Today two FCC commissioners, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, refused to rubber stamp the DoJ’s unconditional approval of AT&T’s acquisition of BellSouth. This could be a landmark event. As FCC chairman Martin, who has never seen a consolidation he didn’t love, finds himself with a split board. Commissioners Martin and Tate are pushing hard to approve the acquisition without any stipulations; while Commissioners Adelstein and Copps have expressed realistic concerns about the DoJ’s approval, and what effect the consolidation would have on competition. Commissioner McDowell has to abstain, under FCC regulations — due to previous employment with both AT&T and BellSouth. Without support from one of the Democrats, the merger is dead. Martin, of course, won’t allow this to happen, and he is, no doubt, more then willing to trade off conditions to allow the merger to proceed — he has already proposed allowing competitors access to 30 commercial buildings in Bellsouth territory; a facile concession at best.
There can be little doubt that enormous pressures are being applied to Adelstein and Copps tonight, as the commission is scheduled to meet again tomorrow to deal with the two most important items from today’s agenda: the acquisition, and Net Neutrality.
There is some, small chance, that Copps and Adelstein will hold out for a enforced Net Neutrality stipulation to allow the merger to proceed. It is critical that the commissioners be contacted about these issues:
Update:
Apparently, not enough arm twisting was applied to Copps and Adelstein last night. Commissioner Martin canceled today’s special meeting — meaning he was unable to get the one of the two holdouts on board. Martin has rescheduled the vote for November 3rd. This gives every one plenty of time to contact Comissioners Copps and Adelstein, and inform them of our concerns regarding the future of both the Internet and telecommunications in the US.
About a month ago an Illinois court found the Spamhaus Project– one of the premier open sources of spam blacklists - libel for $11M to a spammer — bargandepot.net, e360 Insight, and it’s clients. Spamhaus is a UK organization; therefore, they believed a state ruling in Illinois had no effect. On the 6th, however, the Illinois court issued a proposed order which would require ICANN - the governing body of Internet names and numbers - to revoke the spamhaus.org domain. This would set several very ugly legal precedents, and — if the overall ruling holds — neuter almost all spam filtering.
Mathew Prince - an Illinois attorney - has summed up that case at SecuriTeam blog.
Spamhaus is a volunteer organization which maintains a series of blacklists containing the addresses of mailservers and proxies which have some history of sending spam. These lists are made available for postmasters with the stipulation that they are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Postmasters utilize them — even with the knowledge that they may block legitimate mail — because of the higher level of accuracy available in the large datasets lists like this utilize. Spamhaus, and lists like it, have been the target of legal actions by spammers for years. Many list operators have given up; however, thankfully, not all have.
E-mail, and the Internet for that matter, works simply because tens of thousands of network operators agree to adhere to certain standards. Those of us who have been around long enough remember when there were three competing e-mail systems across the networks that made up the Internet understand this better then others. Whether or not a particular administrator is willing to accept mail from one network or another is entirely up to him or her — of course, the administrator must answer to their users. Postmasters routinely block mail with specific subjects or source addresses — I know one postmaster whose servers reject all e-mail originating in China. They must be allowed this freedom in order to keep their networks running and their users happy. To suggest that Spamhaus is responsible for decisions made by particular administrators — across thousands of networks — is either woefully ignorant, or disingenuous. e360 Insight is simply trying to remove tools from administrator’s hands, so they may continue to their questionable activities.
In my capacity, I am responsible for overseeing twenty, or so, mailservers. We make some use of various Realtime Blackhole Lists available — including Spamhaus. These lists help to identify and reduce the amount of spam recieved by our customers. If ICANN revokes Spamhaus’ domain - and perhaps their addresses - other spammers will use this tactic to shut down all centralized lists. Ultimately, this means the overall increasing level of spam on the Internet will climb even higher; making the Internet less productive and, therefore, less useful.
The complexity of the ramifications here cannot be understated - the issues which ICANN’s decision will raise could effect the very building blocks of the Internet — for instance, it has been suggested that alternate ROOT servers could supply dns resolution for an alternate spamhaus domain if ICANN revokes their .org identity. If this becomes reality, it will become a trend and make already harried Internet operations even more chaotic. Ultimately, there is some hope that this will be worked out. However, these types of issues will continue to arise until 1) the courts recognize that there is no single regulated system on the Internet, and 2) Spammers loose any incentive to continue their odorous activities.
Amanda, at Pandagon, has been spreading the word about a feminist blogger (BB), who being denied prompt access to emergency contraception (EC) has found herself pregnant and now is seeking an abortion. I have worked in and around the EC access movement for years, and fortunately, here in Illinois, we have an enlightened governor who has mandated that pharmacists fill any EC prescription.
Many women are denied access to EC on a daily basis. What has made BB’s case so extraordinary is that it finally brings into the open the hatred and vitriol many of these women are subjected to. Unfortunately, BB’s experience is not rare. Women seeking EC are often denigrated by physicians and pharmacists, and even themselves, for engaging in the act of sex, and then seeking to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. BB has had to endure taunts and vicious name calling, and even physical threats, for simply seeking quick access to legal contraception. Because she wasn’t able to access the medication quickly enough, she now is undergoing further degradation due to her decision to terminate the pregnancy. BB has summarized her feelings and experience in a very powerful post.
BB’s experience, like that of so many other women, should appall and anger all of us. For centuries women’s sexuality has been framed as the moral barometer of society. And women, who God forbid, acknowledged that they had sex — or worse, that they enjoyed it — have been beaten, burned, scalded, and shamed into submission. As we march backwards towards the middle ages in this country, there is a growing movement to reduce women, and their bodies, to property once again — either as physical property of a man, or as the symbolic property of society. This is nothing short slavery.
Even as a teenager, I found it ironic that men and boys who seem so preoccupied in their desire for sex are usually the first ones to scold women who engage in the activity. Those who condemn BB do not view her as a human being, but as an object to which some moral certitude can be applied. We can scarcely comprehend what anguish, rage, and uncertainty BB has had to contend with throughout this tragedy, but we should all be grateful that she, unlike many others, has been able to share parts of it with us. I urge you read the links in this post, and offer BB your well wishes.
This week presented a great deal of news about our friends at the FCC. Fresh from their imbroglio surrounding a surpressed report showing that media consolidation adversely effected local news coverage, the FCC board, tenacious as ever, has issued an updated agenda for its meeting on October 12th; an agenda which is forecasting more bad news for consumers.But first, a study by Ars Technica has concluded what most of us has suspected: that any large number of indecency complaints to the FCC are generally the product of a special interest groups, and not that of a greatly offended viewing public. The following graph illustrates the overall trend, by comparing the same quarter across a four year period:
As Ars points out:
In April, May, and June of 2002, for instance, only 141 people in the entire country filed an FCC complaint. In the same three months of 2003, 351 people objected. Then, in 2004, something remarkable happened: 272,818 people filed complaints in a single quarter. Had television suddenly started peddling prime-time pornography? Of course not. What had happened was a certain “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl. The brief flash of Janet Jackson’s pasty-covered breast outraged conservatives across the country. More importantly, it outraged the Parents Television Council (whose children, remember, are watching), which mounted one of its many campaigns to flood the FCC with complaints. By all accounts, it was successful; an FCC estimate concluded that more than 99 percent of the complaints received came from the PTC.
What, exactly, the PTC believes is ‘decent’ television seems illusive, but their viewer guide offers some insight into what they believe television content should be comprised of:
PTC Picks of the Week
Friday, October 6, 2006
Wheel of Fortune, 7:00 p.m. (Eastern) ABC Contestants compete for prizes.
Scooby Do! Pirates Ahoy!, 7:00 p.m. (Eastern) Cartoon Network Scooby-Doo and the gang have a scary adventure while taking a creepy voyage in the Bermuda Triangle. Animated.
Jeopardy!, 7:30 p.m. (Eastern) ABC Contestants supply questions for answers.
Everybody Loves Raymond, 7:30 p.m. (Eastern) TBS Ray vows to win the grand prize of the Frontier Girls cookie drive when Ally’s troop leader targets his parents’ house.
Deal or No Deal, 8:00 p.m. (Eastern) NBC A Washington waitress tries her luck at becoming a millionaire.
Little House on the Prairie, 8:00 p.m. (Eastern) TVLAND A fat, sensitive boy withstands classmates’ taunts but gets angry when Nancy spurns him.
Twitches, 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) Disney Channel Reunited on their 21st birthday, twin sisters use their magic powers to save their kingdom from the forces of darkness.
The Andy Griffith Show, 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) TVLAND Opie tries to win a present for Andy at a carnival.
It is striking to realize that the PTC believes we should all be watching either game shows, or re-runs of programs which have been off the air for 10 or more years. The overall problem, however, lies with the FCC’s overreaction to complaints from such groups. It has been well documented that the major networks have felt pressured by FCC rulings to withhold or censor programs such as documentaries dealing with 9/11, World War II, and Jazz. Reality, the actual lives and experiences of Americans, is just too indecent to people at the PTC to be shown on television. This is a microcosmic example of the problems within our nation: the overall premise for the past five years has been that representation creates reality. If no one swears on TV, then it can’t be happening in our country; if we all believe things are going “swimingly” in Afghanistan, then, by definition, they are. While conservatives constantly hype the moral relativism of the left, they have been busy trying to construct a reality composed of desire and simulation, rather than evidence. The FCC was chartered, in part, to ensure the public airwaves were used for public benefit. The FCC must come to the realization that the public benefits from seeing the world represented as it is, with the occasional profanity and sex that exists in it, and not as some people wish it was. Only then, can we all confront the actual problems which face our nation.
As much as the FCC bends over backwards to pander to groups wailing about indecency, it turns a deaf ear to groups advocating access and competition. While the FCC is more then willing to jump in and protect us from dangerous breasts on our televisions, it seems impotent to protect us from monopolies and price gouging. On Thursday, the FCC published it’s agenda for its October 12th open meeting. Two specific items on the agenda bode ill for American consumers:
4. WIRELINE COMPETITION
TITLE: AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corporation Application for Transfer of Control (WC Docket No. 06-74)
SUMMARY: The Commission will consider a Memorandum Opinion and Order regarding the transfer of control application of AT&T and BellSouth.
5. WIRELINE COMPETITION
TITLE: Broadband Industry Practices
SUMMARY: The Commission will consider Notice of Inquiry regarding broadband industry practices.
It is no coincidence that these items appear in this order on the agenda. Item 4 indicates that that the FCC will gives its final approval to the acquisition of BellSouth by AT&T. This will, once again, reduce the number of exchange carriers in America. Leaving customers with fewer choices and competition seems to be the current modus operandi of the commission. With the loss of BellSouth we are left with only three national carriers (Verizon, Qwest, AT&T) - I have good reason to believe that Qwest will soon be eliminated from that list. AT&T with its acquisition will now control exchange services for the majority of the United States. With this unprecedented, unregulated, control AT&T needs to make an all out effort to expand its services. This means a quick passage of COPE (HR.5252), without Network Neutrality protections, is essential to AT&T’s growth plan. The FCC’s notice that it will be considering a ‘Notice of Inquiry’ on broadband competition is the first step in neutering the Neutrality issue. In the world of the FCC, a Notice of Inquiry means that the commission will study and consider the issue — it is about the absolute lowest form of interest the FCC can take in any issue. Once the FCC has done this, the lame duck Congress can press for COPE to be passed under the protection of the argument that the FCC is studying Net Neutrality.
COPE radically changes the laws governing cable franchises and telecommunications services in this country. Without Network Neutrality protections it insures a monopoly on next-generation network services for the carriers and potentially threatens the free exchange of ideas on the Internet. Network Neutrality regulations are critical to ensuring that competitive and innovative services continue to evolve online. AT&T and others are banking on their monopoly to drive services and revenues, but that same monopoly ensures the type of broadband stagnation we have been experiencing in the US for the past 10 years. At a time when software developments are beginning to overcome this stagnation in telecommunications, AT&T and others wish to subject most of America’s Internet to same types of policies which have so ill served consumers across this country.
It is vital that any pressure felt by the current Senate to withhold COPE be doubled in the upcoming lame duck session. If not it is almost certain that the bill, as it stands, will be passed, and America will have lost both in consumer protection and economic innovation for years to come.
Contact your Senators regarding this issue
A recent article int the NY Times has revealed that the Department of Homeland Security is funding the development of software to sniff out anti-government bias in the written word. The software will be first used on foreign and domestic newspapers to, presumably, detect those who are disloyal, and thus a threat to US security. As the article points out:
Researchers at institutions including Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Utah intend to test the system on hundreds of articles published in 2001 and 2002 on topics like President Bush’s use of the term “axis of evil,” the handling of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, the debate over global warming and the coup attempt against President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.
Yes, apparently, holding a position contrary to the president on Global Warming is an indicator of anti-Americanism. We can all be certain that this technology will be quickly applied to Internet blogs and e-mail traffic once it is ready — or more likely in a test deployment to assess its capabilities. Of course DHS attempts to put the best face on ths program:
Federal law prohibits the Homeland Security Department or other intelligence agencies from building such a database on American citizens, and no effort would be made to do that, a spokesman for the department, Christopher Kelly, said.
Kelly’s argument, however, is as disingenuous as most surveillance proclamations have been. By stating that they are not directly tying such data sets to specific people - but instead tying them to anonymous (or aliased) blogs, or rotating IP addresses, the DHS can easily get around this law.
Why the Department of Homeland Security — which is charged with the physical protection of our country — is investing our tax dollars into a system to monitor hidden biases in newspapers is far beyond the logic any sane person.
The greatest irony in the NYT story is when, reporter, Eric Lipton quotes Andrei Sitov, Washington bureau chief of the Itar-Tass news agency. Sotov dismays that this technology may be used to stifle criticism of the president or the administration. “This is what makes your country great, the open society where people can criticize their own government,” Sitov said. When Tass, the former arm of Soviet propaganda, suggests that our government maybe going too far in sniffing out dissent; well, that expresses some level of irony I lack the language skills to descibe.
It seems that everyone is aghast at the exploits of fmr congressman’s Foley’s pederasty. While there is some gratification in seeing those who fed our tabloid democracy becoming victims of it, the overall effect does little to benefit our republic. Foley’s actions were certainly, if not criminal, unethical, and he should, and has been forced to resign. Those who either covered up those actions, or looked the other way, should also resign.
For the past several years corruption in our government has become so commonplace that it has become accepted as the norm by most people. The fact that people are paying attention to Foley’s peccadillo only underscores the the acceptance of corruption in our systems. Little attention has been paid the rampant corruption in either the CPA or the ongoing corruption in Iraq. These frauds have greatly contributed to the instability in Iraq, costing thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and incalculable loss to America’s reputation. Yet, there has been little consistent discussion of these issues; instead, our attentions are too easily drawn to salacious little scandals in which one man or another is found to have let his lust overstep good judgement or the law.
America has always been fascinated by personal political scandals, going back further then Alexander Hamilton’s affair with Maria Reynolds. Today, however, this singular focus on sensationalist events has turned our democracy into a tabloid sideshow — equipped with its own psychics and celebrities. Medias and politicians feed this circus to gain a political edge and distract people from larger systemic corruptions. A corrupt individual may be a problem, but it is far less problematic then a system of corruptions.
Corruption has been the rotting root of nearly every fallen government in history: from the Roman emperors to the Soviet state. It remains to be seen whether America has the will power to divert its attention from the hotpants’d, leather-clad, scandal du jour to the broader corruptions which effect the future of our nation today. Personally, I have my doubts.
Rich Whitney, the Illinois Green Party candidate for Illinois governor, will be appearing at our coffee house to answer questions and seek support. 6:00 CDT
fcc, Net Neutrality
