Two key Democrat lawmakers sent a letter address to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin today, urging for conditions "to protect consumers" in the proposed merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, and Telecommunications Subcommittee chairman Ed Markey (D-MA), called for pricing caps to be placed, as well as allow for open device access on the satellite radio platform.
The lawmakers said they were not taking a position on whether to approve the merger or not.
"Just as consumers should be permitted to bring non-harmful compatible devices to wireless networks, they should have the opportunity to bring their choice of devices to the service of the newly-formed company created by this merger," wrote Dingell (pictured above), who also has launched a congressional investigation on the FCC's administrative practices, the focus of which has been largely on Martin himself.
Dingell and Markey contend that requiring an open platform alone is not enough.
"In addition, we believe it is not enough simply to require the open development of satellite radio devices. The Commission must also ensure that consumers have unfettered access to these devices," they argued. "To that end, the merged company should be prohibited from preventing such devices, and any features such devices might contain, from reaching consumers, through exclusive contracts or otherwise."
They added that the merged Sirius-XM should not, for example, be allowed to prevent iPod compatibility from satellite radio devices.
Takeaway: This is actually good news. Dingell and Markey could have all out opposed the deal, but instead they asked for two very reasonable concessions - one of which (price caps) have already been proposed by Sirius-XM.
[Read the full letter (PDF)]
Great, now Senator Skelator is in on the act.
Democraps need to go back asleep!
Just get it done.
Wny encourage mischief? Does HD Radio amount to anything but State Sanctioned Jamming, a 'carny shill' favor handed to BigRadio at gross public expense by a docile FCC?
If only HD didn't cause destructive unlawful interference to AM and FM, many of us would gladly endorse it. But it does, doesn't it? HD jams. Wasn't that BigRadio's sneaky ploy to jam competitors off the air and listeners into submission?
We don't tolerate water, air or land pollution, do we? Then why on earth would we tolerate, let alone endorse, pollution of public airwaves?
HD is a noisy garbage scow in need of scuttling.
Dr. Paul Vincent Zecchino
Manasota Key, Florida
01 May, 2008
Neither condition strikes me as unreasonable. Sirius/XM should want as many devices out there as possible that are able to receive the service. They make money with subs and ads, not with radio making contracts.
As for the price, the company has no incentive to soak people with the price because people can just decide not to use the service. I think it would be an interesting idea of Sirius/XM considered giving away the talk stations for free just to make more money with ads. Although the government shouldn't require this.
open device access??
Sirius and XM make the Chips and the Chips are the radio for the most part.
It is sort of like saying anybody can make Pepsi. Many secrets in the Radios.
Open access is OK, but should be delayed for at least a year so current vendors and their employees are not immediately impacted.
While they are at it, why not a further communistic mandate that all radios must have cassette, 8 track AND CD capabilities! Every dvd player should also have a vhs AND beta capabilities as well. Does this sound ridiculous to you???? It should PISS YOU OFF!
"While they are at it, why not a further communistic mandate that all radios must have cassette, 8 track AND CD capabilities! Every dvd player should also have a vhs AND beta capabilities as well. Does this sound ridiculous to you???? It should PISS YOU OFF!"
That's just ridiculous.. you forgot record players too by the way...
Houston, we have a problem:
Paul Vincent Zecchino
Manasota Key, Florida
17 October, 2006
"Truth leads a wretched life -
and always survives the lie."
- Cathy O'Brien
"I'll live to see you and that son of yours rot in the gutter!" My father, Vincent Zecchino, M.D., made this declaration on August 9th, 1984 in presence of my attorney and Rhode Island Court officials among others.. I was in court to finalize my divorce. My son, Michael Paul Zecchino, was four and a half years old. My father was more than ten years in Dementia. His behavior, though unsettling to those around him, was typical.
His above statement was in reply to an offer from the Court, as conveyed by my attorney. The Court had imprisoned Michael's mother for repeatedly flouting visitation orders, in addition to other problematic behaviors.
The Judge stated the Zecchino name was known as a wealthy one. Noting I'd given all I had to settle the case, the Judge asked Dad, for the sake of propriety, to give Michael's mother ten-thousand dollars. She was seen as unfit. I was seen as a good father. Total custody would be granted me. This would most benefit Michael. He was a normal happy boy in my presence. He behaved otherwise under his mother's influence.
My lawyer was astonished at Dad's hateful reply to such a generous offer from the Court. He long knew my father personally and by reputation. He couldn't believe this was the same Vincent Zecchino. But Dad's behavior was typical of a type of Dementia which runs in his family. My lawyer pleaded that ten thousand dollars literally meant the emotional and psychological survival of my son. Dad was unmoved, instead he gleefully repeated his 'rot in the gutter' declaration to anyone in the Court who would listen.
My lawyer, known as a gentleman and family advocate, later stated he could barely contain himself in face of Dad's cold callous cruelty and my son's resultant assured destruction. He didn't know how I did. He was placated somewhat when I told him of Dad's diagnosis, made during hospitalization and outpatient treatment at McLean Hospital, Boston years earlier, aggravated by age, treatment non-compliance, and extortion..
Dr. Marleen Loughran and I married in August of 1985. She also was taken aback by Dad's angry irrational statments and compulsive physical violations of others' boundaries. Marleen well knew the behavior. During her training and career as Psychologist, she'd witnessed it firsthand on locked wards for the criminally insane at Rhode Island's Institute for Mental Health. She nonetheless had difficulty reconciling it to a prominent Orthopaedic Surgeon. Even then, it seemed to her that Dad was repeating others' words. Whose?
My name and that of my late mother, Julia M. Zecchino crown Lifespan's Providence, RI, Zecchino Pavillion. (www.lifespan.org) The name Vincent Zecchino atop the building is purported to be that of my father. It isn't. Dad long used both 'Dr.' and 'M.D.' in conjunction with his name. In 2003 and 2004, he several times gigglingy admitted to Marleen and others that his lawyers 'crossed out "Paul's" first name'. Why would George Allen Wilson, II of Cheffy, Passidomo of Naples, FL and Girard R. Visconti of Providence, RI do that?
They can best answer that question on their own - at a future arraignment, so say some individuals. But Julia Zecchino, long before her murder, as well corroborated by others, long reassured all of us to not be overly concerned about Dad's 'increasingly violent behavior'. He doused her and her bedroom with alchohol and tried to set her ablaze. He tried to strangle her in 1985. Feigning infirmity, he many times tried to crash her side of their car into utility poles. He regularly injected himself in the Basal Ganglia with substances he refused to identify. Though fearing for her life, in manner typical of the abused, Julia refused to report her husband's 'increasingly severe and noticeable abuse'. Patricia D. Stoye, Marco Island PD Victim Advocate, long corresponded with Dad. Why did she miss what so many others observed? How did Stoye miss Julia's atrophied untreated fractured arm? It was broken when Dad yanked Julia downward onto a concrete step. Others knew of it. Why didn't Stoye? And what about 'all those track marks on Julia's arms'? The Hospital surely didn't put them there. Dad did. With what was he injecting her? For what reason? Poison experts consulted provided interesting observations. As Julia always said, "It's all over money".
Julia reassured us, despite Dad's 'unmanageable private behavior', all our assets were in a Living Trust from the 1950's in her name and mine. She was adamant, all would be well when Dad predeceased her. Eight years younger, physically strong, she was long expected to outlive Dad. Julia did say if Dad outlived her, we 'wouldd have a lot of trouble from some of his distant relatives who'll do anything for money'. To whom was she referring?
Perhaps to Dorothy Lavelle Adams, a/k/a 'Dody', 'sister' Helen Lavelle O'Keefe, and Girard R.Visconti, Esq.? Visconti greatly profited Adams, O'Keefe and their respective families. Among others, he wrote to Rhode Island State Police and Collier County Chief Judge Hugh D. Hayes - in hope, say some - of not so much discrediting me as getting me shot on sight. His letters are viewed as 'typical criminal overstatement'. He doesn't merely portray me as a son undeserving of what is rightfully his. Visconti's overblown statements falsely and actionably paint me as Public Enemy Number One.
Why would he do that? Perhaps because subsequent to Julia's death, the Living Trust which should have passed to "Paul and his family" didn't? Perhaps because though fully cognizant of that fact, Visconti, Wilson and others went right ahead and unlawfully invaded, diverted, and looted the Trust? What does Dad say? He says, "you can't prove what I did to her (Julia)...You'll never prove what I did..You can't prove anything..." Prove what?
Professionals certified to give court testimony understand why these people don't like me. I am the Son and Sole Survivor. That means I have rights and protections under the law. They don't. Though you always hope your worst concerns are unfounded, what are you to believe? Ask Visconti, Wilson, Adams, O'Keefe, and others routine questions? They answer not with truth but rather with silence, lies, and "Judicial Terrorism".
In 1978 Dad settled several malpractice suits. One clearly showed 'personality disorder exacerbated by Dementia'. Many of you surely recall the late '70's. Malpractice was 'Tort du Jour'. Doctors were sued for being Doctors. Dad was sued. Dad settled. End of story.
But something odd then occurred. My parents became very frightened. They took extra precautions to secure both their Providence home and our family homestead at Point Judith, Rhode Island. The latter was the home from which we were unlawfully driven by Girard R. Visconti's actions, taken at the behest - so we've learned - of 'nieces' O'Keefe and Adams.
My parents said people were watching them, awaiting opportunities to break in. Dad could barely speak of this. Julia told me and others 'an old lawsuit came back at them'. They were disconsolate, stating "They'll take everything". It made no sense. Dad's apartment complex was a corporation separate from his practice. Our wealth, customary of professionals of the era, was long in an irrevocable Living Trust in name of Julia and me. Who was taking what?
My parents said insurance wouldn't cover them. Dad unconvincingly admitted fault. Weeping, he said he diagnosed another doctor's patient and the 'little girl died'.
Forensic professionals say this exceeds the language of Dementia. It is language typical of those being extorted. By whom? Over what? Usually nothing. Paying a penny to the blackmailer starts the process. Once started, it never stops.
Dad's 'little girl' story was far fetched. Julia agreed. Rhode Island is a small state. News of the trivial travels statewide within minutes. In 1979, Dr. Vincent Zecchino, M.D. was prominent.. A patient death at Rhode Island Hospital? Front page news. Dad's involvement in, let alone responsibility for it? Earth shattering news. Neither The Providence Journal, www.projo.com , nor any other paper, TV, or radio news desk knows anything of it..
Court archives show settled malpractice suits and nothing else, save for a 'bizarre' Small Claims suit Dad filed against the Star Market. That case proved interesting reading for all in review, who again noted patterns of extortion and documentary evidence of long term Dementia. But no malpractice suit.. Of what and of whom were my so parents afraid?
In 1978, as told by Julia Zecchino and others, Girard R. Visconti, Helen O'Keefe, and Dorothy Adams 'swarmed' my father. Years passed, the situation worsened.
In 1993 Dad closed out all longstanding friends and legitimate family including Marleen and me. He welcomed in distant relatives whose motives are obvious. In banishing us, he screamed, "Don't you dare ask me for another check for Five-Hundred Thousand Dollars, because this time I won't give it to you!" What's this?
I wrongly interepreted it as Dementia talking. It's called Psychotic Transference. Given her professional bragging, how did Stoye miss it? Simply put, Dad blames the two remaining people he loves - Marleen and me - for others' misconduct against him.
$500,000?. In 1998, my son, age 18 and seriously troubled, arrived unannounced at our Manasota Key home. His motives were nefarious and not missed by others. He angrily spoke of 'five hundred thousand dollars' in his name which either I or my father supposedly denied him. I suggested he speak to Dad, as Dad had refused to speak to me for five years.
But Dad spoke regularly with Visconti, Adams, O'Keefe, and Linda Zecchino, of www.holidayfoods.com, which recently sold for millions to Schwann foods. Linda is Dad's helpful 'cousin'. Following Julia's murder - for which Marco PD admits there exists no Death Report - Linda arrived at the funeral home with Dad in tow. Somberly dressed in pedal pushers, halter top exposing ample midriff, sunburst orange thong exploding from her waistline, and in a touch most classy, carrying an umbrella, Linda smoothly arranged for cremation against all stated plans for wake, funeral, and family plot burial. Linda also, thru Visconti, took Promissory Notes from Dad for Five Hundred Thousand Dollars each. She credits Small Business Administration loans for getting her catering business going yet she oddly doesn't mention, let alone thank, Dad for his Promissory Notes. Why not?
See the pattern? People use Dad in his diminished state to unlawfully loot The Living Trust. To make it right in his troubled mind, Dad blames Marleen and me. Why did Stoye and PD Marco miss classic exploitation? Who looted in $500,000 increments? Linda Zecchino, among others. Who get the blame? Paul and Marleen, of course.
Gets better. During Michael's visit, he called his mother five times daily. Remember being 18 and 1500 miles from home in a tropical paradise with pretty girls on the beach? You called Ma five times a day, right? Sure you did. Very curious. Michael's mother, at behest of Adams, Visconti, and O'Keefe, told him to discover our intineraries, defenses, and assets. In particular he was told to look for 'life insurance papers'. Highly signifigant. It links all to Obfuscation of a Living Trust for massive unlawful gain. Murder is involved.
The $500,000 Dad accused us of taking? Michael's mother told him I 'blackmailed' it from Dad and kept it in cash form (!!) in my home. Michael's mother, acting on instructions from Dorothy Adams, told him to ransack our home until he found the cash. Good grief!
Michael, as is his custom, blurted it. He asked me where I kept $500,000 cash. I explained that sums of this sort trip red flags and last I checked, his grandfather wasn't known for throwing money around casually, let alone to blackmailers. Or was he? Was Dad again blaming us for others' misconduct? Isn't this more Psychotic Transference?How did Stoye, in light of her qualifications, miss it? How did George Allen Wilson II, Mark V. Silverio, and Girard R. Visconti miss it? Or did they?
Laymen and experts alike get it in a second. Greedy people exploit those in Dementia. Did they obfuscate a Living Trust? That's prison time. Can you now see why Pat Stoye filed a restraining order against me for ulterior motives using lies for evidence? Isn't it clear she filed this not for Dad's protection, as falsely claimed, but to cover lawyer misconduct and the exploitive cruelty of greedy relatives with my body?
Does Dad's statement now make sense? Persons not in their right mind who suffer from long term blackmail, experience a 'split'. Under severe stress, a person identifies with his tormentors. Many know it as Stockholm Syndrome.
Who wants to see my son and I rot in the gutter? Dorothy Lavelle Adams, among others. I am the speed bump in her road to riches. How did Dorothy split Dad? Ask Visconti. They work as a team. Why do the Marco Island Police act on behalf of Adams, Visconti, Wilson, and O'Keefe?
Next installment, will detail recent events on Marco. Unlike those above, I like questions.
I don't want sympathy. I don't write to complain. I write as a good consumer reporter. Two forensic psychiatrists speak for all when they call this a 'criminal problem'. Stoye filed a restraining order against me with ease and no regard for consequences. This indicates practice. This should cloud any police action in which she is involved. If they did this to us so easily, they're probably doing it to others. There's a lot of wealthy elderly people on Marco. Their adult children may not worry about inheriting, but they'll surely be upset to find themselves in legal hot water merely for trying to protect their parents from estate grifters.
and on and on
My husband, Paul V. Zecchino, has been summoned to Collier Court, 19 July, 2007, before Judge Franklin G. Baker. A Restraining Order, obtained December, '04, expired a year ago, yet the 'case' isn't dismissed. This is 'highly irregular'.
This bad business is a sword of Damocles over the heads of our family. We've never experienced anything like it. Damages are 'substantial'.
Many issues surrounding Dr. Vincent Zecchino are 'irregular and destructive'. His mental status has been in question since the late 70's, when he was hospitalized outside Boston. Many cite the elephant in the living room, with a jungle of predators, including Dorothy Lavelle Adams, Helen Lavelle O'Keefe, Linda Zecchino, and Girard R. Visconti, surrounding the home. They probe and discredit those within, to keep them from thriving.
Allow me to give an example. In 1988, Dr. Zecchino asked to see my Blue Cross Card. Somehow, he copied my numbers, and charged drugs to it. Unbeknownst to me, he did so for several months. I learned of it when my employer called me in. Blue Cross contacted my employer about the inordinate amount of Narcotics, including Controlled Substances, Dr. Zecchino charged to my card. My employer and Blue Cross investigated. They quickly determined I'd been duped, and was innocent. They also learned, calling Dr. Zecchino to account could prove 'dangerous'.
So here we stand, yet again falsely accused, now 'threatened' by lawyers who claim to represent 'Vincent The Chin', as many have long called him. Would you trust the veracity of one who commits identity theft to buy Narcotics and Controlled Substances? Was this done purely to obtain drugs, fed to Julia Zecchino in toxic amounts? Was this also done to portray me as a drug abuser, ruin my professional credibility, and manipulate my false arrest? Examiners, noting the smooth manner of execution, suggest others may have been victimized. What other 'false, defamatory, circumstances' were crafted around me? Will they falsely imprison husband on July 19th? That leaves me vulnerable to Vincent Zecchino's promise, I'm to be 'gruesomely murdered for revenge'. Will these lawyers, who can't keep clients straight, maliciously sue us on behalf of Vincent's 70-ish "emotional problem child who ducked every psychiatrist the Zecchinos sent her to, following attempts to 'poison his infant son'"? Collier Sheriffs, among others, find this 'vicious charade', outrageous, and wonder why they keep at it. I cannot for the life of me begin to comprehend the malice Dorothy Adams and her claque harbor. Nor can family or longstanding friends.
Why do lawyers persist in this 'vicious charade' for 'frank, ulterior motives'? How are they able to misuse Collier Courts? These concerns have drawn the interest of those with whom I've been privileged to work with during my career.
Dr. Marleen Loughran Zecchino
Manasota Key, Florida
June 6th, 2007
Paul Vincent Zecchino,
The problem you speak of is perplexing and seems true or why would you go to such lengths? It seems to me contacting the state bar about such an ordeal may help. There must be a college of law in Florida somewhere? Contact a law college about this problem and see what advice they offer up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg5zodsZdds&feature=related
Open access maybe, but not unrestricted. The radio companies should be able to protect their trade secrets, and to insure a minimum performance level. (What if someone wanted to build radios with poor performance ? It would reflect badly on the XM and Sirius brands)
Also, the companies should be exempt from any lawsuits caused by the 'features' of the open devices. Can you imagine what the RIAA would do if someone made a radio with removable media, or worse a bit torrent server built in ? Look at what they've done to XM over the Inno, which has no way to remove the recorded material or to be connected easily to the internet. The radio companies are going to be the deep pockets sued unless there is some protection.
Once a manufacturer of satrad radios has full knowlege of the inner workings of the authorization codes how long before unrestricted Chinese satrad radios flood the market? There would be very little way to stop it once it gets started. The looser would be the satrad companies and their investors who would lose billions in lost revenues. The NAB and their members don't give a rat's ass as it would not impact them a dime. Remember how easy it was a few years ago to get a dish receiver that had pirated chips so that it could get ALL of the channels free of charge? It would be the same thing here.
"which has no way to remove the recorded material or to be connected easily to the internet." No shit, I've tried
protect consumers or their wallets?
The temporary price caps are fine, but the "open device" idea is simply nonsense. To impose other companies technology on Sirius-Xm is just crazy, and simply not fair. They would have to raise the sub cost also to do this, negating the whole idea of the price cap, and lowering the cost of Satellite radio to the comsumer.
Aren't these the same congresspersons who called for limiting the functionality of satellite radio receivers to protect content owners...a few years back? Holding up Inno and Stilletto?????
What gives!!!
AS SOON AS THIS MERGER OF EQUALS (LOL) HAPPENS ALL THE DUPLICATE CHANNELS WILL COME DOWN ON THE XM SIDE. SIRIUS CHANNELS PLAY SHORTER PLAYLISTS THAN COMMERCIAL RADIO XM PLAYS 3-4 TIMES THE PLAY LIST SIZES OF SIRIUS. IF THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT THEN YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT.