White Space Devices & The Battle Over Innovation: Public Access vs. Industry Control of the Airwaves, By Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation, June 2008
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of a White Space Device. And yet, white space devices have the potential to be one of the most revolutionary new technologies to come along in the past twenty years. White space devices will have a greater positive impact than Wi-Fi and spur far more innovation than mobile phones. And yet, the trade press and inside-the-beltway media have been inundated by a massive PR campaign, and congressional offices have been swarmed by hundreds of lobbyists, all claiming that white space devices will destroy television broadcasting and make wireless microphones inoperable. Why then, has a large and growing coalition of public interest and consumer groups (including the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers’ Union who publish Consumer Reports, EDUCAUSE which represents institutions of higher learning, Common Cause, National Hispanic Media Coalition which advocates for “media and telecommunications policies that benefit the Latino community, New America Foundation, Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Prometheus Radio Project, and U.S. PIRG) teamed up with a growing number of high-tech companies (including Google, Dell, HP, Motorola, and Microsoft) to support white space devices? If consumers and businesses that are innovating new technologies are fighting for these devices, who’s funding the lobbying and PR against them? And what does this all have to do with the arts and cultural community?”
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