“Free press” on The Daily Caller

Despite enormous political pressure from congressional Democrats and the progressive netroots, the FCC isn’t making any moves to regulate the Internet. At least, not this month. (more)

The advocacy group Free Press is inviting Twin Cities residents to turn out on Thursday for what it calls a public hearing on the “future of the Internet.”  But Free Press won’t be talking about how to bring you a faster connection, or how to bring high-speed Internet to the rural and urban communities that it doesn’t reach today.  Instead, the event is going to be a pep rally for imposing new, and to say the least, peculiar, regulations on the broadband Internet, under the name “net neutrality.” (more)

Two days after The Daily Caller requested comment from Free Press for a story about the group’s violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the pro-net neutrality nonprofit that has repeatedly criticized the FCC for its opaque dealings with the telecommunications industry finally decided to respond. (more)

Free Press, the public face of the net neutrality movement, is a moral see-saw when it comes to transparency. (more)

This is the first piece in a two-part series (more)

“Don’t call it astroturfing.” (more)

Late last month, lobbyists for the pro-net neutrality movement began circulating a letter [PDF] on Capitol Hill demanding the immediate passage of a law that would allow the FCC to regulate Internet broadband. The letter, sponsored by media reformist groups Free Press and the Nonprofit Technology Network, featured over 160 signatories, among them the Dr. Pepper Museum, Planned Parenthood of North Texas, and Operation Catnip, a spay-and-neuter clinic in Gainesville, Florida. (more)

Consumers who don’t want neo-Marxists and big government types determining where and how they get their news can breathe a small sigh of relief: Free Press, the anti-capitalist media reform group that has infiltrated the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, is on a mission to burn every bridge it built between the anti-capitalist ideology of Robert McChesney and a once-sympathetic Obama administration. (more)

Today, the Federal Communications Commission unveils its plan to regulate the Internet. The details are uncertain, but regardless of whether the FCC’s Internet takeover scheme is simply bad or outright horrendous, the move marks something significantly more important: the FCC has gone completely rogue. Hijacked by pronounced socialist organizations, the Commission is bucking strong opposition from the courts, U.S. Congress, and American public in a ruthless pursuit to regulate the Internet. (more)

The Supreme Court’s landmark 5-4 decision earlier this year in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which upheld the right of corporations to make certain independent election expenditures, brought Democrats together for one overriding purpose: curbing the effects of the ruling. (more)

“Only government can implement policies and subsidies to provide an institutional framework for quality journalism.” Does that statement give you chills? (more)

Last week, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) gave a keynote speech before a crowd of Internet regulation supporters and stated some amusing falsehoods about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) attempt to take over the Internet. At a summit held by the organization Free Press, Sen. Dorgan claimed that the government developed the Internet, established the rules underpinning net neutrality when it created the Internet, and that the attempt by the FCC to takeover the management of networks is not a government takeover. (more)

In the loud echoing outcry for net neutrality regulation over the years, there has always remained some voice of reason even if it was a low murmur. That voice has remained constant and consistent in its concerns regarding the infrastructure market. As the drum beats have grown louder in the recent months for regulation, examples of concerns over stifled investment in broadband infrastructure have increased: (more)

As the paragon of technological and business innovation, the Internet has been the most significant generator of economic wealth in America over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, fringe groups seeking to stifle creativity in a blizzard of government red tape are now threatening this economic engine. These groups want the government to federalize the Internet and nationalize innovation. (more)

Google has just announced that they will now begin factoring page speed in their search algorithm rankings.  That means the faster a website loads, the higher up they show up in Google searches.  Sluggish sites on the other hand will be knocked down the search rankings even if they have the most relevant information.  While I believe that Google’s latest actions are rational and that it serves consumer interests since no one wants a slow results, it does raise an interesting dilemma for “Network Neutrality” advocates who propagate the myth that all websites should operate at the same speed. (more)

America’s communications industry comprises, like health care, roughly one-sixth of our economy. Unlike health care, however, which required majorities in Congress for sweeping new regulations, the Federal Communications Commission believes it can take over the communications system with just three votes of an unelected commission. (more)

Free Press is asking the FCC to consider a number of changes to the NPRM Net Neutrality regulations which they claim will “promote investment”. But once we examine their proposal in detail, we find that it will produce just the opposite and devastate the U.S. economy. Not only would Free Press preclude broadband providers from innovative new business models and economic opportunities, they would substantially undermine their existing business models and revenue streams. Yet despite all this, Free Press insists that their proposals would not deter broadband companies from investing money but that it would spur new dotcom investments at the edges of the network. (more)

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There is little question that the era of print is over.  Witness Amazon sales of Kindle books outstripping print volumes on Christmas. The launch of this site, while newspapers like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Christian Science Monitor eliminate their print editions, is further proof that the market has moved on. (more)