By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-12-21 The FCC's launch of the $3.2-billion Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program Wednesday (May 12) proved popular inside the Beltway, particularly with Democrats and broadband providers who will benefit from the service boost, though providers were also making the point they have already been providing assistance to low-income households. [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-11-21 The majority of state attorneys general have called on Facebook to abandon plans to create a children's (under 13) version of Instagram. That came in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg from a coalition of 44 state AGs. They argue that social media in general can be [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-11-21The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday (May 12) will launch its $3.2-billion Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, saying it expected the money to last a number of months, and signaling that the quicker the money runs out, the more successful it will have been.Congress provided the funds and some of [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-11-21 Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), joined by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), has renewed his effort to extend the reach of his child online protection law to young teens. Currently, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which Markey motormanned, prohibits websites from collecting personal information from anyone 12 and [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-11-21 he National Association of Broadcasters took the gloves off in a recent meeting with FCC engineering staffers over TV white spaces (TVWS) – the use of broadcast spectrum for unlicensed uses like wireless broadband – calling it a failing experiment. Microsoft has been pushing the FCC to allow [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-10-21 The FCC has unanimously approved the framework for the $7.17-billion Emergency Connectivity Fund for remote learning service and devices. Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last week circulated the draft rules to the other commissioners. Those rules do not allow for using the money to fund either the presumably [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-10-21 An FCC spokesperson has confirmed the FCC is currently reviewing the complaint filed against Sinclair's WBFF-TV over how it is covering a local story, but signaled that the current acting head of the agency is a First Amendment defender. Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's office last week [...]
FOR RELEASE: May 7, 2021 Contact: Richard T. Kaplar The Media Institute 703-243-5700 Arlington, Va., May 7 – Media Institute President Richard T. Kaplar issued the following statement regarding a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission filed by the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office: “The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office announced it has filed a complaint [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-6-21 The House Energy & Commerce Committee waded into broadband as an equity issue Thursday (May 6) in a hearing "addressing disparities in access and affordability." Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said one problem creating digital disparities has been too narrow a definition of the digital divide. "Studies have [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-5-21 Facebook's outside oversight board has upheld the suspension of former president Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, but it has told the company that it was not appropriate for the company to impose a permanent ban, which it called an "indeterminate and standard-less penalty." Facebook took down the [...]