SiliconBeat

Last week, the Associated Press reported that Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said he would recommend that the other four commissioners rule that cable giant Comcast had violated the agency’s principles regarding open access to the Internet. While the ruling is not final, the statement marks a major victory for Free Press, a non-profit advocacy group that filed the original complaint against Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company.

On Monday, I interviewed Marvin Ammori, general counsel for the Free Press. We talked about what happened last week, what happens next, and why we should all care.

For background, the original complaint is here. And more background on the history of the fight can be found here.

Going forward, Martin needs two more commissioners to sign on to his proposed decision within the next couple of weeks for it to become official. While the FCC is not recommending a fine, Ammori said his group would be satisfied with the ruling that Martin has proposed.

Given that everyone seems to love a deal, any deal, the valley is once again salivating that something seems to be happening between Microsoft and Yahoo. That something seems to be some deal involving selling or outsourcing Yahoo’s search business to Microsoft. In theory, a sale would result in Yahoo getting some big chunk of change, while an outsourcing deal might include some cash and some share of ad revenues. In theory.

But if Yahoo punts on search, then what’s left? Read the rest of this entry »