Dear Senator,

On behalf of the Media Freedom Project, I write you today to oppose S.J. Res. 28, a Resolution of Disapproval introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) that would invalidate a Federal Communications Commission decision to modestly relax its 33-year old rule prohibiting the co-ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market.

We strongly believe that Government governs best when it allows the free market work; as a consequence, the FCC rule is but a small movement in the right direction to update its antiquated broadcast ownership restrictions.  In this competitive communications marketplace, where media companies are rapidly changing to meet the evolving needs of consumers, the entire regulatory structure concerning ownership needs to be replaced-alas the FCC has merely loosened, not eliminated, one rule.

MFP letter on Wireless Consumer Protection and Community Broadband Empowerment Act of 2008

Friday, February 29 2008

Dear Member of Congress,

I’m writing today to make you aware of a disturbingly anti-free market piece of draft legislation making its way around Capitol Hill called the Wireless Consumer Protection and Community Broadband Empowerment Act.  This draft, being circulated by Congressman Ed Markey, inserts the government into areas where it has no business, the contracting between private citizens and private companies.

Under the guise of “consumer protection,” the WCPCBE would mandate how wireless phone companies go about their business, even down to what information must be included in their billing statements.  This is not the job of the federal government.