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February 2009

Can the Cellphone Industry Keep Growing?

Cellphone sales are falling, manufacturers have announced thousands of layoffs and wireless carriers are finding it harder to acquire and keep customers. It seems like another tale of "recession bites industry," but there are signs that this downturn is masking something more fundamental, that the cellphone industry's best days are behind it. Analysts and investors are beginning to ask whether the industry can continue growing. The challenge is both simple and daunting: how to expand when four billion of the six billion people on the planet already have phones. And even in developing countries where there are underserved markets, subscribers spend less on phones and services. Craig Moffett, an industry analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, is one of the skeptics. "I don't think anyone would argue that the salad days of the wireless industry are over," he said. He added that in terms of subscriber growth in North America, "we're awfully close to saturation."

Obama Win Showed Rising 'New Media' Influence -- Now What?

The rules of the Presidential election game have been changed forever -- by technology. It was more than the "YouTube Election," as some dubbed it, or "The Facebook Election," or "hyper-politics." James Rainey, the longtime media reporter for the Los Angeles Times, declared that there is a "new-media revolution that is remaking presidential campaigns. Online videos can dominate the evening news. Or an unpublished novelist 'with absolutely no journalism training' can alter the national debate," a reference to Mayhill Fowler. "What's different this year is that the entire political and media establishment has finally woken up to the fact that the Internet is now a major player in the world of politics and our democracy," said Andrew Rasiej, co-founder of the TechPresident blog and annual Personal Democracy Forum. "We are watching a conversion of our politics from the 20th century to the 21st."

AT&T's U-verse service gives short shrift to public-access programming

[Commentary] AT&T has cutting-edge technology and a beefy balance sheet, but the company's handling of community programming channels in Illinois and other states is putting a big black blot on its sky-blue logo. At the heart of a growing controversy are questions about whether AT&T's U-verse service, a marvel of modern technology that pipes 320 channels of television programming over phone lines, violates state law and federal rules requiring fair treatment of community programming. The fight over U-verse, still in its early stages, shows what happens when corporate power runs up against entrenched community opposition. Federal and state laws require AT&T to give community programming similar access to what the other channels on its U-verse service get. AT&T believes it does so, but advocates for public access make a compelling case when they argue that the communications giant falls short.

Strengthen think tank accountability

[Commentary] Every time there is a presidential transition, we are reminded of the power of think tanks, as dozens of administration officials and think tank employees switch jobs. Fueled by tax-deductible donations and an explosion in philanthropic assets, think tanks have dramatically grown in size and influence during the past 100 years. Despite think tanks' billions of dollars of tax subsidies and considerable power, they have received minimal public scrutiny and are often poorly understood. Think tanks often portray themselves as being all things to all people. But in fact, many are rife with ethical conflicts. To strengthen think tank accountability, the media should do a better job covering think tanks. Think tanks that don't uphold their own ethical claims should be subject to the same type of media scrutiny as the claims of any other major political, press or academic institution in American society. Examples of areas that need better coverage include think tanks' revolving door with government, functioning in orchestrated lobbying campaigns and claiming credit for others' work. The media should adopt a richer terminology to categorize think tanks. The widespread categorization along a liberal to conservative continuum is inadequate. Think tanks should also be categorized by the extent to which they support academic, advocacy or journalistic norms. When think tanks operate without transparency, the burden of proof should be on think tanks, not journalists, to prove no undisclosed conflicts of interest, including in-kind contributions that do not directly flow through a think tank's financial books.

(J.H. Snider, the president of iSolon.org, has been a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, at the New America Foundation and in two Senate offices.)

South Carolina's plan to reprogram huge spectrum asset faces challenges

In two weeks, South Carolina will find out if its educational wireless spectrum is a gold mine or an albatross. On Jan. 2, a recently created state commission released a request for proposals, inviting bids on 67 Educational Broadband Service (EBS) licenses, originally issued decades ago for one-way, analog, education TV broadcasts, allowing a lecture to be watched in multiple classrooms, for example. There's enough of this 2.5-GHz spectrum not only to cover nearly every square inch of the state but also to shower 5.6 million residents with multichannel, wireless broadband voice, video and data services. All that is possible because the FCC in 2004 and 2006 revamped the 2.5-GHz rules. One key change let EBS holders lease out up to 95% of their spectrum, which is rarely used for its original purpose since new modes of distance learning now are offered over IP-based broadband networks. It's prime spectrum real estate. But the state faces an array of challenges including a potentially bruising and time-consuming political battle over different visions of how government and industry should partner on a range of broadband policy issues, from contract details, to service-level agreements, to bridging what's called the digital divide between well-heeled broadband users and the poor.

The Loss of the Trade Press Covering the Media Industry: Why it matters

[Commentary] Multichannel News, Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Mediaweek, Brandweek, Ad Age,TV Week, Broadcasting and Cable. All of these outlets either have closed or scaled back their Washington (DC) coverage. These D.C.-based reporters played an incredibly important role-not just covering their own industry for insiders, but providing consumer and public interest advocates real insight into what the industry was actually saying and doing. Trade reporters are a crucial part of the journalistic ecosystem-their loss is another indication of how the entire journalistic enterprise is collapsing. It cannot be replaced solely by bloggers. It takes real shoe "leather" and digging into the facts on a daily basis they helps keep an industry accountable-and the public informed (including industry insiders ).

Lawmakers all a-Twitter

The microblogging tool Twitter has become a popular way for Members of Congress to stay connected to their constituents on an up-to-the-second basis. Sometimes, however, members have been tapping out tweets, as Twitter messages are called, at times that some might find ... surprising. While it may be nice for the folks back home to receive these you-are-there dispatches from the field, the messages also seem to suggest that legislators are not always fully immersed in their work — or are not being fully forth­coming about who's writing their posts.

Commissioner McDowell's Mistaken Views on Fairness Doctrine

[Commentary] In his recent speech to the Media Institute, Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell warned against the return of the fairness doctrine and said that its return might put in jeopardy the entire broadcast regulatory scheme like children's TV rules. I believe he is wrong on several counts. First, the doctrine never required broadcasters to air both sides of controversial issues. It required that broadcasters afford a reasonable opportunity for contrasting views, and it gave them great discretion in discharging this obligation. Second, Commissioner McDowell does not appear to understand the "spectrum scarcity" basis of the doctrine. The scarcity was never based on the number of broadcast outlets, but on available frequencies (which is still true today). Indeed, there is a serious question whether broadcasting should be treated like its main rival cable, and required to pay a modest spectrum usage fee in lieu of the public trustee obligation, with the sums so raised going to a trust fund for public broadcasting, so the latter could render high quality public service in areas like children's TV, in-depth informational programming, cultural and minority fare. Others argue that the public service obligation should be clarified and made more effective. The appropriate regulatory scheme for broadcasting in the 21st Century is the overriding issue - not this skirmish over the unlikely re-appearance of the fairness doctrine, especially with mistaken notions of its nature and operation.

(Henry Geller was Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (NTIA) in the Carter Administration and FCC General Counsel in 1964-1970.)

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Wednesday, February 11, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 200, Room 2
Washington, DC 20005

Korea recently declared its ambitious vision for Low-Carbon Green Growth in order to deal with the climate change issue and create a new development paradigm. Please join us for a presentation by Dr. Suk Joon Kim, President of the Korean Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), who will discuss the new Korean low-carbon, green innovation strategy with a particular focus on the role of information and communications technology (IT) in the strategy. He will be joined by Dr. Jung Hyup, Senior Researcher, STEPI.


Feb 3, 2008 (Broadband: recovery or boondoggle?)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2009


THE ECONOMY
   Broadband Money in Fiscal Plan: Wise or Waste?
   Is "broadband for all" a recipe for recovery, or a boondoggle?
   Broadband crisis? Not yet.
   If Wall St. Doesn't Want Carriers To Go Rural, Why Should We?
   A third of adults without Internet don't want it
   Working on ways to get everyone in the US wired
   US e-commerce comeback seen by 2010
   Public broadcasting stations cut staff, budget

DIGITAL TELEVISION
   Waxman, Boucher Push DTV Date-Change Bill To Colleagues
   Barton, Stearns: Early DTV Switches 'All But Impossible'
   When government fouls up, TV viewers shouldn't suffer
   Delay hurts first responders

THE TRANSITION
   Sen Gregg's Tech Track Record
   McDowell Expands on FCC Reform Proposal
   Agencies Struggling To Make Connections Online
   Ex-Journalists' New Jobs Fuel Debate on Favoritism

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   The kindness of strangers can be harmful

TELECOM
   Changing Face of Communications
   Telecom-delivered TV subscriptions to triple by '12

QUICKLY -- Study links TV and depression; 'Foul play' suspected in Super Bowl porn feed; Internet Censorship: Dead or Just Dormant?; Progress Illinois Perseveres Against Fox News; Reverse Trends: Ways To Improve Broadcast TV; What Hollywood wants from Obama


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THE ECONOMY


INTERNET MONEY IN FISCAL PLAN: WISE OR WASTE?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Herszanhorn]
At first glance, perhaps no line item in the nearly $900 billion stimulus program under consideration on Capitol Hill would seem to offer a more perfect way to jump-start the economy than the billions pegged to expand broadband Internet service to rural and underserved areas. Proponents say it will create jobs, build crucial infrastructure and begin to fulfill one of President Obama's major campaign promises: to expand the information superhighway to every corner of the land, giving local businesses an electronic edge and offering residents a dazzling array of services like online health care and virtual college courses. But experts warn that the rural broadband effort could just as easily become a $9 billion cyberbridge to nowhere, representing the worst kind of mistakes that lawmakers could make in rushing to approve one of the largest spending bills in history without considering unintended results. "The first rule of technology investment is you spend time understanding the end user, what they need and the conditions under which they will use the technology," said Craig Settles, an industry analyst and consultant who has studied broadband applications in rural and urban areas. "If you don't do this well, you end up throwing millions or, in this case, potentially billions down a rat hole. You will spend money for things that people don't need or can't use."
http://benton.org/node/21522
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IS "BROADBAND FOR ALL" A RECIPE FOR RECOVERY, OR A BOONDOGGLE?
[SOURCE: The Economist, AUTHOR: ]
[Commentary] Broadband, goes the thinking, could boost economies in much the same way as railways and highways did in previous eras. But throwing state funds at technology may not be the best approach. Other things can be done to increase broadband penetration before dipping into the public coffers. A recent study for the British government by Francesco Caio, a former chief executive of Cable & Wireless, listed a few of them, including accelerating the release of radio spectrum, fostering competition and relaxing the rules that prevent companies from stringing up overhead cables. Furthermore, there is no clear market failure that demands government intervention, argues Michael Nelson, a professor at Georgetown University. Indeed, although America ranks 15th among OECD countries in broadband penetration, the country's telecoms firms are already spending billions building next-generation networks. And simply digitizing health records or promoting the spread of broadband may not produce the desired economic knock-on effects without investment in the fields that will use these technologies, such as health and education. Perhaps the biggest risk of all these broadband plans is that incumbents will exploit the crisis to gain regulatory concessions limiting competition and open access to their networks in exchange for promises to invest. This could even help recreate the telecoms monopolies of old. But if this recession has proved anything, it is that what goes around, comes around.
http://benton.org/node/21511
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BROADBAND CRISIS? NOT YET.
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Teresa Mastrangelo]
[Commentary] Broadband crisis? What broadband crisis? We're still number two in total broadband users. Can this be improved? Absolutely. Will the proposed broadband stimulus bill make a significant difference? Not likely. The problem with this bill is the vagueness of its goal. The bill never states that the intent is to provide 100 percent broadband availability. Although the bill throws out speed requirements for basic and advanced broadband, it never states that the goal is to make sure that all broadband subscribers have at least basic (5Mbps/1Mbps) broadband, or that x percent will receive advanced (45Mbps/15Mbps) broadband. In addition, the bill never sets a timeline in order to measure progress. The other major missing piece is the fact that this bill offers nothing to increase demand, address affordability or digital literacy. All critical components that are necessary for operators to successfully invest and maintain broadband infrastructure.
http://benton.org/node/21510
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IF WALL STREET DOESN'T WANT CARRIERS TO GO RURAL, WHY SHOULD WE?
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] Wally Bowen, executive director at the Mountain Area Information Network, asks, "Why are we trying to figure out how to get the carriers to deploy next-generation broadband to rural America when Wall St. doesn't want them there?" Wall St. still doesn't think upgrading broadband networks anywhere makes much financial sense and if carriers are going to invest in capacity anywhere then it certainly shouldn't be in rural America. In their eyes those dollars are better spent in metro areas even if there's greater competition simply because there's a higher density of people. And for better or worse, big corporations must listen to the desires of their shareholders. If we only look at this rural broadband problem through the eyes of the incumbents then it does look like a huge challenge that's going to require an equally huge government investment. But if we take a step back for a moment and consider the broader array of deployers who have already been wiring rural America we'll see that there could be a better way.
http://benton.org/node/21509
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A THIRD OF ADULTS WITHOUT INTERNET DON'T WANT IT
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jack Gillum]
About one in four American adults don't use the Internet. And many of them couldn't care less about getting online. A report last month by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that although price is a barrier for dial-up users in switching to broadband, one-third of those without a Net connection simply aren't interested in e-mailing or exploring the Web. The findings come amid the settling-in of an Internet-focused White House, one that pushed an $819 billion economic stimulus package that contains billions for broadband expansion. (It passed last week in the House.) Still, the new Pew numbers suggest that a noteworthy digital divide lingers in the USA. "There certainly are those people who have no interest in getting connected to the Internet," says Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press, which runs the Internet for Everyone initiative in Washington. "That does not mean that they won't one day." About 35% of dial-up customers — whose connection speeds are typically a fraction of broadband users' — said cost was a problem. About one in five dial-up customers said nothing could get them to upgrade.
http://benton.org/node/21521
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WORKING ON WAYS TO GET EVERYONE IN THE US WIRED
[SOURCE: Cincinnati Enquirer, AUTHOR: ]
A Q&A with Jim Stegeman of CostQuest. He estimates that about 10 percent of Americans don't have access to the Internet via a broadband or high-speed connection. While that may not sound like a lot, that's still 30 million Americans. And it is his job to figure out ways to lower that number. The 10-year-old firm recently landed a $1.7 million contract with Alabama to figure out the best ways to expand broadband access for that state's rural population. CostQuest has done previous studies for states such as Wyoming, and also does such surveys for Internet providers in the private sector. And since the Obama administration has made broadband access a priority - and possibly could fund such expansions as part of its economic stimulus package - Stegeman is even busier than ever. In addition, his eight-person firm could also be growing in the coming year to keep up with the demand.
http://benton.org/node/21508
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US E-COMMERCE COMEBACK SEEN IN 2010
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alexandria Sage]
Forrester Research says e-commerce in the United States is expected to climb back to last year's levels by 2010 after experiencing slowing growth in 2009 due to the recession. But after an acceleration in 2010, Forrester predicts that growth will slow, with 10 percent, 9 percent, and 8 percent growth expected for 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. At the same time, e-commerce will pick up a greater piece of overall U.S. retail sales.
http://benton.org/node/21507
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PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATION CUT STAFF, BUDGET
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Joe Garofoli]
Northern California Public Broadcasting will cut 13 percent of its budget and lay off 30 employees because the recession has reduced the corporate giving that funds much of the organization. The stations' 291 employees were told Monday of the move, which officials expect will save $8 million. No reporters will leave San Francisco's KQED-FM, and no TV staff will depart, officials said. Employees with enough seniority were offered a buyout package; others were dismissed immediately. Much like their commercial counterparts, public broadcasting stations across the nation are cutting back in response to the recession. Nationally, public television is forecast to undergo a 16 percent drop in revenues this fiscal year and public radio a 13 percent drop, according to a preliminary assessment in January by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Revenues from corporate underwriting, state and local funding, and university sources are projected to drop 15 percent each for public radio this year compared with last, according to the study. Potential public TV revenue is forecast to dip 16 percent.
http://benton.org/node/21520
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DIGITAL TELEVISION


WAXMAN, BOUCHER PUSH DTV DATE-CHANGE BILL TO COLLEAGUES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) sent a "dear colleague" letter Monday in support of the digital television transition delay legislation which the House will vote on Wednesday. They pointed out that the waiting list for $40 coupons subsidizing the purchase of the boxes is now 3.3 million requests long from over 1.8 million households. But they went even farther, spelling out for each House member what that translated to in terms of constituents in their respective districts. "We have received data from the Commerce Department on the number of households in your district that are on the waiting list for digital converter box coupons. In order to assist you in evaluating the need for the DTV Delay Act, we have attached a table that contains this information for each member of Congress."
http://benton.org/node/21519
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BARTON, STEARNS: EARLY DTV SWITCHES 'ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE'
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Republicans Joe Barton (TX) and Cliff Stearns (FL) have written Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps asking for information on how many television stations will actually be able to transition early to all-digital broadcasting if, as appears likely, the House this week follows the Senate's lead and approves a bill to move the DTV transition date to June 12. They believe the FCC's Media Bureau has been "inundated" with requests from broadcasters to make the switch early if the DTV transition date is moved to June 12, and they doubt many of those requests can be accommodated because of interference concerns. That means "most of the spectrum promised to first responders would also be unavailable until the delayed transition date."
http://benton.org/node/21504
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WHEN GOVERNMENT FOULS UP, TV VIEWERS SHOULDN'T SUFFER
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Two weeks from today, an estimated 7 million households that rely on analog television sets — ones that work off antennas — could see their screens go blank. The temptation is to say, too bad. People had plenty of warning about the impending nationwide switch to digital TV, and an opportunity to apply for $40 coupons toward the cost of converter boxes. Unfortunately, the federal government has so fouled up the changeover that a delay in the Feb. 17 deadline is the least bad alternative. The House could vote on a four-month extension, already passed by the Senate, as soon as Wednesday. Delay is the best option. Seven million households shouldn't have to pay for their government's ineptitude.
http://benton.org/node/21518
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DELAY HURTS FIRST RESPONDERS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Rep Joe Barton (R-TX)]
[Commentary] The scheduled Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television (DTV) broadcasting will give first responders the functioning equipment and broadcast frequencies they need. In fact, help was on the way for three years before the Obama transition team panicked and told Congress to delay. Last week, Congress tried to accommodate the White House, but the Senate's DTV-delay bill failed to gain sufficient support to skirt normal rules in the House. Now, all of us have work to do. Contrary to what you have heard, the digital television transition program is neither stuck nor broke, and there's no need for further delay. The waiting list for the $40 converter-box coupons can be cleared out with just a dollop of bipartisanship. (Rep. Joe Barton of Texas is the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.)
http://benton.org/node/21517
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THE TRANSITION


SEN GREGG'S TECH TRACK RECORD
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Senate Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg (R-NH), who recently emerged as the top contender for Secretary of Commerce, has earned high marks for his stance on issues of importance to the tech sector including casting votes for key trade agreements -- Central America Free Trade Agreement as well as accords with Australia, Chile, Morrocco and Singapore -- and tax bills (permanent federal research and development tax credit). Sen Gregg also supported the high-tech industry on stock options legislation and Internet taxation issues and has voted for overhauls to the nation's securities and class action litigation regimes. But he voted against the America COMPETES Act that authorized major monetary increases in federal R&D programs, citing concerns about funding levels. He also voted against some larger omnibus bills that contained tech supported tax language.
http://benton.org/node/21503
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MCDOWELL EXPANDS ON FCC REFORM PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael McDowell]
At a Federal Communications Bar Association luncheon in Washington Monday, FCC Commissioner Michael McDowell came to praise FCC Chairman Michael Copps, not bury him. The topic of the day was FCC reform. He said all three FCC commissioners share the goals of boosting employee morale; promoting greater transparency; creating a more informed, collaborative and considerate decision-making process; and encouraging meaningful and effective public comment. Commissioner McDowell recapped his ideas about how to get there. He wants a thorough operational, financial and ethics audit of the Commission and its related entities, such as the Universal Service Administrative Company and the Federal Advisory Committees, an audit that answers these questions: What is the current condition of the FCC and its related entities? How do they operate? McDowell also proposes a series of "town hall" meetings at the FCC's Washington headquarters, at a few field offices, as well as in a few cities around the country for the general public to attend. He wants to examine the FCC's contracting process, as well as the processes relating to the collection and distribution of administrative and regulatory fees currently conducted exclusively by the Office of Managing Director. He believes there should be an examination of the Commission's assessment of fees.
http://benton.org/node/21502
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AGENCIES STRUGGLING TO MAKE CONNECTIONS ONLINE
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: David Herbert]
When President Barack Obama signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to disseminate more information online and open more channels for feedback, the media duly applauded while good-government groups breathed a sigh of relief. But agencies are already using social media; most just haven't been successful. Bureaucratic inefficiency is partly to blame, as are a handful of outdated and inflexible laws. Still, the biggest problem facing most agencies isn't the trap of outdated regulations but the failure to attract an audience.
http://benton.org/node/21501
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EX-JOURNALISTS' NEW JOBS FUEL DEBATE ON FAVORITISM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg]
Republicans have long accused mainstream journalists of being on the payroll of President Obama and the Democratic Party, a common refrain of favoritism especially from those on the losing end of an election (see Bush vs. Gore, Clinton vs. Bush and Bush vs. Dukakis). But this year the accusation has a new twist: In some notable cases it has become true, with several prominent journalists now on the payrolls of President Obama and the Democratic Congressional leadership. An unusual number of journalists from prominent, mainstream organizations started new government jobs in January, providing new kindling to the debate over whether President Obama is receiving unusually favorable treatment in the news media.
http://benton.org/node/21516
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP


THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS CAN BE HARMFUL
[SOURCE: Miami Herald, AUTHOR: Edward Wasserman]
[Commentary] Carlos Slim, the Mexican multibillionaire who Fortune magazine figures is the richest person on Earth, could become the largest shareholder of the New York Times. True, he wouldn't sit on The Times board and would have no voting power; only members of the Sulzberger family own voting shares. Maybe that's why other media have treated this largely as a footnote to the widening crisis that is swallowing the newspaper industry. It's more than that, it's a profoundly troubling action that raises serious doubt not just about whether the Sulzbergers will keep control of The Times, but whether they should. Should The Times really be deepening its dependency on this man? Not to get too moralistic, but at some level a great newspaper stands for something -- principles of social justice, popular sovereignty, open government, fair competition. Slim is a predatory capitalist who built a $67 billion empire -- worth a stunning 7 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product -- through political cronyism, cunning and the relentless use of monopoly power, which means charging much, delivering less and crippling competitors, real and potential.
http://benton.org/node/21514
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TELECOM


CHANGING FACE OF COMMUNICATIONS
[SOURCE: IBM, AUTHOR: Rob van den Dam, Ekow Nelson, Zygmunt Lozinski]
According to a new report from IBM, social networking is not about new Web sites or applications but a fundamental shift in how people communicate, moving away from point-to-point and two-way conversations to many-to-many collaboration and sharing. Control of that communications is also shifting away from the "proprietary domain of telecom providers" to more open Internet platforms. Based on current growth patterns, IBM estimates that by 2012, the number of unique monthly visitors to online social networking sites will surpass 800 million. Traditional telecom service providers must embrace this change and growth ­ or be bypassed. Telcos must focus on moving beyond basic connectivity to "allow individuals, organizations, communications and objects to interact and communicate in ways that were not possible before."
http://benton.org/node/21506
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TELECOM-DELIVERED TV SUBSCRIPTIONS TO TRIPLE BY '12
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Dawn Kawamoto]
Worldwide subscriptions to telecom-delivered TV are expected to grow threefold by 2012, according to a report released Monday. Despite the dire economic climate, the number of such subscriptions is expected to reach 71.6 million by that time, according to market researcher In-Stat's report. Telecom-delivered TV -- offered in the United States by AT&T and Verizon Communications--includes IPTV, which is television delivered via Internet Protocol. Elsewhere in the world, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telecom, and China Telecom are jumping aboard. The telecommunications providers are trying to take on the giants of TV service -- satellite and cable. Key markets over the next few years include Brazil, Korea, and India due to recent regulatory changes that create more favorable conditions for the technology, In-Stat said.
http://benton.org/node/21505
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QUICKLY -- Study links TV and depression; 'Foul play' suspected in Super Bowl porn feed; Internet Censorship: Dead or Just Dormant?; Progress Illinois Perseveres Against Fox News; Reverse Trends: Ways To Improve Broadcast TV; What Hollywood wants from Obama


STUDY LINKS TV AND DEPRESSION
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Karen Kaplan]
Television may increase teenagers' risk of becoming depressed as adults. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard Medical School looked at the media habits of 4,142 healthy adolescents and calculated that each additional hour of TV watched per day boosted the odds of becoming depressed by 8%. Other forms of media, such as playing computer games and watching videos, didn't affect the risk of depression, according to the study published today in the Archives of General Psychology. The results don't prove that TV viewing itself causes depression, said Dr. Brian Primack of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Research on Health Care, who led the study. "It could be argued that people with the predilection for later development of depression also happen to have a predilection for watching lots of TV," he said. But the circumstantial evidence pointing to TV as the culprit is strong, the study found.
http://benton.org/node/21515
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'FOUL PLAY' SUSPECTED IN SUPER BOWL PORN FEED
[SOURCE: Arizona Daily Star, AUTHOR: Brian Pedersen]
And you thought Janet Jackson was bad? Pornographic content interrupted thousands of Tucson Comcast subscribers' Super Bowl broadcast, apparently an intentional malicious act. Only Comcast subscribers who received a standard definition signal could see the clip, while those who watched the game on high-definition televisions were not affected. The US Attorney's office in Phoenix said it is looking into the interruption, which lasted about 30 seconds, and featured full male nudity. The Federal Communications Commission was not aware of any formal complaints made regarding the porn clip. Comcast has contacted the Federal Communications Commission as well as local authorities to investigate the matter. But an initial review showed that the company's technical systems functioned properly at the time of the incident, suggesting someone deliberately seeking to interrupt the broadcast rather than a technical glitch.
http://benton.org/node/21512
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INTERNET CENSORSHIP: DEAD OR JUST DORMANT?
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Leslie Harris]
[Commentary] Sure, COPA is dead, but what happens next? Will Congress once again beat against the tide and enact yet another Internet censorship law? After all, COPA was Congress's answer to the Supreme Courts 9-0 decision striking down the Communications Decency Act. Will the Obama administration slam the coffin on Internet censorship laws once and for all? It would seem so. The Obama Platform says that the new Administration "values our First Amendment freedom" and "does not view regulation as the answer to these concerns." However, it's not clear the Congress will fall in line.
http://benton.org/node/21500
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PROGRESS ILLINOIS PERSEVERES AGAINST FOX NEWS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
Winning a standoff against Fox News, the news startup Progress Illinois got its YouTube channel back late last week. But the victory might prove short-lived, if Fox brings new complaints against the liberal news site. The channel was restored after Fox failed to pursue its claim that Progress Illinois infringed copyright by embedding brief excerpts of Fox News programs in blog posts. Progress Illinois said the clips did not violate Fox's copyright because they were a "fair use" of the material.
http://benton.org/node/21499
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REVERSE TRENDS: WAYS TO IMPROVE BROADCAST TV
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Diane Mermigas]
Mermigas offers proactive moves TV broadcasters can make: 1) Go direct for Internet-based download, time-shift and pay TV (including day-and-date) to soften recessionary blows, 2) Invest in quality--not quantity--while reducing overall content production, distribution and marketing costs, 3) Launch dynamic ubiquitous mechanisms to create, effectively price, sell and coordinate cross-platform advertising, 4) Make "local" a star.
http://benton.org/node/21498
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WHAT HOLLYWOOD WANTS FROM OBAMA
[SOURCE: , AUTHOR: Amie Parnes, Ted Johnson]
What do celebrities want from President Barack Obama? More action on Darfur, the environment, stem cell research and health care — all big causes in the celebrity set and all areas where it seems very likely the new president will at least attempt to make progress. But before Obama's most famous supporters are able to start checking items off their wish lists, they'll need to develop a working relationship with him. And that's where things get complicated.
http://benton.org/node/21497
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