November 2006

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TELECOM
Sen DeMint Advocates New Approach On Reform
DACA Releases Institutional Reform Proposal
McDowell mum on AT&T-BellSouth merger
Republicans propose last-minute spy bill

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
New York Newspaper takes Anti-Cross-Ownership Stand
The Death of News
New Vision Buys Two More Stations

ADVERTISING
Brownback Comments on Healthy Diet Ad Initiative
New Data Repaints Demographic Picture of U.S. Hispanics
Jesse Jackson Enters Ad Industry Diversity Fray

QUICKLY -- Benton, SeniorNet Win APT/Hadden Award; Dingell hires
former aides; Barton Exits Race For Minority Leader; FCC's McManus
Joins Comcast; Microsoft Enters Municipal Wi-Fi Realm

TELECOM

SEN DEMINT ADVOCATES NEW APPROACH ON REFORM
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Chances for market-based communications reform in the Democratic-led
Congress are "slim to none," Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said. But in the
next few years, he said administrative changes at the FCC and
"incremental legislation" could thwart more burdensome regulations on
industry. Sen DeMint's comments came as the Progress and Freedom
Foundation unveiled a report by a working group focused on the
proposed Digital Age Communications Act, or DACA. Last year, the
lawmaker introduced a bill nearly identical to the free-market think
tank's model. Under the proposal, the FCC would be transformed into
an agency that is more focused on antitrust and consumer protection.
DACA rejects the agency's traditional state-empowered regulatory
regime and reshapes it to look more like the FTC. "Playing defense"
will be a major part of free-market proponents' strategy in the 110th
Congress, Sen DeMint said. He urged PFF and its allies to continue to
lobby the FCC. It is "more important than ever" to push for "the
right way" to reform communications laws, he said. Sen DeMint added
that he may be surprised by some Democratic newcomers on Capitol Hill
who ran their campaigns on "conservative principles." They may
support the DACA, he suggested.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-SZZK1163597343012.html

DACA RELEASES INSTITUTIONAL REFORM PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: Progress and Freedom Foundation press release]
The Digital Age Communications Act (DACA) Project released the
initial Report from the Working Group on Institutional Reform. The
report proposes a "split agency" structure under which adjudications
and enforcement activities, envisioned to be the predominant forms of
regulatory activity under DACA, will be performed by a multimember
commission like the current FCC, while the rulemaking function,
considerably circumscribed under DACA, would be carried out by a
single administrator located within the Executive Branch. The draft
report from the Institutional Reform Working Group marks the last in
the series of initial reports to come out of the project. In the
report, the Working Group analyzed the historical development of
independent agencies, which came about during the Progressive and New
Deal eras in response to substantial industrialization affecting the
economy. The theoretical hallmarks of the independent agencies like
the FCC were supposed to be an abiding faith in specialized expertise
to manage industry and freedom from political interference. However,
"experience with the actual commissions has sufficiently undermined
these original ideals," the report explains. Instead, "government
administrators and regulators are now more humble in estimating their
own abilities and less skeptical of market mechanisms." More frequent
calls for increased political accountability for the policymaking
functions exercised by regulatory commissions are cited as reasons
for institutional reform.
http://www.pff.org/news/news/2006/111406dacainstitutionalreformnov14even...

FCC OFFICIAL MUM ON AT&T-BELLSOUTH MERGER
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Robert McDowell, who
may hold the deciding vote on a pending merger between AT&T and
BellSouth, declined to say Wednesday whether he plans to participate
in the process. Analysts scrutinizing the deal's progression have
speculated that he would recuse himself from the decision on whether
to approve the controversial $80 billion deal. Commissioner McDowell
spent seven years as an executive with the trade association Comptel,
which lobbies for competitors of the Bell telephone companies, before
assuming the FCC post six months ago. But now that the FCC has thrice
postponed its vote because the remaining two Democrats and two
Republicans are reportedly at an impasse on conditions for the deal,
some have said he may be forced to weigh in. Following a luncheon
speech at an event hosted by the Federal Communication Bar
Association, Commissioner McDowell told reporters he had "no news" to
report on the deal -- or on how the FCC plans to address the hot
button issue of Network Neutrality. Letting the marketplace trump
government regulation was a recurrent theme in his 11-minute speech
to representatives from communications companies and law practices.
Sometimes government must step in to address market failures, he
said, but those actions must be "narrowly tailored and
sunsetted." Commissioner McDowell did, however, issue a vague
warning to companies contemplating interference with consumers'
ability to access and upload content as they please. "Those who act
to frustrate this new wave of democracy do so at their own peril," he said.
http://news.com.com/FCC+official+mum+on+ATT-BellSouth+merger/2100-1036_3...

REPUBLICANS PROPOSE LAST-MINUTE SPY BILL
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) has made a
last-minute attempt at giving the Bush administration what he calls
the necessary "resources" for carrying out its phone call and
Internet surveillance within the law, but critics remain unconvinced.
The new bill drew near-immediate skepticism from the American Civil
Liberties Union and from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who
co-sponsored what civil liberties groups viewed as a more stringent
bill with Specter earlier this year. That bill narrowly cleared a
committee vote in July but has since stalled. Titled the "Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Oversight and Resource Enhancement Act of
2006," the latest Specter bill does not appear to grant as much
latitude for warrantless spying as the approved House bill. Specter's
proposal, for instance, would require the U.S. Supreme Court to
review all appeals of cases challenging the legality of the specific
spy program acknowledged by the president last December, whereas the
version approved by the House would effectively quash all such
challenges. The bill also proposes a number of changes to existing
law that some find troubling.
http://news.com.com/Republicans+propose+last-minute+spy+bill/2100-1028_3...

MEDIA OWNERSHIP

NEW YORK NEWSPAPER TAKES ANTI-CROSS-OWNERSHIP STAND
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Undermined by efforts to weaken the Federal Communications
Commission's limits on newspaper/broadcast station cross-ownership,
the New York Daily News has filed a statement with the FCC against
media consolidation. "Permitting cross-media combinations involving
one or more television stations and more than one daily newspaper in
the same market would do substantial damage to the Commission's
claimed goals of ensuring viewpoint diversity and economic
competition in local media markets," the Daily News writes. Published
by Daily News, L.P., New York's Daily News appears to be the only big
city newspaper in the nation to have filed recent comments with the
FCC advising against lifting its cross-ownership limits. The paper
holds no interests in television, radio, or in other dailies
published in greater New York, unlike its competitor, the New York
Post, whose owner, News Corporation, also owns two television
stations in the region, thanks to an FCC waiver on the cross ownership rule.
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/234

THE DEATH OF NEWS
[SOURCE: The Nation, AUTHOR: Nicholas Von Hoffman]
[Commentary] So who needs newspapers anyhow? We have the Internet.
Other than the websites supported by newspapers, the Internet is
devoid of reporters. The Internet operations do not pay people to go
out and gather accurate information. Thus we are bumping up against a
contradictory situation. Thanks to the Internet, the iPod and so
forth, we have more media outlets than ever before--but fewer
reporters. When the last reporter is laid off, we can subsist on
rumor, speculation and gossip. These three are usually more
interesting than the facts, but do you want to bet your life and
livelihood on them? Well, there is always what they call citizen
journalism. That means, if you see something, take a picture of it
with your cellphone and call in. It's not exactly New York Times
reliability, but it's open-source, and they tell us that is terrific
stuff. You know about Wikipedia. So why not wiki-wacky news?
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061127/howl

NEW VISION BUYS TWO MORE STATIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
New Vision Television has struck a deal to buy WKBN-TV and low power
WLFX -- both located in Youngstown, Ohio -- from Piedmont Television
Holdings. The deal, subject to FCC approval, is expected to close
first quarter 2007. That makes four stations for New Vision, which
bought WIAT(TV) Birmingham, Ala., and KIMT Mason city, Iowa, both CBS
affiliates, for $35 million back in August.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6391930.html?display=Breaking...

ADVERTISING

BROWNBACK COMMENTS ON HEALTHY DIET AD INITIATIVE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senator Sam Brownbach (R-Kansas) had praise Wednesday for a new ad
industry initiative to promote healthier diets and lifestyles, but
not without a caveat. "We have to help our kids in the fight against
obesity and diabetes," Sen Brownback said, "and I appreciate this new
industry initiative and consider it a step in the right direction."
But, he said, "more work is needed." To that end, Sen Brownback said
he was "looking forward to the recommendations of the FCC task force
on media and childhood obesity."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6391902?display=Breaking+News

NEW DATA REPAINTS DEMOGRAPHIC PICTURE OF US HISPANICS
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Laurel Wentz]
U.S. marketers are not effectively reaching the burgeoning population
of U.S. Hispanics because, according to Association of Hispanic
Advertising Agencies Chairman Carl Kravetz, most marketers "are not
speaking" that demographic's language -- but he made clear he was not
talking about Spanish. Kravetz hammered home the findings of a market
study, "What Makes a Latino, Latino?" that paints a much more
sophisticated, multifaceted and nuanced picture of the country's
broad Hispanic community. He said AHAA's in-depth Latino Identity
Project research found that traditional demographic markers such as
Spanish-language usage, country of origin and length of time in the
U.S. are becoming much less relevant as the number of bilingual,
bicultural households grows quickly. "It's not so much what unites
Latinos that's important as what makes us different from
non-Latinos," Mr. Kravetz said of the data. "There are two parts to
our new hypothesis of Latino Cultural Identity -- a heart, and a set
of contextual factors that interact with and continuously reshape the
heart," he said. "If the heart is the core of Latino Identity, then
the four chambers responsible for its functioning are interpersonal
orientation, time and space perception, spirituality and gender perception."
http://adage.com/article?article_id=113203

JESSE JACKSON ENTERS AD INDUSTRY DIVERSITY FRAY
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Laurel Wentz]
Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson at a Tuesday session of the
Association of National Advertisers' Multicultural Marketing
Conference said more public hearings on the diversity practices of
the advertising industry were being planned in Los Angeles, Chicago
and Atlanta. Subpoenas issued in connections with the threat of
similar hearings earlier this year in New York forced 11 of
Manhattan's largest agencies to sign historic diversity hiring
agreements with the New York Commission on Human Rights. Rev. Jackson
mentioned the new hearings during a Q&A session following his keynote
address at the ANA event and said they would be focused on
"advertising industry exclusion policies." He also said there will be
a "major workshop on advertising" at the Wall Street Project
conference the Rainbow Push Coalition is holding in early January
2007 in New York.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=113220

QUICKLY

APT ANNOUNCES TWO RECIPIENTS OF THE 2007 HADDEN AWARD
[SOURCE: Alliance for Public Technology]
On February 9, 2007, the Alliance for Public Technology will hold its
annual Policy Forum and Susan G. Hadden Pioneer Awards at the
National Press Club in Washington, DC. Charles Benton, chairman of
the Benton Foundation (and, yes, my boss), will be receiving the
Hadden Award for his long-time leadership role in promoting digital
opportunities across the social spectrum. The Hadden Award will also
be given to SeniorNet (www.seniornet.org) in recognition of its
twenty years of connecting older adults to information technology.
http://apt.org/

DINGELL HIRES FORMER AIDES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jim Snyder]
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), who will be the chairman of the House
Commerce Committee, announced that two former aides are rejoining his
staff. Dennis Fitzgibbons, now the top lobbyist at DaimlerChrysler,
will be chief of staff to the committee. He was minority deputy staff
director when he left in 2000 to join the automaker. Gregg
Rothschild, now a vice president and policy counsel at Verizon, will
be the new chief counsel to Commerce. He had previously been the
minority counsel.
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/111606/dingellb...
* Read more about Gregg Rothschild:
http://www.netcaucus.org/biography/gregg-rothschild.shtml

BARTON EXISTS RACE FOR MINORITY LEADER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) has taken his hat out
of the ring for minority leader. Republicans vote Friday and, seeing
the handwriting on the wall, Rep Barton said he will, instead, back
Rep John Boehner.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6391961.html?display=Breaking...
* Barton bows out, endorses Boehner
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/111606/barton.html

FCC'S MCMANUS JOINS COMCAST
[SOURCE: Multichannel News]
Mary McManus of the FCC's Office of General Counsel will join Comcast
as senior director of FCC and regulatory policy in Washington, DC.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6391883.html?display=Breaking+News

MICROSOFT ENTERS MUNICIPAL WI-FI REALM
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
Microsoft said it will partner with MetroFi Inc. to build a free
wireless Internet service for the City of Roses. MetroFi announced it
will launch the Wi-Fi service in Pioneer Courthouse Square, a popular
gathering place in downtown Portland (OR), by the end of the year and
expand it to the rest of the city within two years. Microsoft will
provide locally focused MSN content and advertising through its new
online platform, adCenter. The platform, designed to compete with
Google Inc., allows advertisers to target users based on their
browsing habits and data such as gender, age and location. With its
foray into municipal wireless, Microsoft is entering a market that
has attracted other technology giants, including Google, which is
playing a similar role to Microsoft in San Francisco, where Google is
trying to build a citywide wireless network with partner Earthlink
Inc. AT&T Inc. also has bid on several municipal Wi-Fi contracts.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116359896740823855.html?mod=djemTECH
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary
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Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important
industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone
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Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang headlines( at )benton.org -- we
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