Is it smart for a company going before a federal regulatory agency to answer questions about how it has blocked content on the Internet to try and block the public from the hearing?

Below are two quotes from yesterday's FCC hearing at Harvard. The first is from FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, the second from commissioner Michael Copps.

The net neutrality movement might have gotten a boost yesterday from the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. According to an Associated Press story Kevin Martin said during his opening statement at a commission hearing about network monitoring and blocking practices that:

"The commission is ready, willing and able to step in if necessary to correct any practices that are ongoing today."

The Federal Communications Commission held a public hearing at Harvard University today. The commission heard from panelists about potential rules for Internet networks.

There was a live audio feed that for some reason I could not work until the end of the hearing. The FCC says the complete hearing will be posted within 24 to 48 hours. If anybody did tune in or was there, please send me something and I will post it on Daily Democracy.

An excerpt from an editorial in today's Seattle Times.

"President Bush can blithely make things up as he goes along, but other federal laws cover the behavior of the telecoms. They are being sued over the wiretaps, and the court cases represent a way for the public to confront the administration's behavior and hold it accountable to the rule of law."

Comcast is trying to convince the Federal Communications Commission that it has the right to monitor the Internet. The Internet Service Provider giant filed comments with the commission on Tuesday explaining that it needs to block the activities of subscribers to efficiently manage traffic on its network. Comcast is particularly concerned with subscribers sharing files.

Here is a story from InformationWeek about the auction, which is generating some real cash. Unfortunately bidding on D Block, which would create a national public safety and commercial network, has been slow.

Appears as if the People's Republic of China doing more than taking cars off the road to spruce up its image before this summer's Olympics in Beijing.

It appears the writers strike might come to an end. Members of the Writers Guild of America could vote by tomorrow.

Blogging here at Daily Democracy will be sparse until next week. I am in New York for an International Press Institute (IPI) meeting, which might or might not spawn some entries.

David Carr of the New York Times has a column looking at what happened between Sen. Hillary Clinton and the New York Post.

Seattle has lost more local programming on the radio. You can read the Times story here about how KIRO canned three local shows.

The Washington Post has a good update on the 700 MHz auction. The story can be found here.

Below you will find a blog post by Eric Easter on ebonyjet.com. Another example of how media consolidation hurts the political process.