TELECOM
In Fights Over Telecom Issues, Record Shows, Kerry's Worked on Many Sides
Taking Broadband Internet Access to the Last 'Last Mile': To Rural America
BROADCASTING
Update: Indecency Legislation
Would last TV station turn out the lights?
The Real Story Behind Must-Carry
QUICK HITS
EU Fines Microsoft $613 Million, Imposes Tough Sanctions
Online Swindlers, Called 'Phishers,' Are Luring Unwary
Senators Struggle to Define Computer 'Spyware'
Study: Price Gives DSL an Edge in Broadband
Policy People: Jack Valenti
TELECOM
IN FIGHTS OVER TELECOM ISSUES, RECORD SHOWS, KERRY'S WORKED ON MANY SIDES
Congressional aides, former regulators and lobbyists familiar with Sen John=
=20
Kerry's (D-MA) record say that unlike other senators who play a guiding=20
role in telecommunications policies affecting billions of dollars of=20
commerce, Sen Kerry has not been a consistent ally of any particular cause=
=20
or industry. Even his corporate donors describe his regulatory stances as=20
unpredictable. "Some members of Congress pick what side they want to be on=
=20
in the holy jihad of telecommunications policy," said former FCC Chairman=20
Bill Kennard. "You never got that sense from John. He was above the fray."=
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Sen Kerry has tried to aid his home state's largest employer, Bell Atlantic=
=20
(now Verizon). But by and large, Sen Kerry's record on issues the Senate=20
Commerce Committee (on which he sits) regulates wins praise from consumer=20
groups. "In general, John Kerry has been a very strong consumer advocate=20
when it comes to telecommunications issues," said Gene Kimmelman, public=20
policy director at Consumers Union. But Mr. Kimmelman also offered a caveat=
=20
regarding regulation of cable television prices, an issue that has been=20
hard fought and heavily lobbied in Congress since the mid-1980's. "When it=
=20
came to cable he was not in favor of capping skyrocketing cable rates or=20
promoting more competition among cable monopolies." See the URL below for=20
this long piece that looks at Sen Kerry's legislative efforts, his=20
interactions with the FCC and his relationship to a Boston law firm where=20
is his brother is a partner and which represents telecom clients.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Timothy O'Brien & Stephen Labaton]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/politics/campaign/24TELE.html
(requires registration)
TAKING BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS TO THE LAST 'LAST MILE': TO RURAL AMERICA
Broadband is no longer a luxury: it's a necessity. And although urban and=20
suburban dwellers are signing up fast for broadband connections, people in=
=20
rural America are still waiting for last miles solutions. Klinkenborg=20
likens today's need to bring broadband connections to rural areas to the=20
1930s efforts to bring electricity to everyone. "One of the most critical=20
issues facing this country is the increasing economic and cultural=20
isolation of rural communities =97 the abandonment and the ultimate=20
re-democratization of the landscape. No business would settle in a town=20
that lacked electricity, and we are now at the point where no business will=
=20
settle in a town that lacks broadband access," Klinkenborg writes. The=20
solution will probably not come from telecom giants, but from the=20
initiative and inventiveness of local communities, partnering with=20
government and small tech companies.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Verlyn Klinkenborg]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/opinion/24WED4.html
(requires registration)
BROADCASTING
UPDATE: INDECENCY LEGISLATION
First Amendment attorneys are "champing at the bit" to argue against=20
indecency legislation before the Supreme Court. They are warning US=20
senators to reject provisions in legislation moving through the chamber=20
that invite reversal of the government's right to regulate such content.=20
The basic tenet of these indecency regulations is to protect children from=
=20
exposure to sexually explicit or other "patently offensive" material. "The=
=20
only speakers in the marketplace that are subject to the indecency standard=
=20
are the broadcasters," says Marjorie Heins, director of the Free Expression=
=20
Policy Project in New York and author of a book on the topic titled "Not In=
=20
Front of the Children." "The question is whether the Supreme Court will=20
say, 'We've got so much else out there now that it's silly and unfair to=20
subject broadcasters to this indecency standard.' "
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anne Marie Squeo at=20
annemarie.squeo( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108008903562863646,00.html?mod=3Dpoli...
%5Fprimary%5Fhs
(requires subscription)
See Also:
B&C: ACLU Tells Senate to Scuttle Smut Bill=20
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA405608?display=3DBreaking+News
LA Times: Satellite Radio Eager to Receive Howard Stern Fans
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-radio24mar24,1,774853...
ory?coll=3Dla-headlines-pe-business
WOULD LAST TV STATION TURN OUT THE LIGHTS?
Hazlett, a former chief economist at the FCC, notices that public=20
broadcasters and some TV broadcasters are eager to end their analog=20
transmissions and go to digital only broadcasts. Why? In part because they=
=20
do not want to pay electricity bills to broadcast both analog and digital=20
TV signals and, in part, Hazlett believes, because they don't know the=20
value of the spectrum they are using because they get to use it for free.=20
Broadcasters are so enamored with getting cable and satellite carriage=20
rights that they are forgetting or ignoring how they could compete with=20
these pay systems using digital broadcasts. Pushed by hungry wireless=20
industries, Congress and the FCC seem to be moving toward a policy that=20
sets a date certain for the switch to digital only broadcasts. That can't=20
come too soon for innovators who should be allowed to bid on spectrum and=20
use it anyway they please, Hazlett argues. "Alert station owners, like=20
those in public television, already see that TV programming may be a better=
=20
business without spewing useless radiation. Rather than clinging to a=20
TV-band plan crafted during the Truman administration, regulators ought to=
=20
end the blockade preventing prime spectrum from accommodating the wireless=
=20
technologies of today and tomorrow."
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Thomas Hazlett, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan=20
Institute ]
http://www.hillnews.com/news/032304/ss_hazlett.aspx
THE REAL STORY BEHIND MUST-CARRY
The release of former Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun's papers=20
recently sheds light on how close the Court came to striking down=20
provisions in the 1992 Cable Act that created must-carry. The provisions=20
were ultimately approved by the Court in a 5-4 decision, but were close to=
=20
a 5-4 rejection until Justice David H. Souter was convinced to change his=20
mind by Justice Blackmun. Mandatory cable carriage of local TV stations=20
began with the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act, a=
=20
1992 law enacted over the veto of former President Bush a month before his=
=20
re-election defeat.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA404902?display=3DTop+Stories
(requires subscription)
Free Press has posted the story at
http://www.mediareform.net/news/article.php?id=3D2838
QUICK HITS
EU FINES MICROSOFT $613 MILLION, IMPOSES TOUGH SANCTIONS
The European Commission, the European Union's top antitrust authority, has=
=20
fined Microsoft $613 million for abusing its Windows monopoly. Microsoft=20
has 120 days to reveal the source code for Windows so rivals can create=20
competing server software and it has 90 days to offer personal-computer=20
manufacturers a separate version of its Windows operating program that=20
doesn't include its Windows Media Player.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108012031906164011,00.html?mod=3Dhome...
ts_news_us
(requires subscription)
See Also
NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/business/24place.html
NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/technology/24soft.html
ONLINE SWINDLERS, CALLED 'PHISHERS,' ARE LURING UNWARY
Gangs of organized crime in Eastern Europe may be responsible for the wave=
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of scams called "phishing," in which someone sends an email message that=20
pretends to be from an ISP, an online merchant or bank with the aim of=20
stealing the recipient's passwords, credit card numbers and other financial=
=20
information. Learn more at URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Saul Hansell]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/technology/24PHIS.html?hp
(requires registration)
SENATORS STRUGGLE TO DEFINE COMPUTER 'SPYWARE'
The Senate is considering a bill that would require companies to obtain=20
permission before installing a piece of software on a consumer's computer,=
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and provide an easy way for the consumer to remove the software if he=20
wished. The Senate Communications Committee (Commerce) met Tuesday to=20
discuss "spyware" and how to regulate it before it drives people off of the=
=20
Internet. But some are cautioning that legislators must first come up with=
=20
a precise definition of spyware, software that secretly tracks computer=20
users' activities, before passing any bills. "We really have to spend a=20
little time, take a deep breath and define what we're after here," said=20
Jerry Berman, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andy Sullivan]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=3DtechnologyNews&storyID=3...
8795§ion=3Dnews
See also
Link to Senate hearing:=20
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=3D1125
More from CDT: http://www.cdt.org/testimony/20040323berman.pdf
http://www.cdt.org/privacy/spyware/
STUDY: PRICE GIVES DSL AN EDGE IN BROADBAND
Forrester Research reported Tuesday that 61% of people surveyed said they=20
would switch to a faster broadband service, if it were priced comparably to=
=20
their dial-up service -- usually between $10 and $25 a month. But only 17=
=20
percent said they would upgrade to a $45 broadband service. While cable=20
modem service usually runs around $45/month, DSL service usually costs=20
between $30 and $40 a month.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Jim Hu]
http://news.com.com/2100-1032-5178050.html?tag=3Dcd_top
POLICY PEOPLE: JACK VALENTI
Two articles this morning talk about Jack Valenti's eagerness to step down=
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from long-time post at Motion Picture Association of America.
Jack Valenti's Long Goodbye: No Successor Yet, but MPAA Chief Is Ready to Go
WashPost:=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18981-2004Mar23.html
Valenti Rules Out an Extended Engagement
LATimes:=20
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-valenti24mar24,1,4515...
story?coll=3Dla-headlines-pe-business
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