Obama administration

Journalist in Legal Fight with Obama Administration over Sources

Stevie Converse — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:37:59 -0400

Full article: Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders urges the Department of Justice to withdraw the appeal it filed in a bid to force <em>New York Times</em> reporter James Risen to testify about his confidential sources in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who is accused of leaking top-secret information.

Power to Become White House Telecom Aide

Stevie Converse — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:35:20 -0400

Full article: Politico
Tony Romm
Tom Power, current chief of staff for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, will join the White House on Monday as its new deputy chief technology officer for telecommunications.

White House Defends Net Neutrality Rules, Disses Defunding

Stevie Converse — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:33:00 -0400

Full article: Multichannel News
John Eggerton
The Obama Administration came to the defense of the FCC's Net Neutrality rules, which have been under fire from Republicans trying to block or defund them. The Office of Management and Budget said the administration strongly opposes some provisions in the bill, HR 2434, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2012, including a provision that would defund the FCC's Net Neutrality rules.

In AT&T's Bid for T-Mobile, Obama Administration Is Caught in the Middle

Stevie Converse — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:13:01 -0400

Full article: Washington Post
Cecilia Kang
AT&T’s $39 billion bid for T-Mobile is a deal that consumer advocates hate but labor unions love. And that puts the Obama administration squarely between two powerful constituencies that typically support Democratic presidential candidates. The Communications Workers of America union says the transaction could create jobs. But some antitrust experts are dubious about the benefits of a merger, saying it will probably lead to layoffs. And consumer watchdogs say bills will rise due to less competition in the market.

White House: We 'Win the Future' by Making ISPs into Copyright Cops

Stevie Converse — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:20:23 -0400

Full article: Ars Technica
Nate Anderson
While ISPs were for years seen more like the "common carriers" of yore, who ran a network and were generally not responsible for policing the uses of that network, government sentiment in key quarters is changing. And not just in the United States -- at the recent high level OECD Internet conference in Paris, the concluding document stressed ISPs' duty to halt bad behavior. But there's a huge, obvious risk to piling up the obligations on intermediaries, who begin taking action against people without court orders and in areas in which they may have no technical expertise.

Antitrust Chief to Step Down

Stevie Converse — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 08:53:37 -0400

Full article: Wall Street Journal
Thomas Catan and Gina Chon
Christine Varney, the assistant attorney general who spearheaded the Obama administration's drive to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement, plans to step down next month to join the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Her departure, after two years in the post, deprives the administration of an antitrust chief widely viewed as tough and politically savvy when the Justice Department is conducting several high-profile merger reviews, including the AT&T-T-Mobile merger.

Hypocrites: Obama Administration Pushes Internet Freedom Abroad While Urging Crack-Down at Home

Stevie Converse — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:40:51 -0400

Full article: Daily Kos
David Segal
The United States this month signed on to a statement praising a pro-Internet freedom report by the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, even as the U.S. pushes new domestic laws and regulations to censor the Internet, restrict users' Internet access, and criminalize more online activities.

Twitter CEO Named to Presidential Advisory Panel

Stevie Converse — Fri, 27 May 2011 09:24:50 -0400

Full article: Washington Post
Cecilia Kang
The relationship between Washington, D.C., and Silicon Valley just got a little cozier. President Obama appointed Twitter CEO Dick Costolo on Thursday to an advisory committee on national security and telecommunications.

Fate of Silicon Valley Movie Streaming Startup Illustrates Obama Administration Balancing Act

Stevie Converse — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:05 -0400

Full article: Broadband Breakfast
Sarah Lai Stirland
Potential investors in internet movie-streaming startup Zediva initially worried about how Net Neutrality rules could affect its future as a business, but ultimately it's copyright law that might do it in and doom it as a business model. Not only did the Motion Picture Association of America sue the Silicon Valley firm and its founder personally, but unauthorized streaming online might soon become a crime if President Obama's administration gets its way.

Coalition Cautions Against Action that Undermines Net Freedoms

Stevie Converse — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 10:11:04 -0500

Full article: National Journal
Juliana Gruenwald
A coalition of public interest, privacy and civil liberties groups released an open letter to the Obama administration and lawmakers urging them not to push legislation that might weaken free expression or hamper online freedoms in response to the release of classified documents by WikiLeaks.