Net Neutrality

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) told FCC nominees Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Attwell Baker that the FCC was broken and he expects them to fix it. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor about the Internet and the First Amendment.

Media Minutes looks at five of the top stories of 2008: The FCC proceedings concerning Net Neutrality, the 700 MHz spectrum auction and white spaces; Pentagon propaganda; journalists’ arrests at the RNC; and grassroots media organizing for PEG and LPFM.

The FCC voted to punish Comcast for blocking users' access to the Internet. And the People’s Production House arms up-and-coming journalists with the skills they need to create media.

The Federal Communications Commission has completed a six-month investigation and determined that Comcast violated the agency’s principles of open access on the Internet. And the cost of text messaging is rising again, despite the fact there have been no further costs to necessitate a price hike.

06/01/2008 - Every significant Internet provider around the globe is currently in talks with access and content providers to transform the internet into a television-like medium: no more freedom, you pay for a small commercial package of sites you can visit and you'll have to pay for seperate subscriptions for every site that's not in the package.

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.

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.

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.

Public interest groups want to know why the DOJ submitted a filing to the FCC against Net Neutrality – six weeks after the deadline. And OneWebDay's founder talks about why we need to take time to appreciate the Web.