May 17, 2009 (Weekend catch-up)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for SUNDAY MAY 17, 2009
We were gone; now we're back. Here's what we missed; more tomorrow.
FREE PRESS SUMMIT
Changing Media: The Future of Broadband, Journalism, and Public Media
TELECOM
Frontier to Buy Verizon Lines for $5.3 Billion
Rise of the Rural 'Super' Carrier
FCC: Landline number move should take 1 day, not 4
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Pundit Inquiry Result Still Pending At FCC
Lawyer Sees First Amendment Problem In Financial Woes
JOURNALISM
Dear Mr. Buffett: About Those Newspapers . . .
AP Survey of News Execs: Staff Cuts Hurting Coverage
The rebirth of news
BROADBAND
Eshoo Introduces Broadband Conduit Deployment Act
AT&T Responds To Eshoo Web Query
UK may cap spectrum ownership for mobile telcos
CYBERSECURITY
Traditional War Strategy In The Cyber Age
Analyst: cyberwarfare arms race with China imminent
BROADCASTING
Lake: 3.5 Million Still Not Ready For DTV Switch
$1B In Political Spending Possible in 2009
House Judiciary Passes Royalty Bill
Will LBO debt topple Clear Channel?
Stations Doing Well by Doing Good
FCC REFORM
Did the FCC cook the books on broadband over power lines?
Genachowski Still Watching His Wait
Unused eRate funding totals billions
QUICKLY -- Sweating the Details on Health Technology Policy; Varney finds a patron saint of antitrust; MLB Granted Patent For Internet-Blackout System
FREE PRESS SUMMIT
CHANGING MEDIA: THE FUTURE OF BROADBAND, JOURNALISM, AND PUBLIC MEDIA
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: ]
On May 14, policymakers and media activists gathered at the Newseum in Washington (DC) to discuss America's communications future. Keynote speakers noted that we cannot think about the future of any one media policy in isolation. For too long, our media system has been shaped by policies - for media ownership, broadband deployment, public media funding - that were made in silos, cordoned off from one another. The different agencies, different laws, and different priorities that have guided these discussions have left us with a media system that is disjointed and in crisis. Panelists took a hard look at the role of government in shaping the media in America. Will our new media system be a resource for all Americans, an engine for economic growth, and a platform for new forms of art, entertainment, education and information? Or will we let the digital divide grow, expanding the information gap and cutting more people off from the benefits of the Web? National Economic Council official Susan Crawford said, "Broadband is the new essential infrastructure. Access to broadband does not guarantee" success, but "lack of access to broadband will guarantee economic decline." Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps identified organizing principles that should serve as our touchstone as we sift through the myriad ideas out there and try to create a media that is truly "of, by and for the American people": 1) Principle Number One: It's all about democracy. 2) Principle Number Two: old media is not dead. 3) Principle Number Three is to make sure that the sins visited upon old media are not permitted to deny the promise of new media. 4) Principle Number Four is: Remember what got us here.
http://benton.org/node/25327
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TELECOM
FRONTIER TO BUY VERIZON LINES FOR $5.3 BILLION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin]
Verizon Communications said Wednesday it would spin off wireline operations spanning 14 states and merge them with Frontier Communications for $5.3 billion in stock. The proposed deal covers 4.8 million access lines in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as some in California, Verizon said. As part of the spinoff, Verizon's shareholders will receive stock in Frontier giving them a stake of about 68 percent in the combined company. Verizon's divestiture of 4.8 million mostly-rural access lines gives it a greater density of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage and could allow the carrier to increase that density even further, perhaps reaching 80% of its total local service territory. will require Frontier to raise about $3.2 billion sometime before the deal closes in the middle of next year. Only a few months ago, raising that much capital for this kind of Bell asset buyout - which don't have a great reputation following cautionary tales at Fairpoint Communications and Hawaiian Telcom - would have been hard to imagine. But recent softening of credit markets to telecom carriers may validate Frontier's choice of timing. Frontier will triple in size. Both federal and state regulators will have to approve the deal. And considering the operational problems that ensued the last two times Verizon divested its wireline assets (in Hawaii and northern New England), regulators are not likely to be getting out their rubber stamps any time soon.
http://benton.org/node/25326
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RISE OF THE RURAL 'SUPER' CARRIER
[SOURCE: Telecompetitor, AUTHOR: ]
Are we entering the age of the "super" rural carrier? Despite the 1,000+ carriers serving rural territory in the US, the three largest 'RBOCs' combined still serve the majority of rural customers. That's beginning to change, and leading to the rise of the rural 'super' carrier -- large carriers focused mainly on rural markets. Companies like CenturyTel, Embarq, Windstream, FairPoint, Frontier, TDS, and maybe Qwest are on a path to become rural 'super' carriers. Communications conglomerates like AT&T and Verizon are laying their cards on the table - their future does not include rural access lines.
http://benton.org/node/25325
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FCC: LANDLINE NUMBER MOVE SHOULD TAKE 1 DAY, NOT 4
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Peter Svensson]
The Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to force landline phone companies to act faster when their subscribers want to move their phone number to a rival service. The Commission will require companies to transfer, or "port," landline phone numbers within one business day, down from the current four-day requirement. Wireless numbers are currently ported within one day - in many cases within hours - and the commission said landline companies should be just as fast. Landline numbers can be transferred to competing landline services, such as those from cable or Internet calling companies, or to cell phones. The shortened porting period should take effect in about a year.
http://benton.org/node/25324
See also:
FCC Increases Consumer Choice By Speeding Number Portability
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
PUNDIT INQUIRY RESULT STILL PENDING AT FCC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A resolution is still pending of an official Federal Communications Commission inquiry into the role of the media in the Pentagon's imbedded military analyst program. That is according to FCC spokesman, who confirmed that the FCC had received responses back from networks and others in the inquiry but could provide no timetable for when the FCC would release its conclusions. The investigation was launched after House Energy & Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) asked the commission to look into a New York Times story about the Department of Defense program, in which military analysts were prepped by the administration and used as "force multipliers" to talk up administration policies. The Defense Department's Inspector General's (IG) Office last week rescinded a report that had concluded there was insufficient evidence that the Pentagon's imbedded pundit program violated the prohibition on using appropriations for publicity or propaganda. But DOD also said it would not issue a new report, pointing out the program had ended and those responsible were not longer working for DOD.
http://benton.org/node/25311
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LAWYER SEES FIRST AMENDMENT PROBLEM IN FINANCIAL WOES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Communications attorney Matthew Leibowitz has written the Federal Communications Commission a warning of what he says is a "First Amendment Perfect Storm" that the FCC must take steps to avoid. Leibowtiz, principle at Leibowitz & Associates, said in his letter, a copy of which was also sent to Multichannel News, that the storm will be created when the decline of newspapers is combined with potential bank/government ownership or control of TV and radio stations. He wants the FCC to open an inquiry into how to protect the First Amendment by protecting banks' interest in broadcast properties and the liquidity of those stations. If you don't protect that bank interest, he says, "there will never be another bank loan to broadcasters." And the government could wind up controlling more than a station's license. "We now have a potential seismic restructuring of broadcast ownership he warns, "with bankers acquiring significant interest in numerous broadcast stations. The concurrent de facto nationalization of these lenders may, in turn, lead to significant de facto government ownership of the commercial broadcast media," he said.
http://benton.org/node/25310
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JOURNALISM
DEAR MR. BUFFETT: ABOUT THOSE NEWSPAPERS . . .
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Steven Pearlstein]
[Commentary] In an open letter to Warren Buffett, Pearlstein argues that this is a golden opportunity to invest in newspapers and journalism. He suggests Buffett buy the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Rocky Mountain News, Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe. In a single stroke, and with a relatively modest amount of money, a strategic buyer could assemble a national syndicate with millions of readers capable of achieving the economies of scale that have, for the most part, eluded our badly fragmented industry. And with the near-death experience of these papers still fresh in the minds of readers and employees, a forceful new owner would have an opportunity to offer a different set of products based on a different and more sustainable business model: 1) A smartly designed daily tabloid offering high-quality local, national and international news and opinion aimed at serious news consumers that on weekdays could be read in an hour. 2) An advertising-supported tabloid aimed at casual readers offering short news stories, entertainment listings, sports scores, personality items and given away weekdays for free at subway stops and street corners. 3) A partly free, partly paid Web site that carries the local banner with a full offering of local content and advertising but operates from a single national platform.
http://benton.org/node/25323
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AP SURVEY OF NEWS EXECS: STAFF CUTS HURTING COVERAGE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. newspaper executives responding to a recent survey said their ability to inform readers has diminished with their steadily shrinking staffs. The survey conducted by the Associated Press Managing Editors illuminated the doubts and concerns hovering over newspapers as the industry reels from a slump that has been worsening since last fall. Seventy-one percent of the survey participants said cutbacks have "somewhat affected" or "greatly affected" the quality of their newspapers' coverage. Just 20 percent said their newspapers' staff reductions had little or no effect. The comments accompanying the responses were filled with resignation, frustration, anger, despair, confusion and even some gallows humor that reflected the depressed state of the US economy as more people lose their homes because they can't afford their mortgages.
http://benton.org/node/25322
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THE REBIRTH ON NEWS
[SOURCE: The Economist, AUTHOR: ]
The race is crowded, but San Francisco stands a fair chance of becoming the first major American city without a daily newspaper. The San Francisco Chronicle, founded in 1865, is trimming its already pared-down staff in an attempt to avoid closure. And if it does disappear? "People under 30 won't even notice," says Gavin Newsom, the city's mayor. Most industries are suffering at present, but few are doing as badly as the news business. Things are worst in America, where many papers used to enjoy comfortable local monopolies, but in Britain around 70 local papers have shut down since the beginning of 2008. Among the survivors, advertising is dwindling, editorial is thinning and journalists are being laid off. The crisis is most advanced in the Anglo-Saxon countries, but it is happening all over the rich world: the impact of the Internet, exacerbated by the advertising slump, is killing the daily newspaper. Does that matter? Technological change has destroyed all sorts of once-popular products, from the handloom to the Walkman, and the world has mostly been better for it. But news is not just a product: the press is the fourth estate, a pillar of the polity. Journalists investigate and criticize governments, thus helping voters decide whether to keep them or sack them. Autocracies can function perfectly well without news, but democracies cannot. Will the death of the daily newspaper—the main source of information for most educated people for at least the past century, the scourge of corrupt politicians, the conscience of nations—damage democracy?
http://benton.org/node/25308
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BROADBAND
ESHOO INTRODUCES BROADBAND CONDUIT DEPLOYMENT ACT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Rep Anna Eshoo has introduced the Broadband Conduit Deployment Act, which would require new federal highway projects to include broadband conduits for fiber optic communications. That will be increasingly important as the Federal Communications Commission comes up with a nationwide broadband rollout plan at the behest of Congress, and the government hands out over $7 billion to help get broadband service to unserved and underserved areas. Eshoo said in announcing the bill that over half the cost of laying broadband pipe is digging up and repaving roads. This way, the pipe will already be there when the communications provider is ready to install the fiber. A White House official this week pointed out that there remained a rural and economic divide, and that some 20 million people still did not have access to broadband in their homes. The Department of Transportation could waive the requirement where necessary, and would have to work with the FCC to try to calculate potential demand. Rep Eshoo called it a "simple, common sense proposal," a sentiment that appeared to be shared by the leading Democrats overseeing communications. Bill backers include House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA), and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA).
http://benton.org/node/25312
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AT&T RESPONDS TO ESHOO WEB QUERY
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
AT&T Chief Privacy Officer Dorothy Attwood responded Wednesday to a recent letter from Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) to the telecom giant's CEO asking for clarification on whether the company is engaged in any activity that involves tracking its broadband Internet subscribers' online activities to target advertising. The lawmaker was confused by Attwood's testimony at an April hearing of the House Commerce Committee's Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee that focused on "deep packet inspection," a controversial type of network filtering that could be used to build customer profiles and offer specialized content and advertising without consent. Attwood assured Eshoo that AT&T does not engage in behavioral advertising that was the focus of her inquiry and said the company "has articulated at every turn what it does and does not do in the context of any behavioral advertising model that has been the subject of congressional interest."
http://benton.org/node/25318
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UK MAY CAP SPECTRUM OWNERSHIP FOR MOBILE TELCOS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kate Holton]
Britain unveiled plans to cap ownership of the digital radio spectrum among mobile phone companies, aiming to settle a long-running dispute and fulfill the government's target of providing universal broadband. The government is trying to give all five mobile operators a fair chance to further roll out broadband under its plans for a "Digital Britain" future. The country's five main operators have been in dispute since the telecoms regulator Ofcom said in 2007 it could take radio spectrum away from the top two operators O2, owned by Telefonica, and Vodafone. Ofcom said at the time the 900 Megahertz spectrum could then be auctioned off to the three remaining operators -- Orange, T-Mobile and 3 -- which could lead to billions of pounds in network rollout savings.
http://benton.org/node/25321
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CYBERSECURITY
TRADITIONAL WAR STRATEGY IN THE CYBER AGE
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Winter Casey]
As U.S. military and government officials consider the best approach to fighting cyber threats, they are considering the relevance of historic approaches to national security dangers such as nuclear weapons and terrorism. Herbert Lin, chief scientist at the National Research Council's computer science and telecommunications board, said a range of topics are currently being weighed such as "strategy, escalation, and deterrence, as well as issues related to doctrine and employment policy for cyber weapons." Doctrine and employment policy refer to how the military plans to operate during a conflict and strategy refers to thinking beyond immediate engagement to develop a roadmap for how to win, he said. Deterrence involves persuading a bad guy to not attack and escalation refers to how to keep a war from getting out of hand, he said.
http://benton.org/node/25317
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ANALYST: CYBERWARFARE ARMS RACE WITH CHINA IMMINENT
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Ryan Paul]
A congressional commission that reviews economic and security relations between the United States and China held a hearing last month on Chinese intelligence activities that impact national security. During this hearing, security expert Kevin G. Coleman of the Technolytics Institute think tank gave a presentation on Chinese cyber-espionage efforts. He warned that the United States is falling behind in technological defense capabilities and is largely unprepared for what he characterizes as the start of a cyber-warfare arms race. Coleman attempts to describe the threat posed by China's cybersecurity build-up, but how much of it is a sham? Some of his facts are misleading.
http://benton.org/node/25315
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BROADCASTING
LAKE: 3.5 MILLION STILL NOT READY FOR DTV SWITCH
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission digital television transition coordinator William Lake warned that 3.5 million people had still not taken the actions necessary to avoid losing access to their TV signal, saying many of those were in the most vulnerable populations, including the elderly, low income, disabled minority and rural areas. Conveying a sense of urgency, Lake told the commissioners that the key was doing everything possible so that those viewers did not lose their, "only link, in some cases, to news and the world at large." That message came in a DTV status report during the commission's public meeting Wednesday. FCC staffers and NTIA DTV coupon box program coordinator Bernie McGuire-Rivera outlined the steps the FCC and NTIA are taking to convey that urgency and help those populations get ready.
http://benton.org/node/25314
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$1B IN POLITICAL SPENDING POSSIBLE IN 2009
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: ]
A rise in issue advertising, the so-called "permanent presidential campaign" and early primary elections could combine to drive 2009 political advertising to "well over $1 billion this year," according to Evan Tracey, founder and president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group. Commenting following an address he made to the Media Financial Management Association's convention in Atlanta, Tracey warned it's too early for solid predictions, given how much is still up in the air, and said that $1 billion is the high end of a wide range that could go as low as $400 million to $700 million. Even that lower amount would be a record for an off political year, however, as Tracey pointed out in his address. One reason is an increase in advocacy advertising, which "is headed for a record year this year," he said.
http://benton.org/node/25320
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HOUSE JUDICIARY PASSES ROYALTY BILL
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
After nearly four hours of debate, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill, 21-9, that would end a long-standing copyright royalty exemption for AM and FM radio stations, with significant concessions aimed at protecting small and minority-owned broadcasters. The action was a big win for the Recording Industry Association of America, American Federation of Musicians, the Recording Academy and others who have been pressing lawmakers to force terrestrial radio to pay performers for songs carried on their airwaves. It was a blow to the National Association of Broadcasters, which has lobbied fiercely against the bill they believe to be a "tax" on local radio.
http://benton.org/node/25319
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WILL LBO DEBT TOPPLE CLEAR CHANNEL?
[SOURCE: TheDeal.com, AUTHOR: George White]
The $24 billion LBO of Clear Channel Communications Inc. was one of the last megabuyouts to get done, with the deal's private equity sponsors -- Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital -- actually having to sue the banks, which had tried to back out of their commitments to finance the deal after the credit crunch began. Clear Channel's roughly $18 billion in long-term debt, coupled with the recession's downturn in advertising spending, has certainly hurt the company's bottom line. Clear Channel reported a $418 million first-quarter loss recently.
http://benton.org/node/25305
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FCC REFORM
DID THE FCC COOK THE BOOKS ON BROADBAND OVER POWER LINES?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The other shoe has finally dropped on that court decision which forced the Federal Communications Commission to delay its green light to Broadband over Power Line technology (BPL). The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which successfully sued the FCC over its go-ahead, has obtained and published a small pile of nonredacted versions of studies that the Commission claimed supported its pro-BPL position. The nonredacted documents, ARRL charges, offer a different assessment of the technology.
http://benton.org/node/25316
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GENACHOWSKI STILL WATCHING HIS WAIT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The workload continues to pile up at the Federal Communications Commission while President Obama's nominee to head the Commission waits on the sidelines. Julius Genachowski, the constitutional scholar and telecom policy adviser to the Obama administration who has been the presumptive new chairman of the FCC for five months—long enough to have "presumptive" business cards made up. But he remains in limbo while the FCC faces one of its most daunting tasks: the creation of a nationwide broadband deployment plan, and the data collection necessary for its foundation. Then there is that DTV transition thing, which the FCC must oversee both now and after the big switch June 12. Of all the things the Obama administration managed to get done in its first 100 days, getting a new FCC chairman closer to confirmation than a nomination holding pattern was not one of them.
http://benton.org/node/25313
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UNUSED ERATE FUNDING TOTALS BILLIONS
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Dennis Pierce]
About $5 billion of the estimated $19.5 billion in eRate funds committed to schools and libraries from 1998 to 2006 were never used, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In some cases, funds were not claimed because the applicants' needs changed from the time they applied until it was time to file a Form 486, which releases the funding to applicants or their service providers. In other cases, the actual expenses that applicants incurred were less than the amount of funding they had applied for. Often, the sheer complexity of the program caused applicants or their service providers to leave money on the table. Whatever the reason, more than 25 percent of the available eRate funding that was committed to applicants during the program's first nine years has not been disbursed.
http://benton.org/node/25306
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QUICKLY -- Sweating the Details on Health Technology Policy; Varney finds a patron saint of antitrust; MLB Granted Patent For Internet-Blackout System
SWEATING THE DETAILS ON HEALTH TECHNOLOGY POLICY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
Some of the nation's fine minds in medicine and technology have huddled, attended hearings and produced position papers in the last few weeks that focus on the definition of "meaningful use." It may seem arcane and nit-picky, but how the government defines and measures meaningful use will determine whether the $19 billion in incentives is a significant step in reforming American health care or a high-tech fiasco. The professional organization of people responsible for putting electronic health records to use, the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems, is wading into the discussion on Tuesday with — appropriately enough — a Web site, www.meaningfuluse.org. The public site is an aggregator of information and news on the developing debate over the best policy path for implementing electronic health records, and it also has forums for discussion. The consensus of the expert comments, said Dr. William F. Bria, president of the board of the association, will be conveyed to the Obama administration.
http://benton.org/node/25307
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VARNEY FINDS A PATRON SAINT OF ANTITRUST
[SOURCE: TheDeal.com, AUTHOR: Cecile Kohrs Lindell]
For the devout antitrust faithful, the Department of Justice this week unveiled its new patron saint, Thurman W. Arnold. In three speeches in as many days, Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, who leads the antitrust division, and her top economist, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Carl Shapiro, have invoked Arnold and his determination 70 years ago to bring antitrust cases to improve the state of the economy to the benefit of the American consumer. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Arnold to lead the antitrust division at DOJ in 1938, when the Sherman Act, the cornerstone of antitrust law in the US, was unproved.
http://benton.org/node/25304
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MLB GRANTED PATENT FOR INTERNET-BLACKOUT SYSTEM
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Major League Baseball's interactive-media company has been granted a US patent for a system and method that identifies the location of an Internet user, in order to determine if that user may receive the video feed of a particular game given TV blackout restrictions. The system uses geolocation technology to estimate the whereabouts of Internet users based on Internet protocol addresses. It then compares that location with a set of rules to determine whether to provide access to the requested content.
http://benton.org/node/25303
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