Digital Liberty advocates for a consumer-driven market free from heavy regulation or taxation of the Internet, technology, telecommunications, video games, and media.
Bad Proposals
The FCC Might Let Seven People Ruin A Whole Market
By James Erwin The Biden Administration, in a sign of its total capture by the interests of the affluent upper middle class, continues its war on so-called “junk fees,” minor expenses that people with disposable income find annoying. Ever the dutiful foot-soldier, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced her contribution in…
Bad Proposals
Biden FCC’s Digital Discrimination Order is Overbroad and Unworkable
By James Erwin One to 218. No, that’s not the teacher-to-student ratio in Mumbai elementary schools (that would be a measly 1:36). That’s the number of pages in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) authorizing the FCC to embark on its digital discrimination rulemaking to the number of pages…
Bad Proposals
Net Neutrality May Have Slowed Down the Internet
Amid much hue and cry, apocalyptic predictions, and advocacy from “comedian” John Oliver’s HBO show, the FCC revoked the Open Internet Order in 2017 (effective 2018). Widely promoted as “Net Neutrality,” the policy had been adopted by the FCC in 2014 after public pressure by then-President Obama,…
Uncategorized
Hurricane Victims Suffer from White House Vendetta Against Elon Musk
By Lawson Faulkner While Hurricane Milton rips through the midsection of Florida, communities throughout western North Carolina are only beginning to reckon with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene. Luckily, while rural Appalachia begins to put its pieces back together, Starlink, a satellite technology company owned by Elon Musk, has…
FCC
Commissioner Gomez Calls on Congress to Restore FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
By Lawson Faulkner On Tuesday, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez called upon Congress to renew the agency’s spectrum auctioning authority, a licensing power that has remained in limbo for the past year and a half. Addressing the Americas Spectrum Management Conference, Commissioner Gomez explained that this absence of authority has…
FCC
FCC Quietly Expedites Soros-Backed Purchase of Over 200 Radio Stations
By Lawson Faulkner Billionaire activist George Soros has been authorized to purchase Audacy, the second largest radio network within the United States, gaining access to the ears of as many as 150 million Americans on the eve of a consequential election cycle. On Monday, the FCC…
Broadband
House Oversight Sheds Light on Biden-Harris Administration’s Broadband Deployment Failures
By Lawson Faulkner On Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a hearing titled “A Legacy of Incompetence: Consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Policy Failures.” During the hearing, lawmakers took aim at the disastrous mismanagement of the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which…
Uncategorized
USF Announces Another Rate Hike for Q4 2024
By Lawson Faulkner On Thursday, the FCC announced yet another rate hike for its Universal Service Fund (USF), a controversial program responsible for subsidizing phone service. For service providers and consumers alike, the growth of this quarterly burden appears to be unending, signaling a need for substantive USF…
Uncategorized
FCC’s Robotext Rule Could Result in Voter Suppression
By James Erwin A little-noticed item from the FCC last month could have major implications for future elections. The Commission’s proposed rulemaking on unwanted robotexts, unless amended, could potentially suppress voter turnout. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on how to best protect consumers from…
Uncategorized
DOJ Says it will Dial Back Online Content Coercion
By Lawson Faulkner On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department announced a department policy for communicating with social media platforms about content moderation decisions. According to the revised standards, federal officials are now barred from pressuring platforms to remove content, signaling a retreat from past examples of coercion that have…
Uncategorized
New U.S.-Canada Privacy Pact Raises Censorship Concerns
By Lawson Faulkner Last Wednesday, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne, signaling an intent to “strengthen information sharing and enforcement cooperation between the two regulators.” However, the vague nature of the agreement has raised questions about the implications of…