2011 October InfoTech & Telecom News

The October issue of InfoTech & Telecom News reports on a proposal by the Illinois-based Commonwealth Edison Company to install smart meters – a plan a third-party analysis says could save the company’s 5.4 million customers $2.8 billion on electric bills over a 20-year period. Nevertheless, the proposal is controversial, and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) rejected the plan shortly after this issue went to press.

Also in this issue:

• The Federal Communications Commission implemented the Truth in Caller ID Act in mid-August in an effort to crack down on caller-identification fraud, or “spoofing.”

• The warrantless placement of GPS devices on suspects’ vehicles by law enforcement agents has triggered a flurry of legal action, with appeals courts unable to come to a consensus.

• Comments opposing the $39 billion merger of AT&T and T-Mobile may have been automatically generated, a practice commonly known as robo-signing or astroturfing.

• Utilities and telecommunications companies are required to disclose their use of consumer credit scores, another costly regulatory burden posed by the 2010 Dodd-Frank measure.

• Managing Editor Bruce Edward Walker is not impressed by Ben Shapiro’s hot--and hot-tempered--new book, Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV.