This blog post is part of a series on communications policies Public Knowledge recommends in response to the pandemic. You can read more of our proposals here and view the full series here. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an explosion of misinformation, fraud, and fear. Unfortunately, the big digital networks that citizens are turning to for connection, entertainment, […]

This blog post is part of a series on communications policies Public Knowledge recommends in response to the pandemic. You can read more of our proposals here and view the full series here. Medical experts agree that the most important thing we can do to support the efforts against the COVID-19 outbreak is a medical […]

This week, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill, the Broadband DATA Act, aimed at improving the Federal Communications Commission’s data collection process for broadband mapping. Since the bill has already passed the Senate, but will return due to procedural reasons, we will likely see the Senate pass this bill soon and then send […]

This piece was originally published in The Seattle Times. You can view it here on seattletimes.com. Local newspapers are experiencing a steady decline in traditional print-advertising revenue as technology giants like Google and Facebook profit from the digital ads that support their massive information distribution platforms. It’s no wonder that the major media association has […]

This December marks the two-year anniversary of the Federal Communications Commission’s vote to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order and the agency’s net neutrality consumer protections. Even though 86 percent of Americans support net neutrality and opposed the reversal, two years ago the FCC chose to side with the major broadband providers over consumers regarding […]

A few weeks ago, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on the Judiciary both voted to move bills reauthorizing parts of STELAR (the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization) to the full House floor. You might be wondering: What is STELAR, how does it affect consumers, and what should […]

On January 1, 2020, the nation’s strictest privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), will take effect. The law empowers consumers to (1) be informed about what personal information a company has collected about them; (2) delete that data; and (3) opt out of companies selling that data to third parties. On top of […]

Last year, Representative Suzan DelBene (D-WA) introduced a privacy bill, the Information Transparency & Personal Data Control Act (Data Control Act). Public Knowledge provided input to Rep. DelBene’s office on the development of its discussion draft. However, we were disappointed to see that, upon introduction, the substance of the bill had been watered down from […]

As you may have heard, the long-awaited decision in Mozilla v. FCC came out yesterday. First the bad news: The Federal Communications Commission won on the main issue, which is broadband reclassification. But there’s good news, too, in that the Court completely rejected the FCC’s attempts to prevent states from passing their own net neutrality […]

Creators have an uphill battle in enforcing their rights online. A small claims court to allow creators to exercise their rights without full federal litigation is a good goal, and one that should be pursued. The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019, also known as the CASE Act, presents one potential, but flawed framework for such a court. It is not, however, the only potential framework. A robust, well-designed system would be designed to balance the interests of legitimate claimants and defendants against those of bad actors seeking to turn the forum into a quick cash grab. Below, we look at the key features of such a system, and why they’re important.