fred upton
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Republican lawmakers say Google "gamed" 700Mhz auction
Google's plan in the 700MHz auction drama was never much of a secret: it was always assumed that the search giant would bid enough to trigger the open-access provisions, but wasn't really interested in winning, and sure enough, the company confirmed that strategy when the bidding wrapped up. Of course, news travels slow in our nation's capital, and word of Google's dastardly plan to make sure the FCC's open-access rules were triggered is apparently shocking news to a handful of Republicans, who characterized it as "gaming the system," and asked FCC chairman Kevin Martin if the agency had been "duped." Newsflash to Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich), Cliff Stearns (R-Fla) and John Shimkus (R-Ill): the FCC, Google, and Verizon argued about this for months and analysts had a field day, remember? And then Verizon gave up the lawsuits, went crazy on the open tip, and won the auction anyway. Of course, if Verizon hadn't won, Google would have had to make good on that $4.6B bid, which isn't exactly chump change. So, who gamed what? If anything, the FCC's coffers got a little fatter than they would have otherwise, and we're pretty certain consumers will benefit from open-access, so, uh, you guys want to stop wrecking the party now? Cool.[Thanks, Scott]
The "Video Game Decency Act" is on the move
The U.S. government keeps adding more munitions into the war on the terror of video games. There is the "Truth in Video Games Act," (H.R. 5912) then the announcement that the ESRB must complete every game (S.3935) and now the "Video Game Decency Act" (H.R. 6120) is marching through the U.S. Congress. Introduced by Republican Fred Upton, the bill is designed within the "guidelines of the Constitution, [and] is a simple, surgical approach to provide new regulatory authority for the Federal Trade Commission to punish bad players in the video game industry." You hear that? They are going after "bad players" now. So unless you have a video game championship under your belt, the FTC is coming for you. Better start practicing. Seriously though, despite the awkward phrasing of this bill, H.R. 6120 seeks to give the FTC the power to "pursue financial sanctions" against publishers who "try to deceive the ratings system." The Truth in Video Games Act is one thing, and making the ESRB play through every game all the way (no matter how ridiculous that sounds) is all good and fine. However, once words like "decency" start getting thrown around, we are touching the line of censorship and that's bad for everyone.
