June 2010

Over the last few weeks, dozens of House members from both sides of the aisle have signed on to a lobbyist-driven letter advocating to give control of the Internet to Comcast and AT&T by preventing the FCC from protecting the Internet, broadband expansion efforts, and net neutrality. The misleading pack-of-lies letter has prompted some in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to talk about revamping the 1996 Telecommunications Act with an eye towards giving the telecom companies and their lobbyists what they want.

On June 1, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) threw cold water on those plans. Describing herself as a "big net neutrality advocate," she said that she has a hard time seeing how any legislation that guts net neutrality, the national broadband plan, or other Internet-focused priorities would get through Congress. The Speaker said, "I don't know how many options they have unless they choose to work with Republicans, but it's not going to be a Democratic initiative." She added that making sure the Internet is open, free, and vibrant is a big priority for House Democrats, "Part of the innovation agenda I advocated for when I became Leader was universal broadband. We had hoped to get it done within five years. We just got the bill passed three years ago under President Bush, but we had no funding. Now we want to have the resources to take us to that place so we don't have a disparity between urban and rural populations. Reclassification, net neutrality, universal access for every American, these are priorities for us. And we see it not in isolation but as part of a new prosperity, as a job creator, to make America healthier, smarter and an international leader."

The Federal Communications Commission seeks applications for membership on the .

The Task Force will assist the FCC in fulfilling its commitment to increasing broadband deployment and adoption on Tribal lands. The Task Force will be responsible for, among other things, assisting in developing and executing a FCC consultation policy, eliciting input from Native American governments, ensuring that Native American concerns are considered in all Commission proceedings related to broadband, developing additional recommendations for promoting broadband deployment and adoption on Tribal lands, and coordinating with external entities, including other Federal departments and agencies. The Task Force will be comprised of senior FCC staff and elected leaders from Federally-recognized Native American governments or governmental entities (or their designated employees). As with other FCC advisory committees and joint boards, the Chairman of the FCC will appoint the members and designate a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman for the Task Force. In addition, the Chairman may appoint members to fill vacancies and may replace a member at his discretion. The Chairman will designate either himself or another Commissioner to oversee the activities of the Task Force and serve as a liaison between the Task Force and the FCC. Applicants should be willing to commit to a two-year term of service, which requires participation, either in person or by teleconference, in the meetings of the Task Force. It is anticipated that most meetings will take place in Washington, D.C. Attendance in person will be at the applicant's own expense. Members will also have an initial and continuing obligation to disclose any interests in, or connections to, persons or entities who are or will be regulated by, or who have interests before, the Commission.

[Commentary] Mobile computers like Apple's iPhone and iPad are among the most transformative information devices since the personal computer. So it makes sense for the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to review Apple's policies governing programmers' access to its devices to see if they violate antitrust laws.

Apple now wants developers to write apps specifically for its gadgets, using approved computer languages. The company also changed its terms of agreement with developers to prohibit them from using software from third parties to "send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis." Apple argues that these changes are legitimate efforts to offer consumers a flawless experience on its devices. This week, Apple's Steve Jobs declared that Adobe's widely used Flash platform "has had its day." Apple said the ban on sharing data with other programs was a way to protect the privacy of iPhone and iPad users. Yet regulators are concerned about Apple's pattern of behavior. The Justice Department is also investigating whether Apple is abusing its dominance in the digital music market to punish labels that do business deals with rivals like Amazon. The question is whether Apple's policies lock rivals out of fast-growing new markets.