Ideologically Diverse Groups Question 'Multicasting'

Broadcasters seeking to require that cable TV operators "must carry" multicast programs as part of the transition to digital television are finding it hard to attract either the support of conservative free market organizations or liberal public advocacy groups. A coalition of public advocacy groups including Common Cause, Free Press, Consumers Union and the New America Foundation plans to release a letter Tuesday urging the Senate Commerce Committee to reserve unlicensed radio spectrum as a "benefit" that "the American people [receive] from the public airwaves." This stance puts the coalition at odds with the National Association of Broadcasters. Unlicensed spectrum would serve to expand the opportunities for Internet connections over wireless fidelity -- so-called WiFi. Various municipalities around the country are beginning to deploy Wi-Fi on a publicly accessible basis. Combined with conservative opposition to must carry, the stance of the liberal public advocacy groups is a double-whammy for the NAB -- which counted many non-profit groups as allies in the fight over a 1992 cable law. That law put a must-carry requirement for analog television broadcasters into legislation for the first time. The assaults on commercial broadcasters from both the left and right are occurring even as the Senate Commerce Committee considers proposals to require the cable industry to carry one or two additional broadcast channels -- in exchange for broadcasters providing three or more hours per week of local public interest programming.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-GKES1129590427818.html