On Thursday’s Radioshow: Uncertain Futures – Tim Hwang Analyzes the New FCC

“Uncertain Futures” is a new report that reviews the background of the new and returning FCC Commissioners, making educated guesses about what lies ahead for our communications environment. Co-author Tim Hwang will be on this week’s mediageek radioshow to discuss what’s in store for important issues like network neutrality and media consolidation. Hwang is a researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society and authored the report along with Erikk Hokenso, based at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland.

The mediageek radioshow airs live this Thursday, August 20 at 9 PM Central time on WNUR 89.3 FM in Evanston-Chicago, IL and online at www.wnur.org. If you have questions or comments for Tim Hwang send them to me by email – paul(at)mediageek(dot)net – or by twitter. The syndicated podcast will be posted Sunday night, or you can listen to the show on any of the thirteen other affiliates listed at the radioshow site.

Wrap Up on Senate Net Neutrality Hearing

The Benton Foundation has compiled an excellent wrap-up of testimony and press coverage of yesterday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on network neutrality.

Free Press Live Blogging from Stanford FCC Hearing

Free Press is keeping a live blog of the FCC Hearing on Net Neutrality at Stanford University. Looks like at least 300 people have showed up to be in the audience so far.

I got too hung up with work to tune in right at 2 PM and the FCC’s RealAudio feeds are all full and I unfortunately missed Larry Lessig’s testimony (anyone able to record it?). Luckily there were still streams available at VON TV.

I just heard the rep from the Christian Coalition testify that the King James Bible–I believe that’s in the public domain, no?–is being shared over BitTorrent, therefore also blocked by Comcast. Interesting.

Headlines from the Oct. 12 Radioshow

These are the media news headlines as read on the Oct. 12 edition of the mediageek radioshow: Fake News Still Alive; FCC Relaxes Broadband Rules for AT&T; AT&T and Verizon Anti-Free-Speech;
Wall Street Bullish on XM-Sirius Merger, NAB Asks FCC for More Time

Fake News Still Alive
Even though the FCC recently fined Comcast cable for airing fake news
VNRs on its local cable news programs, the tide of fake news is still
rolling in. That’s according to a new report released by the Center
for Media and Democracy.

VNRs are sponsored news segments produced by PR agencies which are
designed to look and sound like genuine news reports. VNRs are
especially attractive to local TV news outlets because producing news
segments is expensive, and VNRs are provided for free.

In its October 11 report, the CMD says that Traverse City Michigan
station WGTU-TV 29 aired three VNRs over the past size weeks,
including an entire, pre-packaged VNR funded by the financial company
Capital One.

FCC’s rules require that a station identify the source of a VNR if it
is political, deals with important issues or dwells inordinately on a
brand. The VNR from Captial One that aired on WGTU certainly qualifies
as one that dwells on a particular brand.

This is the CMD’s third report on VNRs all of which also have been
filed with the FCC. CMD’s first two reports cited incidents of VNRs
airing at 111 stations, and contributed to the FCC’s fining Comcast
for its cable channel CN8 for airing multiple VNRs without disclosure.

In Aug. 2006 the FCC launched an investigation into 77 of the stations
named in CMD’s first report on VNRs. So far the commission has only
taken action against Comcast, and the status of the other
investigations is unknown.

CMD released this third report in order to remind the FCC that the
practice of airing unattributed fake news continues, despite the
negative publicity and fine against Comcast. CMD has joined the media
reform group Free Press in urging the FCC to strengthen and clarify
VNR requirements, including requiring a visual identification of a
VNRs source on display throughout the report, and requiring
broadcasters to keep a monthly report of their VNR usage in their
public file.

You can learn more about fake news VNRs and watch examples of them at
the CMD’s website at www.prwatch.org

FCC Relaxes Broadband Rules for AT&T
On Oct. 11 three out of five FCC Commissioners blew a wet kiss to AT&T
when they voted to lift some regulations on the company’s broadband
business. The commission partially granted AT&T’s request for a
relaxation on the rules that govern how much it can charge business
customers and competitors for access to some high-speed internet
lines.

In particular, the decision eliminates the requirement that AT&T file
a report of the rates it charges with the FCC, reducing the
Commission’s ability to have oversight over them.

The two Democratic Commissioners voted against the changes. In a joint
statement Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps remark
that the commission did not have sufficient data to make this
decision. They furthermore criticize their fellow commissioners for
claiming that “potential competition is sufficient to protect
consumers,” and conclude that these changes “can make the problem
worse as potential competitors will have even less ability to
successfully compete and provide a check on any anti-competitive
behavior.”

AT&T and Verizon Anti-Free-Speech
But AT&T hasn’t just been busy getting anti-competitive gifts from the
FCC. The nation’s largest telephone company has also been revealed to
be taking aim at its customers speech rights online. The company joins
#2 Verizon in putting language into their broadband service contracts
stipulating that they can cut off internet service for any behavior
that AT&T or Verizon believe might harm their “name or reputation,” or
even the reputation of their business partners, like Yahoo.

These restrictive stipulations came to light after AT&T sent notices
to thousands of Bell South customers—who are now AT&T
customers—revising their service contracts.

A Verizon spokesman told the LA Times that the language is in the
agreement in order to stop people from setting up websites that look
like Verizon’s or for setting up phishing scams targeting Verizon
customers. However, such actions are already prohibited by other
provisions of Verizon’s service agreement. So it would seem that these
terms targeting “name or reputation” are overkill.

An AT&T spokesman also told the LA Times that the company had no plans
to censor customers.

However, many consumer and public interest groups, along with AT&T and
Verizon customers, are questioning the sincerity of the companies’
assurances.

At the end of September Verizon was caught blocking text messages from
the National Abortion Rights Action League. And in August AT&T
censored a live webcast of Pearl Jam just as lead singer Eddie Vedder
starting speaking critically of President Bush. Although Verizon made
a quick about-face and let the NARAL text messages go, and AT&T
quickly apologized for censoring Pearl Jam, both incidents serve as a
reminder of the tremendous power the nation’s two largest telecomm
companies have over our daily ability to communicate freely.

Wall Street Bullish on XM-Sirius Merger, NAB Asks FCC for More Time
Finally, I’ve been keeping tabs on the proposed merger of XM and
Sirius satellite radio , and it seems like Wall Street is feeling
pretty bullish on the deal. A financial analyst from Bear Sterns told
a Satellite Investment Symposium that he believes the merger will be
approved by both the FCC and the Justice department within 30 – 45
days.

Analysts think the deal will go through because they agree with XM and
Sirius position that satellite radio is different than satellite TV,
and that there is much more competition in the form of terrestrial
radio, iPods and internet radio.

Opinions on the merger are mixed in the public interest community,
mostly because XM and Sirius don’t have large audiences, and there is
some hope that there can be stipulations put on the merger to offer
public access channels to satellite radio.

The biggest opponent to the merger is the National Association of
Broadcasters which on Oct. 9 asked the FCC to call time-out on its
180 shot clock for deciding on the XM-Sirius deal. The NAB says it
needs more time to go through documents that its receiving as a result
of a Freedom of Information Act request it filed in March. The NAB
also says that it still hasn’t received some documents from the FCC
related to the FM radio transmitters used in satellite radio
receivers.

John Anderson from DIYmedia.net discussed this issue with me on the
July 20 edition of the radioshow. John pointed out that along with
the Sirius and XM receivers having hot-rodded pirate FM transmitters,
the NAB’s FOIA request has also turned up documentation of the
companies running hundreds of unlicensed transmitters all over the
country.

Headlines from the Feb. 2 radioshow: Journalists Beaten in Oaxaca, a Pro-Fair-Use Bill, The House’s Telecomm Agenda

Community Radio Journalists Beaten in Oaxaca
Two community radio journalists were beaten by state-supported militants in the Mexican state of Oaxaca on the night of January 24.

One was arrested. According to a report from the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, known as AMARC, the incident occurred during a confrontation between militants of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, and the grassroots community council of San Antonio de Velasco in Oxaca. Both journalists report for community radio station Radio Calenda.

These acts of violence are part of an ongoing struggle between the former national ruling party PRI which is still in power in Oaxaca, and the popular movement that believes the state’s governor is illegally holding power.

AMARC says that this incident is one in a series of violence perpetuated by the Mexican state, which has used excessive force to attack freedom of expression, association and assembly, all of which have been widely documented by human rights organizations.

The state-sponsored beating of these two community journalists comes after a bad year in general for journalists in Mexico, where nine were killed in 2006, according to Reporters Without Borders. A significant portion of the violence against reporters happened in Oaxaca.

New Book Covers Oaxaca’s Popular Assembly

The ongoing popular resistance in that Mexican state is the subject of a new book by Nancy Davies, who appeared twice last year on this program. The book is titled “The People Decide: Oaxaca’s Popular Assembly,” and is being released by the publishing arm of NarcoNews.com.

The book brings together none months of Davies’ regular reports from Oaxaca, where she lives, and is compiled by George Salzman, who appeared with Davies on mediageek, and radical social philosopher James Herod, a member of the Lucy Parsons Center collective. The book includes an extensive introduction by Salzman, based on his own eyewitness experience in Oaxaca, along wit a special update from Davies appearing for the first time in print.

NarcoNews is a very grassroots organization that has been able to find the funds for an initial press run of 1000 copies. In order to fund a larger printing, NarcoNews is asking interested readers to reserve their copies in advance. You can find out more at NarcoNews.com

A Pro-Fair Use Bill

A bill that would undo some of the more odious portions of the Digital Milennium Copyright Act is due to be introduced before the end of the month by Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher. This bill, which failed in previous sessions of Congress, is supported by the Consumer Electronics Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge.

If passed Boucher’s bill would end the ban against using circumventing anti-piracy technologies for purposes that don’t otherwise break copyright law.

At the present time it is illegal to break anti-piracy tech, like the encoding on commercial DVD movies, in order to make a backup copy of the movie, or to extract a clip for use in a way that is legal under Fair Use provisions.

Boucher’s bill, which is not quite finished, aims to restore to people the ability and right to circumvent such encryption to make such legal uses of copyrighted material.

Predictably, both the movie and recording industry lobbies oppose the bill, and given that Hollywood is represented by many Democrats in Congress, there may be some bipartisan opposition in Congress too.

Laying out the House’s Telecomm Agenda
A little bit more of what the new Democratic Congress is going to do about the internet has become clearer. On Feb. 2, Massachussetts Rep. Edward Markey, the new chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, delivered the keynote address at Consumer Federation of America’s Consumer Assembly in Washington, D.C. In it Markey outlined his committee’s telecommunications agenda for this session of Congress. He emphasized making broadband internet service ubiquitous and affordable, and ensuring Network Neutrality with what he called “an open architechture that supports internet freedom.”

Fellow Democrat Rep. Rick Boucher delivered a similar, but perhaps more industry-friendly message earlier the same week, speaking at the Third Annual State of the Internet Conference. He told the conference, “The Internet must remain open and accessible to all, but we don’t want to hobble innovation within the network.”

Back in the Saddle, Bill Moyers Rocks Net Neutrality

My vacation was too hectic to be relaxing (although I didn’t mind being in Italy and Spain instead of Central Illinois), and I had to hit the ground running when I got back in town. But I’m starting to get my bearings again.

I meant to blog in advance of Bill Moyers on America which aired an episode on Network Neutrality last night on PBS. I’m watching right now on the PVR, and so far I’m pretty impressed with how clear and thorough the reporting is. I’m especially impressed that the program is covering in depth the fact that the major telcos promised 45 megabit broadband back in the 90s in order to get regulatory relief. They got the relief, but we never got the broadband.

Watching this makes me wonder how powerful it would be to have this kind of program air on a major network — maybe replace John Stossel for a night.

If you missed last night’s airing, you can watch it online at the Moyers on America website.

Moyers’ reporter Rick Karr also filed a good report for NPR’s On the Media this week.

Federal Consolidation Commissioner

It isn’t enough to drag his feet on obligations to inform and engage the public on the media ownership proceeding. Now FCC Chair Kevin Martin is ready to sign off on the proposed AT&T – BellSouth merger without imposing a single condition.

While he may have a bit more political savvy than his predecessor, Martin still apparently has brass balls, jumping ahead of the Justice Department’s antitrust review to give a big old early Christmas present to Ed Whitacre, public interest enemy #1. If the national cable franchise bill passes the Senate and this merger survives, then AT&T will become the nation’s largest telecommunications company, poised to become the largest cable and broadband provider, with barely any competition in any local market.

The rest of the commission is a little less of a sure bet on the merger. In particular new Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell may have to recuse himself because he used to lobby on behalf of the smaller competing telcos. That would mean Martin would need at least one of the FCC’s Dems to get on board, which I would assume would require a boatload of concessions — especially on net neutrality — if it would happen at all.

And don’t expect any public hearings on this issue, which is probably as important as the media ownership proceeding with regard to maintaining a diverse media and free internet.

Hitting the Congresscritters at Home for Net Neutrality

SavetheInternet details actions in 25 cities where folks hit up their Senators to urge support for network neutrality. Apparently there was success in New York, with Sen. Charles Schumer announcing support for net neutrality, and Iowa, where Sen. Tom Harkin did likewise.

Now, both those guys are Democrats, which in the Senate, at least, have been very supportive to begin with. It would have been a much bigger coup to get some Republican senators to line up behind net neutrality.

Frankly, at the moment the best thing to hope for is that the Senate telco bill creating the national cable franchise dies on the vine because Sen. Ted Stevens can’t line up 60 sure votes to support it against a filibuster or hold. But keeping the issue of net neutrality in the news during the Congressional break is still a good idea, since the Critters up for reelection are busy fundraising and stumping for votes.

You Get What You Pay For

Well, not necessarily YOU exactly, unless you happen to have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to congresspeople this year. But if YOU are AT&T, then you’ve gotten a pretty good return on the $1.7 million you’ve donated to federal candidates this year.

67% of AT&T’s donations have gone to Republicans, and as a result the House has passed its speedy entry into the cable TV market with the COPE Act, and the commerce committees in both the House and the Senate have rejected Network Neutrality.

But AT&T is not alone. Millions more have been donated from across the telecomm industry, again with a majority going to Republicans.

The National Journal has more details on the Capitol Hill garage sale.

Sure, you might get to vote. But is your one measly vote worth as much as the $260k Virginia Sen. George Allen raked in from telecomm?

Taking a Peek under the Astroturf

Common Cause has been keeping tabs on the faux-grassroots Astroturf groups like Hands off the Internet and TV4US.org which have been lobbying on behalf of the big telcos with the smokescreen that there’s enormous public support for a national cable franchise and against network neutrality.

Now Common Cause has released a new report compiling dossiers on five of these Astroturfers, revealing who’s paying their bills and funding their hundreds of thousands of dollars in television ad buys. Here’s a sample of the intelligence:

If there were an award for Astroturf lobby campaigns, Hands Off the Internet (HOTI) would win hands down.

With its pithy name, viral web cartoons, high profile spokesman (former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry) and barrage of print and television advertising, HOTI has been effectively injecting the telephone industry’s arguments on net neutrality into the public debate in recent months.

And they manage to do it while hiding their relationship with
their corporate backers.

You can read the full report in PDF, and also check out Common Cause’s first Astroturf report released back in March.