Oh the FCC won't let me be....

It seems that the UN's WIPO broadcasting treaty has been fairly well blocked by the US delegation. Buried amongst the jargon and officious language, was one simple and immensely important change: If you wanted to broadcast another's work for parody or criticism, you would need to get an exemption under the Broadcast Right. (thanks to Boingboing's Cory Doctrow for this definition and phrasing in his article).

As Doctrow correctly points out, this slight change threatened the Internet as we know it. It would require that all podcasters and users of similar media attain an exemption.

One of the leading proponents of this bill was the North American Broadcaster Association. However, they lacked the backing of -many- members. Two of the major dissenting member organizations were NPR and PBS.

As it seems the treaty is going to be put aside, the point may appear moot. It is not! Why? Because this is a prime example of what happens if an organization turns a blind eye -or ear- to its members, and listens to the sound of money instead.

What can we do about stopping such things happening in the future? As users of the Internet, it is in our best interests to keep it as open, competitive, and cheap as possible to access and use it. The only way for us to do this is to make our opinions known to the regulating bodies that control it.

One such regulatory organization is the FCC, who -while not possessed of a stellar decision making history- do offer us a means of contacting them about various issues. Of particular note at the moment is the auction of the 700mhz spectrum. If the FCC requires the winner to split up some of the spectrum, and distribute it to other broadcasters (broadcasters who could potentially use this spectrum for broadband Internet) then there is the potential for much greater variety and choice in the Internet service that we choose.

You can let the FCC know what your opinion is on this, and many other matters HERE take the time to do so!

You can also find more information out about the 700mhz spectrum auction at Publicknowledge.org

-Bedeo