A consortium of anti-public interest organizations (Free Press; Center for Media Justice; Media Access Project; Open Technology Initiative; New America Foundation; Presente.org) has just petitioned the FCC to act against a new package of 4G LTE services put together by MetroPCS, the nation’s fifth largest mobile phone carrier, which operates non-contract plans in nine major [...]

Peterson and Cerasale discuss the issue of sales tax on the Internet. High points in the discussion revolve around whether online taxation would level the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar locations, and whether or not states would do serious damage to the economy by attempting to tax out-of-state business.

Google will be removing H.264 video compression support from its Chrome web browser despite the fact that we’ve already paid for the patents and acceleration software. Now we are supposed to use VP8 which has no indemnity on patent infringement and no hardware acceleration.

Broadband Breakfast ran a fine session this morning on which intellectual property issues are in the collective frontal lobes of the 112th Congress. Panelists were: Jeff Lowenstein – Cong. Adam Schiff (D-CA) Caroline Holland – Sen. Herb Kohl (D –WI) Laurent Crenshaw – Cong. Darrell Issa (R-CA) Neil Quinter – Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Ryan [...]

Can we simply get rid of the wireless carriers and just rely on ad-hoc radios? The spectrum commons people seem to think so and they argue why Wi-Fi innovation could be a model for the future of mobile networks, but the engineering and economic realities argue otherwise.

The first week of January brings invitations to improve one’s ratiocination (instead of December’s invitations to blot it out). Here are a few, expanding and correcting last Friday’s post: Broadband Breakfast, What Intellectual Property Issues Are Top of Mind for the 112th Congress? (Legislative Panel) — Tues. Jan. 11, 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m., Clyde’s. Advisory Committee [...]

H.R. 96 – To Prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from Further Regulating the Internet
Rep. Marsha Blackburn & 62 Cosponsors
1/5/2011

Broadband Breakfast will have a session on What Intellectual Property Issues Are Top of Mind for the 112th Congress? (Legislative Panel) on Jan. 11, 08:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Participants will be: Laurent Crenshaw, Legislative Director, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) Caroline Holland, Chief Counsel, Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-Wisconsin) Jeff Lowenstein, Senior Legislative Assistant, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) [...]

It has been a busy 2010 in the world of technology policy, and now we head full tilt into the wild blue yonder of 2011 hoping for free market successes and less rain slicked precipices. And I provide you with my Top 5 Tech Policy Issues of 2011.

On Wednesday, Jan. 13, Public Knowledge is sponsoring World’s Fair Use Day 2011 – a “day-long celebration of fair use, creativity and remix culture.” The opening keynote will be given by Maria Pallante, Acting Register of Copyrights, who is a former intellectual property counsel and director of licensing for the worldwide Guggenheim Museums, with later [...]