Republican senator criticises ‘terrible’ FCC plans to regulate web
The US government is on a path to have “virtually unlimited power” to regulate every aspect of the internet, the chairman of the powerful Senate commerce committee said Wednesday. Republican senator John Thune slammed the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plans to introduce sweeping new powers to regulate the broadband industry, saying they would stifle […]
Google asks judge to block Miss. attorney general’s inquiry
JACKSON, MISS. An Internet giant was scheduled to face off with Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood on Friday. Google will ask U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate to block an investigation by Hood into the company. Hood has been pushing Google since 2013 to prevent use of the company’s search engine to find illegal […]
Will the internet of things finally kill privacy?
Immense economic pressure could eventually coerce everyone into sharing their information with firms, since not disclosing your data will itself imply that you are undesirable. In the internet of things, the Federal Trade Commission sees the possibility of flourishing new markets. But it also sees a prologue to Black Mirror: […]
Why Netflix is entering Cuba even though the internet barely works there
Netflix just launched in the unlikeliest of locales: Cuba, where less than 5% of the population has internet access and the streaming media company’s subscription cost—$8 a month—is almost half of the average salary. The move was made possible by the recent deal to normalize relations with the United States, which included a promise […]
Smart TVs raise privacy concerns
Reports that new Samsung TVs can capture personal information with their voice recognition feature has sparked concern about what critics perceive as digital spying by so-called smart devices. Nor is Samsung the only smart TV manufacturer collecting this type of data. In Samsung’s case, at least, users have the option to disable the collection. […]
Hacked again? Russian hackers still inside Sony Pictures’ network, security firm says
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) might have a second security breach on its hands, or maybe the hackers from November’s scandalous attack are still inside the company systems, according to a security firm that claims to have seen evidence of Russian hackers having access to SPE internal data. The hackers accessed SPE’s Culver City, California network […]
Tribunal says UK spies’ Internet surveillance was unlawful
U.K. spies acted illegally when they scooped up data about Britons’ electronic communications gathered by the U.S. National Security Agency, a court ruled Friday in a landmark judgment against Britain’s security services. But the judges said now that details of the practices are known, they are within the law. Britain’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which deals […]
Biggest test in U.S.-Cuba talks: the Internet
Contrary to what the headlines suggest, the biggest test of President Obama’s move to normalize relations with Cuba will not be whether the two countries agree to set up embassies in their respective capitals, nor whether there is an avalanche of U.S. tourists to Cuba, but whether Cuba will accept U.S. help to expand Internet […]
Congress should let cities provide their own Internet
PRESIDENT OBAMA made it a point to highlight the importance of providing high-speed Internet access to all Americans in his State of the Union address last week. No one disagrees with the sentiment. The method he proposed, however — removing legislative barriers that prevent some cities and towns from creating their own Internet networks — […]
Cuban youth build secret computer network despite Wi-Fi ban
Cut off from the Internet, young Cubans have quietly linked thousands of computers into a hidden network that stretches miles across Havana, letting them chat with friends, play games and download hit movies in a mini-replica of the online world that most can’t access. HAVANA — Home Internet connections are banned for all but a handful […]
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt: “The Internet Will Disappear”
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Thursday predicted the end of the Internet as we know it. At the end of a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his comments were webcast, he was asked for his prediction on the future of the web. “I will answer very simply that the […]
Govt considering Internet, smartphones for 2020 census
The days of the census taker with clipboard in hand may be numbered. The Census Bureau plans to test digital tools in preparation for the 2020 census, a change that could save millions of dollars. People may be asked to fill out their census forms on the Internet instead of sending them through the […]
The Internet of Things now has a gun
We’ve talked plenty about how the Internet of Things has become the biggest category at CES — a broad descriptor that basically means “everything is connected.” Sometimes that’s a flowerpot. One day it might be chairs. The Internet of Things’s logical conclusion is The Internet of Everything. And that includes guns. TrackingPoint is an Austin […]
CES 2015: Warning over data grabbed by smart gadgets
A “deeply personal” picture of every consumer could be grabbed by futuristic smart gadgets, the chair of the US Federal Trade Commission has warned. Speaking at CES, Edith Ramirez said a future full of smart gadgets that watch what we do posed a threat to privacy. The collated data could create a false impression if given […]
DRONE FILMS MAN CHANGING A LIGHTBULB 1,500 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND
On the great windswept plains of South Dakota rises a tower in stark mockery of the flat environment around it. Once that tower, so tall and so sudden, relayed television to viewers in the Mount Rushmore state. Now defunct, it is 1,500 vertical feet of hazard for any aircraft in the area when […]
Google Fiber, Comcast’s nightmare come to life
What’s every incumbent ISP’s worst nightmare? If we had to guess, it looks something like the filing that Google just made with the Federal Communications Commission. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Google this week told the FCC that reclassifying broadband providers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act would have a big side benefit […]
F.C.C. Backs Opening Net Neutrality Rules for Debate
F.C.C. Backs Opening Net Neutrality Rules for Debate WASHINGTON — Federal regulators appear to share one view about so-called net neutrality: It is a good thing. But defining net neutrality? That is where things get messy. On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to open for public debate new rules meant to guarantee […]
AT&T could become a television giant, too, with a $50 billion DirecTV merger
AT&T could become a television giant, too, with a $50 billion DirecTV merger The rumors keep escalating. AT&T might be willing to pay $100 a share to acquire DirecTV, one of the nation’s few satellite TV operators, according to Bloomberg. The deal would amount to about $50 billion. That’s a staggering figure, particularly when you consider […]
Comcast plans data limits for all customers
Comcast is considering imposing monthly usage limits for all of its Internet customers. David Cohen, executive vice president of America’s largest cable company, predicted at a conference Wednesday that in five years’ time, the company will have “a usage-based billing model rolled out across its footprint.” That means Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) customers could only […]
CABLE PROVIDERS, ISPS RANK DEAD LAST FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
CABLE PROVIDERS, ISPS RANK DEAD LAST FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE The bottom of the barrel in this survey from Temkin Group is a who’s who of TV and Internet providers: Charter, Cox, TWC, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T… Cable TV and Internet providers aren’t scoring well with their customers, at least according to a report out […]