Cramming Makes a Nasty Comeback

Take a look at your phone bill. Every month. Even if you don’t have time to scrutinize every line item, it’s worth a quick review.  We’re all used to escalating bills for utilities (with the exception of gas—at least this year) so bill “creep” isn’t normally cause for alarm. But this year, particularly in the mobile device world, enforcers are coming from all corners to go after the carriers and providers who not only have continued to allow third parties to add piddling little charges without authorization, but who have, in many cases, been sharing the revenue with those third parties.

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Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality has been back in the news over the past few days.  The truth is that not much has changed since we last considered the issue in this space other than a decision from the Federal Communications Commission about whether or not broadband services should be classified as a regulated telecommunications service or a largely unregulated service may happen before year end. Over the summer, the FCC solicited comments from the public on the issue. 

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Employer Reimbursement for Mobile Device Use

Next time you see one of those yellow Schwan’s Home Service yellow frozen food trucks driving around your neighborhood, look at it differently. While I’ve been told that the merchandise inside is tasty when thawed, a recent California decision in a case brought by a Schwan’s employee may have left a sour taste in the mouth of California employers.

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Municipal Broadband: A Different Perspective

Suppose we’ve been framing the questions associated with municipal--or municipally sponsored--broadband in the wrong way?  Suppose the question isn’t whether or not this is a good idea (and there are volumes that have already been written on this topic), but, in fact, who will serve rural and remote areas when the private firms, for any number of good reasons (and some not-so-good reasons) won’t?

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Net Neutrality: The Next Round

On Monday, September 9th, long-time litigants Verizon (among others) and the Federal Communications Commission met for another round in the dispute over the long running battle known as “Net Neutrality.” The two key questions at the root of the ongoing saga are whether providers of internet services can discriminate between those customers that they serve, and whether the FCC—or any entity for that matter--has the legal authority to regulate the internet.

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