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Pelosi's Fairness Doctrine push could jeopardize Net Neutrality, FCC Commissioner

EDITORIAL

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some of her colleagues from the Left have been talking up restoring The Fairness Doctrine recently.

For those who may not be familiar with the term, The Fairness Doctrine was nothing more than a governmental attempt to regulate the airwaves - radio and television - to make certain that the public hears or sees more than one side of an issue.

Essentially, the legislative teeth in The Fairness Doctrine said that if a radio or television station or program voiced an opinion, then that station or that program was legally obligated to air opposing points-of-view on that program or that station for a fair counter-balance of opinion.

As altruistic as that sounds, many on the right believe The Fairness Doctrine was merely a political tool sought by those from the left who wanted to silence or just reduce the impact from the growing popularity of right-leaning talkradio. The fact that left-leaning talkradio, AirAmerica, for example, failed to attract even a fraction of the kind of audience numbers that right-leaning talk did some say has been another reason for Pelosi's recent push for reinstatement of The Fairness Doctrine. After all, the right said, if the left couldn't compete, then they would try to control.

Advocates for The Fairness Doctrine say that even though major corporations and media conglomerates own most big city radio and television stations, those same companies don't own the frequencies their stations transmit on. The frequencies are owned by We the People, controlled and managed by the U.S. Government on our behalf.

Those who oppose The Fairness Doctrine cite concerns about governmental interference with our nation's Constitutional right to First Amendment Free Speech and don't believe programs like Keith Olbermann's on MSNBC television on the Left and Rush Limbaugh's radio program on the Right have a duty or an obligation or be legislatively forced to surrender their air time to an opposing point-of-view. And those stations who carry their programs across the nation should not be so penalized as well.

And from a business standpoint, air time, whether on radio, television or the Internet, has a finite inventory, only renewable every 24 hours but still maxing out at 24 x 7 week after week. And unlike any other industry, station owners cannot increase their manufacturing capacity beyond that 168 hours per week.

But more importantly, the networks and programs would not be compensated for surrendering that time.

However, what should be on the table of greatest concern is what Pelosi and friends might want to do to those who write for or post comments on the Internet - or to the hosts of those who do. FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell believes the possibility exists for The Fairness Doctrine to be extended beyond radio and television and into the Internet, a fear and concern not necessarily too far-fetched.

For all of its faults and despite those who abuse it, the Internet remains the last frontier of worlwide free thought, speech and opinion . . . a sacrosanct entity that needs to be protected from those with unchecked political motives.

Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Bill Cosby & Anthony Newley

Our nation's rich entertainment history, thanks to the Internet, YouTube & DVDs

This week, a couple of my wife's work friends from recent past drove up from New York City to spend a few days together playing tourist here in Boston. I was invited to join them, but could only connect for dinner Thursday night.

As expected, the conversation was terrific. But Kathleen, a divorced mother of two great kids whom she adores and talks about constantly - - - without boring her friends - - - brought up Jerry Lewis and the fact that she introduced his films to her kids, who loved them enough to want them in their DVD collections. She and I then began talking about our favorite scenes as we each connected the name of the film to that scene.

It was then I happily realized that if not for the Internet, if not for YouTube, DVDs and mothers like Kathleen, our best artists, our best films, would be lost to all subsequent generations. And if we were still living in the world I grew up in where we had to wait for a re-release to the theaters to re-visit them, then those shared moments Kathleen had with her kids would never have been possible.

So, in the spirit of educating subsequent generations, we at [: neon :] will continue to re-introduce the greats from our nation's entertainment past.

The video below is an episode from Hugh Hefner's Playboy after Dark, circa 1969. And uh, forget it, it's Family Rated, with the great Sammy Davis, Jr. front and center as guest, comedian Bill Cosby, songwriter/singer Anthony Newley and two surprise drop-in guests, Rat Pack member Peter Lawford and Jerry Lewis himself, giving us a perfect sense of the "cool and groovy" world of Hollywood at the end of the 1960s. I think there's also a quick shot of another Rat Pack member as well, comedian Joey Bishop.

Oh, and watch for one of them to actually use the word "groovy" in a serious, for-real sentence a couple of times.

Enjoy.

NBC/NFL streaming "Sunday Night Football" over the web? It's about time!

With all of the extras that NBC and the NFL have planned for each game, who could resist?

Yes it's about time, and in more ways than one, but coming sometime this Fall, it looks like you'll be able to watch Sunday Night Football over the web.

NEW YORK -- NBC and the NFL will stream online the complete "Sunday Night Football" season, the first time a complete NFL game has ever been available on the Web in the United States.

"Sunday Night Football Extra," as it's being called, will offer the Al Michaels/John Madden audio stream as well as additional camera angles, the ability to watch multiple video streams and in-game highlights. It will begin with the Thursday night opening night, which will be televised on NBC.

For those of us who see the web not only as the new frontier for programming but as the eventual destination for all programming, and even if it looks like they won't be streaming the games LIVE just yet, we're still thrilled with this programming decision.

However, a key element to successful, online television-style programming is respect for the short form, and no sporting event like Sunday Night Football will fit that mold. But what will work will be the variety of self-controlled, on-demand instant replays and different angles that will be available along with any other fan-centric, fan-controlled video technologies.

Really looking forward to it even though it would be so much better streamed LIVE, but then again, it's such a significant first step, we can live with it for now.

we invite you to email us your comments

Memo to Business & Personal Blackberry Owners: Get thee an iPhone with MobileMe

REVIEW

Cannot believe how functional and cool MobileMe is for our new iPhones.

In the world of the PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) we've bought over the past ten years, from having-no-other-choice-back-then-but-endure three Palms, then one horrific nightmare of a Sony version of the Palm and then one superb HP PDA, we turned to the Blackberry and have been relatively unhappy with it, like 55% ok, 45% not ok.

We're now thrilled and amazed at the ease of the Apple iPhone 2's real-time synchronization through MobileMe - - - and the app certainly kicks all current Blackberries (have not yet tried the Bold) out of contention for business enterprise users.

Imagine this, my friends. You suddenly have to enter an appointment or a task or remember to do something at a date and time certain. No matter what computer you're on at the moment, you log on to your MobileMe web-based site, enter your new data and bam, it automatically adds it to your iPhone in real time - or vice versa, which also means that if you're out in the field and have only your iPhone, you enter your new data on that device and bam, it's automatically transferred to your desktop application, again, in real time.

No more docking and synching, no more trying to figure out which direction to choose for your update (the old Palm) or trying to remember whether you synched or when.

Boom, bam, it's all done for you through and thanks to Apple's MobileMe.

On the darker side, should your Blackberry need repair, for example, and last I checked a couple of months ago, Research in Motion (the Blackberry mfr) has not authorized anyone in the United States to repair a Blackberry, so you can't just drop it off somewhere close by and then pick it up later, fully repaired.

So what do you have to do?

For those of you unfamiliar with Blackberry repair, get this, kids, you have to mail your broken Blackberry to RIM in Canada.

But today I heard that AT&T now sends you a replacement until it's repaired, which was never shared with us back when one of our Blackberry Pearls needed a repair last year. AT&T clearly told us it was between us and Blackberry.

Hey, bottom line is that asking your customers to mail you their valuable telephone for any reason is an inefficient (and stupid) business model that only invites problems, promises to give nothing more than either inept Customer Service or falls intolerably short of reasonable - - - and where no amount of internal corporate reasoning is sufficient to justify the inconvenience and potential risk to/for your customers.

Most importantly, the Blackberry certainly cannot be considered a reasonable business enterprise solution to keep customers like us - - - especially after dealing with Apple.

With the Apple iPhone, you find your nearest Apple retailer, log-online for an appointment at the Genius Bar or do it in-store - - - and then just show up or wait your turn. If it's under warranty, they take it in, fix it and you're on your way. If it's not, they tell you your charges and you make your decision.

Apple's sales, retail and Customer Service paradigms are nonpareil, fancy French for something that has no equal, as in the best.

posted by Head Geek

Memo to Apple: we love our new iPhones, but dump thy partner called AT&T

REVIEW

We braved the lines and we're glad we did . . . so far.

Yup, Mrs. Head Geek and I have been waiting for our respective PDA/Cell Phone needs to be met by a device - and the iPhone 2 seemed to fit the bill for both of us.

So with less than three months left on our Blackberry Pearl AT&T contracts, I studied the Nokia line and the Samsung which Sprint just introduced, neither of which could even come close to the physical or software-resident qualities of the iPhone - - - then we talked with a number of friends who are professionals with AT&T, others we knew in the cellular industry and then some friends at Apple - - - and a decision was made to take the time on Friday to go and buy ourselves a pair of iPhones.

Thankfully, my wife had worked for 10-days straight and despite the pressure she placed on me to be with her @ 8 a.m. yesterday, Friday, we decided (I insisted on) waiting until the afternoon to buy them directly from Apple and not from AT&T.

Needless to say, we're still with AT&T because we have to be, but we're unquestionably waiting for that day when Apple announces the end of their relationship with AT&T - along with the date certain when the iPhones will be permanently unlocked and sold through any carrier worldwide.

Well, that's it, nothing more to report other than finding some minor flaws while using some of Apple's Apps Store programs we downloaded - and my surprise that video streaming from YouTube and MLB.com looked much clearer on my WiFi signal than through the new 3G.

But we sure love our iPhones.

posted by Head Geek

The street: a musician's last (only?) venue

REVIEW

Here in Boston, on our subway called The "T," there was an attempt last year by the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority) to pipe music into the stations, which would have ostensibly driven, forced, left no room for the street musicians that occasionally grace our platforms. But as it turns out, there was such an outcry of support for these musicians, the MBTA scrapped the idea . . . and the musicians stayed.

Continuing on the theme of places for music to be heard and for venues to perform in, the greed and pernicious myopia of General Managers and Program Directors of local radio stations nationwide - especially their Jurassic hesitation to step into the new broadcast technologies of the 21st century - have successfully diminished the importance and impact of  the radio industry, which for years served to both entertain and educate us with an incredible array of musical styles and tastes that were once available across the dial.

And when you consider the ever-shrinking number of local LIVE music clubs/venues still open in cities across America - no longer being supported/patronized as they have been in decades past - it quickly becomes apparent how few places there really are for talented musicians to go to be seen or heard . . except to the street.

So we wanted to pre-showcase this extraordinary musician, not only because he so brilliantly plays the guitar, not only because of his courage and dedication to overcome a seemingly enormous personal challenge - he can only play the guitar with his feet - but because he also inspired us to shine a small spotlight on the cultural damage we're doing to our nation when music's only place to turn . . . is the street.

But then again, and considering the alternative, thank goodness we still have that.

Verizon CEO's FT interview: "Steve Jobs eventually will get old...I like our chances"

REVIEW

Just came across this story with quotes from Verizon's CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, about the iPhone 3G and have to say I'm pretty surprised at how those quotes seem to come off so unprofessionally green-eyed jealous - along with one that seemed so gosh darn mean, especially when we remember that Verizon had first dibs on an original iPhone exclusive but turned it down.

You tell me how you read these comments.

From c/net News.com:

The head of the telecom giant seemed a bit irritated about Apple's march into the mobile phone industry when he answered a question posed by the Financial Times about Apple's chances of reaching the mass market with the iPhone 3G by saying, "There goes the conspiracy again. You're declaring them a winner before they've earned it on the field."

Seidenberg's main contention seems to be that the iPhone isn't a success because it has such a small share of the overall mobile phone market, which is sort of like arguing that GM is more successful than Ferrari because they sell more cars.

Now here comes the mean part, or at least what we feel is mean-spirited in the sense of, it's not what you say, but how you say it?

. . . In any event, the 61-year-old Verizon CEO's plan seems to involve waiting for Apple's 53-year-old CEO to retire.

"Steve Jobs eventually will get old...I like our chances," Seidenberg told the FT.

Dude, if you had done the math right when you first had the chance, you would also understand that you'll be "old" about 8 years ahead of Jobs - and some of us pray that his chances of living a long, healthy and productive life will be far better than Verizon's chances of ever having the class and pride that Jobs has brought Apple.

Can you hear me now?

Posted by Head Geek

With this MetroPCS lock-free decision, line 'em-up, sign 'em up

This is a very good news announcement for fellow consumers - and phone geeks.

From The Associated Press:

MetroPCS Communications Inc. has become the largest U.S. wireless carrier to say it will let customers bring cell phones from other carriers, which it will then reprogram for use on its own network.

. . . Carriers generally sell phones that are locked to their own service. This protects their business model, which is based on subsidizing the cost of the phone by hundreds of dollars, then making that money back on monthly service fees.

MetroPCS's move threatens these traditional rules. It allows customers with certain models of phones from Sprint Nextel Corp., Verizon Wireless, Alltel Corp. and a few other carriers to bring their phones to MetroPCS stores, where they will be reprogrammed.

Kudos to MetroPCS for having the guts to break the costly (to us) monopoly these carriers have insisted on having - and for expecting the new business model to be effectively monetized as to hopefully entice other carriers to see the error of their past ways.

Their 4.4 million subscribers should also be very happy - and whose numbers growth will hopefully show that MetroPCS has hit the next mother lode of revenue streams that were once thought untenable.

To Commemorate Father's Day: how to clean a Men's Urinal - in Japan

One of our favorite tech sites/blogs is Engadget and tonight, well, now it's early Sunday morning, just before hitting the sheets, I came across this video of a men's urinal being cleaned in a public Rest Room somewhere in Japan.

Nothing so special about that, you say.

Au contraire, meatloaf breath, there is something very special, since it's being cleaned automatically by a device the housekeeper rolled up and locked in place, affectionately(?) referred to as the elephant.

My only question was, who does the floor?

Happy Father's Day, Dad. Love you a lot.