News

WASHINGTON — On Friday, AT&T announced its intention to acquire Leap Wireless — the nation’s sixth-largest wireless provider, with 5 million subscribers.

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Free Press joined a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against the U.S. government over its controversial domestic spying program that collects, stores, searches and analyzes in bulk the telephone records of millions of Americans.

The suit alleges that the government is violating the First Amendment right of association by gaining access to the phone records of political and activist organizations and their members.

WASHINGTON — On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission voted on its 15th MVPD report assessing the status of competition in the video industry.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Reps. Anna Eshoo, Mike Doyle, Ben Ray Lujan and Jim Matheson sent a letter to several major communications companies, including AT&T and Verizon, that asked them to explain their use of “below-the-line” fees. Customers must pay these fees in addition to the advertised cost of service.

WASHINGTON — On Monday, The Tribune Company announced that it had agreed to acquire 19 television stations from Local TV Holdings LLC.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, a diverse coalition of more than 35 public-interest, civil-rights and community-based organizations sent a letter to Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill highlighting the importance of the Lifeline program.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission approved changes to its broadband data-collection practices in an order continuing the mapping efforts begun by the National Telecommunications Information Administration.

WASHINGTON — Within 48 hours of the launch of StopWatching.Us, more than 100,000 people have demanded a congressional investigation into the National Security Agency’s spying activities and full accountability for those involved.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Gannett announced a $1.5 billion purchase of TV-station owner Belo. The deal would further consolidate the local TV market and make Gannett the nation’s fourth-largest owner of major network affiliates.

On Tuesday, the Free Press Action Fund and more than 80 organizations and Internet companies sent a letter demanding that Congress halt and investigate the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs.