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days of FCC inaction on DTV PIOs

Day of the National Broadband Plan

Jan 21, 2009 (Obama Vows To Build 'Digital Lines')

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21, 2009

The Senate continues work on confirming the new Administration today, but the House, in part, turns attention to fixing the transition to digital television (see stories below and http://www.benton.org/calendar)

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THE TRANSITION
   Obama Vows To Build 'Digital Lines'
   Regulators Ordered to Leave Work Unfinished
   Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov
   Five technologies the Obama administration should (but won't or can't) adopt
   The Wired Presidency: Can Obama Really Reboot the White House?
   A high-tech agenda for President Obama
   Obama Inauguration Rocks the Web
   Cell networks handle massive volume with few glitches

DIGITAL TELEVISION
   Technical Difficulties
   9% Of Viewers Unprepared For DTV Switch
   Don't delay the digital TV transition

THE ECONOMY
   Obama's Broadband Challenge
   Broadband Deployment Money Matters
   Could the broadband stimulus package be a coup for wireless broadband?
   Misconceptions About Rural Broadband
   Why wireless Internet matters to small wind
   Useless warnings
   Where should Obama spend his tech stimulus?
   Cable Bill High? Phone Costs Up? Now, Let's Talk

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   How Canadian ISPs throttle the Internet
   Incentives Push More Doctors to E-Prescribe
   Google to halt Print Ads program for newspapers
   China blocks 244 new websites in porn crackdown
   Why Internet TV Is Ready To Join Obama
   Defining Moment: Obama And The Internet
   The Plot to Kill Google
   Dutch government study: net effect of P2P use is positive

BROADCASTING
   Ofcom proposes big changes to UK broadcast sector
   He's already Rushed to judgment
   TV News Faces New Challenges

DIVERSITY
   MLK's Media Lesson for America
   MLK to Obama: Reflections on Racial Barriers in the Media
   MMTC To Present Telecom Agenda

TELECOM
Sprint Nextel pitches $2B plan to provide public-safety communications
Embarq: Sale would improve its market position

THE TRANSITION

OBAMA VOWS TO BUILD 'DIGITAL LINES'
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Barack Obama, sworn in Tuesday as the 44th president of the United States, promised to renew the economy through bold action, including expanded access to high-speed Internet connections as an engine of growth. "The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act-not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth," President Obama declared. "We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together."
http://benton.org/node/20952
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REGULATORS ORDERED TO LEAVE WORK UNFINISHED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Amy Goldstein]
In its first hours, the Obama administration took an initial step to put its imprint on the government, ordering work halted on all federal regulations left unfinished at the end of the Bush era until they can be reviewed by the new president's team. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel dispatched a memo yesterday afternoon to federal agencies and departments, directing them to stop pending rules until the new administration has time to conduct a "legal and policy review" of each one. The directive has become a first-day tradition among presidents, dating to Ronald Reagan in 1981, helping incoming administrations put their own philosophical stamp on the regulatory work that is a subtle but potent tool of presidential power. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did the same thing. Emanuel's memo does not apply to last-minute Bush administration rules that have taken legal effect.
http://benton.org/node/20971
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CHANGE HAS COME TO WHITEHOUSE.GOV
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Macon Phillips]
The three top priorities of a re-launched White House web site: 1) Communication -- Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions. 2) Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that's just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President's policy priorities. 3) Participation -- President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the Internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.
http://benton.org/node/20951
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FIVE TECHNOLOGIES THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SHOULD (BUT WON'T OR CAN'T) ADOPT
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Don Reisinger]
President Obama and his Administration will need to work together and communicate with one another and the country, to ensure everything is running well. So here's a "cheat sheet" for the Obama administration, listing five services it should use in the White House. Sadly, it probably won't. Record-keeping laws and security concerns will ensure that none of my suggestions take effect. 1) BitTorrent for distributing government documents. 2) Present.ly for internal microblogging in groups based on level. 3) Stickam for White House room streams. 4) Stickam for White House room streams. 5) Ustream with moderated chat for country-wide town hall meetings.
http://benton.org/node/20950
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THE WIRED PRESIDENCY: CAN OBAMA REALLY REBOOT THE WHITE HOUSE?
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Evan Ratliff]
In November, not two weeks after winning the election and still two months from becoming commander in chief, Barack Obama brought the government into the 21st century, posting YouTube video on Change.gov, the incoming administration's Web site. But it wasn't long, however, before savvy observers noted what was missing from this and other Obama videos: the chance for ordinary citizens to talk back. Technophiles who watched the campaign closely expected more, and now they are putting pressure on the White House to govern with unparalleled transparency and citizen interaction. Dan Froomkin of the Niemen Watchdog Journalism Project and The Washington Post summed up expectations in a blog post calling for Obama to embrace "wiki culture" in which "major policy proposals have public collaborative workspaces."
http://benton.org/node/20949
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A HIGH-TECH AGENDA FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Galen Gruman]
[Commentary] The Obama administration's focus, at least publicly, has been on whether and how to extend the reach of Internet access via national broadband and net neutrality policies. That set of issues certainly should be on the national high-tech agenda, but Obama needs to take a wider view, as well as be wary of the high-tech industry's self-interests, many of which will not further the national interest. Gruman offers recommendations, based on 25 years' involvement in the tech industry as an observer, journalist, and occasional advocate.
http://benton.org/node/20948
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OBAMA INAUGURATION ROCKS THE WEB
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Mike Shields]
As the early numbers pour in, the inauguration of President Barack Obama is shaping up to be a Web video event like no other. On Jan. 20 CNN.com Live served more than 18.8 million live video streams globally from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST, at which time Obama had been sworn in and had delivered his inaugural address. According to CNN's internal data, that figure is more than triple the previous record of 5.3 million live streams set on Election Day last year, which at the time was record-shattering. Though total audience numbers are not yet available, CNN.com Live, which allowed users to select between four different live cameras during the historic inauguration, served a whopping 1.3 million concurrent live streams just before Obama's address. The social side of the Web is also benefiting from the surge of interest in Obama's first day on the job. Facebook, which partnered with CNN.com to enable viewers to comment on the day's events using their Facebook status tool, tracked 600,000 such updates as of 1:15 EST, an average of 4,000 per minute during the live Web broadcast. In fact, at the very minute Obama began his speech, Facebook recorded 8,500 updates. During Tuesday's inauguration of President Barack Obama, people curious about unfamiliar references used Google to supply the footnotes for the ceremony. The phenomenon was visible on Google Trends, a service that shows which search terms are rapidly rising in use.
http://benton.org/node/20959
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CELL NETWORKS HANDLE MASSIVE VOLUME WITH FEW GLITCHES
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
Months of planning by the USA's biggest cellphone carriers paid off Tuesday, with the Washington, D.C., networks of AT&T, Verizon and Sprint handling millions of additional calls, texts and downloads without any major incidents or failures. As of midday, Sprint was reporting a 211% increase in traffic — voice, data and text — in and around the Mall area in downtown Washington, site of the noon ET presidential inauguration. "There have been some delays in text deliveries and receipt, but otherwise, it's going very, very well," said Sprint spokesman John Taylor. He said calling volume dropped considerably after the swearing-in ceremony. The story was much the same at Verizon, which saw call volume more than triple in the hours leading up to the inauguration. Even so, there were no major disruptions, says Verizon spokesman John Johnson.
http://benton.org/node/20965
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DIGITAL TELEVISION

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
In less than a month, on Feb. 17, all full-power stations plan to shut off analog signals and air digital-only broadcasts. Viewers with older analog TV sets will need to hook up a converter box to receive over-the-air programs. Digital TV sets will automatically receive the new signals. Cable and satellite subscribers should not be affected by the switch. But many consumers are discovering that upgrading to a digital set or adding a converter box may not be enough to get a reliable digital signal. Some will also have to buy more powerful antennas to install in living rooms or on roofs, adding expense and frustration for the nearly 14 million households who rely on over-the-air signals. New digital audiences will probably discover the "digital cliff" the all-or-nothing quality of digital reception. The picture is excellent until the signal weakens or is interrupted, causing the picture to disappear completely. Digital signals are supposed to travel farther over flat terrain, but they are susceptible to interference from hills, trees, buildings, bad weather or planes flying overhead. An analog picture degrades gradually, getting more static and snow as signals weaken.
http://benton.org/node/20968
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9% OF VIEWERS UNPREPARED FOR DTV SWITCH
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wayne Friedman]
Nine percent of U.S. TV viewers are still unprepared for the changeover from analog to digital come next month, says media agency Mindshare, which could impact the TV audience. These numbers are in line with previous estimates from a number of research companies over the last several months. Some U.S. viewers are doing nothing about the change--although they have at least one TV set in their home that has only analog service. "Now that the government has run out of money for converter box coupons, there are going to be a lot of sets that are not ready, which could impact the TV audience," said Debbie Solomon, managing director of business planning of Mindshare, in a release.
http://benton.org/node/20967
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DON'T DELAY THE DIGITAL TV TRANSITION
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: J.H. Snider]
[Commentary] At the request of the incoming Obama Administration, leading members of Congress have drafted legislation to delay the digital TV transition for close to four months, justifying their action as a way to protect needy Americans from losing access to their local TV station programming. But is this the real reason for the delay? A key assumption behind America's digital TV transition policy is that individual Americans shouldn't be harmed by technological obsolescence even if that obsolescence is in the public interest. But why should the government subsidize a consumer's obsolete fifteen-year-old $100 color TV and not his obsolete four-year-old computer? Every communications industry has had to transition from analog to digital technology over the last few decades. Why treat the broadcasters' transition specially?
http://benton.org/node/20966
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THE ECONOMY

OBAMA'S BROADBAND CHALLENGE
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
[Commentary] President Barack Obama is starting his new administration's broadband policy with a contradiction. On one hand he wants to delay the Feb 17 digital TV transition date in order to buy more time for millions of Americans who don't yet have the conversion technology necessary to receive digital signals. Cutting off millions of constituents from their primary source of news and entertainment wouldn't just be politically disastrous; it would be socially unconscionable, considering the majority of the people affected by the analog cutoff are those who can't afford a fancy new digital TV, cable or satellite service. But on the other hand, President Obama has begun to promote a new broadband policy that emphasizes faster and better data connections to more Americans over a greater variety of platforms. The argument goes that broadband infrastructure is just as vital as the highways, bridges and electrical lines to achieving future prosperity. The problem is that the 700 MHz spectrum at the center of the DTV transition debate is one of the keys to growth as a broadband nation.
http://benton.org/node/20958
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BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT MONEY MATTERS
[SOURCE: xchange, AUTHOR: Kelly Teal]
When it comes to spending government money on broadband deployment, there's no shortage of propositions. In fact, there are so many it's impossible to analyze each. However, three of the most well-publicized ideas come from the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and Free Press. The CWA wants Congress to take three general steps: 1) funding of the Broadband Data Improvement Act, 2) tax incentives, loans and direct grants to stimulate investment, and 3) programs that will improve "digital literacy." The TIA supports CWA's proposal and has some thoughts of its own. It has asked lawmakers to create a $25 billion grant program to fund broadband infrastructure deployment in unserved areas. Then there's the $44 billion pitch by Free Press. Over the course of three years, the media reform organization wants to put that money toward a number of efforts.
http://benton.org/node/20947
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COULD THE BROADBAND STIMULUS PACKAGE BE A COUP FOR WIRELESS BROADBAND?
[SOURCE: FierceWireless, AUTHOR: Lynnette Luna]
[Commentary] The $825 billion economic stimulus proposal from the incoming Obama administration and House Democrats contains $6 billion for improving the U.S. broadband infrastructure, and the wireless industry is cheering because it was included. A summary of the proposed spending plan released by House Democrats calls for the money to be used for "broadband and wireless grants in under-served areas to strengthen the economy and provide business and job opportunities in every section of America, with benefits to e-commerce, education, and health care. For every dollar invested in broadband, the economy sees a ten-fold return on that investment." The plan seems to be vague on the particulars, but Obama transition team member Blair Levin, speaking at the Congressional Internet Caucus' State of the Net 2009 conference, said any monies that came from the economic stimulus package likely would use "existing structures" and programs to get money pumped into the economy as soon as possible. A more comprehensive broadband policy, it appears, has yet to be determined as the Obama administration is considering a host of possibilities.
http://benton.org/node/20946
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MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT RURAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
There many misconceptions about what it'll take to crack the rural broadband nut: 1) All rural areas are uneconomical to deploy broadband to without grants. 2) Rural networks need continuing government subsidies like the Universal Service Fund to stay afloat. 3) Rural America doesn't need/deserve world-class broadband. 4) The market will eventually bring them world-class broadband. 5) Government has all the solutions and should make all the decisions. 6) Rural America can wait for world-class broadband. 7) 6 billion in grants is enough to make a difference in rural America.
http://benton.org/node/20945
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WHY WIRELESS INTERNET MATTERS TO SMALL WIND
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Martin LaMonica]
If you ask Andy Kruse, the CEO of wind turbine maker Southwest Windpower, about technology, he's more likely to talk about software and WiMax than turbine blades or inverters. In addition to better financial incentives for clean-energy generation, Kruse is also advocating that federal dollars are spent on better renewable energy software and Internet connectivity in rural areas. Better site assessment software, coupled with lots of computing power, would help consumers and installers get more detailed information on the available wind or sun resource at a particular location. The difference between a suboptimal site and one with a good wind resource can be dramatic, said Kruse. With good wind and high electricity rates, a homeowner could recoup the upfront investment of a small wind turbine in five or six years. But with low electricity rates and marginal wind could mean 15 or 20 years, he said.
http://benton.org/node/20957
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USELESS WARNINGS
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
The telecommunications industry will be affected like every other industry — in fact, according to Vertical Systems Group, that impact is being felt already in a significant increase of business line terminations. It only makes sense that as businesses cut jobs, they also cut access lines and services. But using telecom services to be more efficient and more productive is part of the answer to our current economic problem. Increased broadband penetration, especially in rural areas and smaller towns, can open the door to new economic development. Managed services can alleviate the need for capital expense at times when money is tight. Web-based applications can enable enterprises to connect employees to applications wherever they are. Videoconferencing can replace expensive business travel. Telemedicine can improve health care more cost-effectively. Remote energy management can enable us all to use fossil fuels more efficiently, lower our energy bills and even, potentially, reduce the need to build new power plants. Telework can enable employees to work from home, reducing the need for costly office space and even the risk of being hit by ice falling off a high-rise building. Right now, the telecom industry needs to be focused on solutions rather than just running around, uselessly warning of impending doom.
http://benton.org/node/20956
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WHERE SHOULD OBAMA SPEND HIS TECH STIMULUS?
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Ephraim Schwartz]
The new administration has promised to stimulate the U.S. economy by spending billions of dollars on high tech. The question is what kind of projects should money allocated to high tech go to? How is it best spent? For some, such an investment holds great promise. "If we pull this off right, we will build an infrastructure that will make us the world's leader in the 21st century," says John Seely Brown, co-chairman of Deloitte's Center for Edge Innovation and formerly chief scientist at the famed Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Others are pessimistic that the stimulus money will really make its way into high-tech investments: "It's more apparent how the cement industry will benefit rather than IT," says Ken McGee, a Gartner vice president. InfoWorld asked several thought leaders for their advice to President Obama.
http://benton.org/node/20970
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CABLE BILL HIGH? PHONE COSTS UP? NOW, LET'S TALK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Vishesh Kumar]
A number of savvy customers are realizing that while times are tough for consumers, they are also tough for cable and phone companies. Under intense pressure from Wall Street to keep subscribers as the economy sags and competition intensifies, many carriers are bent on retaining customers even if it means offering big price breaks. On the surface of it, the country's biggest carriers continue to boost prices despite the downturn. In January, Comcast and Time Warner Cable raised year-over-year prices by 6% for TV services, notes Craig Moffett, an analyst at research company Sanford C. Bernstein. AT&T Inc., meanwhile, increased the price of high-end services, such as bundled movie channels, by 30%. Behind the scenes, however, the companies are much more accommodating. Many are offering steep discounts to keep, win or win back customers. Consumers, reeling from the recession, are crafting novel ways to cut costs, including switching to cheaper prepaid cellphone plans and using Web-enabled mobile devices to connect to the Internet instead of buying home broadband connections. Negotiating with cable and phone companies may present a more direct route to saving on communications services costs. And companies are often happy to make deals with customers -- particularly if that allows them to poach them from rivals.
http://benton.org/node/20963
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

HOW CANADIAN ISPs THROTTLE THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Canada's Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) famously decided last year to allow Bell Canada to single out P2P traffic for bandwidth throttling between the hours of 4:30pm to 2am. But even as it allowed a practice that the US Federal Communications Commission had just put the kibosh on, the CRTC also launched a much broader hearing on the entire issue of network neutrality. With the ISP responses now in, it's clear just how widespread deep packet inspection (DPI) has become at Canadian ISPs. It's enough to make staff Canuck Frank Caron weep into his Molson's.
http://benton.org/node/20960
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INCENTIVES PUSH MORE DOCTORS TO E-PRESCRIBE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Laura Landro]
With a host of new incentives, doctors are finally beginning to scrap pen and paper in favor of electronic prescriptions. Medicare this month began paying doctors a bonus if they switch their patients over to e-prescribing. Some private health plans also have begun offering extra payments along with free equipment, such as digital handheld devices. And a coalition of technology companies is giving doctors free software to encourage them to ditch their paper prescription pads. As a result, the number of physicians prescribing medicines electronically has more than doubled in the past year to about 70,000, or about 12% of all office-based doctors. E-prescribing allows doctors to transmit prescriptions via a secure Internet network directly to pharmacies using an office or laptop computer or a digital handheld device. The practice has been shown in studies to reduce prescription errors and to cut costs for consumers and health-care providers. It also encourages patients to get more of their prescriptions filled, because it reduces the time spent waiting at drug stores. The Obama administration's plan to invest $50 billion over five years to encourage broader adoption of health-information technology is expected to include additional incentives for electronic prescribing. But there are still barriers to full-fledged adoption of e-prescribing. Federal drug laws, which are under review, prohibit electronic prescribing of controlled medications such as narcotics, insomnia drugs and anti-depressants. Safety experts also warn that selecting prescriptions on a computer screen can cause a doctor to inadvertently enter, for instance, a quick-release version of a drug instead of a long-acting formulation because they appear in sequence on an e-prescribing program.
http://benton.org/node/20969
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GOOGLE TO HALT PRINT ADS PROGRAM FOR NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan, Gina Keating]
Google will halt its Print Ads program on Feb 28. The program, first announced in late 2006, was designed to help newspapers find more ways to make money from Internet ad sales at a time when their print ad sales were falling. For Google, which has built its larger-than-life reputation as a master of the online advertising business, shutting down the print program is a rare failure. It comes as Google and newspapers struggle with a poor advertising market exacerbated by the world financial crisis.
http://benton.org/node/20954
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CHINA BLOCKS 244 NEW WEBSITES IN PORN CRACKDOWN
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Emma Graham-Harrison]
China has blocked 244 new pornographic websites over the last week, the official Xinhua news agency said, bringing the total number of sites shut down in a campaign against "vulgar" content to over 700. Many of the targeted websites were unregistered and broke laws about distribution of sexual content, the report said.
http://benton.org/node/20953
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WHY INTERNET TV IS READY TO JOIN OBAMA
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: John Edwards]
[Commentary] There was exponential growth in Internet television viewership in 2008. With the launch of Hulu, the sustained popularity of YouTube and the success of broadcast Web sites like ABC.com, people migrated to the Web to get their news, sports and entertainment on-demand. As such, programmers determined that in order to maintain audience loyalty and uphold ad revenue, embracing the Internet as a viable medium for their television programming was a necessity, not a novelty. It's no secret that with traditional television, quality drives viewership. And the same can now be said for Internet television. As Internet television continues its evolution into the mainstream, audiences are not just expecting, but demanding a high-quality viewing experience similar to that found on traditional television. And the quality of this experience is not limited to PCs or laptops but extends to any Internet connected device including mobile, set-top box and gaming consoles.
http://benton.org/node/20939
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DEFINING MOMENT: OBAMA AND THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Dan Cho]
Nov. 4, 2008, will surely be remembered as one of the most significant days in U.S. history, with the first African American ever elected as president. Particularly noteworthy, for those working in the interactive and technology field, the first chief technology officer will be appointed under Barack Obama's cabinet in the coming weeks. Will this signify the ushering in of a new techno-conscious generation? Perhaps, it already has. Leading up to Election Day, democratic campaign strategists were able to successfully leverage the relative youth of Obama and his constituents by using the Internet as an integral tool for both advertising and communication like no other candidate before.
http://benton.org/node/20938
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THE PLOT TO KILL GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Nicholas Thompson, Fred Vogelstein]
The bid to stop the Google-Yahoo deal was just one front in an emerging multipronged war against Google. The company's growth, ambitions, and politics have made it a target of some of the country's most powerful businesses and interest groups. When Google pressed the Federal Communications Commission to reallocate "white space"—unused chunks of radio spectrum—for wireless broadband and other uses, it ran into a counter-lobbying effort that included everyone from the National Association of Broadcasters to Dolly Parton. Google's push for Network Neutrality, which would forbid ISPs from giving preferential treatment to certain data providers, has been met by fierce resistance from telecom and cable companies, whose allies describe it as "special-interest legislation dressed up to sound less self-serving." It purchased YouTube, whose users' laissez-faire approach to copyright infuriates Viacom and other content providers. Google wants to digitize entire libraries, a prospect that frightens publishers. It has terrified a legion of small businesses that feel at the mercy of its opaque but all-powerful search algorithm. It has annoyed Republicans by associating itself largely with Democrats. The thwarting of the Yahoo deal was the most successful attack so far by the many forces aligned against Google—but it won't be the last. "There were a lot of sharks circling Google during the DOJ review," says Christopher Murray, senior counsel for Consumers Union. "Now there's a whiff of blood in the water. I expect a feeding frenzy in 2009."
http://benton.org/node/20937
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DUTCH GOVERNMENT STUDY: NET EFFECTS OF P2P USE IS POSITIVE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Iljitsch van Beijnum]
The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs commissioned a study by research company TNO about how much Dutch Internet users download music, movies, and games, and what the social and economic effects of this downloading are. The report differentiates between paid and unpaid downloads and talks about file sharing, eschewing the word "illegal." In the Netherlands, only uploading copyrighted music and movies is against the law. "Unpaid downloads" include officially licensed promotional content. "Of the Dutch Internet population, 2.3 percent paid for music, movie, or game downloads in the past 12 months," according to the report. But then a table on the next page shows that 6.5 percent of the users have made purchases from iTunes and 2.9 percent have bought digital music from Amazon.com. So apparently many of them tried going legal, but didn't make a habit of it.
http://benton.org/node/20944
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BROADCASTING

OFCOM PROPOSES BIG CHANGES TO UK BROADCAST SECTOR
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kate Holton]
Britain's media regulator proposed a raft of changes to the broadcasting industry on Wednesday, such as allowing mergers between rivals and less regulation, in an attempt to support the embattled sector. Under the proposals, broadcaster Channel 4 could merge with rival Five or form a partnership with the commercial arm of the BBC, and ITV could be freed from the majority of its public service content remit. However, the regulator rejected any suggestion that Channel 4, known for edgy programming and strong news, should take money directly from the licence fee -- a tax on every television-watching household which funds the BBC.
http://benton.org/node/20962
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HE'S ALREADY RUSHED TO JUDGEMENT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
Rush Limbaugh made clear that he's prepared to mock, scorn and badger the man with the daunting job of trying to turn our country around. Radio's biggest blusterer doubtless has real problems with President Barack Obama. But he's clearly inspired most by a fresh opportunity to inflate himself to ever greater proportions. Asked recently if he was depressed by the shift in power, he scoffed: "I am energized, I am honored and I am happy to be the last man standing." He greeted Bill Clinton's presidency with the refrain "America held hostage." Now it's "the last man standing." Get ready to hear it for at least four years. In other words, the last true conservative. The last stalwart with no intention of cutting the Democratic president an inch of slack. To do so, Limbaugh suggests, would be to give in to socialism.
http://benton.org/node/20964
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TV NEWS FACES NEW CHALLENGES
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
The inauguration of Barack Obama is a reminder of how the story that dominated airwaves during 2008 is over, leaving television news organizations to contemplate life without it in the midst of a brutal economy. The campaign gave TV news heaps of stories and advertising revenue. If Tuesday's inauguration is a closing act, broadcast and cable networks took advantage with hours and hours of coverage. CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC now face the inevitable audience erosion that comes when any big story goes away. Obama has tough problems and there won't be a shortage of news as he attacks them, but campaigning is a better TV story than governing.
http://benton.org/node/20955
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DIVERSITY

MLK'S MEDIA LESSON FOR AMERICA
[SOURCE: StopBigMedia.com, AUTHOR: ]
[Commentary] Three months after his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was frustrated by the government's inaction on civil rights. Worried about President Lyndon Johnson's unwillingness to move on the issue, he is said to have told fellow Southern Christian Leadership Conference minister Rev.Walter Fauntroy, "We are still a 10-day nation, Walter." Dr King was frustrated that the media and by default the nation had an attention span of only 10 days. As we commemorate King's birthday, we are once again reminded not just of the moral vision he set for this country, but the power of the news media to alter, manipulate and relay important stories to the public. King's skepticism of the news media is still relevant today. With only a few corporations controlling our media, we have not progressed to a media system that values depth in its news cycle.
http://benton.org/node/20941
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MLK TO OBAMA: REFLECTIONS ON RACIAL BARRIERS IN THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: StopBigMedia.com, AUTHOR: ]
[Commentary] When Barack Obama is sworn in as our nation's first black president on Tuesday, it will represent a triumph for millions of people who have fought to overcome racial injustice in our society for more than two centuries. The press will focus on the civil rights leaders who have paved the way to make this moment possible, reminding us of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream a day after we celebrated the slain leader's birth. But the day also belongs to all those whose names we may not remember, who by raising their voices knocked down racial barriers in their communities, in their neighborhoods and in their workplaces, forcing our country to change. For me, this means this day also belongs to the thousands of minority and white journalists who challenged their newsrooms to improve coverage of communities of color. While the mainstream media still too often marginalize people of color in their coverage, I believe Obama would not have been elected president if the press did not cover him as a legitimate candidate. And this would not have happened if newsrooms were not forced to integrate their work force 40 years ago.
http://benton.org/node/20940
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MMTC TO PRESENT TELECOM AGENDA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council will present its media agenda for a new Congress in a Capitol Hill briefing Wednesday. MMTC, which represents civil rights groups and other organizations, will push for Federal Communications Commission action on over 40 pending proposals for nondiscriminatory enforcement of rules and requests for minority business access to money, technology and opportunities.
http://benton.org/node/20961
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TELECOM

SPRINT NEXTEL PITCHES $2B PLAN TO PROVIDE PUBLIC-SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
[SOURCE: RCR Wireless News, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Silva]
Sprint Nextel has pitched to the Obama transition team a $2 billion plan to provide first responders with emergency interoperable wireless communications anywhere in the country within four hours, a model based on the use of fleets of trucks equipped with cellular gear and satellite backhaul. The public-safety proposal, which could be funded out of the $825 billion economic stimulus package in Congress, is separate and radically different from Federal Communications Commission efforts to auction a national license or a set of regional licenses for public-safety and commercial broadband communications. Sprint Nextel, the nation's No. 3 mobile-phone carrier, which is struggling to keep pace with industry leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, said its public-safety proposal — capable of supporting voice and light data — could be deployed in about a year at a fraction of the expenditure implicated in the FCC's 700 MHz D-Block plan. However, it does not appear that Sprint Nextel's concept would offer the kind of broadband connectivity that first responders say they need and that was contemplated in D-Block plans championed by outgoing FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
http://benton.org/node/20943
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EMBARQ: SALE WOULD IMPROVE ITS MARKET
[SOURCE: Kansas City Business Journal, AUTHOR: ]
A key factor in Embarq Corp.'s decision to sell itself to CenturyTel Inc. was its desire to better position itself in a consolidating, shrinking local phone industry. In a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Embarq provided additional details about its decision to combine with CenturyTel in an $11.6 billion all-stock deal that includes assumption of about $5.8 billion in Embarq debt. Embarq released the information to help settle a shareholder lawsuit alleging that Embarq directors had not accepted the best offer for the company .Among their peers, only Embarq and CenturyTel were investment-grade companies, so "a combination with CenturyTel would result in a combined company with a stronger balance sheet better positioned to participate in further industry consolidation and other strategic opportunities," the filing said.
http://benton.org/node/20942
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