dv-depot.com » Senate Committee

Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Legislation Back in Play

shaun — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:14:19 +0000

Legislation granting the president internet-killing powers is to be re-introduced soon to a Senate committee, the proposal’s chief sponsor told Wired.com on Friday. The resurgence of the so-called “kill switch” legislation came the same day Egyptians faced an internet blackout designed to counter massive demonstrations in that country.

Wired Top Stories

Lazy Sunday Links

everyjoe — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:30:13 +0000

Yes, the FBI director has his own commander. Not the president of the US or some senate committee, but his wife who banned him from doing online banking after he nearly fell for a phishing scam.

Iceland is all about being (literally) cool, which is why they want to become the server capital of the world. They offer natural cooling crucial to cutting down data center costs and energy consumption.

Adaptive roof-tiling technology that absorbs heat during the winter and reflects it during the summer. How? Simply by switching between black and white.

A summary of Leo Laporte’s career. For some reason, I find Laporte hotter than Olivia Munn.

Bill Gates (and his own Commander Melissa) recently provided a cost estimate to the FCC: $10 Billion needed to run fiber optic cables to various educational institutions and hospitals in the US.

Apparently, around 40 years ago, the US navy was working on pigeon-guided missile technology.

Rest in peace Stephen Gately. The Boyzone singer’s last tweet is available for everyone to read here.

Post from: The Gadget Blog

On Call: Is carrier exclusivity really a problem?

crave — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:29:00 +0000

Try as I might, I can’t get that worked up about carrier exclusivity. If a cell phone carrier and a manufacturer want to pair up and offer a handset for a certain period, I’m not going to oppose it purely on principle. Granted, such deals may not be fair to absolutely everyone, but I’d argue that there are much bigger problems with how the U.S. wireless industry operates.

Yet, a few U.S. Senators don’t appear to agree. On July 7, a few weeks after a Senate committee grilled national carrier reps on device exclusivity, Sen. John Kohl (D-Wis.) wrote letters to both the federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department’s antitrust division asking the agencies to investigate the issue and suggest possible regulatory proposals.

The original iPhone made carrier exclusivity an issue.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

“The practice of large cell phone companies gaining exclusive deals to the most in-demand cell phones is a serious barrier to competition,” Kohl wrote. “Consumers are unlikely to obtain cell phone service from companies if they cannot obtain desired handsets.”

I’m no carrier lackey, but I find it fascinating that Congress is just now noticing that carrier exclusivity exists. The practice, which is hardly unique to the United States, has been around for a long time. So from where is the sudden interest coming?

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Originally posted at Dialed In Podcast