There are many legitimate reasons to hide or mask your Caller ID information but there are an increasing number of people who abuse this ability, not just for prank calls or telemarketing, but to phone in bomb threats or make other menacing calls — particularly to schools and religious centers. In an effort to make it easier for law enforcement respond to these threats, the Federal Communications Commission has approved a proposal that will allow phone companies to share certain Caller ID information with the police. [More]
federal communications commission
Small Cable Companies Blame Comcast For Their High Prices
By 10.17.17
Smaller cable companies say they want to save you money, but they can’t. Why not? Comcast won’t let them. [More]
Can The President Actually Take Away A Network’s Broadcast License For “Fake News”?
By 10.11.17
Irked by an NBC News story he claims is false, President Trump stated this morning that it may be time to “challenge” the network’s broadcast license. But what does that even mean — and would the Trump administration have the authority to yank a TV station’s access to the airwaves over a news story? [More]
Comcast Backs Off On Threat To Sue Operators Of ‘Comcastroturf’
By 5.26.17
Comcast didn’t win over many people when it recently threatened legal action against Comcastroturf.com, a website created by net neutrality advocates to call attention to the trove of fake anti-neutrality comments filed with the FCC. After some reflection, Comcast has decided it won’t sue to take the website down. [More]
FCC Investigating AT&T’s Massive 911 Outage
By 3.9.17
Federal regulators are looking into the source of an outage that left millions of AT&T wireless customers in 14 states and the District of Columbia without access to 911 emergency services for several hours on Wednesday. [More]
FCC Officially Blocks Part Of ISP Privacy Rule From Taking Effect
By 3.1.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
As it was foretold, so it has come to pass: The Federal Communications Commission, under the direction of its new Chairman Ajit Pai, has taken action to block a portion of its own new privacy rule for internet service providers. [More]
New FCC Chair Plans To Block Internet Privacy Rule Before It Kicks In
By 2.24.17
Last October, the FCC adopted a rule that limits what your internet service provider — home or mobile — can do with your private data. At the time, the rule was contentious, with two FCC commissioners dissenting volubly. One of those two commissioners, Ajit Pai, is now FCC Chairman, and he’s announced his plan to stop the privacy rule from taking effect because he thinks it’s not fair to pick on the Comcasts and Charters of the world. [More]
FCC Eases Transparency Requirements For More ISPs, Hints At Coming Net Neutrality Fight
By 2.23.17
It’s been most of a month now since noted net neutrality foe Ajit Pai took over the chairman’s seat at the FCC. Today the Commission held its regular monthly open meeting — the first of Pai’s tenure — giving us a glimpse into what we’re likely to see from the Commission in coming months. [More]
Why You Should Care That All FCC Settlements Must Now Go Through Full Commission Vote
By 2.8.17 — Updated: 2.9.17
New FCC chair Ajit Pai is a very busy man. After only a few weeks sitting behind the big desk, he’s killed off cable set-top box reform, abandoned rate caps on prison calls, scuttled Lifeline expansion, and decided violating net neutrality (which he hates) through zero-rating is officially not the FCC’s problem. Having accomplished all those goals, Pai is now targeting the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau, potentially making it more difficult to hold wrongdoing telecom companies accountable. [More]
FCC Officially No Longer Cares If Zero-Rating Is A Problem
By 2.3.17 — Updated: 2.4.17
It’s been a busy week over at the FCC, as new chair Ajit Pai continues on a streak of rapidly backing the Commission off of every Wheeler-era regulation he can. Earlier this week Pai ordered the FCC to stop defending its prison-calling rate caps in court; today, Pai’s taking on zero-rating and Lifeline — the former, a challenge to net neutrality, and the latter, a way to help low-income folks access the internet. [More]
How To Avoid Losing Money To The “Utility Company” Scam
By 2.2.17
When the weather outside is frightful, losing your heat or electricity is the last thing you want to have happened. But don’t let your fear of such an event push you into falling for a common scam perpetrated by fraudsters trying to pass themselves off as utility company employees on the phone. [More]
In-Flight Cellphone Calls May Finally Be Ready For Takeoff
By 12.9.16
You know that woman on the mall scream-talking into her cellphone? She could be on your next flight — well, maybe in a few years. After decades of prohibiting airline passengers from yakking away on their cellular devices from 20,000 feet up, federal regulators are mulling the idea of allowing travelers to make cellphone calls while in flight. [More]
FCC: Don’t Be Fooled By Callers Posing As Utility Employees Demanding Payment
By 11.15.16 — Updated: 2.2.17
We’ve heard about scammers who call up consumers and pretend to be utility company workers, demanding immediate payment. And as we head into the winter, when many people might be endangered by an interruption in heat, the Federal Communications Commission is warning folks to be especially wary of such calls. [More]
Amid Reports Of Billing Issues, FCC Sees Spike In Verizon Wireless Complaints
By 10.12.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
Amid recent reports of Verizon Wireless customers getting dinged on their phone bills with unexpected data overages, it may come as no surprise that the Federal Communications Commission has seen a spike in complaints related to the company. [More]
Local Governments Say AT&T, Verizon Aren’t Paying 911 Fees
By 8.9.16
In much of the country, local 911 call centers are funded from mandatory fees of around $1/line placed on phone bills. However, recently filed lawsuits allege that AT&T, Verizon and others are slashing the 911 fees they charge business customers, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars uncollected. [More]
FCC Fines Makers, Users Of Phone-Jamming Devices That Can Disrupt Cell, GPS Services
By 5.25.16
If you’re thinking of using a phone-jamming device to shut up your fellow motorists and get them off their phones while driving, think again: the Federal Communications Commission could hit you with fines, and could fine the company that sold you the gadget as well. [More]
Carrier Must Pay $51M For Allegedly Defrauding Lifeline Program
By 4.8.16
The Federal Communications Commission plans to fine Total Call Mobile $51.1 million after alleging the carrier fraudulently collected payments from a program that subsidizes wireless service for low-income consumers. [More]
Groups Ask FCC To Reform Set-Top Box Market, Say New Rules Could Save Consumers Billions Every Year
By 1.21.16
While the cable industry hasn’t fessed up to how much it makes leasing set-top boxes to their customers, in July, lawmakers crunched some numbers and found that it could be a $20 billion industry, with consumers paying up to $232 every year on that equipment. Two advocacy groups are now asking the Federal Communications Commission to begin a rulemaking proceeding to reform the video set-top box market, saying cable and pay-TV companies are overcharging consumers by $6 billion to $14 billion annually. [More]
