Public Knowledge today said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require commissioners and staff negotiating for new employment to make those intentions public.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, PK President Gigi B. Sohn noted that PK’s FCC Reform report last year noted the lack of transparency in post-FCC employment.  The letter also noted that officials recusing themselves from dockets or issues because of employment negotiations had in the past been required to file a publicly available letter with the recusal information.  That requirement has lapsed, and Public Knowledge said Genachowski should “immediately reinstitute this requirement.”

The text of the letter follows:

May 19, 2011

Julius Genachowski
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St. SW
Washington, DC 20554

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should require reports from AT&T about the impact of broadband caps on consumers, two public-interest groups said in a letter to the Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau.

Public Knowledge and the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative (OTI), told the Bureau that, “Caps on broadband usage imposed by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can undermine the very goals that the Commission has committed itself to championing.”  

The letter is here.

Earlier today, the Federal Communications Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to guide installation and purchase of cellular signal boosters for home use.  The NPRM is here.

The following statement is attributed to Harold Feld, legal director for Public Knowledge:

“We applaud the Commission for moving forward on a consumer-friendly issue that will also help to improve the deployment of broadband.  Signal boosters in the home, when designed to avoid interference, will contribute to improving wireless coverage.  Consumers should have the right to purchase a signal booster of their choice, without being tethered to any particular service.  The rules on which the Commission finally agrees will go a long way to making certain consumers can take the full advantage of broadband services.

Earlier today, the White House said it would veto a resolution of disapproval which would negate the Federal Communications Commission’s Net Neutrality rules.  The statement is here.

Earlier today, the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit dismissed a challenge filed by Verizon against the Federal Communications Commission’s Net Neutrality rules.

The following statement is attributed to Harold Feld, legal director for Public Knowledge:

“We are pleased that the Court dismissed Verizon’s untimely and distracting challenge to the FCC’s Net Neutrality order.  Now we are confident the judicial system will deal with any and all appeals raised in an orderly and fair manner.”

A copy of the Court’s order is here.

Public Knowledge has proposed changes to three key portions of copyright law:  (1)  notice and takedown procedures;  (2) how to handle “incidental” copies of material and (3) digital music licensing, as part of the organization’s Copyright Reform Act project.

Three papers, each on one of those topics, as well as the other papers from the Copyright Reform Act project, are posted here.

PK President Gigi B. Sohn announced the policy recommendations today by in connection with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.  The project was undertaken in conjunction with the Samuelson clinic and Stanford Cyberlaw Clinic.

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

“I would like to wish my fellow Boston University alum Joe Waz a peaceful retirement from Comcast, but that won’t be easy.  Although he is leaving the company, Joe will continue to be active in the field as the first chairman of the Broadband Internet Technology Advisory Group and as a senior fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship.  I am affiliated with both, and look forward to working with Joe in his new roles.

“Joe had an exemplary full-time career, starting with the Telecommunications Research and Action Center, a Ralph Nader group, and continuing through his consulting work and position with Comcast.  I enjoyed working with him, even though we may disagree on issues from time to time and always believed he was an honest broker of ideas.”

Earlier today, U.S. Dist. Judge Denny Chin in New York City rejected a proposed settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Authors Guild to resolve copyright infringement claims against Google.  The decision is here.

Public Knowledge had filed a brief opposing the proposed settlement.  It is here.


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

Robin Chase, the co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar, will testify tomorrow that an open Internet was necessary to the founding of the highly successful company.  In her oral statement, Chase will tell the House Communications Subcommittee:  “Without an open Internet, Zipcar simply would not exist.”

If anything, the rules the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved last December should be stronger, in order to encourage innovation and job creation, according to Chase’s statement:  “Indeed, I think the FCC’s rules actually did not go far enough, especially with respect to wireless: The idea that different rules should apply, and that my experience of the Internet would be different depending on whether I was sitting at my desk at home connected, or on a park bench accessing those pages wirelessly is nonsense. And it dramatically complicates life for innovators and entrepreneurs.”

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

“We welcome Senator Dodd to the MPAA and wish him good luck in his new role.  We hope that he and his members will come to realize that technology is not your enemy — that instead technology can be the greatest means of distributing content the industry has ever seen.  The industry should look on new developments as opportunities, not as barriers, to building the industry.”