July 25, 2008 (US Turns Away From Decades of Deregulation)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY JULY 25, 2008
No, no, don't make your two-week break for the beach yet... the telecom policy world will still be busy next week. 1) the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity meets, 2) the FCC discusses Capital Markets and Ownership Diversity, 3) Kaiser hosts a discussion on the Health Blogosphere, 4) APT's explores Broadband in Low-income Communities, 5) the FCC meets to discuss Public Safety Interoperable Communications and the 700 MHz D Block Proceeding, and that's not all -- the week ends with 6) the FCC's August Open Meeting. Find out more at http://www.benton.org/calendar
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Connected Nation's Private Interests Hit In FCC Comments
The Next Telecom War
What if you could own your own Internet connection?
State Broadband Policy Survey
Embarq provides more details on Web tracking test
Every Major Senate Democratic Challenger Announces Support for Network Neutrality
Comcast P2P Critic Launches Class-Action Bid
China says it's No. 1 in Web usage, surpassing USA
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC Fines XM, Sirius About $20 Million for Past Violations
Analyst Discounts Satellite TV Merger Buzz
Verizon Wireless to Divest Markets for Alltel Merger
DIGITAL CONTENT
Microsoft to Spend $2.5 Billion a Year To Keep Pace in Race With Google
Intellectual-Property Bill Introduced in Senate
IFTA to FCC: Deny Studios' HD-Movie Request
Britain agrees to plan to tackle online music piracy
Pulling Prince from YouTube
Griping Online? Comcast Hears You and Talks Back
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Obama lavished with airtime -- and criticism
Obama Abroad: We Get the Picture
GOP losing the new-media war
Citizen Journalists Project Gains a Voice in the Campaign
JOURNALISM
Diversity in news media could falter
CABLE/BROADCASTING
Time to drop cable/satellite television?
Stragglers Still Working on DTV Buildouts
NARUC: FCC Must Step In on DTV Converters
NTIA DTV Converter Box Update
REGULATION
Amid Turmoil, U.S. Turns Away From Decades of Deregulation
CONNECTED NATION'S PRIVATE INTERESTS HIT IN FCC COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission's rulemaking on collecting broadband data has brought some of the critics of Connect Kentucky/Connected Nation to the fore, while challenging the semi-sacred status of the "public-private partnership." In recent comments filed with the FCC, the arguments on who should map broadband deployment fall into two categories. On one side is Connected Nation and its allies -- telephone companies, cable companies and labor. On the other is the public agencies and publicly-owned utilities which are wary of too much of the "private" side taking over the equation.
http://benton.org/node/15506
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THE NEXT TELECOM WAR
[SOURCE: Filmmaker, AUTHOR: David Rosen]
[Commentary] "Net neutrality is a distraction," argues Bruce Kushnick, of Teletruth, a broadband customer advocacy group. "As long as the telco and cable companies control the infrastructure and are allowed to vertically integrate all products (i.e., offer local and long distance, connection to the Internet, broadband and even wireless), they can control any activity or any competition over the networks, including all video. The only next step is to have common carriage returned: While the underlying infrastructure may be controlled by the incumbent, all applications and services should be allowed by all parties." Common carriage provides for a neutral telecommunications platform, whether it is for voice or video, data or music as well as if the signals are sent over a wire- or fiber-based network or via a wireless service. It would protect the interests of the content providers as well as end users. Further it prevents a network carrier from gaining unfair control over increasing aspects of the communications landscape, be it the ISP portion, the infrastructure or the content itself. This will likely turn out to be the major telecommunications battle.
http://benton.org/node/15527
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WHAT IF YOU COULD OWN YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION?
[SOURCE: Google Public Policy Blog, AUTHOR: Derek Slater]
What if you could own your own Internet connection? That's a very different model where residential, businesses, or other institutions would pay for the installation and maintenance of their own "last mile" link to the Internet, thus improving broadband reliability and choice. Although the idea may seem far fetched, in Ottawa, Canada, a trial experiment is already underway trying out the consumer-owned model for a downtown neighborhood of about 400 homes. The main challenges with this model are economic, rather than technical. Most importantly, ownership has to be made appealing and affordable to consumers. The construction company is using conservative estimates that only 10% of homeowners will sign up and there will be a per-customer cost of $2700.
http://benton.org/node/15505
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STATE BROADBAND POLICY SURVEY
[SOURCE: CostQuest Associates, AUTHOR: Press release]
CostQuest Associates, a national telecommunications cost consulting and software firm, released the results of a 50 state survey it conducted in order to better understand the landscape of state policies developed to expand high-speed Internet availability. The survey shows that although most states have undertaken broadband initiatives, there is neither a single national model nor a consensus on best practices. CostQuest Associates conducted its survey to identify and track efforts in each of the 50 states to achieve broadband ubiquity. Among the key findings, CostQuest learned that at least 39 of the 50 states have some form of broadband initiative in place, either through legislation or through a more informal effort to increase broadband access. However, only 10 of the 50 states have undertaken a definitive broadband mapping effort.
http://benton.org/node/15504
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EMBARQ PROVIDES MORE DETAILS ON WEB TRACKING TEST
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Twiddy]
In a new report to Congress, Embarq is revealing more about its program that tracked Internet subscribers' Web-surfing habits for advertising purposes. The company performed the test on 26,000 customers in Gardner (KS) because it was Embarq's smallest market and near qualified technicians. The company included a notice about potential uses of customer Internet history for advertising on an obscure part of its Web site; 15 people asked not to participate. The company claims that the test didn't generate or use any information that would personally identify a specific customer. Embarq apparently doesn't plan to test the program again or expand its use throughout its markets in 18 states "until such time as privacy concerns have been addressed." Rep Edward Markey (D-MA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, is glad Embarq had provided more information. However, he added, "I am still troubled by the company's failure to directly inform their consumers of the consumer data gathering test and the notion that an 'opt-out' option is a sufficient standard for such sweeping data gathering."
http://benton.org/node/15503
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EVERY MAJOR SENATE DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: OpenLeft, AUTHOR: Matt Stoller]
[Commentary] Apparently, every single Democratic Senate challenger with more than $500k in cash on hand has announced their support for Network Neutrality. No organized telecom or cable money going to any of these candidates, with the exception of Al Franken (MN), Mark Warner (VA), and Mark Udall (CO). Franken and Warner both had careers with cable or telecom companies, so they have friends in those industries, and Udall is a sitting House member.
http://benton.org/node/15502
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COMCAST P2P CRITIC LAUNCHES CLASS-ACTION BID
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Comcast faces a federal class-action lawsuit, led by an outspoken critic of the operator's peer-to-peer management practices, alleging the company cheated customers by surreptitiously "blocking" Internet file transfers. The lead plaintiff in the suit, Oregon resident Robb Topolski, has regularly spoken out against Comcast's efforts to curtail P2P traffic, including at a Federal Communications Commission hearing on providers' bandwidth-management practices. The suit asserts Comcast violated unfair trade practices and consumer-protection laws by misrepresenting its broadband service as "unfettered" and that it provides "the fastest Internet connection."
http://benton.org/node/15501
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CHINA SAYS IT'S NO. 1 IN WEB USAGE, SURPASSING USA
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR:]
China's booming Internet population has surpassed the United States to become the world's biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on Web use. The latest figure on Web use at the end of June is a 56% increase from a year ago, the China Internet Network Information Center said. It said the share of the Chinese public using the Internet is still just 19.1%, leaving more room for rapid growth. The United States had an estimated 223.1 million Internet users in June, according to Nielsen Online, a research firm. The Pew Internet and American Life Project puts US online penetration at 71%.
http://benton.org/node/15526
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FCC FINES XM, SIRIUS ABOUT $20 MILLION FOR PAST VIOLATIONS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
The Federal Communications Commission fined XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio about $20 million for past technical violations, in what may be the final step before approving the companies' merger. XM was fined $17.5 million and Sirius $2.2 million for violations regarding their use of certain radio receivers and terrestrial repeaters that did not comply with the agency's technical rules. Agency officials say they are "optimistic" that an agreement could be reached soon to approve the merger. The enforcement of the past offenses was an issue that Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate had pushed before she would agree to the merger. Robert Kenny, an FCC spokesman, said she had urged the companies be fined $8 million. After his own review of the violations, Martin increased the amount
http://benton.org/node/15500
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ANALYST DISCOUNTS SATELLITE TV MERGER BUZZ
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Robert Marich]
Now that the duopoly in satellite radio is about to get regulatory approval for a merger, Wall Street is pondering whether the satellite-TV duopoly of Dish Network and DirecTV might someday combine, too. Sanford C. Bernstein senior analyst Craig Moffett thinks the XM Satellite Radio-Sirius Satellite Radio merger -- which is expected to get approval with significant conditions attached -- is not a precedent for satellite TV, despite a buzz on Wall Street to the contrary, saying, "The regulatory issues ... are entirely different." Moffett said the criteria used in considering XM-Sirius was a broad definition of the audio-services market, which not only embraced terrestrial radio, but also portable music devices such as iPods. In such a big pie, satellite radio is a relatively small piece and, thus, regulators deem the merger as not anticompetitive.
http://benton.org/node/15499
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VERIZON WIRELESS TO DIVEST MARKETS FOR ALLTEL MERGER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
Verizon Wireless is offering to divest airwaves in 85 largely rural markets as part of talks with the Justice Department over a pending merger with Alltel Corp. In comments filed to the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, said it is committed to divesting overlapping properties with Alltel in the entire states of North Dakota and South Dakota and in parts of 16 additional states. In a statement, Verizon Wireless said the markets in which it is volunteering to strip holdings represent a preliminary list that may be expanded following additional discussions with the Justice Department. Verizon Wireless also promised to give small, rural carriers the option of maintaining any roaming agreements they now have with Alltel after the merger.
http://benton.org/node/15498
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MICROSOFT TO SPEND $2.5 BILLION A YEAR TO KEEP PACE IN RACE WITH GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dina Bass, Amy Thomson]
Microsoft plans to spend at least $2.5 billion a year for the foreseeable future to compete with Google because the opportunity in online advertising is too big to ignore, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said yesterday. Microsoft, which failed in an effort to buy Yahoo this year, will focus the additional money on boosting the online business and increasing marketing of personal computers and phones to consumers, Ballmer said. Ads for mobile handsets may help put the Web unit in a better position, he said, after ad sales fell short of estimates last quarter. Microsoft, owner of the No. 3 U.S. search engine, is struggling to take market share from leader Google and is working to justify continued investments to its shareholders. The company said yesterday that the social-networking site Facebook will run Microsoft ads with its searches, expanding on a deal for other promotions. Online ad sales will double to $51 billion in the United States by 2012, according to EMarketer.
http://benton.org/node/15529
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INTELLECTUAL-PROPERTY BILL INTRODUCED IN SENATE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act was introduced in the Senate Thursday; the bill attempts to bring together a number of intellectual-property protection bills in the Senate, as well as to mirror the PRO-IP Act, which passed earlier this year by a wide margin in the House. The bill would create a post in the White House to coordinate enforcement of IP laws by various government agencies; would require coordinating with Congress to develop a strategic play to combat IP theft; and would boost resources for IP enforcement, all similar to provisions in the House PRO-IP bill. The bill gets the applause of TV and movie studios, publishers and other content creators and distributors. It was no favorite of Gigi Sohn, president of fair-use advocate Public Knowledge, who said, "This bill would turn the Justice Department into an arm of the legal departments of the entertainment companies by authorizing the DOJ to file civil lawsuits for infringement, forcing taxpayers to foot the bill."
http://benton.org/node/15497
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IFTA TO FCC: DENY STUDIOS' HD-MOVIE REQUEST
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Independent Film & Television Alliance asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny the request by the Motion Picture Association of America to prevent the copying of some HD movies. In comments to the Commission, the independent producers said allowing the major studios to "remotely shut off a particular output on a program-by-program basis" would harm program diversity by diminishing access to independent films. The IFTA argued that the MPAA did not define how the service would work, including how consumers would be protected against "overextended use" of the waiver.
http://benton.org/node/15496
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BRITAIN AGREES TO PLAN TO TACKLE ONLINE MUSIC PIRACY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kate Holton]
Britain's music and film industries launched a fight back against online piracy on Thursday, persuading the six biggest Internet providers to send warning letters to those suspected of illegal file-sharing. Some 6 million Britons are thought to engage in illegal file-sharing each year and the trend has cost the music and film industries millions in lost revenue.
http://benton.org/node/15489
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PULLING PRINCE FROM YOUTUBE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] There should be some deterrent against copyright holders attacking fair uses online, deliberately or otherwise. At the very least, they should have to look at potentially infringing uses of their works and consider fair-use law before sending take-down notices. The courts may be the ultimate arbiter of individual fair-use claims, but copyright holders shouldn't be free to ignore the guidance provided by federal statutes and previous court rulings. Besides, taking down baby videos won't make Universal or Prince any richer in the long run. They'd be better off working with YouTube to capitalize on fans' enthusiasm than scrubbing the site clean of his hits.
http://benton.org/node/15525
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GRIPING ONLINE? COMCAST HEARS YOU AND TALKS BACK
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
Comcast uses readily available online tools to monitor public comments on blogs, message boards and social networks for any mention of the nation's largest cable company. When employees find a complaint, they contact the source to try to defuse the problem. Comcast is not the only company trying to reach out to customers online.
http://benton.org/node/15523
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OBAMA LAVISHED WITH AIRTIME -- AND CRITICISM
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
It seems like just about everybody has spent the last week beating up on the media for showering too much love on Barack Obama, during what John McCain's camp derides as the Obama World Tour. True, statistics show broadcast networks have devoted more than twice as much airtime in recent weeks to the Democrat than to the Republican. But don't assume that more coverage is always good coverage. Reports from the Mideast and back home in recent days have revealed that reporters were determined not to cut Obama any slack. That's only right. Obama has received breathless, man-of-the moment coverage. Now, he has to expect the tough questions that confront any presidential candidate. But even as the media moves to correct itself, it's entering a period of shallow analysis. Yes, Obama has won the extended airplay and the kind of command-moment video that any presidential candidate would crave. But the soundtrack from the media? It's spotty and a bit off track.
http://benton.org/node/15495
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OBAMA ABROAD: WE GET THE PICTURE ALREADY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
The image of Barack Obama on his trip abroad -- Obama meeting the troops, meeting the generals, meeting prime ministers and kings, drawing a huge crowd in Berlin yesterday -- has trumped anything journalists have said or written about him. In short, though Obamapalooza was not quite the lovefest that some expected, news outlets provided a spotlight so bright that their own people were left in the shadows.
http://benton.org/node/15530
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GOP LOSING THE NEW-MEDIA WAR
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jonathan Martin]
Here's the emerging difference between the conservative presence on the Internet and the liberal one: The right is engaged in the business of opining while the left features sites that offer a more reportorial model. At first glance, these divergent approaches might not seem consequential. But as the 2008 campaign progresses, it's becoming increasingly clear that the absence of any websites on the right devoted to reporting -- as opposed to just commenting on the news -- is proving politically costly to Republicans. While conservatives are devoting much of their Internet energy to analysis, their counterparts on the left are taking advantage of the rise of new media to create new institutions devoted to unearthing stories, putting new information into circulation and generally crowding the space traditionally taken by traditional media. And it almost always comes at the expense of GOP politicians.
http://benton.org/node/15494
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CITIZEN JOURNALISTS PROJECT GAINS A VOICE IN THE CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
A look at OfftheBus.net, an online citizen-journalist project that seeks innovative approaches to journalism. Celebrating its first anniversary, the service has already had an effect on the election this year. OfftheBus now has 7,500 correspondents and continues to develop the technological and organizational know-how to become a media force as it challenges the standard notion of traditional journalism.
http://benton.org/node/15524
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DIVERSITY IN NEWS MEDIA COULD FALTER
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Edward Iwata]
With minority journalists meeting this week in one of the world's largest conventions of journalists, leaders warned that as the economy sputters and media companies slash jobs, diversity in US newsrooms is likely to suffer. The percentage of minority journalists at TV and radio stations rose to 24% in 2007 from 22% in 2006, according to the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE). The ranks of minority newspaper journalists this year are flat at 13.5% compared with 2007, ASNE said. Despite the slow progress, journalism leaders vow to keep pushing media companies for more diversity in workforces and editorial coverage.
http://benton.org/node/15528
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TIME TO DROP CABLE/SATELLITE TELEVISION?
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kenneth Li]
As cable and satellite television bills creep higher, some consumers are asking why they should pay for it. There's other options offered now from the likes of TiVo, Sony, Amazon, Netflix, Roku and Microsoft. The latest push into the living room aims to solve what has stymied earlier products, including the complexity of hooking up these devices, lack of content and relatively high prices, with some devices costing well past $500. But even the experts don't think cable will be replaced anytime soon and point to a string of high profile failures. Lack of content, a general aversion to yet another gadget in the living room and the high prices are reasons why the idea has failed to catch on. Premium channels such as Time Warner Inc's HBO are also unavailable on the Internet to non-subscribers, except through iTunes, where some programs are sold. But that has not stopped the tech industry from buzzing again after a number of new products that address some of these issues were unveiled in quick succession.
http://benton.org/node/15493
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STRAGGLERS STILL WORKING ON DTV BUILDOUTS
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: ]
Last week, in a little noticed action, the FCC granted DTV construction deadline extensions to 20 stations, giving them until Feb. 17, 2009 -- the last day of analog broadcasting -- to complete their full-power DTV facilities. In asking for an extension, each station made the case that it faced a "unique technical challenge." All the stations are broadcasting a low-power DTV signal. But a range of technical, physical and logistical challenges is making it difficult for them to achieve full-power DTV while their analog channels are still on air.
http://benton.org/node/15492
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NARUC: FCC MUST STEP IN ON DTV CONVERTERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to step in to help people whose digital-TV-to-analog converter-box coupons expired. NARUC wants the FCC to ask Congress to force the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to modify its converter box program. NARUC also called on the FCC to boost its DTV-transition-education efforts by posting a list of the features of all certified DTV-to-analog converter boxes and encouraging retailers to explain their exchange and return policies to consumers when they sell them the boxes.
http://benton.org/node/15491
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NTIA DTV CONVERTER BOX UPDATE
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that the TV Converter Box Coupon Program has certified more than 150 converter boxes, including 63 that enable viewers to watch both analog broadcasts from low-power television stations and digital programs from full-power television stations. To date, more than 6.3 million converters have been purchased using a $40 coupon from the Program.
http://benton.org/node/15490
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AMID TURMOIL, US TURNS AWAY FROM DECADES OF DEREGULATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Rebecca Smith]
The housing and financial crisis convulsing the U.S. is powering a new wave of government regulation of business and the economy. Federal and state governments alike are increasingly hands-on in their effort to deal with failing businesses, plunging house prices, worthless mortgages and soaring energy prices. The steps add up to a major challenge to the movement toward deregulation that has defined American governance for much of the past quarter-century since the "Reagan Revolution" of the early 1980s. In fact, some proponents today of a bigger oversight role for government are Republican heirs to the legacy of President Reagan. The movement started by President Reagan has taken several hits. The 2001 terror attacks led to the nationalization of airport workers and the creation of the elephantine Homeland Security Agency, bucking decades of privatization of government functions. The corporate-accounting scandals early this decade that leveled energy trader Enron and communications giant WorldCom led to the Sarbanes-Oxley law in 2002, which reversed the pattern of the prior two decades of easing regulation of U.S. companies. Among that law's many provisions, chief executives had to accept legal responsibility for the accuracy of their firms' financial statements. Even if activism is on the rise, it doesn't mean a rollback of decades of deregulation of businesses ranging from airlines to trucking to telecommunications. Those moves have lowered the cost of goods and services across the economy. The degree of change will depend on who occupies the White House next January.
http://benton.org/node/15531
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Good luck, Dylan!