Freedom of speech is probably Americans’ most celebrated individual liberty. One thinks of the great First Amendment cases that have advanced press freedoms and the rights of individuals to voice unpopular opinions. In the last month, however, we’ve seen a very different deployment of the First Amendment – a cynical use of individual freedoms to … Continue reading First Amendment Liberties and the Right-to-Know – Commercial Disclosure Imperiled…
Author: Ellen Goodman
Comcast to Acquire Time Warner, Giving it Most of Cable Broadband Market
Philadelphia-based Comcast is set to acquire New York-based Time Warner Cable. If the deal is approved by the FCC and the Department of Justice, this will give Comcast nearly three quarters of the U.S. cable broadband market with about 30 million subscribers. This amounts to about 33% of the entire subscription TV broadband market, which … Continue reading Comcast to Acquire Time Warner, Giving it Most of Cable Broadband Market…
U.S. Net Neutrality Rules Gone for Now
D.C Circuit Throws Out Net Neutrality Rules. We’ve waited a long time for a verdict on the FCC’s net neutrality rules (Open Internet Order). On 14 January, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 63-page opinion, handed a qualified victory to the challenger in Verizon v. FCC, by throwing out most of the rules. … Continue reading U.S. Net Neutrality Rules Gone for Now…
D.C. District Court on Why NSA Bulk Data Collection Violates Privacy
U.S. federal district court Judge Richard Leon (Washington D.C.) on December 16 held in a 68-page opinion that the NSA’s bulk collection of mobile phone call “metadata” was an unconstitutional violation of privacy. The effect of the decision is stayed pending appeal, but the court’s reasoning is instructive. Essentially, the judge found that: (1) our … Continue reading D.C. District Court on Why NSA Bulk Data Collection Violates Privacy…
Cynical Use of “Transparency” in GOP FCC Reform Bill
The House Commerce Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow, July 11, on H.R. 3309, The FCC Process Reform Act. Like most of what happens in Congress these days, it’s a bit of show on a bill that will go nowhere in the Senate. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting a bit of Orwellian doublespeak in the bill … Continue reading Cynical Use of “Transparency” in GOP FCC Reform Bill…