September 2006

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC Announces Public Hearing in Los Angeles On Media Ownership
Two FCC Commissioners Hear Local Views on Media
The FCC and the Media One Year After Katrina
Free Press Mobilizes Against Media Ownership Concentration
Why Minorities Aren't Rising
Station Owner Takes Control of Its Air
Senator Duo: Probe Dish-News Dispute

CONTENT
ABC tinkers with 9/11 Drama
'Fleeting' Profanities: OK for Now?
Profanity concerns prompt CBS to show "9/11" on web
TV Watch Extends Olive Branch To PTC
Portable content not connecting with consumers
Broadcasting rocked as TV viewers become producers
Authors strike deals to squeeze in a few brand names

TELECOM
Party Lines Blur in Surveillance Debate
Security Breaches are Wake-up Calls to Phone Companies
H-P Probe Is Spurring Efforts To Tighten Phone Protections
California Cities Seek A Veto for Video Bill
Commonwealth Telephone Seeks Suitor, but Field May Be Limited

INTERNET/BROADBAND
Gas-line broadband a pipe dream?
Labels Sued Over Sexy Video of Minor

SPECTRUM
FCC Seeks Comment on 700 MHz Guard Band Licenses

INTERNATIONAL
China Puts Stricter Limits on Distribution of Foreign News
Telecom Italia Plans to Sell Mobile-Phone Unit

MEDIA OWNERSHIP

FCC ANNOUNCES PUBLIC HEARING IN LOS ANGELES ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission on Friday announced the first
public hearing on media ownership issues will be held in Los Angeles,
California, on Tuesday, October 3, 2006. Chairman Kevin Martin said,
"Public input is integral to this process. The Commission will hold
public hearings in diverse locations around the country to fully
involve the American people in its review of our media ownership
rules. I look forward to hearing from the American people on a
variety of subjects at these hearings such as the impact of the
Commission's rules on localism, minority ownership, and various types
of programming like independent and religious programming and
children's and family-friendly programming."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267288A1.doc
* FCC's First Ownership Meeting Slated for L.A.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370266?display=Breaking+News

TWO FCC COMMISSIONERS HEAR LOCAL VIEWS ON MEDIA
[SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 9/7, AUTHOR: Paul Gores]
Continued consolidation of the news media will make already-sketchy
coverage of important issues worse, and American citizens should
rally to prevent it. That message was repeated early and often
Thursday night as two members of the Federal Communications
Commission visited Milwaukee to hear interest groups, residents,
students and community leaders describe their views of local
newspapers and radio and TV stations. In fact, that same message was
sounded by the two FCC commissioners themselves - former Milwaukee
area resident Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein.
Commissioner Copps noted that political coverage has declined on TV
as media companies have grown. Commissioner Adelstein complained that
local news is dominated by crime coverage and that there are "fewer
reporters covering fewer issues." The occasion for the venting of
frustrations was the "Town Hall Meeting on the Future of Media,"
which was organized by the national media-reform organization Free
Press with the help of local colleges and various groups. Eight
similar gatherings have been held in other cities, with testimony
sometimes lasting longer than four hours, said Free Press spokesman
Craig Aaron.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=493292
* Wisconsin Speaks Out on Media Consolidation
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=162
See also:
* FCC to citizens: How's the media doing?
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=489939

THE FCC AND THE MEDIA ONE YEAR AFTER KATRINA
[SOURCE: Jurist Legal News, AUTHOR: Leonard Baynes, St. John's
University School of Law]
[Commentary] Hurricane Katrina crystallized and highlighted the
current stereotypical media coverage of people of color. However, the
news media have historically misrepresented or failed to cover
minorities. In 1968 the Kerner Commission and the U.S. Civil Rights
Commission blamed the media's lack of diversity for the social unrest
of the 1960s. Today, the broadcast news notoriously overreport
black-on-white violent crime stories. Given racially segregated
housing patterns, most crime is racially segregated. Even though
crime decreased in the 1990s, coverage of crime increased 721%. In
2000, broadcast crime reporting dropped 39 percent, but still remains
the third most covered topic in network news. Broadcasters often
sensationalize stories with white victims or occurring in rich
neighborhoods. The FCC can remedy this stereotypical reporting by
increasing diversity in the ranks of broadcast owners, managers, and
employees. However, since 2002, the FCC has failed its public
interest mandate and ignored issues of racial diversity. When the FCC
rendered its media ownership decision in 2003, the Wall Street
Journal reported that diversity was only a last minute consideration.
The FCC failed to acknowledge eleven minority ownership proposals,
leading the Appellate Court to partly reverse the FCC's 2003
ownership decision. In 2003, then-FCC Chairman Powell appointed a
Diversity Committee that ultimately devised several innovative
race-neutral proposals that would increase media diversity. Noting
that these proposals would help remedy the underrepresentation of
minorities, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, at a recent
conference at St. John's Law School, admonished the FCC for its
failure to take action. In its most recent media ownership order, the
FCC again has failed to sufficiently address these issues, even on a
subject as urgent as requiring multilingual communications in
emergencies like Hurricane Katrina. The FCC must implement policies
to increase the number of minorities who own and are employed by
broadcast stations. Only 3.9 percent of all broadcast stations are
owned by minorities, and only 5.2 percent of the general managers of
local broadcast stations are minorities. Between 1995 and 2005,
minority employees virtually disappeared from radio news; and those
remaining, according to the Minority Media Communications Council
work solely in minority radio. Even though minorities are better
represented among television news reporters, they often are powerless
to influence media coverage. In its current media ownership
proceedings, the FCC should initiate bold remedies to make broadcast
media and coverage more reflective of society. Minority absences and
racial misrepresentations in the media are serious concerns because
they imperil our democracy. First, minorities have few avenues for
robust discussion of issues important to their communities. Second,
negative representations of minorities are broadcast without critical
analysis and often without the presentation of the opposing
viewpoints. As a consequence negative perceptions are continually
reinforced and become more tightly woven into the fabric of U.S.
society. More diversity in the newsroom and in media ownership can
counter these negative representations by creating more opportunities
for diverse voices to emerge. Only the FCC has the power to address
this woeful imbalance in media ownership and employment and the
concomitant effect on balanced coverage. So far, the FCC has failed to act.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/09/fcc-and-media-one-year-after-k...

FREE PRESS MOBILIZES AGAINST MEDIA OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Free Press, the anti-big media activist group, is looking to
capitalize on the controversy swirling around ABC's Path to 9-11 by
asking its Web army to complain to the FCC. In an e-mail alert it
asked that complaints about the program be sent to the FCC as
comments about it's broadcast ownership rule re-write: "ABC's plan to
air an inaccurate 9-11 'docu-drama' has ignited public outrage, but
the problem of political manipulation will remain unless more people
act now to stop media giants from becoming even more powerful. The
FCC is poised to give companies like Disney even more power over our
airwaves. The public needs to speak up now to tell the FCC to stop
conglomerates like Disney from gobbling up more local media and
setting the agenda. Now's your chance to tell Disney and the FCC that
Big Media is big enough."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370276.html?display=Breaking...

WHY MINORITIES AREN'T RISING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Kevin Downey]
The cable industry has a relatively diverse workforce, and it's
becoming increasingly multicultural. But a survey to be released
this week by the National Association of Multi-ethnicity in
Communications also finds that serious problems persist, notably a
dearth of minorities in management and a dwindling commitment by CEOs
to ensure a diverse workplace. Overall, minorities account for 29% of
the workforce at the companies NAMIC studied, up from 26% in 2004.
This year, the number of minorities in senior management doubled to
14% from 7% in 2004. That may sound better than it is, however,
because the number of top positions is so small to begin with. There
were declines in both middle management and among managers of lesser
rank, called lower management in the study. People of color now
account for 11% of middle-management positions, down from 13%. And
minorities represent 20% of lower managers, down from nearly 23% in
2004. This year's survey will be released at NAMIC's 20th Annual
NAMIC Conference. It monitors 14 cable firms -- 10 networks with
19,000 total employees, and four cable operators with 89,000
employees. The survey was conducted by Newark, N.J.-based
DiversityInc Media. Participating companies were not publicly
identified. The survey examines areas related to minority employment:
CEO commitment, human capital, corporate communications and supplier diversity.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370157.html?display=Special+...
* Cable: Behind the Diversity Curve
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6370310.html?display=Breaking+News

STATION OWNER TAKES CONTROL OF ITS AIR
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Allison Romano]
A local show gets a much bigger stage next week when station owner
Media General exports Daytime, an infotainment program produced by
NBC affiliate WFLA Tampa, Fla., to six sister stations across the
Southeast. The syndicated version, premiering Sept. 18, will be a
rebroadcast of WFLA's show, with hyper-local segments stripped out.
Tips on back-to-school fashions could stay, but a feature on a Tampa
restaurant might be replaced by a general food segment. Media General
stations carrying the program include: WSAV Savannah, Ga.; WNCN
Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; WCBD Charleston, S.C.; WRBL Columbus, Ga.; WCWJ
Jacksonville, Fla; and WKRB Mobile, Ala. The expansion of Daytime
comes as station owners move to lessen stations' dependence on
daytime shows from outside suppliers. Buying a show from a studio
often means a hefty license fee or a split of advertising time. And,
in recent years, far more new daytime shows have tanked than have
succeeded. By developing programs in-house, station owners control
the production and hold onto all of the revenue from ad sales.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370298.html?display=News

SENATOR DUO: PROBE DISH-NEWS DISPUTE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Sens. Wayne Allard (R-CO) and Ken Salazar (D-CO) want Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp. examined in connection with the company's
dispute with EchoStar Communications Corp. over the sale of Fox
network programming to hundreds of thousands of rural satellite
customers. EchoStar could be just a few weeks from shutting off
"distant network" service, including Fox over-the-air programming, to
many rural households under judicial injunction -- perhaps creating a
political backlash from direct-broadcast satellite customers who end
up losing access to their favorite primetime shows. The senators are
concerned that News Corp. -- which owns 25 Fox Broadcasting Co.
stations and controls DirecTV -- has refused to settle with EchoStar
in order to help DirecTV woo angry EchoStar subscribers following the
injunction. The Colorado lawmakers outlined their concerns in a Sept.
1 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter
(R-Pa.). Sen Specter's panel has jurisdiction over the nation's fair
competition laws. EchoStar is based in Englewood, Colorado.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6370105.html?display=Policy

CONTENT

ABC TINKERS WITH 9/11 DRAMA
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Steve Gorman]
Under pressure from former President Bill Clinton and the Democratic
Party, ABC scrambled on Friday to make 11th-hour changes to a
miniseries suggesting he was inattentive to the Islamic militant
threat that led to the September 11 attacks. Officials at the Walt
Disney Co.-owned network said they were still tinkering with the
five-hour production, titled "The Path to 9/11," which is scheduled
to air without commercial interruption in two parts on Sunday and
Monday. But ABC declined to say how the movie was being reshaped or
whether any changes would address specific complaints lodged by
Clinton, his former aides and congressional Democrats that the film
contained numerous inaccuracies and distortions. The Hollywood trade
paper Daily Variety, citing sources close to the project, reported
the network was considering canceling the miniseries altogether.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=televisionNews&story...
* ABC edits drama after complaints
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060911/a_9-11movie11.art.htm
* ABC Airs 9/11 Film -- Contested Scenes Remain
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
* Controversial "Path to 9/11" a riveting thriller
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=reviewsNews&storyID=...

'FLEETING' PROFANITIES: OK FOR NOW?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The FCC is not likely to issue any indecency fines or findings for
"fleeting profanities" for the next six months, but broadcasters have
no clearer guidance on what they can and can't say. That's after a
federal court last week granted its request to take a second look at
four profanity rulings it made last March. The court also stayed
enforcement of those decisions, which carry no penalty, until the
case can be resolved. That probably won't be until spring, says one
lawyer familiar with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The case
could be decided by February if the court hustles, he says. Oral
argument can start no sooner than Dec. 11 on the merits of the case,
and that argument could hinge on what the FCC decides to do. The
Commission could provide better explanations of its decision, or
modify or rescind any or all of it. The FCC read the stay as a narrow
one, applying only to the four decisions at issue, and tried to send
the message that broadcasters shouldn't take it as an opportunity to
swear on-air with impunity.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370150.html?display=News

PROFANITY CONCERNS PROMPT CBS TO SHOW "9/11" ON WEB
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
CBS Corp. said on Saturday it would broadcast the documentary "9/11"
on the Internet as well as the airwaves after several affiliates said
they would delay or forgo the award-winning film because it includes
profanity. CBS said affiliates that cover about 10 percent of the
United States had decided not broadcast the program or would show it
late at night, citing concerns they could be fined for airing
profanity, primarily by firefighters during the crisis, before 10
p.m. The American Family Association, which describes itself as a
Christian organization promoting traditional values, has called on
CBS stations to forgo or delay the "9/11" broadcast.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...

TV WATCH EXTENDS OLIVE BRANCH TO PTC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The broadcast TV network-backed (CBS, Fox and NBC) TV Watch, which is
an online effort to promote parental control of content over FCC
regulation, has extended an olive branch of sorts to the Parents
Television Council, which is the highest-profile pusher for more FCC
control over content. In a fax to Winters dated Sept. 8, TV Watch
President Jim Dyke said: "While I strongly disagree with the PTC's
efforts to use government to impose its own viewing preferences on
American TV audiences, I believe that the members of PTC and TV Watch
do share some important common ground." Dyke said that included that
many shows aren't appropriate -- or intended -- for kids, that
parents cannot monitor every moment of TV viewing, and that they
should be encouraged to use parental-control technologies. "When it
comes to helping parents make smart decisions about what's right for
their families," said Dyke, "we can share a common cause even if we
do not agree on the government's role in determining what all
Americans can watch on TV."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370277.html?display=Breaking...

PORTABLE CONTENT NOT CONNECTING WITH CONSUMERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Antony Bruno]
Despite all the dramatic advancements that the mobile entertainment
industry has made, there is a still one important ingredient it has
not obtained: customers. There has been a flurry of content-related
deal-making and partnership activity in the past year between those
who create content and those who distribute it. Granted, this was a
necessary step in the development of the mobile entertainment
industry, but the focus is shifting to how to sell this newly
acquired content properly. "The content is there, and there's plenty
to choose from," says Richard Siber, an industry consultant who
formerly led Accenture's mobile media division. "It's just not
intuitive to discover or actually purchase (the content). It's about
making the discovery easier and making the transaction seamless."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...

BROADCASTING ROCKED AS TV VIEWERS BECOME PRODUCERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Lucas van Grinsven]
An increasing number of television viewers are producing their own
shows, and the TV industry is frantically trying to figure out how to
combine broadcasts, Internet movies and home videos into one package.
Internet video sharing sites like YouTube and Google Video have
surged in popularity over the last 12 months, with YouTube now
serving 100 million videos a day, and mainstream TV distributors see
a need to improve their offering.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...

AUTHORS STRIKE DEALS TO SQUEEZE IN A FEW BRAND NAMES
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Laura Petrecca]
Marketers have discovered a novel way to get their word out:
embedding products in books. Corporate-sponsored book commercials are
part of the overall blurring of lines between advertising and
entertainment. Movies, TV shows, music videos and video games have
gone well beyond simply having a product appear in a scene to
inclusion of brands as part of the story. Worldwide spending for paid
product placement swelled 42.2% in 2005 to $2.2 billion, according to
PQ Media. With non-cash promotion and barter deals included, the
value of global placement in 2005 was up was 27.9% to $6 billion.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060911/bookplacement.art.htm

TELECOM

PARTY LINES BLUR IN SURVEILLANCE DEBATE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah Lueck sarah.lueck( at )wsj.com]
As Congress returns to work following commemoration of the Sept. 11
terror attacks, Republican leaders are eager to draw Democrats into a
battle over President Bush's terrorism-surveillance program. But
instead of finding an issue that could help them on Election Day,
Republicans could be stymied by members of their own party who are
raising concerns about the program. This week, House and Senate
committees are expected to take up legislation that would authorize
and set limits for Mr. Bush's warrantless-wiretapping program, paving
the way for showdowns in both chambers just before the November
midterm elections. Republicans are confident the debate will bolster
voters' impressions of their party as stronger on national security
than the Democrats, many of whom have criticized the surveillance
program on civil-liberties grounds. As a tool to prevent terrorist
attacks, wiretapping gets strong public support, Republicans say. But
the debate over the National Security Agency's program is far from
clear-cut. Some Republican lawmakers say they are uncomfortable
because the administration has provided little information about the
program and how legislation would change it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115793238337958954.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
(requires subscription)

SECURITY BREACHES ARE WAKE-UP CALLS TO PHONE COMPANIES
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
Phone companies are once again feeling the heat as another scandal
erupts highlighting how easily unauthorized individuals can access
personal phone records. Last week, Hewlett-Packard acknowledged that
it launched an investigation into a boardroom leak that resulted in
the hiring of a private investigator to gather information on
telephone calls made and received by board members and nine
journalists, including News.com's Tom Krazit, Dawn Kawamoto and
Stephen Shankland. The news has once again highlighted a growing
problem plaguing the telecommunications industry called "pretexting,"
a scam where unauthorized individuals pretend to be someone they're
not to obtain personal information. Private investigators and con
artists have been using this technique for years not just to obtain
phone records, but also to get access to bank records, credit card
information and other sensitive information. "There's no doubt that
the telecommunications industry has been extremely lax in
authenticating customers," said Robert Douglas, an information
security consultant and former private investigator with a company
called PrivacyToday.com. "There's an institutional perception of
'What's the big deal. It's just phone records.' And that has to change."
http://news.com.com/Security+breaches+are+wakeup+calls+to+phone+companie...

HP-PROBE IS SPURRING EFFORTS TO TIGHTEN PHONE PROTECTIONS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz Amy.Schatz( at )wsj.com]
In the wake of disclosures that Hewlett-Packard Co. investigators
obtained private phone records of board members, federal regulators
are redoubling efforts to toughen rules requiring phone companies to
protect customer information. By the end of October, the Federal
Communications Commission plans to propose rules that will require
phone companies to strengthen security procedures and close loopholes
that have allowed private investigators and others to access private
records. The agency sent a "letter of inquiry" Thursday to AT&T Inc.,
asking for information about records H-P investigators obtained in an
investigation of boardroom leaks. The letter is part of a broader
probe by the FCC into the practice of pretexting, or obtaining
information by disguising one's identity. In response to dozens of
such letters to phone carriers, the FCC has received hundreds of
thousands of pages detailing how the companies try to safeguard
customer information but have failed to stop pretexters from tricking
employees into providing records. The commission appears to be
focusing on two main areas: the ability of pretexters to set up dummy
accounts online that give them access to customer accounts and the
lack of industry standards for protecting customer records. Both
issues are likely to be addressed in its proposed rules.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115794012440959112.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)

CALIFORNIA CITIES SEEK A VETO FOR VIDEO BILL
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
California cities and counties, concerned that a new statewide
video-franchising bill will disenfranchise groups of consumers
throughout the state, have launched an effort to get Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger to veto the bill. The municipalities and their
advocacy group, the League of California Cities, strongly opposed the
bill throughout the hearing process. Local regulators stressed their
support for competition, but said they fear the bill (approved Aug.
31) will allow new providers, including telcos Verizon and AT&T, to
geographically "cherry-pick" the state. Gov Schwarzenegger has
already wielded his veto power this session, spiking a controversial
bill that would have changed the education code to extend protections
against anti-gay speech in schools. But bill watchers don't
anticipate that he will stand in the way of state franchising.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6370091.html?display=Top+Stories

COMMONWEALTH TELEPHONE SEEKS SUITOR, BUT FIELD MAY BE LIMITED
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dennis K. Berman dennis.berman( at )wsj.com]
Pennsylvania phone company Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises Inc.
has hit the auction block, representing the latest small
telecom-service provider to seek new ownership. The Dallas, Pa.,
company is the descendant of a number of tiny phone carriers
clustered near the central Pennsylvania area of Scranton and
Wilkes-Barre. Since its founding in 1897, it has grown to reach a
market capitalization of about $777.2 million, while maintaining $335
million in debt. At the close of 2005, it had 323,000
telephone-access lines in its home territories, while also
maintaining 137,600 lines in areas where it was a competitor against
other phone carriers. There is a limited universe of buyers for the
company, say people familiar with the matter. That list includes
other rural-phone providers, such as the newly christened Windstream
Corp., the local-phone spinoff of Alltel Corp., as well as other
rural-phone standbys CenturyTel Inc. or Citizens Communications Co.
Private-equity funds also could be interested in the business, which
produced revenue of $331 million and net income of $86 million over
the 12 months ended June 30.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115793390464058990.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)

INTERNET/BROADBAND

GAS-LINE BROADBAND A PIPE DREAM?
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
So intense is the drive to deliver high-speed Internet service to
American homes that entrepreneurs have seemingly tapped every
conceivable pathway: fiber-optic cable, the air, even power
lines. Now the relentless pursuit for faster, cheaper broadband is
leading to perhaps the last unclaimed conduit to your house: natural
gas pipes. Nethercomm, a San Diego-area start-up, says it has
developed technology to send lightning-fast broadband and TV services
via wireless signals through the pipes that deliver the fuel used to
heat homes and fire up stoves. Gas pipes serve 62% of U.S.
households, says the American Gas Association. Broadband in Gas, or
BIG, could give consumers a third high-speed option at low costs and
speeds that far surpass today's phone and cable offerings. It also
could bring fast Internet to unserved rural areas. But, so far, the
idea has been met with both excitement and skepticism. "It's been a
Coke and Pepsi (battle) between cable and phone companies," says
Nethercomm founder and CEO Patrick Nunally, 42, a veteran high-tech
entrepreneur. "We're in a position to come in and provide real
competition." More important, Nunally says, the pipes could be used
by pay-TV providers to compete with cable and satellite. In fact, he
says, Nethercomm and local gas companies would lease the wireless
spectrum to any provider for myriad services: cable giants seeking
extra bandwidth for their high-definition TV channels, phone
companies looking to pare their multibillion-dollar investments in
fiber-optic cable, even businesses such as medical providers with
high-bandwidth needs. Gas companies, besides earning revenue from
leasing their pipes, could use the broadband service to remotely
monitor the integrity of their lines and read gas meters.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060911/broadbandgas11.art.htm

LABELS SUED OVER SEXY VIDEO OF MINOR
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Charles Duhigg]
A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that
Warner Music Group, Atlantic Records and other music industry
organizations helped coerce a 16-year-old girl into making
pornographic rock videos when a band advertised for extras on
MySpace, News Corp.'s teen-oriented social networking site. The
companies and musicians' representatives deny they did anything
wrong. But they acknowledge that difficult situations may arise as
they reach out to young fans. But it is just such situations, the
girl's attorney said, that demand heightened caution by the music
business. "For years, the industry has been talking about how online
sales and online promotion creates unique opportunities to reach out
to fans," said the attorney, Douglas Silverstein. "Well, that also
creates a unique burden" to protect minors from online exploitation, he added.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-warner11sep11,1,43349...
(requires registration)

SPECTRUM

FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON 700 MHz GUARD BAND LICENSEES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a
Notice of Proposed Rule Making (Notice) that seeks comment on
possible changes to the rules governing the licensees in the Guard
Band portions of the 700 MHz spectrum band. The Notice also seeks
comment on possible changes to the surrounding upper portions of the
700 MHz band plan allocation. The Notice seeks comment on several
service rule changes that may provide greater flexibility to 700 MHz
Guard Bands licensees, while maintaining adequate interference
protection for public safety licensees. It also seeks comment on
proposals for re-licensing the Guard Bands licenses returned from
Nextel. These proposals include: 1) reallocating the spectrum for
exclusive public safety use; or 2) reallocating the spectrum for
narrowband channels for critical infrastructure industries in support
of interoperability with public safety entities. Finally, the Notice
seeks comment on modifying the existing Upper 700 MHz band plan with
respect to the Guard Bands, asking commenters to consider band plan
proposals made by existing Guard Band Managers and other interested
parties. The FCC tentatively concludes, however, that the adoption
of any proposal that would entail shifting the narrowband channels of
the public safety band would require an expeditious resolution of
issues related to the costs of reprogramming public safety radios, as
well as international coordination for the use of any shifted
narrowband channels in border areas.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267286A1.doc
* FCC Chairman Calls for Public Hearings
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10702
(requires free registration)

INTERNATIONAL

CHINA PUTS STRICTER LIMITS ON DISTRIBUTION OF FOREIGN NEWS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Joseph Kahn]
China imposed broad new restrictions Sunday on the distribution of
foreign news in the country, beefing up state regulations on the news
media. Under new rules that were said to take effect immediately, the
state-run New China News Agency said it would become the de facto
gatekeeper for foreign news reports, photographs and graphics
entering China. The agency announced in its own dispatch that it
would censor content that endangers "national security." If enforced
as drafted, the regulations could have a major impact on news
agencies like The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg News that
sell news-related products to a wide range of Chinese clients. More
generally, the step appears intended to further restrict the
information that news media in China, including news-oriented Web
sites and financial, cultural and sports publications, can receive
and convey to viewers or subscribers. Many such media outlets have
skirted censorship procedures that old-line media must follow in
China, a one-party state.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/world/asia/11china.html
(requires registration)
* Beijing Is Cracking Down On Foreign-Media Access
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115787574289658758.html?mod=todays_us_pa...

TELECOM ITALIA PLANS TO SELL MOBILE-PHONE UNIT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Gabriel Kahn gabriel.kahn( at )wsj.com]
Telecom Italia SpA Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera is expected to
announce today that he plans to sell the company's Telecom Italia
Mobile unit, Italy's No. 1 mobile-phone provider, to concentrate more
on delivering content over the Internet. The decision to sell the
mobile-phone unit, which had a market value of around nearly $51
billion, before it was merged into Telecom Italia less than two years
ago, signals an abrupt shift in strategy for Italy's leading telecom
company. The most likely buyer for the unit would be a private-equity firm.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115790701668358808.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
(requires subscription)
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