Internet radio royalty hike delayed; last chance to petition Congress
Internet radio will remain safe and sound, at least through July of this year, on account of a new decision by the US Copyright Royalty Board. Under the CRB’s original ruling, Internet radio stations would have had to begin paying retroactive royalties on May 15, thereby knocking many of them offline due to the crippling [...]
Congress spanks naughty sex sites
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would make it a federal felony for Webmasters to use innocent words like “Barbie” or “Furby” but actually feature sexual content on their sites.
Anyone who includes misleading “words” or “images” intended to confuse a minor into viewing a possibly harmful Web site could be [...]
Hearing looks at Net name privatization plan
The U.S. Department of Commerce will hold a Wednesday hearing on the government’s September deadline to give up control over Internet domain names, a schedule that some high-tech industry advocates say should be delayed.
The U.S. government controls the naming system for “.com” and all web addresses through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers [...]
Groups urge US passage of law aimed at global online free speech
Fourteen human rights urged Congress Tuesday to pass legislation aimed at preventing US technology companies from cooperating with China or other countries in stifling online free speech.
The groups, including Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement supporting the Global Online Freedom Act of 2006 sponsored by Representative Christopher Smith [...]
How Washington will shape the Internet
The most potent force shaping the future of the Internet is neither Mountain View’s Googleplex nor the Microsoft campus in Redmond. It’s rather a small army of Gucci-shod lobbyists on Washington’s K Street and the powerful legislators whose favor they curry.
After years of benign neglect, the Federal government is finally involved in the Internet [...]
We aren’t all pirates
THE INTERNET AND DIGITAL technology have been both a blessing and a curse for the entertainment industry, opening new opportunities for selling music and video but also fueling rampant global piracy.
To attack the latter problem, industry lobbyists are pressing Congress to adopt at least five different proposals that would give them more control over their [...]
Online wagering under attack in Congress
Gamblers who prefer their laptops to blackjack tables won’t like what Congress is doing. On Tuesday, the House plans to vote on a bill that would ban credit cards for paying online bets and could padlock gambling Web sites.
The legislation would clarify existing law to spell out that it is illegal to gamble online.
To enforce [...]
Rep. Berman Calls For Probe of DVD Piracy Involving Aeroflot
Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village) on Friday called on the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to investigate allegations that pirated DVDs were being smuggled into Los Angeles by flight crews of the Russian airline Aeroflot.
Berman said the call was in response to a Los Angeles Times article on Sunday that detailed how [...]
Net neutrality divides bureaucrats, too
Net neutrality continues to wrangle members of the House and Senate as lawmakers debate the pros and cons of the U.S. Telecom Act. They’re not alone in being divided, though, as government officials too made clear their opposing views in speaking at the Wireless Communications Association conference.
Howard Waltzman, chief counsel of Telecommunications and the Internet [...]
US Congress joins ‘Internet neutrality” debate
Congress has plunged into a multi-million-dollar debate over Internet usage fees that are feared by computing giants like Google and Microsoft and championed by the phone companies.
Opponents of the new usage toll — predominantly the IT heavyweights — demand nothing less than “Internet neutrality” where all traffic remains free in the spirit of democratic usage [...]
