The Heartland Institute

Review of The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding From You , by Eli Pariser, Penguin USA, 304 pages, 2011 $25.95 The Filter Bubble is a salvo fired over the epistemological challenges wrought by Internet filters. Overwrought is more like it. Upon reading The Filter Bubble , I was reminded of the equally overwrought Zager ...

An agreement between 50 State Attorneys General and the District of Columbia with DIRECTV requires the satellite TV provider alter its business practices, offer restitution to eligible consumers, and remit $13.25 million to the states and DC. Announced December 15, the settlement addresses allegations DIRECTV locked customers into ...

Saul Anuzis has announced he's running for chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. The former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party pits himself against sitting RNC Chairman Michael Steele. Anuzis garnered respect in the state for employing strategies resulting in recent Republican takeovers of the governorship, state ...

Although representing only 13 percent of all mobile phone users, smartphone owners account for two-thirds of worldwide cellular traffic, according to research by Informa Telecoms & Media (ITM), a telecommunications strategy and consulting company headquarter in the United Kingdom. In North America, smartphones account for 86 percent ...

The European Union this week firmly grasped something seemingly elusive to three of five members of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission: so-called network neutrality is a bust Last Thursday the EU punted on the issue, declaring existing regulations precluded imposing more stringent rules, preferring instead to pursue a wait ...

Public concern over potential health effects and property values resulted in a six-month moratorium on the construction of telecommunications towers in Blaine, Minnesota. The Blaine City Council meeting agenda in October included a motion to grant a conditional use permit to construct a 100-foot Monopole tower, but emotional comments ...

Two recent rulings by the Seventh Circuit Court have cleared up some confusion regarding the federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The court dismissed a suit brought against Houston, Texas anesthesiologist Dr. Eric Chan by an Illinois-based company with a similar Web address, notding Chan s site specifically gave a ...

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered the implementation of education programs on cyberbullying and safe use of social networking sites for schools and libraries receiving E-Rate funds. E-Rate, officially the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, provides discounts to assist most U.S. schools and ...

Despite Michigan’s dismal economic outlook, telecom giant AT& T has announced it has spent more than $80 million on its wireless network in the state during the first six months of 2010. That’s approximately one-third of AT& T’s $225 million wireless and wireline network capital expenditures in the Wolverine state in the first ...

For the second time since January 2010, money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been directed to Michigan s Upper Peninsula and northern part of the Lower Peninsula for broadband buildout. The two grants total $103 million. Merit Network, an Ann Arbor, Michigan company, received $33 million in January and another ...

The Federal Communications Commission has launched a Parents Place Web site, stating the site will help parents navigate the complex media landscape of the Internet with their children. Parents Place, launched in September, provides information on topics such as how to locate educational television and radio programs suitable for ...

A group opposed to corporate marketing aimed at children has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to prevent the Nicktoons cable network from airing a new animated series featuring characters created to promote the Skechers shoe brand. The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) is protesting the broadcast of ...

A woman broadcasting an unlicensed FM radio station in North Miami, Florida was fined $20,000 by the Federal Communications Commission after she was issued a second order to cease operations. Nounoune Lubin ran the 90.1 MHz radio station without a license from a residence in North Miami. Because Lubin had a prior offense and ...

EPB Fiber Optics, the city of Chattanooga’s municipally owned fiber-to-the-premises broadband service, claims its newest iteration of free wireless service is the first in the nation to offer 1 gigabyte access speeds. EPB says the new service, announced September 13, is nearly 200 times faster than average download speeds for ...

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Recording Industry of America Association (RIAA) temporarily halted their bitter feud over the Performance Rights Act long enough to jointly endorse a federal mandate for placement of FM radio receivers in all handheld electronic devices. The Consumer Electronics Association ...

The Federal Communications Commission Broadband Performance OBI Technical Paper No. 4, issued in August, isolates facts about Internet use which have an important bearing on the net neutrality issue. Among these are: 1. Data hogs account for about 1 percent of residential Web users but 25 percent of all online traffic. 2. For ...

In response to complaints from Native American tribes that a lack of high-speed Internet services disadvantages tribe members living in remote areas, the Federal Communications Commission has launched a new telecommunications initiative for the groups in June. The commission announced its intent to require current providers to upgrade ...

When the Federal Communications Commission s decided to reassign the 700 MHz wavelength, it inflicted untold costs on churches, clubs, and entertainment venues that previously employed wireless microphones. At the same time, the FCC generated $19.6 billion in revenue by selling off portions of the wavelength to private companies ...

In response to complaints from Native American tribes that a lack of high-speed Internet services disadvantages tribe members living in remote areas, the Federal Communications Commission has launched a new telecommunications initiative for the groups in June. The commission announced its intent to require current providers to upgrade ...

Reflecting its concerns that the Internet is undermining serious journalism, the Federal Trade Commission is examining avenues for taxing new media to support print media. The FTC announced the project May 2009. On June 7 of this year the commission released a draft proposal, Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention ...