MAP President Issues Statement
Andrew Jay Schwartzman, President and CEO of Media Access Project, issued the following statement on Chairman Martin’s announcement that he seeks to assure that Class A television stations obtain cable must-carry privileges:
We are pleased that Chairman Martin is continuing to press for giving must-carry rights to Class A stations. It is of particular importance to us that, unlike other broadcasters, Class A licenses are conditioned on fulfilling specific local public interest obligations.
Sep 26 under Press » Public Interest Obligations | Read more »
Media Access Project Asks Federal Court To Enforce FCC Order In Comcast-BitTorrent Immediately
On August 29, 2008, MAP filed three different Petitions for Review of the FCC’s decision to allow Comcast to continue to block BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer traffic until the end of the year. On behalf of Vuze.com, Consumers Union, and PennPirg (a member of Consumer Federation of America), MAP asked the court to uphold the FCC’s decision but require that the FCC issue an immediate injunction against Comcast to stop blocking p-2-p uploads.
“Comcast has until the end of the year to stop blocking. If they can delay compliance for 3 weeks, they will get a new FCC and another chance to spin this out indefinitely. Meanwhile, every day Comcast continues to illegally interfere with user traffic, subscribers cannot use the legal applications of their choice or distribute legal content of their choice. Simply waiting to see if the FCC will have the political will to enforce its Order is not an option.” The Petitions are in the Ninth Circuit (for Vuze.com), the Second Circuit (Consumers Union), and the Third Circuit (for Penn Pirg).
Sep 4 under Press » | Read more »
Public Interest Organizations Commend FCC For Action On Unauthorized Wireless Mics
Background: The FCC today released a notice of proposed rulemaking asking for comment on the use of unauthorized wireless microphones in the spectrum band to be used by new digital television stations. The FCC document is here.
The following is the statement of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition:
“We commend the Commission on its quick action to look into how the widespread use of unauthorized wireless microphones will affect the transition to digital television and the introduction of new public safety and commercial wireless services. As the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) told the Commission in July, the transition will be threatened by the ‘illegal and deceptive’ practices of the manufacturers of wireless microphones, which operate in the 700 MHz band to be used by digital TV stations.
“We are pleased that the Commission took our complaint seriously and has begun an investigation into the marketing practices of manufacturers of wireless microphones. This is a welcome step. As we told the Commission in July, ‘In violation of FCC rules, manufacturers persuaded unauthorized users to buy expensive wireless microphones that manufacturers had no right to sell and the public has no right to use. As a result, somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million unauthorized wireless microphone systems operate on UHF Channels 52-69 – creating pools of potential interference that could undermine the reliability of these new public safety and commercial wireless systems.’”
The PISC complaint is here.
Current PISC members, in alphabetical order, are: The CUWiN Foundation (CUWIN), Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Consumers Union (CU), EDUCAUSE, Free Press (FP), the International Association of Community Wireless Networks (IACWN), Media Access Project (MAP), the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), the New America Foundation (NAF), the Open Source Wireless Coalition (OSWC), Public Knowledge (PK), and U.S. PIRG.
###
Contact:
Harold Feld
Senior Vice President
Media Access Project
hfeld@mediaaccess.org
202-454-5684
www.mediaaccess.org
Aug 21 under Press » Spectrum Reform | Read more »
Comcast Bittorrent FCC Order Text Released
In response to the release by the FCC of the text of the Order finding that Comcast violated federal law when it degraded peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent, Harold Feld, Senior Vice President, Media Access Project, issued the following statement:
“Today, the Commission resolves the complaints of Free Press and over 20 thousand individual subscribers by holding that Comcast may not block access to lawful content while simultaneously telling customers they do no such thing. The Order lays out a clear basis for Commission authority, finding that Congress did indeed require the FCC to protect subscribers from such unreasonable and deceptive practices. By granting our complaint, the FCC fulfills its responsibilities to Comcast’s customers and to all American broadband users.”
“Only one flaw mars this otherwise exceptionally strong pro-consumer Order. Having correctly found Comcast’s arguments unpersuasive and its practices unreasonable, the FCC then gives Comcast a month to develop a ‘compliance plan,’ and until the end of the year to stop blocking its own customers from doing what they have every legal right to do — use p2p applications to upload or download legal content. While we should certainly celebrate today’s Order, no one should declare ‘mission accomplished’ until Comcast’s BitTorrent blocking stops for good.”
Aug 20 under Press » Press Releases | Read more »
Media Access Project President and CEO issued the following statement on today’s FCC action sanctioning Comcast for unlawfully violating the FCC’s policy banning interference on broadband networks:
Media Access Project President and CEO issued the following statement on today’s FCC action sanctioning Comcast for unlawfully violating the FCC’s policy banning interference on broadband networks:
The FCC has relied on seventy years of FCC and judicial precedent to vindicate the public’s right to have unfettered access to the internet.
MAP is proud to have been co-counsel with Free Press in this process. Network Neutrality is essential for fulfilling the promise of the internet as a medium for free speech and expression.
Aug 1 under Press » Network Neutrality | Read more »