ROWLAND: FCC-backed car hits more than criticism in first race

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By Kara Rowland

There have been a couple of developments since I told you last week about the Federal Communication Commission's sponsorship of NASCAR driver David Gilliland's No. 38 Ford.

Recapping: The media-regulating agency announced earlier this month that it would sponsor the Digital TV Transition Ford for three races to help get the word out about the Feb. 17 government-mandated switch from analog to digital broadcasting.

Well, the car didn't fare so well in its inaugural run in the Tums QuikPak 500 in Martinsville, Va. It finished in 32nd place after going "hard into the wall" on lap 485, according to NASCAR.com. Mr. Gilliland said on his Web site that the resulting damage was "just too much to be able to repair in time."

In separate but related news, a taxpayer watchdog group named FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin the October Porker of the Month, hitting the Republican for the agency's sponsorship of Mr. Gilliland, a fellow North Carolina native.

"Even though the commission has inundated networks with paid announcements for months, Martin considered it necessary to use additional taxpayer dollars to pay for the car and driver to bear slogans such as 'Is Your TV Ready for Digital?'" said Citizens Against Government Waste, citing the $355,000 price tag of the sponsorship.

The group, an ardent critic of earmarks and what it decries as wasteful government spending, said the Porker award goes to those who "have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers."

The Digital TV Transition Ford will next appear at the Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 9 and Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16.

In other news

• The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a free-market think tank focused on media policy, last week launched its Center for Internet Freedom.

"We offer an alternative to the proliferation of advocacy groups calling for government intervention online by offering timely analyses and critiques of proposals that diminish the vital role of free markets, free speech and property rights," said Berin Szoka, director of the center.

The new center will look at online advertising, privacy, online speech and threats to the free flow of e-commerce, the group said.

• According to the Center for Democracy & Technology, a public interest group, the various new Internet browsers are increasingly competing when it comes to who has the best privacy controls.

In a report, the CDT compared privacy offerings from the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Apple Safari. The group focused on each browser's privacy mode, cookie controls and object controls, all of which are aimed at limiting the personal information users leave behind.

While the CDT noted that the browsers varied greatly in how they implement each of the tools, it stopped short of declaring a winner.

"With more robust privacy tools being included in each new browser release, it falls to consumers to educate themselves about what is available and make informed choices that protect their personal information," said Ari Schwartz, the group's vice president and chief operating officer.

• E-mail krowland@washingtontimes.com