My general take on what I have seen of the entire DNS controversy is that it is similar in nature to past struggles over "shared scarce resources" such as the ones Tony cited. Certainly, from what I have read of the establishment of the FCC and the 1934 Radio Act, there are striking similarities. The activists who opposed the favoritism of commercial over educational and other noncommercial broadcasters did not have the resources the commercial broadcasters had to present to Congress a plan to use the airwaves in the public interest. Consequently, commercial broadcasters were awarded most of the powerful radio frequencies. The activists might have had a better chance if they had been able to present a more united front, but there was a lot of contention and disunity in their ranks. They were pacified (somewhat) by the establishment of the noncommercial FM band, and the fact that noncommercial stations outside of the noncommercial FM band were able to be constructed easily (because few commercial broadcasters built FM stations at first) or bought (because many of the early FM commercial stations lost money). BTW, some of you probably are following the situation with Pacifica radio. If you think these lists are vitriolic, try subscribing to the freepacifica list for a while. The insinuations made here about people being in others' pockets pale in comparison to some of the nastiness I've seen there. (To say nothing of the actual violence that has ensued in Berkeley.) --gregbo
