MEDIA & SOCITEY
Allies' PR War Targets Arab Street
The Cost Of China's Web Censors
BROADCASTING
AOL Time Warner and Disney Revive Talks on News Venture
Hearings Set On Measure To Promote Digital TV
BROADBAND
More-Engaging Online Content Urged
Online Video-On-Demand Company Sues Three Movie Studios
MEDIA & SOCITEY
ALLIES' PR WAR TARGETS ARAB STREET
This week, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair releases a white paper
detailing the offenses of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The paper will
kick off US and UK public relations initiatives aimed at convincing Arabs
and Muslims that Iraq is an imminent danger to the world. The message to the
Arab street will detail everything from Mr. Hussein's weapons programs to
his fondness for erecting statues of himself. In addition, America is eager
to emphasize that its goal is to help create a more prosperous and
democratic future for the region. Some experts questions the allies ability
to effectively communication this message. "You have to be careful that
you're speaking to the conscience and values of the people you're trying to
persuade, but we're just not there yet," says Ambassador Freeman, who is now
president of the Middle East Policy Council in Washington.
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Howard LaFranchiv]
(http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0924/p01s01-uspo.html)
THE COST OF CHINA'S WEB CENSORS
The Chinese government continues to censor its citizen's use of the
Internet. The government recently imposed tighter regulations for Internet
cafes and ISP's. While human rights activists have long worried about
China's digital censorship, people concerned about China's economic
development are beginning to pay attention as well. "You have a lot of
talent, not to mention money, that is being directed into controlling rather
than stimulating the use of the web," says Ken DeWoskin, a partner at
accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers in Beijing. But censorship itself has
become an important part of China's online economy. Some reports indicate
that up to 30,000 people are employed to conduct digital spying.
[SOURCE: BBC News, AUTHOR: Mary Hennock]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2264508.stm)
BROADCASTING
AOL TIME WARNER AND DISNEY REVIVE TALKS ON NEWS VENTURE
AOL Time Warner and the Walt Disney Corporation have revived long-running
talks about combining their CNN and ABC News operations into a joint venture
in an effort to cut costs, people involved in the talks said yesterday. The
discussions take place during a prolonged downturn in advertising sales as
both media giants face pressure from their shareholders and directors to
improve results. The arrangement could look similar to NBC's relationship
with CNBC and MSNBC, sharing the costs of gathering the news and spreading
them over more hours and outlets. Preliminary terms call for Disney's ABC
News division and AOL Time Warner's CNN division to merge into a joint
venture, two-thirds owned by AOL Time Warner and one-third owned by Disney.
The ownership stakes, however, would not determine each side's degree of
control over the combined news organization's editorial content. That thorny
issue has yet to be decided, people involved in the discussions said.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David D. Kirkpatrick and Bill Carter]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/25/business/media/25TUBE.html)
(requires registration)
HEARINGS SET ON MEASURE TO PROMOTE DIGITAL TV
The U.S. House and Energy Committees are holding hearings today on a bill
that would make current analog televisions obsolete by 2007 and require the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support copy-protection
technology. Designed to prevent TV viewers from redistributing material over
the Internet, the copyright technology in question could also be used to
prevent consumers from recording shows or watching them where and when they
choose. Consumer groups contend that the proposals signal a troublesome
willingness in Congress to favor the interests of copyright holders over
those of consumers in the face of new technology. "Here we have technology
that was supposed to enhance the consumer experience, expand their ability
to use media, and now we find we're going in the exact opposite direction,"
said Mark Cooper, research director at the Consumer Federation of America.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Amy Harmon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/25/technology/25DIGI.html)
BROADBAND
MORE-ENGAGING ONLINE CONTENT URGED
A White House panel is expected to encourage increased development of online
entertainment, government and educational services, in an effort to boost
demand for high-speed Internet access. The President's Council of Advisors
on Science and Technology believes that increased content is a way to
promote the deployment of broadband Internet access without having to
overhaul telecommunication regulations. Besides supporting the development
of more content, a report from the commission is expected to call for more
research and development of high-speed technologies, including wireless data
networks. The recommendations coincide with a recent Commerce Department
study showing a low demand for broadband technologies in the United States.
The upcoming report could pit the White House against Hollywood and other
groups pushing for greater government protection of creative works on the
Web.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jube Shiver Jr.]
(http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/cotown/la-fi-broadband24sep24(0,4494
672).story?null)
ONLINE VIDEO-ON-DEMAND COMPANY SUES THREE MOVIE STUDIOS
Online video-on-demand company Intertainer filed an antitrust suit against
the film units of AOL Time Warner, Vivendi Universal and Sony on Monday.
Intertainer alleges the studios have attempted to control the marketplace
for entertainment content on demand by fixing prices in the digital
distribution of movies, hindering the emergence of the broadband content
industry and Intertainer's services. The company also claims that the
studios have deliberately caused the delay so they can deploy service from
their online movie venture, Movielink, and that they have "purposely
delayed" negotiations on an agreement that would give Intertainer access to
films that are essential to its service. The Justice Department has launched
an antitrust probe of Movielink and Movies.com, the rival video-on-demand
venture backed by Walt Disney Co. and News Corp., focusing on pricing and
exclusivity.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-09-24-movie-studios_x.htm)
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