Jta-hunt-knight-commission
This is a coverage page rough, contemporaneous notes of the second day of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission workshop: "From Town Crier to Blogggers: How Will journalism Survive the Internet Age," held Dec. 1-2, 2009, in Washington, D.C., at the FTC's 601 New Jersey Avenue offices. Your scribe is Bill Densmore, a fellow at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. Of course we've tried to provide accurate quotes and summaries. But the FTC has stenographers recording all of the testimony and that should be your definitive source. The home page for this coverage is http://www.newshare.com/wiki/index.php/ftc
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Remarks by Reed Hunt: Former FCC commissioner
He applauds the FTC for having a conference like this. Years ago, eh said, "the idea of having a conference like this would have been thought to have been an inappropriate intrusion on the private sector."
"It's high time to take a fresh look at the law and the opportunities for free expression."
"In my own mind there are affirmative, positive steps that could be taken by more than one regulatory agency in furtherance or freedom of speech."
The commission concluded that the lense for America to look at information needs was local. "Communities are where Americans identify and solve problems and where accountability really occurs."
We are a nation of distributed access, like the network. Curb cuts, people with disabilities, speed bumps in roads, what to serve in school cafeterias.
Let's think about the meaning of competition and innovation on a local basis.
The commission agreed that as a society we should develop systematic quality measures of community information ecologies, and study how they affect social outcomes.
He says any society and economy depends upon widespread, secure and very cheap public goods for healthy communities and sustainable economic growth.
Five key public goods that should be available for near-zero price to everyone all the time everywhere through ubiquitous broadband area: Health care, energy efficiency measures, education, democracy and security.
