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Congress To Investigate FCC
SirLurksAlot writes to let us know that Congress is planning to question the FCC on the way the commission is run. From the article: "The FCC — and Chairman Kevin Martin in particular — are in hot water with Congress... While Martin was at CES, telling all who would listen that the FCC will investigate Comcast's traffic-shaping practices, the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced a formal investigation of the FCC. The news couldn't be more welcome to the industries that the FCC regulates.'"
Yeah, I heard that Congress was concerned the FCC wasn't corrupt enough.
Or perhaps this is just a remedial course on how to milk your cash cows.
Every so often congress has to look like it's investigating something when a source of income is threatened. Is anything ever done about it? Not really.
But magically, without fail, the citizen is screwed in the end. Congress just wants to make sure some of that money ends up back at the top.
My work here is dung.
"The FCC is structured about broadcast, cable and telephone," he said. "That isn't the world we are live in, and it isn't the world we are going to. The FCC has to be overhauled for the Internet world."
This make me feel nervous, because if they start monitoring the internet all the stuff we like on it will be gone.
The news couldn't be more welcome to the industries that the FCC regulates.
Probably true.
They probably don't like the way the FCC is regulating them, so a few "campaign contributions" later, their bought-and-paid-for, em, concerned Representatives and Senators just "happen" to investigate the FCC.
When are Pelosi and Reid getting around to earmark reform, anyway? Or will they be too damn busy investigating steroid use in baseball?
Meh, no wonder their approval rating is half of W's.
The article has lots of speculation about who wants what, but it doesn't mention whether Congress is trying to intervene on behalf of the telcos and such, or against them. Kind of makes a big difference.
About Time!
For all of those who doubt that the Democratic and Republican party aren't just the same wolves in different sheepskins...I present to you exhibit A.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I don't know about that. In a recent action, the FCC gave away the store to "the industries that the FCC regulates". In spite of overwhelming outcry from consumers, the FCC handed industry what they wanted.
One corrupt organization investigating another. What could possibly go wrong?
That's good, but I'd like to see them work on fixing advertising. I'm of the opinion that we should go back to the old stance (80s or so?) that drugs shouldn't be able to be advertised on TV. I think that would help quite a bit with healthcare costs. But I'd also like them to investigate the ads we have now. I remember reading something in the last week or so that someone was pushing them to do that over the Lipitor ads with Dr. Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the artificial heart, testifying about how good Lipitor is.
The problem is that he has never had a license to practice medicine in the US. He dropped out of a US medical school because of his grades and got his degree from a school outside this country. It's really questionable that he is qualified to talk about the drug.
I wish they'd work on advertising. So much of it is so blatantly wrong. Just deal with a few of the worst offenders, and the rest will self-correct before they get investigated.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
A lot of members of congress get heft campaign donations from the entertainment industry. Particularly members from California. Comcast's traffic shaping is supposed to help their campaign contributors. Is it any wonder they'd be against the FCC on this one?
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
Well that's exactly what the article implies if you read it to the end. They are investigating FCC for not being corrupt enough: The cable operators are upset about the FCC's attempt to regulate their industry, along with the Commission's decision last year to nullify many of their exclusive contracts with apartment buildings. The telephone companies aren't thrilled about the FCC's 700MHz auction conditions (Verizon even sued), and everyone wants the FCC to keep away from their traffic monitoring and shaping practices. That would please the industries regulated by the FCC. Multichannel News reports that AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast all bashed the agency in a CES panel yesterday, with each group wanting to see major changes in the way that the FCC operates Perhaps the strongest criticism came from Verizon's Tom Tauke, who argued that the FCC just isn't set up to deal with the modern world. "The FCC is structured about broadcast, cable and telephone," he said. "That isn't the world we are live in, and it isn't the world we are going to. The FCC has to be overhauled for the Internet world."
The bigger bribe always wins. And Congress gets all that wonderfully "legit" lobby money...
There are so many levels of evil and incompetence here to be pondered. What will this mean?
That would explain Comcast's rate hikes - congressmen salaries and demands go up every six months, too.
Some of the things that the Congressmen are investigating in the article seem to be the only good things the FCC has done...
1) Regulating the Cable industry (ok, that's a bad one if it falls under censorship. But they do have the power to force a la carte services, which would be a good thing for most people).
2) Putting conditions on the 700Mhz auction (which is a good thing overall)
3) Net neutrality (The FCC is actually for net neutrality, to the detriment of internet providers).
So 2/3 are clearly meant to help consumers, and the other one could help consumers (although it is just as likely to harm us).
So once again it looks like the industry paid off the right Congressmen to shake down a government commission just before it actually did something right.
while this thief with Congressional assistance robs the U.S. Federal Government.
Russia and China are laughing AND waiting. They won't have to wait that long.
Cheers.
Remember kids, these congress critters are the people that you and I, our familes, friends, and neighbors all elected.
Unless you don't vote. In that case, feel free to bitch-slap the rest of us.
Despite what EULAs say, most software is sold, not licensed.
Yeah. This country needs more socialism. Well, what it really needs to cut the military budget in half, and spend that money on things that actually help US citizens.
Blar.
Committee on Energy and Commerce has a subcomittee for this:
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
14 reublicans
18 democrats
1 vacancy
and the chairman is a democrat
You can see all their names and voting records http://energycommerce.house.gov/Subcommittees/telint.shtml Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
success often occurs in private, failure in full view
Couldn't that also say "...the industries that regulate the FCC."?
I can't be the only one thinking it.
You never expect irony, do you?
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@iyfwrestling
What we first need to do is change the FCC so that it's not headed by appointed officials, but rather by elected representatives.
The FCC's power has grown far beyond it's original intention (regulating airwaves frequencies in the U.S.). Apparently they only do things in response to complaints. Or at least that's how it once was. But the really fucked up thing is 99% of complaints come from one organization.
So essentially this one single organization is responsible for most of the - detrimental in my opinion - changes to what is allowed to be broadcast or not.
It's not the popular decision. People just think it is because this one fucked up organization has such broad powers and people just assume that it's the popular opinion. It is not.
The organization responsible for all this? The Parent's Television Council. The sick thing is they're proud to be the nation's most influential advocacy organization yet have barely a million members. That's right one million up tight fucks are responsible for 99.8-99.9% of all FCC regulation that affects 303 million people.
And the FCC allows it.
Question everything
Anyone care to let the rest of us know if this is good or bad for us pee-ons? I like to cheer with the crowd.
Obviously you are a government educated moron. This county (USA) has NEVER been a democracy. If you think it is, that is the problem with idiots like you. Look up the word representative republic. [Quote] Some day, I hope that democracy starts working again...let's see if this is a start?
The FCC sits on a honeypot of hundreds of billions of dollars overseen by 5 politically-appointed commissioners with no review of what they decide. Even a saint would be tempted by all of that money, and those commissioners don't look very saintly. A cynic might say that congress just wants to be sure that it's getting their cut of the action but perhaps that's wrong. Maybe consumers will see some improvements with more oversight of the FCC like wi-fi standards that are shaped by consumers rather than a couple of manufacturers, cell phones with features comparable to what the rest of the world already has, more and better hdtv broadcasts, and less-concentrated ownership of the broadcast media.
Congressional investigations are about agenda setting, political capital (getting more people on board), and/or chicken.
1) Congress can elevate issues of policy/culture into the media when conducting an "investigation." Whether about steroids or blowjobs or whether the family network can have an a la carte anti-abortion show.
2) Senators and Reps can get an ass-ton of sound bites out to interested parties--citizens, corporations, and their monied representatives (lobbyists, family groups, net neutrality folks). In this case you can get your message out to a VERY diverse set of groups...from family issues to tech issues, without pissing either group off. Goldmine.
3) Chicken. Ohhhh chicken, how I love the: "Dear corporation, if you don't a) give us more money or b) clean up your act, we will be forced to pwn you." That is not an exaggeration when it comes to regulatory action. The gov't can and does wield immense power over corporations through taking control of processes--and it is a simple risk analysis for a corp to decide whether or not to change behavior or play fast and loose. After all, the longer it takes for congress to act, the more profit you can make.
Examples of the tit for tat:
Industry blinks: Movie Ratings, Health Care reform (portions of clinton's 90s playbook was used by the medical industry), Big Pharma advertising on TV about free medicine for poor people (avoiding price controls).
Industry runs congress over: Ummm, automakers, tobacco
Congress runs em over: safety, but mainly because competitive industry players actually want gov't regulation on product safety issues.
Congress blinks: MPG standards (we could have been at 50 mpg in 2000-2002, according to the auto industry), anything involving financial services
Note that congress never "wins," they just change the rules of the game by cutting off a profit option and their actions are rarely draconian because many of them are concerned about jobs lost in their state.
What is fair is fair.
Help end the use of Sigs. Tomorrow
If anything, this is a start to a goverment for the corporations.
We the corporations of the United States, in Order to form a more profitable Union, establish Monopolies, insure domestic subservience of our customers, provide for the golden parachutes of our executive officers, subdue the General Workforce, and secure for our Boards of Directors the maximum Prosperity, do ordain and establish this the new effective Constitution for the United States of America.
Congress investigates the FCC, which is investigating Comcast, who are investigating some Bittorrent filesharers...
Where does the madness end!?
We cut the budget in half, and cut the military in half. Keep it all Made in America.
I wasn't aware the the USA's economy depended on constant acquisition of new lands and resources as Rome's did.
If we stop being such hypocritical aggressive douchebags, we won't need this huge stick. Having the huge army around just means people are going to want to use it even if it is not needed. See: Iraq.
Blar.
Corporatism is not Capitalism; anymore than, Plutocracy is Democracy, ... confusion abounds, because all words can be defined
but in the USA
in a politically correct manor turning lies to pseudo-truth, faux-truth
to reality, and prophet-profits into gods. Example: GBA stands for
"God Bless America" and was used to make GBA stand for
"George Bush's American".
!HAVEFUN!
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
That sure didn't take long.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
The article says Congress is investigating the FCC for being too close to the industries they are regulating, giving them an inside track to getting favorable decisions.
It goes on to say that the companies are pissed off because of the decisions they do make. What that demonstrates is that the companies would like even more influence over the decisions the FCC takes. It does not mean that Congress is investigating the FCC to make it so.
If the article is to be believed, Congress wants to make it harder for the companies to manipulate the FCC, not easier. If so, the companies will not be rejoicing over Congress's actions.
Squirrel!
The root of the problem is usury. A small group of criminals have purposely given too many people that can't handle it too much credit. This is equivalent to youths tricking a retarded girl into having sex with them and should be punished accordingly.
There's a reason why usury has been illegal for most of recorded history and every major religious text forbids usury.
Guess the payments have been brought up to date.
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
I have a simple way of dealing with change doesn't require change machines: I keep a big pile of it in my car. Before I go anywhere, I make sure I have at least four pennies, and preferably three quarters also, in my pocket. And then I actually use the change.
The trick is to keep from having nickels and dimes (And spending a lot of time annoying others in line as you use them.) is to use vending machines as reverse change machines. Walk up to them, dump in five nickels, pull the change return and get back a quarter. The vending machine people don't mind, it's all sorted automatically for practically nothing when it gets back to them. If it's a 65 cents machine or something, they actually need nickels and dimes, as almost everyone people comes up and stick in three quarters or a dollar. The refill guys have to load in dimes and nickels. (Some very old vending machines do not do this, they give you back the exact coins you put in, but even ones built in the early 90s just keep a running tab and know you put in '25 cents', not 'two dimes and nickel'.)
All this sounds like a lot of work, but it's honestly just a tiny amount of planning ahead plus a tiny amount of time at vending machines occasionally. (I'm sure you walk past a vending machine once a month.)
Once you set it up, you just grab three quarters and four pennies when you pick up your cellphone on the way out of the car. You go into Taco Bell with change, and walk out with less change, instead of having no change and always walking out with change. You don't have to pay a stupid fee to turn unusable money into usable money, nor do you have to annoy other in line by paying in tiny change. You just set it up where you spend the change, which means starting with change.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
Oh dear. You've got me laughing so hard I had tears. You utopians are always good for a laugh, at least.
Our current economy is regulated by Federal, State, and local governments. And the majority of business activity in the United States isn't from the mega-corporations you're bemoaning, but by small businesses. In 2007, small firms employed over half of the private sector work force and generated well more than half of GDP.
The current solution (a moderately regulated capitalist system) isn't perfect, but it almost certainly is the "least bad" solution currently available. We've got problems on both sides--too much regulation (ever tried jumping through the hoops to start a business?) and too little (the sub-prime mortgage crisis) but I'm not buying either a centrally planned economy (which is what your post seems to advocate) or total anarchy.
Countries with heavily regulated economies: Soviet Russia, Zimbabwe, Myanmar/Burma... No thanks.
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...as they lean lefter with their preferences for taxing and spending?
I like how this gets all thrown around, as if the Dems outspend the Repubs, and out-tax, too.
Although I agree we could certainly cut down the theatrics, they are hardly expensive. "Expensive" is the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, with no real study into whether or not a new department would be effective or not. (It doesn't seem to be.) "Expensive" is spending 3 times the rest of the world combined on military. (*Not* on defense, as we've moved passed defensiveness and into aggression over the last decade.) "Expensive" is a war that is quickly approaching $500,000,000,000 direct cost, with a cost to our economy that is only now being seen. (Seems we are likely entering into a recession.)
As for change, if you bother following up on certain candidates (say, Obama), you'd realize what they intend to change. Obama states he intends to reverse the erosion of civil liberty. He intends to stay in Iraq for now, with the philosophy of, "You broke it, you bought it," but intends to take a different, less aggressive approach. Try reading what the candidates *actually* say, and you'll see what they intend to change. It's not just a vague word. Most of them have concrete plans that you can read and evaluate yourself.
When you talk about re-prioritizing the budget, *any* budget, you don't just slice out the stuff that costs a nickel. You look at the stuff that is really costing you. Can't live on your budget? Cut out the big things. Can't afford that new $250k house? Time to sell it and move into a $100k house. Can't afford to eat out every night? Try cooking at home, on a budget.
Or, you try to increase your income.
Those are your choices. "Tax and spend" means "increase your income." "Balancing the budget" (a term I haven't heard in 7 years) means cutting down your expenses.
What the current administration is doing is this: they are spending as if their credit will go on forever. It's like being on a $30k/year job, but spending as if you were on a $100k/year job by using your credit cards. You can't go on like that forever, and when it catches up to you, you are *so* fucked. And it always catches up to you.
Complaining about the cost of the baseball inquiries when we're in a $275M/day senseless war is like complaining because your spouse bought a $.25 chocolate at the checkout stand. In the long run, though it does cost money, it's nothing compared to that $1250/mo mortgage.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
Just so you know, those complaints they get are in an electronic format that the FCC never really paid attention to. I used to work their HelpDesk as a contractor and I have been asked many many times if there was a way to "auto delete all the junk from the 'emailbombs' they got", refering to automated emails generated by people inputting their names into a form on a website. This came from several important people there (not from the execs, they have their own support guy).
If you want to get through to the FCC or any other goverment branch, take the time to HANDWRITE a letter to send them. They pay attention to that. The FCC, your congressman, even the president will pay more attention to a handwritten letter before they pay attention to 1,000 printed or 1,000,000 emailed ones.
But don't stop there, if you think a congressman or senator is doing something wrong or right, HANDWRITE a letter to him saying it. It does not matter is you are in his district or not. You are in someone's district and if you are taking the time to write to one, you are probably taking the time to write to another.
You want the world to know you are awake to whats going on? TELL THEM!!!!!
Tired of getting walked on
Treated like a sheep
Don't blame me for all the years
That you were asleep --- 100% by anglespit
Just a quick shout to the 5 + Sup who work that helpdesk,
Missing you guys, but loving the SysAdmin job 2 miles from home!!
I-Beer
The one certain way of telling that the FCC is doing its job protecting consumer interests is when Congress gets involved. I do want to see more about the abuse of FUSF funds though because with all the money we've paid into that system we should have 21st century phone and net access EVERYWHERE!
The FCC should get out of regulation of content. This way the Parents Television Council complaints go to the broadcasters instead of the government. Complaints of improper use of a frequency range, communication disruptions, broadcasting power, etc.- sure but content- nope, nadda, zip. I like how the PTC say that it is okay for the 'public good' and children could be watching at anytime- so what, it's a thing called parenting.
Your description of a 'thriving economy' is nothing like they had in Roman times. Your regurgitation talking points is interesting, but not really germain to the discussion. I'm not sure exactly how the USA-Rome comparison is supposed to be defended here...
If the US army was half the size, Bush would have been unable to invade Iraq without a draft and rationing. Faced with a draft and rationing, enough Americans would have realized that the cause for war was crap, and withdrawn support. We would have avoided an unethical war of choice.
We need a small army, backed up by conscription. You know, how we won WW2?
Blar.
You seriously just advocated handing over the datalines to the government. Like, more than they already have from the backalley NSA deals.
you're out of your fucking mind.
There will be no real change in Washington until citizens demand a chance in the way we finance elections. Our system is currently institutionalized bribery. So only special interests, multinational corporations, labor unions, tax attorneys, auto makers, and oil and insurance and drug companies are really running the country.
The FCC is simply acting in its own way like congress does, favoring the biggest corporations at the expense of the taxpayers and smaller competing business firms.
An investigation by congress of the FCC would be welcome. But it is only window dressing.
We have the best government money can buy and all that implies.
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