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from: CNET

Made for TV: A Tale of Two Telcos
Verizon and AT&T take divergent technical paths
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/5/2006

In this story:
SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSION

Over the next two years, two phone giants—Verizon and AT&T—will spend more than $10 billion to present TV packages that rival all the latest digital services offered by cable operators today.

frpm: Beacon news

Cities and AT&T begin negotiation

• Model ordinance: Mayor's Conference seeks accord for all towns in region

By Steve Lord
staff writer

The Metropolitan Mayor's Conference has begun negotiating with AT&T so the company can introduce its Internet-based video services in Chicago-area municipalities.

from: TMC Net

Lodi residents may lose yard space to AT&T cabinets: Boxes contain equipment for phone, Internet and video services

(Record, The (Stockton, CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 3

Julie and Sean Whiteley have a nickname for the hulking gray box in the front yard of their Grand Fir Drive home. But it's not an affectionate one.

from: Television Week

June 5, 2006
Telco Video Delayed

Tech, Regulatory Issues Marring AT&T, Verizon Plans
By Jay Sherman

It looks as if the video dreams of the nation's top two telephone companies-hampered by technical glitches, regulatory hurdles and even owners of apartment buildings-will take a bit longer to come to fruition.

from: Broadcasting and Cable

Capitol Expenses
Telcos, cable in fierce legislative fight for new franchise rules

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/5/2006

Turn on the TV or radio in Washington and, from the barrage of advertising, you’ll know what the telephone companies’ legislative/regulatory priority is: video-franchise reform, video-franchise reform, video-franchise reform. The pitched battle between telcos and cable over streamlining the video-franchising process, and between telcos and companies like Google and Yahoo! over access to the Internet side of that franchising equation, has shaped up to be the battle in Washington over the past couple of months.

From: Worcester Telegram and Gazette

Cable access could face cut
Funding affects public channels

By Matthew Stone SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
Jun 3, 2006

WORCESTER— The city’s three public access television channels could lose nearly $700,000 in annual funding under major telecommunications legislation before Congress, according to a recent report by the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Community Media.

from: The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors

NATOA ACTION ALERT 6.2.06

House Floor Vote Next Week On Telecom Bill:
Urge Your Member To Vote “NO” on COPE

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!

The US House of Representatives will consider the Communications Opportunities Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006 (Barton-Rush) bill as early as Wednesday, June 7, 2006.* All NATOA members are requested to please contact their House of Representative members and ask them to vote no!

From: Media Access Project Download PDF

How Independent Artists Could Lose Their Independent Internet

Parul Desai

In the past few months, there has been a fight in Congress over phone and cable companies’ opposition to what is called “net neutrality.” I know the business decisions of major companies can be a real snoozer. However, this is one decision that will truly affect independent artists and those that support their work. That’s because “net neutrality” is really about discrimination by the phone and cable companies; if the phone and cable companies get their way, they would have the ability to control how independent artists reach the millions of Internet users and determine which artists succeed and which fail.

from: MultiChannel News

Governors Protest Barton's National Franchise
By Ted Hearn 5/31/2006

The nation’s governors want a pending House bill changed to give states the option to take control of the cable-franchising process from the Federal Communications Commission.

The call for change came in a bipartisan letter by the National Governors Association in connection with a House bill (H.R. 5252) that would federalize cable franchising for new video providers and, in some circumstances, for cable incumbents.

from:Matt Stoller

Squishy House Dems to Sell Us Out on Internet Freedom?

by Matt Stoller, Wed May 31, 2006 at 12:44:43 PM EST

Last week was a big week for the internet freedom folks. We won a vote in the Judiciary Committee for the Sensenbrenner-Conyers Bill (HR5417) to preserve internet freedom. For those who haven't been following, the basic gist of the issue is that the government has always set basic rules for the wires that carry internet traffic. These rules don't let the telcos that manage those wires block anyone's traffic, and we want to keep it that way. The telcos want to be able to block traffic and web sites so they can favor some services over others, so they want to strip the FCC of the authority they have to enforce these rules. The business and political case is clear. Senior telco execs have publicly discussed slowing down Google's web site if Yahoo pays them, for instance. There are political implications as well; a Canadian ISP have blocked the web site of a union striking against them. Telcos have always hated the internet, and now that they see the opportunity to put up tollbooths everywhere and make the internet work as clunkily as cell phone service, they are trying to seize it through their massive political leverage.