http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=DlJw4WSZ5Z9T8ef8vJHbbg..

News of the movement for November 6, 2009

-- SAVE THE INTERNET --

NET NEUTRALITY REQUIRED TO SPUR INNOVATION The Internet's amazing
success has been based on its openness, ubiquity and nondiscrimination.
The fact that no one ever had to ask permission from the network
to innovate has led to one of the greatest periods of economic
growth in history. So, when the global communications network grows
by leaps and bounds and spurs tremendous innovation, why change its
traditional rules?

Nicholas Economides, Financial Times
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=fIKfWZJ7JICwldRn2MLuKA..

NET NEUTRALITY RED HERRINGS, AND HOW TO COMBAT THEM There will be
a tremendous astroturfing campaign against both the current Net
Neutrality legislation in Congress and the comment period of the
FCC's Net Neutrality rulemaking process. There are a couple of
things the Netroots community needs to do in response.

Daily Kos http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=lT6nEVI4SQmoSs54GKhcaw..

EU READY TO GUARANTEE INTERNET ACCESS AND NEUTRALITY A compromise
between European Union negotiators and 27 member states has cleared
the way to approve telecom reforms that include Internet access
protection. The EU's Viviane Reding said the telecom bill will
protect consumer rights and guarantee Net Neutrality. In particular,
the U.K.'s "three strikes" rule would be blocked in the EU.

Mark Long, CIO Today
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=7xGVxlL6wgigM5Sx6AvtcA..

-- MEDIA POLICY AT THE FCC --

COPPS SETS STAGE FOR MEDIA OWNERSHIP REVIEW FCC Commissioner Michael
Copps set the stage for an examination of federal broadcast ownership
policy when he told a gathering of scholars assembled for a media
ownership workshop that the nation has moved in the wrong direction
in recent years when it comes to broadcast localism, diversity in
media ownership and competition.

Broadcast Engineering
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=FYZhySgQ5diY1vYaSkGVZA..

COMCAST DESERVES FCC SCRUTINY, TOO The FCC has a lot on its plate
at the moment: Net Neutrality, the development of a national broadband
plan, Google Voice, E-Rate -- the list goes on. Now, Comcast and
NBC Universal may soon be added to the plate. Will the FCC be ready
to ensure that Comcast offers other video providers fair access to
its vast amount of cable TV programming?

Dan O'Shea, Fierce Telecom
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=oB_xxdC2iFqGPKJGbhTjdQ..

PRESSURE ON GOOGLE OVER BLOCKED CALLS Pressure is growing on the
FCC to come down on tech giant Google for blocking access to certain
telephone numbers with its Google Voice service. The issue involves
fees that traditional phone companies are forced to pay to connect
calls, but from which Google argues it is exempt because it is a
Web-enabled phone service.

Kim Hart, The Hill http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=BMdCTZ2RlMCGGtTqYcIXLA..

FCC MULLS CHANGES TO PHONE ACCESS RULES The FCC said it was mulling
whether changes are needed to regulations governing access to
telephone lines largely controlled by telecom giants.

John Poirier, Reuters
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=DpZGXo0sm5OL8CLG3Hikxw..

-- JOURNALISM AND BEYOND --

PENTAGON PURSUING NEW INVESTIGATION INTO BUSH PROPAGANDA PROGRAM
The Pentagon's Office of the Inspector General is conducting a new
investigation into a covert Bush administration Defense Department
program that used retired military analysts to produce positive
wartime news coverage.

Brad Jacobson, Raw Story
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=ZZ_7_0AKBhFlPEvny8-Q5Q..

NO ACTION ON SHIELD LAW -- AGAIN Armed with a compromise bill that
has the approval of the attorney general, broadcasters and the
bill's co-sponsors, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick
Leahy (D-VT.) was once again unable to consider the Free Flow of
Information Act, which grants qualified protection for journalists
and their sources from government overreach.

John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=312n5R0q32zPGIsnzchyQA..

ROTTEN APPLE COVERAGE How exactly did the New York press miss the
fact that the extravagantly financed Michael Bloomberg express
almost got derailed? Local news organizations didn't take the race
all that seriously. Nor did many national reporters shuttle in to
offer their take. And yet, Bloomberg won by 5 points, hardly the
blowout the media establishment had been expecting.

Howard Kurtz, Washington Post
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=8UmSYmFDOCiB7P6ggTFgAQ..

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL BAY AREA SECTION DEBUT LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE
NEW YORK TIMES BAY AREA SECTION When the New York Times debut Bay
Area section was short and the news stories weren't news to savvy
locals. Still, the addition of sophisticated prefixes to names was
enjoyable. Perhaps things would get better with time? Now comes the
Wall Street Journal Bay Area section, which appears to have peeped
at its predecessor's section and essentially reproduced it, only
with financial flair.

Ashley Harrell, SF Weekly
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=BWR1n6Kx5lsmOnOxexcuLQ..

BASTA DOBBS 100K STRONG BastaDobbs.com, a national, Latino-led
coalition of organizations calling on CNN to fire anchor Lou Dobbs
for spreading misinformation and fear about immigrants and Latinos,
announced that 100,000 people have joined them in demanding that
Dobbs be dismissed from the network.

BastaDobbs.com http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=ek2ZEWv7fc_Q1DoYeh0nlw..

-- FEATURE --

This week: A Comcast-NBC Universal mega-merger would be bad news
for consumers. And the FCC has jump-started its 2010 media ownership
review process with a series of workshops. Public interest groups
weighed in about research methods and focus. Listen here.

http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=ZXNXAJ4vC98mVKsdNfDQKw..

-- IN OTHER NEWS --

AT 40, 'SESAME STREET' IS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF RENEWAL As Sesame
Street kicks off its 40th anniversary season, it is indisputably
the most beloved children's show in history. But if preschoolers'
fundamental needs and sensibilities haven't changed much, the world
around them has -- not least of all on the media landscape, where
Sesame Street now competes with many other kids' shows and an
ever-expanding array of new media.

USA Today http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=aCKwUfv0VWoTpYzGjiGkEQ..

FAIR TREATMENT FOR COMMUNITY TV To make room for new high definition
channels, Charter will push community TV channels off their current
locations and onto unused transmission bandwidth that is shared
with FM radio signals. In other words, Charter will take the clean,
high-value bandwidth and exchange it for unused, interference-plagued
bandwidth.

Traverse City Record-Eagle
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=70v_4nwQg1ZsYlD-sdHI5g..

THE MOGUL HAS NO CLOTHES In their new book "The Curse of the Mogul,"
a trio of academics take aim at the business of Hollywood and big
media. Their conclusion: It's the moguls' fault. It's their fault
that media companies are inefficient, that executives are overpaid,
that they fail to increase shareholder value -- and that their
acquisitions are ego-boosting destroyers of value that achieve no
real synergies.

The Wrap http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=iCz2k4W5BN67hFGaA8IA9A..

BROADCASTERS CHALLENGE SONGWRITERS' PRICE-SETTING POWER TV broadcasters
are contractually bound to air the programs they buy with the music
that's already in the soundtrack. As a result, they have zero
leverage with songwriters when it comes to negotiating for the
rights to broadcast those songs. A group of broadcasters has now
gone to federal court, filing a class-action antitrust lawsuit
against a performing rights organization representing songwriters
and music publishers.

Los Angeles Times http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=G-1-JnIuznSE0-Er9SPEWQ..

CBS RETRANS FEES EXPECTED TO DOUBLE IN 2010 Retransmission fees in
2010 are expected to nearly double what they were in 2009 based on
contracts already in place, according to CBS Corp. CEO Leslie
Moonves, sounding more bullish than he's been in some time on a
third quarter earnings call with analysts.

Broadcasting & Cable
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=wjtA0O3ezOIy-WcF8d49Lg..

MYSPACE TRAFFIC DROP COSTS NEWS CORP. ABOUT $100 MILLION The MySpace
social media network's traffic has dropped so much that it will
fail to satisfy a minimum traffic level crucial to parent company
News Corp.'s three-year $900 million advertising deal with Google,
inked in 2006, that made Google the exclusive search advertiser on
MySpace -- then the world's most popular social network.

Wired http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=3yjenFoViNvTasBnCTB03g..

COULD COMCAST/NBC RIVAL ESPN?

The widely reported possibility that Comcast will take over NBC
Universal raises lots of new TV sports scenarios, including the fun
notion that it would be big enough to pick a fair fight with the
omnivorous ESPN.

USA Today http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=MkOaJbrqOVSrJ8IK1PnPfw..

VERIZON ON AT&T SUIT: THERE'S A WORD FOR THAT: JUNK If AT&T's lawsuit
over Verizon's allegedly misleading "there's a map for that"

wasn't a public relations mistake to begin with, it will be by the
time Verizon gets through with it. Responding to the suit, Verizon's,
Jeffrey Nelson used it to stoke public perception that AT&T's network
is inferior to Verizon's.

All Things Digital http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=gelGSmDvYoYvowNDlHdpIg..

HOUSE TECHNOLOGY SUBCOMMITTEE CLEARS CYBERSECURITY BILL The House
Science Technology Subcommittee easily approved a bill designed to
streamline and strengthen government oversight of the nation's
electronic infrastructure, including computer and telecom networks.

CongressDaily http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Xq2FNRR4JGi3YkleJHF-ww..

CONCERNS OF INTERNET AND KIDS, LOOK TO PHONE APPLICATIONS Common
Sense Media is pushing federal regulators to pay closer attention
to cell phone applications and the possible risks posed by an
explosion of mobile content. The group is also in talks with Apple
about signaling to parents and children what applications may be
inappropriate for them.

Washington Post http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=u76aWF4QTRQHuxamW9uSzw..

-- UPCOMING EVENTS --

FCC FIELD HEARING ON BROADBAND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Nov 6: Washington, DC
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=J6gwmar-ygnMU8SyIQpVIw..

THE PHILADELPHIA INITIATIVE FOR JOURNALISTIC INNOVATION Nov 7:
Philadelphia, PA http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=WFyWkV80TpvBmSAZJizcJg..

JOURNALISM & THE NEW MEDIA ECOLOGY: WHO WILL PAY THE MESSENGERS?

Nov 13-Nov 14: New Haven, CT
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=fKX1vRjtG7_ECRJXduAIxw..

CAN NEWS MEDIA SURVIVE THE INTERNET AGE? COMPETITION, CONSUMER
PROTECTION, AND FIRST AMENDMENT PERSPECTIVES Dec 1-Dec 2: Washington,
DC http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=yvP0vKksV0rfUtYtZdDTOQ..

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