Media Policy

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.

FCC to Probe San Francisco Subway Cell Phone "Interruption" Policy

[Source: ArsTechnica, by Matthew Lasar, December 2, 2011]
August 2011 protest against BART cell phone "interruption." The fallout keeps raining down from the San Francisco Bay Area rail transit system's controversial move to block cell phone access ...

Congress Considers Anti-Piracy Bills that Could Cripple Internet Industries

[Source: O'Reilly Radar, by Alex Howard, November 22, 2011]
SOPA and PROTECT IP would harm innovation.

Net Neutrality Survives Senate, But Advocates Push for Stronger Reforms

[Source: ColorLines, by Jamilah King, November 11, 2011]
On Thursday, the Senate voted against a resolution to do away with federal net neutrality rules that work to maintain openness on the Internet.

Looks Like Congress Has Declared War on the Internet

[Source: GigaOm, by Mathew Ingram, October 27, 2011]
Many Internet users in the United States have watched with horror as countries like France and Britain have proposed or instituted so-called “three strikes” laws, which cut off Internet access to ...

Selling Our Wireless Future

[Source: The Huffington Post, by Yochai Benkler, October 27, 2011]
As the deficit supercommittee searches every corner to make budgetary ends meet, one solution they are considering, "incentive auctions" of the TV bands, could threaten the future of wireless ...

Technology: A Bipartisan Attempt to Regulate the Internet?

[Source: The Los Angeles Times, by Jon Healey, October 26, 2011]
Leaders of the House Judiciary Committee introduced a beefed-up version Wednesday of the Senate Judiciary Committee's proposed Protect IP Act, offering Hollywood new tools to go after foreign ...

FCC Engages in More Empty Broadband Showmanship

[Source: Broadband DSLReports.com, by Karl Bode, October 13, 2011]
'Connect to Compete' Plan Completely Ignores Competition

FCC Must Protect Consumer in Telecom Reforms

[Source: The Seattle Times, by Simon Ffitch, September 21, 2011]
As the Federal Communications Commission considers reforms that will affect consumers' access to broadband and how much they pay, guest columnist Simon ffitch argues that telecom subsides should ...

Universal Service Reform: By the Numbers

[Source: Connected Planet, by Joan Engebretson, September 15, 2011]
A recap of the data driving USF reform proposalsThe FCC is gearing up to make long-awaited Universal Service reforms promised before year-end. To put potential reforms in context, Connected Planet ...

Patent Reform a Letdown to Some in Tech

[Source: Politico, by Michelle Quinn, September 7, 2011]
Some tech constituencies in Silicon Valley have a curious reaction to the first patent reform overhaul in 60 years that Congress appears poised to send to the White House: ho-hum.The America ...