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• 5 Minutes with Harold Feld

Click thumbnail above for video CLICK HERE TO WRITE THE WHITE HOUSE NOW Public Knowledge’s Legal Director Harold Feld discusses the Obama Administration’s stance on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the problems with the current draft, and suggests a way forward by removing the controversial parts.

For Immediate Release:  June 22, 2010 Background:  Earlier today, FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus posted a note on the FCC blog regarding meetings he and other staff members were having with the public.  The post is here.read more

CLICK HERE TO WRITE THE WHITE HOUSE NOW The Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement continues to roll along with negotiations taking place in Switzerland in the coming weeks. Rumor has it that these negotiations might be bringing us to a finalized ACTA soon, despite protests from public interest groups, technology companies, and legislators around the world that its ham-fisted approach to enforcement can do grave harm to consumers, innovation, communication, and can even make it harder for lifesaving medications to reach populations in need. It’s time to make sure that your voices are heard on this important issue. And we have two ways that you can do that. One is by signing a declaration of principles crafted by a coalition of experts assembled at American University. The other, more direct method is by writing to the President himself, using our action alert submission form. read more

For Immediate Release:  June 22, 2010 Victoria Espinel, the Obama Administration’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, this morning released her first strategic plan on IP issues. The plan can be found here.The following is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:“We want to congratulate Victoria Espinel on her first intellectual property report.  Her findings show that she understands the concept of balance in copyright law at a time when others in the Administration do not.read more

Yesterday was the deadline for comments to the FCC regarding the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC Universal. Since one of the country’s biggest owners and operators of cable infrastructure is trying to integrate itself with one of the country’s biggest television content providers, there are a lot of potential issues that might arise. We at Public Knowledge, though, are leaving much of that for others to hash out; in our filing, we’re focused on the narrower issue of “over-the-top” Internet video—services that provide video content without owning the infrastructure that transmits the actual bits of the video. read more

For Immediate Release:  June 21, 2010 Public Knowledge today told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it must impose three conditions guaranteeing access to programming and to telecommunications networks if Comcast should is to be allowed to purchase NBC Universal.You can find the compete filing here.In its filing with the FCC, PK said the Commission first “must impose strict non-discrimination rules that prevent the entity from interfering with the distribution of non-affiliated content through filtering, blocking, or degrading distribution.”read more

On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission held the last of a yearlong series of workshops on the future of journalism.  The conversation centered on the staff discussion draft of potential policy recommendations, released late last month.  As I explained in my earlier post on the draft, it contains a few troubling suggestions regarding intellectual property law.  To warn the FTC of the consequences of these potential recommendations, PK’s own Sherwin Siy spoke at the workshop.  Additionally, we submitted written comments to the FTC, which you can read here.read more

On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission held the last of a yearlong series of workshops on the future of journalism.  The conversation centered on the staff discussion draft of potential policy recommendations, released late last month.  As I explained in my earlier post on the draft, it contains a few troubling suggestions regarding intellectual property law.  To warn the FTC of the consequences of these potential recommendations, PK’s own Sherwin Siy spoke at the workshop.  Additionally, we submitted written comments to the FTC, which you can read here.read more

One of Ernest Hemingway’s more enduring quotes is the one defining courage as “grace under pressure.”  For the past couple of months, no officials in Washington have been under such sustained pressure as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski and his Democratic colleagues, Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn.  Today, they demonstrated the essence of Hemingway’s courage.read more

One of Ernest Hemingway’s more enduring quotes is the one defining courage as “grace under pressure.”  For the past couple of months, no officials in Washington have been under such sustained pressure as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski and his Democratic colleagues, Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn.  Today, they demonstrated the essence of Hemingway’s courage.read more

For Immediate Release:  June 17, 2010 Background:  Earlier today, Ranking House Commerce Committee Republican Joe Barton (TX) and Ranking Communications Subcommittee member Cliff Stearns (FL) sent a letter to the leaders of the House Commerce Committee requesting a hearing on the FCC’s actions of today regarding broadband. You can read the text of the letter here. The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:“For weeks now, critics of the proposed actions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make certain all consumers benefit from broadband have claimed that it was the job of Congress to set new rules.  That argument was the basis of several letters sent to the FCC by Republicans and Democrats.read more

For Immediate Release:  June 17, 2010 Background:  Earlier today, Ranking House Commerce Committee Republican Joe Barton (TX) and Ranking Communications Subcommittee member Cliff Stearns (FL) sent a letter to the leaders of the House Commerce Committee requesting a hearing on the FCC’s actions of today regarding broadband. You can read the text of the letter here. The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:“For weeks now, critics of the proposed actions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make certain all consumers benefit from broadband have claimed that it was the job of Congress to set new rules.  That argument was the basis of several letters sent to the FCC by Republicans and Democrats.read more

For Immediate Release:  June 17, 2010 The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:“The Federal Communications Commission acted with uncommon courage today to make certain that everyone in the U.S. has a chance to participate in the 21st century economy and that consumers are protected from abuses by large telecommunications companies.“The Commission’s simple, uncomplicated action today makes certain that the expert agency in telecommunications has the authority to carry out its mission.  The Commission has been attacked unmercifully by multi-billion dollar companies using threats, intimidation and fabrications, among other distasteful tactics.  They have used captive or unwitting legislators, in the face if common sense, to further their corporate goals at the expense of millions of Americans.read more

For Immediate Release:  June 17, 2010 The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:“The Federal Communications Commission acted with uncommon courage today to make certain that everyone in the U.S. has a chance to participate in the 21st century economy and that consumers are protected from abuses by large telecommunications companies.“The Commission’s simple, uncomplicated action today makes certain that the expert agency in telecommunications has the authority to carry out its mission.  The Commission has been attacked unmercifully by multi-billion dollar companies using threats, intimidation and fabrications, among other distasteful tactics.  They have used captive or unwitting legislators, in the face if common sense, to further their corporate goals at the expense of millions of Americans.read more

Imagine having to pay thousands of dollars for a telephone, as Ester Strogen did when she leased an outdated telephone from AT&T for 42 years. It’s almost funny to think of someone doing that when telephones are available for so much less money. But not too long ago, most people had to lease their telephones and pay much more for them than they were worth, because AT&T would not allow customers to connect their own phones to the network. read more

Imagine having to pay thousands of dollars for a telephone, as Ester Strogen did when she leased an outdated telephone from AT&T for 42 years. It’s almost funny to think of someone doing that when telephones are available for so much less money. But not too long ago, most people had to lease their telephones and pay much more for them than they were worth, because AT&T would not allow customers to connect their own phones to the network. read more

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• 5 Minutes with Harold Feld

Click thumbnail above for video In this episode of Public Knowledge’s 5 Minutes with Harold Feld, Harold discusses the recent debate over Jonathan Coulton’s creative commons licensed videos being used on Viacom’s SpikeTV. The point is less about who owes who money and more to highlight that copyrights are complicated, and the danger of unintended consequences when making copyright policy in Washington, DC.

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• 5 Minutes with Harold Feld

Click thumbnail above for video In this episode of Public Knowledge’s 5 Minutes with Harold Feld, Harold discusses the recent debate over Jonathan Coulton’s creative commons licensed videos being used on Viacom’s SpikeTV. The point is less about who owes who money and more to highlight that copyrights are complicated, and the danger of unintended consequences when making copyright policy in Washington, DC.

For Immediate Release:  June 15, 2010 Background:  Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), and senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Tom Udall (D-NM) asked Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and ranking member Thad Cochran (R-MS) not to allow the appropriations process to be used to short-circuit the FCC's Open Internet proceeding. The text of the letter is here The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge: read more

For Immediate Release:  June 15, 2010 Background:  Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), and senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Tom Udall (D-NM) asked Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and ranking member Thad Cochran (R-MS) not to allow the appropriations process to be used to short-circuit the FCC's Open Internet proceeding. The text of the letter is here The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge: read more