February 2009

Nielsen: Five Million Homes Remain Unready for DTV Transition

Nielsen said Wednesday that more that five million homes, or about 4.4% of the total, remain unready for the digital television transition. That was down from 5.8 million homes (5.1%) that Nielsen concluded weren't ready at the beginning of the month, and from 6.5 million (5.7%) in mid-January. Albuquerque-Santa Fe is the least prepared, says Nielsen, with 12% completely unready. Nielsen defines completely unready as homes without cable or satellite service and without a TV with a digital tuner or a DTV-to-analog converter box hooked up. The ratings company concedes some of those homes could have the converter boxes, just not hooked up yet.

GOP Leaders want FCC and NTIA to Prioritize Converter Coupons for Over-the-Air Homes

Reps Joe Barton (R-TX) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) have written the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications Administration asking that the NTIA prioritize homes that rely on over-the-air broadcasts for digital-to-analog converter box coupons. They also want the NTIA to giver priority to first-time requests from over-the-air homes over re-requests. They also urged the FCC and NTIA to make a list of the stations transitioning before the new June 12 hard date (641 stations have already pulled the plug) available to consumers on its Web sites-the FCC already has such a list-"and over your telephone lines" so that consumers know how the transition will affect them.

Facebook Withdraws Changes in Data Use

After a wave of protests from its users, the Facebook social networking site said Wednesday that it would withdraw changes to its so-called terms of service concerning the data supplied by the tens of millions of people who use it. The about-face was made known to many users in a message posted on the Facebook home page saying : "Over the past few days, we have received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago. Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised." The posting invited users to click on a link to get more details.

Obama Restates Opposition to Return of Fairness Doctrine

President Barack Obama has reiterated his opposition to reimposing the Fairness Doctrine. That comes in the wake of various reports, commentary and speeches, including from Democrats, suggesting the doctrine, which required broadcasters to seek out the other side of controversial subjects, could be revived in an Obama administration. Also, the Federal Communications Commission has joined a spokesperson for the House Energy & Commerce Committee in flatly denying that any FCC staffers met with staffers of House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) last week about reviving the fairness doctrine or something like it.

On Transparency, CDT Waits for Obama to 'Show Us The Data'

The new administration of President Barack Obama's has a limited window to fulfill its promise of transparency in government, Center for Democracy & Technology officials said Tuesday. CDT vice president Ari Schwartz praised the Obama White House for making open government - an issue on which the president made central to his campaign and his image - a theme "from day one." The administration seems to make "another open government announcement literally every day," Schwartz said. While transparency is a "keystone, signature issue" for the new administration, making good on its promises "is going to be an interesting challenge," said CDT president and CEO Leslie Harris. The toughest aspect of changing the culture of secrecy in Washington is "a bureaucracy created for closure - not openness," Harris said. The administration has let 30 days pass on its self-imposed 120 day deadline to for the GSA, OMB and a yet-to-be-named National Chief Technology Officer to create a national directive on open government, Schwartz said. And with the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and in launching the Recovery.gov web site, the Obama administration will face an early test.

WH glitch leaves some press in dark

So, here's how it goes: you plan a big event and speech and you release a copy of the speech and details of your new plan before you hit the stage. But a glitch at the White House Wednesday had some reporters getting their information nearly a hour before others. That may not seem like much of a delay, but to wire service reporters, whose stories can move markets, being even a few minutes behind the competition can be excruciating. Some writers were forced to work from faxed releases from the Treasury Department while they awaited the official version from the White House. White House aides told reporters a glitch regarding the e-mail lists led to the highly selective release.

The White House's missing documents

In his first weeks in office, President Barack Obama shut down his predecessor's system for reviewing regulations, realigned and expanded two key White House policymaking bodies and extended economic sanctions against parties to the conflict in the African nation of Cote D'Ivoire. Despite the intense scrutiny a president gets just after the inauguration, Obama managed to take all these actions with nary a mention from the White House press corps. The moves escaped notice because they were never announced by the White House Press Office and were never placed on the White House web site. Most of the documents were posted to the White House web site Tuesday night, after Politico inquired about their absence. "It was a simple oversight," a spokesman, Ben LaBolt, said.

Open government rhetoric versus reality

[Commentary] Are Congress and President Barack Obama playing out this eternal logic? When the Democrats took power in 2006, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to create "the most honest and open Congress in American history." When Obama won in 2008, he promised "to usher in a new era of open government." Yes, some progress has been made. But vividly illustrating the current discrepancy between promise and practice is the recent digital TV bill signed into law by the president on February 11. The bill was passed as an emergency measure ostensibly to prevent any households from losing access to over-the-air TV on February 17. The open government transgressions included:

First, neither the House Commerce Committee nor the Senate Commerce Committee had a hearing, markup, or vote on the bill.

Second, the House committee canceled two announced markups, the first less than an hour before it was scheduled. The announced reason for the cancellation made no sense, as it was based on information that was five days old.

Third, by avoiding a committee vote, Congressional leaders could ask for a floor vote on the bill without the otherwise required Congressional Budget Office estimate of its cost to the private sector.

Fourth, the Senate and first House vote on the bill took place without publicly releasing a copy of the bill.

Fifth, the bill was introduced on the House Floor under a closed rule, allowing no amendments.

As 2010 count nears, no Census chief

The Census Bureau faces a leadership void less than 14 months before the 2010 Census rolls out. The agency is without a director and may not get one until someone is picked and confirmed to run the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau. The stakes are politically charged because the Census determines the allotment of seats in the House of Representatives, the drawing of political districts and the distribution of billions of federal dollars for schools, roads, hospitals and other programs. Groups such as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights say that minorities and the poor have been undercounted in previous Censuses. Gregg's nomination reignited opposition by groups such as the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. To address their concern, the White House said it might have the Census director report to the White House rather than Commerce — a major shift.

Top State Dept Telecom Official Moves On

David Gross, the former U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, is joining the communications practice of Wiley Rein in March. At the law firm, Gross will provide counseling on global telecommunications issues and assist US and foreign entities looking for international business opportunities. Gross believes the greatest challenges for US telecommunications and high-tech companies continue to be difficulties in dealing with governmental restrictions on doing business. Richard Beaird is currently serving in Gross's place at the State Department in an acting capacity.

Benton

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