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This is good news, the first state franchise bill to fall by a veto from a governor. Should the telco bills stall in Congress we'll see more action like this at the state level. The LA Governor's statement can be downloaded at: http://www.legis.state.la.us/archive/06rs/veto/hb699v.pdf

LA Governor vetoes cable bill, few appropriations

from: MultiChannel News

Bass Aide: No Telecom Bill in 2006
By Ted Hearn7/11/2006 7:30:00 PM

Newport, R.I. -- Sharp policy disputes and election-year time constraints mean that a major telecommunications bill will not pass Congress in 2006, an aide to Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) said Tuesday.

From: Free Press: See the Senate Map

MediaCitizen by Timothy Karr

Senator Stevens' Bill to Nowhere

Stevens' bill is the Senator's wink to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. For the rest of us, it's his bill to nowhere. It needs to be overhauled, or stopped dead in its tracks.

SavetheInternet.com today launched our Senate Map, which tracks where all 100 senators stand on Internet freedom.

from: Channel 3000

Reality Check: Who's Behind TV Ads About Cable Prices
Group Called "Puppet Of AT&T"

UPDATED: 12:24 pm CDT July 11, 2006

MADISON, Wis. -- A multi-million dollar television advertising campaign is aiming to sway the public and lawmakers to change telecommunications policy.

from: National Journal

The Tangled Net Of 'Net Neutrality'

By Drew Clark

(Friday, July 7) Sometimes it seems that Ed Whitacre has a hard time controlling the words that come out of his mouth.

Last year, the telecommunications titan from San Antonio had carefully paved the way for his company, SBC Communications, to take over AT&T in what was a once-inconceivable reunion of the mother company and her offspring.

from: Technology Daily

Federal Judge Takes Hard Look At Telecom Mega-Mergers

By Drew Clark

(Monday, July 10) The long shadow of the Justice Department's prosecution of Microsoft could ensnare AT&T's efforts to acquire another Bell firm -- BellSouth -- as a federal judge late last week sought to aggressively investigate last year's telecommunications mega-mergers.

Note: Even more interesting is that Sen. Stevens is retiring after this term of office. One wonders what all these campaign contributions are for?

from: MediaPost

Special Report

Does Rupert Murdoch's DIRECTV Own Sen. Ted Stevens?
The powerful lawmaker pushes for an anti-cable TV provision after being showered with oddly timed campaign contributions from Murdoch employees.

from: MSNBC

How Washington will shape the Internet
The Web was the Wild West — until the sheriff rode into town

By Michael Rogers
Columnist
Special to MSNBC

Updated: 11:21 a.m. ET July 11, 2006

The most potent force shaping the future of the Internet is neither Mountain View’s Googleplex nor the Microsoft campus in Redmond. It’s rather a small army of Gucci-shod lobbyists on Washington’s K Street and the powerful legislators whose favor they curry.

from: Multichannel News

Making Book on the Bells’ Promises
By Kent Gibbons, Executive Editor 7/10/2006

In a bid to influence the Telecom Act rewrites underway in Congress, author Bruce Kushnick made his latest “e-book” available to be downloaded for free the week of June 20.

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Telecomweb news break

July 6, 2006 Thursday

Communications Reform Bill Gets Fast Tracked

In a rarely seen legislative maneuver, the sweeping communications reform bill recently approved by a key Senate committee (TelecomWeb news break, June 30) has been re-designated as a House of Representatives proposal, ostensibly to accelerate the floor voting process during this Congressional session.