Pam Brown's Blog l emission - control. net

Internet Users Roar. Cable Giant Blinks.

From savetheinternet.com by Tim Karr:  "Time Warner Cable on Thursday afternoon shelved its plan to impose excessive Internet fees against those who use the Web for more than email and basic surfing.

The company backed down under intense public pressure that bubbled up from the grassroots and culminated in calls by leading politicians to end the price gouging.

Time Warner Cable had been testing new Internet use penalties on people in Beaumont, Texas, and planned later this year to launch trials in Rochester, N.Y.; Austin and San Antonio, Texas; and Greensboro, N.C. If successful, Time Warner Cable execs planned to impose this cost structure upon the company’s 8.4 million broadband subscribers in 32 states.

The scheme would have forced consumers to pay up to $150 a month for full access to the Internet — an inflated pay-per-byte rate that the company hoped would dampen popular enthusiasm for online video watching, and stem the migration of viewers from cable television to online video sites like Hulu.com."

Internet Users Roar. Cable Giant Blinks.

Consumers Win Major Victory as Time Warner Cable Scraps Metering Trials

Democrats Letting Net Neutrality Die

From WebProNews:  "Here was what was supposed to happen: With telco-friendly Republican Congress members swept out of the way, Democrats would usher in legislation enshrining Network Neutrality principles and give the FCC the power to enforce them.

Here’s what happened (is happening) instead: The most powerful Net Neutrality supporters (Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton) are kicked upstairs while cable-and-Hollywood-friendly Democrats are killing Network Neutrality legislation in committees.

Meanwhile, both telecom and cable companies are emboldened by the legislation’s quiet death, the deafening sound of non-action covered up nicely by the economic crisis, and both industries are soothed by interim FCC commissioner Michael Copps’ toothless proposal for a fifth unenforceable principle regarding network discrimination."

Democrats Letting Net Neutrality Die

When are We Going to be told the Truth about the "Pirates"?

The "piracy" issue isn't new.  Even though it's just now blown up in our faces all over the news, it's not a new issue.  Back in the early 2000s we were worried about Chinese pirates.  And as early as 1994, the pirates off the coast of Somalia were mentioned in a New York Times article.  And by 2005 the headline had become about "more ships" being attacked.  (See links below.)  But in all this time, we have never gotten an explanation from the mainstream news as to why this is happening.  We've never even gotten an explanation of what exactly a pirate is in the modern world, though the word itself does conjure so many images.  One thing that we know for sure though is that they are no longer white guys wearing bandannas with patches over their eyes.  They are now mysterious and evil Africans from a country most of us couldn't locate on a map.  And what's this we're suddenly hearing about the "failed state" of Somali?  How and why did it fail?  Are we supposed to infer that they failed all on their own?  I guess Black Hawk Down didn't really delve too deeply into this history.  But, if we dig a little deeper than the mainstream news, we will quickly find out that there has been a little issue of Somalis coming down with mysterious cancers all of a sudden.  Well, not really all of a sudden - only since ships have been dumping toxic waste off their coastline.  I guess a "failed state" doesn't have a coast guard.

N.Y. Congressman Plans Bill Banning Internet-Usage Billing

"A New York Congressman wants to make it illegal for Internet service providers to charge subscribers based on the amount of data they download.

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) last Friday officially announced that he is drafting legislation that would "prohibit unfair tiered price structures from Internet providers."

"I am taking a leadership position on this issue because of all the phone calls, e-mails and faxes I've received from my district and all over the country," Massa said in a statement April 10.

The proposed law is in response to Time Warner Cable's plans to expand its trials of metered broadband service to four markets, including in the Rochester, N.Y., area which includes Massa's district. The freshman congressman last week blasted the MSO's plans as "monopolistic" and alleged it would force consumers to pay more."

N.Y. Congressman Plans Bill Banning Internet-Usage Billing

The Doctor is In... Reviews of In Treatment & Head Case

"Considering the fact that almost everything about therapy -- going to therapy, talking about what you learned in therapy, therapy offices, therapists -- is unsavory and deeply irritating, it's all the more impressive that HBO's "In Treatment" (premieres 9 p.m. Sunday, April 5) intrepidly conquers such perilous ground. The show's riveting second season, which begins with two back-to-back episodes on Sunday night and continues with three back-to-back episodes on Monday night, proves that the intelligence and intensity of the first season weren't a fluke. Even though each episode of this drama series depicts a therapy session at the office of Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne), a format that should be unbearably monotonous, each half-hour segment has the emotional weight and authenticity to knock the feet out from under even the most skeptical viewers, leaving them laughing and sighing and sniffling their way through a big box of tissues."

I Like to Watch by Heather Havrilesky on Salon.com

FCC Opens Broadband Debate

"The Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC, begins work today on a yearlong national broadband strategy to bring high-speed broadband internet into every American home. Under the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus plan, the FCC is responsible for developing a strategy to improve broadband coverage and present it to Congress in February of 2010."  Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!

Free Press Welcomes National Broadband Plan Launch

"We applaud the FCC for finally taking time and energy to craft a comprehensive broadband strategy -- something that should have been done years ago. This plan, if done right, could serve as the foundation for telecommunications policymaking in the 21st century."

FCC Opens Debate on Broadband Policy 

"The commission approved a broad set of questions designed to solicit opinions from consumers, telecom companies and state and local governments, to name a few. Everyone has something to lose or gain in the process, and the public comment docket will be lengthy with disparate opinions. The FCC must present its broadband plan to Congress by February of next year."

Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America

"For many Americans living in urban areas, high-speed Internet access remains elusive.  Much of the discussion about broadband expansion in the United States focuses on the rural areas that still lack this essential infrastructure. As we documented in our earlier report, Five Days on the Digital Dirt Road, residents in rural areas are struggling to live and work without high-speed Internet.  But this snapshot only shows a part of the picture of the digital divide in America. Even in some of our most tech-savvy wired cities, millions of people – particularly low-income households, immigrant populations and senior citizens – do not have high-speed Internet in their homes or businesses."

FCC needs Fifth Net Neutrality Principle

"Interim Federal Communications Commission chair Michael Copps has just called for a fifth Internet non-discrimination principle that would be added to the existing four. He told a Friday morning breakfast audience at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's Cable Show in Washington, DC that the time has (almost) come to beef up the FCC's Internet Policy Statement (PDF).

After his commentary, Copps told press that the agency should wait to act on this matter until its next permanent chair arrives—he most likely being White House nominee Julius Genachowski."

Copps: FCC needs fifth net neutrality principle - Ars Technica

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Critical Themes in Media Studies Conference Links

Thank you for attending the Critical Themes in Media Studies Conference.  As promised here are some helpful links for exploring the net neutrality issue further:

ThruYOU by Kutiman

Free Press/Media Issues

Free Press/Net Neutrality

Public Knowledge/Comcast

The Wealth of Networks

Download Moving the Net Neutrality Debate Forward by Changing the Conversation.pdf