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The sponsors of Internet sales tax legislation promised to allow floor votes on all relevant amendments.
"We want those members who have germane and relevant amendments to come forward," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "We want to have an opportunity to debate and vote on it." But he emphasized that because the legislation only affects state tax revenue, he would seek to block any amendments related to federal revenue. Sen Durbin said the sponsors "bent over backwards" to address concerns about small online businesses and said that fewer than 1,000 online retailers would likely be covered by the bill because of the current exemption. The sponsors also rejected the suggestion that states should be able to opt-out of having their retailers collect online sales taxes. Bill co-sponsor Sen Mike Enzi (D-WY) warned that such an amendment would encourage all online retailers to re-locate, at least legally, to states without sales taxes. "It's not a compromise," Sen Enzi said.
Bringing the bill directly to the Senate floor skipped over Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), whose panel has jurisdiction over tax issues. On April 22, Chairman Baucus offered to hold a hearing and committee vote on the bill in the next Senate work period. But the sponsors said they have no plans to pull their bill now.
Internet tax supporters promise to allow amendments
[Commentary] If you ever used eBay, you probably received a scary e-mail this week. The Senate is threatening small businesses, it warned. Complain to your legislators, it pleaded. Actually, it isn’t, and you shouldn’t.
Senators appear ready to deflect the pressure. They advanced a bill that would allow states to collect sales tax from out-of-state online vendors. This will level the playing field for stores that have a physical presence, which are already charging tax on all local purchases. That is fair for retailers, good for state budgets and even beneficial for consumers who would rather shop in person. The Senate should follow through and pass the bill,
The Senate moves to close the Internet sales tax loophole
FirstNet, which is overseeing the creation of an interoperable broadband emergency network for first responders, has named Bill D'Agostino Jr. as general manager of the herculean project. D'Agostino was most recently executive director for Verizon Wireless in Southern California. “[D]eploying this nationwide network will require an unprecedented level of public-private partnership, collaboration and shared commitment that leverages existing infrastructure for the well-being of all Americans. I look forward to working with you all, and taking on this historical task,” said D'Agostino.
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board also adopted a resolution authorizing FirstNet Board member Sue Swenson to begin negotiations with the state of Texas to enter into a spectrum lease agreement for its public safety broadband project. The state of Texas has used grant funds administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a project to install next-generation public safety broadband networks in Harris County. This project has been using the spectrum licensed to FirstNet under a Special Temporary Authorization granted by the Federal Communications Commission. Under the process approved by the FirstNet Board, Swenson will enter into a 90-day period for negotiations to seek an agreement with the state of Texas. If the negotiation concludes successfully within that 90-day window, and the Board approves the agreement, FirstNet then would execute a spectrum lease with the grantee.
FirstNet Names GM FirstNet Board Announces Hiring of Bill D’Agostino, Jr. as General Manager (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) Statement (Bill D’Agostino, Jr.) Docs (FirstNet) FirstNet Board to Begin Talks with Texas over Spectrum Lease Agreement; Board Approves Logo
Fifty organizations, most representing minority constituencies, have asked the White House to nominate two new Federal Communications Commission commissioners - including a replacement chairman - who will make minority and female participation in media a priority. They did not suggest any candidate by name.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, the NAACP, the Benton Foundation and a veritable host of others put in a plug for a laundry list of proposals, some pending for more than a decade. "In the next three years, FCC will be called upon to modernize our telephone systems, rationalize our spectrum policy, and achieve your administration's goals of universal broadband access, adoption and informed use," they wrote. "As part of the unprecedented transformation of our economy from the industrial to the digital age, it is imperative that the FCC has leaders firmly committed to delivering first class digital citizenship to all Americans, including historically marginalized populations."
Groups Want FCC Commissioners Focused on Boosting Minority Ownership
Over the next few days, some customers who purchased an iPhone 4 in 2010 will receive a check for $15 in the mail. The checks are part of a class action settled by Apple last year after mobile customers complained about call reception on the iPhone 4. The problem turned out to be with the phone’s antenna reception, and quickly became an Internet obsession in 2010. At the time, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, famously told one customer: “Just avoid holding it that way.” Before long, the problem was labeled The Death Grip and Antennagate. Apple eventually admitted a problem with the phone’s hardware, and an Apple hardware executive left the company. Jobs apologized publicly, one of the few times he did so at Apple. “We are human and we make mistakes sometimes,” he said. Apple last year agreed to a settlement of $53 million.
The Check Is in the Mail, From Apple
[Commentary]
- As a society, we’re hugely reliant on data management platforms for our most critical information.
- Our core data platforms often aren’t set up to handle human error, from basic coding flaws to spelling mistakes.
- The wealth of data in our data tools can mask that human error. Consider: The Reinhart-Rogoff study examined “new data on forty-four countries spanning about two hundred years” with “over 3,700 annual observations covering a wide range of political systems, institutions, exchange rate arrangements, and historic circumstances.”
- In such a wide sea of data, a few lines of code can be very easy to overlook, even if they have strong ramifications for analysis. There are lots of things to take away from these three points, but I’ll just focus on one: The promise of Big Data is that it can make every day processes — from critical analyses to mundane tasks — work smarter through data intelligence. Ultimately, all that data management translates into an economy and society that lets machines handle the minutiae as humans think through the larger picture.
[Wise is CEO of Mediaocean]
Big Data’s Usability Problem
In the face of increasing worry over security, students should be aware of tools that can help protect their privacy, as well as keeping track of companies that may misuse personal information.
How college students can maintain online privacy
Facebook spent more than $2.4 million on lobbying during the first quarter of 2013, a nearly four-fold increase over the company’s influence spending last year, public records show.
That figure puts Facebook on track to beat its previous record for lobbying spending. The company spent just $650,000 on lobbying during the first three months of 2012. In its disclosure form, Facebook said it lobbied on a range of key tech issues, including immigration reform, patent reform, online privacy and taxes. The company also said it lobbied on cybersecurity, including the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that passed the House last week despite a veto threat from the White House. The company has publicly stepped up its push for comprehensive immigration reform this year as both the Senate and House work on legislative proposals intended to fix the country's immigration system.
Facebook escalates lobbying spending Technology boosts Q1 spending on lobbying (Politico)
The Majority staff memo for the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on an online "do not track" (DNT) regime makes it clear that the hearing will address government oversight of voluntary initiatives, as well as a bill from Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) mandating such a regime.
In March, Chairman Rockefeller reintroduced legislation that would require companies who collect personal information online to get the affirmative permission of the person whose information is being collected. Violators could be fined up to $15 million. He said last week in announcing the oversight hearing that industry needs to do more, a point also made by new Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. According to the memo for the April 24 hearing, the issues it plans to address include online behavioral advertising self-regulatory principles, the online ad industry's icon-based DNT opt-out offerings, browser-based DNT options, the ongoing development of a worldwide DNT standard from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Obama Administration's Privacy Bill of Rights, which suggested that DNT was one way to provide consumers with control over their information.
Senate Tees Up 'Do Not Track' Oversight
5G is still just the merest twinkle in the mobile industry’s eye, yet the blogosphere is now using the term to describe T-Mobile’s forthcoming network. Just as with 4G, we’re conflating technology with marketing, and we need to stop.
5G doesn’t exist yet. Let’s stop abusing the term