It has been a relatively quiet week in social media radio-land. Don’t worry, Pandora, Spotify, Last.fm . . . they’re all puttering along. Gazillions of listeners are listening and clicking “like” buttons, or not, but nothing earth shaking has happened over the last few days. So instead of the regular updates we schedule for Mondays, […]
In perhaps the slowest week in LPFM news so far this year, only two additional applications were approved. They went to the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, in Tulsa, and the Fayette Community Service Organization in Fayette, Mississippi. This doesn’t mean that low-power FM isn’t still on the front burner. The FCC’s five commissioners–along with […]
It’s been almost a week since the FCC voted to approve Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposed Open Internet rules and open the rule making process. Despite the strong backlash following the first previews of the proposal, not a lot changed. Wheeler still proposes allowing what has come to be called an “internet fast lane,” permitting some […]
Citing economic difficulties, the Maricopa Community College District of Arizona asked the Federal Communications Commission for a waiver to expand the range of underwriter announcements on its two radio stations, KBAQ-FM and KJZZ-FM. But the Commission has turned the request down. “Many [non-commercial educational] licensees face similar circumstances and Maricopa fails to identify any special […]
This is a tough week to be Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the FCC. This Thursday he has an open meeting where he plans to present his Open Internet proposal to the full Commission. As details have come to light a very broad coalition of companies, organizations and legislators–from 150 tech firms like Netflix and Google […]
Minnesota Senator Al Franken is one of the stronger Congressional advocates of network neutrality. He is also a firm opponent of communication industry consolidation, as well as a former radio host. On Tuesday Franken sent a strongly worded letter [PDF] to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler about the Commission’s proposed Open Internet rules. He does not […]
Prof. John Anderson has been covering radio and communications freedom for more than a decade at DIYMedia.net. He recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FCC regarding a recent decision that effectively put the Commission in the role of determining what is and is not news. Last year his first book, Radio’s […]
Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA) just sent us a press release sharing his worries about the Federal Communications Commission’s new proposed ‘commercially reasonable’ Open Internet rules. “I have serious concerns about the FCC’s proposal and the effects it might have on access, content, innovation, and consumers’ pocketbooks,” Doyle says. “An open internet is essential to fostering […]
Last night I was willing to give FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler the benefit of the doubt when he released a statement saying, “There are reports that the FCC is gutting the Open Internet rule. They are flat out wrong.” Today I know that benefit was misplaced. After listening to a conference call the FCC had […]
Wednesday afternoon reports surfaced saying that new proposed open internet rules from the FCC will permit companies to pay internet service providers, like Comcast or AT&T, to deliver their content faster. The source of the report has only been credited to an unnamed “FCC official.” The reaction to this news was swift, with many consumer […]
