As writer Steven Johnson noted in a tweet, what's striking
about this Google Voice/iTunes situation is the alacrity with which the FCC jumped into the mix. What's also notable: in doing it, they're coming to the defense of the 'net-based content creator, rather than big telecom. The commission, reported the Washington Post, shot off letters to Apple and AT&T on Friday asking the companies to explain their alleged decision to keep the Google Voice iPhone app out of the iTunes store. "Recent news reports raise questions about practices in the mobile marketplace," said FCC chair Julius Genachowski. The letter asked if AT&T and Apple worked together to come to the decision to ban the app, and if so, to "please describe the communications between Apple and AT&T in connection with the decision to reject Google Voice."

Eric Schmidt, Google CEO and member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, has resigned from the Apple board over the fracas. (Photo credit: World Economic Forum)

Glenn Greenwald takes Chris Dodd's FISA victory seriously, unlike most of big media; Colin Delany is impressed with the grassroots effort behind Dodd; BlogHer asks why the candidates won't speak with them; a partnership between Rock the Vote and AT&T gets out the vote, text-style; a new site compares the candidates, and Obama and Clinton supporters engage in a Microsoft vs. Apple-style switcher's war.

Now that the FCC has announced it will be auctioning off the 700 megahertz part of the wireless spectrum -- it will go unused once broadcast TV stations make a complete switch to digital in 2009 -- its use has become a political and commercial hot button. Internet activists have gone on the offensive to try to convince the FCC of the public importance of the newly-freed spectrum, and to be fair when assigning it, and today they've made a key ally in John Edwards.