News

WASHINGTON — Four major consumer and public-interest groups today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the balance between copyright and technological innovation from the 1984 Sony Betamax case that allowed use of video recorders.

WASHINGTON — Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform group, today petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to turn down Media General’s request to avoid FCC ownership rules. Media General is seeking a waiver that would allow it to operate a television station and newspaper in the same market indefinitely.

WASHINGTON — In an open letter released today, more than 60 national, state and local organizations - representing hundreds of thousands of Americans - declared their support for allowing municipalities and other public entities to deploy broadband systems.

Free Press, the national, non-partisan media reform group, warned today that two identical bills being introduced in the Arizona legislature would tie the hands of local governments in negotiating with monopoly cable providers across the state. They would strip millions from the budgets of local government and eliminate some of the state’s only outlets for community programming.

WASHINGTON – More than two dozen leading Low Power FM (LPFM) broadcasters and advocates will converge at the Federal Communications Commission and on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, February 8, 2005, to both celebrate the five-year anniversary of the FCC’s historic LPFM rulemaking and to push for policies to strengthen and expand the service.

On the fifth anniversary of the approval of Low Power FM radio licensing by the Federal Communications Commission, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced the Local Community Radio Act of 2005. The bill would allow hundreds of new low-power community stations across the country to begin broadcasting. Robert W.

Imagine a free wireless networking system that any municipality, company, or group of neighbors could easily set up themselves.

WASHINGTON – Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform group, today launched the official Web site of the 2005 National Conference on Media Reform and opened general registration for the event. The conference, which will be held May 13-15 at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis, will bring together several thousand people working to create a more democratic media system.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission is expected to announce today that the U.S. Solicitor General will not appeal the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Prometheus Radio Project vs. Federal Communications Commission to the Supreme Court. That decision threw out the FCC rules issued in June 2003 that would have significantly loosened media ownership caps.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday morning that Michael Powell is resigning after four years as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Robert W. McChesney, founder and president of the nonpartisan media reform group Free Press, made the following statement: