Policy & Regulation

Policy & Regulation / News Briefs

Trump Administration Announces Its Big 5G Push: Largest-Ever Spectrum Auction and a 20.4B Fund

In a special White House event today, President Trump along with FCC chair Ajit Pai, announced a major push towards 5G deployment as part of the "5G Fast Plan" initiative.

US House of Representatives Pass a Bill to Restore Net Neutrality Rules Repealed by Trump’s FCC

The US House of Representatives just passed the Save the Internet Act of 2019 on a vote of 232-190.

Close to Half of America Not Using the Internet at Broadband Speeds, Says Microsoft

The US government’s most recent broadband statistics from the FCC claims 25 million Americans to be lacking access to a broadband connection.

Article Expresses Concern That Google and Other Tech Giants are Quietly Buying Up Undersea Cables

Big tech's ownership of the internet backbone will have far-reaching, yet familiar, implications, says Tyler Cooper, a broadband policy watcher, and editor at BroadbandNow.

Cybersecurity Continues to Be the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Top Priority for 2019

For the fourth year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office continues to include cybersecurity as one of the top enforcement priorities for 2019.

Russians Take to the Streets to Protest Against New Internet Restrictions

Thousands of Russians in Moscow and other cities rallied on Sunday against tighter internet restrictions. The protest is reported to be one of the most prominent in the Russian capital in years.

Thousands of UK Businesses, Individuals to Lose Their .EU Web Address in a No-Deal Brexit

The British government is urging close to 340,000 registered holders of .EU domain in Britain to make contingency plans as their web addresses will disappear if the UK does not agree on a deal with Brussels.

US House and Senate Democratic Leaders Announce Bill to Restore Federal Net Neutrality Rules

The United States House and Senate Democratic leaders are about to unveil new legislation today proposing to restore federal net neutrality rules on Internet providers.

Domain Registrars Given a Six-Month Deadline to Implement Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)

ICANN issued an industry-wide six-month deadline for the deployment of the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) - a replacement for the WHOIS protocol.

Thailand Passes Law Giving Sweeping Powers to State Cyber Agencies

Thailand's military-appointed parliament on Thursday passed a controversial cybersecurity law which gives sweeping powers to state cyber agencies.

Government Officials, Academia, and Advocacy Groups Say Time for US to Get Its Own GDPR

US Congress asked to develop an internet data privacy legislation similar to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to enhance consumer protections.

Indian Government Proposes Vast New Powers to Suppress Internet Content

The Indian government has proposed a bill to suppress online content in the country, increase control over messaging and trace messages to their origin.

US Senate to Hold Hearing on Consumer Data Privacy Issues

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announced today that it will convene a hearing titled, "Policy Principles for a Federal Data Privacy Framework in the United States."

US Government and Businesses Need Collaborative Procedures Against Major Cyberattacks, Warns Report

A new report warns that unless government and private sector decision makers begin developing specific procedures and trust now against cyber-enabled economic warfare (CEEW), the United States will find itself flat-footed during a major cyber event.

CENTR Publishes a Paper on Domain Name Registries and Online Content

The Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR) has published a paper on Domain name registries and online content which explores the domain name registries' relation and role regarding content online.