The FCC (Part Two). On the death of competition.
Unf*cking The Republic
UNFTR Media
4.9 • 683 Ratings
🗓️ 8 October 2022
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In our first installment of the two-part FCC series we discussed the origins of the Federal Communications Commission, the reason it came into existence and the tension between its charge and the First Amendment. Our story resumes with a nod to the Chicago School, the one-two punch of the Reagan and Clinton administrations to deliver a death blow to media competition in the United States and the recent history of net neutrality. Let’s fucking go.
Chapters
Intro: 00:01:56
Chapter One: The Coase Theorem. 00:03:08
Chapter Two: Reagan and Clinton. 00:10:28
Chapter Three: Title II and Net Neutrality. 00:25:25
Chapter Four: Bring it home, Max. 00:37:22
Post Show Musings: 00:42:14
Book Love: 00:53:17
Outro: 00:54:02
Resources
Steven G. Medema: “Failure to Appear”: The Use of the Coase Theorem in Judicial Opinion
European Council On Foreign Relations: Network effects: Europe’s digital sovereignty in the Mediterranean
Brookings: Was the 1996 Telecommunications Act successful in promoting competition?
USTelecom: Research
Community Networks: Community Network Map
Berkman Klein Center: Community-Owned Fiber Networks: Value Leaders in America
Vice: A Community-Run ISP Is the Highest Rated Broadband Company in America
Tristin Esfandiari: The FCC Threatens Free Speech
Open Secrets: Ajit Pai Employment History
FCC: FCC Releases Restoring Internet Freedom Order
FCC: Biography of Former Chairman Ajit Pai
Public Knowledge: We Already Knew Broadband Should Be A Public Utility. The Pandemic Made It Obvious.
Congress.gov: S.4676 - Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act of 2022
Electronic Frontier Foundation: New Proposal Brings Us a Step Closer to Net Neutrality
Ed Markey: Communications Act Bill
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Today’s Net Neutrality Order is a Win, with a Few Blemishes
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Today—and Every Day—We Fight to Defend the Open Internet
Searchlight Capital: Investments
Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University: 2 Live Crew
Book Love
Steven J. Simmons: The Fairness Doctrine and the Media
Brian J. Karem: Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It
Ken Auletta: Backstory: Inside the Business of News
Bernard Harcourt: The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | UNFTR. |
| 0:05.0 | And there are certain things, messages which are allowed to get out, and there are certain messages |
| 0:09.6 | which are not. |
| 0:10.6 | And the class issue, you can talk about the environment, you can talk about the desire for peace, |
| 0:14.4 | you can talk about opposition to contra aid. |
| 0:17.0 | But if you get on the air and you say, I'm sympathetic, not if you get on the air, but if |
| 0:20.2 | you're a public official, I'm sympathetic to the Sandinista government. |
| 0:22.9 | I think it was right. They made their revolution. They're trying to do the right thing. No good. |
| 0:26.9 | There are probably three people in the entire United States Congress who would hold that for you. |
| 0:30.1 | You can be against contrary. That's legitimate, okay? But you can't be pro-Sandinista, and you can't. But the real bottom line of all these things is the |
| 0:38.3 | classician. That's the one that they're very, very sensitive about. Wealth and power, who controls |
| 0:44.1 | the world, who owns the world. There was an interesting article. Of course, it doesn't make the |
| 0:48.5 | mass meter either. It was a study that came out that shows one half of one percent of the |
| 0:52.9 | American population now owns |
| 0:54.8 | 45 percent of the wealth. |
| 0:57.5 | 10 percent own 83 percent of the wealth. |
| 0:59.7 | Now, you're not going to hear that talked about. |
| 1:01.7 | But it means after all of a sudden, none, a few got it all. |
| 1:03.6 | They own every goddamn thing. |
| 1:05.0 | The media is becoming tighter and tighter. |
| 1:06.5 | Gannett owns now 91 daily newspapers. |
| 1:09.3 | Okay? |
... |
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