[p2p-research] Media Access Project

[Paul D. Fernhout]

Just rereading my 2004 essay and seeing how several links are broken:
http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/oscomak/AchievingAStarTrekSociety.html

But I saw one that is still good, and especially relevant to p2presearch:

From:
   http://www.mediaaccess.org/
"Media Access Project (MAP) is a non-profit law firm and advocacy 
organization. Our attorneys work on behalf of the public to promote freedom 
of expression, independent media, and low-cost, universal access to 
communications services."

And also on it:
   http://www.mediaaccess.org/about/
"""
Media Access Project (MAP) is a non-profit, public interest law firm and 
advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the public’s First Amendment 
right to access a diverse marketplace of ideas in the mass media system.
   For over 37 years, MAP has promoted the public interest before the FCC 
and the Courts, advocating for open and diverse media that protect the free 
flow of information, promote universal and equitable access to media outlets 
and telecommunications services, and encourage vibrant public discourse on 
critical issues facing our society. In the words of the Supreme Court:
     “It is the purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an uninhibited 
marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail, rather than to 
countenance monopolization of that market, whether it be by the Government 
itself or a private licensee…”
   MAP is the only Washington-based organization devoted to representing 
listeners’ and speakers’ interests in communications and technology issues 
before the Federal Communications Commission, other policy-making bodies, 
and in the courts. MAP’s staff attorneys provide guidance and representation 
to scores of national and local non-profit groups annually. They appear 
frequently at academic, legislative, and professional meetings to ensure 
that the needs of the public are not forgotten as policies are established 
for the next generation.
   MAP grew out of the movement that began with the landmark United Church 
of Christ litigation of the 1960s. Those cases, involving the failure of a 
Mississippi TV station to serve the African American community, established 
that members of the viewing and listening public have the legal right, 
derived from the First Amendment, to participate in FCC proceedings.
   In 1972, lawyers concerned with promoting public accountability and 
social justice in the media formed the Media Access Project to advance the 
rights of the public to participate in the democratic process. In its early 
days, MAP’s work implementing the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine helped open TV 
networks to anti-war and civil rights activists.
   MAP Today
   According to the National Journal, MAP is “considered by some … 
dollar-for-dollar the best-run public interest group in Washington.”
   MAP occupies a unique role as a Washington thought leader in 
communications and technology policy. From leading efforts to convince the 
FCC to create the Low Power FM radio service to being among the first to 
advocate for open access and network neutrality, MAP provides critical 
policy leadership and council to the public interest and media reform 
community. As new media and communication platforms have developed, MAP has 
fought to assure the public’s right to access is institutionalized and 
protected.
   MAP is at the forefront of efforts to develop media policies which will, 
quite literally, govern the terms of voter participation and public 
discourse in the next generation. MAP works to ensure that current and 
future media and telecommunications technologies promote, and do not impede, 
democratic values.
"""

So, they may be a resource for defending broader p2p issues in the USA.

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/