Saturday, November 01, 2008
Sound Argument: Battle Over Mikes
Backstage: "It's not often that theatre has to bother itself with decisions from the Federal Communications Commission. As far as most Broadway actors, writers, directors, and producers know, those are concerns for the people whose work is transmitted via the airwaves, which the FCC regulates. But the short- and midterm future of live performance in the United States, particularly in Manhattan's theatre district, could be significantly affected when the FCC issues a ruling Nov. 4 on wireless technology and the broadcast spectrum."
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7 comments:
I think the FCC members are getting kick backs from lobbyists... That is the only way that they can not be understand the point made by many organizations. If AEA and its allied organizations could get all of Television, Hollywood, and sports to speak up as loud, the FCC might listed. But those industries have enough money to quickly replace their equip... most theater's don't. We'll see what happens next week.
It's sad, because this unintended consequence of freeing up white space is really a disaster for the theater industry. However, this isn't really common knowledge outside theater circles, and many people who support the loosening of regulations have no idea of what the impacts are for peripherally related industries. Also, it's scary that the devices used to test which frequencies are free aren't even working- definitely means that there should be some more thought about this before it goes through.
Really this comes down to two different groups in society fighting over the wireless spectrum, the arts and corporate enterprise. Are we surprised that big business is winning. I think the entertainment community needs to get public support on their side, but that is expensive, and up against such corporations as Microsoft and Google a feeble attempt. Congratulations, you can buy what you want from the government, no one knew that already.
Its going to be a very very sad day when the government starts selling off all our frequencies to the point that during a show, our lead actress gets her ballad cut off because someone's cell phone conversation comes blasting in over the array. As Aaron said, we shouldn't be surprised about this in anyway -- there's no way the arts can contend with the money that big corporations can pay to lobby corrupt government officials. Its just sort of sickening that our politicians can be so easily bought. I wish I could say that they've lost their appreciation for the arts, and while I think that's part of it, I'm sure it has more to do with their greed than anything else.
I doubt this will even be a problem becasue they are probably going to push back the date for going from analog to digital. This date has been pushed back 3 or 4 times now. It may not get pushed back though since they have started auctioning off frequencies though. However it is pretty humorous to me the battle between entertainment, Google, Verizon / AT&T. I'm surprised other people/forces have tried to buy up this property. It wouldn't surprise my if the government did.
I would have to think that if this law does pass, then the FCC will add an amendment to the law that better regulates rules in theatre. Obviously, this is not what the FCC is directly dealing with here, and big businesses are using the law to better support their own ideas. Even if this law does pass, something will be done so that is does not have a largely drastic effect on the theatre community.
This would definitely be a huge setback for the relatively new design field of sound design. I can see the reason for this, but it seems like lately the entertainment industry (particularly theatre) keeps getting screwed. However, after the new presidency, we'll have to see what happens.
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