22 public interest groups roast FCC smutless broadband plan

By: American Decency Staff

he following article comes by way of arc techica http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080729-22-public-interest-groups-roast-fcc-smutless-broadband-plan.html "… almost two dozen advocacy groups from liberal to libertarian do concur on one issue: they hate Federal Communications Commission Chair Kevin Martin's proposal for a national broadband service with the porn filtered out. …"This article shows a list of some of our most liberal and libertarian "friends." CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY & TECHNOLOGY; AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS FOUNDATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION; AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION; PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY FOUNDATION (Full list at bottom) Quoting: Free smutless broadband "… In late June the FCC launched a proceeding on an idea long advocated by M2Z Networks: a free, national wireless broadband service. The proposed system would work its magic way up there in the Advanced Wireless Services area number three region of the spectrum (AWS-3, 2155-2180 MHz). Bidders would compete for the zone in a public auction, then commit to rolling the plan out to 95 percent of the United States over a ten year period at 768Kbps, the FCC's new minimum rate for "high speed" broadband. The provider would make money on the service via ad revenue, paying five percent of its gross annual income to Uncle Sam. The CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) et al filing doesn't have any issues with this. It's the filtering part that's the big problem, the 22 groups say. The FCC's proposal makes it pretty clear how it is supposed to work. The auction winner must provide a feature that "filters or blocks images and text that constitute obscenity or pornography and, in context, as measured by contemporary community standards and existing law, any images or text that otherwise would be harmful to teens and adolescents." The outline defines teens and adolescents as "children 5 through 17 years of age." The CDT filing warns that not only does this plan violate the First Amendment, it repeatedly crosses the Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment in its important indecency rulings. For the entire article see: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080729-22-public-interest-groups-roast-fcc-smutless-broadband-plan.html Personal comments: Generally I would say that when these liberal groups detest some concept, individual, organization or plan, we're for all for it! At any rate, the concept discussed in this article is under serious discussion by the FCC and affiliated movers and shakers. We'll be hearing the various sides debate this in the days ahead. Full list of two dozen advocacy groups from liberal to libertarian that detest FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal for a national broadband service with the porn filtered out CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY & TECHNOLOGY; AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS FOUNDATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION; AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION; ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES; COMPUTER & COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION; DEFENDING DISSENT FOUNDATION; DKT LIBERTY PROJECT; ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION; INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA; NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST CENSORSHIP; NETCHOICE; NETCOALITION; ONLINE PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION; PEACEFIRE.ORG; PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY FOUNDATION; PUBLIC INTEREST SPECTRUM COALITION; REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS; SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION; ADAM THIERER, SENIOR FELLOW, PROGRESS & FREEDOM FOUNDATION; VOICE ON THE NET (VON) COALITION; and WOODHULL FREEDOM FOUNDATION American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org

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