At the end of last year, the FCC approved a plan from Republican Chairman Ajit Pai that repealed the agency’s 2015 net neutrality rules, which kept ISPs from blocking or slowing access to certain websites and online services.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
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
#StartupsEverywhere: Peter Burakowski (Buffalo, NY)
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
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
Startup News Digest 12/8/17
Engine Supports Changes to House Sex Trafficking Bill
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's Statement on FCC Net Neutrality Rollback Proposal
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.