You'd think world leaders would know better. Shut down the Internet (or some services that it hosts), and the users will come after you.
Phone firms balk at proposed NSA surveillance changes
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Telephone companies are quietly balking at the idea of changing how they collect and store Americans' phone records to help the National Security Agency's surveillance programs. They're worried about their exposure to lawsuits and the price tag if the US government asks them to hold information about customers for longer than they already do.
The first phone company to publish a transparency report isn’t AT&T or Verizon
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Ever since we learned that the country's phone companies were handing vast amounts of data to the government under court order, pressure has been mounting for them to publish a Silicon Valley-type transparency report detailing how exactly they're complying. Now the first such report is out. But instead of coming from industry mainstays such as Verizon or AT&T, the disclosure comes from a little-known, left-leaning service known as CREDO Mobile.
Will the FCC strike down AT&T’s Sponsored Data plan?
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler indicated that he'd be watching closely as AT&T rolled out a new offering called Sponsored Data, which promises to keep certain mobile browsing from counting against your monthly data cap but which has raised the ire of network neutrality advocates.
This week proves we’re better off with four wireless carriers
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
There's a clear case for having more wireless companies rather than fewer of them, and this week demonstrates why.
AT&T’s New “Sponsored Data” Scheme is a Tremendous Loss for All of Us
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
AT&T’s Sponsored data scheme is actually just a win for AT&T. This plan is a tremendous loss for everyone else.
With “Sponsored Data” AT&T is double dipping. And that’s just dirty
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
AT&T, under the guise of “sponsored data,” launched a sneaky attack on innovation.
How your cell number pinpoints your identity
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Your mobile phone number is totally unique anywhere in the world. Unlike government IDs, which can be forged and are difficult to verify online, your mobile phone number is unique to you and easy to confirm.
AT&T’s Sponsored Data is bad for the internet, the economy, and you
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
AT&T’s Sponsored Data program is a way for AT&T to levy taxes on companies who can afford to pay. That has huge implications for the free market of the internet.
New FCC chairman Tom Wheeler starts term on pro-consumer note
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
There are few jobs in the US government with more power to help or harm the country's tech landscape than the chairmanship of the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that ultimately decides how telecoms and cable companies go about their business. And Tom Wheeler starts his five-year stint at the helm of the FCC under a fair amount of scrutiny: a former lobbyist for both the cable and wireless industries, it's easy to extrapolate that the President Obama-nominated venture capitalist might not have the best interest of consumers in mind. But are the fears unfounded?