Aug 31, 2009 (The Internet at 40)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY AUGUST 31, 2009 (BACK TO SCHOOL DAY)
Tomorrow state and local governments have center stage on the National Broadband Plan; see http://www.benton.org/calendar/2009-08-30--P1W/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Access and the Internet
As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten its growth
THE STIMULUS
Broadband stimulus spending too fast, group warns
Meetings With Lobbyists Go Unreported
TELEVISION
Court Throws Out FCC's Cable Ownership Cap
The TV Press That Covers Public Policy Today Is Failing Us
Broadcasters Must Push Hard For Deregulation
George Steinbrenner sued over Yankees' TV network
A&E cable network buys out Lifetime
Nielsen: Number of TV Households Up By 400,000
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Supreme Court to Revisit 'Hillary' Documentary
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Army used profiles to reject reporters
Military terminates Rendon contract
Republicans make Twitter their own
Despite Web 2.0 Tools, Government Collaboration Is Still Slow to Catch On
WIRELESS
Apple, AT&T face yet another iPhone MMS lawsuit
AT&T Gets a Fuzzy Signal on Apple's iPhone
App developers wary of Apple's influence
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Zell May Remain for Tribune Cleanup
Newsday Rejects Ads by Verizon, Now a Rival
E-books could spell the end for hardbacks
Books: Consolidation is the big story
JOURNALISM
Story not all bleak for newspaper industry's outlook
You're Gone. But Hey, You Can Reapply.
MORE ONLINE
Arizona agencies form broadband grant committee
Google co-founder, wife give $500K to Creative Commons
TiVo claims most DVRs use its technology
LA TV, cellphone signals at risk due to fire
Governors Highway Safety Assoc. backs texting ban
INTERNET/BROADBAND
ACCESS AND THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] On the Internet today, a Web site run by a solo blogger can load as quickly as any corporate home page. Internet service providers, including leading cable and phone companies, want to be able to change that so they can give priority to businesses that pay, or make deals with, them. A good bill that would guarantee so-called Network Neutrality has been introduced in the House. Congress should pass it, and the Obama administration should use its considerable power to make net neutrality the law. If Internet service providers are allowed to choose among content, it would be bad for everyone but the service providers. Businesses could slow down or block their competitors' Web content. A cable company whose leaders disapprove of a particular political or social cause could block sites supporting that cause.
http://benton.org/node/27478
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AS THE INTERNET TURNS 40, BARRIERS THREATEN ITS GROWTH
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun]
Goofy videos weren't on the minds of Len Kleinrock and his team at UCLA when they began tests 40 years ago on what would become the Internet. Neither was social networking, for that matter, nor were most of the other easy-to-use applications that have drawn more than a billion people online. Instead the researchers sought to create an open network for freely exchanging information, an openness that ultimately spurred the innovation that would later spawn the likes of YouTube, Facebook and the World Wide Web. There's still plenty of room for innovation today, yet the openness fostering it may be eroding. While the Internet is more widely available and faster than ever, artificial barriers threaten to constrict its growth. Call it a mid-life crisis. A variety of factors are to blame. Spam and hacking attacks force network operators to erect security firewalls. Authoritarian regimes block access to many sites and services within their borders. And commercial considerations spur policies that can thwart rivals, particularly on mobile devices like the iPhone.
http://benton.org/node/27494
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THE STIMULUS
BROADBAND STIMULUS SPENDING TOO FAST, GROUP WARNS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
Is the government spending billions in stimulus dollars to expand high-speed Internet networks without first knowing where they are most needed? Many have criticized the White House for not circulating stimulus money fast enough to create jobs and boast the economy. But some are worried about just the opposite -- that it is spending without properly assessing where the dollars will have the most impact. The point of the broadband program is to expand high-speed networks in regions that have little or no Internet access. Stimulus dollars are also going toward creating a nationwide map to show where broadband is available and where it is needed. But the map will not exist to guide the development of the actual networks until about half the money has been spent, consumer groups say. The government is doling out $4 billion of the $7.2 billion set aside for the broadband projects in the next few months. Complicating the matter further is multiple government agencies are involved in collecting the data, but with different methods. That could lead to errors and ineffective spending.
http://benton.org/node/27493
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MEETINGS WITH LOBBYISTS GO UNREPORTED
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Rita Beamish]
President Obama ordered federal officials to disclose their contacts with lobbyists trying to influence how the government doles out money to jump-start the economy. Yet few such communications have been reported even though lobbyists say they are busier than ever with the multibillion-dollar stimulus. Since the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February, federal agencies have reported 197 contacts with lobbyists about stimulus grants. In August, the entire government reported only eight such lobbying contacts. Yet the paucity of reporting masks activities by lobbyists and clients eager to obtain stimulus money for their projects. Lobbyists have separately reported work related to stimulus projects, and in many cases have operated in new ways to skirt restrictions on their efforts to influence stimulus spending. A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget, Tom Gavin, said agencies are told regularly to disclose on their Web sites contacts with lobbyists.
http://benton.org/node/27492
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TELEVISION
COURT THROWS OUT FCC'S CABLE OWNERSHIP CAP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
On Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit vacated the Federal Communications Commission's rule that caps at 30% of all subscribers the market share any single cable television operator may serve. The court ruled the FCC's limit "arbitrary and capricious" and found the FCC was "derelict" in not giving satellite television service its due as a legitimate competitor. "[T]he Commission has failed to demonstrate that allowing a cable operator to serve more than 30% of all cable subscribers would threaten to reduce either competition or diversity in programming," the court concluded. "First, the record is replete with evidence of ever increasing competition among video providers: Satellite and fiber optic video providers have entered the market and grown in market share since the Congress passed the 1992 Act, and particularly in recent years. Cable operators, therefore, no longer have the bottleneck power over programming that concerned the Congress in 1992. Second, over the same period there has been a dramatic increase both in the number of cable networks and in the programming available to subscribers. In view of the overwhelming evidence concerning 'the dynamic nature of the communications marketplace,' and the entry of new competitors at both the programming and the distribution levels, it was arbitrary and capricious for the Commission to conclude that a cable operator serving more than 30% of the market poses a threat either to competition or to diversity in programming." Andrew Jay Schwartzman, President and CEO of Media Access Project, said, "I'm disappointed, but not surprised. Although Congress directed the FCC to establish limits on cable ownership in 1992, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has been disinclined to approve such regulations. It is hard to imagine that any rule the FCC could devise would ever withstand review under the standards established in today's decision. This is not the end of the fight. Big cable's anti-competitive ownership structure has increased prices and limited choices for the American public. Therefore, we will consult with the FCC on whether Supreme Court review is feasible. If not, we'll be asking Congress to pass new legislation to insure more choice and lower prices for cable TV service." [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/27466
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THE TV PRESS THAT COVERS PUBLIC POLICY TODAY IS FAILING US
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Tom Southwick]
[Commentary] News organizations need to be profitable, but they also need to be responsible and to report the news in a factual, unbiased manner. The media has failed when polls reveal that millions of Americans who voted for George W. Bush in 2004, for example, believed erroneously that weapons of mass destruction had been discovered in Iraq or that so many voters in 2008 believed the myth that Barack Obama was a Muslim or that so many people today believe the falsehood that the health care bill will set up "death panels." In addition to spreading disinformation, the partisans on television news and radio talk shows continually question the motives or patriotism of those with whom they disagree. Let's hope for some introspection among those who run our electronic news organizations today. Let us hope they can present more accurate news accounts that will produce a better informed public. Let us hope they can tone down the rhetoric a notch so we can have a better, more civil public. And let us hope we can move toward a society in which even the most partisan among us can acknowledge that their opponents are not enemies, but simply fellow Americans with a different view. A democracy cannot function otherwise.
http://benton.org/node/27476
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BROADCASTERS MUST PUSH HARD FOR DEREGULATION
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] Should broadcast journalists get involved with the government's efforts to save journalism? On the one hand, it may be a good idea for broadcasters to participate. It's a perfect opportunity for them to make the case that consolidation isn't necessarily a bad thing when it comes to journalism, and that outdated ownership restrictions must go. In fact, and somewhat paradoxically, they can argue that consolidation is good for journalism. Newspapers have done their best journalistic work since becoming monopolies or near monopolies. Flush owners are willing to trade dollars for the power and prestige that comes from operating first-rate journalistic enterprises. What's wrecking such papers is the uncontrollable invasion of competition from the Internet. They've lost their local news and classified advertising franchises and they can't get them back. By contrast, excessive competition seems to bring out the worse in journalism. In broadcasting, it leads to rundowns filled with the lowest-common-denominator reporting on crimes and fires. In cable, among the news networks, it has produced a mad race to the bottom in search of the most viewers. On the other hand, the proceedings could be a trap. Whatever benefits the government grants the legacy media are likely to come with strings. For every break the Federal Communications Commission grants TV stations it will want something in return. A larger principle is at stake here too. Journalistic organizations simply shouldn't be involved in what will surely lead to some quid pro quo or put them on an economic footing that depends on the continued beneficence of the government.
http://benton.org/node/27475
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GEORGE STEINBRENNER SUED OVER THE YANKEES' TV NETWORK
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jonathan Stempel]
George Steinbrenner, the longtime principal owner of the New York Yankees baseball team, was sued on Friday for allegedly breaching an agreement over the creation and operation a $3 billion cable TV network. In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, Robert Gutkowski, a former president of Madison Square Garden Corp and the MSG Network, said Steinbrenner "knowingly lied" when he promised him a chance to build and have a major role in running what would become the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, or YES. Instead, he said Steinbrenner retained him as only an occasional outside consultant, and did not and never intended to properly compensate him.
http://benton.org/node/27474
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A&E CABLE NETWORK BUYS OUT LIFETIME
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Gina Keating, Yinka Adegoke]
Walt Disney, Hearst and NBC Universal said on Thursday that their jointly owned A&E Television Networks group will buy Lifetime Entertainment Services for an undisclosed sum. Lifetime is a joint venture of Disney and Hearst. NBC Universal owns other women-oriented cable channels, such as Bravo and Oxygen. The companies said the move was a bid to consolidate three of the leading cable networks under the single management of AETN Chief Executive Abbe Raven. The deal, expected to close this year, includes provisions by which NBC may choose or be forced to divest its stake in the new company, leaving Disney and Hearst as equal partners.
http://benton.org/node/27473
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NIELSEN: NUMBER OF TV HOUSEHOLDS UP BY 400,000
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Nielsen says the number of TV households has increased by 400,000 to 114.9 million, the smallest increase in the last decade. Nielsen announced the bump as it prepares to start rating the new TV season for 2090-2010.
http://benton.org/node/27472
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS
SUPREME COURT TO REVISIT 'HILLARY' DOCUMENTARY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Adam Liptak]
The Supreme Court will cut short its summer break in early September to hear a new argument in a momentous case that could transform the way political campaigns are conducted. The case, which arises from a minor political documentary called "Hillary: The Movie," seemed an oddity when it was first argued in March. Just six months later, it has turned into a juggernaut with the potential to shatter a century-long understanding about the government's ability to bar corporations from spending money to support political candidates. The case has also deepened a profound split among liberals, dividing those who view government regulation of political speech as an affront to the First Amendment from those who believe that unlimited corporate campaign spending is a threat to democracy. At issue is whether the court should overrule a 1990 decision, Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which upheld restrictions on corporate spending to support or oppose political candidates.
http://benton.org/node/27477
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
ARMY USED PROFILES TO REJECT REPORTERS
[SOURCE: Stars and Stripes, AUTHOR: Leo Shane III]
The secret profiles commissioned by the Pentagon to rate the work of journalists reporting from Afghanistan were used by military officials to deny disfavored reporters access to American fighting units or otherwise influence their coverage as recently as 2008, an Army official acknowledged Friday. What's more, the official said, Army public affairs officers used the analyses of reporters' work to decide how to steer them away from potentially negative stories. "If a reporter has been focused on nothing but negative topics, you're not going to send him into a unit that's not your best," Maj. Patrick Seiber, spokesman for the Army's 101st Airborne Division, told Stars and Stripes. "There's no win-win there for us. We're not trying to control what they report, but we are trying to put our best foot forward."
http://benton.org/node/27470
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MILITARY TERMINATES RENDON CONTRACT
[SOURCE: Stars and Stripes, AUTHOR: Kevin Baron]
The US military is canceling its contract with a controversial private firm that was producing background profiles of journalists seeking to cover the war that graded their past work as "positive," "negative" or "neutral." "The Bagram Regional Contracting Center intends to execute a termination of the Media Analyst contract," belonging to The Rendon Group, said Col. Wayne Shanks, chief of public affairs for International Security Assistance Forces-Afghanistan. The announcement follows a week of revelations by Stars and Stripes in which military public affairs officers who served in Afghanistan said that as recently as 2008 they had used reporter profiles compiled by The Rendon Group, a private public relations firm in Washington, D.C., to decide whether to grant permission to embed with troops on the battlefield. "The decision to terminate the Rendon contract was mine and mine alone. As the senior U.S. communicator in Afghanistan, it was clear that the issue of Rendon's support to US forces in Afghanistan had become a distraction from our main mission," said Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith.
http://benton.org/node/27491
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REPUBLICANS MAKE TWITTER THEIR OWN
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Johanna Neuman]
The White House announced with some fanfare this month that its Twitter account had passed the 1-million mark. Big deal. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican who lost to Barack Obama in the 2008 election, passed the 1-million mark six weeks ago. He declared tweeting "a phenomenal way of communicating." Like most things that come out of Silicon Valley, Twitter was assumed to be in the purview of the left, another tool for tech-savvy liberal netroots to use as they besieged the political system in the name of progressive change, in 140-character bites. But the left has usually used Twitter to promote ideas, according to Alan Rosenblatt of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. But, he added, there had been "nothing that brings everyone together." By contrast, he said, the right has been using Twitter to create new pressure points in politics. Conservatives have a website, Top Conservatives on Twitter, that ranks various right-wing tweeters (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich currently rides on top), and offers pointers on how to organize. Liberals are fighting back -- Rosenblatt has created a rival website, TopProg.org -- but it's in its infancy.
http://benton.org/node/27490
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DESPITE WEB 2.0 TOOLS, GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION IS STILL SLOW TO CATCH ON
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Liza Lowery Massey]
Collaboration is a hot topic with the rise of Web 2.0 tools, but public-sector success stories are rare. Collaboration among government agencies remains difficult at best. The reasons it doesn't work are many. When government officials discuss collaboration's benefits, seldom does the "everyone hold hands and sing Kumbaya" approach work. Historically collaboration has been stymied by one-size-fits-all approaches that fail to recognize each organization's needs and perspectives. Elected and appointed officials' egos and agendas can get in the way. Finally the proliferation of control freaks prevent collaboration from occurring.
http://benton.org/node/27469
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WIRELESS
APPLE, AT&T FACE YET ANOTHER IPHONE MMS LAWSUIT
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Jim Dalrymple]
For at least the third time this month, Apple and AT&T are being sued by a consumer complaining of being duped into believing that multimedia messaging, or MMS, was already available on the iPhone. Filed in the Northern District of Ohio on Wednesday, plaintiff Deborah Carr says Apple and AT&T misled the public into believing that the iPhone 3GS was capable of sending and receiving MMS messages on the device. The lawsuit claims that Apple's "print and video advertisements...on television, the Internet, the radio, newspapers, and direct mailers" all mention the availability of MMS on the device. Two similar cases--one in Illinois and another in Louisiana--were also filed against the companies in August. According to the latest lawsuit, first reported by InformationWeek, customers were told that MMS would be enabled on June 17, 2009, when iPhone OS 3.0 was released.
http://benton.org/node/27471
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AT&T GETS A FUZZY SIGNAL ON APPLE'S IPHONE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Martin Peers]
Did AT&T get a sour apple when it snagged the iPhone? Maybe. AT&T's exclusive right to offer Apple's smart phone over the past two years has attracted new customers, and at least initially enhanced the phone company's image. But it is difficult to know whether those benefits are worth what have been some considerable costs, both short and long term. For investors, and for federal regulators investigating such exclusivity deals, it is worth considering some factors. While AT&T has disclosed at least 10 million activations of iPhones since it became available in mid-2007, only about 40% of those were new customers. That number dropped to 35% in the most recent quarter when the 3GS phone became available. That means only four million new customers signed up, about 5% of AT&T's total. More important, perhaps, is that the iPhone likely has kept some AT&T customers from defecting.
http://benton.org/node/27485
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APP DEVELOPERS WARY OF APPLE'S INFLUENCE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Joseph Menn]
When Apple insisted on making all its own computers and software a decade ago, it talked up its integrated products so thoroughly that it barely mentioned any allies. Now it can hardly shut up about them: it knows the most important thing about the iPhone is the online App Store, where 65,000 programs (and counting) are available for download. Its debut about a year ago reversed Apple's drive for complete control of its products and services, drawing thousands of partners who see it as an obvious route for reaching consumers with disposable income. But the very success of this new model of co-operation has exposed Apple to interest from regulators and is provoking a backlash in parts of Silicon Valley, where some say the new collective stewardship has turned Apple from outlier to dictator. One big developer frustrated with Apple's opaque review process for applications said this week the company should just allow everything on the store.
http://benton.org/node/27486
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
ZELL MAY REMAIN AT TRIBUNE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena, Michael de la Merced]
The Tribune Company could well emerge from bankruptcy this fall with much of its current top management intact, but it remains unclear whether that might include the top dog himself, Samuel Zell, the chairman and chief executive who took the company private. From the day Tribune filed for bankruptcy in December, it has been clear that Zell's $315 million investment and warrants to buy a large share of the company would almost certainly be wiped out. He is being sued on multiple fronts over the $8.2 billion deal that took the company private in December 2007; he has called it a mistake and "the deal from hell"; and some people familiar with the plans are guessing that, when the dust settles, he will be out. But other people close to the restructuring talks, speaking anonymously because the discussions were supposed to remain private, caution that the major creditors have not yet given a clear indication whether they want Zell to leave or remain in some capacity. Nor has Zell said clearly whether he wants to go, though he is used to being the man in charge, and his authority would be diminished under new owners.
http://benton.org/node/27489
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NEWSDAY REJECTS ADS BY VERIZON, NOW A RIVAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena]
At a time when most newspapers are hungry for any ads they can sell, Newsday has turned away a steady, lucrative customer that is also a direct competitor of the paper's parent company, Cablevision. Verizon Communications bought full-page ads in Newsday several times a month for its FiOS Internet and television service until a few months ago, when the paper said it would no longer take them, according to a Verizon executive and ad buyers who work with the company. "They made it clear we didn't need to keep calling," said Eric Rabe, a senior vice president of Verizon. He and others involved said that Newsday had offered no explanation and had not objected to the content of the ads. But FiOS is a leading competitor on Long Island to Cablevision, the dominant provider of pay television and high-speed Internet in that market. Since last year, Cablevision has also owned Newsday, the region's dominant newspaper. It also owns News 12, a Long Island local news station, giving it a hold on information delivery that is unmatched by a single company in any other large market in the country.
http://benton.org/node/27487
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E-BOOKS COULD SPELL THE END FOR HARDBACKS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Ben Hall]
Hardback books could be killed off if Amazon's e-books and Google's digital library force publishers to slash prices, Arnaud Nourry, chief executive of French publishing group Hachette, has warned. Nourry said unilateral pricing by Google, Amazon and other e-book retailers such as Barnes & Noble could destroy publishers' profits. He said publishers were "very hostile" to Amazon's pricing strategy - over which the online retailer failed to consult publishers - to charge $9.99 for all its e-books in the US. He also pointed to plans by Google to put millions of out-of-copyright books online for public use.
http://benton.org/node/27481
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BOOKS: CONSOLIDATION IS THE BIG STORY
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Ben Hall]
The book publishing industry will have to consolidate if it is to stand up to Amazon, Google and a few other dominant retailers of electronic books, according to the chief executive of Hachette Livre, the world's second- largest publisher by sales. Arnaud Nourry said publishers needed to be big to maintain their pricing power in "brutal" talks with the handful of booksellers that would dominate the digital age. "We are at the beginning of the process of transformation where size and the capacity to impose viable business models will be essential," he said.
http://benton.org/node/27480
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JOURNALISM
STORY NOT ALL BLEAK FOR NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY'S OUTLOOK
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Martin Zimmerman]
Advertising sales firmed a bit in June at major newspaper chains such as Gannett Co. and New York Times Co., enabling those companies to post unexpectedly strong second-quarter profits. Newspaper stocks rallied sharply -- Gannett shares have rocketed 156% since the end of June -- as some investors bet that aggressive cost cutting has positioned the companies for higher profit once the economy rebounds. Publishers are finally talking seriously about charging for the online content they now offer for free. And small-town daily and weekly papers are holding their own even as many of their big-city brethren struggle. Read between the lines, though, and the news isn't so upbeat. At most papers, profit growth was driven mostly by cost cutting, not higher revenue from selling more ads or increasing circulation. Reaching into the wallets of the 70 million people who visited newspaper websites in June sounds lucrative, but publishers are still debating how to do that without alienating readers. And that stock rally? Despite the recent run, Gannett shares are worth half what they were a year ago, and the U.S. economy is flashing conflicting signals about the prospects for a robust recovery. Failures continue to loom. Freedom Communications Inc., operator of the Orange County Register, is expected to declare bankruptcy this week.
http://benton.org/node/27482
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YOU'RE GONE. BUY HEY, YOU CAN REAPPLY.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
The curious approach to cutbacks at The Journal News, a Westchester daily owned by Gannett, a daily paper, which covers Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties in New York. Oddly, the suburban newspaper is at the vanguard of the industry: reporters at The Journal News don't work in a newsroom, they are part of an "Information Center"; they don't cover beats, they cover "topics"; and in a new wrinkle to an old story, the staff was not being laid off, but becoming part of a "comprehensive restructuring plan." Specifically, the 288 news and advertising employees at The Journal News were told that jobs were being redefined and that they all would need to reapply for the new positions and that by the time the re-org music stopped, 70 of them would be without jobs.
http://benton.org/node/27488
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