Comment capitalism is ok but politicans are not (Score 2, Insightful) 402
Some people think I'm anti-capitalism. I'm not. I just get upset when congressmen and FCC committee members attempt to mandate corporate expansion of power to secure campaign donations and guarantee corporate careers after their duties as 'representatives of the American people' expire.
The FCC has taken huges leaps in expanding corporate freedoms. Any search of slashdot archives will tell you that, in the past year, The FCC is responsible for: (1) giving broadband cable companies a monopoly by denying competitors access to their lines, (2) ruling that telephone companies can sell names and phone call information to affiliates, creating opt out marketing (Spam), and (3) current debates over broadcast flags that would prevent time shifting and sharing, requiring early adopters to replace their HDTV equipment.
The FCC is dominated by Republicans - 3 to 1 - because Bush is clever (contradiction?) enough not to appoint a Democrat to the vacant 5th seat. Since the committee chair is a Republican, Michael Powell, who has declared that Big Media doesn't need any restrictions, any agenda he dictates will become Republican agenda. He is guaranteeing for himself a fat paycheck from Hollywood after his low-paying job in the FCC is over.
Does anyone else feel that the FCC needs some drastic reform to ensure that the committee is turuely "independent" as it is officially touted?
The FCC has taken huges leaps in expanding corporate freedoms. Any search of slashdot archives will tell you that, in the past year, The FCC is responsible for: (1) giving broadband cable companies a monopoly by denying competitors access to their lines, (2) ruling that telephone companies can sell names and phone call information to affiliates, creating opt out marketing (Spam), and (3) current debates over broadcast flags that would prevent time shifting and sharing, requiring early adopters to replace their HDTV equipment.
The FCC is dominated by Republicans - 3 to 1 - because Bush is clever (contradiction?) enough not to appoint a Democrat to the vacant 5th seat. Since the committee chair is a Republican, Michael Powell, who has declared that Big Media doesn't need any restrictions, any agenda he dictates will become Republican agenda. He is guaranteeing for himself a fat paycheck from Hollywood after his low-paying job in the FCC is over.
Does anyone else feel that the FCC needs some drastic reform to ensure that the committee is turuely "independent" as it is officially touted?
