Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Oy, oy oy! The FCC Web site . . .
The FCC Web site is a mucking fess. It's a wonder that ANYBODY can find -- or do --ANYTHING! Here's hoping the Obama Administration's transparency initiatives include a complete tear-it-out-to-the-studs re-do of our communications commission's communication platform.
I needed to call the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) Help Desk to figure out how to file the Its the Internet Stupid Comment. Fortunately, I figured out I needed to call the ECFS Help Desk before it closes at 4:30 East Coast Time. Then I needed a tutorial from a friend to figure out how to download and view the 495 comments filed to date.
If you want to view the comments filed so far, just go to this easy-to-remember URL: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/websql/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.hts?ws_mode=retrieve_list&id_proceeding=09-51
Go to the bottom of the page and click on Enter New Search Criteria. Do this even if you don't have any old search criteria.
On the Search for Filed Comments page that comes up, enter the docket number. In the case of FCC GN Docket No. 09-51 you enter only this: 09-51. You've just gotta know this.
Then, if you're looking for our comment, you may enter David S. or you may enter Isenberg under "Filed on behalf of." But if you enter David Isenberg, it will return Zero Documents.
Want to find it based on key words, or a text string search? Heh. How does it feel to want, sucka? It's so 1998.
Now try to download it. Just click on the blue-fonted hyperlinked word COMMENT, and open the downloaded document, right? WRONG.
What gets downloaded is a file named -- in every case -- retrieve.cgi. Doesn't matter if it's filed by Free Press, Brett Glass or AT&T; everybody's comment is named retrieve.cgi. If you want to download ten in a row, you're S-out-of-luck. You've got to rename each file, one at a time, to have a meaningful name and a .pdf extension. With a .pdf extension, you can click-to-open the comment in Acrobat, Preview or some other .pdf reader.
Welcome to the "public" comment system at the FCC! No wonder telecom policy is an inside game around here.
I needed to call the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) Help Desk to figure out how to file the Its the Internet Stupid Comment. Fortunately, I figured out I needed to call the ECFS Help Desk before it closes at 4:30 East Coast Time. Then I needed a tutorial from a friend to figure out how to download and view the 495 comments filed to date.
If you want to view the comments filed so far, just go to this easy-to-remember URL: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/websql/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.hts?ws_mode=retrieve_list&id_proceeding=09-51
Go to the bottom of the page and click on Enter New Search Criteria. Do this even if you don't have any old search criteria.
On the Search for Filed Comments page that comes up, enter the docket number. In the case of FCC GN Docket No. 09-51 you enter only this: 09-51. You've just gotta know this.
Then, if you're looking for our comment, you may enter David S. or you may enter Isenberg under "Filed on behalf of." But if you enter David Isenberg, it will return Zero Documents.
Want to find it based on key words, or a text string search? Heh. How does it feel to want, sucka? It's so 1998.
Now try to download it. Just click on the blue-fonted hyperlinked word COMMENT, and open the downloaded document, right? WRONG.
What gets downloaded is a file named -- in every case -- retrieve.cgi. Doesn't matter if it's filed by Free Press, Brett Glass or AT&T; everybody's comment is named retrieve.cgi. If you want to download ten in a row, you're S-out-of-luck. You've got to rename each file, one at a time, to have a meaningful name and a .pdf extension. With a .pdf extension, you can click-to-open the comment in Acrobat, Preview or some other .pdf reader.
Welcome to the "public" comment system at the FCC! No wonder telecom policy is an inside game around here.
Technorati Tags: FCC, ItsTheInternetStupid, Open, Organizational Culture
Comments:
The fact that 495 comments had been filed to date may tell us that many think it is important for them to be heard on this issue.
David you could not be more right. As a frequent user, I can say that the ECFS and EDOCs system is an incredibly frustrating disaster. It's completely inexcusable, given the technological tools at the agency's disposal. How is it that the FCC -- of all agencies -- has such a bad website for public interaction? I'm sure someone at the agency has it on their plate, and it probably keeps getting pushed off, but it REALLY needs to be made a priority. Wonder if there's anything us regular folk can do about it.
Given that the FCC website looks like a relic from 1995, is it any wonder that they can't figure out how to deal with telecommunications systems in the 21st century?
Those of us who are frequent users of the FCC's comment system (and believe me, I never wanted to be; I'm trying to keep the FCC from destroying competitive ISPs, including me) have written scripts to make the process go more smoothly.
But, yes, without those special tools it's a mess. Especially when some DC lobbying group decides to spam a docket by creating a Web form that sends boilerplate comments (as Free Press has done in a few proceedings). I was able to run a "de-spaminator" against the site that eliminated these and left the substantive comments.
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But, yes, without those special tools it's a mess. Especially when some DC lobbying group decides to spam a docket by creating a Web form that sends boilerplate comments (as Free Press has done in a few proceedings). I was able to run a "de-spaminator" against the site that eliminated these and left the substantive comments.
# posted by 
: 6/12/2009 11:13 PM
: 6/12/2009 11:13 PM
