The Senate unanimously passed Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-NV) bill, the Modernization, Accountability, and Planning for Broadband Funding Act, to make sure the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Funding Map is working effectively for the public, government agencies, and broadband providers.
On the run-up to SpaceX’s historic initial public offering on June 12, commentators worried about who would get hurt. Their top concern was for everyday retirement savers: Major stock index providers like NASDAQ had changed their own rules to fast-track SpaceX’s inclusion in their market measures. These unusual moves would force holders of plain vanilla index funds to buy into a risky, unproven stock.
SpaceX had its initial public offering. Elon Musk is a trillionaire on paper. But what is SpaceX? On one level, of course, SpaceX is a company that builds rockets and spacecraft and launches them into space. (Occasionally the rockets explode.) It is also the company that birthed Starlink, a satellite-internet business that generated more than $11 billion in revenue last year. But the company can be defined in many ways. SpaceX is a financial instrument for Musk.
Friends of Public Knowledge: It’s time to pause to celebrate, reflect, and envision the future of technology as Public Knowledge turns 25 years old this fall! For a quarter century, Public Knowledge has served as one of the leading digital rights defenders in Washington (DC), working at the intersection of communications, media, and internet law to promote freedom of expression, an Open Internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works.
ABC is taking its fight with the government to its own airwaves. The Disney-owned broadcast network launched an on-air campaign urging viewers to weigh in against the Federal Communications Commission’s early review of its broadcast licenses and a separate investigation of its daily talk show “The View.” The FCC has said the license review is tied to an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, while its probe into “The View” centers on whether the show violated so-called equal-time rules for politicians.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has released all but four states to begin signing Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment contracts with grant winners. NTIA has still not approved the grant proposals from California and Illinois. Now that the process of negotiating contracts for grant winners has started, news is seeping out of some grant winners backing out and refusing to accept the BEAD grant awards. The largest BEAD award being rejected is by Astound in Texas, which is walking away from $166 million in grants.
Only a small fraction of data center opponents actually live near one, according to new polling by a consulting firm that counsels leading AI labs and tech startups.
Most Americans say they love working from home. They can skip their commutes, dodge their snippy co-workers, and evade their micromanaging bosses. In 2024, nearly 80 percent of workers said they would be happiest if they could work remotely. Both of us have experienced the advantages of remote work, especially when battling morning sickness or caring for a sick 6-year-old. But on some days, we wouldn’t venture outside or speak face-to-face with another human.
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