You are here Wireless Spectrum
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-07-09 15:09
SaveTheInternet has a new video out that breathlessly claims that people only have until July 16th to tell the FCC to keep a "level playing field" in order to "save the Internet!"
- This vacuous "eye-candy" video only says "the Internet is under attack in Washington" but says nothing about what "the attack" actually is, why anyone in their right mind would want to "attack the Internet," what the FCC is actually doing or deciding that needs their input by July 16th, or even why there is a July 16th deadline to act.
- This video propoganda is a disturbingly accurate representation of the vacuousness of SaveTheInternet's whole net neutrality position and crusade.
- It is all form and fear and precious little substance.
- Its scary that they don't even try to inform or educate just incite.
- It also tells us a lot about what they think of the intelligence-level of average Americans and those on their mailing list -- they obviously just see them as lemings to scare and herd off a proverbial cliff.
- There is zero respect for people's intelligence in this video propaganda.
- SaveTheInternet sees no need for facts, for information, for context, for balance, or hearing both sides -- just feed the masses the dumbest possible version of a scare message and shout that they have an urgent deadline to act!
This video is damning proof of how vacuous the net neutrality regulation movement has become. View it and weep.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-07-09 10:52
The Washington Post gave a lot of "free" ink to former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt today to push for his Frontline Wireless corporate welfare scheme. The article also provides a "bay window view" of Mr. Hundt's perverted view of "competition."
-
Mr. Hundt said: "We're asking the FCC to place conditions on the sale of the license, just like zoning on real estate."
-
Competition through zoning regulations!
-
This captures the essence of Mr Hundt's "market" views. He has always thought "competition" was much too important to be left to the marketplace.
Now that his company has $3b in capital and is prepared to raise up to $10b in the next five years, according to the Post, why is he so afraid to compete in the auction like everyone else?
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2007-07-03 11:02
Frontline's Reed Hundt is mounting a furious eleventh hour effort to finagle a backroom sweetheart deal for his company from the FCC, in the 700 MHz auction. He attacked the outstanding op ed in the Washington Post by Robert Hahn and Hal Singer in both the Post and in RCR. Our former Big Government FCC Chairman, Mr. Hundt also apparently has lost his cool and perpsective in railing against the rollout of the new, innovative and already successful iPhone as somehow a market failure that only his company can cure.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-07-02 12:58
A core purpose of NetCompetition.org is to promote a debate of Net neutrality regulation on the merits. SaveTheInternet.com had a recent blog post "Painting over broadband failures with pretty pictures" that prompted me to comment on their blog -- which I have included below:
"If SaveTheInternet followers are truly "open" to diverse points of view that may be different from theirs, I recommend that you consider the mounting evidence that the US is in fact not falling behind but is actually a unique success in promoting facilities-based broadband competition in the world. Please see this link for the four best alternative views on this question: http://www.precursorblog.com/node/451 .
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2007-06-28 12:11
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2007-06-27 11:08
Kudos to Robert Hahn and Hal Singer for their outstanding op ed in the Washington Post "Earmarked Airwaves."
- The editorial cogently presents the fork in the road that faces any major FCC decision: to follow law, which promotes competition and market-driven outcomes, or to freelance and try and "manage" competition and pick winners and losers in advance through "spectrum earmarking."
- FCC history is littered with freelance "managed competition" failures, but two are particularly ignominious and highly relevant to this 700 MHz auction:
- the illegal UNE-P scheme to rig telecom competitive outcomes following the 1996 Telecom Act; and
- the Nextwave auction scandal that kept 30 MHz of prime spectrum fallow and tied up in court for almost a decade.
At its core a spectrum auction is the quintessential type of competition. The auction law's purpose in 1993 was to use market forces, competition, to allocate the public's asset most appropriately, largely because previous FCC spectrum allocation processes were so ineffective, unfair and prone to serious abuse and graft.
This 700 MHz auction may be shaping up to be FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's legacy moment: will it be marked by promoting competition and market-based outcomes or will it be marked by standing on the auction scales to ensure the spectrum is "earmarked" to the predetermined, chosen "winner" -- in this case former Clinton-Gore FCC Chairman Reed Hundt's Frontline Wireless company.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-06-18 15:08
Reuters did a decent article on Google and growing privacy concerns about Google practices.
-
My beef is with the editor's choice of words in the title.
-
Either the editor does not know the real definition of "paranoia" or the editor was trying to cut the knees out from under the reporter's story and soften the article.
-
I've included the definitions of "paranoia" and "fear" from www.dictionary.com at the bottom of this post.
"Paranoia" is either a mental disorder or a baseless suspicion.
-
I don't think Reuters meant to imply that an American is mentally ill if he/she fears that their privacy is being invaded by Google recording and storing all of their searches and click paths, electronically reading all their g-mails, and surveilling many people's lives through Street View cameras.
Let's keep an eye on Google's spinmeisters to see if this was just one editor who chose the wrong word, or if it is part of Google's talking points to defend itself against privacy concerns.
par·a·noi·a –noun
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-06-18 12:56
Can you believe it?
Google launches its new public policy blog today and the NetCompetition/Precursorblog is not one of the blog links under "What We Are Reading!" Horrors!
First of all, it is not very "authentic" of the Google bloggers to not admit that they regularly read Precursorblog -- we know they do!
Second, don't you believe for a minute that Google does not want to know what their latest public policy or PR vulnerability is.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-06-18 11:54
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-06-18 10:49
The New York Times reported a very telling statistic today on one of the prominent Webopolies in the Open Internet Coalition -- eBay.
95% market share! If that's not a Webopoly, what is?
Pages
|