All eyes are on Congress, but don't forget that the FCC meets today.
For this and other upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org
LEGISLATION UPDATE
Wall Street, Hill Diverge on Bill Prospects
Look for Build-Out Amendment, Says Upton
House Judiciary Moves on Barton Bill
Introduction of the Network Neutrality Act of 2006
What is Net Neutrality Regulation?
US Finance Sector puts Web Pricing in Crosshairs
Senate Bill 'Silent' On Must-Carry
Frist Tees Up Broadcast-Indecency Bill
BROADCASTING
CPB Board Adopts Governance Reforms
Granite Finds Buyer for Stations
JOURNALISM
Fighting Words
VNRs: Television Stations Respond... And It's Worse Than You Think
Dreyfuss campaigns against "shaped news"
Trust catching up with media technology: poll
In the age of the Internet, newspapers are still big business
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
Report Details Katrina Communications Fiasco
T-Mobile, Cable Companies May Spend on Spectrum
Switchboard in the Sky
Analog Callers Hung Up in a Digital Country
QUICKLY -- Kneuer Nominated to head NTIA; Florida Franchising Bills;
FTC urges junk food makers to restrict ads to kids; Studios See Big
Rise In Estimates of Losses To Movie Piracy
LEGISLATION UPDATE
WALL STREET, HILL DIVERGE ON BILL PROSPECTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Lisa Sutherland, majority staff director for the Senate Commerce
Committee, says that "network neutrality" will be the biggest hurdle
to passage of a video franchise reform/telecom reform bill this
session, though she remains hopeful it is not insurmountable. In
fact, she told reporters Tuesday that if the House and Senate can get
a bill to conference -- where differences are worked out -- "I have
zero doubt we can get a bill passed." But Banc of America analyst
Douglas Shapiro, for one, sees a tougher time reconciling the
differences in the two bills. He sees the Senate draft as favorable
to incumbents, in part because "the scope of the bill and the
divergence from the video franchise bill... reduce the likelihood of
any legislation passing this year."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330735?display=Breaking+News
LOOK FOR BUILD-OUT AMENDMENT, SAYS UPTON
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Fred
Upton (R-MI) said that he expects several amendments to be brought up
in the full House consideration of a national video franchising bill,
perhaps as early as May 16 or 17. He did not predict what would
happen to those amendments, but said that there would be a lot of
votes for the underlying bill -- as many as 280-290. He said the
House and Senate are doing some "side-by-side" on their respective
bills, and hopes to meet with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted
Stevens (R-Alaska) later this week. "You don't want to just pass a
bill in the House and never go to the Senate." Rep Upton remains
confident that Congress will pass a telecommunications rewrite bill
this session, either before the August break for elections, or in a
lame-duck session afterward. That confidence was matched by Senate
Commerce Committee staffers, who said that if they can get a bill
into conference committee, they can pass it. Upton said he believed
there could be a Senate vote on its version of the bill by July 4 and
passage by the end of the month. The Senate plans two hearings on its
bill in late May, followed by a tentative June 8 markup. That would
put it on a track to get floor time by Independence Day. He noted
that the Administration has been supportive of the House telecom bill.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330669?display=Breaking+News
* This Too Shall Pass, Says Upton
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330652?display=Breaking+News
HOUSE JUDICIARY MOVES ON BARTON BILL
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
The House Judiciary Committee is asking for authority to review and
amend a major telecommunications bill that, among its provisions,
would allow new entrants to provide cable-TV service without
obtaining local governmental approvals. The request came in a draft
letter sent last week to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) from the
staff of House Judiciary chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), a House
source said Tuesday. The letter, the House source said, explained at
length Judiciary's jurisdiction over the bill and the legitimacy of
its claim for a sequential referral. House Energy and Commerce
Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) and Telecommunications and the
Internet Subcommittee chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) rejected numerous
amendments they otherwise considered meritorious because they feared
that the additions would trigger a referral to Judiciary and take
their telecommunications bill off the fast track. Another concern:
Judiciary might add tougher network-neutrality language to the bill.
The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over the nation's antitrust
laws. The panel has kept a close eye on the Baby Bell phone companies
since the 1984 breakup of AT&T Corp. as a result of the Justice
Department antitrust suit against the local and long-distance phone monopoly.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6330995.html?display=Breaking+News
INTRODUCTION OF NETWORK NEUTRALITY ACT OF 2006
[SOURCE: Rep Ed Markey (D-MA)]
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the "Network Neutrality Act of
2006." Joining me today as original cosponsors of this important
legislation are Rep. Rick Boucher, Rep. Anna Eshoo and Rep. Jay
Inslee. This network neutrality bill has essentially three
parts. The first part articulates overall broadband and network
neutrality goals for the country, and spells out exactly what network
neutrality means and puts it into the statute so that it will possess
the force of law. The second part embodies reasonable exceptions to
the general rules, such as to route emergency communications or offer
consumer protection features, such as spam blocking technology. And
the final part of the bill features an expedited complaint process to
deal with grievances and violations within thirty days. The
legislation states that a broadband network provider may not block,
impair, degrade or discriminate against the ability of any person to
use a broadband connection to access the content, applications, and
services available on broadband networks, including the Internet. It
ensures that broadband network providers operate their networks in a
non-discriminatory manner. The bill also ensures that consumers can
attach any device to the broadband operator's network, such as an
Internet phone, or wi-fi router, or settop box, or any other
innovative gadget invented in the coming years. Moreover, in order
to prevent the warping of the World Wide Web into a system of "tiered
service," the legislation will prevent broadband providers from
charging new bottleneck fees for enhanced quality of service or the
prioritization of bits. Finally, if a broadband provider chooses to
prioritize data of any type, it requires that it do so for all data
of that type and not charge a fee for such prioritization. For
instance, if a broadband provider wants to prioritize the
transmission of bits representing a VOIP phone call for its own VOIP
service, it must do so for all VOIP services so as not to put its
competitors at an arbitrary disadvantage. The Network Neutrality
Act of 2006 offers Members a clear choice. It is a choice between
favoring the broadband designs of a small handful of very large
companies, and safeguarding the dreams of thousands of inventors,
entrepreneurs, and small businesses. This legislation is designed to
save the Internet and thwart those who seek to fundamentally and
detrimentally alter the Internet as we know it. Mr. Speaker, I urge
Members to support this bill and urge the House to take a decisive
stand in favor of network neutrality.
http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1515&I...
* Text of bill:
http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/Markey%20Net%20Neutrality%20Act%20...
* Democrats introduce net neutrality bill
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/05/02/78012_HNdemsnetneutrality_1.ht...
* Public Knowledge Praises Markey Net Neutrality Legislation
http://www.publicknowledge.org/pressroom/releases/pressrelease.2006-05-0...
WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY REGULATION?
[SOURCE: Precursor, AUTHOR: Scott C. Cleland]
Net neutrality is the most important techcom policy issue for
investors, policymakers and consumers to understand for the rest of
the decade. It's a grand clash between dueling visions of how the
Internet and the broadband economy should best evolve going forward.
For consumers and policymakers, it is about which policy approach is
best to achieve a full access, competitive, and innovative Internet?
For technologists, it's a network design debate: should government
mandate a neutral end-to-end network design, or should competition
drive network design? For techcom investors, it is about which
business models will be free to innovate, differentiate, grow and
capture value? In a one-page briefing, a look at competing
definitions of the term and a contrast the two approaches also brings
focus to the net neutrality debate.
http://pull.xmr3.com/cgi-bin/pull/DocPull/230-F947/51452925/What_is_Net_...
US FINANCE SECTOR PUTS WEB PRICING IN CROSSHAIRS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kristin Roberts]
The U.S. financial sector, a powerful force in Washington, may be
gearing up to jump into a Capitol Hill fight over the future of the
Internet and stop an effort it says could add billions in costs just
to maintain current offerings. For the financial services sector,
which is expected to spend $117 billion on information technology
this year, tiered pricing could add billions more in expenses to
maintain online banking services and other Web offerings, according
to a memo circulating among financial services lobbyists. Those costs
could hit the bottom line or be passed on to customers. But it's a
fight the financial sector almost missed. "Net neutrality is an issue
that (financial services) firms ignore at their peril," Philip
Corwin, a partner at Washington law firm Butera & Andrews, wrote in
the memo. "If the industry does not engage quickly, it may find that
the matter has been decided without its input and that the fallout
will affect the industry's cost structure and customer relations for
years to come," he added. The Corwin memo urged the financial
industry to get the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial
Services Committee involved, which could slow the progress of
legislation. It also said the industry should prepare bills and push
their introduction to assure the continuation of flat high-speed
Internet pricing for online financial services. While the financial
industry has plenty of muscle, it may be too late for that strategy,
some lobbyists said. Instead, they may wait for legislation to get to
conference, where House and Senate negotiators work out their
differences. In that environment of closed-door bargaining, banks and
credit unions might be able to secure the net neutrality language
they seek, lobbyists said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...
SENATE BILL 'SILENT' ON MUST-CARRY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Some broadcasters were smarting Tuesday at the one-two punch of 1)
the absence of multicast must-carry and 2) the presence of cable
downconversion provisions in the Senate version of a
telecommunications reform bill. A broadcast lobby source suggested
that while he would not have been surprised had neither issue been
raised in the bill, downconversion without even a mention of
multicasting was like a "nose thumb"--his two- word phrase was more
colorful--to the broadcasting industry. The Senate bill would allow
larger cable systems to convert a TV station's must-carry DTV signal
to analog for their analog cable customers for at least the next five
years, and convert an HDTV signal to standard DTV for the same amount
of time, though they would still have to deliver a DTV signal to
their digital cable customers. Smaller cable systems would not have
to deliver a DTV signal at all for five years. The presence of a
provision allowing unlicensed wireless devices to operate in the
broadcast band could not have sat well with broadcasters,
either. Both the NAB and the Association For Maximum Service
Television have argued that the devices represent an interference
"genie" that cannot be put back in the bottle.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330778?display=Breaking+News
See also --
* NETWORKS SALUTE FLAG
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Big Four networks Tuesday praised the Senate Commerce Committee
for including language in its telecom bill draft that would establish
the broadcast flag digital content protection. "We applaud the
Committee for including a TV Broadcast Flag provision to assure that
high value content remains available to over-the-air viewers," said
ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC in a joint statement. The FCC already approved
the flag technology once, but a court threw it out, saying the
technology was post-transmission and beyond the FCC's authority. The
Senate bill would expressly give it that authority. But the bill also
included carve-outs for news, and public affairs, and
distance-learning and other educational "fair uses" of digital content.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330978?display=Breaking+News
FRIST TEES UP BROADCAST-INDECENCY BILL
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) Tuesday signaled that he's
ready to bring to the Senate floor a fine-laden House-passed bill on
broadcast indecency, a Senate source said. The legislation, passed by
the House last January on a 389-38 vote, would raise
broadcast-indecency fines to $500,000 per offense, up from $32,500
currently. Senate Commerce Committee Republican staff learned Tuesday
that Frist is seeking to clear the House bill for a Senate vote.
Because at least one senator can postpone Senate action indefinitely,
it is probable that a vote will not occur in the near future.
Nevertheless, a Senate Republican staff source said Sen Frist's
decision "is the first movement [on indecency] that we have seen in
the Senate in a long, long time."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6330996.html?display=Breaking+News
BROADCASTING
CPB BOARD ADOPTS GOVERNANCE REFORMS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
At its May 1-2 meeting, the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting board has voted to adopt a number of changes to its
practices and procedures in response to criticisms leveled in an
Inspector General's (IG) report last fall. The changes include: 1) a
revised Code of Ethics policy and new conflicts of interest policy
for the Board of Directors; 2) a clarification of the roles and
responsibilities of the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the
Board, and the President of CPB in directing the Corporation's
affairs; 3) policy and procedures to prevent the use of political
tests in employment actions; and 4) a new whistleblower policy and
investigation-related records policy that reflect specific
Sarbanes-Oxley directives that apply to non-profit corporations. Yet
to come is a revision to its process for handling outside contractors.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330917?display=Breaking+News
GRANITE FINDS BUYER FOR STATIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Allison Romano]
After an initial deal to sell its WB affiliates in Detroit and San
Francisco collapsed, Granite Broadcasting announced Tuesday it found
a four private-equity firms that will pay $150 million in cash for
its two stations. But the sale price is $30 million less than AM
Media, a unit of Washington-based private-equity firm Acon
Investments, agreed to pay in September for WDWB Detroit and KBWB San
Francisco. The deal was killed by the announcement in January that
The WB and UPN would shut down and merge into The CW. The CW
affiliation in both Detroit and San Francisco was immediately awarded
to CBS-owned UPN stations. Granite opted to affiliate with Fox's new
MyNetworkTV in Detroit but lost out on that service in San Francisco,
where Young Broadcasting's independent KRON will be the MNT outlet.
When AM Media balked at its deal in February, it sent ripples across
Granite. The company warned that it was running out of cash to
service its debt. It also had to walk away from a deal of its own to
buy a station in Binghamton, N.Y., that was to be funded by proceeds
from the two WB stations.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330776?display=Breaking+News
JOURNALISM
FIGHTING WORDS
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Jack Shafer]
[Commentary] About a year ago, Salon's Eric Boehlert and The Nation's
Eric Alterman argued in separate pieces that the Bush administration
was waging "war" against the press. This week, Alterman revisits his
thesis to include FBI efforts to inspect and sanitize columnist Jack
Anderson's papers before George Washington University catalogs and
makes them publicly available. Over the weekend, the New York Times'
Adam Liptak gave credence to the idea of a war in his Page One Sunday
piece about using leak investigations and other techniques to
criminalize national-security reporting. Boehlert, Alterman, and
other administration critics assert a lockdown on and manipulation of
information the likes of which we've not seen since the Nixon
administration. But rather than crying "war" over the Bush-press
disputes, I subscribe to Jay Rosen's more modest idea that the
Bushies ambition was to "decertify" the press from its modern role as
purveyor of news and portray it as just another special interest.
http://www.slate.com/id/2140916/
VNRs: TELEVISION STATIONS RESPOND... AND IT'S WORSE THAN YOU THINK
[SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, AUTHOR: Diane Farsetta]
[Comentary] Hours after the Center for Media and Democracy released
our study on television stations' widespread and undisclosed use of
corporate video news releases (VNRs), a major organization of
broadcast news executives issued its response. "The Radio-Television
News Directors Association strongly urges station management to
review and strengthen their policies requiring complete disclosure of
any outside material used in news programming," read the statement.
RTNDA went on to caution that decisions involving "when and how to
identify sources ... must remain far removed from government
involvement or supervision." Unfortunately, RTNDA's statement
conflates "sources" with broadcast material funded by and produced
for outside parties. It also conveniently ignores that the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission, under its authority to regulate
broadcasters' use of the public airwaves, already has disclosure
requirements on the books. But RTNDA's stance does point to an
important, underlying issue: how to ensure both news audiences' right
to know "who seeks to influence them," and the editorial freedom of
newsrooms. The Society of Professional Journalists also responded to
our study, strongly condemning TV stations' "irresponsible" and
"misleading" use of VNRs. Their statement, similar to RTNDA's, "urges
broadcast companies to set their own house in order by using extreme
caution and full disclosure when airing VNRs." However, such
admonitions fail to take into consideration the continuing confusion
over video feeds' origins, the history of TV stations' failure to
disclose VNRs, the harsh realities of resource-strapped TV newsrooms,
and the embarrassment factor that likely makes newsrooms reluctant to
identify VNRs as such. Is it reasonable, within the context of the
current system, to expect TV stations to meet the disclosure
standards that we all agree on -- and that the FCC is charged to
uphold? After hearing the explanations and delving into the records
of many of the TV stations that we documented airing fake news, I would say no.
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4762
OSCAR-WINNER DREYFUSS CAMPAIGNS AGAINST "SHAPED NEWS"
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Astrid Zweynert]
Richard Dreyfuss star says an obsession with delivering instantaneous
news and images provides too little context for audiences to reflect
and understand what is happening in the world. "There is no room to
pause, no room to think," Dreyfuss said. "We don't build into our
system of thoughts the need to explain, the media doesn't build that
into its transmission of knowledge and information." That creates
what Dreyfuss calls "shaped news" -- a version of events according to
how the mainstream media want audiences to see what happened, and a
violation of journalism's core value of objectivity. Citizen
journalism is playing a vital part in broadening news coverage, as
well as scrutinizing professional journalism, Dreyfuss said.
"Information from more than one source is good. I'm totally in favor
of it, even if people send propaganda. In the aggregate you can find
more truth than in one opinion." But despite an explosion in blogs,
people's views of the news is still shaped by what powerful media
corporations print, broadcast and put on their Web sites, Dreyfuss said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=peopleNews&storyID=2...
TRUST CATCHING UP WITH MEDIA TECHNOLOGY:POLL
[SOURCE: Reuters]
National television is the most trusted news source, ahead of
newspapers and public radio, but the Internet is gaining ground,
especially among the young, according to a major worldwide survey of
trust in the media. The poll, conducted in 10 countries by GlobeScan
on behalf of Reuters, the BBC and the Media Center, found that 82
percent of 10,230 adults questioned rated national television as
their most trusted news source overall. That compared with 75 percent
who trusted national or regional newspapers, 67 percent who said they
trusted public radio and 56 percent who opted for international
satellite television. Despite the popularity of the Internet in more
developed countries and the emergence of "web-logging" or blogging,
neither fared well in the survey, according to Globescan President
Doug Miller. According to the research, television is still seen as
the most "important" news source (56 percent), followed by newspapers
(21 percent), Internet (9 percent) and radio (9 percent). Americans
who were asked to name their most trusted specific news sources
plumped for Fox News (mentioned by 11 percent) and CNN (also 11
percent), with others some way behind. ABC, for example, was chosen
by 4 percent, as was NBC.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
IN THE AGE OF INTERNET, NEWSPAPERS ARE STILL BIG BUSINESS
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: John Hughes]
[Commentary] For many newspapers, readership is down and advertising
is off. Some major newspapers have laid off staff. American reporters
abroad have been killed or held hostage in Iraq, while at home, some
have been threatened with jail for refusing to disclose their
sources. A few journalists have demeaned the principles of their
profession by plagiarizing the work of others or totally
manufacturing interviews and events. When caught, they have been
fired. On top of all this is the fear that a multiplicity of new
electronic toys and gadgets is encouraging a new generation to
forsake the printed newspaper and gather its information via a
keyboard and computer screen, or even a hand-held device prodded with
a metal pointer. But while technology may change methods of delivery,
as for example online, there is no content to deliver without a news
organization to gather and edit it. In its annual report on the news
media, the Project for Excellence in Journalism says the "evidence
does not support the notion that newspapers have begun a sudden death spiral."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0503/p09s01-cojh.html
See also --
* Tribune CEO: Not Likely to Face a KR Situation, But 'Possible'
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Mark Fitzgerald]
Speaking at Tribune Co.'s brisk annual meeting Tuesday, Chairman,
President and CEO Dennis J. FitzSimons told anxious shareholders that
the newspaper and broadcast giant will "win" eventually -- but he
could not guarantee the company will not suffer the same fate as
Knight Ridder. He noted, however, that unlike Knight Ridder -- bought
last month by The McClatchy Company in a $6 billion deal -- big
blocks of Tribune stock is in friendly hands. The McCormick Tribune
Foundation, for instance, owns a 14% stake, the Chandler Trusts own
another 12%, and 9% is held by employees.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
REPORT DETAILS KATRINA COMMUNICATIONS FIASCO
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Johanna Neuman]
As state and local officials on the Gulf Coast scrambled to help
panicked residents flee Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, mobile
communications units developed by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency were at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La. -- outside
the disaster area -- and did not make it to the state's emergency
operations center in Baton Rouge until the day after the storm hit.
In addition, according to a bipartisan Senate committee report
released Tuesday, most of the U.S. Forest Service's 5,000 radios --
the largest civilian cache in the United States -- remained unused.
In the eight months since Katrina devastated Louisiana and
Mississippi, much has been written about how the failure of
communications hampered relief and rescue efforts. Several reports,
including one by a House select committee that Democratic leaders
boycotted and another conducted by the White House, documented a
collapse of telephones, computers and radio networks.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-katrina3may03,1,...
(requires registration)
T-MOBILE, CABLE COMPANIES MAY SPEND ON SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Light Reading, AUTHOR: Carmen Nobel]
An upcoming spectrum auction is likely to garner multibillion-dollar
bids from T-Mobile USA as well as from several non-traditional
service providers, and could very well change the power balance in
the wireless industry, according to a new report from Lehman
Brothers. The report predicts technology companies and cable
operators will be bidders in the auction.
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=93767
SWITCHBOARD IN THE SKY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Gnatek]
Local governments across the country are getting into the wireless
Internet business. Communities left behind by the high-technology
revolution of the last two decades view municipal networks as an
affordable means of renewing their economic competitiveness and a way
to bridge the digital divide between technology haves and have-nots.
Big cities and their suburbs see potential in municipal Wi-Fi, too.
The new programs have put local governments into the
telecommunications arena, where they sometimes work with conventional
service providers and sometimes compete with them. Many
telecommunications providers are resisting such community networks,
particularly when they overlap with the carriers' own service
territories. Arguing that they are better suited to the task than
their municipal rivals, telecommunications companies are bidding to
manage civic networks. At the same time, industry-friendly
legislative proposals at the state and federal levels threaten to
limit municipal control. Municipal wireless networks are cheaper to
build than cable or fiber- optic networks and are easier to deploy.
According to one study by muniwireless.com, an industry Weblog, more
than 120 such networks are up and running around the country,
including some that allow public access and others that are
exclusively for city services. Nearly 60 other cities and towns have
requested proposals from vendors or taken steps toward creating
networks. Rollouts of municipal networks in major metropolitan
regions like San Francisco and Philadelphia have attracted attention,
but development of community wireless networks holds even greater
promise for out-of-the-way and poorer areas. For these smaller cities
and towns, the networks are a tool for more efficient municipal
operations and a way to provide inexpensive Internet access to
residents who could not afford it. Established telecommunications
companies, meanwhile, argue that they are better equipped than local
governments to provide the infrastructure for city wireless networks.
http://nytimes.com/2006/05/03/technology/techspecial3/03utility.html
(requires registration)
ANALOG CALLERS HUNG UP IN DIGITAL COUNTRY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
As carriers expand their digital networks, they are selling fewer
phones that work on older analog networks, which are often the only
ones operating in far-flung corners of the country. To cut costs, big
carriers are dropping roaming agreements with rural providers who
used to cover gaps in their coverage. It is not a surprise that
consumers have been left behind as the cellphone industry shifts from
analog to digital. Vinyl LP fans, for instance, had a harder time
finding needles for their turntables as more Americans buy compact
discs. Some lawmakers also worry that if they force broadcasters to
return their analog spectrum to the government, some consumers will
be left without television service because they cannot afford digital
sets. Still, the rationale for overhauling cellular networks is
clear. Digital technology lets carriers handle more calls cheaply,
which helps them offer bigger buckets of cellphone minutes. Digital
phones also use less power, so they use smaller batteries, which
means smaller handsets. Phone makers also cut costs by eliminating
analog receivers. Most customers have barely noticed that many new
phones do not work on analog networks since few travel to locations
so remote they lack digital towers. As of December 2005, just 2.3
million consumers, primarily in domestic rural areas, subscribed to
analog cellphone plans, according to Ana Hermoso, an analyst at
Informa Telecoms & Media, a research firm in London. That number has
dropped 95 percent since 1998, when 48.6 million Americans subscribed
to analog plans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/technology/techspecial3/03phone.html
(requires registration)
QUICKLY
KNEUER NOMINATED TO HEAD NTIA
[SOURCE: White House press release]
The President intends to nominate John M. R. Kneuer, of New Jersey,
to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and
Information. Mr. Kneuer currently serves as Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of
Commerce. He also currently serves as Deputy Administrator for the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Prior to
this, he served as a Senior Associate at DLA Piper Rudnick, LLP.
Earlier in his career, he served as Executive Director for Government
Relations for the Industrial Telecommunications Association,
Incorporated. Mr. Kneuer received his bachelor's degree and JD from
The Catholic University of America.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060501-9.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060501-10.html
FLORIDA FRANCHISE BILLS ARE WIRED FOR COLLISION
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Michael Martinez]
Opposing telecommunications bills are on a collision course in
Florida this week, as the legislature concludes its spring session.
With only a few days left on the legislative calendar, Florida House
lawmakers aggressively are pushing a bill backed by the telephone
industry that would strip local regulators of their authority on
video franchising. A bill authored by state Rep. Anthony Traviesa
would establish a statewide franchising process, allowing new
entrants to the market to bypass localities.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-ULBW1146600173390.html
FTC URGES JUNK FOOD MAKERS TO RESTRICT ADS TO KIDS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Peter Kaplan]
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Health and Human
Services on Tuesday urged food companies to voluntarily limit their
advertising of sugary snacks, soft drinks and other junk food to kids
to help combat childhood obesity. They recommended expanding current,
self-imposed guidelines on advertising to children, and said the
industry should consider setting nutritional standards for foods
marketed to kids.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID...
* FTC Pushes Self-Regulation on Food Marketing
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330935?display=Breaking+News
* Restraint Urged In Junk-Food Ads Aimed at Kids
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/02/AR200605...
STUDIOS SEE BIG RISE IN ESTIMATES OF LOSSES TO MOVIE PIRACY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah McBride
sarah.mcbride( at )wsj.com and Geoffrey A. Fowler]
U.S. movie studios are losing about $6.1 billion in revenue a year to
global piracy, about 75% more than thought. The surprising results to
the industry study have left studios debating how to release the information.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114662361192442291.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)
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