Issues

ACTION ALERT: Tell Congress to Protect the Open Internet
Public Knowledge wants the FCC to protect consumers and extend broadband access to all Americans.  However, we believe that before the FCC can do anything with regard to Internet access, it must have the authority to act. That authority is needed so that the FCC can use Universal Service Funds to support the roll-out of broadband in underserved communities, require accurate disclosures to consumers, ensure usability for people with disabilities, protect your privacy online, and promote a free and open Internet.

ACTION ALERT: Write the White House Now

ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement currently in negotiations, may sound uncontroversial, but, in fact, raises many questions and poses a significant threat to the public interest. Everyone can agree that it is important to internationally enforce laws against large-scale commercial counterfeiting and piracy—protecting against things like Louis Vuitton knock-offs and dangerous counterfeit drugs. And that’s what ACTA ostensibly set out to do. However, there are several fundamental problems with the process, the content, and the vagueness of the Agreement that raise significant concerns.

Net Neutrality is the shorthand term for the concept that companies which operate a telecommunications network, like the telephone and cable companies, shouldn’t be able to play favorites with the content that goes over the network. We strongly support that concept.

ALERT: Tell the FCC to Protect Freedom to Text!

Text messaging is a part of everyday life for millions of people. Because of its importance, in 2007 Public Knowledge and others filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking that it clarify that text messaging is subject to the same nondiscrimination rules as voice communications. It’s 2010, and we’re still waiting for the FCC to act.

The FCC has released a National Broadband Plan describing its ideas for improving the use and deployment of broadband in the United States. Public Knowledge is cited in several sections of the Plan, and will continue to participate as the FCC implements its ideas with enforceable rules.

Selectable Output Control is a technology mandate promoted by movie studios to protect the “early” distribution of movies over cable television. It’s a battle over the video outputs on the back of your cable box or DVR. Who gets to control which outputs you can use—the movie studios or you? On May 7, 2010 the FCC decided that the answer to that question is the movie studios, not you.

“Broadband” is the general name given to high-speed Internet services. It differs from the alternative, “narrow-band” because it is “always on” — you simply click on an Internet browser and the service is activated. Broadband services bring World Wide Web content to users much faster than the older technologies, which require users to make a telephone call. We believe consumers should have more choices in broadband providers than they have now.

In 2007, cable Internet provider Comcast has used spoofing technology to interrupt peer-to-peer applications and traffic on their network. Consumers groups have filed a formal complaint against Comcast with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking it to enforce its four policy principles on network neutrality.

Copyright, put simply, is a personal monopoly on an original writing, song, piece of art, or a group of any of those, for 70 years after the death of the creator. If a corporation is the creator, the copyright monopoly lasts for 95 years.

On October 28, 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) into law. The law provided “safe harbors” for Internet service providers, thereby paving the way for services like YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and the Web as we know it today. At the same time, the DMCA ushered in a set of “anti-circumvention” rules that placed restrictions on a variety of users and innovators.

What is "enforcement"? Enforcement is, in a nutshell, the latest buzzword being used to describe efforts to expand intellectual property (IP) rights, undermine the rights of consumers and innovators, and shift the responsibility for protecting private rights--such as copyright and trademark rights--from rights holders to government and private parties such as ISPs. Currently, this frenzy for greater "enforcement" is finding an audience in Congress, the Administration, and at international forums.

Open access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.

Opening the White Space would enable the use of mobile devices on the empty spectrum between TV channels.

“Orphan Works” are copyrighted works — books, music, records, films, etc — whose owner cannot be located. Works can become “orphaned” for a number of reasons: the owner did not register the work, the owner sold rights in the work and did not register the transfer, the owner died and his heirs cannot be found … the list goes on.

A patent is a monopoly granted by law to an inventor. It allows the inventor to prevent others from making, selling, offering for sale or importing into the United States his invention. The Constitution of the United States empowers Congress to grant patents in order to encourage innovation.

What is Spectrum reform?

This spectrum auction represents an excellent opportunity to reshape the telecommunications landscape in favor of consumers. However, entrenched telephone and cable companies are concerned that such a change could destroy their communications duopoly.

In order to make sure that customers benefit no matter who wins the auction, it is critical that all parties are bound to simple auction and service rules that will provide the best opportunity for new broadband competition.

Trademark in the U.S. is generally a consumer protection used to associate a mark or term with the originator of a product or service.

Internet and WiFi hot-spots have been popping-up everywhere lately, at a favorite coffee shop or maybe even in a local park. Sometimes these networks are provided by stores and shops. Other times the networks are provided by the city or a non-profit.

Many parts of America do not have broadband and go under-served by traditional Internet service providers, whether it’s because of limited resources or the provider believes there is a lack enough demand to make the investment. To address this problem, an increasing number of towns across the U.S. have decided that, as a public and commercial good, the municipality will blanket the town with WiFi, at little or no additional cost to its citizens. Basic Internet access benefits small businesses as well as consumers.

The WIPO Broadcasting Treaty (officially, the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations) is a proposal within the World Intellectual Property Organization to give broadcasters intellectual property rights in their signals, in addition to the copyrights held by the creators of the works. Public Knowledge opposes the treaty, as it would create numerous conflicts with existing copyright law and policy in the US, as well as creating an additional hurdle for any users of broadcast content.