Kenneth Corbin

With all the responses in, the Federal Communications Commission’s call for comments on how it should define the term “broadband” has again highlighted the deep fissures that mark the policy debate. The nation’s largest ISPs have asked the commission to set a relatively low baseline standard for broadband speed, in stark contrast to the recommendations […]

These days, it really does seem a bit much to expect people to reach for their laptop or iPhone to alert the world that they’re watching on television. Well, IBM’s got an app for that. In a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Big Blue describes a network-enabled remote control that syncs up […]

A coalition of 10 privacy advocacy groups today unveiled a set of proposals it hopes to see included in what could be a far-ranging bill governing online advertising expected to be introduced in the House this fall. Like many stakeholders in the ad industry, members of the coalition have been meeting with House leaders as […]

Surely the great democratizing power of the Internet and the rise of social media have fueled a new era of online civic engagement, where the voices of rich and poor alike resonate apace and the hierarchies of influence are flattened. Right? In a word from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, no. “We were […]

WASHINGTON — In the face of unprecedented regulatory interest in the wireless sector, it might seem a nervous time for the forces in the industry committed to opposing government oversight. But to look at the head of the industry’s leading advocacy association, a consistent opponent of government interference in the private sector, you wouldn’t know […]

Where would we be without search engines? In its latest analysis, online metrics firm comScore reported today that Internet users worldwide executed 113 billion searches in July, a 41 percent increase from the same month last year. By the international tally, Google’s hegemony in the search space is even more dramatic than its lead domestically. […]

As Google’s controversial settlement with authors and publishers to create what could be the world’s largest digital library approaches its day in court, a prominent European official has spoken out in support of the agreement. European Union Media Commissioner Vivane Reding praised the agreement, calling the “digitization of cultural products” a “Herculean task” that would […]

As Congress looks ahead to a busy fall session, cybersecurity legislation is expected to resurface as one of the top priorities of the Senate Commerce Committee. The committee’s chairman, West Virginia Democrat John Rockefeller, had [introduced with Maine Republican Olympia Snowe a sweeping bill that would revamp the federal approach to cybersecurity policy](/government/article.php/3813391/Senators+Introduce+Cybersecurity+Overhaul+Bill.htm), providing incentives […]

More than 2,200 parties have submitted applications seeking nearly $28 billion in government stimulus funding for broadband projects — far outstripping the money available. The deluge of requests mark only the first wave of funding in the government stimulus program. The February economic stimulus bill allocated $7.2 billion for broadband in the U.S., with the […]

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security and a private-sector coalition has given the nation’s digital infrastructure high marks for its resiliency in the face of cyber attacks. Working with the Information Technology Sector Coordinating Council (IT SCC), DHS earlier this week released its IT Sector Baseline Risk Assessment (PDF), a tool to […]

The Federal Communications Commission opened an inquiry into the wireless industry today, planning to probe the state of competition, innovation and investment in a sector of the telecom market that has been facing increasing government scrutiny. By a unanimous vote, the five-person commission moved to issue two notices of inquiry regarding the industry, but the […]

Under pressure from Canadian regulators, Facebook said today that it would implement a host of changes to its privacy practices, including a new policy governing the site’s third-party applications. The policy changes came in response to concerns raised by Canada’s privacy commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, who had threatened to take Facebook to court if it did […]