On July 11, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order No. 13579 to improve and reform the regulatory process for government agencies. How this Executive Order will be implemented remains to be seen, as some agencies are forging ahead with costly, unnecessary and burdensome regulations that contravene the intent of the Executive Order.
Rampant Waste Reported in NSF
A report was released on May 26, 2011 by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that exposed wasteful spending at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The report found $3 billion in mismanagement, with more than $1.2 billion of NSF’s total budget of $6.9 billion for fiscal year 2010 squandered due to waste, fraud, and duplication.
Google under Fire
Google is the world’s largest search engine, and Android by some estimates is the most popular mobile platform, but the company is facing several problems related to privacy and security, as well as the validity of claims made in regard to software designed for use by the government. To Be Certified or Not to Be […]
Blackmail to Avoid Blackouts is Not Sound Policy
Imagine that you’re settling in to watch your favorite must-see-TV when your station de jour abruptly goes black. You suddenly can’t watch the big game, or the American Idol finale or (fill in your “can’t-live-without-it” show here). How could this possibly happen? You try rebooting your cable box as you frantically flip through the TV guide to make sure it’s really Super Bowl Sunday.
Net Loss
For many years there has been a vigorous debate on the pros and cons of net neutrality. On December 21, 2010, the nation took a technological step backwards when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to institute net neutrality rules on the Internet.
Privacy Problems
Privacy may mean different things to different people, but at a certain level everybody wants their privacy protected. The advent and growth of the Internet has greatly amplified privacy issues.
As with every other subject that comes to the forefront of the American psyche, Congress is gearing up to offer legislation to “protect privacy.” As usual, this means Congress could do more harm than good.
Government Broadband Deployment Report Card: F
To say that the Internet has grown over the past 15 years is an understatement. According to Internet World Stats, there were 16 million users in 1995 compared to 1.9 billion users in June, 2010, an increase of 11,775 percent. In addition, the Internet is much faster as a result of the deployment of broadband, and its uses have also expanded exponentially.
Congressmen Keep Pork Projects Cooking
Despite the moratorium on all earmarks agreed to by House Republicans on March 11, 2010, and a ban on earmarks to for-profit companies adoptedby House Democrats the previous day, both sides of the aisle are finding ways to circumvent their own rules.
CAGW Tells FCC: We Refuse to Stay Neutral
On January 13, 2010, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) filed comments urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to tread lightly on the net neutrality issue and consider its significant impact on America’s flourishing broadband industry. CAGW filed a second letter on April 7, 2010 reaffirming its opposition to the proposed net neutrality regulations and urging the FCC to steer clear of a reclassification of broadband under Title II of the Communications Act.
Government Broadband is too Broad
When Congress passed and the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or the stimulus bill, in February 2009, $7.2 billion was allocated to expand broadband in the United States. Of that amount, $2.5 billion was slated to go to the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for its Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP). This program supplements an existing RUS program aimed at underwriting broadband projects, the Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program. That program was established by Congress as part of the 2002 Farm Bill, and modified as part of the 2008 Farm Bill. Its primary goal is to provide loans to help bring Internet broadband service to unserved rural communities, which are generally defined as communities with populations of less than 20,000.