Reps Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Bob Latta (R-OH) introduced legislation that would improve the accuracy of the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband availability maps. The Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act (HR 4229) will improve the accuracy of FCC broadband data maps by changing the way broadband data is collected. The legislation is cosponsored by Reps.
As is often the case in other areas of public concern, regulatory volatility coupled with the glacial pace of legal development has created obstacles for libraries seeking to fulfill their missions. Two key challenges for libraries are (1) their ability to access (and provide access to) quality, affordable broadband, and (2) their ability to expand the traditional library practice of owning and lending out physical works into the digital world. Policymakers must pursue sensible broadband and copyright policies to help libraries further their service to the public interest.
State attorneys general are formally launching separate antitrust probes into Facebook and Alphabet’s Google unit starting the week of Sept 9, putting added pressure on tech giants already under federal scrutiny. New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her office was organizing a bipartisan, multi-state probe into social media company Facebook. “We will use every investigative tool at our disposal to determine whether Facebook’s actions may have endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers’ choices, or increased the price of advertising,” she said.
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