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from: Internetnews.scom

September 21, 2006
Telecom Reform Hopes Fading
By Roy Mark

WASHINGTON -- Telecom reform is dead in the U.S. Senate -- until at least a November lame duck session, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said today.

Blame it on network neutrality, he added.

With the Senate planning a Sept. 29 adjournment for the fall elections, Stevens told a packed luncheon sponsored by the Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF), "It [telecom reform] obviously can't be done before the recess."

From: Michigan Municipal League

Issue Advisory

SUCCESS! LOCAL OFFICIALS STOP CABLE FRANCHISE VOTE
September 21, 2006

To: Mayor/President, City Manager, City Commission & Cable Commission:

Issue:
In a huge victory, local officials stopped a full House vote on HB 6456, sponsored by Rep. Mike Nofs (R-Battle Creek) early Thursday morning. After hundreds of phone calls and letters by local leaders, the legislature decided to wait until after the November election to continue discussions on this bill. Local officials were going head-to-head with big phone companies (AT&T and Verizon) and big cable companies (Comcast and Charter).

from: Market Watch

Senate commerce chairman still pushing for telecom bill

By Siobhan Hughes
Last Update: 4:32 PM ET Sep 21, 2006

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, on Thursday said that he won't alter a major telecommunications bill in order to increase the chances of passage before the November elections.

from: Light Reading

Lawyers: Video Franchise Law Won't Make It

SEPTEMBER 21, 2006

Attorneys representing Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO - message board), Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG - message board), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - message board), and the Center for Democracy and Technology say the issue of network neutrality has all but spiked a new telecom bill -- and the likelihood that we'll see a national video franchise system rolled out this year.

from: Consumer Affairs

Net Neutrality Opponents Step Up PR Blitz
Telco Tubbies Dust off their Disinformation Machines

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

September 20, 2006

In the face of an unexpected grassroots campaign to support the principle of equal Internet access for all, telecommunications and cable firms are pulling out all the stops to ensure that legislation supporting their desires gets through Congress this year.

from: Technology Daily

McCain: Telecom Bill Not Dead Yet

By Heather Greenfield

(Wednesday, September 20) Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told technology company leaders that a major telecommunications bill is not dead and could see Senate floor action in a lame-duck session.

Note: We have three weeks to go in this Senate session before the lame duck session after the elections, let's make sure this period is a telecom bill wake.

from: Technology Daily

Budget Office Pegs Bill Cost At $5.2 Billion

By David Hatch

(Tuesday, September 19) The Senate telecommunications bill would increase U.S. government spending by $5.2 billion from 2007 to 2016, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in a just-released report. During that period, however, U.S. Treasury revenue would grow by $5 billion, the report predicts.

from: DSL Reports

Senate Commerce Committee Now a Telco/Cable PR Firm
Push polls, misleading net-neutrality astroturf-flyers....

Written by Karl Bode

Editorial:"A new bipartisan poll released today finds that an overwhelming majority of American voters favor video choice over onerous "Net Neutrality" regulations," states a press release by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. While bi-partisan it may be, honest it is not.

If you are located in Michigan, you should call your State House Representatives today and tell them to support the positions of the Michigan Municipal League on Bill HB 6456.

from: The Michigan Municipal League

State & Federal Affairs Division
Action Alert

Urgent Message on Telecommunications Legislation:
Your Calls Are Needed on Amendments!!!

House Committee Expected to Vote on HB 6456 this Morning, Entire House May Vote Later Today

from: The Nation

Replaced by a Chimp: Life After Net Neutrality

by JEFFREY CHESTER

[posted online on September 19, 2006]

Despite growing opposition, Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens appears determined to pass his telecom giveaway bill this year. If Stevens and his pals in the telecom and cable industries prevail, expect the free flow of online content to be replaced by corporate infotainment like Anheuser-Busch's lowbrow broadband Bud-TV.