More than a decade ago, President Clinton pledged that every person in America would soon be able to go online "to order up every movie ever produced or every symphony ever created in a minute's time."

Well, we're already well into the next millennium and less than one...

Astroturf. You may have heard the word or even seen the fake grassroots in action.

Astroturf groups are front operations that take corporate money to promote an industry's policy agenda, covering their tracks behind phony grassroots Web façades.

It's a formula for success that works in favor of...

The "Maverick" just played his hand on Net Neutrality, and the cards reveal a man who's outsider image doesn't quite add up.

On Thursday, Sen. John McCain introduced legislation to kill the open Internet, the deceptively named "Internet Freedom Act." The bill would stop all FCC efforts to have...

How do we rid Washington of astroturf? It's a blight that's spread over the Capitol like kudzu, smothering genuine public debate under a tangle of misinformation.

Sporting names like "Tea Party Patriots," "Energy Citizens" and "Americans for Broadband," astroturf groups have pocketed millions from industry to prop up the...

A Washington Post blog post published Monday hits on one central reason for making Net Neutrality the law.

In "Protecting Free Speech in the Digital Age, " guest blogger Dawn Nunziato says that free expression on the Internet is too important to be subject to the whims of...

What does the debate over Net Neutrality have in common with a zombie horror flick? As the phone and cable companies send out a brainless horde of shills and lobbyists, it's not hard to make the connection.

That's why Free Press and SavetheInternet.com just released a brief...

The fight for Net Neutrality took a big step forward on Monday with the chair of the Federal Communications Commission announcing plans to expand the rules to protect a free and open Internet.

In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Julius Genachowski said the FCC must be a "smart...

Can you smell the fear? Switch on cable news or tune in to talk radio and it comes wafting in.

Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck has bottled his own scent. Lou Dobbs' fear gives off a distinct undertone of racial intolerance. And Rush Limbaugh takes to the air to...

The New York Times gets Net Neutrality right again, and again, and again. In their fourth editorial in support of Net Neutrality the newspaper's editors write:

"A good bill that would guarantee so-called net neutrality has been introduced in the House. Congress should pass it, and the Obama administration...

If you haven't been paying attention to the rise of Astroturf in Washington, in the media and at your local town hall meeting, now's the time to tune in.

Astroturf front groups have been everywhere this summer -- spreading misinformation about health care reform, carbon emission caps and financial...

On Friday, Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) marched across Independence Avenue and up the steps of the Capitol Building to introduce a bill that could stand as the First Amendment of the Internet age.

The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 establishes the basic...

The Federal Communications Commission's plan to investigate the blocking of Google Voice over the iPhone signals the agency's new resolve to address public concerns about carrier control over an exploding mobile phone marketplace.

And the move couldn't have come soon enough. As millions of users are opting to upgrade...

Do the New Jersey Arrests Mark the End of an Era of Patronage Politics?

Only 22 days in and the career of one of New Jersey's "rising hopefuls" came to a sudden end.

Hoboken's Democratic mayor, Peter Cammarano, was among more than 40 people rounded up on Thursday by...

Co-authored with Ben Scott

Mignon Clyburn, Barack Obama's choice to fill a vacant Democratic seat at the Federal Communications Commission, will face a confirmation hearing Wednesday in the Senate Commerce Committee.

As the third Democrat on the five-member commission, Clyburn would cast a deciding vote for President Obama's...

What more can be said about the Internet's role in the popular uprising that has shaken the Iranian regime since its widely contested election?

The power of open social networks is undisputed. The Internet's three favorite offspring -- Twitter, Facebook and YouTube -- have been heralded by mainstream media...

When consumers purchase an Apple iPhone, a BlackBerry Storm, or other "smart" phone, why are they forced to sign up with a particular wireless carrier?

USA Today wants an answer. In a pointed op-ed on Thursday, the paper's editors wrote that carriers "squelch innovation" through such handset exclusivity deals....

Co-authored with Josh Stearns

Thursday morning, Politico reported that the Washington Post was offering lobbyists "off-the-record, non-confrontational" access to the paper's own reporters and editors for a whopping fee of $25,000 to $250,000.

According to Politico's Mike Allen, a promotional flier for the first "Washington Post Salon," focusing on...

Julius Genachowski, a strong proponent of Net Neutrality, was confirmed by the Senate late Thursday to be the influential chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Genachowski is well regarded in the technology community, both as former chief counsel to Reed Hundt, an FCC chairman under President Bill Clinton, and...

Do you want to get the new iPhone?

If so, you're in for a disappointment. If not, you should be worried anyway.

Apple just released the new iPhone in a hail of hype, promising that it would be "the Internet in your pocket." If only. The smart...

AT&T can't decide whether it loves or hates the iPhone. But for many iPhone users there's little doubt: They hate AT&T.

The upcoming release of the new iPhone comes with some nasty strings attached. While Apple upgraded the device to deliver innovative features -- like multimedia messaging and "tethering," which...