battles. sunday afternoon at 4:00 on "reel america," a look back at a 1960s film featuring actor and performer joe brown about a nationwide search for old circus wagons and the efforts to restore them in time for a july 4 parade >> this week the communicators talks with technology onto bidders and lobbyists at a technology fair on capitol hill. the companies have come to show their technology to members of congress and talk about the policy issues that concern them, including protections of freedom of speech, privacy, and spectrum availability. peter: on your screen is laurent crenshaw from yelp.

what do you do for yelp? what is yelp? laurent: yelp is a platform that kenexa users to the best businesses around them. if there is a bit -- if there is a restaurant you want to go to or car mechanic order dry cleaners, it is user generated content area they can review the best places around them and choose the place to go to. your bank why are you on capitol hill? laurent: -- peter: why are you on capitol hill? laurent: one of the things yelp depends on his those user reviews come at the ability of people sharing their opinions online. yelp cares about protecting freedom of speech. one of the biggest freedoms of speech online has been --

slap stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation. that is when a business owner doesn't like a review of their business and says i'm going to sue you or threatened to sue you. they may go forward with it. but as a person who wrote that a review are sure that experience. you're the little guy and you may not have the money to go to court over about what you wrote for a chinese restaurant or a car mechanic. instead you just take off your of you. -- your review. what we are worried about is the chilling affect that those types of lawsuits will have on people who would otherwise share their first-hand experience. peter: does yelp have any

position aon net neutrality? laurent: we actually wrote a letter on a blog post and made it public a few days before the fcc had their vote on it back in february. we are supportive of it. at the end of the day we understand congress's role in this issue. if congress decides to go for net neutrality, we want to put for the best solution that protects the internet as a whole and users and consumers. peter: you have quite a bit of experience on capitol hill. former chief of staff to darrell issa. laurent: i was on the hill for 11 years. i will -- i worked with the

majority whip when roy blunt was the whip. this is like being back home for me. i am wearing a new shirt up here for you i got rid of the button-down. it is like being back home. i think it is important that technology companies like yelp and others have people like myself or others who make that connection between the valley and capitol hill so that when policymakers are legislating they really have a good perspective on it. i think i am able to translate or bring them together. sometimes it works in a quirky way. i also know how slick on valley and the internet works. i can be a translator for the two. peter: laurent crenshaw from yelp. thank you for your time to we

want to introduce you -- your time. we want to introduce you to steve. anna we tend to that we intend to launch -- >> currently part of the published in does not have internet access. we think we can bring that in a cost-effective matter -- cost-effective manner. peter: is this user spectrum high-tech wife ayako -- high-tech wi-fi? steve: and there are some wi-fi components. the capability of actually broadcasting certain signals. also if you look at the little schematic here on the screen you can see we develop that signal

for a variety of terminals. we have an opportunity to expand our footprint and services. we are bringing portable internet to the ground, basically covering the entire globe. >> we are looking at this helmet thing here. what does it to do? >> there is a good demonstration on the screen right now. this is picking up the satellite signal. what it does is it will pick it up and radiate across a large radius for people to use their devices and then gain internet access. if you see this little dome right here the other terminals are solar powered.

in those cases, in the emerging market, you have the opportunity without the power. >> this is the model of the satellite. >> it is what a satellite system will look like. there is a lot under it. there are a lot of regulatory items area the mission is to bring that affordable internet access to the masses. also to be about to provide services and public safety.

nongovernment uses that will benefit the population in general. >> one of the things i'm noticing is you are telling me about a helmet mounted on a pickup truck or airplane. what is the effect of having it on the airplane? >> it is quite interesting on the airplane. the airplane will provide the rear entertainment. it will provide a lot better experience. you have the capability of streaming. what is also very important is because of our capacity and system design, we also intend to make airlines fully connected in that we pick up data from the systems, from the engineer from the engine, from the braking system.

a very efficient aircraft that was ultimately approved for the airlines. steve: -- could a bang what about the proprietary technology you are using? steve: that is our secret sauce. those are some of the things that make us competitive with a competitive advantage. he actually had the history of starting the satellite companies. another satellite company is doing quite well. this is another extension. greg and i are working hard right now.

we tend to be operational in a few years. i am the finance guy. i came from serious xm. our team has that type of experience to start up companies to bring mass-market solutions. >> we have been looking at new products here on capitol hill. and "the communicators" continues here on capitol hill. i'm talking with alice tornquist of qualcomm. what does qualcomm do? alice: qualcomm is a wireless technology company. we provide chips for smartphones and tablets. we also look to partner and help

them manage their infrastructure and resources more efficiently. what we are showing tonight is a demo where we incorporated our wireless technology. a salute our trash receptacle and our wireless chip will allow city officials when they need to empty it. they can use their resources more efficiently. peter: what are some of the public policy issues? alice: the availability of spectrum is very important to us. we had a to use that for more efficiently. that is a pretty he area for us. peter: what about the sharing of control spectrum?

alice: there are ways to share. there are also opportunities to clear spectrum. for each spectrum band there is a solution. what they are doing, when they are using it. peter: two new net neutrality regulations, do they impact you? alice: our hope would be wireless to be treated as an recognize that is scarce resource. is not exactly the same as the flowing over a wireless network.

peter: will come of reaction are you getting from congress? alice: the energy and commerce committee had a hearing on spectrum that went very well. everyone is recognizing the world is going mobile. if we are to accommodate that in all the innovations that entails, we need to focus on spectrum and fighting more for commercial mobile broadband. peter: alice tornquist from qualcomm. the communicators is on capitol hill talking with some of the companies who are showing members of congress their new technologies. one of those tech knowledge ease -- one of those companies is charmtech labs. what do you do? >> we have different formats and different devices.

people spend town -- spend 10 -- -- spend 10 hours per day easily. you have a word document and you can listen to all your driving commuting, exercising in the gym, walking around, relaxing. people with dyslexia, and adults who want to multitask. great for students. used by language learners as well. it is really for everybody. we have developed this technology and it is now available on ios, windows, and mac platforms. you can start listening on one device. peter: give us a demonstration

if you would. yevgen: it is like creating your own podcast. step one, start listening. there are different sources. a very popular filesharing service. you can see the documents in there. add the pdf documents. word documents. here they are. i can go to a web browser. i can have a new article.

that converts the article links. now i need to tap on the ones i want to have. it cleans it off from any extraneous -- here the article is loading. >> tied to accidents after the 2009 bankruptcy, ruling with an unequivocal victory. >> 100 seven different voices, had quality of voices. you can list the articles and an article in spanish right here. peter: before you play that i want to introduce glenn. what is your role with charmtech labs?

>> i am the chief accessibility officer. i ensure our products are usable by everyone. accessibility is a major focus for us because at any point during our lives any one of us can develop a disability whether it is through accident or birth. we need to make sure our user interface is access to everyone. peter: digit helped to develop this technology? glenn: yes i did. peter: what was your role in the development? glenn: reviewing the user interface to make sure it is usable for everyone. peter: do you have a handicap? glenn: i am visually impaired. peter: how do you use this technology, can you demonstrate that? glenn: sure. peter: how do you know what

you're pushing? glenn: i turn on voiceover which is the built-in screen reader on the iphone. if i touch an icon on the screen -- it tells me my title -- it told me the title of the article, the length of the article, and how to use that control. go up to the menu here -- these are all of our different sources. i will go back to the playlist. and across the bottom we have our player control so i can go to the previous article.

peter: have you memorized this screen? glenn: the more you use it the more you can memorize it. it will read out all the items for you. peter: do also work with a laptop? glenn: i also work with laptops as well. they would be harder to hear in this environment. your bank who benefits from this technology? glenn: i think everyone benefits from it. we initially designed this application to be accessible for users with disabilities. in doing so we realize it is more than just users with disabilities. everybody benefits from having the ability to listen to content. there is so much we need to read nowadays that being tied to a

computer and being tied to a phone and not being able to step away really prevents us from reading what we want to read. peter: why are you here on capitol hill? what are some of the policy issues? what do you want from congress? yevgen: we already have a lot of legislations. the other policy is the -- is coming here from another country. coming here legally. they don't speak the language. technology would help them acquire the english language faster.

10% of school children in public schools are learning a second language. if you don't see visually you don't learn to speak. you need combine your visual learning. peter: charmtech labs is the name of the company. they have been our guests here on the communicators. sense fly does what? >> used for civilian applications, commercial applications. what you see is what we have designed for -- this is a drone. it will some -- it will help

farmers. what we do is collect pictures thanks to that camera. they are processed and will show the farmers where the threat areas on the crop are. peter: was a developed in the states or in france? >> we developed the technology in europe. sensefly is initially a swiss company. i have been in the u.s. for three years and now we have a lot of different partnerships with universities. many universities did all the research for new technology. peter: how my farmers or agricultural coveys are using this product?

>> specifically -- peter: when you say exam sheets from the faa, what does that mean? >> those companies that received the authorization from the fia -- from the faa in the international space -- international airspace -- event what are some public policy issues sensefly's facing? -- peter: what are some of the public policy issues sensefly's facing? emanate -- 80 tenders -- >> they need to understand what drones can do. also data protection and also privacy issues. those issues need to address walking together with public organizations and making sure

that people will get their data. also a safety issue. we work closely with the faa trying to make them aware of what we would like to see and regulations. actually they are doing a pretty good job. it matches our vision, so we are happy with that. peter: thank you for your time. joining us on the comedic caters kathleen and larry from canada. why are you here on capitol hill, what are some of the public policy issues you face? >> canon is working hard to face the issue of canada -- of counterfeit accessories.

we let our consumers know they are out there and they are dangerous. it is a very important issue for us and we are working to make sure our consumers are advised and they know how to navigate through this issue, especially through the internet. peter: is there legislation you are supporting in congress? larry: we are hoping it will make its way through the subcommittee. the representative has sponsored legislation. they have been introduced in january to february. it was sponsored two or three years ago. we are here to support that and

spread the word and make people aware that this legislation is absolutely necessary, because it expands the scope of customs patrols. finding all of these products and stop this from happening. peter: what are the products that are counterfeit canada products? cathleen: canon detected a flash. the kind of mark -- the kind of things we see our accessories. batteries, chargers, and even remote controls for xlr cameras. it is of particular concern to us because of the power charge and off-camera flash.

the caliphate market has been the engine without a doubt. counterfeiters and retailers can remain pretty much anonymous. they can also represent or misrepresent some of the products. you have opened their package and realize what you purchased. in order for our consumers to make sure they can stay away from counterfeits, we recommend the purchase of reputable dealers, preferably authorized dealers. any dealers that is reputable that has a high standard is a good start.

we also recommend you stay away from overseas sites marketplaces. internet sites. pay attention to the pricing. if your accessory is a fraction of the cost of the standard accessory, it is probably too good to be true. and you are going to lined up with something that could melt explode, or crack or damage your product, or damage your home or self. peter: thank you. >> you have been watching "the communicators" on c-span. if you like to see more programs, go to c-span.org/communicators.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> he narrowly defeated incumbent republican in the 2014 election. he has run for political office as an independent and republican. congressman ashford previously served in the nebraska state legislature, a nonpartisan governing body. >> congressman brad ashford, freshmen democrat from the rest is second district. you did some thing quite unusual in a 2014. you defeated a republican member of the house. how did you do that? representative ashford: that's an interesting question. i spent many years in the nebraska legislature were presenting primarily republican districts. i was a republican for 40 years. i had a natural constituency in the center.

and we were able take that to the congressional race, to reach out to moderate republicans and democrats. it helped having representatives in those areas in the legislatures. >> why did you switch parties so often? representative ashford: it wasn't really so often. [laughter] i started out -- yes. i started out as a repubclianublican for most of my life. we had term limits in nebraska. i spent 16 years in the legislature. i ran for mayor of omaha as an independent because it was a nonpartisan race. i wanted to send a message that omaha's problems are not partisan problems.