Lauren Frayer

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said on Monday he considered wireless Internet access a fundamental right of all citizens. Mayor Newsom told a news conference that he was bracing for a battle with telephone and cable interests, along with state and U.S. regulators, whom he said were looking to derail a campaign by cities to offer free or low-cost municipal Wi-Fi services. Local officials are mulling plans to blanket every nook and cranny of this hilly city of 750,000 residents with Wi-Fi access.

A federal appeals court Monday said an antitrust lawsuit against several of the nation's largest telecommunication providers over whether they conspired to exclude competitors from their geographic markets should be allowed to go forward. In an opinion issued Monday, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a prior lower court ruling that dismissed the lawsuit against a group of Baby Bells, including Verizon Communications, BellSouth, Qwest Communications and SBC Communications.

House Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) is working with lawmakers in both parties to increase funding for emergency communications that can work across jurisdictions. The aim is to raise additional revenue for emergency communications from the upcoming auction of analog television spectrum. The frequencies would be auctioned as part of the nation's transition to digital broadcasting. Rep Upton suggested that the funding increase would be addressed through an amendment -- but did not specify to what legislation.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last week told technology company representatives that the communications needs of public safety officials in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina had raised the importance of Congress setting a firm date for the transition to digital television. Martin made the comments in a private luncheon for him last Wednesday sponsored by the Information Technology Industry Council, according to several individuals who attended the meeting. "He thought the DTV transition had gained momentum as the most critical wireless spectrum issue, and he recognized that public safety needs would be at the forefront, even though the spectrum will be used for other advance commercial purposes," ITI chief Rhett Dawson said.

[Commentary] Federal auditors have blistered the Bush administration for secretly concocting favorable news reports about itself by hiring actors to pose as journalists and slipping $240,000 in taxpayer funds to a sell-out conservative polemicist. The government till was also tapped to have political spin doctors track whether the message of President Bush and the Republican Party was being well treated in legitimate news reporting.

As Republican activist Cheryl Halpern takes the helm of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Republicans in Congress call for CPB funding cuts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, public broadcasting's defenders look ahead once again to a fight to "save PBS." But the broader issues remain overlooked: Is public broadcasting delivering on its promise of offering a true alternative to commercial broadcasting?

The FCC is still considering a host of indecency actions. Sources say they are likely to be released as a package deal and handled at the commissioner level rather than issued by the Enforcement Bureau. Enforcement Bureau notices of apparent liability, or complaint denials, do not have to be voted on by the commissioners. Apparently FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to release the actions all at once and with the commissioners weighing in so that there could be more clarity to FCC indecency enforcement going forward.

Clear Channel President and CEO Mark Mays said Monday he did not see a "train wreck" coming on the issue of payola. In addition, Mays says that since, as a political reality, he doesn't see the government treating pay and free radio equally in terms of indecency, free broadcasters should get some other kind of competitive leveler, like the ability to own more stations. (Clear Channel already owns 1,200-plus). Mays was speaking at a Progress and Freedom Foundation panel session in Washington.

American television has finally reached its full potential. Instead of offering programming that lures viewers into seeing ads, the programs now are the ads. Character-focused clothing lines are providing TV producers and creators with increase revenue streams through licensing deals -- while also expanding shows' presence in a way that appeals to a young, hip demographic.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Laura Petrecca]

The already-obscure politics of the Universal Service Fund have taken a new turn as interested parties reply to the FCC's unexpected release of four proposals related to the $6.5 billion fund for universal telephone service. The four FCC proposals were offered by state USF commissioners and staff from Iowa, Michigan, Oregon and West Virginia.