Kenneth Corbin

WASHINGTON — Of the many tech issues the new Congress is expected to consider, few are more controversial than reform to the digital copyright system. On one side: open-Internet advocates who feel that copyright law has failed to keep up with Web 2.0-era content distribution. On another side are traditional media industries who argue that […]

WASHINGTON — Information technology may not be the panacea that cures the nation’s healthcare system, but a key senator said that it will be indispensable to the major reforms that Congress plans to debate this session. “Everybody sees it as a silver bullet,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said this morning at a hearing of the […]

WASHINGTON — Reforming the nation’s healthcare system is never a simple proposition. Add in sweeping initiatives to bring the medical industry into the digital age, as President-elect Barack Obama has called for, and another wrinkle is added to the already-complicated issue. At a panel discussion here at the annual conference of the Advisory Committee to […]

WASHINGTON — With a new administration days away from taking office, much of the talk about open, e-government has been at the federal level. But in a practical sense, a great many of the policies that affect people’s everyday lives are made by state and local governments. Here at the annual tech-policy conference of the […]

WASHINGTON — The debate over how much information Internet companies should be allowed to collect about their users, and how they handle it, is as old as the Web itself. But as the Internet becomes the backbone for an ever-growing body of personal data, including sensitive information such as healthcare records, many observers are expecting […]

News of President-elect Obama’s reported selection of Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission is drawing praise from both public advocacy and industry groups. A report in the Wall Street Journal said that Obama planned to name the former tech executive and venture capitalist to the position, confirming rumors that had circled for weeks […]

WASHINGTON — With news industry advertising revenue and subscription rates in free fall, some executives see online video as a silver lining in an otherwise gloomy economy. In a panel discussion here at Google’s offices, editors from the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN and other media outlets described their early forays into Web […]

As the Obama team makes the rounds on Capitol Hill to promote the president-elect’s economic recovery plan, lawmakers are looking to spur broadband deployment with the massive stimulus bill they hope to pass next month. Obama has already signaled his intention to include broadband provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which includes a […]

WASHINGTON — Having campaigned and won the presidency on a platform of changing the way government does business, President-elect Barack Obama is facing high expectations for making the inner working of his administration open and accessible to the public. To many, technology is the clearest path to an open government. Speaking here at Google’s offices, […]

Now that the Commerce Department has run out of money for the coupon program for the converter boxes that some Americans will need to keep their TVs working once broadcasters switch off their analog signals next month, a new wave of panic about the nation’s preparedness is rippling through Washington. Add to the ranks of […]

One of best-known faces of tech policy on the Hill is stepping out of the fray. Rep Ed Markey, D-Mass., announced today that he will no longer chair the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Markey will assume the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, also a branch of the Energy and […]

WASHINGTON — If government regulators often walk a fine line, then you might argue that Kevin Martin walked an especially thin tightrope during his time overseeing the Federal Communications Commission. Looking back on his tenure as chairman, Martin described his role as a regulator striking a balance between allowing markets to function without government interference, […]