F.C.C. chairman, Kevin Martin, like his predecessor, Powell, is attempting to rewrite media ownership rules to favor further consolidation. These changes will benefit the likes of Rupert Murdock but all over the country people have shown up for hearings on the topic and expressed dismay over the proposed cross ownership proposals. The F.C.C. received a record number of correspondences from people across the nation the last time they attempted to quietly change the rules. The Dems on the board, primarily Michael Kopps, have been active in getting the word out to the public. Once again, the Repubs, are showing themselves to be the champion of corporate power.

Kevin Martin (so far) has refused to delay a vote on the issue in spite of public outrage. They must be in a hurry to get this done.

Why does he want to do that?

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Believing that McAfee is going to protect you from hackers and viruses is exactly like believing that republicans can actually protect you from terrorists.

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

To monopolize legally Schizo!

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There are only two things wrong with this great nation of ours, democrats and republicans!

Not necessarily in that order.

Well that makes sense.

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Believing that McAfee is going to protect you from hackers and viruses is exactly like believing that republicans can actually protect you from terrorists.

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

A silly non-issue, the dems know it, but they use it to rile up the gene-missing demodupes so they'll run out and vote for hillary. There are a thousand info channels nowadays, and newspapers are downsizing and closing anyway all over the country.

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Blade: "more educated and literate people than Justabubba"

Justabubba: "that would include everyone"

http://politicalforum.com/showthread.php?t=27847

I agree, this is a non-issue.

The media business is changing "a lot" right now.

The internet has a lot to do with it.

And I mean, if you're stupid enough to get your "news" from Faux, you know.... then I can't really help you, right?

I mean, I wouldn't buy the Weekly World News either, right? "Satan appears in storm cloud over Columbia MO", you know..... "news", right?

You know, and I mean, "everyone knows" that Faux is a propaganda arm for the Republican Party, right? It's not like it's a secret or anything.

You know, and I mean, Rupert Murdoch just bought the WSJ? But who needs those idiots these days? You know, I can get real-time quotes from ten thousand sources on the internet, and I can get "opinion" a lot quicker on the net than if I have to wait overnight to read a paper, so.... you know, why am I gonna subscribe?

Same deal with the record companies - who needs 'em? I'm in the music biz, and I mean, from "my" perspective, the only reason I'd ever need a record company for anything would be if I wanted to take a huge road show on tour, like on the scale of a Madonna or Police or Rolling stones or something, you know.....

Anything "other than" that, I can do "all by myself", in the comfort of my own home, with just a computer and a network connection. I can write the stuff, play it, mix it, produce it, copyright it, create the CD, package it, and get it out to the stores, all with just a few clicks of the mouse.

So I mean, you know, this internet thing is wonderful. And of course, the darn media companies are screaming left and right about how they're being ripped off and how their business is disappearing, but I mean, "video killed the radio star", right? Things change....

So ah, "media consolidation", to me, just means, that it's gonna be a slightly bigger company that goes bankrupt next year. That's all it means.

The rest of it, is kind of a "caveat emptor" deal, the way I see it. You know, you kinda makes your own bed in this space, so I mean, you know, it's kinda up to you where you get your information, right?

I don't consider it silly, that Rupert Murdock and a few media allies have the ability to change the rules in their favor while the letter writing/ lobbying of millions of people opposed to these changes that is ignored and dismissed as irrelevant. So much for democracy. Repubs know that they gotta dance with the ones what brought you to the dance floor.

A monopoly involves being able to control a specific market. What percentage of the news market would you say that Murdock has? Single digits? He will never ever get to the point where he will have a monopoly. Letter writing is nice, but has little to do with how the laws are written.

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JMS gets another English lesson:

Quote:

there is no "mostly unique;" thats like saying "sometimes always," its an oxymoron - its either one or the other.

The result:

Quote:

By the mid-19th century unique had developed a wider meaning, “not typical, unusual,” and it is in this wider sense that it is compared. The comparison of so-called absolutes in senses that are not absolute is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.

These laws are in place to stop the creation of monopolies, either by a single entity or a like minded group or conglomeration, is it not?

Changing the laws could inevitably lead to a monopoly, or at minimum the way this situation insinuates, to establish a more consolidated market, which would of course be limiting the number of those parties who are in control.

Doesn't mean it will happen in an absolute figure of speech, it just means it could be the first step too creating one! Especially with the financial backing these individuals who want the change have at their disposal!

Wonder how many politicians will be getting lobbying donations to entice their decision making process when this one comes up for a count?

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There are only two things wrong with this great nation of ours, democrats and republicans!

Not necessarily in that order.

Murdock's acquisitions just make for economies of scale and more efficient delivery - there are many sources of info, and if Murdock doesn't provide the desired product he'll lose market share. The letter writers are uniformed, and many of the dems are using thought processes almost appropriate to the 1930's, if even then - they're wayyyyyyyyy out of touch. It also takes chutzpah for the dems to whine about consolidation decreasing sources - THEY'RE the ones who have tried to shut down conservative talk radio, and will probably succeed if a dem becomes president.

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Blade: "more educated and literate people than Justabubba"

Justabubba: "that would include everyone"

http://politicalforum.com/showthread.php?t=27847