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Dems on the Hill are waking up to round two on the fight over the future of broadband. Specifically, Senators Kerry (D-MA), Cantwell (D-WA), Udall (D-NM) and Wyden (D-OR) sent this letter to Senators Inouye (D-HI) and Cochran (R-MS) -- the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriation Committee -- arguing that no one should use the appropriations process to prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from moving forward with its proposed Notice Of Inquiry (NOI) asking what to do for legal authority for the National Broadband Plan and to protect consumers now that the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit has gutted the FCC's previous theory of authority. Here's the money quote: read more

Dems on the Hill are waking up to round two on the fight over the future of broadband. Specifically, Senators Kerry (D-MA), Cantwell (D-WA), Udall (D-NM) and Wyden (D-OR) sent this letter to Senators Inouye (D-HI) and Cochran (R-MS) -- the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriation Committee -- arguing that no one should use the appropriations process to prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from moving forward with its proposed Notice Of Inquiry (NOI) asking what to do for legal authority for the National Broadband Plan and to protect consumers now that the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit has gutted the FCC's previous theory of authority. Here's the money quote: read more

For Immediate Release:  June 14, 2010 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should make certain that consumers have more choice in devices to see video programming by going ahead with rules that Congress mandated in 1996, three public interest groups told the Commission.The text of the filing is here.read more

For Immediate Release:  June 14, 2010 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should make certain that consumers have more choice in devices to see video programming by going ahead with rules that Congress mandated in 1996, three public interest groups told the Commission.The text of the filing is here.read more

The mobile world holds a lot of promise for consumers, and for those brave enough to develop applications that have to work on a whole host of different devices and on the technologies of different carriers.read more

The mobile world holds a lot of promise for consumers, and for those brave enough to develop applications that have to work on a whole host of different devices and on the technologies of different carriers.read more

June 28, 2010 - 6:30pm - 8:30pm If you’re in the D.C. area, you’ll want to mark your calendar for a very special upcoming event. On 6/28, Public Knowledge, the New America Foundation and Copynight will co-host a talk by author, blogger and activist Cory Doctorow, on the topic of “How Copyright Threatens Democracy”. Full details and an RSVP form can be found at the New America Foundation’s website. Don’t snooze on this one, folks—this event is guaranteed to fill up fast. Full description after the break: read more

If you're in the D.C. area, you'll want to mark your calendar for a very special upcoming event. On 6/28, Public Knowledge, the New America Foundation and Copynight will co-host a talk by author, blogger and activist Cory Doctorow, on the topic of "How Copyright Threatens Democracy". Full details and an RSVP form can be found at the New America Foundation's website. Don't snooze on this one, folks--this event is guaranteed to fill up fast. Full description after the break:  read more

It only took a couple of months, but the telecom industry, with some other chosen companies, established a technical playpen that could have far-reaching implications for Internet policy.  The new Technical Advisory Group (TAG) announced June 9 starts with a core group led by AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.  There are no consumer or public-interest representatives in the original cast, although Google and DISH Networks are members.We certainly believe in bringing technical expertise to complicated issues surrounding the Internet.  After all, it took a lot of work to figure out that Comcast was sending reset packets that cut off their customers who were using BitTorrent, particularly as Comcast denied doing anything wrong.read more

As we’ve said before, negotiations over the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) should include input from the public, not just a handful of industry groups trying to shoehorn international public policy around their agenda. We’re happy that the draft text of the agreement was officially released in April, that the European Parliament took a strong pro-transparency and pro-consumer stance, and that the office of the US Trade Representative, the executive-branch body negotiating for the United States, has made some overtures towards accepting public comments. But today I’m writing on a slightly different topic: secondary liability, or holding one person responsible for the copyright-infringing behavior of another. As Rashmi and John have written, ACTA seeks to make big changes to other countries’ laws by mandating secondary liability. And we’re not the only ones worried about this: major industry groups on both sides of the Atlantic have weighed in against ACTA in a pair of letters.read more

Last night I received an email from Jeremy at Viacom: “Hi Harold.  A good deal of your post about “Flickr” was incorrect.  In the interest of being as informative as possible to your readers, you should check out:  http://twitter.com/jonathancoulton/statuses/15804884261”   As always, what I love about copyright flaks is their commitment to courtesy. How could I resist such a charming invitation? Following the link, I found this Tweet from Jonathon Coulton: “Oops - turns out I gave iFilm permission to post flickr in 06 before they were Spike.com. Viacom does not owe me $37. Sorry Viacom!”  read more

For Immediate Release:  June 9, 2010 Background:  Earlier today, a number of telecommunications companies announced the formation of a Technical Advisory Group to provide ‘guidance’ to the industry and public and to try to solve disputes regarding Internet networking practices.  (If you missed it, details here.)The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:“We believe there is a role for advisory groups to consult on items of technical importance.  Given that this advisory group is only just getting off the ground, we are cautiously optimistic that it may do some good.read more

Video bloggers VLOG Brothers posted this entry about SpikeTV, a subsidiary of Viacom, violating musician Jonathan Coulton's Creative Commons License for one of his songs (I've included the video blog below). Briefly, Coulton has released a video of his song Flickr under a Creative Commons license allowing noncommercial use and requiring attribution. SpikeTV grabbed the video and played commercials before it and associated with while playing. read more

The broadcast “retransmission consent” regulatory structure isn’t exactly the hottest topic of the moment, so you might wonder why PK recently filed Reply Comments (and joined the Petition for Rulemaking) urging the FCC to revamp its rules governing negotiations between over-the-air broadcasters and cable companies. Getting the retransmission consent rules right is important if the FCC wants to protect consumer choice by ensuring a vibrant marketplace for multichannel video programming distributors (including cable companies, digital broadcast satellite, incumbent local exchange carriers, and online video distributors).  Right now consumers are caught in the middle, and are being used as pawns in the negotiations for cable companies’ rights to offer broadcast programming to their customers.  In recent years, these negotiations have consistently resulted in either higher cable rates for consumers or loss of programming.  PK’s reply comments urge the FCC to stop letting consumers get trampled in a system that was intended to benefit the public by preserving “free” over-the-air broadcasting.read more

June 11, 2010 - 8:00am - 11:00am Public Knowledge, which in 2007 asked the Federal Communications Commission to protect text messaging, and the Mobile Internet Content Coalition (MICC), will sponsor a half-day conference on June 11, 2010, to explore those issues with the people who every day see the challenge and frustrations of the mobile market.read more

Physicians understandably prefer to avoid defamatory remarks about them popping up on the internet (don’t we all?), but that doesn’t justify the relatively new practice of some doctors controlling online patient reviews by making their patients sign over their “copyright” in all future reviews, true or not.  The New York Times recently published an interesting article about strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), which mentioned in passing efforts of the for-profit company Medical Justice to keep patients from posting unfavorable physician reviews online.  Even more interesting than what you’ll find in the linked article was its original version, as posted last Monday:  “The group Medical Justice, which helps protect doctors from meritless malpractice suits, advises its members to have patients sign an agreement that gives the doctor copyright over a Web posting if the patient mentions the doctor or practice.”read more

June 15, 2010 - 9:00am - 5:00pm Come hear Sherwin Siy speak on the copyright panel. The Federal Trade Commission will hold a series of workshops, to explore how the Internet has affected journalism. The event is free and open to the public.  The workshop will assemble representatives from print, online, broadcast and cable news organizations, academics, consumer advocates, bloggers, and other new media representatives.

National Press Club 549 14th Street NW 13th Floor Washington, DC via webcast (link posted day of event)

 

For Immediate Release:  June 7, 2010 The market for mobile applications is one of the fastest growing in the country.  At the same time, there are a great number of barriers that innovators face in either getting their products to market or keeping them online.Public Knowledge, which in 2007 asked the Federal Communications Commission to protect text messaging, and the Mobile Internet Content Coalition (MICC), will sponsor a half-day conference on June 11, 2010, to explore those issues with the people who every day see the challenge and frustrations of the mobile market.Here’s the agenda.  We hope you can join us.Date:  Friday, June 11, 2010Place:  Arent Fox LLP 1050 Connecticut Ave, N.W., Seventh Floor Washington, D.C. 20036AGENDA8:00 Continental Breakfast8:30 Networking Welcome, Introduction, and Overview – Mike Hazzard, Arent Fox8:40 Panel I – Meet the Mobile Innovatorsread more

June 10, 2010 - 3:30pm - 5:00pm Access to High-speed, affordable and ubiquitous broadband is a necessity in the 21st century. Although Congress allocated $7.2 Billion for broadband projects in the 2009 Stimulus Act, the final application round for funding has closed. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that an additional $350 billion is needed to expand high-speed connectivity nationwide; meaning cities and communities will need to explore other options for bringing broadband to their residents, businesses and institutions. New America Foundation1899 L St NW, 4th FloorWashington, DC 20036

Former White House staffer and now (again) law professor Susan Crawford set the Personal Democracy Conference 2010 afire on Friday with a great speech telling the tech community it needs to take a seat at the policy table while important issues are being discussed. Watch it here. Also at the conference, I was on a panel with actor/producer Tim Reid and entrepreneur Lauren Coleman talking about what happens when broadband isn’t available. Tim was very passionate about the lack of connections in his community in Petersburg, VA, while Lauren talked about the need for mobile connectivity among younger users.  I talked about broadband safety nets and what happens when those are taken away. Listen to the session here.