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From Roll Call

Stevens Makes Big Telecom Bill Push

August 2, 2006
By Tory Newmyer,
Roll Call Staff

The first major overhaul of telecommunications laws in a decade appears to be sinking in the quicksand of election-year politics.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), is racing to round up enough support for the measure to clear the 60-vote hurdle set by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) before granting the measure floor time. But the Alaska Republican is running into resistance in his own ranks - including from GOPers locked in tough reelection races.

from: Light Reading

AT&T's Whitacre: 'Nobody Gets a Free Ride'

AUGUST 01, 2006

AT&T Inc. CEO Ed Whitacre spoke to state utilities regulators in San Francisco Tuesday on a variety of subjects, but the one topic he seemed to want to block out was the issue of network neutrality.

Whitacre spoke to a crowd of about 500 state regulators at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) annual meeting. The chair of that group’s telecommunications committee, Tony Clark mixed his metaphors thoroughly, calling network neutrality the “800-pound gorilla in the room” after Whitacre’s speech.

Despite some rumors circulating on blogger sites - nothing is expected to happen this week in the Senate concerning the Steven's Video Franchise Bill.

from: Broadcasting & Cable

No Floor Vote Scheduled for Franchise Bill

By John Eggerton -- 8/1/2006

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has not scheduled a floor vote this week for the video franchise bill, and is "highly unlikely to" given the already crowded schedule, according to a source close to the Leader's office.

from: Willamette Week

TheirSpace

The attack on "net neutrality" threatens your favorite porn, politics or people-gazing website.

BY FIONA MORGAN

John D. Rockefeller realized 135 years ago that the way to control the oil market was to control the transport of oil. So in 1871, he colluded with the railroad industry to form a cartel called the South Improvement Company.

Note; You can download the complete ACLU Complaint at < http://efile.mpsc.cis.state.mi.us/efile/docs/14985/0001.pdf

from: Detroit news

ACLU battles AT&T, Verizon

Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News

from: The Huffington Post

Bad Karma for Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg

Matt Stoller

The entrenched corruption in our political system couldn't happen without a correspondingly corrupt attitude in our corporate boardrooms. The modern business PAC system started in the late 1970s, and I don't think it's a coincidence that corporate power began its (renewed) ascendence in the 1980s. Bribery is bribery, even if it's legal.

from: iHotDesk

US senator ready to confront 'tubes' jibes

US Senator Ted Stevens shouted down another member of the house during the week and claimed the internet was nothing but a series of tubes.

The senator happens to be on the Senate Commerce Committee which has a great deal of influence over IT and internet legislation. Unsurprisingly he has come in for a great deal of mocking for his comments.

from: MultiChannel News

FCC: Telcos Outpaced Cable in Broadband Adds

By Karen Brown7/27/2006 3:55:00 PM

Broadband connections are booming, but there are indications that telco broadband players are outpacing cable operators in the rush to sign up new subscribers, according to the latest six-month status report issued by the Federal Communications Commission.

from: Technology Daily

Stevens 'Very Close' To Votes Needed For Senate Telecom Bill

By David Hatch

(Thursday, July 27) Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, expressed confidence that he would reach the 60-vote threshold of support necessary to stave off delaying tactics and move his sweeping telecommunications overhaul measure to the Senate floor.

from: Broadcasting and Cable

Franchise Bill May Have Its 60 Votes

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/27/2006

Lengthening odds on a telecom bill be-darned, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) told reporters Thursday that he thinks he has the 60 votes he needs to pass a franchise streamlining bill, and one without network neutrality.