It is Data Privacy Day and I'm sitting in Booth Auditorium at the UC Berkeley Law School where I'm attending the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) privacy workshop. Today's event is the second in a series of three public roundtables that the FTC is hosting this year as it explores the privacy challenges posed by ever-changing technology and business practices.

While I will have much more to add to this announcement going forward, I wanted to take a moment to let you know that we are launching a new conference/project called pii. The letters stand for privacy, identity and innovation, but we are using the acronym because we think -- like privacy itself -- it will mean different things to different people.

Whether you are a privacy rights advocate or you believe privacy is indeed dead, pii will offer a comprehensive look at how all of our information is being created, shared, controlled, collected, stored and secured, how that is likely to change in the future and what it means for individuals, organizations and governments.

The conference will take place at the Seattle waterfront on August 17 & 18, and we'll be planning a number of activities before and after the conference for participants who want to be part of our larger project to look at how privacy, identity and innovation are interrelated.

We'll be launching a new Web site soon that will offer more specifics on the program, how you can get involved with pii and, of course, how to register for the conference in August. 

I will also share updates via my Twitter account, @TechPolicy, and I welcome anyone who shares our curiosity and passion for these topics to contact us with questions, suggestions and comments.

The following day, January 27th, the FCC's Media Bureau is convening a meeting from 9:00am to 1:00pm EST to examine how FCC media ownership rules affect minority and female ownership. There will be two panels and both sessions will be available online at FCC.Gov/live for those who can't attend in person (unlike the January 26 workshop, no registration is necessary to attend).

The Commission also released the preliminary agenda for its next open commission meeting in D.C. on February 11th. Topics it currently plans to address include the national broadband plan and a proposal for schools that receive funding from the E-Rate program to allow members of the general public to use the schools' Internet access during non-operating hours.

Update: The FCC launched a new Future of Media blog, and it's inviting the public to comment on a series of questions the Commission is exploring as it prepares a report on the future of media and information needs.

No matter what your feelings about telecommunications regulation, you probably believe that the regulatory framework should reflect technological and business realities. That's not the case today for the rules governing the communications industry. And there's very little chance the situation will get better any time soon.

In the most recent skirmish with reality, it looks like there's a fair chance the Federal Communications Commission is going to get slapped down in its effort to sanction Comcast for violation of its network neutrality principles. The issue that I think matters is not whether net neutrality regulation is a good idea or not-personally, I think some modest regulation is needed-but whether the regulators can even approach the subject in a rational manner.

It's always dangerous to predict what an appeals court will do based on questions from the bench during a hearing. But the skeptical questions asked by judges of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals suggest that Comcast is likely to win its challenge. Time after time, courts have slapped down the FCC when it has tried to push the limits of the authority Congress granted in the 1996 rewrite of the Communications Act of 1934. Chief Judge David Sentelle summed up this judicial attitude at the hearing:  "You can't get an unbridled, roving commission to go about doing good." Should the three-judge panel side with Comcast, that would all but doom FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's efforts to formalize and expand the FCC's informal net neutrality guidelines.

Even under the far more laissez-faire leadership of Michael Powell and Kevin Martin during the Bush Administration, the FCC kept running into legal roadblocks as it attempted to adapt regulation to a rapidly changing technological environment. The most serious was the Supreme Court's 2005 decision in NCTA v. Brand X Internet in which the court put strict limits on the FCC's powers to regulate "information services."

If you're a Twitter user and you're planning to be at the 2010 International CES this week, please let us know if you'd like to be added to our Tech Policy list of people participating in the conference.

It's our first time creating a Twitter list but we hope it will make it easier for you to find other people who are tweeting from CES. We've started out by adding some of the speakers who will be at Tech Policy Summit, along with a few other people we follow who plan to be there. Let us know if you'd like to be added by sending us a direct message or @ messsage via Twitter.

We'll also be using the #TPSCES hashtag for our sessions, and you can search for #CES to get a look at general CES-related tweets.

We're getting ready to head to Las Vegas this week for the 2010 International CES where we'll be co-hosting our next Tech Policy Summit with Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) government affairs team.

We're big fans of CES because there's so much to do and see, but we realize that it can also be challenging with so many choices. Along with the cool tech demos and exhibits that CES is famous for, the 2010 CES will include over 250 conference sessions. So, we've created a guide to this year's CES that we hope will help fellow tech policy followers plan their time during what will definitely be a busy and fun week -- the PDF is available here. 

Our guide to CES includes details on the Tech Policy Summit sessions we're co-producing with CEA, along with over a dozen other sessions that we think are worth a look. Most of the sessions, including all Tech Policy Summit sessions, are free to attend as long as you have a CES badge. And it's not too late to sign up on-site -- you can purchase an Exhibits Plus pass for only $200 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Follow us on Twitter at TechPolicy for updates once we arrive in Vegas. We'll be using the #TPSCES hashtag for tweets about the Tech Policy Summit sessions, and we've started a Twitter list to help you find people to follow/meet during CES (let us know if you'd like to be added to the list).

You can also check out the full Agenda for Tech Policy Summit on our site, and make sure to visit the Speakers page for the latest list of participants. Highlights include a one-on-one with FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, a panel discussion on broadband policy featuring Susan Crawford, Anna Gomez, Carlos Kirjner, Andrew McLaughlin and others, and a roundtable with FCC commissioners Meredith Baker, Mignon Clyburn and Robert McDowell. It all starts at 10:30am this Thursday with the broadband roundtable.

About 2,200 applications totaling $28 billion in requests were received this summer as part of the first round of funding, and the agencies expect to award the winners grants and loans worth up to $4 billion starting next month.

Before they begin accepting requests for the final tranche of money some time early next year though, RUS and NTIA are seeking public comment to try and improve the application and funding process. 

In their joint Request for Information issued this morning, program administrators Jonathan Adelstein and Larry Strickling outlined a series of questions that they're considering. The topics cover everything from how they should define "unserved," "underserved" and "remote" areas to how much applicant information should be made available to the public.

There's a 14-day period for commenting and you can submit your responses to NTIA via email. A copy of the RFI is available here (PDF file); see page 9 for more specifics on how to file a comment.

We're looking forward to taking part in this year's Supernova Conference as a media sponsor, and we hope you'll join us there.

The annual event organized by Wharton professor Kevin Werbach features an impressive line-up of speakers that you won't want to miss (including several Tech Policy Summit alumni we are fans of).

Held December 1-3 in San Francisco, CA, the Supernova Conference is the thought-leadership forum for the Network Age. It brings together over 500 business, government and technology influencers to understand how networks are radically changing our world from business and social perspectives.

Register now with this code to receive a discount of $200: gen01

Developers are invited to submit applications using the platform of their choice in one of two categories:

• Apps that show how innovation and entrepreneurial activity are at work across America
• Apps that will help advance policy goals that support innovation

The deadline to enter the contest has been extended to Monday, December 14th and the grand prize includes $10,000 and a travel package to attend the 2010 International CES in style. The second and third place winners will also receive cash prizes of $5,000 and $3,500 respectively.

So if you want to show support for CEA's Innovation Movement and you have the skills and creativity to develop a clever app, check out the contest Web site for more specifics.

For the record, while we are co-hosting Tech Policy Summit @ CES with the government affairs team at CEA, we are not affiliated with the Innovation Movement apps contest.

The event, which is open to the public, will take place at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. from 9:00am to 1:00pm EST. There will also be a live Webcast at http://www.fcc.gov/live.

FCC commissioner Michael Copps will serve as the host, and other speakers will include actress Marlee Matlin for (representing the National Association of the Deaf), Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the Blind, Alan Hubbard of the National Telecommuting Institute and Karen Peltz Strauss of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology.

For more info, visit the FCC's Broadband.gov site.

The funding, which the President described as the country's "largest-ever investment" in smart grid technologies, will be matched by industry funding for a total private-public investment of over $8 billion. The 100 grant winners include private firms, utilities, city governments and other partners in 49 states -- details are available in this PDF that lists the grant winners by funding category.

At the state level, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law a smart grid bill, SB 17, that tasks the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) with determining the requirements for a smart grid deployment plan by July 1, 2010 and also requires some utilities with developing smart grid plans by 2011.

CPUC commissioner Rachelle Chong hosted a roundtable discussion titled "Powering a Smart Grid Revolution" at Tech Policy Summit '09 earlier this year with executives from several smart grid startups. You can listen to a free podcast of the session in our Media Vault.

Last Thursday, the FCC commissioners voted 5-0 (with Commissioners Meredith Atwell Baker and Robert McDowell dissenting in part and concurring in part) to approve the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and it's now seeking public comment on six principles that it seeks to codify.

While this rulemaking process marks a significant step for supporters of net neutrality regulations, the debate over this issue hasn't shown signs of letting up. In fact, on the same day that the FCC held its meeting, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill called the Internet Freedom Act of 2009 that would prohibit the FCC from "enacting rules that would regulate the Internet."

Initial comments on the proposed rulemaking are due by January 14th, and the Commission is inviting the public to visit OpenInternet.gov to get info and updates. You can also check out this primer of the FCC's revised electronic comment filing system, courtesy of Ars Technica.

You may remember that during last month's House oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) was so fired up about the need for a universal cellphone charger that he said he planned to introduce legislation to establish a uniform standard. Apart from making it inconvenient and more expensive for consumers to switch from one phone to another, Rep. Markey warned about the increased electronic waste created by obsolete chargers.

The European Commission has also been very critical of manufacturers for creating unique power chargers for each mobile device. In June, CNN reported that several leading device makers, including Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, had made an agreement with the European Commission to start selling universal chargers by January 1, 2010.

The GSM Association, which helped the ITU develop the new standard, has estimated that the universal charger would eliminate 51,000 tons of redundant chargers and 13.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. Since use of the new standard is voluntary, we'll have to wait and see if industry adoption will be sufficient to avoid mandates from U.S. and European regulators.

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month in the U.S., and a number of government agencies and industry trade groups have developed tools and resources to help consumers protect themselves online.

Here are three places to start if you're looking for cyber security tips:

• StaySafeOnline.org: The home of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), Stay Safe Online is a comprehensive site that features special sections geared toward kids, teachers and small business owners in addition to its general consumer info. You can also find out more about the NCSA, which represents McAfee, Microsoft, Symantec, Cisco, SAIC and EMC.
  
• OnGuardOnline.gov: A partnership of several federal agencies and nonprofit groups, this site maintained by the Federal Trade Commission features fact sheets, videos and games that address everything from identity theft and phishing to protecting kids' privacy and laptop security.
  
• DHS.gov/cyber: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also created a list of other cyber security resources as part of its involvement in promoting National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Under the current USF program, low-income households that meet certain eligibility criteria receive discounts on their monthly telephone bills. Congresswoman Matsui's bill, known as the Broadband Affordability Act of 2009, directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to offer those same types of discounts for broadband Internet service.

In a statement announcing the bill, Rep. Matsui said that "to fully close the digital divide we must address the affordability of broadband services for lower-income households."

She cited statistics indicating that in her homestate of California, where Internet access is available to 96 percent of households, adoption rates are significantly lower among households that earn less --  only 58 percent of households making under $40,000 a year have Internet access at home, compared with 97 percent of households that earn $80,000 or more.

To qualify for the program under her bill, households would need to either have an income level that is at or below 135 percent of federal poverty guidelines or be participating in one of several federal assistance programs such as Section 8 housing, Medicaid, the national school lunch program or the government's supplemental nutrition assistance program.