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FCC readies broadband map to help allocate funds for higher speeds

Nov 17, 2022
Identifying where high-speed internet is available has been tricky. But the map may give officials a better idea of who's left out.
The new map may address stubborn inequality in the reach of broadband internet. Tribal and rural communities could benefit.
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How identity theft and fraud upended one woman's life

Nov 9, 2022
"I said, what can I do to stop this? And the customer service rep. goes, 'Well, if we could stop all instances of fraud, we would but we can't,'" says Jessica Roy, assistant editor of Utility Journalism at The Los Angeles Times.
The FTC has instructions on what to do if you've stopped receiving government benefits because of identity theft. Above, blank Social Security checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury facility in Philadelphia.
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What might an FTC crackdown on some subscription practices mean for news outlets?

Nov 19, 2021
The agency has warned companies against using what it calls "illegal dark patterns" to trap consumers into subscriptions that are then hard to get out of.
Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Supreme Court limits FTC's ability to make fraudsters reimburse consumers

Apr 23, 2021
In its unanimous ruling, the court says the FTC could always ask Congress for more authority to recover money for victims.
Over the past five years, the FTC says it’s returned over $11 billion to victims using the method that the court just struck down.
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Mobile, media industries see optimistic signs for 5G wireless future

Jan 7, 2021
The airwaves on the auction block include frequencies in what's called the mid-band range, allowing 5G signals to travel fast and far.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Verizon

Facebook case won't be "open and shut," former antitrust attorney says

Erik Gordon thinks we won't see Facebook broken up and spun off into smaller separate companies.
Erik Gordon says there are other remedies for Facebook besides breaking it up, including making it open up some of its proprietary technology.
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Regulators fine YouTube for collecting data and marketing to kids

Sep 5, 2019
Critics say the $170 million penalty will do little to change the video platform's behavior.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Facebook is facing a fine. What about Zuckerberg?

Jul 15, 2019
The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly ready to hit Facebook with a fine of about $5 billion.
Signs for company Cambridge Analytica in the lobby of the building in which they are based on March 21, 2018 in London, England.
Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Report: FTC approves roughly $5B fine for Facebook

Jul 12, 2019
According to the Wall Street Journal, the 3-2 vote broke along party lines.
In 2019, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg influenced our discourse, our privacy, our ideas about speech — free or otherwise — and our spending habits.
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Judge rules Qualcomm violated antitrust law in chip market

May 22, 2019
A federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm unlawfully squeezed out rivals in the cellphone chip market and charged excessive royalties to cellphone manufacturers such as Apple.
Attendees wait in line for a 5G exhibition at the Qualcomm booth during CES 2019 consumer electronics show, on January 10, 2019 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images