Spectrum of Greed

This is a fun example of the war between the old guard and the new economy.  Laurence Lessig and Stephen Colbert star in this ‘unauthorized’ remix of an interview originally done on the Steven Colbert show.  Lessig has recently published a new book called Remix, noting how our Congress continues to pass antiquated copyright laws that inhibit creative expression, the legitimate creation of value, and reduce the creative potential of our youth.  Lessig was already my hero for his outspoken comments on the need for a complete removal of the FCC.  Now, he adds icing to the cake with this interview and his new book.

If you want to see the original video from ColbertNation, (continue reading…)

Managing Dark Fiber - an economic stimulus opportunity.

Does anyone remember the term ‘Dark Fiber‘?  No, it isn’t an action movie starring Christian Slater and Heath Ledger.  It was a term coined in the telecom industry describing the results of unchecked capitalism during the initial heady gold rush to the internet in 1999 & 2000.  Several telecom vendors went out and each built what they considered to be the one best fiber network in the country, connecting cities all over the country and providing the potential for exponentially more bandwidth for the rapidly expanding internet economy.  But when the bubble burst in 2000, in the vernacular of the industry, many of those fiber lines didn’t get ‘lit up’, because with several vendors all connecting the same places, they overbuilt.  To make it worse, because technology’s nature is to get better, faster and cheaper over time, before all the fiber was even buried, technology had been created to make each strand of fiber 100 times as productive as it had been just a few short years earlier.  The result?  Dark Fiber, or fiber that was never lit, because it was never needed.  Much of this unused capacity still exists today and is resold and marketed to private industry and telecoms, but vastly under utilized. (continue reading…)

Scary!!

Several of what I am beginning to think of as online tabloids (though many are reputable mainstream publication houses) seem to be nothing more than mouthpieces for a few fear mongers and confusion artists (have I coined a new profession here?) who are fixated on the dire consequences sure to overtake us when the switchover to DTV occurs.  And they obsess about this minutia at a time when our economy is in freefall and we have a congress that wants to play partisan instead of fixing the mess they created to start with.  Why would they be so fixated on such a small percentage of the American people for such an inconsequential issue as the boob tube? (continue reading…)

Now we should see some changes!

His name is Michael Copps (not pictured - I am a Mel Brooks fan so picked a different sheriff).  And is he needed!  The last staff survey of FCC personnel that measured the ‘honesty and integrity’ of FCC leadership came back with a 38% approval rating.  For those that are numbers challenged, this indicates that 62% of FCC employees think we have unethical scum bags running the joint.  In an ars blog appropriately titled, ‘DeMartinizing the FCC‘, Matthew Lasar details several very telling statements that make me want to stand and shout, “Hallelujah!”  Of course, people would give me very funny looks if I actually did that.  I liked his blog article photoshop - check it out.  Thanks.  (continue reading…)