FTC Roundtable Memo Scares Rightwingers

There has been much hubbub surrounding a memo released by the FTC that openly outlines the discussions that have been taking place at a series of roundtables around the country. At question is whether the FTC, which has purview over copyright laws and antitrust laws, should somehow modify those laws to help producers of news realize revenue for their efforts.

Many rightwing, beloved blogs, have described the document as “chilling” “hair-raising” and an attempt by Obama to socialize the news media. And yet for people that on the one hand accuse Obama of being an amateur, and inept, they also believe he somehow has the power to wave his hand and nationalize the free press.

You can read the doc here. Its a little long, and there are indeed some frightening “suggestions” for modifying policy, including setting internet access fees, taxing radios and taxing advertising dollars- but these are not the FTC’s suggestions. These are the suggestions from people participating in the roundtable discussions. And I for one, am grateful that the discussions were reported openly and can provide an opportunity to discuss and debate.

At issue is the fact that news organizations are losing money as they move from paper distributive models to an Internet one. Online ads don’t pay as much as print ads, and worse, news aggregator sites take fair use content and charge their own ads, depriving the authors of the news, who spent the effort, time, and expense to write the story from the ad revenue they deserve.

The question is should the FTC change the copyright, fair use laws, or grant limited exemptions to news organizations from antitrust laws to allow them to come up with a new way to get money for their news stories. Imagine if you will, partnerships between Google and the AP, local newspapers, and bloggers that allow for revenue sharing from ads related to their stories.

They also note that they could encourage new entrants into the journalism field by allowing the Federal News Organization that produces content for Radio Free Europe to share content with local US outlets, something they are currently barred from doing by law. Also, they could give grants to journalism schools and create a news agency for the Americorps- maybe something similar to military news organizations like the Stars and Stripes.

As a blogger who relies on journalists to create content that I use under Fair Use for commentary, I am all for expanding the choices of news content. Having the government creating an atmosphere that allows for private organizations, even lefty news outlets, to thrive, and lower taxes, hey I can get behind that too. But raising taxes to pay for all of this? No. Never. Cut budgets somewhere else.

Thanks to AlaskaInfidel for the story!