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10 posts tagged FCC
For Immediate Release: Across the Nation, Media Justice Advocates Applaud Senate’s Vote in Favor of Net Neutrality
Contact: Brandi Collins Center for Media Justice 510.698.3800 x409 brandi@centerformediajustice.org
November 10, 2011– The Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net) is pleased the Senate voted (46-52) to reject a resolution (S.J. Res. 6) to repeal the net neutrality rules put in place earlier this year by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). DeAnne Cuellar, Executive Director of the Media Justice League calls the partisan resolution “a sneak attack on Internet freedoms sponsored by Sen. Kay Hutchison [R-TX], and spearheaded by industry-funded members of Congress.” If passed, the resolution, would’ve handed corporations like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon unrestricted power and control over the Internet.
“As evidenced by the close vote, there is much work to be done across the country to convince our elected officials that we do not need corporate gatekeepers deciding which websites will and will not work,” said Andrea Quijada, Executive Director of the Media Literacy Project in New Mexico. “Small businesses deserve the right to market their goods and services at the same speed and reach as any multi-national corporation. Small businesses and large corporations use the same interstate highways and abide by the same motor vehicle laws to get their goods to and from their places of business. The information highway should be no different.”
“Today’s vote is an important recognition of the role the Internet performs in people’s daily lives. It is no longer a luxury; it is a utility that must be regulated accordingly,” said Steven Renderos, Media Justice Program Director at Main Street Project in Minnesota. An open Internet is critical to America’s economic growth and to the ability of people – especially communities of color, rural Americans and struggling workers – to access the education and employment opportunities necessary to rebuild and strengthen our communities and support our families.
“We’re extremely pleased that the Senate has voted to allow the FCC to carry out it’s work – which is to put people before profits and keep the Internet open and free from discrimination,” said amalia deloney, Media Policy Field Director for the Center for Media Justice. “Maintaining an open Internet ensures that our communities have access to the full creative potential of this important communications system and more importantly, allows us to use this important tool to organize around critical justice issues and strengthen the economic well being of our families and communities.”
Without FCC guidelines in place, giant conglomerates can limit access and increase prices so high that independent voices and diverse perspectives are blocked out. Members of rural, Native, low income and ethnically diverse communities will have even more challenges starting businesses and sharing content that is relevant to their own communities. Open Internet rules create the opportunity for communities of color to have fair access to this essential tool.
MAG-Net moves forward in our fight for media justice and net neutrality. We will continue to work with Congress and the Federal Communications Commission as they continue efforts to preserve Internet freedom for all the voices of our country. For more information about MAG-Net and our work, please visit www.mag-net.org or call Betty Yu, National Organizer, at 510-698-3800 x404.
The Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net) is a local-to-local advocacy network of grassroots community organizations working together for media change to end poverty, eliminate racism, and ensure human rights. With over 100 member groups nationwide, regional chapters, an online action network, a media justice learning community, and collaborative campaigns- MAG-Net is advancing an exciting new vision for media justice.
3,380 Texans stand to lose their jobs, STOP the At&t/T-Mobile merger
All month we are taking action against the AT&T/T-Mobile merger with Media Action Grassroots Network, Free Press, and the Consumers Union. As a network we released Mo Mergers, Mo Problems, filed a petition with the DOJ and FCC and launched an online action urging people to contact their Congressional representatives.
You can support our month of action in the following ways:
1 - Change your Twitter/FB Profile Pic our campaign avatar
2 - Put a ‘Stop the Take Over Web’ badge on your organization’s website
3 - Print out a ‘Stop the Takeover’ sign and hang it in your window
4 - Send a letter to the editor of your favorite publication
And, as always helps tweet, tweet, and tweet using the hashtages - #attmobile #mediajustice #SATX
The proposed AT&T takeover—A real jobs and democracy killer!
Sign our petition telling the FCC and DOJ to block this takeover
If AT&T takes over T-Mobile, it will be a disaster for all mobile phone users — especially people of color and low-income communities in rural and urban areas. The takeover will stifle information, choice and innovation, and lead to higher prices and fewer jobs nationwide. Our communities cannot afford higher prices and fewer choices. We need the FCC and DOJ to block this takeover! The loss of a low cost wireless carrier like T-Mobile will limit affordable mobile broadband access, threaten the openness of the mobile Internet and stifle competition in the broadband market. Our communities cannot afford these outcomes!
We, the undersigned individuals, demand a complete a thorough review of AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. We believe that such a review will reveal the disproportionate negative impact that this merger will have on our communities. We need the FCC and DOJ to block this takeover!
The Facts:
A threat to low-income and communities of color
Broadband is a basic service, and communities of color and low-income consumers are more likely to rely exclusively on mobile connections for access to the Internet. Price is often cited as one of the most important factors that limit broadband adoption, and T-Mobile offers service plans that have lower price points than AT&T. The elimination of T-Mobile as a service option could mean that many of our friends and family are faced with the choice of paying more for mobile broadband service or giving up the service completely. This change could undo the limited progress that we have made in bridging the digital divide.
A threat to artists
AT&T opposed any mobile Network Neutrality requirements, and it has a history of denying its customers access to the applications that they want. For example, AT&T has blocked both Google Voice and Slingbox applications in the past. Yet, the free flow of ideas, creativity, information, and entrepreneurship is essential to our democracy and economy—especially for artists. With increased consolidation, AT&T will have fewer incentives to maintain mobile broadband as an open platform and will be able to further restrict the choice of devices and applications that individuals can use with their mobile connections.
A threat to underserved rural and urban communities
The FCC’s competition strategy for broadband relies on mobile connections as the “third pipe” that will provide much needed competition in the broadband market. If the merger goes through, just two companies— AT&T and Verizon—would control 70 to 80 percent of the wireless market. A consolidated mobile market will not provide the competition we need to bring U.S. prices in line with those in other countries, where people pay less for more. AT&T should take the $39 billion it wants to spend on T-Mobile and instead improve its own service and networks, not eliminate a competitor that offers lower-priced service plans.
Up For Auction: The Internet
What You Can Do:
If you care about ensuring that the Internet is built out in unserved and underserved communities, and that people of color and the poor have affordable access to an open Internet:
Contact the FCC (202) 418-1000
E-mail julius.genachowski@fcc.gov or mignon.clyburn@fcc.gov
Tell them that the current regulatory framework is not a solution. If there is to be any hope of closing the digital divide, the FCC must reclassify broadband as a Title II service.
Why You Should Do It:
According to yesterday’s Washington Post, Chairman Genachowski is buckling under industry pressure to side against open Internet protections. The Post cites several sources within the FCC who say that Genachowski is leaning toward keeping the current regulatory framework for broadband services in place.
But the current regulatory framework is unacceptable, because an appeals court ruled in April that the FCC lacked authority over Internet access issues. The court was simply responding to a problem of the agencys own making: Under the Bush administration, it undercut its own authority over the Internet by classifying broadband as a Title I “information service” rather than a Title II “telecommunications service.” The Obama FCC can now fix this bad history by simply reversing the decisions made during the Bush era.
To close the digital divide, Chairman Genachowski must do this. Without new authority, the FCC cant carry out the most important aspects of the National Broadband Plan. It also cant protect the open Internet, one of the top items on the Obama administrations technology agenda. According to the Post, however, Genachowski intends to do nothing.
Should Genachowski opt NOT to reassert the FCCs authority, he would effectively hand AT&T, Comcast, and other corporations the power to interfere with Internet content and undermine Net Neutrality for good. He would betray his earlier pledges to be a champion of the open Internet. The FCC got us into this mess. Now Genachowskis FCC must get us out of it.
FCC Mobile Broadband Test Apps
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Broadband Test application provides consumers with information about the quality and speed of their mobile data connection. Test the upload speed, download speed, and latency of your mobile broadband connection and share your results with a simple email export.
PRESS RELEASE: Grassroots Groups Shape Findings for Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities
Groups Let the FCC Know about Internet Access Challenges in Their Communities
03.02.2010 – Tomorrow the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) will release the findings of the SSRC report Broadband Adoption In Low-Income Communities, at an event hosted by the American Library Association (ALA). Main Street Project, Media Literacy Project and Media Mobilizing Project—members of the Media Action Grassroots Network—played a key role in the study, setting up dozens of community conversations with organizations and individuals who struggle with Internet access.
San Antonio, TX- Advocates in Texas Ask Congress to Be “Digital Inclusion Champions” Broadband Access and Open Internet Rules At Stake
February 15, 2010 - As the Federal Communication Commission moves closer to unveiling a long awaited National Broadband Plan, local advocates and community leaders of the national Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net) are asking Congressional representatives to protect the principles of an open internet at the same time that it dismantles significant barriers to broadband adoption in un-served and underserved communities.
Austin Airwaves
Backbeat Magazine
C4 Workspace
Channel Austin
Chicana Collective
Fuerza Unida
KROV FM Radio
League for Public School Justice
LifeNets.net
Local 782
Martinez Street Women’s Center
Nightrocker LIVE
NowCAST San Antonio
PEACE Initiative
Pocharte + Aztec Gold
San Anto Cultural Arts
San Antonio Future Media
South Texas Media Access
Texans for Peace
We the People News
Join local social justice organizations, tech entrepreneurs and media makers for pizza and discussion. Find out about San Antonio’s local-to-national digital justice campaign with 10 partnering cities and discover what net neutrality and universal broadband mean for your community.
WHO: The Media Justice League and San Antonio’s Digital Justice Coalition
WHAT: Community pizza party, and open forum on digital inclusion
WHERE: 108 King William, San Antonio, Texas
WHEN: Monday, Feb. 15, 2010, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
UPDATE! Digital Justice Coalition Launch Party, Technology Funding, FEB 15 Day of Action
JAN 31, 2010 Digital Justice Coalition Launch Party and Technology Funding for SA
Join us for an afternoon of movies, mingling, plotting and scheming at the Media Justice League & Digital Justice Coalition Launch Party! San Antonio premier of the Tactical Technology Collective’s “10 Ways to Turn Information Into Action” The first 25 participants will walk away with tool kits, software, and DVDs.
RSVP CLICK HERE or call or text (210) 440-7375.
This event is made possible with the support of the Center for Media Justice, the Media Democracy Fund, and the Tactical Technology Collective.
