Policy/Legal

How mobile apps track and share your location and other personal information

Description: 

You are being tracked. The tracking device is your smartphone. And the tracker? Apple and Google. And your cellphone carrier. And software companies. And countless other third parties. And shopping malls. Oh, and also potentially law enforcement agencies.

Just what, exactly, are these groups tracking? And why? Read on to find out.

Stop the Stop Online Piracy Act

Description: 

Congress is once again considering passing new laws regulating piracy on the Internet. The House of Representatives is currently considering passing the Stop Online Piracy Act. But many oppose the Act—and you should too. If it becomes law, as one Congresswoman exclaimed, it “would mean the end of the internet as we know it.” Similarly, Internet companies like Google and Facebook also openly oppose it. The Act even prompted online protests by Tumblr, Reddit and Firefox. Why do so many oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act, and why should you be concerned? Read our coverage to find out.

The FCC's Net Neutrality Rules: A tale of two internets

Description: 

Support Net Neutrality - shared under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 license

The FCC's rules regulating Network Neutrality split the Internet. No more is it the Internet, singular; it’s the Internets, plural. Or more precisely, it’s the two Internets: The wired and the wireless. And the new rules leave the latter virtually unprotected. With the rules soon to come into affect this fall, and public interest and industry groups aligning for lawsuits, here's what the fight is all about.

Patent reform moves in the right direction but there are still barriers for small inventors

Description: 

Patent Reform - Image of Patent from 1927

President Barack Obama recently signed a patent reform bill as part of his job stimulus plan. The law attempts to remedy a wide range of problems preventing entrepreneurs from inventing and creating new jobs. We discuss these changes as well as a few of the new issues these changes may create.

New Media Rights files Reply Comments in the AT&T - T-mobile merger review at the California Public Utiltities Commission

Description: 

AT&T T-mobile merger

New Media Rights and its affiliates Utility Consumers' Action Network and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse filed Reply Comments to the California Public Utilities Commission investigation into the AT&T - T-mobile merger.  After attending the innovation and consumer workshops, and reading a mountain of additional paperwork, we're more convinced than ever that the CPUC should recommend denial of the merger.

We talk about specific reasons why in our comments, and also suggest that in the event the Commission does choose to recommend to the FCC to approve with the merger, some significant conditions should be placed in California.

New Media Rights protects another blogger from censorship and DMCA abuse

Description: 

New Media Rights recently protected blogger Michael Petrelis' speech and commentary regarding another blogger who pretended to be a gay Syrian woman living in Damascus. 

Mr. Petrelis is just one example of the hundreds of individuals who rely on New Media Rights daily.  His story reminds us that we have the right to criticize and comment on the culture that surrounds us.

Pages