Public Knowledge

Today, the Federal Communications Commission launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, a $3.2 billion federal initiative to provide qualifying households $50 discounts on their internet service bills and an opportunity to receive a discount on a computer, laptop, or tablet. The program created by Congress subsidizes broadband and device payments for low-income consumers or families hit hard by the pandemic, including students and the unemployed.

Today, the Biden administration announced it will support a proposal at the World Trade Organization to waive patent protections for coronavirus vaccines, potentially enabling the production of generic options. Public Knowledge commends the administration for balancing its intellectual property policy with the health care needs of people seeking the vaccine.

Public Knowledge President and CEO Chris Lewis will testify before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology this Thursday, May 6 at 11:30 a.m. His testimony in the hearing on “Broadband Equity: Addressing Disparities in Access and Affordability” will argue for closing the digital divide so that every community, including low-income and marginalized ones, can benefit from the economic, educational, and medical opportunities provided by affordable, high-speed broadband access.

Today, Public Knowledge joined 7 other public interest, rural, and consumer advocacy groups in a letter urging the Federal Communications Commission to protect Dish Network’s Boost Mobile subscribers from disruption and potential loss of service as T-Mobile prepares to terminate its 3G network.

Today, Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the “Green Communications Act” to reduce communications outages during natural disasters and to provide funding to enhance resiliency in our communications networks that are needed as a consequence of climate change. 

Today, the Senate Commerce Committee marked up the “Safe Connections Act,” a bill introduced to help survivors of domestic violence cut ties with their abusers and separate from shared wireless phone plans, which can be exploited to monitor, stalk, or control victims. Public Knowledge urges Congress to pass the bill to make it easier for survivors to escape abuse.

Public Knowledge welcomes Antoine Prince Albert III, Policy Counsel, to our team to focus on digital platform governance, digital inclusion, free expression online, and net neutrality. He holds a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center as a Global Law Scholar, as well as a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.A. in French from Morehouse College.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the case of AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC. The court held that the Federal Trade Commission cannot seek restitution from bad actors to make consumers whole — without going through a broken administrative process, first. The decision effectively strips the FTC of its ability to compensate consumers harmed by companies and organizations that violate the agency’s rules.