rockefeller

commentary In a surprising and disturbing break with long-standing agency practice, the FCC on Tuesday released a draft report on the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile prepared by its staff--days after the parties withdrew their application with the agency.

The move could fuel calls for serious reform of the agency's increasingly free-wheeling behavior.

The two companies withdrew their application on Thanksgiving, following word that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski planned to ask the other commissioners to refer the merger to an administrative judge for a hearing.

That step, agency officials made clear, signaled the chairman's belief … Read more

Even potential data security breaches must be disclosed by U.S. companies in some circumstances, the Securities and Exchange Commission said today.

The move by the SEC is likely to shed more light on how publicly-traded companies are grappling with cybersecurity problems -- especially because the agency's ruling says that disclosure is needed when "the risk of potential incidents" becomes significant enough to impact the bottom line.

In a statement, the SEC indicated it would like to see:

• Discussion of aspects of the registrant's business or operations that give rise to material cybersecurity risks and the … Read more

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Wednesday, July 13.

• Customers are not happy that Netflix increased subscription prices for its DVD and streaming video combo plan. Customers who want access to DVDs and streaming video must pay $15.98, up from the $9.99 they were used to paying. The 60 percent price hike didn't go over so well in the digital world; new community pages such as "I Unlike Netflix Today" sprung up to get the masses to quit Netflix. But … Read more

The Senate Commerce Committee voted Wednesday to approve legislation aimed at resolving long-standing issues for mobile broadband users, both public and private.

Co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tx.), S. 911, the "Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act," had wide bipartisan support, passing the committee by a vote of 21-4. (A current version of the bill is not available online, pending several amendments approved during the markup.)

A key provision of the proposed law would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to hold "voluntary incentive auctions" both to … Read more

Apple and Google returned to Capitol Hill this morning to defend themselves against accusations from U.S. politicians who claim that the companies aren't doing enough to protect their customers' location privacy.

Today's Senate subcommittee hearing, which Facebook also joined, came only a week after a different Senate subcommittee convened nearly the identical hearing on the identical topic: mobile phones, privacy, and user consent.

"I think anyone who uses a mobile device has an expectation of privacy, and sadly that expectation is not always being met," said Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.), chairman of the … Read more

The White House is urging Congress to enact a new "privacy bill of rights" that would provide clearer guidelines to online users and businesses about the collecting of personal information over the Internet.

Speaking in Washington yesterday at a special hearing devoted to online consumer privacy, Assistant Commerce Secretary Lawrence Strickling acknowledged that the ability to store information about customers helps make online companies more efficient. But he said that consumers are growing increasingly uneasy about how their personal information is being collected and used.

With the lengthy privacy policies now offered by Web sites proving confusing and … Read more

AT&T is expanding Wi-Fi access in New York and San Francisco where customers have run into trouble with the carrier's overcrowded celluar network, according to the Associated Press.

The company is due to announce today that it will expand its Wi-Fi hot zone this week in New York City's Times Square, which launched in May. "Hot zone" is a term for a large, outdoor, public area covered by multiple hot spots.

AT&T is also eyeing new hot zones around New York's Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral areas, according to … Read more

Foes of the Transportation Security Agency's new air-screening procedures, including law enforcement-style pat-downs and what have been called "virtual strip searches," had hoped that today's Senate hearing would lead to a privacy outcry on Capitol Hill.

Not quite. The hearing quickly cleaved along partisan lines, with Democratic senators applauding the Obama administration and Republicans offering only modest criticism.

"Mr. Pistole, you're doing a great job," Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat and chairman of the Senate committee overseeing air travel, told TSA chief John Pistole, a former FBI agent who's had the … Read more

The U.S. Senate is moving to put an end to one of the biggest scandals ever to shake online retail.

Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced a bill on Wednesday designed to prevent post-transaction marketers from duping consumers into enrolling into monthly memberships.

Rockefeller's committee has said marketers Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue were responsible for mysterious credit card charges that millions of Americans, including elderly citizens and wounded Iraqi veterans, have complained about for years. Rockefeller's bill, called "Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act," is the result of a yearlong investigation … Read more