Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I've been at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas this week. Vegas doesn't suit me - call me an ascetic bookworm, but its plastic recreations of other places, suffused with the perpetual ding-ding-ding of slot machines does not attract me.

Reading Edward. O. Fritts address I found this passage not to my taste either:
On the evening of the attack itself, 60 million Americans tuned in to broadcast TV. The American people tuned to us by a four-to-one margin over the major cable news networks combined.

Radio also played an important role -- and one-third of all people say that they are now listening to radio more than they did before September 11th. During those days of terrorism and trauma, you didn't hear the notion that broadcasting was no longer relevant. Our relevancy was obvious. And it was immediate. The horrible tragedy of September 11th pulled this often-divided nation together. And it did something else. It reaffirmed that broadcasting remains competitively relevant...technologically vibrant...and constant in its civic purpose. Indeed, this was our finest hour.

He did attack the CARP rates:
...we were extremely disappointed by the rate structure set by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel with respect to radio streaming. It's puzzling to us why those who control the music industry want fees to be excessive to the point that many radio stations will be driven off the Web. We believe the CARP panel misinterpreted the intent of Congress and erroneously imposed high rates on broadcasting, and we're fighting to have the opinion voided.

In all of our battles, let's not forget that the services of broadcasters come free to the public. Few things are free anymore with the exception of the public library and over-the-air broadcasting...and we are going to fight to keep it free.

So it seems he is in agreement wiht the unanimous rejection of the CBDTPA

Later Marc Andreessen was pointing out the truth
As film studios and recording studios urge Congress to extend copy protection to every home entertainment device, Andreessen said the entertainment industry need look no further than the software industry's own expensive, failed attempts at encryption to realize it is ineffective at stopping piracy.

``If a computer can see it, display it and play it -- it can copy it,'' said Andreessen, in a keynote address to the National Association of Broadcasters convention.

Their response was not recorded.

I bumped into Bob Cringely, whose Open Source TV idea sounds interesting.

I also managed to read Lessig's 'Future of Ideas' which ends with thoughtful suggestions on restoring a creative commons.