Category Archives: media consolidation

FCC decision regarding Comcast and Net Neutrality

Today FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin climbed out of Comcast’s colon long enough to cast the tie-breaking vote in a complaint by users of Comcast’s high speed service who have had their Internet access blocked or otherwise interfered with based on their usage of file-sharing services:

Kevin J. Martin, the commission’s chairman, said the order was meant to set a precedent that Internet providers, and indeed all communications companies, could not keep customers from using their networks the way they see fit unless there is a good reason.

“We are preserving the open character of the Internet,” Mr. Martin said in an interview after the 3-to-2 vote. “We are saying that network operators can’t block people from getting access to any content and any applications.”

The case also highlights the broader issue of whether new legislation is needed to force Internet providers to treat all uses of their networks equally, a concept called network neutrality. Some have urged legislation to make sure that big Internet companies do not discriminate against small companies or those that compete with their video or telephone services.

[read the whole article in the New York Times]

You can read much, much more at the Save the Internet website maintained by the Free Press Action Fund

I want to go dance in the streets

I’ve discussed the current Administration’s hellbent mission to relax the ownership rules on television, radio and newspapers and the tomfoolery the FCC has been engaged in since 2003, most recently in this post.

In a turn of events too good to believe true, the U.S. Senate, led by North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, voted to roll back the media ownership rule the FCC had recently passed with a 3-2 vote.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Thursday night voted to nullify a Federal Communications Commission rule that allows media companies to own a newspaper and a television station in the same market.

The unusual “resolution of disapproval,” sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and 26 other senators, was approved by a voice vote. The measures sponsors include both Democratic candidates for president, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

…..

The White House is, of course, already pumping out it’s patented brand of misinformation, misdirection and outright lies. Stop Big Media has a piece posted debunking the media ownership lies being propagated by the White House.

FCC Open Commission Hearing, Tuesday, December 18

The FCC will be holding an Open Commission Hearing tomorrow so that they can vote on the rule changes that will allow massive media consolidation. That fringe group, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, recently released a report documenting the FCC’s “failure to uphold its mandate to foster media diversity.” A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators have written a strong letter condemning FCC Commissioner Martin’s railroading of this rule change.

Stopbigmedia.com continues to supply resources and information about media consolidation issues and has a page explaining how you can still take action.

more FCC tomfoolery

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin’s latest proposal regarding relaxing cross-ownership rules sounds pretty rotten. I haven’t yet scrutinized the plan. When I heard that [tag]FCC[/tag] Commissioners [tag]Michael Copps[/tag] and [tag]Jonathan Adelstein[/tag] had strong reservations, it immediately gave me pause.

There’s a short article this morning in the Business section of the Washington Post (How about putting this on the front page where more people will see it?)

“FCC Chief Offers New Plan on Cross-Ownership”

The chairman of the [tag]Federal Communications Commission[/tag] yesterday proposed relaxing an agency rule to allow big-city newspapers to buy the smaller television stations in their markets, a move designed as a compromise in the ongoing issue of corporate control of the airwaves.

The proposal put forward by Chairman [tag]Kevin J. Martin[/tag] appeared to please almost no one — the newspaper industry said it stopped short of helping the ailing print media and anti-consolidation groups said it went too far, with one calling it “yet another massive giveaway to big media.”

Commissioners Copps and Adelstein have a statement on the FCC site, in which they refer to this proposal as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” They go on to state:

…

The Martin rules are clearly not ready for prime time. Under the Chairman’s timetable, we count 19 working days for public comment. That is grossly insufficient. The American people should have a minimum of 90 days to comment, just as manyMembers of Congress have requested. More importantly, the Commission has yet to finish its Localism proceeding, teed up four years ago, or to forward comprehensive ideas to increase women and minorityownership of broadcast outlets.

There is still time to do this the right way. Congress and the thousands of American
citizens we have talked to want a thoughtful and deliberate rulemaking, not an alarming rush to judgment characterized byinsultinglyshort notices for public hearings, inadequate time for public comment, flawed studies and a tainted peer review process –all designed to make sure that the Chairman can deliver a generous gift to Big Media before the holidays. For the rest of us: a lump of coal.

…

[tag]StopBigMedia.com[/tag] has been posting updates on these developments since this so-called compromise was announced.

[tag]Reclaim the Media[/tag] has a report on the last public hearing on media consolidation, held last week in Seattle. It drew over 1,100 people many of whom spent hours waiting to testify about the potential impact of changing [tag]media consolidation[/tag] rules.

Yesterday at the FCC

“Critics Turn Out To Protest Media Consolidation”

Even though the media landscape has changed radically since the last time the Federal Communications Commission tried to alter its media-ownership rules, a hearing at the FCC yesterday showed that the debate remains as heated as ever.
[read the whole story here]

I was unable to attend so I have no first-hand accounts for you. I’ll link to others when I see them, though.