[Mediapolitics] A Scrambled Signal On Media Ownership

[Art McGee]

After bouncing around it's own scrambled signal, this
article finally gets to the real point [Full Text:
http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=4008 ]:

"This discussion needs to be re-engaged immediately by
Congress and the FCC at the philosophic roots that have
steered media policy since the 1920s: that the airwaves
belong to the public and that broadcasting must serve the
public interest. Leave the social scientific studies and
economic analyses (and the lobbyists) at the door."
---Jeffrey M. McCall


Hum, "philosophic roots" sounds very close to "moral vision"
to me. Legal, economic and technological determinism must
take a back seat to the simple question of "What do we
want?" I am sick and tired of everything having to be
justified based on historical case law, economic analysis,
and technological extrapolation. Can you imagine if enslaved
Africans waited to find a justification for being free? They
didn't sit around wading through case law or trying to
figure out if the cotton gin would make their "jobs"
obsolete, they simply said "Give Us Free!" They asked the
question we should all be asking, and the question the
ruling elites always do: "What is in our own best
interests?" We have become mired in a deep dark valley of
deterministic liberalism, where the self-evidence of basic
humanity goes unrecognized unless it shows up in a
foundation report. It's sapping the strength from our
movements. Even if technology hadn't advanced to such a
place that issues of spectrum interference and sharing could
be resolved easily, it would still be morally right to argue
that the spectrum belongs to no one, and it should not be
given to corporate entities for their exclusive use. Even if
the original intent of the so-called founding fathers wasn't
anti-monopolistic and in favor of knowledge sharing, it
would still be morally right to argue that IP, copyright,
and other forms of intellectual property should be very
limited, and that a growing public domain should be
supported. Even if there wasn't an economic benefit to the
use of open source software and production processes, it
would still be morally right to argue that cooperation and
working together should be valued over competition.

Thanks for coming out, God bless, and goodnight.


Art