Keeping politicians' hands off the Net & everything else related to technology
It seems like each week brings another report of a major media breakup or divestiture. As I mentioned here and here in previous essays, various media firms have recently been considering, or are engaged in, major divorces or divestitures. In recent weeks or months, Viacom, Liberty Media, Sony, Time Warner, and Cablevision have all been [...]
The high-profile battle over the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube is about more than one woman’s life. It is the beginning of an important dialogue on American views about life while science and technology progress at rapid speed. To read more, see my column here. This is an incredibly important issue for transhumanists and [...]
[[cross-posted from PFF Blog]] Last week, I blogged about how the media industry is in the midst of a major shakeup and de-consolidation craze, but few seem to notice or care. I noted how even a whisper about a potential media merger or joint alliance garners front-page headlines, replete with numerous quotes from the Chicken [...]
The radio industry is commonly cited by many media critics as a poster child for the supposed evils of media consolidation. While it is true that a large number of acquisitions took place in the radio market following relaxation of the radio ownership rules back in 1996, the reality is that the radio marketplace–properly defined–is [...]
“[T]he Scarcity Rationale for regulating traditional broadcasting is no longer valid.” So begins a stunning new white paper from the Federal Communications Commission. In the paper, “The Scarcity Rationale for Regulating Traditional Broadcasting: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed,” author John Beresford, an attorney with the FCC’s Media Bureau, lays out a devistating case against [...]
Have you ever noticed how media critics claim the world is going to end whenever two media companies propose any sort of merger or partnership, but when the opposite is taking place these people are nowhere to be found? Indeed, we are in the midst of another wave of media DE-consolidation with numerous media companies [...]
I love that title from this new article in the latest Economist. The article is refering to the growing influence that mobile phones are having on society. There seemingly isn’t anything a cell phone can’t do for you these days, which has led to others referring to them as the “Swiss Army Knife of consumer [...]
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Trade Commission is expected to file a lawsuit to block Blockbuster’s move to takeover Hollywood Entertainment, a competing video rental company. Here again is a classic example of how backward looking antitrust officials can often be. I suppose an argument could have be made that this was [...]
Can’t you just picture it, Dick Notebaert, CEO of Qwest, yelling “food fight” in the manner of Bluto Blutarsky (John Belushi) in Animal House. Building upon James’s recent entry about the MCI merger, a new group has entered the food fight between Verizon and Qwest over who should buy MCI. The CLEC carriers – XO [...]
[[cross-posted from PFF Blog ]] Should “South Park” be censored? What about “Nip/Tuck?” How about “The Shield?” If some members of Congress have their way, these cable shows (or the stations that air them) might soon be subjected to the FCC’s indecency regime. Recently, the respective chairmen of the Senate and House Commerce Committees, Sen. [...]
February 13, 2012
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
