The Switch: At CES, privacy is a growing business

Today's technology and tech policy news  •  Thu., Jan. 8, 2015 View in your Web browser

At CES, privacy is a growing business Whenever I say the word "privacy" to many of the presenters at International CES, there's a little sigh before they answer. The thing to get excited about at this year's show, after all, is the connection of everything to the internet, so you can track how much energy your lightbulbs use or how you hold your toothbrush.  Read full article »

The number of Americans lacking broadband could soon go up. That’s a good thing.

Federal regulators will soon raise the minimum definition for broadband by more than 500 percent if Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, gets his way.The new standard would set the floor for basic broadband at speeds of 25 megabits per second for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. The change would technically increase the number of U.S. households on sub-par Internet, creating pressure for the FCC to work to bring those households up to the new, faster standard.  Read full article »

After a long delay, Obama declines to fire U.S. attorneys over Aaron Swartz’s suicide

The White House is declining to fire two Justice Department officials over their handling of a controversial court case involving Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide in 2013 after being accused of hacking into a university network.  Read full article »

The Switchboard: FCC chief signals he’ll push for strong net neutrality rules

Published every weekday, the Switchboard is your morning helping of handpicked stories from the Switch team.FCC chairman has all but confirmed he’ll side with Obama on net neutrality. The Post reports: "President Obama's top telecom regulator just issued his strongest hints yet about a pending plan to regulate Internet providers, and judging by reports from the room, he's leaning hard toward the most aggressive proposal on the table."  Read full article »

Innovations: If Mark Zuckerberg is the next Oprah, Facebook is in trouble

When Mark Zuckerberg makes a New Year’s resolution, people notice. This year, of course, the Facebook chief executive has segued from learning Mandarin to creating one of the Internet’s largest book clubs. His “A Year of Books” Facebook page, which encourages Facebook users to read one new book every two weeks and then discuss online, has already picked up more than 218,000 likes and helped to drive record sales for the first book selection (Moisés Naim’s “The End of Power.”) It’s no wonder people are already comparing Zuckerberg to Oprah and surmising that he’s done something wonderful like unlocking the future of mobile commerce for Facebook.  Read full article »

Innovations: Welcome to 2015, where snowplow drivers are trained on simulators

So you want to be a snowplow driver? Good luck learning how in July, or any month without snow.For many jurisdictions there’s often little chance for prospective drivers to get hands-on practice before an area’s first storm arrives. The same goes for keeping their skills fresh in the off season.  Read full article »

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