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Just some music we love to make. You may notice the use of numerous samples from Free Speech tv.

About the night I sat and watched Shock and Awe.

Media Minutes: September 14, 2007
The FCC is holding a public hearing on media ownership in Chicago on Sept. 20, and local organizers are busy educating the public about the issues. And public access television stations across the country are gearing up for local elections.

Data mining on social networks is much more pervasive and secretive than most users know. Long-time media activists Jeff Chester and Kathryn Montgomery share their concerns about online marketing and surveillance.

Dave Hughes, the Cursor Cowboy, hangs up his Web access spurs after providing Internet service for 23 years and hooking up rural and remote areas to the wireless Web all over the world. And the 700 MHz spectrum auction could pry open the wireless market.

The ways that Internet Service Providers are approaching heavy bandwidth use underscores the need for improved networks. And several Michigan towns are suing Comcast for attempting to move their PEG channels from the basic analogue to a digital tier.

The MPAA has admitted to using faulty data to make its case that colleges and universities should filter their networks for copyright violations. And Gannett has expressed interest in partnering with Colorado State University's newspaper, the Collegian.

TV and film writers headed back to work last week after a three-month walkout. And vast portions of the public airwaves in between the broadcast channels on your TV dial remain empty but inaccessible. Several public interest groups are pressuring the FCC to set “white spaces” free.

This week, the FCC held a public hearing in Boston to investigate allegations that Comcast has been blocking Internet traffic. Media Minutes traveled to the event to find that Comcast had paid people to fill the seats - leaving many interested citizens shut out in the cold.

Calling the FCC’s decision to relax media ownership rules “arrogant” and a “cave-in to corporate interests,” Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) introduced a “Resolution of Disapproval” that would nullify the decision. And a new study on the 2008 presidential primaries shows that news coverage about the “horse race” dominates all other aspects of campaigning.

Media activists are rallying support in the Senate for the bipartisan Resolution of Disapproval ” to overturn the FCC’s decision to relax media ownership rules. And Radio Arte, 90.5 FM, Chicago's Latino-owned, youth-driven, bilingual public radio station, teaches more than radio skills to young people.

Many independent media makers say that the MPAA’s multi-million dollar fight against Net Neutrality has little to do with piracy – it’s about controlling Internet content. And the increasing disappearance of editorial from newspapers correlates with the rise of media consolidation.

High hopes that the FCC spectrum auction would provide competition in the wireless market were dashed as Verizon and AT&T won their bids for large portions of the airwaves. And the Chauncey Bailey Project continues to honor the work of the slain reporter by uncovering more information about his murder and his Oakland, California community.

Public pressure may have forced Comcast to work with BitTorrent on finding ways to distribute large Internet files, but their collaboration is no substitute for actual policy that would keep the Internet open. And 25 rural Vermont towns have joined in a regional effort to bring high-speed fiber optic Internet access to their homes.

I wrote and recorded this at my home a few weeks ago.

Song about the inevitability of change.

At BroadbandCensus.com, you can find out about broadband providers in your area, see what your broadband speed actually is, and help create a nationwide census on broadband information that big media companies don’t want you to know. And Community Television of Santa Cruz plugs public access TV with an entertaining new promotional video.

One big problem with the outcome of the 700 MHz auction: Giant telecom companies Verizon and AT&T were the big winners while women and minority businesses were squeezed out. And guest commentator Craig Aaron explains why Comcast should be voted America’s worst company.

The New York Times uncovers a large, coordinated Pentagon scheme to sell the occupation of Iraq to the American public via a network of purportedly independent retired military officers acting as paid “analysts” and “experts” for U.S. TV networks and cable channels. And Net Neutrality takes center stage at both Congress and the FCC.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced the agency will craft a new plan for a national public safety network. And the Senate Commerce Committee passed a legislative veto of the FCC’s new media ownership rules as Rupert Murdoch prepared to bid for a third New York newspaper.

The Media Giraffe Project will be sponsoring a conference in Minneapolis in June to give local online news and community Web entrepreneurs and activists a chance to share advice about legal, organizational and advertising issues. And a House subcommittee held a hearing this week on the Internet Freedom Preservation Act.

As editor-in-chief of a publication for African immigrants, Edwin Okong’o strives for journalistic excellence to build a bridge between cultures and dispel American stereotypes of Africa and African communities. And the FCC was in the news last week for a couple of ill-considered decisions that raised the hackles of public interest and media reform groups.

In an historic bipartisan vote, the Senate overwhelmingly agreed to turn back the FCC’s decision to relax longstanding media ownership rules. And the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination works within the media across all media platforms to promote fairness and equality for the GLBT community.

Native Public Media is committed to bringing Native American voices to media policymakers in Washington. And in a guest commentary, Free Press executive director Josh Silver discusses the House vote to ban Pentagon propaganda and the mainstream media’s failure to report the story.

With more than 250 presenters and 3500 attendees, the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis was a chance to learn about the issues shaping our media and to strategize for the future.

www.freepress.net/conference

The FCC is beginning to take seriously its job to provide better information about broadband access, which will eventually affect Internet users’ ability to upload and download content faster. And Rev. Romal Tune say that “unity” is the key to success for the media reform movement.

The InternetforEveryone.org Initiative was launched this week to raise public awareness about America’s digital divide and renew the call for a fast, open and affordable Internet as a basic right. And Youth Rights Media premiered their latest documentary, No Haven, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Online advertising firm, NebuAd, may have stepped over the line with its ad-targeting scheme that monitors Web browsing and alters computer codes. And Philadelphia has announced a deal with local investors to keep its muni wi-fi project alive after Earthlink bowed out earlier this month.