Policy Observatory

Access delivers petition to U.S. agencies to investigate use of zombie cookies by mobile carriers

Thu 19 Feb 2015, 01:00

Today, Access delivered a petition signed by 3,000 users to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the use of so-called “zombie cookies” by mobile carriers to track their customers’ web traffic. Access also delivered a similar petition to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because both agencies arguably have the authority to investigate these harmful practices.

Tags: privacy, opt out, supercookies, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), web traffic, monitoring, tracking, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), petition, zombie cookies

Access cheers FCC move toward Net Neutrality

Wed 4 Feb 2015, 21:40

Today U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler confirmed that the agency will move to pass strong Net Neutrality protections later this month. Any action by Congress to roll back FCC authority or threaten common carrier status for broadband providers will meet thunderous opposition, by U.S. users as well as international communities.

Chairman Wheeler’s statement signals that the FCC could soon put its full enforcement power to work to protect the open internet for close to 300 million users—and countering the threats that blocking, “fast lanes,” and throttling of content and services pose to human rights like free expression and privacy online. In Chairman Wheeler’s own words, “These enforceable, bright-line rules will ban paid prioritization, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services."

Tags: open Internet, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), net neutrality

Digital rights groups urge the FCC to protect net neutrality

Tue 10 Feb 2015, 22:40

This week 31 digital rights groups from some 21 countries on five continents urged the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to pass strong Net Neutrality rules that that would reclassify broadband providers under Title II of the Communications Act. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler gave encouraging signs that he intends to propose rules that would harness the full extent of the FCC’s authority on February 26, yet members of the U.S. Congress and some ISPs are already on the attack.

Tags: net neutrality, digital rights, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), open letter, broadband reclassification

FCC raises threshold for high-speed internet

Thu 29 Jan 2015, 22:20

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday changed the definition of broadband to increase the threshold speed. In a 3-2 vote, the commission approved a measure that increases the minimum standard for broadband speed, giving the agency more power to force internet service providers to improve their service. The definition of broadband is set to be raised from 4 megabits per second (Mbps) to 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for uploads.

Tags: Internet, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ISP, definition, speed, broadband

Criticism to the Republican net neutrality proposal

Wed 21 Jan 2015, 23:00

A Republican net neutrality proposal in the U.S. Congress would not fully protect broadband customers because it would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from enacting new rules against selectively blocking or throttling traffic, critics said Wednesday. The Republican draft legislation would kill the FCC’s ability to act on schemes that prioritize some traffic over others, witnesses told a congressional committee. The proposal “would strip the county’s expert communications agency of authority to protect consumers on the communications platform of the 21st century,” said Jessica Gonzalez, executive vice president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

Tags: net neutrality, consumer protection, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), broadband, criticism, proposal

Knight Foundation: Net Neutrality Report

Tue 13 Jan 2015, 10:27

The Knight Foundation released a report on net neutrality, analyzing recent development and debates.

Tags: net neutrality, Internet regulation, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), net neutrality debate, policy, report