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NEWS FEED
Startup News Digest 1/5/2018
At the end of last year, the FCC approved a plan from Republican Chairman Ajit Pai that repealed the agency’s 2015 net neutrality rules, which kept ISPs from blocking or slowing access to certain websites and online services. The repeal is a blow to many, especially startups who aren’t able to afford to compete with established companies and pay ISPs for better access to users. Now that the FCC has voted and published the order, it’s up to the courts and Congress to reestablish net neutrality protections.
2017 Year in Review: Intermediary Liability
In the span of a few short decades, the Internet has quickly become the greatest medium for public engagement in the history of the world. The participatory nature of Web 2.0 is a direct product of policy decisions made in the Internet’s infancy to refrain from holding websites legally responsible for the actions and speech of users that they cannot fully control.
2017 Year in Review: Patents
While patent trolls remain a problem, in 2017, startups started to see some relief from nefarious patent litigation. The decrease in patent litigation abuse stems largely from meaningful Supreme Court rulings and the continued implementation of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
2017 Year in Review: Privacy & Security
Privacy and security debates continued to unfold in 2017. While we saw the extension of fights from previous years—including efforts to require a warrant to access user data on the Hill and an administration pushing for backdoors into encrypted products and services—policymakers and the courts were forced to grapple with questions raised by new events, court developments, and deadlines.
Startup News Digest 12/22/2017
Congress averts funding, and spying, shutdown. Late Thursday, Congress passed a bill to fund the government through January 19, averting a government shutdown this week.
2017 Year in Review: Telecom
Once again, net neutrality has taken up most of the space in the telecom policy debate this year. FCC Republican Ajit Pai rose to chairman and quickly introduced a proposal to roll back the hard-fought net neutrality protections that the agency put in place in 2015.
2017 Year in Review: Immigration Reform
The debate over immigration policy intensified in 2017 as the new administration issued several executive orders aimed at curbing the flow of immigrants to the United States. Engine led the charge in pushing back against many of these measures, including a letter signed by over 200 startups opposing the Administration’s Executive Order banning citizens from seven countries. Skilled immigrants, especially those admitted under the H-1B program, bolster the country’s capacity for innovation and provide immense benefit to its economy at large. What’s more, foreign talent has fueled America’s thriving culture of entrepreneurialism and played a central role in making our country the leader in technology startups.
Congratulations to the new United States Patent and Trademark Office Director
Engine congratulates Andrei Iancu on his Senate confirmation to the position of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director, and we look forward to working with him to ensure that the country’s patent system works for everyone.
#StartupsEverywhere: Peter Burakowski (Buffalo, NY)
For our twenty-ninth #StartupsEverywhere feature we talked with Peter Burakowski, the Director of Marketing at 43North.
2017 Year in Review: #StartupsEverywhere
In this charged political climate, #StartupsEverywhere is our insurance policy on the innovation and progress of the past decade. Through it, we have created a dialogue with policymakers and voters about the flourishing startup ecosystems around the country that are offering important developments in numerous industries. Our goal has been twofold: to determine the crucial inputs that have enabled startup growth outside of Silicon Valley and New York City, and to highlight the incredible startups and ecosystem builders who often fall in the shadows of those cities on the coasts.
The FCC’s “Facts” vs. Reality on Net Neutrality
Ahead of the Federal Communications Commission’s vote late last week to dismantle 2015 net neutrality rules — which prevented ISPs from blocking or slowing access to certain websites — FCC Chairman Ajit Pai continued to misrepresent his plan as a boon to innovators and Internet users across the country instead of the ISP industry sell out it really is.
Startup News Digest 12/15/17
The Big Story: Net neutrality repeal passes, now what? The FCC voted this week along party lines to repeal the 2015 net neutrality rules that kept ISPs from blocking or slowing access to certain websites.
Engine Statement on Net Neutrality Vote
“The Federal Communications Commission voted today to strip the critical protections that made the Internet a level playing field for startups. With its rushed, party-line decision to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, the Commission is ignoring the pleas of innovators, investors, and everyday users to keep the Internet free and open"
Startups Speak Out on Net Neutrality
This Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on a plan from Chairman Ajit Pai to eliminate the existing net neutrality protections that have helped level the playing field for small and new startups across the country.
Startup News Digest 12/8/17
The Big Story: Countdown on net neutrality vote. Despite massive backlash and calls for delay, the FCC will vote next Thursday on Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to roll back the 2015 net neutrality rules that kept ISPs from blocking or slowing access to certain websites and services.
Engine Supports Changes to House Sex Trafficking Bill
Sex trafficking is a heinous and tragic crime. It requires a thoughtful solution that gives prosecutors the tools they need to seek justice for victims and enables the private sector to assist in identifying and dealing with bad actors.
Startup News Digest 12/1/17
The Big Story: The next phase of the net neutrality fight. While most people were preparing for Thanksgiving last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released his plan to roll back the 2015 net neutrality rules, teeing up an agency vote on the order in mid-December, where he’s expected to get the necessary support from the commission’s other two Republicans to pass the proposal.
Engine Supports Pro-Privacy Online Surveillance Reforms
Engine applauds the efforts of lawmakers -- including members of the House Judiciary Committee and Sens. Patrick Leahy and Mike Lee -- for pushing legislation that bolsters privacy, transparency, and oversight protections in an expiring online surveillance law.
Engine's Statement on FCC Net Neutrality Rollback Proposal
“Chairman Pai’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order offers freedom only to Big Telecom. For companies that do business on the Internet, this change in regulation will bring increased uncertainty in their ability to access their users as they have under the current rules.
Startup News Digest 11/17/17
The Big Story: Tax bill sheds bad stock options provision. After a massive backlash from 600 startups, innovators, and investors, the Senate has dropped from its sweeping tax reform proposal a measure that would have taxed employees’ stock options when they’re vested instead of when they’re exercised.