HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently opened an inquiry into Google Voice, the popular messaging and call service offered by Google, and Google’s practice of blocking certain calls.   The inquiry was prompted by complaints from AT&T to the FCC accusing Google of unfairly blocking calls to certain numbers in rural areas where local phone companies charge high connections fees.  A bipartisan group of 20 Congressional members also submitted a letter asking the FCC to open an investigation into Google’s voice application.  Continue Reading »

Transparency into how websites use, protect and disclose the personally identifiable information of its end users has been an especially hot topic over the past few years as the use of social networking and social utility sites have grown exponentially in popularity.  So it’s no surprise that end users’ control (or lack thereof) over how their personally identifiable information is used, and the extent of that control, has been giving many in our industry “heart burn” and raising the eyebrows of legislators and governments globally.

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While there are clearly more pressing issues to be addressed immediately after the inauguration (the economy, anyone??), the incoming Obama administration has a detailed, comprehensive roadmap already in place to guide its technology policies and initiatives.  This probably should not come as a surprise considering how Obama leveraged technology and the Web to transform presidential politics during the campaign (remember the campaign ad that appeared in Burnout Paradise on the Xbox 360?).  

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