The Writers Guild of America, East, is endorsing a proposed New York City Council resolution urging the FCC to adopt Net Neutrality standards for Internet service providers.

The Senate Commerce Committee marked up and sent to the floor the Local Community Radio Act. The bill directs the FCC to drop third-adjacent channel protection for most FMs to allow more low-power FMs on the band. It requires the FCC, when licensing FM translators, to ensure that licenses are available to both FM translators and LPFMs.

The FCC released its broadband agenda and supplied a presentation on areas to be reviewed which is due in 90 days. It covers a very broad area of topics.

The United States has lost a lot of ground concerning internet expansion, adoption and affordability, according to telecom experts. Having a system of mandatory open access to telecom infrastructure in the European Union and Britain has proven successful not only at offering affordable broadband, but also promoting Internet growth.

The Native American population is one of the most disconnected groups in the country, according to a new study on broadband penetration. "Native Americans are among the last citizens to gain access to the Internet, with access to broadband often unavailable or overly expensive in Native communities," according to the research.

If you thought that the entertainment industry would stop at having the ability to force ISPs to kick people they accuse (not convict) of file sharing offline, you might want to pay attention to what's happening in South Korea. Some entertainment industry lobbyists are now demanding that all file sharing services must use content filters. Otherwise, they plan to sue.

Oprah Winfrey is giving network television one of her trademark aha moments. Winfrey is planning to announce that she will step down from her daily pulpit, the Oprah Winfrey Show, in two years in order to concentrate on the forthcoming cable channel that will bear her name.

Newspapers have tried many ways to cover the news with dwindling resources: dropping certain topics, having people do double duty, using more wire service work. Routine plagiarism is not usually an option, but a lawsuit contends that it was for a while at the Hartford Courant.

"My Government will introduce a Bill to ensure the communications infrastructure is fit for the digital age, supports future economic growth, delivers competitive communications and enhances public service broadcasting," said Her Majesty, an innocuous description of the about-to-be-introduced Digital Economy bill.

Ontario, Canada will have a smart meter in every home by the end of 2010, and its Information and Privacy Commissioner has now weighed in on the implications of placing detailed information on energy use online.