News

WASHINGTON — On Monday, Rep. Ed Markey will introduce a discussion draft of a bill aimed at giving cellphone users more information on the monitoring software that may exist on their phones. The bill would also require disclosure of how any data that software collects is used and shared.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, Free Press released Citizens Inundated, a report that follows the money trail from big-spending political donors to the bank accounts of the nation’s largest broadcast companies.

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the Free Press Action Fund called on Congress to return campaign donations from the Motion Picture Association of America.

In an interview last week, MPAA President Chris Dodd, a former U.S. senator, threatened to cut off campaign donations to members of Congress who vote against legislation the MPAA supports.

WASHINGTON – On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would delay a vote on the PROTECT IP Act. A cloture vote on the controversial legislation had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Craig Aaron, president and CEO of the Free Press Action Fund, made the following statement:

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, AT&T announced that it would raise data prices for new customers by up to 20 percent.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, Verizon Wireless, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Bright House Networks announced that they would provide the Federal Communications Commission with copies of the companies’ joint marketing agreements to resell each other’s services.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, News Corp. admitted to British officials that “senior employees and directors” of the company’s British newspaper division, News Group Newspapers, knew about illegal phone hacking by News of the World staff “and sought to conceal it by deliberately deceiving investigators and destroying evidence.”

WASHINGTON — On Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that he has suggested removing a provision from the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that would allow for blocking domain names of websites that illegally post copyrighted content.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in an interview with Vermont Public Radio that he was willing to eliminate a provision from the controversial PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) that allows for blocking domain names of websites that illegally post copyrighted content.

WASHINGTON – In a speech delivered Monday morning, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined his approach for reforming the Universal Service Fund’s “Lifeline” program, which provides financial support to eligible recipients who cannot afford vital communications services such as basic telephone service.