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, […]
We’ve been following the Federal Communication Commission’s latest open Internet proposal, and like my colleague Paul Riismandel, I’m skeptical about it. FCC Chair Tom Wheeler’s plan seems tailor made to forge a two-tiered Internet in which the big ISPs pick winners and losers via priority access “fast lane” deals. The big question for us around […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
On Friday the Washington Post published a profile of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler that vividly paints some of his quirks, but reveals very little of his policy outlook. Anyone looking for insights on radio or net neutrality here will be disappointed. We do get some additional bellyaching from the National Association of Broadcasters, who wish […]
House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers (R-MI) is leaving Congress and taking a job as a national radio host with Cumulus media. Rogers has established himself as late as a defender of the National Security Agency’s surveillance program. Just for kicks I rummaged around the Federal Communications Commission’s databases to see what he’d sent them of […]
