Congressional

The Full Valenti: Dodd Trades His Olive Branch to Tech for a Howitzer, After SOPA/PIPA Gets Delayed

Kara Swisher in Media on January 20 at 11:32 am PT

What would Jack do? (And would it work anymore?)

Should the Next Commerce Secretary Be a Tech Exec (or Would It Cause a Schmidtstorm?)

Kara Swisher in News on March 8, 2011 at 6:30 am PT

Yesterday, the Obama administration dribbled out the news that it was going to nominate current Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as the next ambassador to China. The move leaves open a post that could get a true turbocharge if it were filled by an exec from the fast-growing and innovative digital arena. Here are BoomTown’s nominations.

Lawmakers Ask FCC to Probe Google Voice

John Paczkowski in News on October 8, 2009 at 2:59 pm PT

Should Google be able to offer voice services unfettered by regulations that apply to broadband carriers simply because Google Voice is a free Internet application? AT&T certainly doesn’t think so, and it seems at least a few Congressional representatives agree.

Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Regulatory Update: "Eh"

Kara Swisher in News on October 7, 2009 at 7:31 am PT

Unlike the gripping back and forth of the fight over Yahoogle last year, the approval process for the search and online advertising partnership of Microsoft and Yahoo is chugging along slowly but surely as the Justice Department has deepened its investigation by reaching out to a broad range of publishers, advertisers, public interest groups and rivals for comment recently. But, so far, there is still no significant external challenge to the MicroHoo deal, even from Google, the likeliest company to try to scuttle or, at the very least, slow down the deal. In other words: Zzzzzzzzzzz…

Yahoo-Microsoft Regulatory Filings Start This Week: Let the Legal Game-Playing Begin!

Kara Swisher in News on August 4, 2009 at 3:01 am PT

After all the investor hubbub over the oh-no-they-didn’t deal between Yahoo and Microsoft starts to die down a bit, the pair are now embarking on the path that is the only way toward proving the efficacy of them joining together. That would be getting a variety of state, federal and international regulators to say yes to the wide-ranging online advertising and search arrangement they announced last week so they can start making it work. According to sources at both companies, a variety of filings will be made this week, including one to the Securities and Exchange Commission that should provide more details of the partnership.

Congress Readies an “Opt-In” Privacy Bill, and the Web Industry Cringes

Peter Kafka in Media on June 23, 2009 at 1:41 pm PT

Here comes the battle the online ad business has been dreading: Congress is drawing up a bill that would require users to sign up to let advertisers track their online behavior–and, if you believe online publishers, more or less destroy the online ad business.