Key net-neutrality advocates oppose Genachowski's plan

FCCs Open Internet proposal heading for defeat?
Conservatives have kept a close eye on Julius Genachowski, chair of the FCC, especially after his first attempt to regulate the Internet by regulatory decree got slapped down by Congress.  Now it looks like the chastened Genachowski has lost the Left, too.  His scaled-down “Open Internet” proposal had no chance of winning support from the conservatives on the FCC board, and his Net Neutrality allies are urging the Democrats on the panel to oppose it as well: Opposition to Federal...

SavetheInternet.com 'Can-You-Hear-Us-Now-a-Thon' Delivers 2 Million Petitions to FCC
Source: freepress.net/press-release SavetheInternet.com ‘Can-You-Hear-Us-Now-a-Thon’ Delivers 2 Million Petitions to FCC FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: December 13, 2010 Contact: Craig Aaron 202-265-1490 x 25 Jenn Ettinger 202-265-1490 x 35 WASHINGTON -- SavetheInternet.com Coalition allies and Activists kicked off a marathon of petition deliveries at the Federal Communications Commission on Monday morning — with plans to drop off 50,000 signatures every hour until the public comment period cl

Regulators Concerned About What Comcast-NBC Merger Means For The Internet
Here's hoping Waxman manages to plug up the worst Loopholes before this deal gets rammed through, because they're right: the future of the Internet will be greatly affected by this Merger. Is there no merger too large that the Justice Department won't rubberstamp? .Although there has been a lot of talk in media circles about what Comcast's ownership of NBC Universal would mean for viewers' choice of news and entertainment, the two branches of the Federal Government reviewing the merger — ...

Upton Wants FCC to Expedite Review of Comcast, NBC Merger
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski dated December 10, U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-MI) inquired into the FCC’s commitment to a fair, fact-driven review of the Comcast-NBC Universal Merger. The merger would call for the transfer of assets to a new Joint Venture for NBC Universal.  The Joint Venture combines NBC and Telemundu as well as 26 NBC television stations and national Cable Networks with Comcast’s regional sports networks and ...

Level 3 Feigns Net Neutrality Violation in Contract Dispute
Internet company Level 3 recently claimed that Comcast, in violation of Net Neutrality principles, was attempting to impose a new “toll” against Level 3 to deliver online movies on behalf of its client, Netflix.  This dispute comes at a time when the Federal Communications Commission is currently in process of codifying its ‘net neutrality’ principles into law. After undergoing a competitive bid process, Level 3 was selected to house and distribute the majority of Ne...

Harry Reid to bring START to Senate floor - Shira Toeplitz
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to bring both the START Treaty and the continuing resolution to fund the Federal Government to the floor Wednesday, despite continued Protests from senior Republican leadership that the treaty should wait until the next Congress. Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the Senate will begin debate on the START treaty, meanwhile juggling a continuing resolution for funding the government, a process known as dual tracking in which the Senate can consider ...

Holbrooke, U.S. Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Dies at 69
The Obama Administration has lost its hard-nosed point man in trying to bring the Afghanistan conflict and Pakistan's fight against Terrorists to successful conclusions as Af-Pak special Envoy Richard Holbrooke died Monday. Holbrooke had fallen ill Friday at the State Department and rushed into 20 hours of emergency surgery for a torn aorta. Visitors to his bedside over the weekend included Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen. Holb...

Comcast, the biggest cable company in Bay Area and nation, looks to get bigger
WASHINGTON -- Comcast is by far the biggest pay-TV provider in the Bay Area. It controls TV rights to Giants, A's, Sharks and Warriors games. Many of its customers also sign up for high-speed Internet service. And the company, if it has its way, is about to get a whole lot bigger. In a deal valued at $30 billion that was announced a year ago but has received scant attention outside the nation's capital, Comcast is attempting to buy a majority share of NBC Universal. The Merger would give the nat...

Comcast, the biggest cable company in Bay Area and nation, looks to get bigger
WASHINGTON -- Comcast is by far the biggest pay-TV provider in the Bay Area. It controls TV rights to Giants, A's, Sharks and Warriors games. Many of its customers also sign up for high-speed Internet service. And the company, if it has its way, is about to get a whole lot bigger. In a deal valued at $30 billion that was announced a year ago but has received scant attention outside the nation's capital, Comcast is attempting to buy a majority share of NBC Universal. The Merger would give the nat...

Bernie Sanders: Block the Comcast Takeover of NBC Universal, Would Create Anti-Competitive Media Monopoly
Warning that a huge media monopoly would drive up Cable Television prices and stifle the free flow of information, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged the Department of Justice to block Comcast's planned takeover of NBC Universal.   The senator's concerns about the Comcast-NBC deal were detailed in a letter that he sent to Christine Varney, the assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust division at the Department of Justice. "Especially in an age of entrenched corporate power...

Al Franken Holds His Nose And Votes For Obama's 'Bad Policy'
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) voted to end debate on the Bush Tax Cut Compromise yesterday, but he's not happy about it. In a strongly-worded statement sent to his supporters today, Franken pokes at President Obama for negotiating the deal, which he called "bad policy." "A lot of people are unhappy that the President punted on first down, and I'm one of them," Franken wrote in the message to supporters. "Extending the Bush Tax Breaks for the super-wealthy will explode our Deficit over the next two ye...

Video: Seton Motely With The Best Explanation Of Net Neutrality That Ive Seen
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No film commission incentives for you!
Noted for the record. The Texas Film Commission has denied incentives for “Machete,” the Controversial Immigration-related feature film from Robert Rodriguez’s Austin-based Troublemaker Studios. In a brief, formal letter dated Dec. 1 and released Wednesday by Katherine Cesinger , a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, the Texas Film Commission cited part of a state code that says requests for film incentives can be denied “because of inappropriate content or content that po...

RNC Chair Michael Steele Reportedly to Step Down
The National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Michael Steele speaks during RNC Election Night Results Watch event in Washington, D.C., Nov. 2, 2010. (Credit: Getty Images) Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who has polarized members of the GOP in two years at the helm, will likely announce Monday that he's not seeking another term in the office, according to reports. Both Fox News and Politico.com reported that Steele was "expected" to announce his Resignation ...

Rivals lining up to run against Republican National Committee chief
Reporting from Washington — As the GOP focuses on unseating President Obama in 2012, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's chances of keeping his job are slipping away, according to present and former party officials. The chairman's main task in the coming year is to provide a strong financial footing for the campaign. But Steele's difficulties with raising and spending money are among the reasons some committee members want new leadership when his term expires next mo...

Senate spending bill contains thousands of earmarks (AP)
WASHINGTON – The spending barons on Capitol Hill, long used to muscling past opponents of bills larded with pet projects, are seeking one last victory before Tea Party-backed GOP Insurgents storm Congress intent on ending the good old days of pork-barrel politics. You might call it the last running of the old bulls in Congress. In the waning days of the Lame Duck congressional session, Democrats controlling the Senate — in collaboration with a handful of old school Republicans &mda...;

Republican candidates flood Senate primaries
Just one month into the 2012 election cycle, the surge in contested Republican primaries that was one of the dominant storylines of the last election shows no signs of abating. Already, primaries are forming for some of the GOP's most targeted Senate seats, including Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and Virginia. Whether this year's primaries will prove as harmful as those in 2010 -- when weaker nominees emerged in places like Delaware and Nevada -- won't be known for quite some time. Increasingly, t...

Anti-Steele heavyweight endorses Priebus in RNC race
Washington (CNN) - A day after Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele confounded his critics by announcing that he will seek re-election, one of his biggest foes threw his weight behind the Candidate thought to have the best chance of replacing Steele atop the committee. Former New Jersey committeman David Norcross, something of a ringleader within the RNC's anti-Steele crowd, co-authored a message Tuesday to the committee's 168 members endorsing Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Prie...

RNC Chairman Michael Steele Announces Re-Election Bid
ABC News' Michael Falcone reports: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele announced on Monday that he will run for another term as head of the RNC, setting up what is sure to be one of the toughest fights of his Political Career. Steele broke his public silence after more than a month, confirming in a Conference Call with members of the RNC that he would be seeking re-election after a tumultuous two-year term. He kept his intentions a closely-guarded secret and his decision...

Steele to run for second term as RNC head
RNC Chairman Michael Steele, shown on Nov. 2, 2010, in Washington. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele told party officials in Washington Monday he will seek a Second Term. Steele made his plans known during a Conference Call with RNC members late Monday, The Hill reported. Citing prepared remarks, the Capitol Hill publication quoted Steele as saying he merits re-election because the GOP captured the House and gained seats in...

What the RNC race could look like - Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen
Michael Steele’s decision on whether to seek another term as Republican National Committee Chairman will finally offer a measure of clarity to a race that so far has been marked by uncertainty. But, equally important, it could put an end to an ongoing drama that has cast a shadow over the leadership of the ascendant GOP. Steele is expected to disclose his plans during a conference call Monday evening with the 168-member party committee, and multiple GOP sources indicate that he’s ...

GOP chairman Steele decides to run for re-election
WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 14: (FILE PHOTO) Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele holds a news conference to announce the party's new campaign, "Listen To Me!" at the RNC headquarters December 14, 2009 in Washington, DC. Its been reported that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele will announce tonight that he is running for re-election for his chair December 13, 2010. (Getty Images North America WASHINGTON — Embattled Republican Party chairman Michael Steele an...

In surprise, RNC head Steele seeks another term
WASHINGTON — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele launched a fight to keep his job Monday, stunning many in the party who had expected him to step aside. His decision means Republicans will be debating the record of their first African-American chairman next month at the moment the new GOP-controlled House is being sworn in. Steele and Republican congressional leaders have been at odds in the past and a bruising internecine fight could become an unwelcome distraction. Nea...

Steele stuns by running for re-election
Despite facing intense criticism from within his own party, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele told members of the party committee Tuesday night that he would mount a campaign for another two-year term atop the GOP. Steele, breaking a month-long silence about his intentions, acknowledged that he had “stumbled along the way” during the Conference Call with members of the RNC's 168-member governing board. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 But in a ...

Sestak tours state, thanking supporters
Jamie Pesotine / Times-Shamrock Joe Sestak thanks members of the Carbon County Democratic Committee on Saturday in Nesquehoning. His campaign for U.S. Senate is over, but Congressman Joe Sestak is still on a whirlwind tour of Pennsylvania. He's speaking with the members of local Democratic committees and shaking hands with supporters. This time, the Delaware County native and retired Navy admiral is on a campaign to personally thank the voters who supported him in his unsuccessful run for electi...