Archive for the ‘Media consolidation’ Category
Monday, September 10th, 2007
In a series begun yesterday, the Seattle Times is taking on the sorry state of the media industry and media policy.
Editorial Page Editor James Vesely has a brief introduction. Yesterday, they ran an opinion piece by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. Today, it's Penn Law School luminary Ed Baker.
Today, they also ...
Posted in Constitutional, FCC, Media consolidation, Media criticism | No Comments »
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
In this weekend's New York Times Magazine, an excellent profile of music mogul Rick Rubin suggests Sony's recent hiring of Rubin as Columbia Records co-head just might save both the company and the music industry.
Rubin certainly seems bent on changing the music industry. He sounds like a Free Culture activist, ...
Posted in Copyright, DRM, Media consolidation, Music industry | No Comments »
Friday, August 10th, 2007
There are often times when I wish I had my trusty digital voice recorder—the one that sent Senator Ted Stevens’ “series of tubes” anti-net neutrality speech into the Internet Meme Hall of Fame. Yesterday afternoon at the annual convention for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the ...
Posted in Copyright, DRM, FCC, Internet policy, Media consolidation, Media criticism, Network neutrality, Technological Protection Measures, Telecommunications, Telecommunications law | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
As Verizon moves forward with installing FiOS fiber optic phone/internet/TV service in (mostly wealthy, white) neighborhoods throughout the country, it is taking the time and expense to pull out copper wires.
Why spend the money? As explained on the Consumers Union blog, Hear Us Now, there are two obvious incentives. First, ...
Posted in Antitrust, FCC, Internet policy, Media consolidation, Network neutrality, Telecommunications, Telecommunications law | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 16th, 2007
When Bob McChesney personally emails everyone in his personal email address book, you know something serious is afoot, and this is no exception. Low-volume periodicals--and not large-circulation magazines--are about to be hit with a postage rate increase of as much as 30%.
To help deal with rising costs, the USPS ...
Posted in Media consolidation | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
In an open letter (NOT a pdf for once), Apple CEO Steve Jobs blamed the big four music labels for forcing Apple to use DRM in iTunes and called for DRM-free licensing for the sale of online music.
Posted in Copyright, DRM, Media consolidation | No Comments »
Friday, December 29th, 2006
After months in front of a deadlocked FCC, AT&T has a green light to swallow BellSouth (pdf). The new company will control "more than half the telephone and Internet access lines in the U.S."
The merger likely would have sailed through on the strength of the FCC's 3-2 Republican majority, but ...
Posted in Antitrust, FCC, Internet policy, Media consolidation, Network neutrality, Telecommunications, Telecommunications law | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
As reported by CNet, the Justice Department on Thursday denied allegations that it gave approval after a stacked-deck hearing.
Posted in Antitrust, Media consolidation | No Comments »
Thursday, December 14th, 2006
The Future of Music Coalition has released a report damning the social and economic impact of consolidation in the radio industry. Key findings include:
Just fifteen formats make up three-quarters of all commercial programming. Moreover, radio formats with different names can overlap up to 80% in terms of the songs ...
Posted in Media consolidation | No Comments »
Friday, October 13th, 2006
The FCC has decided to allow experimenation in the highly desirable portion of spectrum that currently carries over-the-air TV.
The spectrum, which falls below 900 megahertz, is generally viewed as the Park Avenue of the airwaves. It carries transmissions through walls and other obstructions much more easily than the slices of ...
Posted in Antitrust, FCC, Internet policy, Media consolidation, Network neutrality, Telecommunications, Telecommunications law | No Comments »