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NAB Lobbying To Constrain Local Content On Satellite Radio

Posted by timothy on from the envy-spite-protectionism dept.

DJAdapt writes "The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the organization that represents the large radio and television owners, is using its lobbyists, campaign contributions and political influence to have Congress and the Federal Communications Commission limit XM's ability to provide you with 'locally oriented' content, including the new XM Instant Traffic & Weather channels .... this is seriously what our government should be worried about? We're taking a trip back to the 70s, where AM was fighting FM."

5 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. Re:In English... by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 4, Informative

    This had a funny odor, and sure enough, Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana is involved.
    See this article for more info.

    --
    You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
  2. Re:If you don't vote Libertarian, you ASKED FOR TH by sadler121 · · Score: 2, Informative

    and how will you keep big mega corperations from drowning out the little guy? or in fact just jamming the little guys single?

    I admit that the public airwaves ( among many things )are WAY to regulated. But there needs to be minimal regulation to keep the big guys from stomping all over the little guys.

  3. Re:If you don't vote Libertarian, you ASKED FOR TH by Planesdragon · · Score: 2, Informative

    The FCC, like the rest of the unconstitutional ways that the Fed.Gov controls your everyday life, must be abolished immediately.

    Not at all. After all, since the Libertarians obviously didn't get the White House or a majority in the Senate or House (do they have ANY congresscritters?) the American people asked for the FCC, and we seem to be quite happy with it.

  4. Re:In English... by TheCabal · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm not overly concerned. I had a three month trial subscription when I bought my new car. At least I didn't wind up having to pay $40/month to learn that:

    1) XM is just as bad as FM when it comes to what is being played.

    2) XM is like expanded cable. To quote Springsteen "57 channels an nothin' on".

    3) Because of XM's bad programming, I spent the bulk of my time listening to one of the Comedy Channels. After about a week, I could recite all the routines they were running, as they weren't rotating their content at all.

    Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...

  5. Re:If you don't vote Libertarian, you ASKED FOR TH by Bob_Robertson · · Score: 2, Informative

    Simple common law property rights cover this quite well.

    Prosecution for signal overlap is just like trespassing. Prove deliberate action to the jury and demand damages and corrective action.

    Easement, established right-of-way, and the simple fact that a radio station will want their customers to find them again means that staying on an established frequency will work best for everyone.

    One good thing to do is look up the history of radio prior to the establishment of the FCC. Such difficulties as you mention were already worked out and business was flourishing.

    Bob-

    --
    The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics