Media Policy News

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Must Reads

This is where you'll find breaking news, press releases, new research and reports and other important materials that can't be missed.

  • A Tumblr blog calling for Arizona State University to unblock the petition website Change.org began circulating the Internet, causing many students to become concerned that their First Amendment rights had been violated. ASU removed access to the site through any University server or email network. The petition was asking for signatures to support lowering the cost of tuition at ASU.

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  • Internet companies and activists showed their growing clout by all but killing two copyright bills that big media websites had pushed. Now, the same players who stopped SOPA and PIPA are trying to work together to further protect their interests. They're finding that may be easier said than done.

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  • AT&T, with its powerful army of lobbyists and years of experience navigating Washington, thought it could easily persuade the government to approve its merger with T-Mobile. But regulators aren't buying it, and the $39 billion deal is facing its biggest threat yet.

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  • FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski dropped an unwelcome Thanksgiving treat on AT&T's lap by announcing he wants an administrative hearing on the carrier's plan to gobble up T-Mobile.

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  • AT&T may be running out of options to win regulatory approval for its proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA, forcing AT&T to choose whether to drop the bid or endure months of litigation with the U.S. government.

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News Headlines

Read the most recent news articles on media reform issues.

  • Between 2011 and 2015, revenue from digital advertising in the United States is expected to grow by 40 percent and to overtake all other platforms by 2016. Yet how much of that growth will go to underwrite news remains in doubt and throws into question the financial future of journalism as audiences continue to migrate online.

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  • The Sun newspaper and the National Union of Journalists have condemned the Metropolitan police for leading a "witch hunt" against tabloid journalism, following another round of arrests this weekend.

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  • Journalists at the Sun newspaper braced for more arrests as the investigation into illegal practices at News International continued to gather pace.

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  • Amid renewed reports of poor working conditions in China at factories making products for Apple and other companies, it's unclear whether users will demand change.

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  • Is AT&T failing to keep its story straight about the need for more spectrum, or is it just that the popping of the spectrum bubble has taken them by surprise as well? Recently the nation’s second largest operator has seemed to back off from some of its more aggressive claims about how fast data traffic was growing.

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  • People have been willing to give away their data while the companies make money. But there is some momentum for the idea that personal data could function as a kind of online currency, to be cashed in directly or exchanged for other items of value. A number of startups allow people to take control — and perhaps profit from — the digital trails that they leave on the Internet.

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  • More than 3,000 Bulgarians rallied in Sofia, kicking off a series of European protests against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom. Rallies were also beginning to get under way elsewhere across Europe against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which was negotiated between the 27-nation European Union and 10 other countries.

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  • Pubcasting networks continue to deal with the uncertainties of state funding in economically and politically precarious times, closing offices, facing possible cuts and bracing for the consequences.

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  • Effective Feb. 12, AT&T will double its upgrade from $18 to $36, a move the company says is necessary to cover overall costs associated with selecting and activating new equipment.

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  • In the wake of Commission's rejection of hundreds of closed-captioning waivers last year, many small television producers are now seeking new waivers for relief from the Commission's television closed-captioning rules.

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