Net Neutrality, the First Amendment of the Internet, has come under withering attack from the Astroturf lobby -- corporate front groups that are determined to hand control of the Internet to companies like AT&T; and Comcast.

Their battle strategy involves getting a handful of House Democrats to cave to...

March has been a stormy month across the Arab world as the hope for new democracy faces the harsh reality of despots armed with guns, tanks and the tools of censorship.

In Libya, the Gaddafi regime plunged the nation into digital darkness during the first week of March,...

AT&T;'s $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA is yet another in the series of large telecom mergers that over time are slowly reassembling the Ma Bell monopoly of old.

It's now left to federal regulators at the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission to decide what's really...

AT&T;'s plan to take over T-Mobile has set the stage for Washington's high-tech policy battle of 2011.

But that's not all that's at stake. This proposed deal paints a dark scenario for the future of all communications -- a future that looks increasingly like a bygone era of monopoly...

On Monday, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken made the corporate takeover of the Internet - and the government's acquiescence to these corporations - frighteningly clear.

Franken told a crowd of independent musicians and tech entrepreneurs attending the South by Southwest conference that the open Internet, which has been...

Late Wednesday, Republican members of a key House Commerce subcommittee decided to give phone and cable companies absolute, unrestricted power over the Internet.

By a party-line vote of 15 to 8 they passed a "resolution of disapproval" that would strip the FCC of its ability...

On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner (R - AT&T;) chose the occasion of his first address outside Washington to take aim at Net Neutrality.

While the speaker may have traveled 650 miles to Nashville to deliver this attack, his speech came from the far reaches of the...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday highlighted new U.S. Internet freedom policy that is designed to help democracy movements gain access to open networks and speak out against authoritarian regimes.

According to Clinton, the program will provide $25 million in new grants to support "technologists and activists working at...

Since I broke the story here on Jan. 28 that the U.S. company Narus has been selling Internet spying software to Egypt, members of Congress, other government officials and Americans have become increasingly alarmed. Now some are calling for investigations.

On Thursday, during a House...

The open Internet's role in popular uprising is now undisputed. Look no further than Egypt, where the Mubarak regime today reportedly shut down Internet and cell phone communications -- a troubling predictor of the fierce crackdown that has followed.

What's even more troubling is news that...

Verizon has a love-hate relationship with Net Neutrality. The company professes its love of the open Internet, but then tries to smother it with a pillow in the middle of the night.

The company's strained relationship with openness was evident yesterday when Verizon asked...

When President Obama said he was going to "bring change to Washington," no one expected William Daley to be his choice to get the job done.

Obama's incoming chief of staff is about as corporate friendly as any Democratic insider can be, which is saying a lot.

Late Monday, a majority of the FCC's commissioners indicated that they're going to vote with Chairman Julius Genachowski for a toothless Net Neutrality rule.

According to all reports, the rule, which will be voted on during tomorrow's FCC meeting, falls drastically short of earlier pledges by President Obama and...

Little noticed but extremely important to progressives, on Saturday afternoon Congress also passed the Local Community Radio Act.

This legislation opens up radio spectrum to hundreds, if not thousands, of local independent radio stations (also known as LPFM).

Its passing will bring new choices and voices on...

As members of the Federal Communications Commission prepare for a vote on Net Neutrality next week, some of Congress' most Internet-savvy members say the rule before the agency doesn't fully safeguard consumers nor clear even the lowest bar for real Net Neutrality protections.

The group, led by...

In the past 24 hours Comcast has been exposed committing blatant abuses of its power over all things media.

The New York Times reported last night that the cable giant has threatened to block access to the popular online movie service Netflix unless the company that streams its...

Comcast wants you to trust them -- to really, really trust them.

That's why the company's top lobbyist, David Cohen, convened what could best be described as a Kumbaya sing-along in Washington on Monday, to declare Net Neutrality an issue over which Washington needn't concern itself any longer....

And Why That Poses an Even Bigger Threat to Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann is back, and for his many fans, including the 300,000 who petitioned MSNBC to reinstate him, it would seem a return to form.

But Olbermann's dispute with the brass at MSNBC may only serve...

The high-pitched pundits of Fox News Channel have had their sites aimed at NPR nonstop since the radio network sacked analyst Juan Williams last week for likening all Muslims to terrorists.

They've not only tried to turn Williams into some kind of media martyr (though it's hard to feel...

It's put up or shut up time on Net Neutrality. That's what Rob Pegoraro wrote in the Washington Post earlier this week.

And he's right.

The fate of the open Internet now rests in the hands of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. The chairman just needs to muster the...