The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously on Friday to lift 126 requirements on phone companies that it said had become outdated.

The regulatory rollback came on Chairman Julius Genachowski's last day in office.

The FCC scrapped a requirement that phone companies keep paper records in addition to digital copies and a rule for prepaid calling card companies that required 15,000 hours of compliance work annually, the commission said. One rule required certain companies to label and track every piece of central office equipment, no matter how small.

MetroPCS dropped its lawsuit challenging the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality regulations on Friday, leaving Verizon to continue the legal battle against the rules on its own.

T-Mobile, which was not challenging the rules, acquired MetroPCS earlier this month. 

The FCC's rules require wireline broadband providers to treat all Internet traffic equally. Cellphone carriers are prohibited from blocking any apps or services. 

Companies and citizens can "freely use" the data "starting immediately," the White House said.

A financial regulator said on Tuesday that he is considering whether to impose rules on the digital currency Bitcoin.

"I'm not 100 percent saying we should regulate it, but if anybody is going to, it seems like something we should consider," Bart Chilton, one of the five commissioners on the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said in an interview on CNBC. "It's being potentially used for guns and money and nobody is looking after it."

The Obama administration is changing a program to help bring broadband Internet service to rural areas.

President Obama on Wednesday said he will nominate Tom Wheeler, a former lobbyist and investor, to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Obama said that for more than 30 years, Wheeler has been at the forefront of changes in the technology industry, making him a great fit for "one of the toughest jobs in Washington."

"Tom knows this stuff inside and out," Obama said.

A false report on AP's hacked Twitter of an attack on the White House caused the Dow to nosedive.

The U.S. Transportation Department is pressing the auto industry to adopt a new set of nonbinding guidelines designed to keep drivers from using social media, the Internet or videophone technology while operating a vehicle.

Recommendations to limit built-in entertainment and communication features is the latest effort to cut down on distracted driving, a signature issue for Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The government is initiating its first legal action to stop unauthorized and unwanted cellphone charges.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday charged that Wise Media LLC, a Georgia-based company, signed up and billed consumers for text messages containing horoscopes, love tips and flirting advice that they had never requested, in a scam known as "cramming."

The company then forced customers to opt out of its subscription services, though it hid its contact information and in many cases charged customers even if they tried to unsubscribe, according to the complaint.

Because the company used confusing or abbreviated labels for its charges, many customers paid the $9.99 monthly fee regardless of their disapproval of the service, the FTC claims.

A leading consumer advocacy group is throwing its support behind a proposal to make it legal for people to unlock their cellphones and shop around for another wireless service provider, once their contract is complete.

Consumers Union, the policy arm of the publication Consumer Reports, lauded last month’s announcements from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the White House in support of the change.

The growing support for the rule-change, “presents an important opportunity to empower consumers with greater choice in how they obtain mobile devices and wireless service,” the group wrote in letters to the FCC, and leaders in both chambers of Congress.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should ensure that Sprint and T-Mobile are able to buy the rights to wireless frequencies, the Justice Department argued in a filing made public on Friday.

The department's Antitrust Division argued that ensuring smaller carriers have access to spectrum — the airwaves that carry all mobile data traffic — is critical for promoting competition and keeping cellphone service prices down.

Sprint and T-Mobile operate nationwide networks but are much smaller than industry leaders Verizon and AT&T.

Citing safety concerns, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chairman Gregory Jaczko says the nation’s 104 nuclear power reactors should be replaced with newer technology, The New York Times reports.

Jaczco’s remarks come as the current NRC members face scrutiny over the implementation of a series of safety recommendations put forth in the wake of the Fukushima meltdown in Japan.

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a new chief, following the Senate’s unanimous vote to confirm her as the financial regulator’s chairman, The Hill’s On The Money blog reports. 

President Obama's top climate adviser said controversial new power plant emission rules will be issued in the "not too distant future," according to The Hill's E2 Wire blog.

Tree fruit farmers have joined the debate over the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed food safety overhaul, The Washington Post reports.

They are not the only group to find fault with the proposed regulations, which will exempt several fruits and veggies -- along with almost eight in 10 U.S. farms, as reported by RegWatch earlier this year. 

The Obama administration is moving to ease the national transition from paper to electronic health records through a pair of proposed rules to be published this week.

The rules, to hit Tuesday’s Federal Register, would update and extend existing regulations surrounding the sharing of patient electronic records.

Federal law generally prohibits hospitals from giving medical record software to doctors who would then use it to refer patients back to the facility for treatment. Violations can be charged as felonies and are punishable by prison time and fined up to $25,000.

The commission issued a request for public comment on a proposal that would focus on penalizing only "egregious" cases.

Retail stores turned away nearly 90 percent of all young shoppers who tried to buy video games with mature content last year, according to a federal regulator.

The secret shopping investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that only 13 percent of underage customers were able to buy mature, or M-rated, video games.

That’s a welcome finding for the video game industry, which has been battling against calls for increased regulation of their products since last year’s mass shooting in Connecticut sparked a wide-ranging debate about violence in America.

Sen. Chuck Grassley and other lawmakers worry that unmanned aircraft will be used to peer into people's private lives.

Scammers in Jamaica are cheating seniors out of hundreds of millions of dollars each year, a federal regulator said Wednesday.

Vance Callender of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agency told a Senate committee that fraudulent sweepstakes prizes are being used to swindle thousands of elderly Americans into paying “customs fees,” for money and luxury cars, but the prizes never arrive.

“Perpetrators will victimize consumers of all ages, backgrounds and income levels, but the elderly are disproportionately targeted. Perpetrators take advantage of the fact that elderly Americans may have cash reserves or other assets to spend on these deceptive offers,” Callender said.

The Federal Trade Commission issued new guidelines making clear that advertisements on Twitter must include the same disclosures as any other kinds of ads – even if that means taking up a significant chunk of the allotted 140 characters, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Google will pay $7 million in fines for illegally collecting personal data via its Street View application, according to MarketWatch.

French regulators are investigating Luxembourg-based Skype Communications over its failure to register as a telecommunication operator, sparking new debate over what constitutes a phone company in the digital era, The New York Times reports.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released updated guidelines on Tuesday for mobile and online advertisers to follow when they place disclosure information on ads.

The commission said its latest guidance recognizes that social networks and small screens on mobile phones and gadgets present advertisers with less space to place ad disclosures. Still, the FTC notes that its consumer protection laws apply to all marketers across various platforms, from print to radio and mobile phones.

"Even though consumers have control over what and how much information they view on Web sites, they may not be looking for—or expecting to find—disclosures," the commission's report reads. "Advertisers are responsible for ensuring that their messages are truthful and not deceptive. Accordingly, disclosures must be communicated effectively so that consumers are likely to notice and understand them."

Commerce Department officials on Monday stressed that Congress needs to pass cybersecurity legislation that incentivizes companies to boost the security of their computer systems and networks, adding that the executive branch cannot grant that power.

"Tax incentives, liability protections— those are things that the president can't wave a magic wand and make happen," said Ari Schwartz, senior policy advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, at a briefing about the executive order hosted by law firm Venable. "Congress needs to pass those things."

The executive order issued by President Obama last month directs the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to take up the task of crafting a framework of cybersecurity best practices for critical infrastructure firms to follow. While it spends the next year working with industry to draft that framework, NIST has four months to compose a list of incentives that the executive branch can offer companies in exchange for them taking steps to bolster the security of their networks and systems from hacker attacks. 

"We haven't been shy about taking on the tech giants," said Edith Ramirez.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted Friday to issue a report that gives companies guidance on how to protect consumers from fraud during mobile transactions.

The paper — titled “Paper, Plastic ... or Mobile?” — encourages companies to establish safeguards and set policies for avoiding fraudulent transactions and responding to consumer complaints.

The report prompts mobile companies to incorporate “privacy by design practices” that outline “strong privacy practices, consumer choice, and transparency into their products from the outset.” Doing so, the report says, “increases the likelihood of consumer trust in the mobile payment process.”

The White House said on Monday that people should be allowed to unlock their cellphones after their contracts expire.

The lawmakers argue that the "true sponsor" rule means that groups must state more than just a vague name.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Officials stressed that the successful execution of the executive order hinges on private-sector collaboration with the government.

The bill is designed to remove legal hurdles preventing private companies and the government from sharing intelligence about cyber threats.

By tapping a current commissioner, Obama is able to skip the Senate confirmation process.

Federal aviation regulators on Thursday said they will consider privacy issues as they work to clear the way for domestic drone flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Thursday evening that it will allow Boeing to fly test flights of its 787 “Dreamliner” after a month-long grounding of the airplane.

The 787 has been grounded by the FAA since a fire broke out on an airplane that was being operated by Japan Airlines at Boston's Logan International Airport.

The FAA said Thursday that it was not ready to lift the prohibition on U.S. airlines flying the 787, but it granting Boeing’s request to begin conducting non-commercial flights of the plane to test its batteries.

Boeing defended its testing of batteries for its 787 "Dreamliner" airplane after it was questioned Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The NTSB called Thursday for the exemptions that were granted to the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" during its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification process to be reconsidered before the plane is allowed to return to flight.

But Boeing said Thursday afternoon that that "[T]he 787 was certified following a rigorous Boeing test program and an extensive certification program conducted by the FAA.

"We provided testing and analysis in support of the requirements of the FAA special conditions associated with the use of lithium ion batteries," the company said in a statement. "We are working collaboratively to address questions about our testing and compliance with certification standards, and we will not hesitate to make changes that lead to improved testing processes and products." 

NTSB Chairwoman Hersman said the 787 was certified by the FAA after it was granted nine exemptions for "novel or unusual design features."

The House Judiciary Committee could move to regulate the use of drones to conduct surveillance over U.S. skies during this Congress.

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) said on Tuesday that he has spoken with Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) about the privacy risks of domestic drones.

"I think that's on his agenda, to have some kind of drone legislation during the Congress," Poe said following an event at the National Press Club to discuss drones.

GameFly says it’s unfair that the Postal Service hand-sorts Netflix mailers for free, but doesn’t offer the service to others.