Free Republic

The FCC, in proposing to change the definition of an “open Internet” from competition-driven to government-driven is setting a very dangerous precedent; that it is acceptable for countries to preemptively regulate the Internet for what might happen in the future, even if they lack the legitimacy of constitutional or legal authority to do so, or even if there is thinnest of justification or evidence to support it.

The battle over your home entertainment equipment is heating up again and the time to make your voice heard is now. Hollywood wants the Federal Communications Commission to grant the studios permission to engage in so-called “Selectable Output Control,” or SOC for short. SOC is a technology mandate that would allow movie studios to shut off video outputs on the back of your cable box and DVR during the screening of certain movies over cable. Why is this bad? Because SOC could inhibit future innovation, obstruct interoperability, limit fair use and restrict consumer choice. Worst of all, it could force...

"You cannot have an opposition movement without opposition media." -Van Jones, former Green Jobs Czar for President Obama.Free speech and dictatorship don't mix. Just think about it. If I were a Third World dictator and wanted to keep power indefinitely and still pretend to be legitimate, could I do so if the newspapers and television stations were all speaking out against me? Heck no. Free speech is a powerful tool for democracy, as our Founding Fathers knew. That's why if I were a dictator, I might eventually take the step of shutting down the opposition newspapers and TV stations, like...

We wrote Monday of Leftist, George Soros-funded "media reform" outfit Free Press, and their extensive relationships with people currently in power at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and in the White House - up to and including President Barack Obama. With current FCC Chief Diversity Officer ("Diversity Czar") Mark Lloyd and the Leftist, George Soros-funded Center for American Progress, Free Press co-authored the 2007 report The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio. Which calls for the FCC to enforce exceedingly broad (we would say warped) new definitions of the media diversity and localism FCC broadcast license requirements. These new definitions...

There's nothing neutral about the Obama administration's push for net neutrality. Do you suppose that, periodically, an ad appears in the Washington Post that reads this way? Wanted. Congressional Legislation Naming Consultant (GS-9). Must be able to craft titles for legislation coming before the House and Senate. Must have a thorough understanding of the English language, and the ability to design titles counter-reflective of their intent. All applicants will be screened to assure no more than moderate recreational use of creative enhancement drugs. Preferential treatment will be given to those between 28-35 years of age who like comfort food. Comfort...

In an explosive interview by Dr. Laurie Roth on her syndicated West Coast radio show on August 7th, Douglas Hagmann—a respected journalist, director of the Northeast Intelligence Network and longtime private investigator, and Judi McLeod, a prolific journalist and the managing editor of Canada Free Press—the reason for the media blackout about the birth-certificate issue was nothing less than organized Mafia-like dire threats to members of the media issued not only from the heads of major TV and radio stations but also from Federal Communication Commission officials!

Just how far is the Obama administration willing to go to reward big donors? In the wake of yesterday’s explosive report regarding “scores of top Democratic donors” being rewarded with “VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings,” it’s a question that’s on the minds of many politically-engaged Americans, and one likely to grab yet more attention, thanks to this article in today’s USA Today. It notes that: “More than 40% of President Obama’s top-level fundraisers have secured posts in his administration, from key executive branch jobs to diplomatic...

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The war on conservative speech has moved from the White House to your neighborhood pews. Left-wing church leaders want the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on "hate speech" over cable TV and right-leaning talk-radio airwaves. President Obama's speech-stifling bureaucrats seem all too happy to oblige. Over the last week, an outfit called "So We Might See" has conducted a nationwide fast to protest "media violence" — specifically, "anti-immigrant hate speech, which employs flawed arguments to appeal to fears rather than facts." Their ire is currently aimed at Fox News and conservative talk-show giants. But how long before...

The war on conservative speech has moved from the White House to your neighborhood pews. Left-wing church leaders want the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on "hate speech" over cable TV and right-leaning talk-radio airwaves. President Obama's speech-stifling bureaucrats seem all too happy to oblige. Over the last week, an outfit called "So We Might See" has conducted a nationwide fast to protest "media violence" -- specifically, "anti-immigrant hate speech, which employs flawed arguments to appeal to fears rather than facts." Their ire is currently aimed at Fox News and conservative talk-show giants. But how long before they target...

The war on conservative speech has moved from the White House to your neighborhood pews. Left-wing church leaders want the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on "hate speech" over cable TV and right-leaning talk-radio airwaves. President Obama's speech-stifling bureaucrats seem all too happy to oblige. Over the last week, an outfit called "So We Might See" has conducted a nationwide fast to protest "media violence" -- specifically, "anti-immigrant hate speech, which employs flawed arguments to appeal to fears rather than facts." Their ire is currently aimed at Fox News and conservative talk-show giants. But how long before they target...

Today the FCC is set to begin drafting new rules and legislation on how broadband companies must manage access to the internet in an effort to provide you with more government controls over the citizens of the United States while providing exemptions to some companies. The whole net neutrality issue comes along to fix a problem when no problem exists. Many have come to believe that this effort to further regulate the internet is driven solely by political agenda as a way of suppressing opposition to the current administrations agendas. With much weight given to this concept as closed door...

Washington D.C., Oct 26, 2009 / 07:28 pm (CNA).- The Department of Communications of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has said it did not join a petition to the FCC which called for discussion over “hate speech� and its alleged role in violence. Some critics of the petition have cast it as an effort to shut down radio show hosts like Rush Limbaugh. The Department of Communications told CNA on Monday that they had sent their own letter noting the “serious constitutional and regulatory problems� associated with regulating alleged hate speech... http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=17495

In the days before deregulation, hordes of economists at the CAB and the ICC, set tariffs and determined the “correct” amount of service on city pairs for the airline and trucking industry respectively.... There are five TV/Cable news operations: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN. 4 of the 5 are certifiably liberal and only one conservative. Yet the latest Gallup Poll shows there are twice as many conservatives as liberals (40% to 20%). Surely the FCC should use its club of license renewal to persuade....

Net Discrimination Sarah Carlsruh, October 26, 2009 At the October 13 Conservative Blogger’s Briefing at the Heritage Foundation, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell addressed the issue of net neutrality, specifically the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) upcoming initiative to regulate the internet. On October 22nd, the FCC voted on a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding open internet practices. According to Commissioner McDowell, the premise behind the new rules—as outlined by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski—is that the “internet is broken and government must fix it.” This draft, said McDowell, focuses on “adding a non-discrimination requirement to the four net neutrality principles that came...

The FCC voted unanimously yesterday to move forward with the debate in an effort to formalize net neutrality guidelines. Senator John McCain followed up by introducing a bill that would prohibit the FCC from governing communications. Oddly, the bill also contains text stating that any regulations in effect on the day before the Internet Freedom Act is officially enacted are grandfathered in and exempt from the provisions of the Internet Freedom Act. The implication seems to be that if the FCC can formalize net neutrality rules before McCain can get the Internet Freedom Act signed into law, the net neutrality...

U.S. Senator John McCain has introduced legislation that would block the U.S. Federal Communications Commission from creating new net neutrality rules, on the same day that the FCC took the first step toward doing so. McCain on Thursday introduced the Internet Freedom Act, which would keep the FCC from enacting rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Internet content and applications. Net neutrality rules would create "onerous federal regulation," McCain said in a written statement. McCain protested the FCC's proposal that wireless broadband providers be included in the net neutrality rules. The wireless industry has "exploded over the...

While technical, the issue of network neutrality - or Net neutrality - has sparked a furious, expensive lobbying war, as well as a raging debate in cyberspace over the government's role in setting the rules of the road for the Internet, with some even arguing that the right to free speech in the Information Age is at stake.

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. communications regulators voted unanimously Thursday to support an open Internet rule that would prevent telecom network operators from barring or blocking content based on the revenue it generates. The proposed rule now goes to the public for comment until Jan. 14, after which the Federal Communications Commissions will review the feedback and possibly seek more comment. A final rule is not expected until the spring of next year.

The Federal Communications Commission has unveiled the topics it is looking to discuss as it considers revising its media ownership rules, and one area it is looking to explore could have ramifications for future mergers between broadcast and cable companies and newspaper companies. Specifically, the FCC said it will probe whether it could continue to enforce regulations regarding media concentration by industry or should it find an "alternative structure to determine an ownership limit for all media within a relevant market." Cutting through the bureaucratic speak, what the FCC is saying is that currently it regulates broadcast, radio and cable...

To Democrats, there are only two categories into which fit all places, people and things. There are those inside of government and those outside. If something is inside, it needs to be nurtured, protected and subsidized. If something is outside, it needs to be regulated and taxed. (And, please, no e-mails about the US military. Liberals see it as an illegitimate appendix to government and treat it accordingly.) History’s greatest example of a world-changing system developed in an essentially unregulated environment is certainly the Internet. Despite the claims of Al Gore, the Internet was not, like the light bulb or...

The Federal Communications Commission today opened a proceeding to consider net neutrality rules, the culmination of contentious lobbying by the telecom industry and an intense exchange of letters from members of Congress. With a 3-2 vote along party lines, the five-member panel began the process to move forward with open-Internet regulations announced last month by the agency's chairman, Juilus Genachowski. His proposal would formally codify the FCC's current four principles intended to prevent Internet service providers from giving preferential treatment to certain content and services and therefore deciding which applications consumers have access to. He also proposed two additional principles,...

HATE SPEECH IN THE MEDIA: WHO DECIDES? Another First Amendment Attack GIVING THE WAR ON FOX NEWS MORE CONTEXTHave you heard the one about "hate speech in the media" yet? You will--though one has increasingly little faith that the Dinosaur Media will report on this development. IS the War on Fox News merely one front in the rapidly-escalating War on Free Speech? The heavy hand of the Obama commissars is about to be laid upon: "hate speech in the media". Anyone want to guess what that is a code phrase for? Any guesses who will be the first to...

First Amendment: Diversity czar Mark Lloyd's FCC votes Thursday on the issue of net neutrality. Advertised as providing access to all, it will do to the information superhighway what Lloyd proposed for talk radio. Not much was said when $7.2 billion was included in the stimulus bill "to accelerate broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas and to strategic institutions that are likely to create jobs or provide significant public benefits." The administration has big plans for the Internet — like controlling it. Susan Crawford, the so-called Internet czar, told the Wall Street Journal in April that the broadband billions...

Advocates of imposing "network neutrality" say it's necessary to ensure a "free" and "open" Internet and rescue the public from nefarious corporations that "control" technology. Few proposals in Washington have been sold employing such deceptive language -- and that's saying something. But few public policy ideas can boast the unashamedly socialist pedigree of net neutrality. The modern Internet is a creation of the free market, which has brought about a revolution in communication, free speech, education, and commerce. New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski apparently doesn't like that. He stated last month the way Internet service providers manage their...

An AT&T executive has asked employees to post opposition to net neutrality rules being considered by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on an FCC Web site using their personal e-mail addresses, prompting accusations of unfair advocacy by an opposing group. The AT&T letter, sent this week by Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs, asks employees to go to OpenInternet.gov and use a personal e-mail address to join the discussion forum there. The letter then gives five talking points that AT&T employees can use to argue against net neutrality in the days leading up to Thursday’s...

House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Tuesday took a swipe at an ongoing push by the Obama administration and high-tech companies to beef up so-called network neutrality rules at the FCC, describing effort as "the fairness doctrine for the Internet." The Commission rescinded that doctrine, which required TV and radio broadcasters to air opposing political viewpoints, in 1987. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in September that he does not intend to revive the fairness doctrine amid concerns raised by Republicans and conservative talk radio hosts. He is, however, championing a controversial plan to consider new...

Isn't this interesting? On September 30, 2009, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps delivered the Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture at the Riverside Church in New York City. Mr. Copps is perhaps best identified as he was in the Nation magazine when he authored a March 20, 2008 article there as "a Democratic member of the FCC and a former assistant secretary of commerce in the Clinton Administration."

Click the link above, also, Glenn Beck has been talking alot about this on his show. The internet is about to be taken over by the FCC, freedom of speech will now be ensured by the Government (right, uhuh ...)

According to Beck, this Thursday, October 22, Obama's FCC will pass the first set of new regs taking control of the internet. Alleged reason is "to protect consumers from false or misleading information." The FCC will not allow any public comment or input. Obama has given them their orders. Obama also to give bail-out to the "progressive" newspapers which are all going bankrupt. Again, "to make sure consumers get the real news." Spokesman for internet watch dog group said that there is nothing to stop Obama in his drive to control all media and thus silence all criticism and opposition.

Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell is criticizing statements by FCC Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd that he says are “troubling” indications of a penchant for regulating free speech. In his 2006 book “Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America,” Lloyd wrote that public broadcasting outlets should be funded at a level “commensurate with or above those spending levels at which commercial operations are funded.” He said the funds should come from “license fees charged to commercial broadcasters” – the same “commercial broadcasters" that would have to compete with these public broadcasting outlets, CNSNews.com reported. “I find such ideas...

Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell said Tuesday that statements about regulating freedom of speech in broadcasting made by FCC Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd are “troubling.” Everyone should be concerned when federal regulators have the power to impact freedom of speech, McDowell added. In his 2006 book “Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America,” Lloyd wrote that public broadcasting outlets should be funded at a level “commensurate with or above those spending levels at which commercial operations are funded.” He said that the funds do so should come from “license fees charged to commercial broadcasters”--the same “commercial broadcasters"...

Mark Lloyd is the associate general counsel and Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission. He was appointed to the newly created position by President Obama in early August. His specialty is communications policy, the policy he promotes can be described as having a strange obsession with promoting a racial divide. He is also not a fan of the First Amendment: "It should be clear by now that my focus here is not freedom of speech or the press. This freedom is all too often an exaggeration. At the very least, blind references to freedom of speech or the...

The Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging for the first time, requiring writers on the Web to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products. The FTC said Monday its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final Web guidelines, which had been expected. Violating the rules, which take effect Dec. 1, could bring fines up to $11,000 per violation.

Internet Intervention by: Sarah Carlsruh, October 01, 2009 Affirmative Action may come to broadcasting, but will popular commentators be squeezed off the air by a new system of quotas or goals and timetables? The Obama Administration is forthright on bringing ethnic diversity to broadcasting, but less than forthcoming on whether diverse viewpoints will be tolerated by the federal agency that oversees the communications industry. On September 22, 2009 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski addressed transparency in network ownership in conjunction with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonprofit that researches public policy affecting African-Americans. His...

Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable network, is in talks with General Electric Co. to buy a stake in NBC Universal Inc., Bloomberg News reports based on three people with knowledge of the discussions. Negotiations for the Philadelphia-based cable giant to buy about 50 percent of NBC Universal have been under way for at least two months and a deal would depend in part on Vivendi SA making a decision to sell its 20 percent holding, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private, the news service said. Comcast, with about 24 million...

Broadband task force status report says current government funding won't be enough to achieve universal adoption The FCC says 3 million to 6 million people are "unserved" by basic broadand service, and that current government funding won't be enough to get broadband to all of them. "[C]urrent mechanisms, such as Universal Service and stimulus grants, are insufficient to achieve national purposes," according to a status report Tuesday from members of the FCC's broadband task force. The government has allocated $7.2 billion in stimulus grants and loans for broadband, while the FCC is considering expanding the Universal Service Fund (which telecom...

"[Communication Diversity] … there’s nothing more difficult than this. Because we have really, truly good white people in important positions. And the fact of the matter is that there are a limited number of those positions. And unless we are conscious of the need to have more people of color, gays, other people in those positions we will not change the problem. We’re in a position where you have to say who is going to step down so someone else can have power." - Mark Lloyd, Obama's communications czar

Mark Lloyd is the associate general counsel and Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission. He was appointed to the newly created position by President Obama in early August. Before he was appointed a Czar, Lloyed was the vice president for strategic initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. His specialty is communications policy, and that policy he promotes can only be described as having a strange obsession with promoting a racial divide. He is also not a big fan of the First Amendment: "It should be clear by now that my focus here is not freedom of...

President Obama's diversity czar at the Federal Communications Commission has spoken publicly of getting white media executives to "step down" in favor of minorities, prescribed policies to make liberal talk radio more successful, and described Hugo Chavez's rise to power in Venezuela "an incredible revolution."

So white people, good though they may be, must "step down so" "more people of color, gays" and "other people" "can have power." And thereby "change the problem" of whites running the show. So who is "in a position where you have to say who is going to step down so someone else can have power?" Why, Lloyd is. Lloyd now sits astride the FCC, which regulates and oversees a very finite world indeed. That being the radio dial, and the limited number of broadcast licenses that can be issued.

Boys and Girls, here come Obama's Brown Shirts again, trying to control the internet. Last month it was Senate Bill S.773 introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, that would allow the POTUS to seize temporary control of the internet in an emergency of his choosing. The bill would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Now its net "neutrality" being pushed as a way to regulate free speech on the internet. Oh, at first glance the concept of net neutrality is being pushed to support internet...

The gloves are off. Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC, announced new guidelines to formalize the concept of net neutrality. Within hours, opponents of net neutrality published statements and op ed articles expressing objections, and a handful of elected U.S. representatives filed an amendment intended to prevent the FCC from taking action. The speed of the political response is stunning. Granted, it had been leaked at least a few days earlier that Genachowski would address net neutrality in his speech to the Brookings Institute on Monday. And, Genachowski's views on Net Neutrality are not a secret. So, opponents had a...

There was a time, not so long ago, when the term "Internet Freedom" actually meant what it implied: a cyberspace free from over-zealous legislators and bureaucrats.... Those days are now gone; the presumption of online liberty is giving way to a presumption of regulation. A massive assault on real Internet freedom has been gathering steam for years and has finally come to a head. Ironically, victory for those who carry the banner of "Internet Freedom" would mean nothing less than the death of that freedom.... Here is the reality: Because of the steps being taken in Washington right now, real...

Two days ago we were sitting on the dock in Como, having a gellato, waiting for our ship to come in. Not actually a ship, just a small commuter boat that connects the small communities on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. It is a breathtakingly beautiful place. I can see why VIPs come to a small hotel, built by a mediaeval Cardinal as his residence, just up the Lake. No wonder that George Clooney has a villa here, that is reached only by helicopter, or so the gossip says. And, this area's history reaches deep into the...

Policymaking: If the stimulus isn't working, perhaps it's because it was largely written by a collection of leftist interest groups called the Apollo Alliance that counts among its directors a co-founder of the Weather Underground.The Labor Department reported Friday that 42 states lost more jobs than they gained in August, and that 14 plus Washington, D.C., reported unemployment rates of 10% or more. Michigan's rate rose to 15.2%, highest in the nation. Nevada, represented by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is second with 13.2%. California, home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is tied for fourth with Oregon at 12.2%. Clearly,...

FCC ‘Diversity Czar’: Few Things Frighten Americans More Than ‘Dark Skin Black Men’ Naked Emperor News and Breitbart.TV

FCC Proposes Applying Net Neutrality to Carriers' Wireless Networks Today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowsk said that wireless carriers shouldn't be allowed to block certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their networks. This has huge implications for the VoIP industry, since as I wrote last week, AT&T blocks port 5060 (SIP) on their 3G data network, thus blocking VoIP applications. If the FCC (News - Alert) mandates that the wireless carriers can no longer block applications on their data network, this opens up the entire 3G/4G wireless network to game-changing VoIP applications! This will no doubt cause a firestorm of...

The head of the FCC plans to propose new rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from interfering with the free flow of information and certain applications over their networks, an official at the agency said Saturday. The Federal Communications Commission chairman, Julius Genachowski, will announce the proposed rules in a speech Monday at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, the official said on condition of anonymity because news of the announcement had not been formally released.

Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to propose a new so-called net neutrality rule Monday that could prevent telecommunications, cable and wireless companies from blocking Internet applications, according to sources at the agency. Genachowski will discuss the rules Monday during a keynote speech at The Brookings Institute. He isn't expected to drill into many details, but the proposal will specifically be for an additional guideline on how operators like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast can control what goes on their networks. That additional guideline would prevent the operators from discriminating, or act as gatekeepers, of Web content and...

Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to propose a new so-called net neutrality rule Monday that could prevent telecommunications, cable and wireless companies from blocking Internet applications, according to sources at the agency. Genachowski will discuss the rules Monday during a keynote speech at The Brookings Institute. He isn't expected to drill into many details, but the proposal will specifically be for an additional guideline on how operators like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast can control what goes on their networks. That additional guideline would prevent the operators from discriminating, or act as gatekeepers, of Web content and...