April 2006

NEWS FROM CONGRESS
Barton-Rush Bill Encourages New Video Services, Lower Prices for Consumers
Rush's million-dollar conflict?
'Net Neutrality' in High Gear
Markey Introducing Net Neutrality Amendment
Taking Aim at Telecom Reform
COPE and Municipal Broadband
House Aide: Bush Unlikely to Sign Franchise Law
Sen. Smith Advocates Streamlined Telco Bill
Bill seeks music royalties for satellite downloads

NEWS FROM THE FCC
Martin Renominated
FCC Nomination Tied to Katrina Billions
Martin Willing To Revisit 'Must Carry' Ruling
FCC Chairman says Indecency Standard Clear

MORE NEWS FROM NAB
NAB, Some Members Diverge Over Kids Rules
National Association of Broadcasters rallies against
Rep. Deal amendment
Disney-ABC exec says online offering fights piracy

PUBLIC SAFETY
The State of Interoperability
Public Safety Wireless Network Demonstration

QUICKLY -- Percentage Of Minority Journalists Moves Up Less Than
0.5%; San Francisco Wi-Fi plan may face political heat; Aiming to
Shed Light on Lawmakers; Historians Protest Smithsonian's Deals; BBC
Expands Internet Presence After Review; Kenya: State Moves to Gag
Media And NGOs; 60 billion emails sent daily worldwide

NEWS FROM CONGRESS

BARTON-RUSH BILL ENCOURAGES NEW VIDEO SERVICES, LOWER PRICES FOR CONSUMERS
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee press release]
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, made the following statement Tuesday during the full
committee markup of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and
Enhancement Act of 2006. "The primary focus of this legislation is to
create a streamlined cable franchising process in order to increase
the number of facilities-based providers of video, voice, and data
services in our nation. Today, there are thousands of local
franchising authorities, and each may impose disparate restrictions
on the provision of cable service in its locality. The requirement to
negotiate each local franchises, and the patchwork of obligations
local franchising entails, are hindering the deployment of advanced
broadband networks that will bring increasingly innovative and
competitive services to consumers. The committee print seeks to
address this concern and strike the right balance between national
standards and local oversight. It continues to allow negotiation of
local franchises, but also makes available an alternative national
franchise process. The national franchise preserves local franchise
fees, municipal control over local rights-of-way, and support for
public, educational and governmental channels and governmental
networks. The committee print also seeks to strike the right balance
between ensuring that the public Internet remains an open, vibrant
marketplace and ensuring that Congress does not hand the FCC a blank
check to regulate Internet services, an action that I believe would
have a chilling effect on broadband deployment and, especially,
broadband innovation. Finally, the committee print addresses rules
for VoIP services to ensure that Internet services become a vibrant
competitor to plain old telephone service."
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/News/04252006_1851.htm

RUSH'S MILLION-DOLLAR CONFLICT?
[SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times, AUTHOR: Lynn Sweet]
A Chicago community center founded by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-II), a key
player on telecommunications legislation, received a $1 million grant
from the charitable arm of SBC/AT&T, one of the nation's largest
phone companies. Sheila Krumholz, the acting executive director of
the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, says Rep Rush's
ongoing association with the Rebirth of Englewood Community
Development Corporation and his role in shaping telecommunications
law as a member of the House Commerce Committee is a conflict of
interest. Today, the Commerce Committee, on which Rep Rush sits, is
set to vote on a controversial rewrite of telecommunications law
co-sponsored by Rep Rush and backed by major phone companies eager to
compete with cable television companies. "People can disagree about
where to draw the line on contributions and abstaining from votes,
but $1 million is definitely over that line," Krumholz said. Rep Rush
is the only Democrat to sponsor the "Communications Opportunity
Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006." He has been working with
committee chair Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) to promote the
"Barton-Rush" bill. The SBC charity made the first of a series of
payments totaling $1 million in 2001 to the Englewood group to create
the still unbuilt "Bobby L. Rush Center for Community Technology."
The final check was written in 2004, with the SBC Foundation delaying
the last payment for a year over concerns that the project was not
moving forward. The Rush center is now expected to open within the
next 12 months.
http://chicagosuntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-sweet25.html

'NET NEUTRALITY' IN HIGH GEAR
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The "Net Neutrality" debate raged in Washington Tuesday, the subject
of a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee and of countless
letters to and from legislators on the issue as lobbyists geared up
for a markup on a video franchising bill Wednesday. A House Commerce
Committee bill allowing national video franchises also promotes telco
provision of Internet access. And there's the rub. Because telcos
want to be able to offer enhanced services over their networks, and
charge content providers for those services, those who see one
company's enhancement as another's degradation are concerned that
those network providers will discriminate in Internet access
provision., discouraging innovation and requiring Internet content
providers to pay "protection" money not to have their service
degraded. On the telco side, Walter McCormick, promised legislators
that the companies he represents would not "block, impair, or
degrade" access. He also told the committee that antitrust laws, as
they already exist, guard against restraint of trade and should be
able to insure that so-called "network neutrality." McCormick says
that companies like Disney have approached them about setting up
virtual private networks--where they could securely distribute video
content, for example--and that those companies should bear the cost
of that enhanced services. Proponents of stronger network neutrality
rules counter that that scenario means that others service will be,
de facto, degraded, since the bigger pipe will go to the company
willing or able to pay for it
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6328084?display=Breaking+News
* McCormick: Telcos Won't Block Web Content
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6328086.html?display=Breaking+News
* Network neutrality = open
[SOURCE: TPM cafe, AUTHOR: Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt]
[Commentary] Since someone asked, there are four categories of
meaning to the term "open networks," and the current debate falls
quickly into terminological confusion as a result. Networks can be
(1) open to all content [like the Web is designed to be, and TV and
newspapers are not], (2) open to connection with all other networks
[like the Internet is designed to be, and the telephone network is
ordered to be by the regulators], (3) open to all people [like free
over the air broadcast TV, and not like cable TV], (4) and open to all designs.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/29182
* The Neutrality Non-Debate
[SOURCE: American Prospect, AUTHOR: Matthew Yglesias]
[Commentary] "Network neutrality" regulation is complicated.
Potential changes deserve real scrutiny, not a quiet congressional
pass on behalf of the telecom industry. The issue has been
languishing in an obscurity all out of proportion to its objective
importance. Most people have no idea what network neutrality is, and
most of the ones who do know probably heard about it in the past two
weeks. At a minimum, the status quo seems to work fine, while there
are credible arguments that making the change would be a giant
mistake. If this change really is a good idea, surely it could
withstand some public scrutiny and debate. Instead, telecom companies
seem determined to push it through under cover of night and, so far,
Congress is happy to help.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=...

MARKEY INTRODUCING NET NEUTRALITY AMENDMENT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Ranking House Telecommunications Subcommittee Member Ed Markey (D-MA)
says he will introduce a "network neutrality" amendment to a national
video franchise bill. Rep Markey announced the amendment during
opening statements on a video franchise bill that will be marked up
in the committee Wednesday. Rep Markey and several co-sponsors
including Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.) are
concerned that the current bill does not sufficiently protect against
network discrimination in the provision of Internet access. The
network neutrality issue has surpassed red-lining and the lack of
build-out requirements as the hottest video franchise bill-related
issue in Washington. See Rep Markey's statement at the URL below.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6328119?display=Breaking+News
* Opening Statement at the "COPE" Markup on Network Neutrality
http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1461&I...
* Congress must protect free access to Web sites, services
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Rep Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA)]
[Commentary] The "battle for 'net neutrality' will determine the
future of the Internet and the continued innovation and technological
development the Internet has produced.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/14431191.htm
* Democrats pledge fight over Net neutrality
http://news.com.com/Democrats+pledge+fight+over+Net+neutrality/2100-1028...

TAKING AIM AT TELECOM REFORM
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Gun Owners of America's Craig Fields acknowledged Monday on a
conference call to launch savetheinternet.com, that he was far to the
right of the others in the coalition, but said it was necessary to
stop the telcos from controlling the Internet. Their target is a
telecommunications reform bill that would pave the way for a national
media franchise that would include high-speed Internet service. The
House version of the bill -- the only one marked up so far -- allows
the FCC to determine when network neutrality has been violated, then
punish it. But the commission would not have the authority to write
rules of network neutrality. Without that express authority, bill
critics including the new coalition argue, there would be too much
room for abuse. Fields suggested part of the reason for Washington
support for a video franchising bill that does not have tough network
neutrality protections is that some politicians don't want groups
like his to have the increased flexibility to respond to issues that
the Internet has made possible. While he called his group "pretty
much free market guys," he also said that, ironically, "we have the
necessity of government intervention to assure a free marketplace of ideas."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327773?display=Breaking+News

COPE AND MUNICIPAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Tales from the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] Today, the House Commerce Committee will hold a "mark
up" on COPE and vote whether to report the bill out of Committee. I
am informed that Representative Steve Buyer from the state of Indiana
will introduce an amendment tomorrow seeking to eliminate the good
language on muni broadband with language similar to that in the
Ensign Telecom rewrite bill that requires local governments to get
permission from private industry before building a network (aka the
"Pennsylvania Plan"). Why would Mr. Buyer do such a thing, you ask?
Especially when his own great state of Indiana has rejected such a
proposal in 2005 and then rejected the same proposal again in 2006?
Good question, one which I hope Mr. Buyer's constituents will ask him
when he campaigns for reelection later in the year. I have lots of
problems with COPE generally, but I fear that with all the focus
network neutrality and local franchising, that people will lose track
of one of the few good things in the bill and let it slip away.
http://www.wetmachine.com/totsf/item/489

HOUSE AIDE: BUSH UNLIKELY TO SIGN FRANCHISE LAW
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Due to complications in the Senate and a short legislative calendar,
an aide to House Commerce Committee Member Paul Gillmor (R-OH)
predicted Monday that cable-franchise-reform legislation will not
reach the White House this year -- even though one month ago,
Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) was willing to bet that
President Bush would sign a bill in the fall. "My handicap is that it
passes through the House but it won't be signed into law and we'll
have to continue it in the 110th Congress," said Ryan Walker,
Gillmor's senior legislative assistant. On Wednesday, Chairman
Barton's committee is expected to approve legislation that would
allow phone companies to offer cable-TV service without permission
from local governments. By allowing the Federal Communications
Commission to award national cable franchises, Barton's bill would
eliminate a cornerstone of cable regulation that Congress established
in 1984. Walker, speaking at the National Association of Broadcasters
convention here, said Barton's bill would encounter problems in the
Senate, where aides to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens
(R-Alaska) are drafting a more wide-ranging telecommunications bill.
"We have a great bill, but Sen. Stevens has a really comprehensive
bill. Working with [the Senate], there's always a possibility that we
could get something signed into law this year," Walker said. "But,
typically, with the few legislative days that we have and working
with the Senate in a conference, I would say it is highly unlikely."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6327819.html?display=Breaking+News

SEN SMITH ADVOCATES STREAMLINED TELCO BILL
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
On Tuesday, Sen Gordon Smith (R-OR) addressed the National
Telecommunications Cooperative Association's Legislative and Policy
Conference and outlined his Broadband for America Act of 2006. In a
press release, he called the proposal is a "'disciplined' and
'directed' piece of legislation that the Senate can swiftly pass to
promote the construction of new broadband networks in rural America."
"My own view is that a targeted bill is better than a more
comprehensive bill and has a greater chance of success," Sen Smith
told reporters. "The bigger it is, the more comprehensive it is, the
more likely it is to get bogged down and to delay technological
deployment throughout our country." The Smith legislation would
provide regulatory relief for Bell telephone companies and other new
entrants into the video programming business, and it would let
municipalities offer low-cost, high-speed Internet service. The
measure further would let unlicensed service providers offer wireless
broadband by utilizing unassigned or unused broadcast television
spectrum called "white space." And it would revamp the $7.3 billion
Universal Service Fund subsidizing telecom service in rural locales,
creating an annual $500 million fund to deploy broadband in areas
without service. The bill draws on language in bills authored by:
George Allen, R-Va.; Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.;
John McCain, R-Ariz.; John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; and Olympia
Snowe, R-Maine.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-KBOR1145995507422.html
* Senator plans Net taxes but no Net neutrality
http://news.com.com/Senator+plans+Net+taxes+but+no+Net+neutrality/2100-1...
* New bill would impose Universal Service Fund fees for broadband access
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060425-6672.html
* Sen Smith's press release:
http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detai...

BILL SEEKS MUSIC ROYALTIES FOR SATELLITE DOWNLOADS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Brooks Boliek]
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation that would
require satellite radio companies to compensate the music industry
for downloads. The legislation, by Senators Dianne Feinstein,
D-Calif., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and majority leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., is aimed at compensating copyright holders as satellite
radio services become distribution services. The "PERFORM Act" or the
"Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of
2006" would require satellite, cable and Internet broadcasters to pay
fair market value for the performance of digital music. Additionally,
the bill would require the use of readily available and
cost-effective technological means to prevent music theft.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...

NEWS FROM THE FCC

MARTIN RENOMINATED TO FCC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
President George Bush intends to nominate Kevin J. Martin, of North
Carolina, to be a Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission, for an additional five-year term expiring
June 30, 2011. In a statement, Chairman Martin thanked the President,
who he helped elect in 2000, "for the privilege to continue to serve
in his Administration." Martin's colleagues at the FCC voiced their
support for his nomination as did Verizon and BellSouth.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327985?display=Breaking+News
* White House Announcement
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/04/20060425-3.html
* Bush Nominates Martin for New FCC Term
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6328100.html?display=Breaking+News
* Bush to Name Martin to New Term at FCC
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114601993749736145.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
* BellSouth press release:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/0...
* Chairman Martin's Statement
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-265101A1.doc
* Commissioner Copps' Statement
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-265109A1.doc
* Commissioner Adelstein's Statement
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-265104A1.doc

FCC NOMINATION TIED TO KATRINA BILLIONS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
The White House needs to seek an additional $4.1 billion in Hurricane
Katrina cleanup funding before Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) will
discontinue blocking the nomination of Robert McDowell to serve on
the Federal Communications Commission. Congress has committed $60
billion-$100 billion to help the Gulf Coast recover from last
summer's devastating storm, but she is holding up about 20
nominations by President Bush, including McDowell's, until the White
House promises to fully fund the reconstruction of damaged levees in
her state and across the region.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6327815.html?display=Breaking+News

MARTIN WILLING TO REVISIT 'MUST CARRY' RULING
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
Speaking at the annual conference of the National Association of
Broadcasters, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin expressed a willingness to
reconsider and reverse an agency decision last year that was a key
setback for broadcasters in the transition to digital television.
Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell spearheaded the February 2005
decision to reject broadcasters' request that cable operators carry
all digital multicasting programs transmitted over the air. Three
other commissioners also backed it; then-Commissioner Martin did not.
"That is one of the issues that I think was a missed opportunity for
the commission," Chairman Martin said while discussing a range of
issues, including digital television, with NAB Chairman Bruce Reese.
"If a majority was willing to look at that, I think that that would
be an important opportunity to address before 2009." He also said, "I
continue to think that the public would benefit from having all those
free over-the-air signals carried by the cable industry. I would
bring it up if there was a majority of the commission who wanted to
end up addressing it, but if there is not a majority, then I
wouldn't." [funny, isn't that always how a democracy works?]
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-WHAL1145995902432.html
* Martin Focusing on DTV via Cable
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6327947.html?display=Breaking+News

FCC CHAIRMAN SAYS INDECENCY STANDARD CLEAR
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told television broadcasters on Tuesday
they should know what is indecent because the law has not changed in
more than 25 years. He said the Supreme Court's decision in the late
1970s on a monologue by comedian George Carlin clearly spelled out
seven indecent words that could not be said on television or radio.
Chairman Martin denied accusations by broadcasters that recent
agency decisions, ruling several programs that included profanity
were indecent, had failed to give sufficient guidance on what can be
aired on television. "The commission's findings recently on indecency
did not extend beyond some of the same words that were found to be
upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1970s," Chairman Martin said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid...
* FCC chairman says planned TV campaign on indecency falls short
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Gary Gentile]
A $300 million educational campaign planned by TV broadcasters to
ward off increased federal regulation of indecent content doesn't go
far enough, Chairman Martin said Tuesday. He said the program,
announced Monday, was not a "complete answer" to the large number of
complaints filed each year by parents about inappropriate language
and sexual content in shows. The program falls short in part because
a significant number of TVs do not include the V-chip and "Even
those that do, some of the programs are still either unrated or live
sports broadcasting like the Super Bowl that probably would not have
been rated in a way that would make parents aware," Martin
said. Martin will continue to push for additional steps, such as
cable TV companies giving customers a choice of which channels to pay
for rather than offering bundles of channels. Martin also said cable
companies should offer a "family tier" of channels as well.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14425481.htm
* At NAB, FCC Chief Presses on Indecency
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=10023...
* Martin Defends Indecency Decisions
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327944?display=Breaking+News

MORE NEWS FROM NAB

NAB, SOME MEMBERS DIVERGE OVER KIDS RULES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
As expected, a number of broadcasters -- Allbritton, Media General,
McGraw-Hill, LIN Television, Meredith, and Smith Media -- asked the
FCC to exempt public interest digital multicast channels from the
requirement that a broadcaster carry three hours of informational or
educational programming for every multicast channel. They call it a
"critically important revision" that the FCC "not impose additional
core programming requirements on digital multicast channels that
offer educational, informational, and/or public interest
programming." Their argument is that the FCC is just substituting its
public interest programming--kids--for theirs, and that the move to
preempt their programming for FCC-mandated kids shows is
"unnecessary, unwarranted, and imprudent." The groups call the
provision a "serious threat to the continued operation of existing
multicast channels." By contrast, while NAB in its comments said it
was "concerned that the three-hour per full-time multicast
requirements may discourage many broadcasters for deploying
specialized channels, especially at small stations," it said it does
not oppose it "because it affords a modicum of flexibility to
broadcasters to repurpose educational and informational children's
programming on multicast channels."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327913?display=Breaking+News
* Ad Council Seeks PSA Kids Rule Exemption
In comments to the FCC on proposed new kids programming DTV rules,
The Ad Council has asked the FCC to exempt public-service
announcements (PSAs) from limits on the display of commercial Web
information in kids shows, saying some stations are refusing to carry
PSA's for fear of running afoul of the new rules. It is particularly
concerned that PSA's that directed viewers to, say the Girl Scouts
Web site, would be impermissible under the rules as currently
constituted. That is because the four-part test for permitting such
links includes a provision that the Web site linked to "contain no
links labeled 'store," which the council points out would exclude the
Girl Scouts, Library of Congress, and National Crime Prevention Council.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327877?display=Breaking+News

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS RALLIES AGAINST REP DEAL AMENDMENT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Elana Schor]
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is sparing no expense
in its bid to block a planned amendment by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.)
during today's video-franchising markup in the House Energy and
Commerce Committee. The Deal amendment, which may be co-sponsored by
Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.), would prevent TV broadcasters from easily
receiving compensation from cable and satellite providers that replay
broadcast signals, a system known as retransmission consent. If
broadcasters and cable companies fail to reach an agreement on
retransmission-consent payments, the Deal plan would send both
parties to arbitration, where independent negotiators would be
required to select the payment levels that best reflect the fair
market value of the broadcast signal.
http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/042506/dea...

DISNEY-ABC EXEC SAYS ONLINE OFFERING FIGHTS PIRACY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
The ABC television network's decision to sell its content online,
while angering affiliates, was aimed at preventing piracy from
eroding the broadcasting business, said Disney-ABC Television Group
President Anne Sweeney on Tuesday. "It's actually becoming common for
programming in the U.S. to be captured real time and the East Coast
broadcast is put online for anyone in the world to see before the
same show airs on the West Coast," she said at the National
Association of Broadcasters' annual convention in Las Vegas. A major
concern of the local affiliates is that they will be cut out of the
revenue picture by the television networks when popular shows are
made available for downloading or are streamed directly to consumers
over the Internet.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...

PUBLIC SAFETY

THE STATE OF INTEROPERABILITY
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
Testimony of John M. R. Kneuer, Acting Assistant Secretary for
Communications and Information at the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (Department of Commerce) before the House
Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Emergency
Preparedness, Science and Technology. His testimony covered 1) the
President's Spectrum Policy Initiative, 2) Standard Setting and 3)
the Responsibilities under the Deficit Reduction Act.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/congress/2006/Kneuer_interoperable_0425...

PUBLIC SAFETY WIRELESS NETWORK DEMONSTRATION
NTIA SELECTS DC PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK TO MONITOR EFFECTIVENESS IN
SHARING RADIO SPECTRUM WITH GOVERNMENT USERS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
press release]
The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration today announced it has selected a Washington, D.C.
public safety wireless network to evaluate its effectiveness in
sharing the radio spectrum with federal, state and local governments
during emergencies. Selection of the Washington, D.C. Wireless
Accelerated Responder Network (WARN), an interoperable, city-wide,
broadband public safety network fulfills one of the 24
recommendations of President Bush's 21st Century Spectrum policy
initiative for improving management of the nation's airwaves. The
President's initiative directs NTIA to examine the feasibility of
sharing spectrum among commercial, federal and local public safety
and critical infrastructure applications. Accordingly, the President
directed NTIA to develop and implement one or more demonstration
programs to test the operational and cost effectiveness of sharing
spectrum. NTIA plans to issue a report on its findings later this
year. "Joint federal-local communications systems have the potential
for enormous capital and spectrum efficiencies as well as inherent
interoperability benefits," Acting NTIA Administrator John M.R.
Kneuer said. "This demonstration project is a critical part of the
comprehensive regionwide communications system for the National
Capital Area," Kneuer said. The WARN project launched by the District
of Columbia Office of the Chief Technology Officer is aimed at
delivering next generation broadband wireless solutions for real time
video in the nation's capital. The system provides broadband tools
for city wide remote surveillance, chemical and biological detection
and several other emergency related services.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2006/publicsafety_042506.htm

QUICKLY

PERCENTAGE OF MINORITY JOURNALISTS MOVES UP LES THAN 0.5%
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Mark Fitzgerald]
Journalists of color represented only 13.87% of the staff in
America's daily newsrooms in 2005, according to the American Society
of Newspaper Editors' (ASNE) 29th annual newsroom census released
Tuesday. That percentage represented a nearly invisible increase from
last year's census, which identified 13.42% of daily journalists as
belonging to racial and ethnic minority groups. About one-quarter of
U.S. daily newspapers do not employ a single minority journalist.
This year, 377 newspapers reported no minority newsroom employees.
The results show daily newspapers are lagging badly in the goal
adopted by ASNE of achieving a parity by 2025 between the percentage
of minority journalists working in daily newsrooms, and the
percentage of people of color in the U.S. general population. About
one-third of the U.S. population is comprised of people from racial
or ethnic minority groups.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...

SAN FRANCISCO WI-FI PLAN MAY FACE POLITICAL HEAT
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Stephen Lawson]
A member of San Francisco's board of supervisors may challenge a plan
to build a municipal Wi-Fi network, because he says there was not
enough public input in drafting a plan and choosing Google and
EarthLink to build and operate the network. "It really got rammed
and jammed and fast-tracked," supervisor Jake McGoldrick said in an
interview following a meeting last week of the Local Agency Formation
Commission (LAFCO), an oversight body for the combined City and
County of San Francisco. "We may be looking here at something that
needs to be completely reworked," McGoldrick said, even though he
acknowledged that a vote at the board of supervisors on restarting
the initiative would probably be close.
http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,110855,00...

AIMING TO SHED LIGHT ON LAWMAKERS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jeffrey H. Birnbaum]
A new nonprofit group called the Sunlight Foundation plans to spend
big money this year to connect voters to a wide range of information
about candidates for Congress via the Internet. The organization
takes its name from a quotation by former Supreme Court justice Louis
Brandeis: "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants." By
shedding light, or public attention, on candidates' big donors and
lobbying contacts, the foundation said in its promotional material
that it hopes to "uncover" congressional "boondoggles" and give
citizens "the power to root out corruption in Congress."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/25/AR200604...
(requires registration)

HISTORIANS PROTEST SMITHSONIAN'S DEALS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jacqueline Trescott]
The Society of American Historians, a group that promotes excellence
in historical writing, has suspended Smithsonian Books from its ranks
in protest over the Smithsonian Institution's "increasingly
commercial approach to its mission." The suspension itself will have
little impact, but it is the latest symptom of friction between the
Smithsonian's top managers and many of the nation's scholars. The
latest criticism follows a month of public debate over partnerships
the Smithsonian made with commercial businesses and the change in
policy about access to its archives. In a resolution passed by the
historical group's executive board yesterday, the society raised
questions about the deal with Showtime Networks to create a series of
100 programs a year based on the Smithsonian collections and experts.
But the historians also raised questions about a second contract,
this one a publishing pact with HarperCollins.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/25/AR200604...
(requires registration)

BBC EXPANDS INTERNET PRESENCE AFTER REVIEW
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Aaron O. Patrick]
After a yearlong review of its strategy, the British Broadcasting
Corp., the world's biggest and best-known public broadcaster, said it
plans to put more resources into its already-large Internet presence
and no longer regards itself primarily as a producer of television
and radio. The London-based BBC, which was founded in 1922, said it
plans to offer a service on its site similar in some respects to
MySpace.com, a popular U.S. site used by young people to share
information about themselves with friends.
Users will be able to create their own space on the BBC Web site
where they can post Web logs -- or blogs -- home videos and links to
BBC TV and radio shows, the BBC said. The broadcaster also said it
would launch a competition to redesign its Web page, create a feature
in which members of the public will write a personal history of every
day in the past 100 years and allow people to tailor the music they
listen to over the Internet, creating the equivalent of personal
radio stations. It didn't say when the changes would be completed,
but it said work was already underway on the new Web site.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/25/AR200604...
(requires registration)

KENYA: STATE MOVES TO GAG MEDIA AND NGOs
[SOURCE: AllAfrica]
A cabinet subcommittee in Kenya charged with the responsibility of
sprucing up the Government's image is considering proposals for
setting a ceiling on the number of shares a person may own in a media
house and banning the alternative press publications as some of the
strategies for dealing with a hostile press. The report also
identifies NGOs as major threats to the Government's image and
proposes placing them under tighter supervision, including close
surveillance by the security intelligence service. Inadequate
regulatory mechanisms and ownership of media houses by political
interest groups are identified in the restricted report as major
causes of the Government's poor image. In addition, it proposes to
ban alternative press outlets which are described as engaging in
"tribal hate-based reporting."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200604240404.html
* Kenya: Minister Denies Bid to Gag Media
http://allafrica.com/stories/200604240113.html
* Kenya: Outrage Over State Bid to Gag Media
http://allafrica.com/stories/200604240126.html

60 BILLION EMAILS SENT DAILY WORLDWIDE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Louis Charbonneau]
Internet users around the world send an estimated 60 billion emails
every day and many of these are spam or scam attempts, business
leaders said on Tuesday. [Suddenly, the 5,000+ e-mail I generate each
day don't seem like that big a deal!]
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
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