More than two dozen economics and law professors are urging the Federal Trade Commission to weigh in against any new broadband regulations that would prohibit online fast lanes. "This is not a case where the potential risks would be so great and the potential harms so dire that extreme preventative measures are needed," the academics said this week in a letter asking the FTC to involve itself in the Federal Communications Commission's attempt to craft net neutrality rules.

Companies that promote products online via native ad campaigns must comply with the industry's privacy code, a unit of the Better Business Bureau said today in a compliance warning. "Native advertisements personalized for consumers based on their prior browsing across websites must comply with the Digital Advertising Alliance's (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising," the BBB's online accountability program said. "Companies involved in interest-based native ads are responsible for meeting all the requirements of the OBA Principles, just as they would be with respect to any other [interest-based ads]."

Verizon is pressing the Federal Communications Commission to endorse the idea that broadband providers can offer "sponsored data" features, which allow companies to pay for their material to be exempted from consumers' data caps. "Sponsored data and other arrangements that only address pricing and that do not result in the differential treatment of traffic should be presumed reasonable given the potential consumer benefits," Verizon says in a new FCC filing.

Politicians in New York City reportedly have joined the growing roster of people questioning whether car service companies Uber and Lyft are playing fast and loose with users' privacy. At a New York City Council hearing this week, Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez reportedly asked representatives for both companies whether they shared passengers' ride history with third parties. Neither answered, according to 'Newsweek.' Both companies also reportedly stonewalled when asked about which employees had access to users' real-time geolocations via a "God view" (Uber's terminology) tool.

In October, city leaders in Chanute, Kansas voted to move forward with the creation of an ultra-fast fiber broadband network. When complete, the network is expected to offer residents and businesses in the small southeast Kansas city 1GB connections for a cost of $40 a month -- which is cheaper and faster than anything now available.

A group of unlikely allies are banding together in a new initiative opposing Comcast's proposed $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable. The Stop Mega Comcast Coalition includes Dish Network, Glenn Beck's The Blaze and advocacy groups Public Knowledge and Consumer Action.

Seven out of 13 major home broadband providers now offer pay-per-byte pricing, but many subscribers lack useful information about those plans. That's according to a new report about data caps, released today by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

In what appears to be a first, two music publishers have sued broadband provider Cox for allegedly contributing to copyright infringement by failing to kick off subscribers accused of sharing files.