well, in a word, whoever told you the fcc is not such a good model-- they are right! perhaps you may want to show whoever the decisionmakers are on this new regulatory agency some of the current recommendations for reforming the FCC-- which could help highlight the problems with its structure and save you a lot of trouble later dealing with an inept, captured agency that responds more to corporate interests than the public. here is a blog post by harold feld who mentions a number of other sources with detailed critiques of fcc structure. and one of the first links is his white paper on the subject- "painless reforms to improve the fcc." http://tales-of-the-sausage-factory.wetmachine.com/content/reform-week-at-the-fcc-and-why-letting-in-the-public-is-better i am cc:ing harold too- i know he is quite busy with the problems of our US agency, but he follows this stuff pretty closely and may have more ideas for resources. also, i have two articles i have written from an activists point of view about how the FCC works. my attempt to explain to lay people why such bad policy comes out of our government. in truth, our fcc is not half as bad as congress. but that is not saying much. unfortunately i haven't posted these articles to our new website yet, so i will try attaching them and see if they come through to the list- i don't think they are too big. happy to talk about this more with the people working on this, if they would find that useful. pete tridish [log in to unmask] On MondayJun 14, 2010, at 5:26 AM, Janey Gordon wrote: > They should look at the Australian model. > > ACMA is the Australian communications regulatory body, overseeing > all communications. It works a bit like the UK system in that the > regulator is not part of the government but does advice, regulate > and implement laws. > > Australia has a particularly strong community radio sector and ACMA > feel that community radio is very much part of the democratic > conversation and enables groups such as the Indigenous Aboriginal > peoples of Australia and the new and older ethnic migrant groups to > have a media and voice. > > I believe Giles Tanner is the head of broadcasting at ACMA and a > great supporter of community media. > > Janey Gordon > Principal Lecturer > Radio LaB Project Leader > University of Bedfordshire > [log in to unmask] > > > > > On 14 Jun 2010, at 04:06, G wrote: > >> Dear OURmedia friends, >> (apologies for cross-posting) >> >> Urgent question regarding independent regulation agencies. >> >> In Japan, the government (constantly changing though the members >> are) is >> considering finally (!) an independent broadcasting agency (so far >> airwaves >> directly regulated by ministry of interior). A civil society group >> called >> ComRights is feverishly gathering information on good examples (and >> some bad >> ones) of independent regulating agencies from around the world. >> Does anyone >> know of existing comparative studies or have on hand detailed info >> about the >> independent regulators (independent from the government) of specific >> countries? >> >> Japanese colleagues are already currently collecting info from US, >> UK, >> France and Germany (and I have found some comparative data on EU >> country's >> regulators), but hints for good examples in other countries would >> be welcome >> and some notably bad ones too (word so far is: FCC is not so good- >> though >> unfortunately now being considered as the main model- the planned >> regulatory >> agency is even dubbed 'Japanese FCC', OFCOM is better, the >> regulator in >> Germany's Northrhine-Westfahlia is pretty good. Any insights on >> that?). >> >> We'd be interested also on information on how regulators relate to >> the >> community media sector(s) in each case (I've found some information >> on that >> in comparative community radio reports). >> >> Please feel free to pass this question on to other people and lists >> who you >> think may have leads, but when forwarding please cut out my e-mail >> address >> in the header and instead include the signature below. >> >> Gabi >> ghprof(at)me.com >> >> PS: They are for now looking at broadcasting authorities ONLY, as the >> convergence law draft is on hold for the moment and industry bodies >> 'self-'regulate internet, game industry, etc. But obviously many >> countries >> regulators cover multiple platforms, and this may also happen in Jp >> eventually. > pete tridish director of electromagnetism __ __ Pe'tre Dish (n): A squat, cylindrical article of laboratory glassware, useful in observing resistant strains in aetherial media. prometheus radio project [log in to unmask] www.prometheusradio.org 215-605-9297