Around the Coalition

The Benton Foundation continues to focus on Lifeline Link Up modernization. These low-income support programs of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund are currently under review and the FCC is expected to take action in the next month or two. Contact Amina Fazullah for additional information at amina@benton.org

Center for Media Justice in partnership with MAG-Net, and IDESCPA hosted a hosted a one-day training academy to empower local Southern California leaders with skills development and training.  Betty Yu teamed up with Media Literacy Project to host a discussion about the local independent station Quote…UnQuote and its recent challenges in Albequerque, New Mexico. MAG-Net’s Digital Dialouge  discussed strategies that artists and arts and culture organizations have been using to amplify the growing 99% movement.

The Center for Rural Strategies produced the Rural Broadband Summit & Hearing, October 11-12, 2011, in Whitesburg, Kentucky, co-sponsored by the Center for Media Justice and Free Press. The event featured a day of workshops for rural broadband advocates, followed by a public hearing with Jonathan Adelstein, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service. About 30 rural advocates testified at the public hearing, telling the administrator and other representatives of USDA and the federal Appalachian Regional Commission about the critical need for better broadband availability to address economic, healthcare, education and other needs in rural America. The policy workshops drew participants from five states and the District of Columbia while participants from the Rural Broadband Policy Group, the National Rural Assembly and allies the Central Appalachian Rural Network joined the entire event. For videos of the event and testimonies by the participants, please see the Rural Broadband Tales Campaign.

Free Press is proud to announce the FCC is coming to the Georgia Tech Research Institute on Thursday, Dec. 1, to hear views on how well local media outlets — TV stations, radio stations and newspapers — serve the community. Panelists include FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps, Sage Crump of Black Voices for Internet Freedom, and Joseph Torres, Free Press senior adviser for government and external affairs and is sponsored by Rep. John Lewis. For more information email Libby Reinish at lreinish@freepress.net.

Future of Music Coalition is looking at the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and their current view is to oppose it. FMC is also staying involved in the process around the Senate bill, PROTECT-IP. FMC is also working to bring artists into the debate around noncommercial and public radio funding, making sure that policymakers and fans understand that noncom radio is critical infrastructure for today's music community. FMC will be working with Prometheus Radio and others to assist the FCC in coming up with a final rulemaking for LPFM stations. FMC is part of a high-profile First Amendment case before the Supreme Court regarding the FCC's current indecency policy. their amicus brief was filed jointly with the Center for Creative Voices in Media, thanks to the legal expertise of Media Access Project. In it, they make the case that the FCC's policy is unconstitutionally vague and results in the chilling of creative expression.

Representatives from FMC will be rolling out the data collected in our incredibly successful "Money From Music" survey and Artist Revenue Streams project, which aim to identify how musician and composer income streams have changed in the last decade and where things may be heading. Look for us at various conferences and music festivals, including SXSW. We're also a regular presence in conversations about creative content, policy, technology and law. Our newsletter has all the up-to-date info: http://futureofmusic.org/subscribe

National Federation of Community Broadcasters continues to work with “Microsites” designed to provide more focused resources for Rural, Native American, Latino, African American and Urban service stations. Additionally, NFCB’s “5x5 Model” program (featuring assessment tests, education materials, and progress reports) will be implemented in Beta form. Videos can be found here.

New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative will be advocating for the preservation of television white spaces on the hill for unlicensed use. OTI will also continue to NAF will continue to comment on Lifeline and LinkUp proceedings at the FCC asking to allow program participants to use the subsidy for broadband service,to include community and municipal networks participation in the program, and providing research and evaluation models for broadband adoption pilots. OTI has also submitted a letter to the House Judiciary Committee Opposing HR.3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

UCC OC Inc. has an upcoming webinar on Dec 6  that will focus on Network Neutrality for the Faith community.  UCC OC Inc is also devoting a lot of time the Life Line Link Up proceedings at the FCC. UCC OC Inc is proud of the recent Senate victory to save Net Neutrality rules though they would have liked to have seen Scott Brown of Massachusettes respond more favorably to the letter sent the faith community. UCC OC Inc also spoke at a convening on broadband in DC with UCC Shaw community members.