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FTC Could Gain Enforcement Power Over Internet

Posted by timothy on from the who-above-all-else-desire-power dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that under a little-known provision in financial overhaul legislation before Congress the Federal Trade Commission could become a more powerful watchdog for Internet users with the power to to issue rules on a fast track and impose civil penalties on companies that hurt consumers. 'If we had a deterrent, a bigger stick to fine malefactors, that would be helpful,' says FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who has argued in favor of bolstering his agency's enforcement ability. This power would stand in stark contrast to a besieged FCC, whose ability to oversee broadband providers has been cast into doubt after a federal court ruled last month that the agency lacked the ability to punish Comcast for violating open-Internet guidelines. The provision to strengthen the FTC is in the regulatory overhaul legislation passed by the House, and although it is absent from the legislation before the Senate, some observers expect the measure to be included when the House and Senate versions are combined."

3 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Uh... by gandhi_2 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    What's a good 2nd degree to get?

    Nursing.

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    THL phish sticks
  2. FCC needs power stop comcast from NBC CSN Philly by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    FCC needs power to stop comcast from makeing NBC like CSN Philly and makeing it cable only and lock out dish and directv.

    Also why can't CSN Philly be like CSN CHICAGO and be on all systems?

  3. Re:Uh... by Z34107 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Off-topic (that's your cue, moderator queue) but related to parent's sig:

    I can't speak for computer engineering, but I'm a soon-to-be graduating computer science major. The curriculum was a lot of fun, but it's not software engineering - it's math. Until recently, it was just a concentration of our math major.

    That means it's a lot of theory - data structures, algorithmic efficiency, set theory, relational algebra, Turing completeness, etc. It doesn't seem immediately applicable, but it's handy to know when (if! you could go into academia!) you start writing "real" code. Your solutions will be simpler and more elegant when you know the difference between a linked list and a stack.

    Computer engineering sounds like hardware hacking. That's the opposite of proofs and pure thought-stuff. Good luck.

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