Chris O’Brien of the San Jose Mercury News is one of RoadMAP’s favorite commenators on technology policy.  Thus, RoadMAP takes seriously his assessment that Facebook is now the most important company on the web.  See if you agree.

O’Brien: Sorry, Google, But Facebook is the Web’s Most Important Company Now
It’s been a week since the Facebook developers conference, [...]

RoadMAP likes to employ multiple sources each week, but Ars Technica scores two days in a row because of this invaluable and lucid discussion of Fourth Amendment issues raised by cloud computing.
The Cloud and the Future of the Fourth Amendment
In mid-April, a coalition of privacy groups filed a brief in federal district court in Colorado, defending Yahoo [...]

If social media are, indeed, becoming a major driving force in the ecology of the Internet, it is going to be important to understand behavior on Facebook. This research is amusing, but it is also important. because RoadMAP would have thought the Twitteresque “Newsfeed” might be the main attraction of Facebook, but “It seems [...]

[ May 4, 2010; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. ]

Media Access Project will host its annual reception honoring our generous contributors and officially welcoming Tyrone Brown as our new President.

Please join us at this important occasion!

When: Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Where: Dickstein Shapiro LLP, 1825 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC.

Light refreshments will be provided.

By Tony Bradley, PC World
It seems that the battle for net neutrality has boiled down to an argument over economics. Dueling reports paint vastly different visions of the economic outlook for the broadband and Internet industries should the FCC be successful in imposing net neutrality guidelines.
On the one hand, you have Dr. Coleman Bazelon and [...]

RoadMAP has always thought that the network TV business still has a lot of life in it, but here is a dystopian view of the question.

Is Network TV’s Model Lost?
Network television has some new hits, but costs keep rising and the financial model is still buckling. Studio heads say it’s the price of doing business, [...]

By Grant Gross, PC World
Net neutrality rules proposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission could upset a complex mobile telecom marketplace and lead to fewer handset choices and fewer smartphone applications, a mobile trade group said Monday.
Net neutrality rules could upset a “virtuous cycle” of mobile development and innovation in the U.S., said officials with [...]

Media Access Project (MAP) filed two sets of reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission today outlining the importance of open Internet rules for wireline and wireless providers.
One set of comments, filed on behalf of the Center for Media Justice, Consumers Union, and New America Foundation, emphasized the potential benefits of net neutrality protections for [...]

TV services provide less than die-hards would like
By Aaron Nathans, The News Journal
He’s a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan, and loves watching football games from around the nation.
Robert Cox can watch the Phillies or his choice of Sunday football games … but not both.
A Middletown resident, he’s a subscriber to DirecTV, a satellite service that offers [...]

WASHINGTON — Media Access Project welcomes the FCC’s announcement today of several items designed to implement the National Broadband Plan by reforming the universal service fund, facilitating wireless voice and data roaming, and fostering choice in cable set-top boxes.
We must study further the notices and decisions released today before offering any judgments on the merits of [...]