Daniela and I flew around Hawaii’s Big Island in a Cessna 172S yesterday and were lucky enough to have just enough cloud clearance to sneak into the rift zone for some photos of Kilauea’s active Puʻu ʻŌʻō volcanic vent in Volcano National Park. Check out the gallery for more shots taken by us during the two-and-a-half hour flight counterclockwise around the island.
A few weeks back I sent a quick note to Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) commending her for a great op-ed in support of Net neutrality, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on February 6, 2011. I received this very personal reply from her today. Nice to see that Rep. Eshoo is so responsive, even to citizens living and working outside of her district.
To the Editor:
I am writing in response to your story (“Full Channel drops Univision,” PBN.com, Feb. 21, 2011).
You will find in our release that we did not choose to “drop” WUNI from our lineup. The station demanded that we take down their signal. It is Full Channel’s position that Entravision has not negotiated a fair contract in good faith (as required by the Federal Communications Commission) and is using this “blackout” as a technique to extort more money from customers of small, community-based cable operators like Full Channel. Cable customers in more-urban markets are not experiencing the same price increases from broadcasters like WUNI/Entravision.
In a time when the Consumer Price Index for recreational activities, which cable TV falls under, has actually decreased, a 33 percent increase in retransmission fees is exorbitant and particularly troubling when it effectively alienates the Hispanic community WUNI claims to serve.
Your headline implies that it was Full Channel’s choice to drop the Spanish-language network, when in fact Entravision demanded that the signal be suspended, when they would not budge from their offer.
Levi C. Maaia
Vice President, Full Channel
This Letter To FCC Chairman Genachowski Regarding Retransmission was filed on February 23, 2011 regarding the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend The Commission’s Rules Governing Retransmission Consent; MB Docket No. 10-71.
Dear Chairman Genachowski:
Full Channel strongly agrees that the time has come for the Commission to review retransmission consent rules in light of recent disputes affecting millions of consumers, many of whom were unprepared for the sudden loss of broadcast network content precipitated by local TV station blackouts. Media Bureau Chief William Lake put his finger on the problem in his speech to the Media Institute last December when he stated: “When a retrans deal expires today, there can be high drama.”
With the Commission preparing to examine the marketplace in which retransmission consent is negotiated, I wanted to bring to your attention an unsettling episode involving Univision affiliate WUNI-TV and my company, Full Channel, a family-owned cable operator in Warren, R.I., with about 7,000 customers. WUNI, owned by Entravision Communications Corp., pulled its signal on Feb. 18 after Full Channel refused to accept a 33 percent increase for retransmission consent and costly demands for multicast channel and high-definition delivery.
In my view, this dispute illustrates the need for new retransmission consent rules that rectify the imbalance of power between an affiliate of the country’s dominant Spanish-language broadcaster and a small cable operator that serves a tiny fraction of TV households within the Providence, R.I.-New Bedford, Mass. designated market area.
Clearly, WUNI’s strategy of granting retransmission consent only in exchange for an exorbitant price hike and other costly demands is aided by several regulations that prevent Full Channel from negotiating as something akin to an equal on the other side of the bargaining table. This artificial imbalance hurts Full Channel’s customers, who are innocent third parties, and it should be addressed as the Commission reconsiders what exactly is acceptable conduct under the statutory requirement that broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) bargain for retransmission consent in good faith.
Full Channel believes it is vital for the Commission to provide new guidance that will yield greater certainty to the marketplace and result in fewer failed deals and dropped signals. Full Channel stands ready to assist the Commission’s search for policy outcomes that protect the interest of consumers when they are victimized by the heavy-handed tactics of a broadcaster like WUNI, which seems to have a rather strained understanding of what it means to serve in the public interest.
Sincerely,
Levi C. Maaia
Vice President, Full Channel
Warren, R.I.
A Southern California winter storm brought a dusting of snow to the Santa Ynez Mountains in Santa Barbara today. I thought I would share this time-lapse video below from my weather webcam today which shows the day progress from a sunny morning to a wet and cold afternoon. It is about 45ºF today here at sea level so it was just cool at enough at elevation to see a dusting of snow on the mountain tops.
Back in high school, my friends and I produced a monthly homegrown cable TV showed called “Electric Reality Television” (“Wayne’s World”-style). “E-TV,” as we called it, aired for three years from 1996-1999 in Rhode Island and featured comedy sketches and musical guests. The “E-TV” clip below is from a May 8, 1997 performance by the band Groove Relativity of their song titled simply “3.”
For more music from the band and other clips, visit my YouTube channel.
HIAWATHA BRAY’S article “FCC OK’s Internet service rules’’ (Dec. 22, 2010 Boston Globe Business) showed some promise for those in favor of Net neutrality, however, the FCC’s vote to approve new rules governing the Internet fell far short of President Obama’s campaign promise to protect online free speech and commerce … [read the entire letter at boston.com]
This opinion piece originally appeared in the Boston Globe on Dec. 28, 2010.
Today ComCreations completed the launch of the Anacapa School’s new online portal. The new site replaces a nearly 10 year old design. By using WordPress and a theme based on Modularity Lite, the new site allows the office staff to make easy updates, as well as feature various school events and activities on the front page with a gorgeous slideshow that automatically pulls photos from the most recent “Latest News” posts. This project was the result of a tremendous effort by all of the faculty and staff at the school whom all contributed to the revision of Anacapa’s online presence.
This is my response to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s recent announcement in which he backpedals from his initial promise to support Net Neutrality. It seems that the term the FCC has coined “Open Internet” is what he is lobbying for now. This so-called “Open Internet” falls very short of the free speech protections needed to ensure continued growth from all sectors, not just media conglomerates.
Mr. Genachowski:
As vice president of a small cable operator and Internet service provider, I often find myself swimming upstream against the cable industry tides. Again, I find that my opinion is in opposition to that of most cable and phone companies, but I have not hidden my position on Net Neutrality from my industry colleagues.
The value of high-speed Internet service is based on the existence of an open and free network. Without that freedom, the Internet will become the nightmarish legal quagmire that cable and satellite TV tiers have become: a corporation-controlled landscape of confidential deals and force-fed consumers.
I am concerned about the recent developments that threaten free speech on the Internet. Less than five years ago, congress was poised to attack the cable networks’ programming tier model by mandating a-la-carté offerings. Today, amidst the political distractions of our nation’s other, seemingly more pressing woes, the Internet is edging closer and closer toward a locked-down oligarchical model and a disastrous future for consumers and small businesses alike. My challenge has been convincing other small and medium sized cable operators to see that it makes good business sense for them to support a neutral Internet, as a network under any other structure will stifle free speech under the control of the largest of the media giants.
I urge you, Mr. Chairman, to reconsider and take a stronger position in favor of Network Neutrality. As an advocate for the American people you owe it to them to protect online freedom of speech, which in the 21st century, is as important as any other.
Levi C. Maaia
Vice President, Full Channel
Warren, R.I.
After years in the making, we launched the new www.MaaiaLaw.com site for my father today!
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