Public Knowledge

The last thing American consumers need is yet another mega merger, as giant internet service providers and cable companies claim they need to get yet-larger to keep up with their industry peers. More consolidation won’t fix the cable industry, and introducing new sets of competitive problems is no way to address existing ones. As always with cable mergers, the question is as much a loss of opportunities for content creators and programmers to reach an audience, as the loss of choices to subscribers.

Public Knowledge joined 16 other public interest, consumer rights, and library groups in a letter urging Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson to protect consumers in the digital marketplace by establishing clear ground rules for digital ownership and sales of goods.

Public Knowledge submitted reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission regarding the In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete request for comments. Public Knowledge's comments focus on the insufficient legal basis for the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding. "Public Knowledge urges the FCC to terminate this unlawful proceeding and follow the appropriate steps, as outlined by law, if it seeks to delete, delete, delete some of the very rules that protect the public the most. The Commission must remember its core constituency—the public, not the President.

Public Knowledge, along with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, the Center for Digital Democracy, and Free Press, filed an amicus brief urging the U.S.

A discussion about the need for a sector-specific digital regulator and suggests how to design that regulator to enhance competition and protect consumers.

In light of sweeping actions across the federal government, simply put—the vibes are off at the Federal Communications Commission.

The Commerce Department is considering changes to the distribution of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program that could significantly delay broadband deployment and redirect billions away from fiber and fixed wireless in favor of Low-Earth Orbit satellite services like Starlink’s. LEO satellites have distinct advantages in remote areas, but they also have technical & economic tradeoffs that would undermine BEAD’s long-term goals of reliable, scalable broadband access.

Public Knowledge joined 14 other public interest, consumer advocacy, and civil liberties groups—including the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society—in a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to adopt the agency’s proposed cell phone unlocking requirement. The groups argue that doing so would increase consumer choice, lower costs, and improve competition in the wireless marketplace.