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SPECTRUM
Supreme Court Rules FCC Took Licenses Away in Error
Coalition Files Comments on Spectrum Policy Task Force Report
JOURNALISM
Editors and Lobbyists Wage High-Tech War over Letters
OWNERSHIP
Fighting Media Monopoly
SPECTRUM
SUPREME COURT RULES FCC TOOK LICENSES AWAY IN ERROR
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the FCC erred in canceling wireless
licenses won at auction by NextWave Telecom prior to the company filing for
bankruptcy protection. FCC repossessed the licenses when NextWave was unable
to pay for them, and NextWave filed suit under the federal bankruptcy code.
The victory is bittersweet for NextWave since the value of the licenses has
dropped significantly.
[SOURCE: The New York Time, AUTHOR: Linda Greenhouse]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/technology/28BIZC.html)
COALITION FILES COMMENTS ON SPECTRUM POLICY TASK FORCE REPORT
A coalition of consumer groups and tech policy advocates, including the
Center for Digital Democracy, the Media Access Project and the Benton
Foundation, filed comments yesterday on the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force
Report. The coalition called for the Commission to "lease" spectrum for a
set term of years rather than "selling" spectrum at one-time auctions or
providing it cost-free to select commercial users and not others. The full
filing can be viewed at the link below (MS Word format).
[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy]
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/resources/filings/finalComments1-27.doc)
JOURNALISM
EDITORS AND LOBBYISTS WAGE HIGH-TECH WAR OVER LETTERS
The proliferation of communication technology has allowed activists to take
grassroots campaigns to new levels, organizing and attracting members more
quickly via the Web and distributing messages and materials via email. One
such activity has drawn the ire of newspaper editors, however, as form
letter communications from coalition members purported to be one-off
grassroots letters to the editor have become commonplace. Editors from
papers across the country are employing technology of their own to
counteract the trend, using Internet searches and email lists to identify
association form letters that have been sent to multiple papers.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Jennifer Lee]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/27/technology/27LETT.html)
OWNERSHIP
FIGHTING MEDIA MONOPOLY
[Commentary] Deregulating media ownership has already had demonstrably
negative effects in some areas of the country, as evidenced by Clear
Channel's takeover of two competing local stations in the San Francisco Bay
Area. As local citizens attempt to fight Clear Channel at the corporate
level, the FCC inches closer to further deregulation. The authors contend
that a grassroots effort directed at state and federal legislators may be
the only way to reverse the trend.
[SOURCE: San Francisco Bay Guardian, AUTHOR: Jeff Chang & Camille T. Taiara]
(http://www.sfbayguardian.com/37/18/news_ed_monopoly.html)
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