ATT's Censorship of PJ Mentioned in Recent Congressional Testimony

4Powers20 wrote:

And he wasnt. I was there. He said it.

I was there too and heard it.... guess you get what you pay for

oktacoma wrote:

They absolutely have the right to censor whatever they want, just like I have the right to cancel my AT&T coverage for this reason...which I gladly did, and made sure the customer service rep knew the reason. Obviously, losing one customer won't make a big dent in their profits, but knowing that at least one customer is leaving because of their censorship has to make them a bit nervous. Losing money is the ONLY thing major corporations listen to.

Here's the thing that gets overlooked: Is some situations, broadcast companies are running their businesses using infrastructure which they are leasing from us, the people... by way of the federal government.

Traditional radio and broadcast television are relatively clear cut. The federal government claims that the airwaves are a public resource, so folks who want to make use of a part of the spectrum must abide by certain rules. The company gets to profit off of the resource, but in exchange must give something back to the "people" (ie government): things like money, a certain minimum amount of educational programming, cooperation with emergency broadcasts... and promises to respect free speech.

Is the internet subject to the same sort of regulation? To what extent is the infrastructure of the internet a public resource? If AT&T is in position to pull off a webcast only because of federally-funded research, tax subsidies to develop infrastructure, or deals with local governments to lay tracks of cable on public land... then maybe the federal government has an obligation to look after the public good and a right to say "the first amendment is going to apply here."

On the other hand, maybe AT&T has paid their dues, and is using infrastructure that was privately built? Maybe the barriers-of-entry are low enough on the internet that the government should stay hands-off and let the free market shake things out?

These are exactly the questions the media industry and government are wrestling with. Left to their own devices, if you trust that these two groups will come up with answers that give proper weight to the good of the people and the nation, then great. If you're concerned that the interests of the people might get short-changed if they don't think we're watching, then the first step is to come up with your own educated opinions... and then let somebody know you're paying attention.

During a performance by the rock group Pearl Jam at the August 2007 Lollapalooza concert in Chicago, Illinois, AT&T censored words from lead singer Eddie Vedder`s performance. The ISP, which was responsible for airing the concert via a Blue Room webpage, shut off the sound as Vedder sang, ``George Bush, leave this world alone`` and ``George Bush find yourself another home.`` By doing so, AT&T, the self-advertised presenting sponsor of the concert series, denied Blue Room visitors the complete exclusive coverage they were promised.

I guess this is what stands out to me. Perhaps ATT does have some rights, but if they, as a company, advertise complete coverage (profanity excluded), then it might be considered false advertising, if they cut out any part of the coverage that does not contain profanity simply because they don't like it. You can't advertise what you don't then provide.

4Powers20 wrote:

I dont think AT&T were thinking the lead singer was planning to go off about the president.

While I wish AT&T and other companies like CBS radio would just allow "free speech", it is a business and they have to act in their best interests. Its not like they had weeks or even an hour to decide if they should broadcast what eddie said. They had to make an on the spot decision. It came down to dealing with the backlash from annoyed PJ fans or people who are offended by AT&T allowing someone to bash the President using thier service. While I dont agree with the decision, I totally understand why the decision was made, especially when you consider the time they had to make it.

Again be grateful that AT&T offers this free service to see live music you normally wouldnt get to see. Instead of complaining about the 20 seconds that were omitted, be thankful for the 2 hours that werent.
My 2cents.

But those 20 seconds were the most important of the whole weekend