Media Policy

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Restrictive media policies can curtail access to the content we do have through the infrastructure we currently have in place. There are clear roles for funders to play in helping to address media policy issues and GFEM works to keep funders abreast of the constantly shifting media policy environment.

The Media Policy Working Group (MPWG) was created to raise awareness and build knowledge about key issues in media policy within the broader philanthropic community. Our aim is to engage and educate grantmakers across fields about the ever-changing media policy and communications policy landscape, as well as foster collaboration among interested donors in support of targeted activities to help advance the media policy field. MPWG activities include a quarterly teleconference and periodic phone briefings on timely issues in addition to quarterly updates in the GFEM newsletter. MPWG also partners with other funder affinity groups to organize media policy-related sessions at national gatherings. Membership is open to grantmakers working in and outside the U.S. with an interest in learning and sharing grantmaking experiences about media policy in the public interest. If you would like to join the MPWG please contact jperlstein (at) gfem (dot) org.

More Major Decisions Coming on Net Neutrality

[Source: The San Francisco Chronicle; April 8, 2010]Internet service providers such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T won a major court fight to run their data pipes as they want.  It was a legal ...

Free Community Papers Supporting Net Neutrality

[Source: Editor & Publisher, by Mark Fitzgerald; April 7, 2010]CHICAGO - At least one part of the newspaper industry is not staying neutral on net neutrality - free community papers.

Federal Court Denies FCC Authority Over Broadband

[Source: Huffington Post, by Josh Silver, Free Press, April 6, 2010]
In Tuesday's ruling, Judge David Tatel said the FCC lacked "any statutorily mandated responsibility" to enforce network neutrality rules. So, the government agency that is charged with overseeing the nation's communications infrastructure now has no authority to regulate broadband -- the 21st century's primary communications platform?

A New Look at USF

[Source: Ars Technica, by Matthew Lasar; April 2, 2010]

Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretaps Were Illegal

[Source: New York Times, by Charlie Savage and James Risen; March 31, 2010]WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the National Security Agency’s program of surveillance without warrants ...

FCC loses key ruling on Internet `neutrality'

[Source: Associated Press (AP), by JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer, April 6, 2010]
WASHINGTON – A federal court threw the future of Internet regulations and U.S. broadband expansion plans into doubt Tuesday with a far-reaching decision that went against the ...

The Digital Divide Will Ensure a Broadband Ghetto

[Source: GigaOM, by Stacey Higginbotham; March 27, 2010]

Fighting Intensifies over How to Enforce Intellectual Property Laws

[Source: L.A. Times, by Jon Healey; March 24, 2010]Barack Obama may be the country's most tech-friendly president ever, as comfortable discussing net neutrality as Swiss neutrality.  But his ...

U.K. Regulators Officially Mock U.S. over ISP "Competition"

[Source: Ars Technica, by Nate Anderson; March 25, 2010]

The National Broadband Plan: Unanswered Questions and Next Steps

New America Foundation and Free Press Release Joint Analysis of The National Broadband Plan:New Issue Brief Highlights Plan's Unanswered Questions and Details Next Steps