Update 8/19: The FCC rejected Verizon’s “fast track” request to not rebuild phone lines on Fire Island and forcibly transition residents to Voice-Link “wireless-only” service. Had the Commission not done so, Verizon’s request would have been automatically granted. Continue reading Verizon Abandons Fire Island: Not Yet Says The FCC
This letter, signed by a who’s who of Bush-era military politicos was sent to Congress before the Amash/Conyers vote.
Signatories include Alberto Gonzalez, John Negroponte, Stephen Hadley, Porter Goss and Michael Chertoff.
The Amash/Conyers vote (the amendment to defund the telephone metadata spying program was defeated 217-205) was a bizarre vote by even DC standards. Continue reading Strange Bedfellows: Bush Security Apparatus Letter to Congress
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Having a mother, father, brother or a sister in jail is an upsetting and scary experience. What makes it worse are sky-high special phone rates for calls from prisons that bust the family budget. That’s the reason California passed a law in 2007 phasing in reductions in the cost of prison phone calls. In state-run facilities, that is. If your mom, dad, son or daughter happens to be in a county-run juvenile facility, immigration detention center or county jail, then state law doesn’t apply. Continue reading County Allows Outrageous Charges for Inmate Phone Calls
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When a Pacific Gas and Electric pipeline exploded in San Bruno, CA in 2010, pundits all over the nation called out for more aggressive supervision of the energy company, so Californians needn’t fear having their homes burst into fireballs.
Wildfires and windstorms resulted in long-term outages across Southern California in recent years, caused largely by aging lines and overloaded power poles. At the insistence of legislators, millions of dollars in fines have been assessed.
Which makes it really puzzling when mandates for less utility regulation start sailing through the California legislature. Continue reading When Is A Phone Call Not a Phone Call? (When ALEC Says So)
Media Alliance and the National Lawyers Guild CDC (joined by 10 other organizations including Color of Change, Sugar Law Center, The East Bay Social Forum, Alameda Green Party and NHMC), filed comments on April 30th opposing wireless shutdowns. Continue reading MA and National Lawyers Guild CDC File Comments Opposing Wireless Shutdowns
DEA agents with guns drawn as well as IRS agents swarmed the Oaksterdam campus as well as the store/cafe site, bringing much of Downtown Oakland to a halt and drawing swarms of protesters to the ongoing raid.
Consumer groups filed a complaint against Pepsico and Frito-Lay for online marketing to teens that included immersive games and intrusive social media.
The online marketing campaigns included video games labeled “Hotel 626”, “Asylum 626” and “Doritos Rhianna Late Night” an music experience with pop star Rhianna. Continue reading Deceptive Digital Marketing Claim Filed Against Pepsi
Change to Win, CWA, Media Alliance, Media Action Center, Free Press. Avaaz, Occupy LA and others joined to welcome Rupert Murdoch to Los Angeles. Continue reading 200+ Protest at Fox Shareholders Meeting in LA
