Digital Media Issues

Online newspapers have become a vital resource to the public, providing up-to-the minute news, as well as acting as venues for information specific to the communities that they serve. Editorial content is provided by most online newspapers free of charge to the reader, as the dissemination of this news and information is paid for by advertising. Unnecessary regulations creating restrictions that hinder digital advertising are a threat to the vitality of the free online newspaper. NAA actively lobbies to ensure that legislation does not contain language that would harm digital advertising.

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Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommate.com: Roommate.com, LLC, operated an Internet roommate locator service. The website allowed users to post information on available housing on a searchable database. Roommate’s terms of service said authors are responsible for content, but users created a profile by selecting options, including age, gender, sexual orientation, and number of children. Some users picked nicknames indicating race, religious identity, or preferences on race, gender or sexual orientation.

The Fair Housing Councils of San Fernando Valley and San Diego filed a complaint with U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging that Roommate violated state and federal fair housing laws for making and publishing discriminatory statements indicating preference on race, religion, national origin, gender, familial status, age, sexual orientation, source of income, and disability. Roommate sought summary judgment that it was immune from suit for publication of third party content under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which provides: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Alternatively, Roommate said the claims were barred by the First Amendment. Read More

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In recent years, the concept of net neutrality has gained national prominence as advocates call on Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create regulations forbidding Internet service providers from creating tiered pricing systems that would, in effect, prioritize the delivery of content over their broadband networks. Net neutrality proponents have argued that without federal action, broadband providers will give special treatment to Web sites that have paid for the “fast lane” on the Internet, potentially causing consumers from being able to visit certain Web pages or interfere with their ability to freely search the Internet. Broadband providers contend that they own the infrastructure that allows access to the Internet and should be allowed to charge the content providers whose data is transmitted over their networks. They argue that a tiered pricing system would allow them to provide their customers with new services and faster access to the Web.

The FCC, in 2005, adopted a broadband policy statement outlining four principles for maintaining an open Internet. In 2007, the Federal Trade Commission also addressed net neutrality, releasing a report advising lawmakers to proceed with caution should they choose to create new regulations.

NAA continues to monitor net neutrality. At this time, NAA has not taken an official position on net neutrality believing that the FCC’s broadband principles are sufficient in preventing discrimination.

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In addition to a hard copy product, many newspapers provide an online version for their subscribers, usually at no cost or a small, nominal fee. These online versions provide subscribers with up-to-date information about issues of local interest. Legislation that would change the taxation of these subscriptions would be an additional cost of doing business. Furthermore, many newspapers have broadcast operations. Any change, such as increasing the royalty rates Web broadcasters must pay for streaming music, would increase the costs of doing business and reduce the profitability of the operation.

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