July 2008

Is the Media "In Love" with John McCain?

With Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson and Brian Williams traveling overseas to interview Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) this week, a debate has erupted over the imbalance in media attention. But there is a counter-narrative, which has taken root on the left, that Sen John McCain (R-AZ) is the one being treated with journalistic kid gloves. In this view, Obama's every utterance is scrutinized, while McCain, who enjoyed warm relations with reporters during his 2000 White House campaign, pays little price for blunders. Dan Abrams, the host of MSNBC's "Verdict," told viewers Monday that "gaffe after gaffe after gaffe come from John McCain, and they are forgotten. . . . There is no way Barack Obama would be able to get away with something like this." Politico catalogued the errors on its Web site yesterday, saying: "McCain's mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?" A penchant for mangling the facts is not easily laughed off -- at least if it becomes a theme of media coverage. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, says a critique pushed by bloggers may resonate because of concerns about McCain's age.

Could peace be near for YouTube and Hollywood?

Google's YouTube is quickly shedding its reputation in Hollywood as a clearinghouse for pirated content and could soon be home to clips from popular movies and TV shows--all legally obtained. Insiders say the search company has adopted a more accommodating approach toward Hollywood, and that's finally starting to pay off. Last week, Lionsgate struck a content agreement with YouTube in a deal that calls for unprecedented cooperation between a major film studio and the Web's largest video-sharing site. That agreement is likely only the beginning. Other big media companies are in talks with Google about similar deals, say sources with three different entertainment companies. They detailed the ways Google has become more flexible in talks about sharing revenue and helping protect films and TV shows against piracy.

News Corp. COO: 'Scarcity' key to online advertising

For Internet publishers to make the big money from online advertising, they need to manufacture a little scarcity, much like the television business. That's the current thinking of News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin, who said at a conference that there's just too much inventory on the Internet for advertising to sell for high rates. "We have to create category scarcity. That category these days is video," Chernin said. More specifically, he said, premium online video will deliver the high ad rates. That's why News Corp. has invested heavily over the last year in MySpace TV, one of the top video sites in the United States, as well as Hulu.com, a destination for television programming and feature films, Chernin said. News Corp. is also working on about 10 Web-only shows to premiere online. Also, next up for video will be MySpace Music, he said.

Court affirms Child Online Protection Act unconstitutional

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia agreed with a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional a 1998 law intended to protect children from sexual material and other objectionable content on the Internet. The decision is the latest twist in a decade-long legal battle over the Child Online Protection Act. The fight has already reached the Supreme Court and could be headed back there. The law, which has not taken effect, would bar Web sites from making harmful content available to minors over the Internet. The act was passed the year after the Supreme Court ruled that another law intended to protect children from explicit material online -- the Communications Decency Act -- was unconstitutional in the landmark case Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union. In yesterday's ruling, the federal appeals court concluded that the Child Online Protection Act is unconstitutionally overly broad and vague. The court also ruled that the law violates the First Amendment because filtering technologies and other parental control tools offer a less restrictive way to protect children from inappropriate content online.

CDT Applauds Appeals Court Ruling In COPA Case
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy & Technology]
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a lower court ruling striking down the controversial Child Online Protection Act (COPA) that required Web operators to restrict access to large amounts of constitutionally protected speech. COPA placed severe restrictions on a wide range of legal, socially valuable speech, including content relating to sexual identity, health and art. CDT, which has filed friend-of-the-court briefs opposing COPA and supporting parental empowerment technology, applauds the ruling.
CDT Statement on Ruling, July 22, 2008: http://cdt.org/press/20080722press.php
3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Decision in COPA [PDF], July 22, 2008: http://www.cdt.org/speech/20080722COPA3rdCircuit.pdf

Comcast to Sign Child-Porn-Blocking Agreement with NY

Comcast told New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo it will sign an agreement with the state to voluntarily block child-pornography newsgroups and Web sites. That came after Cuomo sent a letter threatening Comcast, the country's largest cable operator, with legal action related to an ongoing investigation of child porn on the Internet. Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon Communications and other Internet-service providers already signed similar agreements with the state. Comcast reportedly wanted structural changes in the agreement. As a member of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Comcast already signed on to a similar agreement with 48 of 50 attorneys general (New York was not one of them, according to a source) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to block Web sites identified by the group. But Cuomo downplayed the value of that agreement, saying in the letter that "while cable-industry trade groups have recently signaled some interest in combating child pornography, we believe those efforts fall well short of the full range of measures set out in our code of conduct," which Comcast will sign on to.

New York state passes video game labeling law

Video games sold in New York state must clearly label ratings for violent content under a law signed on Tuesday, which rights groups criticized as likely unconstitutional. The US video gaming industry submits to ratings on a voluntary basis, and the system is similar to movie ratings. The new law says that is it compulsory for games that are already rated to be labeled and also requires that new video game consoles are installed with parent-controlled lockout features by 2010. The New York Civil Liberties Union said that it planned to mount a legal challenge against the law. The group said that similar laws in California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington state have been thrown out as unconstitutional.

Google talks acquisition with Digg

Apparently, social news site Digg.com, a perpetual target of acquisition rumors, is in "final negotiations" to sell itself to Google for $200 million.

Call the Cable Guy. Again.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, has enjoyed explosive growth in recent years as households clamor for broadband Internet and high-definition television that will allow them to exchange family videos over the Web, talk via instant message and order movies on demand. Even with the housing downturn, Comcast's revenue last year rose 24 percent, to $30.9 billion, and it had 24.7 million cable subscribers. That growth has come at a price for customers, public interest groups say. As the company races to add subscribers, many of whom pay more than $100 a month to use phone, Internet, wireless and video services, Comcast has not focused on funding and fixing problems with its customer service, the critics say. Comcast officials acknowledge that the company is struggling to keep up with its own growth.

House Hearing Takes Up Issues in Telecommunications Competition

On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing to examine telecommunications competition issues that have impacted national broadband deployment over the last decade. Though the United States was first in the world in broadband deployment in 2000, the country has been sliding down international broadband rankings ever since. Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) chaired the meeting noting, "Several pressing competition issues, including pole attachment rates, interconnection issues, number porting timeframes, copper wire retirement, and forbearance legislation, are before the Subcommittee today. And each of these issues, if resolved correctly, can help promote greater broadband deployment, speeds, and consumer choice."

The meeting was also a formal legislative hearing on the Protecting Consumers through Proper Forbearance Procedures Act (HR 3914), a bill offered by House Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Chairman Markey addressing forbearance issues. The bill was designed to make it more difficult for telephone carriers to obtain deregulation from the Federal Communications Commission by ensuring that the carriers' petitions for deregulation are not automatically approved after 15 months simply because the FCC failed to deny them through inaction or a tie vote deadlock. Cathy Avgiris, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager for voice services, endorsed HR 3914, saying "We ... believe there should be no regulatory forbearance by default.". Comcast is the fourth-largest residential local phone company in the United States, serving 5 million subscribers. Many FCC regulations -- including the right of new entrants to interconnect with phone incumbents and the ability of consumers to retain their phone numbers when leaving incumbents -- are critical to Comcast's continued success as a voice provider. Jonathan Banks, senior vice president of law for the US Telecom Association, a trade group that includes AT&T and Verizon, endorsed the current law, saying it required the FCC to respond to changes in the market.

Comcast Not On Notice? They Were Told Point Blank!

[Commentary] Comcast has invested a lot of time in arguing that they lacked notice that the Federal Communications Commission would enforce the principles of its Internet policy statement via a complaint against them. "How could we possibly have known?" Comcast has asked, winning sympathetic nods from a variety of folks. "Policy statements aren't enforceable! How can you possibly punish us for something we didn't know we might be held accountable for, all our public statements to the contrary?" Well, let us suppose that Comcast was told two years ago today that the FCC would entertain complaints if Comcast blocked or degraded traffic. Would that make a difference? If the FCC had said directly to Comcast: "If in the future evidence arises that any company is willfully blocking or degrading Internet content, affected parties may file a complaint with the Commission." I would think we could all agree that this constituted "notice," yes? Perhaps not notice of whether or not the behavior at issue constituted blocking or degrading — that is, after all, what the Commission determines in a complaint. But certainly if the FCC had told Comcast directly, to its face, no ifs and or buts, the above quoted line, I would hope we could all agree that Comcast had received reasonable notice that parties could bring complaints to the Commission, asking the Commission to determine whether the parties had behaved in an inappropriate manner. Because — Surprise! — exactly two years ago today, that is exactly what the FCC told Comcast.

Benton

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