December 2012

The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) has added its voice to the chorus of minority groups asking the Federal Communications Commission to delay a vote on loosening the limits on newspaper/TV and radio/newspaper cross-ownership.

In a filing at the FCC, NABOB made it clear they were against the rules, not just concerned they had not been sufficiently vetted for their impact on minorities. "Any relaxation of the FCC's ownership rules will further the ongoing precipitous decline in minority broadcast ownership," the group said. NABOB is also concerned the FCC has not adopted a definition of "eligible entity" that will boost minority ownership. "NABOB urges the commission to delay issuance of the report and order in this proceeding until the Commission has adopted a policy to promote minority ownership of broadcast facilities, as required by the U.S. third Circuit Court of Appeals."

A new report from the World Intellectual Property Organization -- the IP arm of the United Nations -- has documented that proliferation of patents (and trademarks, and industrial designs) as it's played out on the world stage. And their findings are pretty staggering. The study tracks data as of 2011, detailing IP trends on a worldwide, and country-by-country, basis. And while the report lends itself to a major headline -- that China's patent office has ousted the United States’ as the world's largest -- the real story here is the fact that innovation, overall and officially, is on the rise. Around the world.

A pair of House members, representing high-tech constituents, has urged the Federal Communications Commission to stay the course when it comes to freeing up more unlicensed spectrum via the incentive spectrum auctions.

That came in a letter from Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, and Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. In the letter they point out that the legislation implementing the auctions also included "enhanced access" to unlicensed spectrum. "[T]he commission should implement the incentive auction and resulting reorganization of the band in a manner that optimizes the value of both licensed and unlicensed spectrum access," they wrote, saying they support the FCC's Sept. 28 incentive auction framework proposal of using guard bands between spectrum users for unlicensed devices. They also cited several examples of the public benefits of unlicensed, including progress in opening the so-called "white spaces" between current TV channels the FCC has opened up to unlicensed use.

Most politicians in the most powerful positions in Washington agree in private that there are a half-dozen or so big things they could and should do that could put a rocket booster on the U.S. economy — but they are too timid to say it in public.

The current tax-and-spending debate only flirts with what these insiders say needs to be done. Instead, top White House and congressional leaders talk privately of the need for tax reform that goes way beyond individuals and rates; much deeper Social Security and Medicare changes than currently envisioned; quick movement on trade agreements, including a proposed one with Europe; an energy policy that exploits the oil and gas boom; and allowing foreign-born students with science expertise to stay here and start businesses. Do this and there could be not an economic recovery — but a boom, many argue. “Both Democrats and Republicans privately agree,” Warren Buffett told us. “They just don’t want to be the first to speak out on their side.” Erskine Bowles, a Democrat who meets regularly with officials at the White House and in Congress, said lawmakers often plead to him: “Save us from ourselves.”