1. Monthly archive
  2. December 2015

December 2015

FCC asking if free-data plans from T-Mobile, AT&T and Comcast break Internet rules

Federal regulators are looking into new offerings, such as T-Mobile's Binge On, that exempt video and other services from data caps to determine whether they violate new rules for Internet traffic. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency sent letters to T-Mobile, AT&T and Comcast asking for informal meetings to discuss "some of the innovative things they are doing." "This is not an investigation. This is not any enforcement," he said.

The letters were sent Dec 16, and the companies were asked to make employees available by Jan. 15. Chairman Wheeler said the goal is for FCC officials to stay aware of innovative services in the wake of the agency's tough new network neutrality regulations, which are designed to ensure the uninhibited flow of Internet content. The meetings will be an "informal review of new offerings so the commission is fully informed about new marketplace offerings," FCC spokeswoman Kim Hart said. The companies also can discuss "their views on how the broadband industry as a whole is developing," and the FCC "will invite others -- including other commercial interests and public-interest groups -- to meet with us as well," Hart said.

How Google enlisted members of US Congress it bankrolled to fight EU antitrust case

Google enlisted members of the US congress, whose election campaigns it had funded, to pressure the European Union to drop a €6 billion antitrust case which threatens to decimate the US tech firm’s business in Europe. The coordinated effort by senators and members of the House of Representatives, as well as by a congressional committee, formed part of a sophisticated, multimillion-pound lobbying drive in Brussels, which Google has significantly ramped up as it fends off challenges to its dominance in Europe. An investigation into Google’s multifaceted lobbying campaign in Europe has uncovered fresh details of its activities and methods. Based on documents obtained under a freedom of information request and a series of interviews with EU officials, MEPs and Brussels lobbyists, the investigation has also found:

  • Google’s co-founder and CEO Larry Page met the then European commission chief privately in California in spring 2014 and raised the antitrust case despite being warned by EU officials that it would be inappropriate to do so.
  • Officials and lawmakers in Brussels say they have witnessed a significant expansion of Google lobbying efforts over the past 18 months as the company faces increased scrutiny of its business activities in Europe.
  • Google has employed several former EU officials as in-house lobbyists, and has funded European thinktanks and university research favourable to its position as part of its broader campaign.

House Energy & Commerce Leaders Concerned About Covert Propaganda on Climate Rules

House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), and Energy Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy seeking information regarding the use of social media platforms by EPA to promote the agency’s climate rules. Recently, the nonpartisan watchdog Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that EPA had engaged in “covert propaganda” relating to its Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule through its use of Thunderclap, a “crowdspeaking platform,” in an effort to increase support for the rule. Additionally, the watchdog report indicated that EPA engaged in illegal grassroots lobbying and also found that EPA violated the Antideficiency Act when it obligated and expended appropriated funds for its propaganda and grassroots lobby efforts.

In the letter to Administrator McCarthy, the committee leaders write, “EPA’s actions potentially undermined the integrity of the rulemaking process concerning WOTUS, and call into question the use of social media to promote other rulemaking activity. For example, EPA undertook an extensive social media messaging campaign in support of its Clean Power Plan, authoring blog posts, and posting messages on Facebook and Twitter." The leaders also requested EPA provide all Clean Power Plan social media and web postings, communications related to EPA’s social media and web postings on the Clean Power Plan, and an accounting of federal funds spent by EPA on soliciting comments in support of Clean Power Plan. The members also requested that the agency “certify in writing that EPA has not engaged in covert propaganda or grassroots lobbying when promoting the Clean Power Plan.”

Chairman Thune Announces Key Senate Commerce Committee Staff Change

Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-SD) announced that the committee majority’s current deputy staff director Nick Rossi will succeed the departing David Schwietert as majority staff director.

Rossi, a native of Ohio, has worked as a staff member on four Senate committees since 2006, including service as minority staff director of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and chief counsel of the Commerce Committee. Prior to his Senate career, he worked for over a decade at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Earlier, Chairman Thune took to the Senate floor to thank outgoing committee staff director David Schwietert for more than a decade of service on his staff as legislative director, a subcommittee staff director on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and both minority and majority full committee staff director on the Commerce Committee.

New report looks to future of libraries building digitally inclusive communities

A new report explores the ways in which libraries throughout the nation are leading the way in building digitally inclusive communities that support individual opportunity and community progress. Titled "After Access: Libraries and Digital Empowerment", the paper shares research, resources and expert conversations gathered from a summit of digital inclusion advocates hosted by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP).

The summer convening explored how library professionals and their collaborators can best meet the changing digital information and literacy needs of their communities. The event was co-sponsored by the ALA Office for Research and Statistics and the University of Maryland Information Policy & Access Center as part of its Digital Inclusion Survey research, funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The summit sought to connect the Digital Inclusion Survey and related research to describe the current landscape; define next steps in building digitally inclusive communities; and engage the collective wisdom and experience of local and national experts to discuss how to advance the field in four areas: programs and services; staff training and capacity building; policy and funding; and research and evaluation.

COPPA: When persistence doesn’t pay

[Commentary] Some operators of websites and online services directed at children would do well to learn a lesson that youngsters often know: ask permission before using something that’s not yours. For a quick primer, companies may want to check out two settlements that the Federal Trade Commission announced with the operators of mobile apps for children. The settlements provide for civil penalties totaling $360,000 against the operators, who the FTC charged violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule by letting third-party advertising networks use their apps to collect children’s personal information without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

What kind of personal information were the apps collecting? That’s where it gets really interesting. According to the FTC, the apps collected “persistent identifiers,” or data that can be used to recognize a user -- in this case, a child -- over time and across different websites. Advertisers use identifiers to track online behavior and target their ads based on what the users’ behavior reveals about them. The FTC said the app operators allowed the advertising networks to collect persistent identifiers from children using their apps so that advertisers could serve targeted advertising.

Updating the Spectrum Relocation Fund to Enable Innovation, Flexibility in Spectrum Use

[Commentary] Since its creation in 2004, the Spectrum Relocation Fund (SRF) has served as an important tool supporting federal agency efforts to make more spectrum available for commercial use. The fund reimburses agencies for some of the costs they incur for repurposing the spectrum they use in performing critical missions on behalf of the American people, opening the door to commercial access to the spectrum. In Nov, Congress made important enhancements to the SRF to address this issue by enacting the Spectrum Pipeline Act.

The Act broadens the scope of eligible expenses, enabling agencies to use funds from the SRF to pay for research and related activities that promise to increase spectrum efficiency and that may lead to repurposing of spectrum for commercial use. These modifications provide an initial $500 million in funding as well as a mechanism to replenish the funding pool with proceeds from future auctions. We are excited about these enhancements to the SRF because they improve our ability to meet both of these important national goals.

© 1994-2026 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.