FCC allows Hundreds of New Low-Power FM stations

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a decision yesterday which paves the way for hundreds of new community radio stations to start broadcasting on low-power FM signals.  This is excellent news.  More stations, more competition, more jobs — right?

A few giant broadcasting conglomerates — e.g. Clear Channel — have been strangling the “public” airwaves for years, with the same five songs played over and over and over and the same talk radio inbreds spewing their bilge in every square inch of the country.  In a lot of non-urban areas, radio listeners’ “choices” come down to just one or two mega-corporate stations.  You can listen to either Rush Limbaugh OR Laura Ingraham — your cup runneth over.

And now, finally, listeners will have some REAL choices.  The Prometheus Radio Project has been pushing for this FCC ruling, and now it’s a reality.  The Prometheus Radio Project’s policy director said:

“These new, low power stations can only be licensed to non-profit organizations, and you can only have one per customer.  That way we won’t have these big corporate chains and media networks that are taking over the rest of the media landscape moving in on low power FM service. These stations have to be local, and they have to be independent. This clears the way for a real transformation of the FM dial.”

Works for me.

And there’s more good news from the FCC:  This isn’t a done deal yet, but the FCC is planning to create a website that will publicize TV stations’ records of which political groups purchased ads on each station and how much they paid.   Rep. John Dingell said:

“We desperately need openness.  We’ve got a bunch of billionaires and millionaires who are pouring millions of dollars into the elections of this country, and to these super-PACs, with nobody having the vaguest idea of who they are, what they’re up to, what they want or what would be the consequences of it.’’

A spokesperson for the Campaign Legal Center said providing this information online would “reveal the true interests behind the purchases.”

Keep Them Government Bureaucrats Out of My Internet Service

Freedom has prevailed! The Tree of Liberty has been watered. The Free Enterprise system has scored a smashing victory against those Creeping Socialists who wanted to regulate the Internet.

Long live the Internet! Well, for now, anyway — until our monthly rates go into the stratosphere while the service plunges south. Or maybe you’ll have the choice of either paying through the wazoo for the same service you’re getting now, or not paying the new exorbitant fees and being relegated to the slow lane. Dial-up speed at broadband prices.

But hey — We’re Free!!!

The FCC was smacked down earlier today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The American people don’t want none of that there Socialized Internet Service, thank you very much.

The Federal Communist Conspiracy had two goals, and they both went against everything our Founding Fathers stood for:

1. Net Neutrality. This was just a government power grab; an excuse for faceless bureaucrats to socialize the Internet.

2. Expanding broadband service to poor and rural areas throughout America. Let those parasites get their own broadband service.

Two years ago Comcast filed a lawsuit against this government takeover, and now the Court of Appeals has ruled in their favor.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski — now there’s a Communist-sounding name if I ever heard one — might appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Or he might ask Congress to provide additional authority to the FCC.

In the meantime, enjoy your Freedom.

Kevin Martin: Douchebag of the Year

We knew exactly how it was going to happen, and it happened exactly that way. The FCC — oblivious to millions of letters, phone calls and e-mails begging them not to — has gone ahead and voted in favor of greater media consolidation. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin thinks there's been too much diversity in the media. His solution is to have just two or three megalomaniacs controlling everything we read and listen to. (I thought they already did.)

Kevin Martin you're a flaming douchebag. You're a motherfucking son of a whore who should have been shot at birth. Eat shit and choke on it. Hope you get an AIDS needle in your Christmas stocking.

As you’ve probably guessed, Heartattackfuck and his dopey sockpuppet are standing firmly behind Kevin Martin’s plan to strangle the media.

Twenty-six senators — Republicans and Democrats — had already written to Martin, warning that they would "immediately move legislation that will revoke and nullify the proposed rule." These twenty-six senators include several powerful Republicans and all four Democratic presidential contenders. This issue needs to be front and center in the 2008 election. If you listen to the radio, watch TV or follow the news, this FCC action affects YOU.

This is a bipartisan issue. Several rightwing Christian organizations and the National Rifle Association, plus a lot of liberal and non-political groups, are bitterly opposed to the FCC’s attempts to strangle competition and diversity.

Bush has already threatened to veto any bill that attempts to override the FCC’s decision. Congress must be willing to attach this FCC override as an amendment to every — EVERY — bill they send to Bush.

And now, a public service message: Beware of Child Molesters!

cross-posted at Bring It On!

YOU can get Internet Service for Only $10 a Month!

This is for real. This isn't a phony come-on or one of those bait-and-switch tactics. This offer is completely valid. What's really weird is that the company who's offering this deal — AT&T — isn't advertising it. Not a word. It’s Their Little Secret.

It’s part of a settlement agreement between AT&T and the FCC. In return for allowing the merger of two 800-pound gorillas — BellSouth and AT&T — AT&T is required to offer this $10-per-month deal for 2 ½ years. After 30 months and one day, how much do you think that monthly rate will go up to? Let’s have a pool.

Needless to say, AT&T isn't screaming from the rooftops about their $10-per-month Internet service. The offer is valid in the 22 states serviced by AT&T. The AT&T website doesn’t mention the offer, but supposedly if you click on a link for “Term Contract Plans” you can find it.