more on Broadcast flags pass Committee markup, net neutrality to be voted on tomorrow.

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Date: June 27, 2006 8:21:39 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: RE: [IP] Broadcast flags pass Committee markup, net  
neutrality to be voted on tomorrow.

Here we go again trying to solve marketplace problems by making  
innovation a federal offense. What makes this even more stupid is  
that broadcasters are already starting to download and are moving  
beyond the problem this is supposed to solve. So we’ll have a law  
that does little good while leaving us in the position of Europe in  
the 19th century as innovation went to the disruptive Americans,

When you can’t even add a brightness control to your TV … in the  
meantime I can watch my home video on my cell phone screen using  
Sling Media box. So what if it’s the lo-res, it’s a small screen and  
the story is what’s important.

We seem to be worrying more about illegal activity than opportunity  
to create new value – it’s as if we didn’t realize the First  
Amendment gave economic innovation an opportunity.

But then what can we expect of a Congress that confuses DTV with HDTV  
and Tellywood’s stories with reality.

It’s probably related to the tendency to say that Network Neutrality  
is about allowing legal content – next we’ll update the first  
amendment to only protect “legal free speech”? Where did this  
obligation to talk about “legal content” come from? Am I presumed  
guilty unless I say otherwise?

It’s as if the city said that buses were only for legal travel – it  
couples multiple agendas and reduces the transparency of public  
policy. For NN it seems to imply that neutrality, like free speech,  
is OK as long as you don’t abuse it. “Free speech” doesn’t condone  
illegal activities – it just shifts the onus to proving harm rather  
than having to prove no harm.



-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 18:49
To: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: [IP] Broadcast flags pass Committee markup, net neutrality  
to be voted on tomorrow.







Begin forwarded message:

From:   Ethan Ackerman <eackerma () u washington edu>

Date:    June 27, 2006 5:02:59 PM EDT

To:       Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>, David Farber  
<dave () farber net>

Subject:            Broadcast flags pass Committee markup, net  
neutrality to be  voted on tomorrow.



As the markup of the Senate’s telecom reform bill wraps up another  
day, the controversial broadcast and audio flag provisions made it  
through committee mark-up unscathed, lending strength to fears that  
it will be law before the year’s end.  ‘Net Neutrality’ amendments  
escaped attention for yet another day, but, according to Chairman  
Stevens, will be voted on tomorrow morning.

The Senate Commerce Committee has closed that portion of the mammoth  
bill that contains the broadcast and audio flags, and no amendments  
were offered to remove them.  The only Senator who publicly expressed  
strong opposition to the flags, Sen. Sununu of NH, withdrew his  
amendments.  The Senator did express an intent to bring up the issue  
again before the whole Senate, but as it stands now, the flags are in  
the bill.

Even though this is a very important step, the bill, S. 2686, still  
has to pass the full committee after all amendments are offered, and  
then pass the full Senate and House. (And the President has to sign,  
or at least not veto, it...)

Minimal hearing details here:

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?

FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID78




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