The New America Foundation
cordially invites you and your colleagues to a panel discussion and book forum on 

 

THE POLITICS OF AMERICA'S DTV TRANSITION:

WILL THE TELECOM ACT REWRITE REPEAT THE FIASCO OF THE 1996 GIVEAWAY?

 

Panelists:

J.H. Snider

Senior Research Fellow, New America Foundation  

and Author of the just released, Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exert Political Power

 

Steve Effros

Former President, Cable Television Association

 

Andrew Schwartzman

President, Media Access Project

 

Michael Petricone

Vice President, Government Affairs, Consumer Electronics Association 

 

Moderator:

Michael Calabrese

Vice President, New America Foundation and Director, Spectrum Policy Program

 

Tuesday, May 24, 2005
10:00 am - 11:30 am
New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Avenue, NW 7th Floor
Washington, DC

 

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

 

RSVP to Naveen Lakshmipathy at 202-986-2700 or to lakshmipathy@newamerica.net

 

In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, local TV broadcasters won free use of spectrum worth tens of billions of dollars.   In the decade since, broadcasters have sought a seemingly endless array of additional subsidies – including more spectrum, tax breaks, the broadcast flag, DTV tuner mandate, and DTV multicasting must-carry rights – to speed their DTV transition.  A new book by New America Foundation Senior Research Fellow J.H. Snider explains how these lobbying feats were accomplished. He warns that as Congress gears up to “fix” its mistakes by legislating a "hard deadline" to end the long-stalled DTV transition – and reallocate $20 billion in spectrum from broadcasting to broadband – the same mistakes are likely to be repeated. 

 

Will the Telecommunications Act rewrite result in the mistakes of the past being repeated?  Are other telecom industries – including the cable, telco, satellite, and movie industries – equally vulnerable to the incentives of special interest politics?  Come join this distinguished panel of telecom insiders as they discuss the politics of the DTV transition and the rewrite of the Telecommunications Act.

 

An extensive list of comments on Speak Softly can be found at:  http://jhsnider.net/SpeakSoftly/PraiseForSpeakSoftly.htm. 

 

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