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• Internet tax moratorium extended in US gov't spending package

  A one-year extension to a U.S moratorium on Internet access taxes was buried in a US$1.1 trillion government spending bill passed by the Senate on Saturday.

• Academics urge FCC to enforce net neutrality on case-by-case basis

  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission should weigh in on net neutrality and encourage its sister agency, the Federal Communications Commission, to back away from calls to regulate broadband like a public utility, a group of 32 academics said.

• FCC chairman gives no timeline for net neutrality decision

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has no public timeline for voting on proposed net neutrality rules, despite pressure from President Barack Obama and some net neutrality advocates.

• Obama gives FCC political cover to regulate broadband

  U.S. President Barack Obama, in a strong net neutrality policy statement, has given the Federal Communications Commission the political cover it needs to move ahead with new rules by reclassifying broadband as a regulated utility.

• Net neutrality advocates: Hybrid approach won't work

  In the fractious debate over net neutrality, efforts to strike a compromise don't seem to be working. A proposal reportedly favored by a top U.S. regulator is drawing fire from groups on both sides of the issue, with 70 pro-net neutrality groups speaking up against the plan Friday.

• US net neutrality advocates plan Hungary-style protests

  Protests are planned outside the White House in Washington, D.C., and at several locations across the U.S. on Thursday evening to object to leaks that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is considering a new "hybrid" proposal to break through the deadlock over net neutrality rules.

• Verizon appears to soften its stance against net neutrality rules

  Verizon Communications seems to be softening its stance against net neutrality rules, suggesting it could live with a basic set of regulations.

• FCC: A range of net neutrality options remain on the table

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Friday that it remains open to a range of options for new net neutrality rules, following a news report saying it is leaning toward a controversial approach that regulates one piece of broadband service.

• The ratings: Most net neutrality groups get poor grades for funding transparency

  After a spate of news stories about alleged "astroturf" advocacy in a contentious U.S. net neutrality debate, the IDG News Service looked into the funding transparency of several think tanks and advocacy groups involved in the issue. Several disclose limited or no information about their funding, we found.

• FCC gets record number of net neutrality comments, what now?

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's deadline for the public to comment on the agency's proposed net neutrality rules passed Monday with more than 3 million comments filed, by far a record number for an FCC proceeding.

• 33 equipment manufacturers oppose public-utility broadband

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should resist calls to reclassify broadband as a regulated public utility as a way to enact strong net neutrality rules, more than 30 broadband equipment manufacturers, including Cisco Systems, IBM and Intel, have said.

• FCC's Wheeler: US needs more high-speed broadband competition

  U.S. residents lack meaningful choices for broadband providers that offer 25Mbps or faster download speeds, and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will push for more competition, the agency's chairman said Thursday.

• Groups call for details on NSA surveillance of Muslim Americans

  More than 40 privacy, civil rights and religious groups have called on President Barack Obama's administration to provide a "full public accounting" of long-time email surveillance of prominent Muslims living in the U.S., following a news report detailing the spying by the U.S. National Security Agency and FBI.

• Groups pressure US lawmakers with NSA surveillance scorecard

  U.S. lawmakers got a report card on Friday: they've been graded by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other groups on whether they are effectively reining in the National Security Agency's surveillance programs.

• Cisco: Broadband providers should not treat all bits the same

  All bits running over the Internet are not equal and should not be treated that way by broadband providers, despite net neutrality advocates' calls for traffic neutral regulations, Cisco Systems said.