commission

Verizon Wireless's new $2 "convenience fee" for paying a bill online has outraged consumers, and today the Federal Communications Commissions said it will look into the fee.

"On behalf of American consumers, we're concerned about Verizon's actions and are looking into the matter," the FCC said in its statement.

The FCC isn't providing further information about its investigation. The New York Times was the first to report the FCC's statement.

Verizon confirmed on Thursday that beginning January 15, it will charge customers $2 to pay their bills online using the one-time … Read more

It's a booming holiday sales season for online merchants. As CNET contributor Don Reisinger reports, U.S. consumers spent $32 billion online from November 1 to December 18, according to research firm ComScore.

That's 18 percent more than they spent in the same period of 2010. While most online sales go smoothly, there's always a risk of a product you ordered from a Web site not arriving on time, or a product other than the one you purchased being shipped, among other possible problems.

A reader contacted me yesterday about an order he placed on Cyber Monday (… Read more

An administrative law judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled today that Motorola violated only one of seven Microsoft patents.

The initial ruling today, only a partial win for Microsoft, said only that Motorola has infringed on a patent related to using a mobile device to schedule meetings.

Administrative Law Judge Theodore Essex issued an initial determination that certain Motorola devices infringed on four claims of U.S. Patent 6,370,566 held by Microsoft. The patent covers technology used to schedule an appointment on a mobile device, invite others to attend a meeting using contact information and … Read more

The European Commission has put a temporary hold on its review of Google's proposed purchase of Motorola Mobility as it seeks more details about the deal.

The EC, which is the executive arm and the antitrust authority for the European Union , had originally intended to render a thumbs up or thumbs down on the deal by January 10. But the Commission halted its review on December 6, according to a notification on its Web site.

The Commission will continue the review after it has obtained "certain documents that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction," Amelia … Read more

commentary A bipartisan group of leading members of Congress, led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), today unveiled draft legislation that could ease tensions in a growing firefight over online piracy pitting technology industries and consumers against content providers.

The bill, "The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade" or OPEN Act, provides a narrow and sensible alternative to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act, bills pending in the House and Senate respectively. OPEN's sponsors expect to introduce the legislation in both houses within a week. Wyden and … Read more

A spectrum bill has passed through a subcommittee in the House of Representatives that authorizes FCC incentive auctions and also allocates spectrum to public safety.

On Thursday, the communications and technology subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum Act (JOBS Act).

The legislation authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to create an auction for selling wireless spectrum voluntarily released by TV broadcasters. And it also includes provisions for allocating spectrum and funding a nationwide public safety mobile broadband network.

Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who sponsored the bill, said it would help create 100,… Read more

The European Commission will issue a lengthy Statement of Objections, the equivalent of a preliminary finding, against Google for abusing its market dominance, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The report, which cited "sources close to the case," said that the statement of objections would run more than 400 pages in order to cover the complexity of the case as well as "the number of complainants." And the commission will issue the Statement of Objections, which is said to lay out details of Google's alleged abuses, early next year.

Google did not immediately … Read more

Federal Trade Commission officials spent the day touting a new settlement with Facebook, with FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz saying the company now will be "obligated" to keep its privacy promises.

But in reality, the agreement is likely to have little, if any, actual impact on Facebook users.

One reason is that Facebook won't have to roll back any changes to its default privacy settings, which have grown more permissive over the last few years. Photos, wall posts, and lists of friends were once visible by default only to people you were associated with; now the default settings … Read more

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission doesn't believe that AT&T's proposed $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA is in the public interest. And he's asking the other four commissioners to approve an administrative hearing, in which AT&T would have to prove otherwise.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Tuesday that Chairman Julius Genachowski was considering such action.

The move by the chairman would put yet another hurdle in the way of the merger, which is already being challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ has filed a … Read more