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Unlocking Consumer Choice And Wireless Competition Act
The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (; ) is a United States public law that repeals a rulemaking determination by the United States Copyright Office that left it illegal for people to unlock their cellphones. The bill passed in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. It was signed into law on August 1, 2014 by President Barack Obama. Background In the United States and other areas, where carriers often offer deeply discounted cell phones in exchange for an exclusive agreement with a carrier, that phone will often be locked so it will not work with another carrier. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA), it was illegal to use technical means to circumvent copyright protection systems. Therefore, consumers could not use software to circumvent the carrier lock on their cell phones (sometimes referred to as "hacking"). In 2010 the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, Leahy was first elected in 1974 and is in his eighth term. He is the chair of the Appropriations Committee, and served as president pro tempore from 2012 to 2015 and again since 2021. Upon Representative Don Young's death in March 2022, he became the most senior member of Congress. Leahy is also the last of the Senate's "Watergate Babies"—Democrats first elected to Congress in the wave election of 1974 that followed President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal. , Leahy is one of three members of Congress to have served during Gerald Ford's presidency and one of eight to have served during Jimmy Carter's. The dean of his state's congressional delegation, Leahy is Vermont's longest-serving U.S. senator, as well a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Register
The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on federal holidays. The final rules promulgated by a federal agency and published in the ''Federal Register'' are ultimately reorganized by topic or subject matter and codified in the '' Code of Federal Regulations'' (CFR), which is updated annually. The ''Federal Register'' is compiled by the Office of the Federal Register (within the National Archives and Records Administration) and is printed by the Government Publishing Office. There are no copyright restrictions on the ''Federal Register''; as a work of the U.S. government, it is in the public domain. Contents The ''Federal Register'' provides a means for the government to announce to the public changes to government requirements, policies, and guidance. * Proposed new rules and regulat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA''(pdf)https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1995-title2/html/USCODE-1995-title2-chap25.htm (text)] restricts the federal government of the United States, federal imposition of unfunded mandates on state, local and tribal governments in the United States. History UMRA was introduced on January 4, 1995, in the Senate by Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho as S. 1 to the Committees on the Budget and Governmental Affairs. It passed the full Senate on the 27th by a vote of 86 to 10; an identical version passed the House on February 1. It was signed into law by president Bill Clinton on March 22. Provisions The four titles of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act are: Title I: Legislative Accountability and Reform. Any bill passed by committee must be submitted to the director of the Congressional Budget Office so that any federal mandates may be identified. No bill which contains any such mandate imposing a direct cost of more than fifty mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software, internet (including web browsing over mobile broadband), and multimedia functionality (including music, video, cameras, and gaming), alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging. Smartphones typically contain a number of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) chips, include various sensors that can be leveraged by pre-included and third-party software (such as a magnetometer, proximity sensors, barometer, gyroscope, accelerometer and more), and support wireless communications protocols (such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or satellite navigation). Early smartphones were marketed primarily towards the enterprise market, attempting to bridge the functionality of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wireless Network
A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and business installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment locations. Admin telecommunications networks are generally implemented and administered using radio communication. This implementation takes place at the physical level (layer) of the OSI model network structure. Examples of wireless networks include cell phone networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless sensor networks, satellite communication networks, and terrestrial microwave networks. History Wireless networks The first professional wireless network was developed under the brand ALOHAnet in 1969 at the University of Hawaii and became operational in June 1971. The first commercial wireless network was the WaveLAN product family, developed by NCR i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Librarian Of Congress
The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years. In addition to overseeing the library, the Librarian of Congress appoints the U.S. poet laureate and awards the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Librarian of Congress also appoints and oversees the Register of Copyrights of the U.S. Copyright Office and has broad responsibilities around copyright, extending to electronic resources and fair use provisions outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The librarian determines whether particular works are subject to DMCA prohibitions regarding technological access protection. On July 13, 2016, the US Senate confirmed Carla Hayden as the librarian by a vote of 74–18 and she was sworn in on September 14, 2016. Origin and History On April 24, 1800, the 6th United States Congress passed an appropriations bill signed by Preside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PAYGO
PAYGO (Pay As You GO) is the practice in the United States of financing expenditures with funds that are currently available rather than borrowed. Budgeting The PAYGO compels new spending or tax changes not to add to the federal debt. Not to be confused with pay-as-you-go financing, which is when a government saves up money to fund a specific project. Under the PAYGO rules, a new proposal must either be "budget neutral" or offset with savings derived from existing funds. The goal of this is to require those in control of the budget to engage in the diligence of prioritizing expenses and exercising fiscal restraint. An important example of such a system is the use of PAYGO in both the statutes of the U.S. Government and the rules in the U.S. Congress. First enacted as part of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (which was incorporated as Title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990), PAYGO required all increases in direct spending or revenue decreases to be offset by o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congressional Budget Office
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Inspired by California's Legislative Analyst's Office that manages the state budget in a strictly nonpartisan fashion, the CBO was created as a nonpartisan agency by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Whereas politicians on both sides of the aisle have criticized the CBO when its estimates have been politically inconvenient, economists and other academics overwhelmingly reject that the CBO is partisan or that it fails to produce credible forecasts. There is a consensus among economists that "adjusting for legal restrictions on what the CBO can assume about future legislation and events, the CBO has historically issued credible forecasts of the effects of both Democratic and Republican legislative proposals." History The Congressional Budget Office was created by Title II of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tablet Computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers, do what other personal computers do, but lack some input/output (I/O) abilities that others have. Modern tablets largely resemble modern smartphones, the only differences being that tablets are relatively larger than smartphones, with screens or larger, measured diagonally, and may not support access to a cellular network. Unlike laptops which have traditionally run off operating systems usually designed for desktops, tablets usually run mobile operating systems, alongside smartphones. The touchscreen display is operated by Gesture recognition, gestures executed by finger or digital pen (stylus), instead of the Computer mouse, mouse, touchpad, and Keyboard (computing), keyboard of larger computers. Portable computers can be classifie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly known as digital rights management or DRM). It also criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is actual Copyright infringement, infringement of copyright itself. In addition, the DMCA heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. Passed on October 12, 1998, by a unanimous vote in the United States Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28, 1998, the DMCA amended Title 17 of the United States Code to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the Legal liability, liability of the Online service provider, providers of online services for copyright infringement by their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Register Of Copyrights
The Register of Copyrights is the director of the United States Copyright Office within the Library of Congress, as provided by . The Office has been headed by a Register since 1897. The Register is appointed by, and responsible to, the Librarian of Congress. Although the title suggests a clerical role, Registers of Copyrights have been responsible for creating the procedures and practices of the Copyright Office and establishing standards for registration of copyright. They have increasingly been responsible for setting or influencing United States copyright policy. Today the Register is responsible for administering rulemaking procedures and producing authoritative interpretations of some aspects of U.S. copyright law, as well as advising the Librarian of Congress on the triennial proceeding on exceptions to the anticircumvention rules of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Register also routinely testifies before Congress on copyright policy matters. the position ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, and composition. Legal definitions Creative works require a cre ... to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, anyone can legally use or reference those works without permission. As examples, the works of William Shakespeare, Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonardo da Vinci and Georges Méliès are in the public domain either by virtue of their having been created before copyright existed, or by their copyright term having expired. Some works are not covered by a country's copyright laws, and are therefore in the public domain; for example, in the United States, items excluded from copyright include the for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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