Posts Tagged: "FCC"

Controversial Nomination of Sohn to FCC Reported to Senate Floor in a Tie Vote

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation today voted 14-14 to advance the nomination of Gigi Sohn to serve as a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission. Committee Ranking Member Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) opposed the nomination, explaining that “the committee’s vetting process has clarified she’s not the right choice to fill this vacancy” due to several conflicts of interest. Groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also vocally opposed Sohn’s nomination this week. In December, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) wrote a letter to President Biden asking Biden to withdraw Sohn’s nomination, explaining that her role as a co-founder of the open Internet advocacy group Public Knowledge poses a threat to copyright owners in particular. “[Sohn] is a radical open-content activist with no respect for intellectual property rights,” Tillis wrote.

Tillis and Other Senate Republicans Bristle at Biden’s Nomination of Gigi Sohn to the FCC

On November 30, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) wrote a letter  addressed to President Joe Biden asking Biden to withdraw the nomination of Gigi Sohn, a co-founder of the open Internet advocacy group Public Knowledge, to serve as a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Tillis is one of a growing number of Republican lawmakers who are speaking out strongly against Biden’s nomination of Sohn, who previously served as a senior staffer to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler during the Obama Administration. Tillis’ letter to President Biden certainly pulls no punches in assessing the likely impact of Sohn’s nomination on copyright owners especially. “[Sohn] is a radical open-content activist with no respect for intellectual property rights,” Tillis wrote. “As an activist, Ms. Sohn has consistently worked against commonsense measures that would crack down on illegal piracy. She has even testified before Congress that ‘piracy has absolutely no effect on [music] prices whatsoever.’”

Net Neutrality: How Recent Developments Could Affect Content Companies and Other IP-Intensive Businesses 

Net neutrality provides that all ISPs should provide equal access to content, at an equal speed, without discrimination against particular sources, thereby preventing broadband providers from blocking, slowing down or charging money for specific content. Proponents of net neutrality point out the importance of equal access to consumers on the internet for companies creating content and intellectual property on the internet, while opponents view FCC regulations as overreaching and unnecessary. Whether through national legislation, a change in FCC position or state laws and the accompanying lawsuits, the debate regarding net neutrality is not over yet and the year ahead will likely hold many new developments. 

Senate Commerce Committee Holds FCC Oversight Hearing to Discuss Net Neutrality and Rural Broadband Deployment

Last week the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing to conduct oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Although there was the typical overblown bickering over the FCC’s action on net neutrality rules taken in recent months under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that one might expect, much of the day’s hearing focused on the poor quality of current broadband coverage maps employed by the FCC in distributing subsidies as well as the need to improve broadband deployment to reach millions of Americans living in rural communities.

Amazon.com: A Retail Giant With Major Counterfeit, Piracy and Data Privacy Issues

It’s not just counterfeits of gadgets or luxury fashion items available for sale on Amazon, lining the already deep pockets of Bezos. As we’ve noted in other reports, there are plenty of counterfeit items that mimic badges and official documents from law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Secret Service. But a recent letter sent by the Federal Communications Commission in late May of this year indicates that Amazon is also allowing the sale of set-top boxes which falsely use FCC logos in the branding, indicating that the device is permitted by FCC regulation when in fact it is not.