Eight leading public-interest and consumer groups said today that "significant rate increases" to consumers and small business will result if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) further deregulates the Bell companies.
Press
Consumer Groups Ask Senate to Take Up Patent Bill
Six leading consumer groups have asked U.S. Senate leadership to bring to the floor legislation (S. 1145) to reform the patent system. The Judiciary Committee approved the bill July 19, 2007.
In a letter sent November 7, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Knowledge Ecology International, Public Knowledge and U.S. Public Interest Research Group said the legislation represents "a valuable first step in improving the quality and ensuring the strength of validly issued patents." The bill is sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Public Knowledge Praises Google-Led Effort to Open Cell Phones
Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn today said the new Open Handset Alliance, led by Google and other leading companies to develop new cellular technologies, "is a step in the right direction to benefit consumers."
Public Knowledge Announces Staff Additions
Issues:
Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn today announced the addition of two new staff members for the organization.
Jef Pearlman is an Equal Justice Works fellow for the next two years. He is a 1999 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earned a Master's degree from MIT in computer science in 2000 and received his law degree from Stanford Law School in 2006. Jef will be working on amicus briefs, FCC filings and broadband issues.
Rashmi Rangnath, a PK Law Clerk, received her Bachelors in Academic Laws (B.A. equivalent) in 1998 and her LL.B. (J.D. equivalent) from the University of Mysore in Mysore, India. After getting married and coming to the U.S., Rashmi received her LL.M. degree in International Legal Studies with a specialization in International and Comparative Protection of Intellectual Property from American University Washington College of Law in 2006. Rashmi works on copyright and patent issues.
"Both Jef and Rashmi were interns at Public Knowledge, and we are pleased to welcome them back. They will contribute immeasurably to the important work we do," Sohn said.
Public Knowledge Calls Penalty on Fox’s Copyright Play
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The Fox News Channel has ordered the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to take down a TV commercial using a clip of the candidate at a recent debate. The following should be attributed to Sherwin Siy, Public Knowledge staff attorney.
“Fox is wrong. There are complexities and contours to fair use, but it's irresponsible and inaccurate to say that McCain's campaign has no substantive legal defense. In fact, they have a very strong fair use defense. The use of 19 seconds of the debate, even in a campaign commercial, is an excellent example of fair use, and not the sort of free speech Fox has the right to prohibit under copyright law. All in all, I think that Fox is making an extraordinary claim if they're saying that this is infringement. If anything, the allegations of infringement are what lack substance.”
Public Knowledge Proposes Six-Point Program for Copyright Reform
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Saying that copyright law has "become out of touch with our technological reality to the detriment of creators and the public," Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn today unveiled a new program for copyright reform that will be more responsive to new innovations.
"Pre-VCR copyright policies must be transformed to embrace our new user-generated culture," Sohn said in a speech to the New Media and the Marketplace of Ideas Conference at Boston University. A complete text of the speech is available at: http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1244.
Public Knowledge Says Comcast Internet Interference Shows Need For Net Neutrality Legislation
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Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn said today that Comcast's suppression of peer-to-peer traffic shows yet again that Congress has to act to preserve an open and non-discriminatory Internet.
"This is the latest in a series of bad examples of how big broadband companies are treating consumers and abusing their power," Sohn said. "Comcast has already been exposed for setting secret limits on how much bandwidth consumers can use, and then cutting them off. Now Comcast has been shown to use hacker-like technology to cut down on all types of peer-to-peer traffic, again without telling consumers what the company is doing.
Public Knowledge Backs Dorgan Call For Net Neutrality Hearings
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For Immediate Release
Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn said today that Sen. Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) call for hearings into the behavior of telephone companies "is long overdue."
At a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee this morning, Dorgan said that the Internet should be kept free from censorship and gatekeepers, and asked for the Committee to hold hearings on incidents such as Verizon's blocking of NARAL Pro-Choice America from sending text messages to NARAL members.
Public Knowledge Calls Google Video Filtering 'A Sad Development'
Issues:
For Immediate Release
Background: Today Google announced a new video filtering software system for YouTube. More information is available at:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/latest-content-id-tool-for-youtube.html
Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn said that it is unfortunate Google was pressured into spending millions of dollars and countless hours to come up with a means for restricting the use of lawful videos online.
"On balance, this is a sad development. It's a shame that Google was pressured by the entertainment industry into devoting resources to a limited system that could restrict the free flow of information while increasing the control content companies have over otherwise lawful uses of material."
Public Knowledge Endorses Open Internet Coalition Call for Hearings
Issues:
For Release Oct. 3, 2007
Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn that Congress should examine a spate of recent actions by telephone and cable companies that raise issues of censorship and other anti-consumer activities.
"Congressional oversight would be very welcome at a time when the telephone and cable industries are asking Congress and the Federal Communications Commission for policies that would benefit them greatly," Sohn said. "We commend the Open Internet Coalition for asking for hearings, and we hope that Congress will act accordingly.
preservesthe openness of the Internet and the public's access to knowledge, promotes creativity through balanced copyright, and upholds and protects the rights of consumers to use innovative technology lawfully.
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