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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: FCC

FCC stories: 114 news summaries

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FCC Eyes Hiking Phone Bills to Expand Internet Access

Feds want to open networks, but would tax your phone bill to do it

Nov 18, 09 6:48 AM CST
(Newser) - Al Gore may think he created the Internet, but it's the FCC that's looking to make it available to all Americans—and it's considering taxing your phone bill to pay for it. Federal regulators will outline their case today for stepping up government control of Internet and phone services, the... More »

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Internet • FCC • broadband Internet • network speed • Internet access • open access • National Broadband Plan

OPINION

 Shine a Light 
 on Sneaky TV 
 Product Placement 

Do you know when you're being sold something?

Oct 30, 09 10:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - You can tell when you’re watching a commercial, right? Not at all, writes NE Marsden , and that’s a huge problem. A new FTC measure seeks to expose the practice of paid consideration—“stealth advertising” is a better phrase—online by requiring bloggers and marketers to disclose remuneration,... More »

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entertainment • television • Internet • advertising • FCC • marketing • children • FTC • product placement • Federal Communications Commission • Federal Trade Commission

ANALYSIS

AT&T Asks Employees
to Slam Net Neutrality

And don't say you work here, memo advises

Oct 20, 09 3:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - With the FCC holding a meeting Thursday to decide whether to give the green light to “net neutrality”—the principle of universal access to bandwidth—AT&T is stepping up its PR war. In a memo from senior exec James Cicconi, employees are asked to post anti-neutrality comments... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FCC • net neutrality • AT&T • bandwidth

VIDEO

 Oops! Fox Airs 
 Dance Crotch Shot 

Excited So You Think You Can Dance? contestant writhes around, sans panties

Oct 1, 09 6:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Surprisingly, Tuesday night’s So You Think You Can Dance crotch shot (watch the offending clip at left) hasn’t quite galvanized the nation into a state of outrage—but it’s still gaining steam. Nigel Lythgoe tells TMZ that what appears to be the contestant’s vagina... More »

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entertainment • television • reality TV • FCC • Fox • Glenn Beck • So You Think You Can Dance?

opinion

 The FCC Is Still 
 After Janet? 
 Ridiculous 

The Jackson nipple-slip battle continues; 'how insane' is this?

Sep 19, 09 6:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Back in President Bush's America, the FCC assault on Janet Jackson's nipple-ringed revelation made an odd sort of sense, Michelle Dean writes in Bitch. After all, "the inmates were running the asylum" and sanity was "unrepresented in government." But now that President Obama is in office,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FCC • Super Bowl • Janet Jackson • Justin Timberlake

 FCC to Probe Nipplegate, Again 

Says CBS should have used tape delay to prevent incident

Sep 16, 09 11:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Five years after the nation saw a split-second of Janet Jackson’s right boob, the FCC is trying to reopen the case, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The FCC is asking the Third Circuit Appeals Court to remand the case back to the agency. The evidence “strongly suggests that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
CBS • FCC • Super Bowl • Janet Jackson • US Court of Appeals • wardrobe malfunction • US Supreme Court • Federal Communications Commission

Federal Court Ruling
Shakes Up Cable Industry

FCC limit doesn't take into account other sources of competition, court rules

Aug 28, 09 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - In a decision that could revolutionize the communications industry, a federal appeals court has struck down an FCC rule prohibiting a cable TV company from serving more than 30% of the market, Reuters reports. The court declared the rule "arbitrary and capricious,” noting that cable operators face competition... More »

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Congress • Comcast • FCC • Cablevision • US Court of Appeals • antitrust • sattelite • telecom • Cox Communications • Charter Communications

ANALYSIS

Apple-Google Party Ended Before FCC Waltzed In

Philosophical standoff led to Schmidt's ouster

Aug 3, 09 2:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s departure from the Apple board can be most directly linked to the rejection of the Voice app from the App Store, which has sparked a probe by the Federal Communications Commission, Erick Schonfeld writes for TechCrunch: “Google brought down the disapproving scrutiny of the... More »

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Google • Steve Jobs • FCC • Apple • Eric Schmidt • iPhone applications • Federal Communications Commission • App Store • Google Voice

Little People Ask FCC for
Ban on the Word 'Midget'

Group spurred to action by Celebrity Apprentice episode

Jul 6, 09 7:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Little People of America have filed a complaint with the FCC in an attempt to get the word “midget”—which people of exceptionally small stature see as demeaning—banned from broadcast television, Newsday reports. The LPA was moved to action by a segment on NBC’s Celebrity ... More »

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television • FCC • Celebrity Apprentice • advertisements • network television • dwarf • insult

(Newser) - The digital TV switch took place Friday, and you’d be forgiven for missing it. The FCC is patting itself on the back, USA Today reports, because the long-planned, long-delayed switch went off without any major hiccups. By Saturday, the FCC had fielded 315,000 calls from consumers, but that... More »

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television • FCC • digital television • digital broadcasting • digital converter box • digital transition

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today ordered a federal appeals court to consider reinstating a fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, the AP reports. The appeals court had ruled that the glimpse of Jackson’s breast, which lasted nine-sixteenths of a second, should have been considered “... More »

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CBS • FCC • Super Bowl • indecency • Janet Jackson • wardrobe malfunction • US Supreme Court

ANALYSIS

Supreme Court Backs FCC's Profanity Policy

But justices decline to rule on ban's threat to First Amendment

Apr 28, 09 12:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today that the Federal Communications Commission may fine broadcasters for even a single utterance of a curse word, Lyle Denniston writes for SCOTUSblog. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the FCC’s recent switch in policy from discouraging “dirty words” to a stringent... More »

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Antonin Scalia • Hollywood • FCC • curse • profanity • US Supreme Court • swearing

ANALYSIS

Cash Flows to Add Broadband, But Feds Don't Have Plan

FCC has until Feb.; ISPs get stimulus now

Apr 9, 09 12:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Federal Communications Commission is beginning to draw up a plan to deliver broadband internet to every home in the US, the Washington Post reports. But as the FCC accepts public comment and reviews policy in the year it has to draft the plan, broadband providers will be using stimulus... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • FCC • broadband Internet • Michael Copps • economic stimulus package • Obama administration • President Obama • Julius Genachowski

(AP) - The agency that mails out coupons for digital TV converter boxes expects to eliminate its wait list in 2½ weeks, an official said today. Helped by $650 million from the economic stimulus package, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has started to mail out coupons to the 2.3 million... More »

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television • FCC • digital television • digital converter box • coupons

Obama's FCC Pick Brings Reformer Label

Tech adviser Genachowski lauded to lead troubled agency

Mar 4, 09 1:37 PM CST
(Newser) - President Obama has officially named Harvard pal and technical adviser Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission, NPR reports. It’s Genachowski’s second tour—he worked at the FCC during the Clinton administration—and he’s being applauded on both sides of the aisle. Most are hoping the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • FCC • net neutrality • Kevin Martin • Obama administration • Julius Genachowski

Bird-Flipping Globes Could Cost NBC With Feds

Wrestler director Aronofsky's on-air gesture may be worst violation

Jan 15, 09 10:34 AM CST
(Newser) - The decency police are on NBC’s tail for Sunday’s obscenity-speckled Golden Globes. The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing the program after receiving 18 complaints, the Los Angeles Times reports. The most flagrant violation was probably when The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky jokingly flipped off actor Mickey Rourke as... More »

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television • NBC • FCC • indecency • Tina Fey • award show • Communications Decency Act • Golden Globes • network television • Mickey Rourke • Darren Aronofsky

Obama to Name Tech Adviser
as FCC Chair

Genachowski choice praised  by media reform movement

Jan 13, 09 2:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama is expected to announce Julius Genachowski as his FCC chairman, and media reform groups are enthusiastic about the choice, Ars Technica reports. Genachowski served in the FCC during the Clinton administration and in the dot-com industry before becoming Obama’s technology adviser. He helped craft the President-elect’s... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • FCC • diversity • telecommunications • media ownership • Federal Communications Commission • deregulation • President Obama • Julius Genachowski

Obama Wants
to Delay Digital TV Switch

Too many people unprepared, he tells Congress in letter

Jan 8, 09 7:32 PM CST
(Newser) - The push to delay pulling the plug on analog television gained an important convert today: Barack Obama. The president-elect's transition team sent a letter to Congress urging it to push back the Feb. 17 conversion date to all-digital TV, the Los Angeles Times reports. It cited in particular the Commerce... More »

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television • FCC • digital television • analog • digital converter box • President Obama

Prisons Aim to Change Ban on Phone Jamming

Rampant cell use facilitates crimes committed behind bars

Dec 8, 08 11:03 AM CST
(Newser) - Cell phone use is a growing problem among prison inmates, but the obvious solution—signal jamming—is illegal under a 74-year-old federal law. Prisoners can easily smuggle the increasingly tiny handsets, and for the unrepentant among them, “whatever illegal activities you were doing outside, you can continue that uninterrupted,... More »

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cell phones • FCC • prison • cell phone jammers

'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case Bound for Supreme Court

Agency encouraged by Fox obscenity case

Nov 21, 08 2:22 PM CST
(Newser) - The FCC is continuing to push the "wardrobe malfunction" case and has turned to the Supreme Court, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The agency is attempting to have its $550,000 fine reinstated against CBS for Janet Jackson’s disrobing during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. A federal... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FCC • Super Bowl • Billboard Music awards • Janet Jackson • Justin Timberlake • Fox • wardrobe malfunction • US Supreme Court • fine

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