Uncategorized Press Releases

Free Press Action Fund Praises Members of Congress Defending Wireless Innovation

Jenn Ettinger — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:44:18 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, a bipartisan letter from 42 members of the House of Representatives urged congressional leadership to keep prime wireless spectrum available for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other innovative new technologies.

Public Interest Groups to Congress: So-Called Reform Bills Would Compound Corporate Influence at the FCC

Jenn Ettinger — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:26:02 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, 45 public interest groups sent a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee opposing two bills that would severely limit the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to promote competition, innovation and access to communications services.

Groups Ask FCC to Require Verizon, SpectrumCo and Cox Communications to Make Agreements Available

Jenn Ettinger — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:18:07 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday, Free Press, the Media Access Project, Public Knowledge and the Greenlining Institute filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission requesting that Verizon, SpectrumCo and Cox Communications make unredacted versions of their joint operating and marketing agreements in their spectrum deals available to parties in the proceeding.

Free Press: FCC Must Address Barriers to Entry in Media Ownership

Jenn Ettinger — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:31:46 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it will solicit ideas for new research on barriers to entry for small businesses and underrepresented groups to participate in the communications and media industries.

After Outcry, ASU Lifts Blocking of Change.org

Jenn Ettinger — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:28:27 -0500

On Friday night, Arizona State University (ASU) responded to thousands of complaints from ASU students and Free Press activists and stopped blocking student access to the popular petition website Change.org.

Free Press Condemns Ongoing Arrests of Journalists at Occupy Protests

Jenn Ettinger — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:51:28 -0500

On Saturday, six journalists, many with press credentials, were arrested when Oakland, Calif. police clashed with Occupy protesters. These arrests bring the total number of journalists detained in Occupy protests nationwide to nearly 50. Free Press has been tracking journalist arrests and press suppression related to the Occupy movement since September.

Free Press Action Fund Praises Rep. Markey's Efforts on Cellphone Transparency

Jenn Ettinger — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:41:26 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Monday, Rep. Ed Markey will introduce a discussion draft of a bill aimed at giving cellphone users more information on the monitoring software that may exist on their phones. The bill would also require disclosure of how any data that software collects is used and shared.

Free Press: NAB Spin Won't Change the Facts About Woeful Election Coverage

Lindsy Embree — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:03:02 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, Free Press released Citizens Inundated, a report examining how the nation's largest broadcasters are profiting from a massive increase in political-ad spending while at the same time cutting back on their news coverage of elections.

New Report Shows Big-Money Politics and Broadcast Media Are Undermining Democracy

Lindsy Embree — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:36:02 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, Free Press released Citizens Inundated, a report that follows the money trail from big-spending political donors to the bank accounts of the nation's largest broadcast companies.

Free Press Action Fund Calls on Congress to Return MPAA’s Dirty Money

Jenn Ettinger — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:08:50 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday, the Free Press Action Fund called on Congress to return campaign donations from the Motion Picture Association of America.

In an interview last week, MPAA President Chris Dodd, a former U.S. senator, threatened to cut off campaign donations to members of Congress who vote against legislation the MPAA supports.

Senate Delays PROTECT IP Vote After Public Outcry

Jenn Ettinger — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:24:27 -0500

WASHINGTON – On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would delay a vote on the PROTECT IP Act. A cloture vote on the controversial legislation had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Craig Aaron, president and CEO of the Free Press Action Fund, made the following statement:

News Corp.’s Admission of Guilt Shouldn’t Fall on Deaf Ears in Washington

Jenn Ettinger — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:35:44 -0500

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, News Corp. admitted to British officials that “senior employees and directors” of the company’s British newspaper division, News Group Newspapers, knew about illegal phone hacking by News of the World staff “and sought to conceal it by deliberately deceiving investigators and destroying evidence.”

Free Press Pleased That the FCC Will Examine Verizon/Cable Pacts

Jenn Ettinger — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:06:45 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, Verizon Wireless, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Bright House Networks announced that they would provide the Federal Communications Commission with copies of the companies' joint marketing agreements to resell each other’s services.

Free Press Blasts AT&T Rate Hikes

Lindsy Embree — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:12:04 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday, AT&T announced that it would raise data prices for new customers by up to 20 percent.

Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner made the following statement:

"AT&T's price increases are becoming more frequent than the dreaded annual cable TV rate hikes.

Free Press Action Fund: Even Without Blocking Provisions, Problems Remain in IP Bills

Jenn Ettinger — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:13:33 -0500

WASHINGTON -- On Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that he has suggested removing a provision from the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that would allow for blocking domain names of websites that illegally post copyrighted content.