Media Consolidation Battle Expands (letter in Conscious Choice)

Posted by Mitchell - May 18, 2005 (entry 314)

(published in the March 2005 issue of Conscious Choice magazine)

My thanks to Conscious Choice for increasing coverage of media issues, particularly the Jan. 2005 issue.

I wanted to bring to your attention another, fairly urgent, media-themed issue that could impact you and everyone in Illinois.

The Illinois Telecommunications Act, the state law that governs policy pertaining to telecom and the internet, is planned to undergo a rewrite in 2005. Legislation looks to be introduced soon, with work planned in the current general assembly and poised to end in May.

Though many questions are likely to be raised, the main issue might be that of control. Will communities be able to create their own technological infrastructure based on community needs and desired and timetables? Or will communities be dependent on giant telecom companies like SBC and Verizon, whose primary concern is profit and less to community service?

-- Mitchell Szczepanczyk
Chicago Media Action, 866-260-7198

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this website are those of the individual members of Chicago Media Action who authored them, and not necessarily those of the entire membership of Chicago Media Action, nor of Chicago Media Action as an organization.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.