More McFlurrys: US Copyright Office allows McDonald’s to fix broken ice cream machines: USA Today covers the Public Knowledge and iFixit exemption request success. (10/29/24)
Copyright change removes exclusive McDonald’s ice cream machine control from Rockton company: Watch on WIFR (Rockton, Illinois) as Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose explains the Public Knowledge and iFixit exemption request success. (10/29/24)
McDonald’s may finally have a fix for its broken ice cream machine epidemic: Today covers the Public Knowledge and iFixit exemption request success. (10/29/24)
McDonald’s Finds an Unlikely Savior to Finally Fix Its McFlurry Machines: Wall Street Journal covers the Public Knowledge and iFixit exemption request success. (10/28/24)
McDonald’s restaurants finally have a solution to their busted McFlurry machine problem: CNN covers the Public Knowledge and iFixit exemption request allowing repair of retail-level food preparation equipment, like the McDonald’s ice cream machines. (10/28/24)
McDonald’s Can Legally Fix Its Own McFlurry Machines Now: Vice reports on the Public Knowledge and iFixit copyright exemption request win. (10/28/24)
An exemption win for McDonald’s soft serve machines: The Verge reports on partial exemption request success for Public Knowledge and iFixit allowing allowing third parties to diagnose and repair retail-level food preparation equipment — including the ones that make your McFlurries. (10/25/24)
McDonald’s restaurants can finally repair their own McFlurry machines: Engadget reports on freeing the McFlurry. (10/25/24)
Internet Archive loses in “fair use” appeal: President and CEO Chris Lewis pens an op-ed in MIT Review on the impacts and implications of the Internet Archive v. Hachette decision. (9/11/24)
Remedies in the wake of US v. Google: Policy Counsel Elise Phillips writes an op-ed for Tech Policy Press discussing potential remedies Judge Amit Mehta might pursue following the U.S. v. Google decision. (8/9/24)
Google loses antitrust battle with Justice Department: Policy Counsel Elise Phillips joins KNX/CBS News Radio LA to discuss the U.S. v. Google decision and potential remedies. (8/5/2024)
Fifth Circuit Court Universal Service Fund discussion: Legal Director John Bergmayer reviews this critical court decision on the FCC’s Universal Service Fund with the Bloomberg Law Podcast. (8/2/2024)
Big Telecom guns for a major Biden policy: Politico quotes Senior Vice President Harold Feld on the presidential election’s importance in defending the FCC’s new net neutrality and digital discrimination rules. (7/7/2024)
Biden’s gameplan against tech giants faces new legal dangers: Senior Vice President Harold Feld speaks with the Washington Post about the impact of the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision on regulatory agencies trying to increase oversight of the tech and telecom sectors. (7/5/2024)
SCOTUS kills Chevron deference, giving courts more power to block federal rules: Ars Technica quotes Senior Vice President Harold Feld about the dangers posed to consumer protections by the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron principle. (6/28/2024)
Who owns your voice? Scarlett Johansson OpenAI complaint raises questions: Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose quoted in Nature regarding creating new laws in response to generative AI concerns. (5/29/2024)
Critics of AI export control bill emphasize safety dividend from open-source models: Policy Counsel Nick Garcia tells Inside AI Policy it would make sense for lawmakers to “see what expert insights the NTIA is able to distill from its proceedings, before jumping to interventions that might harm American innovation and competition… Requiring government licensing for a broad range of activities related to AI development and paving the way towards potentially draconian restrictions on open-source AI model development and research is a concerning prospect.” (5/14/2024)
CTIA’s 5G summit sees renewed pleas for FCC’s spectrum authority: Senior Vice President Harold Feld discusses roadblocks to the renewal of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority in Light Reading. (5/8/2024)
Net neutrality restored as Federal Communications Commission votes to regulate internet providers: Legal Director John Bergmayer discusses state level net neutrality rules in the Chicago Tribune. (5/8/2024)
FCC Closes ‘Fast Lane’ Loophole in Final Net Neutrality Order: Former Public Knowledge Director of Government Affairs Greg Guice tells Wired, “The FCC has said that if a provider was taking steps that looked like it was being done to avoid the compliance of net neutrality requirements, that could be a violation of the net neutrality requirements… so in other words, you couldn’t design your service to try to get around the obligations that you have.” (5/7/2024)
Lawmakers and advocates make last-ditch push to extend affordable internet subsidy: The Associated Press reports on Public Knowledge’s ACP Rally. (4/30/2024)
The FCC just doled out big privacy fines. It could soon lose that power: Director of Government Affairs Sara Collins explains the importance of the FCC’s authority in enforcing rules that protect consumers in Washington Post. (4/30/2024)
Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers: Legal Director John Bergmayer discusses the FCC’s new net neutrality rules and existing state level measures in the Associated Press. (4/25/2024)
FCC’s net neutrality vote affects your internet speed. We explain: USA Today interviews President and CEO Chris Lewis about the effect of net neutrality on prices. (4/25/2024)
Net neutrality is about to make a comeback: In regards to the FCC’s Title II reclassification of broadband and new net neutrality rules, Legal Director John Bergmayer tells the Verge, “It puts a speed bump in the way of a future FCC… and it sort of signals the intent for what the scope of net neutrality rules are supposed to be.”(4/24/2024)
Multistate 911 outage shows fragility of systems, experts say: Senior Vice President Harold Feld discusses the need for more regulation and safeguards against outages with NBC. (4/18/2024)
ISPs can charge extra for fast gaming under FCC’s Internet rules, critics say: Ars Technica references a joint filing with Public Knowledge that argues for rules banning selective speeding up as well as throttling. (4/16/2024)
Movie industry demands US law requiring ISPs to block piracy websites: Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose tells Ars Technica, “With today’s announcement, the MPA has made its intentions crystal clear: It wants to give itself and its members the power to force any Internet infrastructure provider, up to and including the broadband providers that service your home, to cut off access to websites on their say-so alone.” (4/10/2024)
Bloomberg Technology 03/25/2024: Legal Director John Bergmayer breaks down the facts and the potential outcomes of the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Bloomberg Technology. (3/25/2024)
Examining Murthy v. Missouri: Government’s Impact on Social Media: CBN interviews Policy Director Lisa McPherson about the impacts Murthy v. Missouri could have on the future of content moderation and government interference in online spaces. (2/23/2024)
U.S., California sue Apple, alleging company monopolized smartphone market: The Los Angeles Times quotes Legal Director John Bergmayer, “Consumers are paying the price for Apple’s abuse of its gatekeeper power — not just in higher smartphone prices, but in reduced innovation and a more limited, locked-down user experience… As the complaint describes, privacy and security do not justify Apple’s actions. Protecting users does not justify, nor require, anticompetitive and illegal conduct. In fact, as the complaint alleges, Apple’s actions can harm the security and privacy of smartphone users, by putting obstacles in the way of secure, cross-platform messaging.” (3/21/2024)
US government agencies demand fixable ice cream machines: Ars Technica reports on the latest development in Public Knowledge and iFixit’s joint petition: the FTC and DOJ have submitted joint comments asking that soft serve ice cream machines be exempted from the DMCA. (3/15/2024)
The FTC and DOJ think McDonald’s ice cream machines should be legal to fix: The Verge writes that the FTC and DOJ have filed a joint comment to the US Copyright Office citing research from iFixit and Public Knowledge. (3/14/2024)
Lawmakers rush to shore up internet subsidy program before it lapses: Government Affairs Director Sara Collins speaks with the Washington Post about the impact upcoming government spending talks could have on the Affordable Connectivity Program. (2/22/2024)
Only real people can patent inventions — not AI — US government says: CNN quotes Legal Director John Bergmayer on concerns that patent trolls could work around USPTO guidelines for patenting inventions, “The economy already is harmed by a surplus of low-quality patents which leads to unproductive litigation, rent-seeking and transfers of wealth from productive businesses to those who are experts at navigating the legal system… My worry would be that AI-assisted “inventions” [where the involvement of AI might be concealed] or just AI-assisted patent applications supercharges this.” (2/14/2024)
Apple faces epochal moment with looming antitrust scrutiny: Vice President Charlotte Slaiman is quoted in CNN on the vital role of lawmakers in curbing anticompetitive behavior. (1/8/2024)
The curious case of Epic Games: how the developer beat Google but not Apple: Legal Director John Bergmayer tells The Guardian regarding Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against Google, “Antitrust laws are often about unfair business dealing and contracts… So if you choose to do business with lots of different phone manufacturers, as Google does, then it could be that, even if you are in a sense more open, your dealings are more subject to antitrust laws.” (12/16/2023)
Regulating digital industries might require a new U.S. agency: President & CEO Chris Lewis tells Tech Target, “We can’t last much longer with the situation we have where privacy, content moderation, competition and other values are left hanging… We may get one, but we will not have healthy information systems, a healthy internet and platforms that we want unless we get all of them. We have to push for a regulator that can do those things.”(11/16/2023)
The Future of AI Is GOMA: Vice President Charlotte Slaiman discusses the AI craze and concerns about Big Tech’s advantages over smaller tech firms in The Atlantic. (10/24/2023)
Hamas’ social media following has skyrocketed since its attack. America is powerless to stop it: Legal Director John Bergmayer referenced in CNN. (10/17/23)
Net Neutrality Is Still Needed Despite Its Quiet Hiatus: Senior Vice President Harold Feld is quoted by the Washington Post on the importance of regulating ISPs. (10/4/2023)
What is net neutrality? As FCC chair weighs return, what to know about the internet rule: USA Today points out Public Knowledge’s work in support of reclassifying broadband under Title II of the Communications Act. (10/2/2023)
Net neutrality is back, but it’s not what you think: Vox quotes Senior Vice President Harold Feld on the importance of ISPs providing reliable broadband, “We should not have to live with broadband as a ‘best efforts’ service where your internet provider decides whether or not to invest in needed maintenance and upgrades.” (9/28/2023)
Elizabeth Warren created a federal agency once. Can she do it again?: Senior Vice President Harold Feld discusses Elizabeth Warren’s bipartisan bill that would create an agency to regulate Big Tech in Vox. (9/14/2023)
What Google’s trial means for the company — and your web browsing: Senior Vice President Harold Feld tells Vox, “If the DOJ loses, it becomes a very serious question of what’s it going to take… Other than an act of Congress, is there any way that a court is going to apply the antitrust laws to these new business models and new technologies?” (9/11/2023)
Why the McFlurry machines at McDonald’s are always broken: NPR interviews Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose on iFixit’s soft serve machine video and the prevalence of copyrighted software in our daily lives. (9/10/2023)
The US Is Finally Challenging Google’s Search Dominance: Vice President Charlotte Slaiman discusses the cost to consumers of Google’s search monopoly with Wired. (9/10/2023)
Senate confirms Biden FCC pick as 5 Republicans join Democrats in 55-43 vote: Senior Vice President Harold Feld is quoted by Ars Technica on the distribution of Republican votes to confirm Anna Gomez as FCC commissioner, “Glad to see some Republicans showing sense. Annoyed at how many vote no on a candidate as qualified and non-controversial as this.” (9/7/2023)
Senate confirms Anna Gomez to break Joe Biden’s FCC deadlock: The Verge quotes President & CEO Chris Lewis’ comments on FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, saying she is “publicly committed to supporting FCC authority over broadband to preserve an open internet and close the digital divide.” (9/7/2023)
US broadband grant rules shut out small ISPs and municipalities, advocates say: Ars Technica writes about a coalition letter signed by Public Knowledge and 300 other organizations and individuals. The letter objects to a letter-of-credit rule that creates barriers for smaller ISPs. (9/6/2023)
iFixit tears down a McDonald’s ice cream machine, demands DMCA exemption for it: Ars Technica quotes Policy Counsel Kathleen Burke on Copyright Office petition, “In principle, copyright should not prevent anyone from repairing a device they own regardless of whether that device is consumer or commercial… The fact that this principle is not already embedded permanently into law demonstrates that our copyright system is as McBroken as the average McDonald’s ice cream machine.” (8/29/2023)
iFixit wants Congress to let it hack McDonald’s ice cream machines: The Verge discusses iFixit’s recent McDonald’s soft serve machine video and iFixit and Public Knowledge’s right to repair petition to the Copyright Office. (8/29/2023)
iFixit Tears Down McDonald’s McFlurry Machine, Petitions Government for Right to Hack Them: Public Knowledge and iFixit’s proposal quoted in 404 Media, “This is a request to expand the repair exemption for consumer electronic devices to include commercial industrial equipment such as automated building management systems and industrial equipment (i.e. soft serve ice cream machines and other industrial kitchen equipment).” (8/29/2023)
Sexy AI Chatbots Are Creating Thorny Issues for Fandom: Wired quotes Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose, “You have copyright specialists who now have to learn specifically about the tech that underlies this stuff—and because things like fair use determinations, which are crucial to AI discussions, are very, very fact-specific, you have copyright experts who need to understand all the intermediate steps that go on under the hood in a generative AI platform, and that kind of learning takes a lot of time.” (8/28/2023)
Musk’s throttling of rivals’ links stokes legal concerns: The Washington Post interviews Senior Vice President Harold Feld about consumer protection concerns on Twitter, now called X. (8/16/2023)
Meta’s Threads upends social media in less than 48 hours: Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman discusses the importance of interoperability in social media with CNN. (6/7/2023)
Biden’s internet affordability battle looms: Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis tells The Washington Post, “Without the subsidy, families who are signed up for broadband may have to discontinue that service … as low-income families make choices on how they spend their budgets.”
Cruz, Graham, Grassley join Democrats to advance journalism antitrust bill: The Hill reports on a joint letter signed by Public Knowledge, which opposes the recent reintroduction of the JCPA. (6/15/2023)
AI’s steep costs are already triggering competition concerns: The Washington Post quotes Director of Government Affairs Greg Guice on concerns about promoting competition in the AI market, “The very companies that have profited greatest from the lack of meaningful oversight and lax privacy regimes may now be able to use those profits to leverage dominance in this emerging market.”(6/6/2023)
Why Meta may pull news content from Facebook in California: The Hill writes about the joint letter Public Knowledge signed in December 2022 opposing the JCPA. (6/3/2023)
After blocking a progressive reformer, big telecom seems thrilled Biden’s new FCC pick is a safe choice: Government Affairs Director Greg Guice comments on the stances of FCC nominee Anna Gomez in the Daily Dot. (5/23/2023)
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT could test bounds of tech liability shield: The Hill quotes Legal Director John Bergmayer on the liability of tech companies when their AI tools are misused. (5/23/2023)
Biden picks new FCC nominee to fill seat that’s been empty for over two years: President and CEO Chris Lewis expresses support for FCC nominee Anna Gomez in Ars Technica. (5/22/2023)
Biden nominates telecom veteran to FCC in bid to overcome stalemate: SFGate quotes President and CEO Chris Lewis’ statement on the nomination of Anna Gomez, “For far too long, the Biden administration and Senate leaders have left us without a full, five-person FCC while important issues are in front of the agency. . . . We urge the Senate to move quickly on her nomination as there is much important and pressing work before the FCC that will require a full Commission to accomplish.” (5/22/2023)
Why Montana’s TikTok ban may not work: Policy Counsel Nick Garcia speaks with CNN Business about the intricacies and obstacles to Montana’s ban on the popular app Tiktok. (5/19/2023)
Musicians Are Already Using AI More Often Than We Think: In a conversation about how AI tools are changing the music industry, Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose tells Pitchfork, “This is going to put actual humans out of creative industries. Maybe this will mean that we start thinking about better ways of making sure that people can support themselves.” (5/11/2023)
Frank Ocean fans are getting scammed with fake AI-generated songs: Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose speaks with The Verge on the legal fight around AI-generated music. (5/10/2023)
Drake’s AI clone is here — and Drake might not be able to stop him: The Verge quotes Policy Counsel Nick Garcia on the role of copyright in relation to music created by generative AI. (5/1/2023)
Day 2 Podcast: All Amazon Sellers Need to Know About the Supreme Court Case that Could Change Big Tech: Day 2 Podcast featured Legal Director John Bergmayer discussing the Google v. Gonzales Supreme Court case. (3/28/2023)
The Biden administration’s threat to ban TikTok: Here’s what you should know: LA Times quotes Senior Policy Counsel Sara Collins on TikTok’s potential threats to privacy, “If TikTok were magically owned by a U.S. company, we would be talking about it in the same breath as Google or Facebook… It’s hard to pick apart a TikTok problem when the U.S. has a privacy problem.” (3/16/2023)
The White House might be running out of time to bring back net neutrality: Government Affairs Director Greg Guice quoted in The Verge on the split FCC causing delays in important decision making. (3/16/2023)
How Not To Help Close the Digital Divide: Tech Policy Press op-ed from Public Knowledge President & CEO Chris Lewis about the recent failure by Congress to secure equal access to broadband. (3/13/2023)
Public Knowledge urges the FTC to investigate music streaming: Music Ally discusses the white paper and blog post from Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose on the anticompetitive, secretive and exploitative business practices in music streaming. (3/10/2023)
New study urges FTC to investigate streaming deals: Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose speaks to Fader about her recent white paper on the issues with the music streaming industry, “This is a structural problem. We have set it up so that the rational thing to do is going to be a bad outcome for everybody on either end of the chain. If we’re going to fix it, we need to change the system such that these incentives are not structured the way that they are.”(3/9/2023)
FTC Should Investigate Music Streaming Deals, Study Urges: White paper on shady music streaming deals by Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose featured in Pitchfork. (3/9/2023)
Biden FCC nominee slams critics, says ISPs shouldn’t get to choose regulators: Ars Technica discusses Public Knowledge Co-Founder Gigi Sohn’s FCC nomination and recent hearing. (2/14/2023)
What to know about the DOJ’s lawsuit against Google’s digital ad business: Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman tells The Hill, “Google is a huge company, it looks like DOJ was investigating multiple areas where [there] was concern about anticompetitive conduct.”
Senate Democrats say US needs to boost tech investments to stay competitive: The Hill references Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman in her CES 2023 panel on antitrust reform. (1/6/2023)
Tech policy takes the stage in Vegas: Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman in an article on CES 2023 in The Hill. (1/6/2023)
Elon Musk’s Twitter blocked links to rival Mastodon. That could raise alarms among regulators: Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman is quoted by CNN on potential regulations for Twitter, “If Twitter has market power, it may have some duties to deal with competitors,” Slaiman said. “Duties to deal is an area of antitrust law that I think is really important in the tech sector, but has been aggressively narrowed” in recent decades.” (12/20/2022)
Meta avoids showdown over news content in US after journalism bargaining bill shelved: CNN Business mentions Public Knowledge and joint letter opposing JCPA . (12/7/2022)
Congress dropped a controversial media bill which saw Facebook threaten to ax news in the US if the act passed, report says: Public Knowledge and allies mentioned in Business Insider in regards to an open letter to Congress voicing their opposition to the JCPA because it could increase “disinformation, hate speech, and harassment.” (12/7/2022)
Congress drops media bargaining bill amid Facebook, industry blowback: Joint letter signed by Public Knowledge discussed in the Washington Post. (12/6/2022)
JCPA opponents spring into action to block NDAA inclusion: Politico refers to a joint-coalition letter signed by Public Knowledge and tech policy allies that opposed the NDAA’s inclusion of the JCPA. (12/6/2022)
Big tech and its critics lash out at journalism measure: Public Knowledge and joint letter opposing JCPA in The Hill. (12/5/2022)
Meta threatens to remove news content over US journalism bargaining bill: Public Knowledge mentioned by CNN in regards to a joint-coalition letter opposing the JCPA’s inclusion in the NDAA. (12/5/2022)
Congress take on Elon Musk? Don’t count on it. Policy Counsel Alex Petros is quoted in Politico on investigating Elon Musk, saying, “It is difficult, because Musk is a private individual… He’s making a lot of private business decisions that I think are dumb and do not agree with. But he has a degree of freedom in which to make those business mistakes and lose money hand over fist.” (11/18/2022)
Bill to make online ad revenue more fair may make things worse: It’s All Journalism features Senior Policy Analyst Lisa MacPherson in an episode on the JCPA and its many flaws. (11/10/2022)
TikTok has become a global giant. The US is threatening to rein it in: The Guardian quotes Senior Policy Counsel Sara Collins on the massive social platform Tiktok, “The thing I would be concerned about is the same stuff that we’re concerned about with Facebook or with Google. It’s their data privacy practices, what they’re doing with that data, how they’re monetizing it and what adverse effects are there on users.” (10/31/2022)
U.S. aid program to keep people online was riddled with deception, fraud: Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff is quoted by The Washington Post on the Emergency Broadband Benefit, “What we don’t want to see is consumers be prevented from ever enrolling in a program again when it was the provider that was being misleading.” (10/25/2022)
Dollars to Megabits, You May Be Paying 400 Times As Much As Your Neighbor for Internet Service: Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis is quoted in The Markup on digital redlining, “Nowhere have we seen either the FCC nor the Congress, who ultimately has authority as well, study competition in the marketplace and pricing to see if consumers are being price gouged or if those service offerings make sense.” (10/19/2022)
Biden’s internet promises in limbo amid long battle over FCC nominee: The Washington Post quotes Public Knowledge Government Affairs Director Greg Guice in regards to the delays in Gigi Sohn’s FCC confirmation. (10/14/2022)
Why The Future Of The Metaverse May Lie In The FCC’s Hands: Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld writes an op-ed for Forbes regarding the FCC’s role in the future of the VR industry. (10/1/2022)
Facebook Freeloads Off Newspapers. This Plan Might Stop It: Wired mentions Public Knowledge and its letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing the JCPA. (9/30/2022)
What Canada can learn from how the U.S. handles cell outages in hurricanes: CBC interviews Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld on the FCC’s responses following hurricane outages. (9/29/2022)
Big telecom’s relentless lobbying is pushing Gigi Sohn’s FCC nomination to the brink: Government Affairs Director Greg Guice is quoted in the Daily Dot on Gigi Sohn, “With important decisions on competition, mapping, media ownership, digital discrimination, and other big issues coming before the Commission, she needs to be confirmed so the FCC can do the hard work it must do to protect consumers and promote the public interest.” (9/21/2022)
Democrats propose foundation to boost digital equity efforts: The Washington Post mentions Public Knowledge regarding backing a proposal for a nonprofit foundation that would work for equitable internet access. (9/15/2022)
Twitter whistleblower faces the Senate. Then what?: Senior Policy Counsel Sara Collins is quoted by MSN on an upcoming data privacy hearing, “This is not going to be like, game-changing. There are no privacy protections in the United States. It all comes back to the same thing. Like, we know the remedy. So can we just get there.”(9/13/2022)
Lawmakers Press Verisign To Join ‘Trusted Notifier’ Program And Take More Action To Combat Piracy: Public Knowledge is mentioned by Deadline regarding policies cracking down on piracy. (9/13/2022)
Meet the strangest alliance in tech policy: Public Knowledge is mentioned in the Washington Post for leading a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing the JCPA. (9/8/2022)
Legislation to force Big Tech to pay publisher for online news ‘blown up’ by censorship amendment: The Hartford Courant quotes Senior Policy Counsel Sara Collins on the JCPA, “There’s no guarantee that any of this money goes toward funding journalism. This seems like a really good way to funnel money to organizations that probably don’t need it.” (9/8/2022)
Tech trade groups come out against bill to boost local and conservative news: Public Knowledge is mentioned in the Washington Examiner in regards to the signing of a letter opposing the JCPA. (9/6/2022)
Privacy advocates demand rules for mobile providers on data use: MSN quotes Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld on passing stronger data privacy regulations, “The only ‘industry standard’ appears to be that there is no standard at all for how long carriers retain data, how they protect it, or how hard they make it for their customers to invoke their rights.” (9/6/2022)
TechTank Episode 52: Do you know where your spectrum is? The U.S.’s never-ending quest for more bandwidth: Tech Tank discusses closing the digital divide with Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Kathleen Burke. (9/6/2022)
Making sure artists are paid for work is the American way The Hill mentions Public Knowledge in regards to supporting the American Music Fairness Act. (9/2/2022)
Elon Musk’s satellite internet flies under the radar at public schools nationwide: Article from NBC News quotes Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld, “The fact that they can go after a number of these hard-to-serve markets is a big advantage for their technology… It’s all well and good for these guys to serve airlines and cruise lines and RVs, but they got a lot of regulatory favors to service rural America, and that ought to remain their main business.” (9/1/2022)
Local News Would Get Help Against Big Tech in Revamped Bill: Bloomberg Government mentions Public Knowledge in regard to concerns about the updated Journalism Compeition and Preservation Act. (8/22/2022)
New US Privacy Law May Give Telecoms Free Pass on $200 Million Fines: Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Sara Collins is quoted by Vice on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, “As the legislation is currently drafted, there is a risk of non-enforcement against the wireless carriers for selling location data to bounty hunters. We are hopeful that a change can be easily made to the legislation to ensure that any ongoing enforcement actions would be allowed to continue to completion.” (8/15/2022)
FCC Wins Court Battle to Repurpose Auto Safety Spectrum for Wi-Fi: Policy Counsel Kathleen Burke is quoted in CNET, “Not only did the court reaffirm the FCC’s authority as the expert agency over spectrum decisions, but it also upheld the FCC’s correct call to stop bankrolling the auto industry’s speculation on Intelligent Transportation Services that were still in development after more than 20 years.” (8/12/2022)
Tech industry’s critical policy issues likely tabled as Congress heads for recess: Senior Vice President Harold Feld and Public Knowledge Co-founder Gigi Sohn are mentioned by CNBC in regards to tech policy progress going into the end of the year. (8/5/2022)
Corporate lobbying could imperil sweeping data privacy bill: The Hill quotes Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge, Sara Collins, on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, “The gist of the bill is to have companies not collect any more data than they need to provide you with the service that you’re engaging with.” (8/3/2022)
Bloomberg Technology: Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman discusses antitrust and the reining in of Big Tech. (8/1/2022)
Future of Spectrum – Senate Commerce Committee: Chair of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, holds a hearing titled “Future of Spectrum” featuring testimony from Public Knowledge President and CEO Chris Lewis. (8/2/2022)
Congressional Democrats Introduce Net Neutrality Bill CNET mentions Director of Government Affairs Greg Guice. (7/28/2022)
FTC files to block Facebook-parent Meta from buying a VR company: Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman discusses the FTC’s complaint against Facebook. (7/27/2022)
FCC asks tech companies about geolocation practices amid abortion data worries: Article from the Washington Examiner quotes Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld, “In light of the long history of abuses by carriers selling this kind of detailed and hyper-accurate information to law enforcement, bounty hunters, and even stalkers, Chairwoman Rosenworcel is to be praised for conducting this inquiry.” (7/22/2022)
Don’t Look Now, but Congress Might Pass an Actually Good Privacy Bill: Wired quotes Senior Policy Counsel Sara Collins, “The reason I really like this bill is, it takes a data-minimization approach first. The bill at the outset is like, ‘One, you don’t collect any more data than you reasonably need, and, two, here’s a list of reasons you might need this data.’”(7/21/2022)
House panel set to advance privacy bill, striking a long-awaited grand bargain: The Washington post quotes Senior Policy Counsel Sara Collins about the bipartisan privacy bill markup, “Everybody is coming to terms with the fact that this is going to have to be bipartisan, and nobody’s going to get everything that they want.” (7/20/2022)
New internal documents show tech giants pushing out competitors: Politico quotes Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman about the importance of antitrust, “It’s additional compelling evidence for anyone who was still on the fence that these problems are real and the recommendations of the report need to be taken seriously by Congress.” (7/19/2022)
Facebook Internal Memo on Rivals Undercuts Antitrust Defense: An article featured on MSN, quotes Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman regarding a memo from Facebook stating that they are “trying to compete on size, not quality.” (7/19/2022)
Slow broadband? FCC wants to boost internet speeds from ‘harmful’ minimums: ZDNet mentions co-founder of Public Knowledge and potential fifth member of the FCC board, Gigi Sohn. (7/19/2022)
Congressional Democrats Ready Net Neutrality Bill: CNET quotes Director of Government Affairs Greg Guice about the impasse with Gigi Sohn’s FCC nomination, “Service providers can comply with 50 sets of regulations. It’s not ideal. But I guess that’s what the ISPs want, because that’s what’s happening without a fifth commissioner.” (7/18/2022)
FCC Creates Incentive Program to Close Digital Divide on Tribal Lands: CNET mentions Public Knowledge in regard to information on how common carriers tend to limit deploying services to rural and tribal communities. (7/14/2022)
Millions of Americans are still eligible for internet and $100 for a laptop, but it won’t last – don’t miss your chance: Yahoo! quotes Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff about the barrier to getting internet access for low-wage earners, “It means that they can’t do a video chat or go to school online. They can’t work remotely. They can’t do a telehealth visit. They can’t talk with their friends.” (7/14/2022)
A More Perfect Union: Civil Rights, Tech Policy, and Elon Musks’ Attempt to Ditch $44B Deal to Purchase Twitter: Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey features Government Affairs Policy Counsel A. Prince Albert III on his podcast show. (7/10/2022)
Why AT&T and Verizon are feuding with the US government over a last-minute delay to 5G: In the Verge, Senior Vice President talked about why Verizon and AT&T care so much about FG saying that, “They don’t have sufficient mid-band spectrum without it.” (1/4/2022)
Why 2022 could be a ‘watershed year’ for tech regulation: Director of Government Affairs Greg Guice emphasized the importance of Congress moving quickly on digital marketplace reform efforts, telling the Washington Post that “gatekeepers are more than capable of running out the clock.” (1/3/2022)
Telecoms set to launch new 5G spectrum over FAA objections: Senior Vice President Harold Feld discusses the ongoing tensions between the aviation and telecommunications industries over the deployment of 5G with Marketplace. (1/3/2022)
Big Tech’s Next Monopoly Game: Building the Car of the Future: Politico quotes Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman about the importance of competition, “It’s really hard to remedy anticompetitive conduct five or 10 years down the line.” (12/26/2021)
A political fight over 5G could upend air travel: What you should know: Senior Vice President Harold Feld is quoted in CNN about the fight over 5G between the aviation industry and telecommunications industry, saying “It’s worth noting that about 40 other countries have approved use of 5G in C-Band.” (12/22/2021)
Inside the new federal broadband fund: What will $65 billion actually buy?: Director of Government Affairs Greg Guice discusses in Enterprise.Nxt what the impact of the bipartisan infrastructure bill broadband funding will be saying that “This is a once-in-a-generation investment that will definitely get us closer to closing the digital divide”. (12/8/2021)
Planet Money: Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose discusses Taylor Swift and copyright. (11/24/21)
FAA forced delay in 5G rollout despite having no proof of harm to aviation: Ars Technica quotes Senior Vice President Harold Feld in debunking Federal Aviation Administration claims of interference related to 5G. (11/18/21)
The FCC Proposes A Wi-Fi Tax — For Real This Time: In Forbes, Senior Vice President Harold Feld criticized the recent proposed WiFi Tax saying, “The whole point of unlicensed spectrum is that it’s open for everyone to use” in a Forbes Op-Ed. (11/16/21)
3G shutdowns could leave most vulnerable without a connection: The Washington Post speaks with Senior Vice President Harold Feld about the 3G sunset and how we ensure the transition to 5G doesn’t leave consumers behind (11/13/2021)
A spectrum roadblock for the wireless industry: On Explain to Shane with Shane Tews, Senior Vice President Harold Feld discusses the recent Federal Aviation Administration warning that using C-band for 5G could interfere with air safety, reigniting a multiyear battle that many believe FCC engineers have successfully put to rest. (11/10/2021)
Biden’s “historic” $65 billion broadband plan approved by Congress: President and CEO Chris Lewis in Ars Technica praised the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package passed by Congress, “We applaud the bill’s provisions that fund digital equity initiatives and that require internet service providers to use a uniform label so customers will be able to easily compare [I]nternet plans.” (11/8/2021)
How your photo could end up in the public domain — and used in ads around the world: In CNN, Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose talks about copyright and social media in regards to about the recent BJ Novak pictures that were said to have entered the public domain. “Copyright is designed to incentivize the artist pushing the shutter button, not the model in the photo itself,” Rose said. (11/7/2021)
The free laptop program built into the Biden reconciliation plan: In Verge, Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff says “We can invest all of this money in the infrastructure package in broadband deployment, but we’re not going to close the digital divide if we don’t make sure people have the computers and tablets they need,” in an interview about a proposed subsidy program to help low-income families afford devices. (11/2/2021)