill has been introduced that promises to ban cellphone calls on US flights, but not text messaging and web surfing. The bill has yet to be passed, but the question is: Do you support a ban? More » -
spying
House Denies Warrantless Wiretapping Immunity For Telcos
In a textbook display of checks and balances, the House of Representatives defied President Bush and the Senate yesterday by passing their version of a surveillance bill without legal immunity for telcos. The bill passed by only 16 votes, far from the 2/3 majority needed to override Bush's inevitable veto. It looks like this legislative battle could continue until the next president takes office in 2009. As we have seen, an Obama administration would deny immunity, McCain would grant immunity, and Clinton? Who knows. [dslreports]
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By Eric ShelineComment by Semiapies: "As we have seen, an Obama administration would deny immunity" Actually, this last time in the Senate, Obama voted for cloture... more » | Other threads
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do not call
Do Not Call (Ever) Improvement Act Signed Into Law
The bill to make the Do-Not-Call registry everlasting—so you never have to remind the government that you hate telemarketers—has been made into a real live law by President Bush. [Consumerist]
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Comment by meems52: I have been getting annoying calls from thissame company and I am on the do not calllist. I finally reported... more » | Other threads
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gadgets
Last Chance to Save Our Privacy Rights from Warrantless Domestic Spying
While the Senate passed the bill giving telecoms like AT&T and Verizon a free pass on their collusion with government to warrentlessly wiretap American citizens, there's one last hope we might one day find out the scope and depth of the program. The House's version of the bill does not include a telecom immunity provision, meaning they have to square it up w/ the Senate before sending it off for Bush's rubber stamp, and a bunch of Reps are taking a stand. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has forms and contact info set up for people to sound off to their respective Reps to support the House's version and our privacy rights. [EFF, Image via Digital Blasphemy]
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Comment by -Core-: @benz57us: Just wanted to say, a big thanks, and appreciate you sharing the link to that video. It was indeed a... more » | Other threads
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spying
Senate Gives Telcos Free Pass On Warrantless Domestic Spying Program
Joel at BBG writes in five precise words what it means that the Senate has just granted retroactive immunity to telcos (AT&T, Verizon and others) for participating in the government's warrantless wiretapping program that spied on American citizens: "We Lost. The Telcos Won." More »
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Comment by cr0ft: 3000 dead New Yorkers dead is really nothing but a pinprick if you extract he emotional hyperbole and overblown American... more » | Other threads
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at&t
Senate Set to Give Retroactive Immunity to AT&T and Other Telcos for Warrantless Wiretapping Program
Should AT&T and the other telcos involved (like Verizon) get a total pass for participating in the NSA's domestic wiretapping program that let the government eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant? The Senate's thisclose to giving them immunity from lawsuits like the one the Electronic Freedom Foundation's filed against AT&T and others. More »
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Comment by johnnyabnormal: @Indio: Geesh. For a while there I thought I was the only one who counterbalanced the reich wing in... more » | Other threads
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copywrong
Hollywood Puppet Congressdude Wants Harder, More Draconian DMCA With No Safe Harbor
While overseeing a hearing on the PRO-IP Act, a bill that might make statutory damages for copyright infringement even more obscene, Rep. Howard Berman, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, pondered out loud about other ridiculous copyright stuff he wants to do. Like make the DMCA an even more horrible piece of legislation by neutering its safe harbor provisions. More » -
broadband
Congress Tells Off FCC, Expects Full Count of Broadband Households
Turns out, the FCC defines an entire zip code as served by broadband when one single household receives one single 200-kilobit trickle. The US House of Representatives voted to change that. It seems, in order to see exactly how badly we're doing compared to the other post-industrial nations—do we rank 11th? or 15th? or 24th?—there needs to be a more accurate "broadband census." More »
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Comment by Sqube: It's about fucking time. We're probably going to end up in the 30s. more » | Other threads
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orwell reference here
Video: The AT&T Wiretapping Dealio Explained in Two Minutes
This clip, featuring AT&T whisteblower Mark Klein, was thrown together by Senator Chris Dodd's staff and neatly wraps up the basics of the snooping allegations the EFF's pursuing against AT&T. He's apparently rubbing elbows in DC this week to explain the issue to Congressional types. If his spiel gets at all technical, God help him. [EFF via BoingBoing]
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Comment by acox: The 'dragnet' comment was interesting. Anyone see the recent movie "The Lives of Others"? Too many familiarities for my... more » | Other threads
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blockade
FCC Refuses to Probe Snoop-Friendly Telcos
The FCC has refused to investigate phone companies who are thought to have turned over millions of records to the NSA, according to a Reuters story. More » -
home entertainment
RIAA Boycott: "Fair Use" Bill Falls Short of Sweeping Digital Rights Reform
Yesterday we told you about this FAIR USE bill that's been introduced in Congress, and we were pretty happy to hear about it. Now that people have had the time to really get into the guts of the bill, it looks like it might not be the savior we were hoping for. The experts at Ars Technica took a long, hard look at the bill, and they left less than impressed."The problem is that, unlike previous versions of the legislation, Boucher's new bill offers no legal protections for the developers of software like Handbrake. As a result, the tools required to exercise fair use are difficult to find, not as user-friendly as they could be, and not supported by major software companies like Apple and Microsoft. Perhaps worst of all, the law makes it impossible for legitimate software firms (in the United States, at least) to develop new software to make innovative uses of content obtained from DVDs, iTunes, or other DRM-encumbered formats."
So the bill looks to be a lot of talk without the teeth that it would need to have real, long-lasting effects on the current state of digital media. Bummer, dudes. Looks like we still have a lot of work to do. More » -
home entertainment
RIAA Boycott: Congress Introduces "Fair Use" Bill; They're Totally With Us
Wait a minute… could this be… good news on the DRM front? Really? Somebody pinch me. More » -
cellphones
Verizon Says Fat Chance to Cellphone Porn
Though the Mobile Adult Content Congress seemed to be a big hit this past week in Miami, and everyone knows that bringing cellphone-based smut to the masses is a billion dollar business, many cellphone operators aren't buying into the idea so readily. Already, Europe is steeped in tens of millions of dollars worth of mobile porn, with Vodaphone a big provider (dubbed Vodafilth by the Brits). But in the US, X-rated sales distributed via cell phones last year were not so high (Remember, friends, before you twirl the meat, ask yourself WWJDL?). The get-your-porn-on-the-fly congress was much more focused on content rating and filtering devices or age verification mechanisms, that would try to stop underage pervs from getting in on the action, but some people were getting hyped up about the options arrayed before them.It was all a bit staid and very business-like, but one speaker, an executive identified as James Walz of West Management, did seem to get worked up as he talked about features like "personalized strip teases" and unbridled U.S. market potential.
Yeah James, you go boy, it's yer birthday. In the end, however, the key to this type of technology really lies on whether providers will offer direct billing to their cellphones—and that seems the be a sticking point with companies like Verizon. As Jeffrey Nelson of Verizon Wireless said,As my grandmother would have said, "fat chance."
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