Will Antitrust Law Save Net Neutrality?

Congressman wants to use old regulations to prevent Internet discrimination

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

SOURCE: consumeraffairs.com

May 12, 2008

The ongoing struggle to protect "net neutrality," the right of consumers to access content on the Internet equally, took a new turn as members of Congress introduced legislation that would treat interference or content-blocking as violations of antitrust law.

The "Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2008," introduced by House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and co-sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), would require Internet service providers (ISPs) to interact with each other on a "reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis," and would require network operators to ensure that all content, applications, and services are treated the same and not favored over others when consumers access them.

Entire chapter viewable here

McCain and the Media

New Chapter - How the media has covered McCain since Free Ride went to press

John McCain is now the presumptive presidential nominee of his party, a position that is accompanied by increased scrutiny and skepticism from the nation's political press. Or at least that's what ordinarily happens. But as we know by now, the rules are different for John McCain. Just a few months ago, McCain had cratered in the polls, and few thought he could bounce back. Yet there was one group of people who had not only the desire but the ability to give McCain the boost he needed, just when he needed it....

About the Authors:

David Brock is the author of four political books, including The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy. In his preceding book, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, a 2002 New York Times bestselling political memoir, he chronicled his years as a conservative media insider. Brock currently lives in Washington, D.C.

Come ring in the Iowa caucus vote with progressive political author Glenn Hurowitz.

Glenn will be speaking at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH on Thursday, Jan. 3rd, 2008 at 7 p.m. His new book, "Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party," challenges Democrats to show more political courage and embrace confrontation.

Below is the oped by Judiciary Committee members Representatives Robert Wexler, Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), which the corporate media refused to publish. But not us! Here at DFNH we are big fans of Thomas Jefferson, who reminded us "Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."

SOURCE: Newshoggers.com

Three Judiciary Committee Members Demand Cheney Impeachment

By Cernig

Imagine if three senior members of the House Judiciary Committee, stymied by Pelosi and Conyers' assertions that impeachment is "off the table", wrote an op-ed arguing for Dick Cheney's impeachment...and every major newspaper refused to print it? What happens next?

Well, now that we bloggers have upset the applecart so much, we publish it instead. What follows is the op-ed by Representatives Robert Wexler, Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

SOURCE: Media Matters

In an email provided to Media Matters for America by the Center, Fox News account executive Erin Kelly told Owen Henkel, the Center's e-communications manager, that Fox would not run the ad:

Hi Owen --

We cannot approve the spot with it being Danny Glover's opinion that the Bush Administration is destroying the Constitution. If you have documentation that it is indeed being destroyed, we can look at that.

Sorry about that,

Erin

Fox News has refused to air an ad produced by the Center for Constitutional Rights that criticizes the Bush administration for "destroying the Constitution" by the use of renditions, torture, and other tactics. The ad, "Rescue the Constitution," which is narrated by actor Danny Glover.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"The P's": Paul as in Ron Paul, politics of S-CHIP, picking the primary date, pissing matches, and pulling out

Casella Waste Systems,Inc. -They put the fill in landfill.

Standing up to AIDS in Africa, making the US notice.

All this and more, Sunday @ 11a.m. on Political Chowder

Political Chowder with host Arnie Arnesen
is New Hampshire's newest political television show. Tune in Sunday, October 21, from 11 to Noon EDT on MyTV (WZMY-TV – Comcast 18 or Comcast 6 and Dish and DirecTV ). Political Chowder re-airs during the week on 38 public access stations, serving over 90 cities and towns across NH. Check local listings for times and dates.

www.politicalchowder.com

Editor NH Business Review Jeff Feingold
Pres.of the Josiah Bartlett Center Charlie Arlinghaus
Former Chair of the NH Rep. Party Steve Duprey

Part Two - Landfill Wars

SOURCE: OpEdNews

By Leslie Hayes

Mark H. Rachesky, M.D. purchased 33.4% (over 40 Million) shares of Lionsgate stock one week prior to the scheduled opening of Michael Moore's controversial film "Sicko" which happens to be distributed by Lionsgate and the Weinstein Co. (SEC filing can be found here). Interestingly, a pre-screening of the film was held on the same day in New Hampshire for over 600 people including doctors, health care lobbyists, nurses, political figures and pharmaceutical companies all from the health care industry.

Dr. Rachesky is the founder and President of MHR Fund Management LLC and affiliates who are investment managers of various private funds. Dr. Rachesky is currently on the Board of Directors of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. who focus on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important, novel pharmaceutical products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases, including diabetes and cancer. He is also an investment broker for NovaDel Pharma Inc. (AMEX: NVD), a specialty pharmaceutical company who targets candidates suffering from nausea, insomnia, migraine headaches and disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). In addition DR. Rachesky is the beneficial owner of Medical Nutrition USA, Inc. owning approximately 29% of the company with 3,786,799 shares. He is also the Director of Neose Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTEC) which is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of next-generation therapeutic proteins that are competitive with best in class protein drugs currently on the market. In 2003, the market for therapeutic proteins grew by almost 19% to $37 billion, and is predicted to achieve sales of over $90 billion by 2010. Recently the Doctor also has invested in Emisphere Technologies, Inc. another bio pharmaceutical company charting new frontiers in drug delivery. Emisphere has strategic alliances with world-leading pharmaceutical companies.

Not Much, but Romney's New Ad Does Borrow a Move From the Velvet Underground.

I would not have imagined that my thoughts would have turned to the Velvet Underground while watching an ad for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. But there I was, staring blankly at the TV while Romney's newest ad ran, musing about how, 40 years ago, the Velvet Underground knocked off an experiment in sound echoed decades later by the Romney campaign, albeit unconsciously.

What, dear reader, am I talking about? Mitt Romney's new ad 'Ocean' and the Velvet Underground's classic track 'the Gift' from their still awe-inspiring 1968 album White Light/White Heat.

click to view

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Matt Simon
NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy
(603) 391-7450
info@nhcommonsense.org
www.NHCommonSense.org

NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy Launches Presidential Project, Urges Federal Marijuana Reform

Pembroke, NH (May 29) – The New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy (NH Common Sense) has created two new websites which announce and promote the group’s plans to raise drug and marijuana policy issues more effectively in the media. NH Common Sense will participate in the presidential primary process as a focal point of raising its issues, and results of candidate interactions will be published at the websites: RescheduleCannabis.org and SendTheRightMessage.com.

“Our issues have received some very good coverage in local and state media,” said NH Common Sense spokesman Matt Simon. “As we educate and activate responsible citizens in New Hampshire and across the country, we believe decriminalization and other marijuana reform issues can be raised more effectively in national media as well.”

Hello Democracy For New Hampshire,

I'm the webmaster at New Hampshire Public Radio, and I'm writing to ask a favor. NHPR is building something called the Public Insight Network, where we get in touch with people around the state on topics they know something about and it informs our coverage on those issues. One of the topics we're covering, of course, is the New Hampshire primary, and we would love to hear from each of you to get your impressions of the candidates and the issues that matter most to you as we move closer to Primary 2008. We're also building a section of our website with individuals' past primary memories, so we can document what the primary process is like for those who've never seen it or don't know about it.

It's very easy to share your insights - we have two quick questionnaires on the web that you can fill out:

What issues are most important to you in Primary 2008?

What are your past primary memories?

SOURCE: News from the Underground (Mark Crispin Miller)

U.S. Military Handbook Labels Media "A Threat"

A new U.S. military handbook officially states that soldiers should view the media as a threat alongside Al Qaeda, computer hackers, drug cartels, warlords and militias. The handbook was published by the Army's 1st Information Operations Command. The Army has also placed new restrictions on the use of blogs and private emails by soldiers. Soldiers sending emails or posting items on blogs must now first clear the content with a superior officer. Many believe the rules will likely result in the end of all military blogging.

www.democracynow.org

So maybe this should come as no surprise:

Police Action on Journalists at Melee Is Assailed
By Anna Gorman and Stuart Silverstein
The Los Angeles Times
Thursday 03 May 2007

Some news outlets whose reporters and camera operators were hurt in melee mull legal claims against LAPD.

SOURCE: The Los Angeles Times

U.S. Media Have Lost The Will To Dig Deep
A Changed News Culture Has Let Several Important Investigative Stories Slip Through the Cracks.
by Greg Palast

In an email uncovered and released by the House Judiciary Committee last month, Tim Griffin, once Karl Rove’s right-hand man, gloated that “no U.S. national press picked up” a BBC Television story reporting that the Rove team had developed an elaborate scheme to challenge the votes of thousands of African Americans in the 2004 election.

Griffin wasn’t exactly right. The Los Angeles Times did run a follow-up article a few days later in which it reported the findings. But he was essentially right. Most of the major U.S. newspapers and the vast majority of television news programs ignored the story even though it came at a critical moment just weeks before the election.

by Ken Braiterman

Arnie Arnesen's new media venture is intriguing for several reasons. For one thing, it has at least a theoretical chance to succeed. For another, if it doesn't succeed, she can't blame the radio or TV station, or the evil business interests that want to get her off the airwaves. And it shows that she has finally grasped the one truth that drives all commercial media: Media do not sell programs to audiences; they sell audiences to advertisers.

Arnie is putting together a hybrid of free and commercial media, websites, and IPod broadcasts for a one-hour political talk show, called Political Chowder. She is buying the commercial TV time herself, and trying to resell it to sponsors for a profit.

She's producing the show for practically nothing at Londonderry's community access cable channel, with volunteer college interns from Southern New Hampshire University doing the production work, and she's sending the product out to a growing number of community access cable channels in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She runs public service announcements on public access because they don't allow commercial advertising.

Political Chowder discusses US Senator Sununu's call for Attorney General Gonzales' dismissal...is it about the 2008 election or about loss of confidence in the Attorney General?

Political Chowder, New Hampshire's newest political television show, will air on Sunday, March 18, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST on MyTV (WZMY – the old Channel 50).

WZMY can be found on Comcast 18 and 6 and Dish and Direct TV. Political Chowder re-airs on 29 public access stations across NH. Check local listings for times and days.

The Week in Rewind Talkers:

• NH State Senator Jackie Cilley (D)
• State Rep. Maureen Mooney (R)
• NH Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Claire Ebel

Topics:

• Health Insurance after divorce
• Repeal of the death penalty- Is now the time?
• Gay marriage - I do or I don't
• Campaign finance reform---Who pays for politics?
• NH insurance department publishes cost of hospital procedures across the state…Who benefits? Who cares?
• The view tax---it is the property tax stupid Boat speeds-Can we play nice in the pond?
• Rudy Giuliani takes heat from the Firefighters Hegel and Thompson…thinking about running for President

Thanks to Lucy for bringing this to our attention

SOURCE: The Washington Monthly

SUNDAY STILL FOR CONSERVATIVES.... Media Matters reports that the Democratic victory in the 2006 midterms has had almost no effect on the guest lists of the Sunday chat shows: with the exception of ABC's This Week, they've all continued to invite considerably more conservative guests than liberal guests. More Republicans than Democrats. More pro-war than anti-war. Etc.

I know. You're shocked. Full report here.

Women Making a Difference Begins Fourth Independent Film Series in Wilton

Amherst, NH-- Women Making a Difference, an area women's group, announces the fourth series of recently released independent films to be shown on Sundays, from March 18 through April 29 at 4pm at the Wilton Town Hall Theater. Most of these films will be followed by discussions. Admission to films and discussions is free and open to the public, however donations will be accepted to help defray costs.

There will be six featured films shown on the following dates: March 18, 25, April 1, 15, 22 and 29. No showing will occur on Easter Sunday, April 8th. The purpose of the films is to bring awareness of and education to the public of certain controversial or underreported topics which have not been explored, debated or fully revealed as truthful information by the mainstream media, organizations or the government.

The popular "Confronting the Issues" series will begin Sunday, March 18 at 3pm with a vigil in front of the Wilton Town Hall to highlight the Fourth anniversary of the Iraq War, then the film, The Ground Truth, will be shown at 4pm in the historic Wilton Town Hall Theater.

Political Chowder: Former Governor Cellucci joins Arnie Arnesen, host of Political Chowder

Political Chowder, New Hampshire’s newest political television show, will air on Sunday, March 11, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST on MyTV (WZMY – the old Channel 50). Political Chowder re-airs on 28 public access stations across NH. Check local listings for times and days.

The Week in Rewind Talkers:

• Roger H. Goun, Technical director and a member of the Board of Directors of Democracy for New Hampshire.
• David Hess, Republican State Representative from Hooksett NH, serves on the House Education and Rules Committees
• Katrina Swett, Democratic candidate for the US Senate.

The Big Get:
• Paul Cellucci, former Governor of Massachusetts and Former US Ambassador to Canada
• James Pindell, Presidential primary reporter for The Boston Globe

The Discussion:
-Paul Cellucci’s endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for President
-Arnie, Globe reporter Pindell and Former Governor Cellucci will weigh in on the latest presidential poll released by the Washington Post. Giuliani leads the pack with 44%, McCain with 21% and Gingrich with 15%. Where is Mitt?