Washington - The Future of Music Coalition, a non-profit established to represent the rights of artists on digital music issues, has recruited artists including Wilco, Bright Eyes, DJ Spooky and Aimee Mann to contribute to "Rock the Net," a compilation album whose proceeds will go to support its lobbying efforts on Network Neutrality. "As musicians and entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of treating all websites equally -- from the busiest online music store to the smallest blog," reads a note on the Web page for the album, which is also currently offering a free stream. A CD version will also become available for purchase on July 29.

There is a dirty little secret in the cable industry. Its being kept secret not by the cable distributors, but by the big cable networks. End this practice and the United States goes from being 3rd world by international broadband standards, to top of the charts and exemplary. Make this change and Net Neutrality becomes a non issue. There is plenty of bandwidth for everyone. What is the dirty little secret? That your cable company still delivers basic cable networks in analog.

Wilton, Conn. - The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA), a non-profit that represents video game enthusiasts, said on Tuesday that it has launched a Web-based initiative called Gamers for Net Neutrality. The ECA and its partners in the initiative -- SavetheInternet.com and Games for Change -- said the site aims to inform gamers about the issue. "Why let the telecom giants dictate what speed we play our games, view our video, or listen to music?" said Suzanne Seggerman, president and co-founder of Games for Change. "Gamers, as one of the largest audiences on the internet, need to act now -- before it's too late."

Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it will hold a public hearing later this month on broadband network management practices, in the wake of an admission from Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) that it actively interferes with the peer-to-peer application usage of some of its customers. Responding to an FCC inquiry, which came after investigations by independent researchers and the Associated Press found that Comcast was throttling the BitTorrent uploads of some users, the company conceded in a filing with the FCC that it "manages the use of certain P2P protocols in a minimally intrusive way, and only when necessary, based on purely objective criteria."

Los Angeles - Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), the nation's largest cable TV company and second-largest broadband provider, has been sued by a California man who alleges the company's recently-discovered throttling of peer-to-peer traffic violates federal computer fraud laws, truth in advertising laws and its own contracts with users, Wired reported.

Washington - In comments filed this week with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the topic of "Net neutrality," the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) cautioned the FCC against taking steps that would inhibit copyright-protection technologies or encourage Internet file-sharing, CNET News.com reported. The FCC received some 27,000 comments on the issue, which centers on whether broadband networks should be able to cut deals with content providers to provide them superior service. "Any policy efforts relating to Net neutrality must promote the protection of intellectual property," the MPAA wrote, in its comments. "It is crucial that FCC policies not interfere with the efforts of broadband companies and content providers of all kinds to solve problems of free riding."

Washington - A proposal to prevent big network operators from charging higher fees for faster access to their broadband lines -- commonly referred to as "Net neutrality" -- was resurrected in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

Gary Arlen, a moderator at last week’s Digital Media Conference, provides his take-aways on the event, including Net Neutrality. Here is a choice extract: “While the policy sessions generated passionate arguments, the conference’s content and business panels underscored the revitalization of the interactive business itself.”

The LA Times reports that Former Clinton Whitehouse Press Secretary Mike McCurry has drawn fire from supporters of "net neutrality", including many on the left, for having taken up the cause of telecommunication giants who oppose legislation restricting their ability to charge extra to provide high bandwith services.  McCurry was hired by AT&T, Bell South and other communications companies to promote this position, putting himself at odds with Congresional Democrats, liberal bloggers and companies like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft who support legislation to maintain a level playing field.  According to McCurry who has written about his position at The Huffington Post: "The Internet is not a free public good. It is a bunch of wires and switches and connections and pipes and it is creaky."
To view his post on the topic, see:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-mccurry/hostile-commentary-and-ne_b_20179.html
For the LA Times story, see:
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-fi-mccurry5jun05,1,1593780.story