Tag archive: Julius Genachowski

There is no doubt that governments, corporations, groups, and individuals use the power of technology for good and evil. Speaking at the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski connected the hardships of those who endured Nazi oppression in Europe during and before World War II to any person alive today. Much like how the Nazis used the latest technology to further their horrible goals, technology can be… Read More

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will allegedly come out against the proposed AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile USA, saying that the deal is not in the public interest, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing persons close to the matter. Genachowski is reportedly asking the other four FCC commissioners to approve an administrative hearing, during which AT&T and T-Mobile would be forced to convince the panel why… Read More

The US Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Thursday to reallocate most of a $4.5 billion fund originally intended to expand telephone access to rural areas toward the expansion of national broadband Internet service.  “We are taking a system designed for the Alexander Graham Bell era of rotary telephones and modernizing it for the era of Steve Jobs and the Internet future he imagined,” said FCC Chairman Julius… Read More

The Federal Communications Commission rolled out plans today to provide broadband service to over 18 million Americans that are without hi-speed Internet access. This plan calls for a change in the Universal Service Fund (USF), a government fund originally setup over 14 years ago to provide all Americans with access to phone service. The new proposal would create the Connect America Fund (CAF) and shift approximately $15.5 billion over the new… Read More

The Federal Communications Commission has officially announced a plan to roll out the next-generation emergency 911 system. Details of the five-step deployment plan were announced by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski at an event in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Once the plan is fully enacted, emergency responders will be able to receive text messages, videos and photos sent from individuals, in addition to standard voice calls. Responders will also… Read More

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will unveil a proposal this week that would expand broadband access to rural areas, The New York Times reports. Through what's known as the Universal Service Fund, telecommunications companies already receive $4 billion per year in subsidies — the money for which is collected by the federal government through a surcharge on phone bills — to provide phone access to remote and impoverished… Read More

Just days after announcing a new framework for network neutrality—which is largely being interpreted as favoring corporate interests over consumer rights and a free Internet—FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has proposed conditions for the pending merger between cable giant Comcast and broadcaster NBC Universal. The conditions, if enacted, would guarantee Comcast's competitors would have reasonable, non-discriminatory access to… Read More

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is ridin' solo. The U.S. Gov't agency plans to regulate the Internet to ensure it remains a fair and neutral place for everyone. Under the new regulations, internet service providers (ISPs) would not be allowed to block Websites that offer competing services to their own nor speed up or slow down certain types or sources of Internet traffic–in other words, it plans to keep the net… Read More

It's been years coming, but the Federal Communications Commission appears ready to vote on regulations governing the use of spectrum gaps so they can be used for high-bandwidth mobile services, kind of a “super Wi-Fi.” The regulatory framework would approve the use of devices that operate in spectrum space normally reserved for television—so long as those devices don't interfere with broadcast television or technologies… Read More

Consumer rights organization The Free Press has asked the Federal Communications Commission to apply its 2005 Internet Policy Statement—otherwise known as the FCC's principles of net neutrality—to wireless Internet services, as well as more-traditional wireline broadband services. The reason? Mobile operators' seeming unwillingness to open their data networks to services like Skype which would compete with their… Read More

President-elect Barack Obama has announced he plans to nominate Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission in his administration—a move that has been greeted by applause from media reformers and open media advocates. The FCC is currently run by Chairman Kevin Martin, whose tenure has not been without controversy: under Martin's watch, the FCC approved the merger of Sirius and XM satellite radio as well as… Read More