America's communications watchdog has finally acted to limit the billions of robocalls that cellphone owners receive each year. After years of complaints, growing bipartisan political pressure, threatened legislation, furious attorneys general and stats that show the problem is only getting worse, the FCC approved a measure on …

A bounty hunter was able to get the live location of a number of different individuals from American cellphone networks through a single phone call, it is claimed. Matthew Marre was charged [PDF] last month with allegedly obtaining "confidential phone record information ... by making false and fraudulent statements and …

AnalysisAmerica's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is likely to approve a controversial $26bn merger between the third and fourth largest US mobile carriers, T-Mobile and Sprint, sparking claims of regulatory inconsistency and coziness with the mobile industry. As has become the norm at the federal regulator, the decision …

On Wednesday morning, after years of actively ignoring demands that phone companies be made to block robocalls by default, the head of America's telecoms regulator had a sudden change of heart. "Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is proposing bold action to help consumers block unwanted robocalls," announced …

Faced with growing political and legal anger, Ajit Pai, the chairman of America's communications watchdog, has again promised to do something about robocalls – and again left critics fuming over his foot-dragging antics. Pai's FCC made two announcements on Monday – that as the boss of the federal regulator, he "expects major …

RoundupLast week, a Symantec boss stepped down, a Chinese hacker was called out, and an AirBnB hidden camera creep was cuffed. What else went on? See below. Systemd, Linux, AMD and shoddy randomness File this one under bad situations that probably don't affect anyone. It reemerged that some older generation AMD processors fail to …

No less than 42 US state attorneys general have warned that the epidemic of robocalls sweeping the nation is causing serious harm to ordinary Americans. In a letter [PDF] to telecoms regulator, the FCC, the AGs note that "the explosive growth of caller ID spoofing and robocalls is being driven primarily by scams," and point …

CommentWe thought the hype over next-generation mobile broadband networks couldn't get much thicker, but we were wrong. So let's just jump into the five biggest lies about 5G. 1. China is using the tech to spy on God-fearing Western nations No, it's not. 5G is upcoming technology, and China – because it is resurgent – is making a big …

America's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will block the entry of the world's largest mobile company – China Mobile – into the US market, citing security concerns. "It is clear that China Mobile's application to provide telecommunications services in our country raises substantial and serious national security and law …

A robocalling scheme that ripped off business owners by claiming to be collecting fees on Google's behalf to improve their search engine results has been fined $3.4m. But thanks to terrible enforcement efforts by federal regulators, that fine is probably not worth the paper it's written on, With the US government's failure to …

AnalysisAmerica's comms regulator has finally pinky-promised to at least consider people's privacy when it looks into how cellphone location data can be made more accurate. On Friday, during a monthly meeting of commissioners, the FCC belatedly confirmed it would weigh up privacy alongside phone tracking, in a "notice of proposed …

A bipartisan group of US senators are trying to force the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to face up to the reality that its statistics for broadband speeds across America aren't worth squat. A letter from 11 legislators, including Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and James Lankford (R-OK), strongly urges Ajit Pai, boss of …

The White House and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have both announced big plans to expand broadband internet access across the United States. In the first, the Trump Administration has highlighted a new report drawn up the Department of Commerce that aims to use federal resources to jumpstart flagging internet …

AnalysisWhen the Democrats took over the House of Representatives in America, one of the first things that the House Energy and Commerce Committee did was call a hearing on net neutrality. We had a familiar feeling of dread at the time. But it's OK, everyone, because yesterday that session, featuring two former heads of federal comms …

AnalysisUS lawmakers have again called for an investigation into cell networks after it emerged that they have been selling specially protected user location data intended only for emergency services. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who has repeatedly highlighted privacy violations by mobile operators, today called out Ajit Pai, boss of …

The chairs of the US House of Reps' commerce and technology committees have picked a fight with FCC boss Ajit Pai, accusing him of being a corporate stooge. In the letter [PDF], Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) accuse the watchdog's head …

AnalysisA year after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was sued for scrapping America's net neutrality rules, the issue finally ended up in court on Friday. The hearing, held in Washington DC, went on for hours. In fact, it went on for so long that one judge jokingly asked one of the lawyers whether he had brought some pizza …

US telecoms regulator the FCC has been accused of colluding with companies it is supposed to oversee in order to protect a controversial decision over new 5G networks. Chair of the House Commerce chair, Frank Pallone, has sent a letter to FCC chair Ajit Pai asking for copies of communications between the FCC and the big telcos …