Here we are, fighting the net neutrality fight again. The battle lines are drawn and basically everyone is right where they were the last time we did this, back in 2014 and 2015, with one key player missing from the debate: Netflix. The streaming video service that once defiantly asked why ISPs weren’t paying it extra for making their service worthwhile is absent this time around. Why? According to its CEO, Netflix just doesn’t need to care as much anymore. [More]
Government Policy
Netflix Doesn’t Care As Much About Net Neutrality Anymore Because It’s Big Enough Not To
By 5.31.17 — Updated: 6.1.17
Colorado To Spend Marijuana Tax Money To Fight Addiction And Homelessness
By 5.31.17
The state of Colorado collected more than $100 million in taxes on retail recreational marijuana sales last last year. So what’s it going to do with all that extra cash? The governor’s new budget allocates that money for supportive housing, health screening in public schools, addiction treatment, and on regulating the cannabis industry. [More]
Former FCC Commissioner Uses Terror Attacks To Make Worst-Ever Argument Against Net Neutrality
By 5.31.17
There are many misleading, questionable, and frankly just plain bad arguments against net neutrality out there these days, but a former FCC commissioner may have outdone them all for pure inanity, somehow blaming the push for an open internet for global terrorism. [More]
JetBlue Hopes Facial Recognition Tech Can Speed Up Boarding At The Gate
By 5.31.17
For some flights, you’ll spend more time in line at the airport than you will in the air. Checking your bags, going through security, then boarding at the gate (not to mention the idle time spent in the jet’s aisle while the people in front of you invariably stow their over-large rolling suitcases improperly in the overhead bins and then remember they have to get something from that bag). JetBlue is hoping that using facial recognition technology can speed up at least one portion of this process. [More]
Jacksonville TV Station Owner Fined For Airing Jaguars Ad With Bogus “Emergency Broadcast Transmission”
By 5.30.17
Imagine sitting around your Florida home in August, just as hurricane season is swinging into high gear, when your TV suddenly starts making a familiar alert sound, declaring “This is not a test. This is an emergency broadcast transmission.” Then you look up at the screen and see it’s just an ad for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not only is this a bad idea for a TV commercial; it’s also against the law. [More]
Homeland Security Won’t Expand Laptop Ban To Flights From Europe (For Now)
By 5.30.17
The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed to Consumerist that it will not be expanding a ban on laptops in the cabins of U.S.-bound aircraft to cover flights coming from Europe. At the same time, DHS cautions that this restriction still remains a possibility in the future. [More]
Court Temporarily Halts School’s Expulsion Of Student Who ‘Liked’ Racist Instagram Images
By 5.30.17
Four California high school students who were suspended earlier this year for their alleged support or complicity with a racist Instagram account will not immediately have to face the immediate possibility of expulsion or further disciplinary action after a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order against the school district. [More]
RNC, Chamber Of Commerce Say A Robocall Isn’t A Robocall If It Goes Straight To Voicemail
By 5.26.17
An automated, prerecorded phone call that goes straight to voicemail may be slightly less annoying than a robocall that causes your phone to ring, but is it any less of a robocall? The Republican National Committee and the lobbyists at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce think these “ringless” robocalls are just fine, and have asked the FCC to allow telemarketers to use them. [More]
Bipartisan Bill Would Open Up Cuba To Tourist Travel Again
By 5.25.17
Though multiple U.S. airlines now fly directly to Cuba, tourism is not on the list of 12 travel categories that are eligible to visit the island nation. A newly introduced Senate bill with bipartisan support intends to do away with that restriction and open up Cuba once again to all Americans. [More]
DHS Hasn’t Decided Whether To Expand Laptop Ban To U.S-Bound Flights From Europe
By 5.25.17
After rumors started circulating that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would maybe, possibly expand its limited in-flight electronics ban to include U.S.-bound planes from Europe, or even put domestic flights under that umbrella, some in the airline industry started to get worried. They’ll have to fret a bit longer, however, as the agency hasn’t made up its mind on that front yet. [More]
Feds Shut Down Alleged Scam Promising Student Loan Relief & Forgiveness
By 5.25.17
A federal court has shut down a Florida-based operation that charged customers $1,200 up front and $50/month with allegedly false promises of getting their student loan payments reduced or forgiven, sometimes in the impossible timeframe of only three years. [More]
Head Of $1.3 Trillion Federal Student Aid Office Resigns Amid Tension With Betsy DeVos
By 5.25.17
New Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is making sweeping changes to federal student aid programs, like taking away protections from borrowers and putting all loan servicing in the hands of one private firm. Now the top official at the Office of Financial Aid has resigned after reportedly butting heads with DeVos and warning his colleagues concerns with the Department’s management. [More]
Appeals Court Hears Arguments For, Against Letting President Fire Consumer Protection Chief
By 5.24.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
For the second time in a year, judges of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit have heard arguments about the constitutionality of the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How the court ultimately rules will determine whether or not the head of this watchdog agency can be fired and replaced at the whim of the President. [More]
CBO: House Obamacare Repeal Plan Leaves 23 Million More Without Insurance; Higher Out-Of-Pocket Costs
By 5.24.17
Nearly three weeks after the House of Representatives narrowly passed the American Health Care Act — a budget resolution intended to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act — the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is estimating that this latest version of the GOP plan will still leave 23 million additional people without insurance, and result in policies that will drive up your out-of-pocket expenses. [More]
Vermont Gov. Vetoes Bill Legalizing Recreational Marijuana, Sends It Back For Some Changes
By 5.24.17
Vermont residents will have to put off their dream of lighting up a legal joint for a bit longer after the state’s governor vetoed a bill legalizing small amounts recreational marijuana, and instead sent it back to legislators for some revisions. [More]
Psychiatric Hospital Chain Reportedly Under Investigation For Allegedly Holding Patients Longer Than Needed
By 5.24.17
Investigators from the FBI and the Department of Defense are reportedly looking into allegations that Universal Health Services — the nation’s largest provider of inpatient psychiatric care, with nearly 200 facilities in 38 states and Puerto Rico — is padding its bottom line by deliberately holding patients longer than is medically necessary. [More]
Comcast Threatens Legal Action Against Net Neutrality Advocates Over Comcastroturf.com
By 5.24.17
Though Comcast loves to slap its various brand names over everything it can, the company is apparently none too happy that net neutrality advocates have invoked the Comcast name in their efforts to find out who is behind a trove of fake anti-neutrality comments filed with the FCC. [More]
People Whose Names Were Used In Anti-Net Neutrality Spam Want FCC To Investigate
FCC Chair Ajit Pai recently shrugged off concerns about the hundreds of thousands of bogus, identical anti-net neutrality comments filed with the Commission, saying it was something for his IT folks to look into. But the real human beings whose names were used on those fake filings are not as indifferent, and are calling on Pai to investigate. [More]