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Net Neutrality, the FCC, and AT&T
Kevin Taglang has an excellent recap of coverage of what the Wall Street Journal calls AT&T's "capitulation" (Industry Braces for Net-Neutrality Fallout by Amy Schatz, Wall Street Journal January 2, 2007; Page A3 [free today only]) on the issue of Net Neutrality and the Federal Communications Commission's unanimous approval of AT&T's buyout of BellSouth:
- FCC Approves AT&T-BellSouth Deal, by Kevin Taglang, Benton's Communications-Related Headlines (JANUARY 2, 2007)
While some see the recent events as a victory for net neutrality, others question this. The agreement is only for two years and is limited in scope. In addition, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is quoted in the WSJ article as saying "[It] does not mean that the Commission has adopted an additional net neutrality principle. We continue to believe such a requirement is not necessary and may impede infrastructure deployment."
Continue readingSurvey of records access in Virginia
This story reports on the results of a survey done by newspaper employees who were "dispatched to every city and county in the state [Virginia] in September to see how the 134 local governments responded to requests for public information that is supposed to be available under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act." Access to public data hard to come by, by Harry Minium / The Virginian-Pilot Daily Press Hampton Roads, Virginia (December 31, 2006)
The results were hardly encouraging for citizens who want to see how their government works, advocates for open government said. A little less than half the media representatives saw the requested records that, under state law, cities and counties have to provide. About one in every four times, the person seeking the information was denied access to what's supposed to be public information. "Unfortunately, some localities just have a predisposition to keep things secret," said Forrest "Frosty" Landon, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. Continue reading
New book reveals perils of censorship
New book reveals censorship's perils By Dave Zweifel, Capital Times (Madison WI) Dec. 27, 2006. The book is First Into Nagasaki by George Weller and Anthony Weller
George Weller was a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter who covered World War II across Europe, Africa, and Asia. At the war’s end in September 1945, under General MacArthur’s media blackout, correspondents were forbidden to enter both Nagasaki and Hiroshima. But instead of obediently staying with the press corps in northern Japan, Weller broke away. The intrepid newspaperman reached Nagasaki just weeks after the atomic bomb hit the city. Boldly presenting himself as a U.S. colonel to the Japanese military, Weller set out to explore the devastation.More here: George Weller, Reporting from Nagasaki NPR Weekend Edition Saturday, June 25, 2005 Long-Suppressed Nagasaki Article Discovered Democracy Now! August 5th, 2005 Continue reading
AT&T agrees to net neutrality — and tells us they’ll ignore it
One big case that can affect Net Neutrality is the AT&T proposed buyout of BellSouth. There is news that AT&T has made big concessions to network neutrality, but early reports from those who've looked at their memo carefully show that AT&T is not making any concessions at all. According to TechDirt, "AT&T promises not to violate network neutrality on a network they never intended to use that way, and carves out permission to use it on their new network, where they had planned all along to set up additional tollbooths."
- And By The Time Anyone Reads The Sneaky Fine Print On AT&T's Concessions, The Merger Will Be Done TechDirt (December 29th, 2006)
- Loophole watch in AT&T-BellSouth merger by isen, December 29, 2006
How Old Is The Grand Canyon? Park Service Won’t Say
According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, "Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees."
- How Old Is The Grand Canyon? Park Service Won't Say Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, December 28, 2006
In August 2003, Park Superintendent Joe Alston attempted to block the sale at park bookstores of Grand Canyon: A Different View by Tom Vail, a book claiming the Canyon developed on a biblical rather than an evolutionary time scale. NPS Headquarters, however, intervened and overruled Alston. To quiet the resulting furor, NPS Chief of Communications David Barna told reporters and members of Congress that there would be a high-level policy review of the issue. According to a recent NPS response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by PEER, no such review was ever requested, let alone conducted or completed. Park officials have defended the decision to approve the sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View, claiming that park bookstores are like libraries, where the broadest range of views are displayed. In fact, however, both law and park policies make it clear that the park bookstores are more like schoolrooms rather than libraries. As such, materials are only to reflect the highest quality science and are supposed to closely support approved interpretive themes. Moreover, unlike a library the approval process is very selective. Records released to PEER show that during 2003, Grand Canyon officials rejected 22 books and other products for bookstore placement while approving only one new sale item -- the creationist book.Continue reading
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