Senator Al Franken, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on privacy, technology and law, sent a letter to Carrier IQ on Thursday asking the company to address a number of concerns that have arisen after security expert Trevor Eckhart revealed the software might allow wireless carriers to spy on customers. “I am very concerned by recent reports that your company’s software — preinstalled on smartphones used by millions of Americans — is logging and may be transmitting extraordinarily sensitive i...

The United States Senate on Thursday voted 52-46 in opposition of a Republican bill that sought to block the Federal Communication Commission’s net neutrality rules. Here’s one small example of how a society without net neutrality might work: Say you’re an avid fan of Netflix or Hulu but, since you’re using those services instead of your cable company’s on-demand movie rental platform, your cable company decides to block all access to Netflix and Hulu. Under the FCC’s net ...

Expedia, Nextag and Yelp are in Washington, D.C. to participate in a Senate judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing about whether or not Google has acted anti-competitively in the market. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman is one of the executives who has been asked to provide testimony during the hearing and he has posted his written testimony on Yelp’s website. “Google is no longer in the business of sending people to the best sources of information on the web,” Stoppelman said. “It now hop...

Senator Herb Kohl, the chairman of the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee is recommending that federal regulators deny AT&T’s $39 billion planned acquisition of T-Mobile. ”I have concluded that this acquisition, if permitted to proceed, would likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies,” Kohl said on Wednesday. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, chairwoman of the Hous...

Google’s chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, Reuters reported on Monday. On June 24th, Google announced that the Federal Trade Commission would be reviewing its business practices. The search giant said it was “still unclear” as to what the FTC’s concerns were but that it would cooperate fully with the investigation. Watchdog groups such as Fairsearch.org have repeatedly accused Google of eanga...

The small group of hackers known as Lulz Security, or simply “LulzSec,” would never disband without one final round of fun. BGR reported on Monday that the group’s reign of terror was coming to an end after 50 lul-filled days. During that period of time, LulzSec released data stolen in a series of online breaches with targets ranging from Sony to the U.S. Government. In its coup de grâce, LulzSec released a stash of stolen data from a variety of targets, including AT&T, Disney and the U...

The now infamous hacking team LulzSec recently announced that it was swabbing the decks of its “Lulz Boat” and closing up shop — for now. The group made its name after attacking a number of high visability targets recently, including Sony, the CIA’s website, and the U.S. Senate. It’s unclear if the group’s decision was made after its leader and chat logs were exposed, but the group makes a convincing argument that a 50-day hack-fest was planned the entire time. In its final pr...

Apple and Google are in Washington, D.C., testifying before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. Both companies have already testified in regards to collecting location data from users, but there are more questions to be answered. Senator Charles Schumer asked Apple and Google why the firms were allowing developers to publish applications that alert drivers of DUI checkpoints. “Apple and Google shouldn’t be in the business of selling apps that help drunk drivers e...

A United States Senate subcommittee on Friday announced that it will hold a hearing next month to review AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA. The $39 billion deal, which has been strongly and publicly opposed by Sprint, would see AT&T once again become the nation’s top carrier by subscriber count. It would also give AT&T control of T-Mobile’s AWS spectrum for use with the carrier’s upcoming LTE network rollout. A Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee headed by ...

The Washington Post is reporting that eight Republican U.S. senators are trying to block the sale of telecommunications equipment from Chinese manufacturer Huawei to U.S. wireless provider Sprint Nextel. The group, led by Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, is asking the Obama administration to investigate if the country’s national security will be compromised by the equipment. In a statement, the group said, “A Chinese company with such a leading role in Iran’s economy and close relationship wi...

Last year, the Mexican government passed a law mandating all pre-paid, anonymous mobile phone users submit their personal information to their wireless provider(s) and have their cellular line linked with their name and personal information. The law is aimed at curbing what Mexican officials are calling “mobile extortion.” Ransom demands from organized crime and drug cartel kidnappings are often made via anonymous, pre-paid cellular phones, and it is the preferred method of communication for ̶...

The House of Representatives defeated the digital TV delay bill with a 258-168 vote that failed to secure the two thirds needed for passage. The vote closely followed party lines with 155 Republicans voting against the bill and 22 Republicans voting for it. Amongst House Democrats, 236 voted for the bill and a mere 13 voted against it. The defeat signaled a win for House republicans who have opposed the delay, claiming the four month delay would further confuse consumers, cause an unnecessary delay for compan...

First it was the White House that voiced its opposition earlier this week to the FCC’s plan for free wireless broadband using the white space spectrum, now it is Congress’s turn to weigh in on the matter. In a letter to the FCC,  the incoming chairmen for the Senate and House Commerce committees, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), urged the FCC to focus on the upcoming digital TV transition and to stay away from “complex and controversial items that the new Con...

Looks like the four major US cell phone providers have been caught with their proverbial hands in the consumers pocket. Recently, Sen. Herb Kohl, chair of the antitrust subcommittee, sent a letter to the four major US Carriers (AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile) asking them to explain why text messaging rates have doubled over the past 3 years when the cost to send them has remained the same. Seems like the Senator also noticed that when one carrier raises costs, they all follow suit. Aren̵...