Press Releases

Public Knowledge, joined by a prominent state legislator as well as consumer and public interest groups, today told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that extending consumer protections to text messaging will not harm wireless carriers’ ability to fight spam or other harms to their network.

“This filing further bolsters a compelling case that text messaging and short codes are vital forms of communications and deserve protection from discrimination imposed by wireless companies,” said Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge. “We hope the Commission will act quickly to prevent discrimination against millions of text messaging consumers,” she said. The original petition asking the Commission to make certain that text messages and the short codes used to dial them are protected from interference from telephone companies was filed Dec. 11, 2007.

Background: The Senate today passed S. 3325, the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008. The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“It is unfortunate that the Senate felt it necessary to pass this legislation. The bill only adds more imbalance to a copyright law that favors large media companies.

Public Knowledge President and Co-Founder Gigi B. Sohn today warned the Senate Commerce Committee of the privacy intrusion that occurs when Internet Service Providers (ISPs) inspect detailed customer information using a technique called Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). In testimony to the Committee, Sohn told the Committee: “It should be clear that the very nature of DPI technology raises grave privacy concerns.” She described DPI as: “To put it simply, Deep Packet Inspection is the Internet equivalent of the postal service reading your mail.

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“This latest in a string of big-money front groups is nothing more than the most concentrated attack on the free and open Internet we have seen to date. Combining the power and influence of AT&T and the entertainment industry means only that both are going to wage an all-out war for the right to filter every bit of data anyone sends across the Internet. We are pleased to see that Verizon continues to resist the incessant and misguided pressure from the entertainment industry.

Background: The Justice and Commerce Departments yesterday sent a letter to the Senate opposing key parts of pending intellectual property legislation (S. 3325). The letter is here:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/pdf/doj-letter-20080923.pdf

The following is the statement of Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“We are pleased that the Justice and Commerce departments agree with us that it would be a mistake to give the Justice Department the authority to pursue civil suits in copyright cases. As the departments said in the letter, and as Public Knowledge has said repeatedly, the private sector has all the resources necessary to pursue cases that companies want to pursue. The government should not be turned into the law firm for wealthy copyright holders.

“We hope that the sponsors of the bill will take these views seriously and will forgo action on the legislation for the foreseeable future.”

Comcast late Sept. 19 filed its network management report and compliance with the Federal Communications Commission as a result of the FCC order finding the company violated the Commission’s open-network policy statement. The following statement is attributable to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“We appreciate the time and effort Comcast has taken to compile a network management plan. It is a very detailed and very technical document that deserves close scrutiny from the FCC and from private-sector observers. It appears that the plan does not discriminate against any particular protocols and does not involve using Deep Packet Inspection.

“We need to ensure the plan does not harm consumers. However, there are a number of questions raised to which we do not have the answers. Why, for example, does Comcast need both its real-time network management system and the 250 GB monthly cap on consumer usage?

Contact:

Gwen Hinze
International Policy Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
415-436-9333 x110
gwen@eff.org

Art Brodsky
Public Knowledge
202-518-0020 (o) 301-908-7715 (c)
abrodsky@publicknowledge.org

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge have filed suit against the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), demanding information about a secret intellectual property enforcement treaty that the government has put on a fast track to completion. (A copy of the suit is available here.)

The United States, Canada, the European Community, Switzerland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates are currently negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

A copyright bill scheduled to be considered tomorrow (Sept. 11) by the Senate Judiciary Committee takes an “unbalanced approach” that would create unintended harm to the public, a group of public-interest organizations told members of the Committee in a Sept. 10 letter.

The bill is S. 3325, the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act. Background on the legislation is here:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1678

One controversial provision of the legislation would give the Justice Department the additional authority to bring civil suits against copyright infringers. The DoJ now has the power to bring only criminal charges.

Comcast today appealed to the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit the Federal Communications Commission’s Aug. 20 order finding Comcast violated the Commission’s Open Internet principles. The following is the statement of Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“We expected Comcast would appeal the Commission’s order. The company opposed it every step of the way, even as they failed to disclose their throttling of Internet traffic. We believe the Commission will prevail and the rights of Internet users will be protected.”

Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn announced that Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, will receive the special President’s Award at this year’s IP3 awards.

Lofgren will receive the President’s Award because of her advocacy on virtually every issue of concern to Public Knowledge. “From Net Neutrality to fair use, there has been no more steadfast champion for the issues about which Public Knowledge cares than Zoe Lofgren,” Sohn said. “She has been the leading advocate for reforming our Internet policy and for bringing copyright policy into line with the realities of digital technology.