Benton's Communications-related Headlines For Wednesday May 7, 2008
Do you recommend Headlines to colleagues? Now you can do it for
everyone with our new rating service. Just visit your favorite
stories at http://www.benton.org/headlines
INTERNET/BROADBAND
House Panel Discusses Preserving Internet Freedom
Big Tech Firms to Invest in Wireless
Interactive Advertising Bureau Introduces Online Video Ad Guidelines
Gutierrez gets Dingellgram
USF: Behind the Times
NEWS FROM FCC
FCC Endorses Junk News, Calls Fox's TMZ and 700 Club 'Bona fide Newscasts'
The FCC's Regulation-Wary Regulator
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Hill Wants FCC to Investigate DOD 'Experts' Program
'03 White House E-Mails Not Found
LABOR
Screen Actors Guild talks end without a contract
BROADCASTING/CABLE
NAB Defends Ownership Change...As Far As It Goes
Cable Operators Ask for 'Quiet' on Retrans Disputes after DTV Transition
QUICKLY -- Headline Highlights April 2008; US newspaper gloom
overshadows industry survey; All the news that's fit to predict;
Spain Told to Curtail TV Ads
INTERNET/BROADBAND
HOUSE PANEL DISCUSSES PRESERVING INTERNET FREEDOM
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Internet held a
hearing on the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 (HR 5353).
Opening the hearing, Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) asked, "Can we
preserve this wildly successful medium and the freedom it embodies,
or do we permit network operators to fundamentally alter how the
Internet has historically functioned? Do we retain a level playing
field for entrepreneurial entry, or do we allow the imposition of new
fees and the artificial creation of slow lanes and fast lanes for
content providers on the Internet?" He continued, "The question is
whether in the name of network management, policymakers permit
carriers to act in unreasonable, anti-competitive fashion.... I
strongly believe we should enshrine basic principles of openness and
fairness and ensure that the FCC is a 'cop on the beat' able to
ensure these principles are upheld in the marketplace. In this way
we can preserve the best of what the Internet is even as it evolves."
House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell said, "I would like
this panel to address the extent of the Commission's ability to
protect consumers in this new regulatory environment. Specifically,
does the FCC have the authority to enforce its broadband policy
statement? If not, what authority, if any, does the Commission
possess to ensure that network operators do not act to the detriment
of consumers? ... The FCC must have the authority to effectively
police such activity and punish bad actors. At the same time,
Congress must proceed thoughtfully and deliberately on this subject.
We must ensure that any action to ensure a robust and open Internet
architecture also furthers other important policy goals such as
continued deployment of advanced networks and universal access to
that network for all Americans." Many Republicans on the subcommittee
questioned the need of Markey's bill, co-sponsored by Rep Chip
Pickering (R-MS). Ben Scott of Free Press said, "Two competing
visions for the Internet stand before policymakers. The first is an
open Internet with baseline rules to protect consumers' right to
access the content and services of their choice. The second is a
closed network that would permit experiments with content control and
discriminatory service provisions that have been the hallmark of the
old media world. It is a virtual clash of civilizations. Congress
should choose the path of open markets for speech and commerce -- a
path championed by virtually every consumer and innovator using the Internet."
http://benton.org/node/10823
BIG TECH FIRMS TO INVEST IN WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma, Vishesh Kumar]
The race to bring consumers ultrafast wireless Internet service is
on. As early as Wednesday, an unlikely alliance of titans from the
cable, Internet and chip industries will disclose they are investing
$3.2 billion in a company that will deliver Web access for cellphones
and laptops at speeds much faster than what is available today using
a technology called WiMax. Analysts say the venture, valued at more
than $12 billion, will have a two year head-start on rivals Verizon
Wireless and AT&T Inc., which are just beginning to sketch out plans
for their next-generation wireless networks. The venture includes
wireless provider Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp., a start-up
backed by cellphone pioneer Craig McCaw. Other big-name backers
include cable-TV giants Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc.,
Internet giant Google Inc. and chip maker Intel Corp. The deal gives
the cable operators and Google prominent roles in shaping the future
of mobile Internet access and a new outlet as growth begins to slow
in their traditional content businesses. Intel gains new support for
WiMax, a technology standard the company has championed and that will
be used in the venture's high-speed network. The venture must still
be approved by federal regulators.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121010437224271501.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)
* A Technology Consortium Plans a Wireless Network
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/technology/07sprint.html?ref=todayspaper
* Sprint To Revive WiMax Venture
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR200805...
* Deal shakes up wireless world
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20080507/1b_wimax07.art.htm
* Sprint beefs up wireless broadband venture
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-sprint7-2008may07,0,2...
* Sprint, Clearwire to announce $12 bln JV
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSWEN552620080506
* Cable Ops To Form Wireless Broadband JV
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6558179.html?nid=4262
INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU INTRODUCES ONLINE VIDEO AD GUIDELINES
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Mike Shields]
The Interactive Advertising Bureau introduced a set of guidelines on
Monday aimed at bringing more standards to online video advertising
-- and ultimately to make the still burgeoning medium easier for
advertisers to buy. The new guidelines cover three basic forms of
online video ad formats: linear ads, interruptive video spots which
are typically of the pre-roll variety; non-linear ads, which include
the increasingly popular 'overlay' ad units; and companion ads,
banner-like ads that appear alongside Web videos. The guidelines are
the product of work conducted by the IAB's Digital Video Committee,
which is composed of 145 leading media companies, including Google,
Yahoo and Microsoft, among others. In announcing the guidelines, IAB
officials did not shy away from placing significance on the industry
cooperation achieved in creating the guidelines and the impact they will have.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
GUTIERREZ GETS DINGELLGRAM
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) has written
Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez concerning the
department's relationship with the Internet Corporation for Assigned
names and Numbers (ICANN). The Dingell letter asks Secretary
Gutierrez to answer the following questions within two weeks: 1) Does
the Dept of Commerce intend to continue its oversight role of ICANN,
2) In what way does the Dept of Commerce intend to continue that
role, 3) Does the Dept intend to ensure that the key facilities of
the root server system continue to be housed in the United States,
and 4) How does the Dept intend to ensure that ICANN fulfill its
commitment to remain headquartered in the US.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110-ltr.050608.DOC.ICANN.pdf
USF: BEHIND THE TIMES
[SOURCE: Apprising, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] It is very frustrating that we haven't been able to find
a way to redirect the USF to focus on the deployment of broadband.
Even more frustrating is that it's not like this is one of these
issues where the incumbents are fighting any change. Everyone knows
the USF is broken and needs fixing. And it's not like we're still in
a time where broadband is an unproven quantity with an uncertain
future. Heck, a couple months ago the United States
Telecommunications Association renamed itself the US Broadband
Association, basically announcing that the future is in broadband not
plain old phone service. The simple truth is that until everyone in
this country can access affordable broadband at home, there's still
work to be done. Ultimately plain old phone service is a 20th century
technology. We are now living in the 21st century and need to be
considering the effectiveness of government programs and
infrastructural needs of our country in that light. Ultimately, the
best and only solution is broadband everywhere. If we want to be a
great country, the time to decide "if" we should do something has
passed, now we must move aggressively to figure out the how, what, and when.
http://www.app-rising.com/gdblog/2008/05/usf_behind_the_times.html
* Interim USF Cap May Slow Wireless Substitution in Rural Areas
http://telecompetitor.com/node/624
NEWS FROM FCC
FCC ENDORSES JUNK NEWS, CALLS FOX'S TMZ AND 700 CLUB 'BOA FIDE NEWSCASTS'
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Josh Silver (Free Press)]
[Commentary] Hard-hitting journalism is nearing extinction on
television, and the Federal Communications Commission just threw
another shovelful of dirt on its grave when it recently ruled that
Rupert Murdoch's broadcast of TMZ and Pat Robertson's 700 Club meet
the test for "a bona fide newscast." Bona fide newscast? Here's why
the FCC decision matters. According to a Pew study,sixty percent of
Americans get their primary election news from TV. That's a scary
thought when you consider the level of "quality" journalism coming
from the nation's networks, and the dearth of diverse opinions being
offered about our biggest concerns. Remember this after the next
election when millions of hard-working Americans are once again duped
into voting for political candidates who actively work against their
very interests. Media companies get their broadcast licenses for
free. In return, the FCC says that if a TV show is not a bona fide
newscast, and it airs a story about a political candidate, "it must
afford equal opportunities to other such candidates for that office."
Congress defines bona fide newscasts as those that hold "genuine news
value" and are not intended to boost or aid any particular political
candidate. This provision is supposed to keep ideologues like
Robertson in check, not allowing them to blatantly toe the line for
their own corporate and political interests while labeling it "news."
But instead, the FCC let them off the hook by adding TMZ and 700 Club
to the list of bona fide newscasts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/fcc-endorses-junk-news-ca_b_10...
THE FCC'S REGULATION-WARY REGULATOR
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry A. Jessell]
Another Q&A with Federal Communications Commission Commissioner
Robert McDowell. He's resisting FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's push to
adopt new rules to promote localism in broadcasting. He dissented on
the FCC's enhanced disclosure rules requiring stations to file
quarterly reports on their local programming efforts. What's more, he
has sharply questioned proposals to require stations to set up
community advisory boards and meet minimum local programming quotas.
Two weeks ago, in a speech at the Quello Communications Law and
Policy Symposium in Washington, Commissioner McDowell reiterated in
his strongest language yet his opposition to Martin's localism
initiatives and his skepticism about regulation in general. "Simply
put, government cannot outsmart an unfettered and competitive
market," he said. In this interview, McDowell elaborates on his
problems with the localism push, expresses sympathy for those who
would like to see less broadcast ownership regulation at a national
and local level and touches on other issues of importance to broadcasters.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/05/06/daily.6/
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
HILL WANTS FCC TO INVESTIGATE DOD 'EXPERTS' PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Rep Rosa
DeLauro (D-CT), a senior member of the House Committee on
Appropriations, want to know whether news networks bear any
culpability related to a Department of Defense program to recruit
ex-military officers to talk up Iraq and other policies on TV, online
and elsewhere. Following a story in the New York Times about the
program, they have asked FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to investigate
whether the program may have violated requirements of sponsorship
identification. "While we deem the DoD's policy unethical and perhaps
illegal, we also question whether the analysts and the networks are
potentially equally culpable pursuant to the sponsorship
identification requirements in the Communications Act of 1934 and the
rules of the Federal Communications Commission," the pair wrote
Martin. "When seemingly objective television commentators are in fact
highly motivated to promote the agenda of a government agency, a
gross violation of the public trust occurs," they said. "The American
people should never be subject to a covert propaganda campaign but
rather should be clearly notified of who is sponsoring what they are
watching." The analysts also have ties to lobbying groups that are
not disclosed to viewers, the Times story said. Reps Dingell and
DeLauro called for an immediate investigation. At least one FCC
commissioner, Democrat Michael Copps, supports the move.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6558164.html?rssid=193
* DeLauro press release
http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2008/May/DeLauro_Dingell_5_6_08.html
* FCC asked to probe TV 'surrogates'
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985191.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=...
'03 WHITE HOUSE E-MAILS NOT FOUND
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dan Eggen]
The Bush administration has not found disaster recovery files for
White House e-mails from a three-month time period in 2003, according
to court documents filed this week, raising the possibility that
messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may never be
recovered. The White House chief information officer, Theresa Payton,
said in a sworn declaration that the White House has identified more
than 400 computer backup tapes from March through September of 2003
but that the earliest recorded file was dated May 23 of that year.
That period was one of the most crucial of the Bush presidency. The
United States launched the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, and
President Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1.
Payton and other officials said that older e-mails could still be
contained on the tapes because of the way the files are dated. The
administration also said it is still searching computer archives for
e-mails that have been filed in the wrong "digital drawer." In
addition, Payton and other officials have said that any e-mails
missing from the White House archiving system might still be
available on disaster recovery tapes. But that did not satisfy an
advocacy group suing the administration for e-mail records.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR200805...
(requires registration)
LABOR
SCREEN ACTORS GUILD TALKS END WITHOUT A CONTRACT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Richard Verrier, Claudia Eller]
Hopes for a last-minute breakthrough in negotiations between
Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild were dashed Tuesday
when contract talks ended on a bitter note, fueling anxiety over the
prospect of another strike. After three weeks of talks, studios
walked away from the table, saying that negotiations were "thrust
into reverse" by what they called "unreasonable demands." SAG accused
the studios of turning their backs on the guild to focus on contract
talks with the smaller actors union, the American Federation of
Television and Radio Artists. "It's deeply troubling because we said
we wanted to stay in the room and make a deal and our pleas were
ignored," SAG President Alan Rosenberg said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-sag7-2008may07,0,3186...
(requires registration)
* SAG, Hollywood Producers End Contract Talks (Associated Press)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR200805...
* Hollywood studios, actors break off labor talks
http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0651004520080507
* SAG, Studios End Talks Without Deal
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6558178.html?rssid=193
BROADCASTING/CABLE
NAB DEFENDS OWNERSHIP CHANGE... AS FAR AS IT GOES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters weighed in Tuesday in
support of the FCC's decision to loosen the newspaper/broadcast
crossownership rules. Actually, broadcasters, including NAB, don't
love the change. In fact they have taken the FCC to court over it
because they believe it is not deregulatory enough. But in a filing
at the FCC, the NAB came down in support of the rules change in an
effort to counter the arguments of media-consolidation critics who
say the rule change was too deregulatory. NAB called the FCC order a
modest reform that made no changes to the local TV or radio ownership
rules (NAB had wanted the FCC to loosen those, and excise the
newspaper-broadcast crossownership ban entirely).
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6558157.html?rssid=193
CABLE OPERATORS ASK FOR 'QUIET' ON RETRANS DISPUTES AFTER DTV TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A group of cable operators has asked the FCC to step in and mandate
that no TV stations be pulled from cable systems during the months
around the February 2009 DTV transition date, even if cable operators
and stations can't come to terms on carriage agreements. Mediacom
Communications, along with Charter Communications, Insight, GCI,
Suddenlink and Cequel Communications, has filed a petition asking the
FCC "to promptly adopt a retransmission consent 'quiet period' to
ensure that private commercial disputes in the months surrounding the
February 17, 2009 digital transition do not unnecessarily trigger
consumer confusion or service disruptions at a time when the American
public is most dependent on the cable industry's delivery of
broadcast signals." That's according to a copy of testimony slated to
be delivered Wednesday by Edward Pardini, senior VP of Mediacom
Communications, at a House Small Business Committee hearing on the
DTV transition.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6558148.html?rssid=193
QUICKLY
HEADLINES HIGHLIGHTS APRIL 2008
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
April showers, of course, bring May flowers. But the first full month
of Spring also witnessed the flowering of a number of key
telecommunications debates. Just add water and -- presto -- there's
some controversy. Here's a quick recap of developments concerning the
digital television transition, the public interest obligations of
broadcasters, media ownership, and universal, open broadband.
http://www.benton.org/node/10822
US NEWSPAPER GLOOM OVERSHADOWS INDUSTRY SURVEY
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson]
The gloom hanging over the US newspaper industry is distorting an
otherwise optimistic mood among the world's newspaper editors,
according to a global survey of newsroom opinion. Only 30 per cent of
North American newspaper editors polled by Zogby International
believed that the quality of journalism would improve over the next
decade, compared to 45.5 per cent in Western Europe and over 60 per
cent in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The majority of
blogs and other online commentary about the industry came from the
US, said Bertrand Pecquerie, Director of the World Editors Forum, who
described one recent meeting of editors in Delaware as being "like a
funeral". Editors outside the US "don't understand it at all," he
said. The Newsroom Barometer report, sponsored by Thomson Reuters and
the World Editors Forum, found that the pessimism in the US was
balanced by booming new markets such as India and resilient print
markets such as Japan.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c19e3d84-1b98-11dd-9e58-0000779fd2ac.html
(requires subscription)
ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PREDICT
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Brian Lowry]
As downsizing news outlets endeavor to "do more with less," one might
think old-fashioned reporting and analysis would be enough to keep
them occupied. But no, the prevailing trend extends beyond that into
Carnac the Magnificent territory, prodding pundits to forecast what's to come.
Welcome to the age of all the news that's fit to predict.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985194.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=...
SPAIN TOLD TO CURTAIL TV ADS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Peppi Kiviniemi]
The European Commission on Tuesday warned Spain it had to change its
television advertising practices or face court action. The
commission, the European Union's executive arm, complained to the
Spanish authorities that the country wasn't complying with EU rules
on television advertising, which limit commercials and teleshopping
broadcasts to 12 minutes an hour. The limit is in place to improve
the viewing experience for audiences and to promote quality
television across Europe.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121012208804572577.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary
service provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted
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
does not always represent the tone of the original articles.
Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang headlines( at )benton.org -- we
welcome your comments.
--------------------------------------------------------------