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July 2008

Capitol Hill Set for Digital Television Day

Today is Digital Television Day on Capitol Hill. The House Commerce Committee has organized the day-long event during which members of Congress and their staffs can bone up on the finer points of the transition and education programs, including some hands-on demonstrations on how to install a converter box. The Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the DTV Transition Coalition and various industries and consumer groups will be on hand in the lobby of the Rayburn House office building to answer questions, as well.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6575984.html?rssid=193

FCC Commissioners to Star in DTV PSAs

Coming to a public service announcement impression near you -- the FCC's Fab Five. Amid criticism that the Federal Communications Commission is relying too much on private industry to get out the word of the digital transition, FCC Commissioners including Chairman Kevin Martin are set to be featured in a new public service effort being readied by the agency. The new public service messages will be sent to TV stations to air. The FCC has asked to spend up to $32 million in the fiscal year that begins in October on an ad campaign promoting the DTV transition. That request has drawn some concerns from Congress, the General Accountability Office and public policy groups that fear that agency may be waiting too long and not doing enough.
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/07/digital_switch_puts_fcc_bosses.php
(requires free registration)

Cable Franchising Bills No Help To Consumers

State cable franchising bills have not led to lower cable rates, and support for public access channels has eroded in those states with such schemes, according to a survey conducted by the Alliance for Community Media and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors. The survey, which included 140 public access center officials from 18 states where cable is no longer locally regulated, showed that 66% of the respondents said basic cable rates have increased in their communities, even after the arrival of competition. In testimony in support of many of these bills, supporters asserted that the quick arrival of competition, enabled by such bills, would lower consumer rates. Only 1% of survey respondents said rates decreased after the bills were passed. Competitors have taken advantage of the new regulatory regime: 68% of respondents said competitors, including AT&T and Verizon, have applied for state franchises. However, incumbents are taking advantage of the regulatory change, too. Fifty-two percent of respondents said legacy operators have applied to be regulated by the state. The ACM is most interested in the impact to its members, and the rest of the survey had to do with the current state of financial and other support for local cable production. Twenty percent of the respondents, from communities in California, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin said their funding had decreased since the passage of state regulatory bills.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6576162.html?nid=4262

Hundt, Kennard Suffer From McCain Amnesia

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairmen Reed Hundt and Bill Kennard are supporters of Sen Barack Obama. On June 10, Hundt asked, “Can you name one merger, since 1996, that John McCain has opposed?” But, in April 1999, Reuters reported that McCain slammed AT&T’s $58 billion takeover of cable operator MediaOne Group. “This is the obvious result of a [telecommunications] act that was designed to protect special interests and neglected the consumer,” McCain told the news service. “If you can't compete, buy your opponents." Meanwhile, BusinessWeek reported Hundt hailed AT&T’s second big cable company purchase in less than a year. On June 25, Kennard said, "I'm hard-pressed to think of one significant legislative achievement in the [telecom] sector that was championed and was implemented by John McCain during his leadership on the Commerce Committee, because there isn't." But what of Sen McCain's role in passing the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999. That law allowed DirecTV and Dish Network to offer local TV signals in every market for the first time in history, igniting competition with cable. When McCain’s bill became law, satellite TV had 8 million subscribers. Today, they serve 30 million.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6576132.html?nid=4262

Nielsen: Barack Obama Owning Web

When it comes to the Web, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is drawing a much larger crowd and generating considerably more chatter, says a new report issued by Nielsen Online. As of May, the Illinois Senator attracted more than four times as many individual visitors to his Web site as did his Republican Senator John McCain: 2.3 million unique users for Obama versus just 563,000 for McCain. That same month, Obama’s campaign ran over 105 million ad impressions versus just 8.6 million for McCain. Similarly, In June, Obama generated nearly twice as much “buzz volume” on blogs, said Nielsen, as the Senator was referenced in 0.75 percent of consumer discussions, while McCain was mentioned in 0.39 percent of such discussions.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/broad...

ABC, Affiliates End Joint Ownership Talks

Content ownership seems to be the main sticking point for failed talks between ABC and its affiliates about launching a national-local cable news channel built of content from ABC News and ABC affiliates. Content provided by the local stations was to be an essential element of the proposed channel, to be called ABC News Now. Therefore, ABC stations maintained from the start that it should be a joint venture, with the affiliate body and network both holding equity stakes and sharing control, an issue they regarded as just as important as a share of any revenues. More than once over the course of the discussions, ABC and parent Walt Disney Co. had agreed to joint ownership, only to reverse position. NBC and its affiliates share ownership in the NBC Weather Plus joint venture, but no other network has contemplated a joint news operation.
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/07/abc_affiliates_end_news_now_ta.php
(requires free registration)

Educators wrestle with digital-equity challenges

Despite gains in the number of households that are online and the number of computing devices in the hands of students, making sure all learners have equitable access to technology resources continues to be a challenge in the United States and worldwide. Students who lack this access to technology are at a disadvantage, ed-tech advocates say, because they are missing out on opportunities to learn and to become participants in an increasingly digital workforce and society.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will host a meeting of the on Monday July 14 from 1:30 to 3;30pm at:

ArrayComm Inc
2480 N First Street
San Jose CA

The Committee will receive recommendations and reports from working groups of its Technical Sharing Efficiencies subcommittee and Operational Sharing Efficiencies subcommittees. The Committee will also consider matters to be taken up at its next meeting. It will provide an opportunity for public comment at the meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Eric Stark,
Designated Federal Officer
(202) 482–1880 or estark@ntia.doc.gov;

Joe Gattuso
(202) 482–0977 or jgattuso@ntia.doc.gov


Senate Commerce Committee
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
10:00 AM

SR - 253

Individuals and businesses are becoming increasingly dependent upon the Internet for social, entertainment, research and business activities. This has created the incentive and opportunity for companies to collect, use, and disseminate data regarding online users. There is concern, however, that tracking individuals’ Internet activity and gathering information from online users violates their expectations of privacy. Individuals often are unaware what information is being collected about them, how it is being used and to whom it is disseminated.
In this hearing, the Committee will consider the current state of the online advertising industry and that market’s impact on users’ privacy. Witnesses are expected to focus on the key factors driving online behavioral advertising, the methods of online behavioral advertising employed by industry, and the protections the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should adopt to protect consumers from unwanted or unnecessary invasions of their privacy.

Witnesses

Panel 1

Ms. Lydia Parnes
Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection
Federal Trade Commission

Panel 2

Mr. Mike Hintze
Associate General Counsel, Legal & Corporate Affairs
Microsoft Corporation

Mr. Robert R. Dykes
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
NebuAd Incorporated

Ms. Leslie Harris
President and Chief Executive Officer
Center for Democracy and Technology

Ms. Jane Horvath
Senior Privacy Counsel
Google Incorporated

Mr. Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.
Vice President for Policy, Director of Technology Studies
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Mr. Chris Kelly
Chief Privacy Officer
Facebook Incorporated


The Federal Communications Commission will hold a public en banc hearing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, July 21, 2008 at Carnegie Mellon University.

4:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time)

The Commission will hear from expert panelists regarding broadband and the digital future. The hearing is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sign language interpreters and open captioning will be provided for this event. Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Include a description of the accommodation needed, and include a way we can contact you if we need more information. Please make your request as early as possible. Last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill. Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty).

For additional information about the hearing, please visit the FCC’s website at http://www.fcc.gov. Press inquiries should be directed to Robert Kenny at 202-418-2668 or Clyde Ensslin at 202-418-0506.


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