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July Newsletter: New Media Rights takes on the Future of Media Report and AT&T T-Mobile merger

Our July newsletter focuses on New Media Rights work on the Future of Media Report as well as our comments to the California Broadband Council on consumers need for them to set higher goals. Check out New Media Rights in the media, our take on YouTube rolling out Creative Commons Licenses and remix artist Kirby Ferguson's work.

CPUC AT&T T-Mobile merger Public Hearings and Workshops

Here are the various opportunities you have to share your comments on the proposed AT&T T-Mobile merger. This merger would have widely detrimental effects on all cell phone and landline consumers by raising prices, eliminating competition and jobs in the telecom market.

New Media Rights responds to the FCC Future of Media Report

We've now had a chance to read the recent FCC Future of Media Report. In May of 2010 we filed comments in the FCC's Future of Media "Untitled" by Flickr user Paul Goyette shared under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) License proceeding, a proceeding that asked for opinion on everything from journalism to open standards on the internet. While many of the findings and statements do reflect how we believe media is transforming in America, the report lacks specific goals and recommendations. 

Here's our thoughts on the future of media, and goals and recommendations that will help us achieve a better future for media in this country.

New Media Rights calls on California Broadband Council to set higher goals: inclusiveness, openness, and expanded definitions of digital literacy

On June 22, 2011, New Media Rights' Director Art Neill offered the following comments to the California Broadband Council. The comments suggested additional workgroups, an expanded definition of digital literacy, making all data and materials produced by the Council public domain or openly licensed, as well as observations on challenges with the Comcast's FCC mandated reduced price low-speed internet service.

Youtube offers of one out of six Creative Commons licenses, sends mixed messages

New Media Rights offers legal help to creators on the use of Creative Commons licenses. We were interested to see how Youtube has recently begun to incorporate this progressive licensing structure into their video options. Although we welcome Creative Commons license inclusion into Youtube's service, the way that Youtube has rolled out its CC license options raises serious questions about the future of the online video ecosystem and how "open" that ecosystem will be.

New Media Rights files Petition to Deny the AT&T - T-mobile Merger at the FCC

New Media Rights, its parent organization Utility Consumers' Action Network, and its affiliated project Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, have filed a petition to deny with the Federal Communications Commission. 

Our petition makes clear the FCC must investigate AT&T's assumptions and claims carefully, and that on balance, the merger is not in the public interest of America's wireless consumers.  The merger's negative affect on innovation, access to the internet, customer service quality, prices, service availability, and consumer privacy are all discussed.

Read the full filing by clicking here.

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