Feb 2, 2008 (6 more weeks of winter)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2009 (Happy Groundhog Day; 6 more weeks of winter)
http://www.groundhog.org/prediction/
The Internet Today and Tomorrow: Social Implications of Evolving Technology (see http://www.benton.org/node/21409)
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
The Rise of Soft Censorship
Ruling did not vindicate Bush's wiretapping
THE ECONOMY
Congress Approves Broadband to Nowhere
Let Local Networks Deliver Broadband
DIGITAL TV
TV's New Date With Destiny
THE TRANSITION
Sen Gregg Is Top Pick for Commerce
More on Daschle-Hindery Link
WIRELESS
Bringing the Internet to Remote African Villages
What the cellphone industry won't tell you
QUICKLY -- Despite iTunes Accord, Music Labels Still Fret; Borrowed time? Libraries stung as funding shrinks
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
THE RISE OF SOFT CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Don Podesta]
[Commentary] Among the accusations swirling around ousted Gov Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) is one that touches on his relationship with the most important newspaper in his state, the Chicago Tribune. Blagojevich reportedly threatened to withhold state assistance from a deal involving the sale of Wrigley Field, owned by the Tribune Co., if the paper didn't fire members of the editorial board whom he viewed as highly critical of him. Thus Illinois joins a growing list of places across the globe where media-government relations are often ruled by money. Or, more specifically, money used as a tool to manipulate news coverage. This is a serious problem in countries, like the US, where democracies are fragile and there is no culture of strong, independent news media. Many fledgling democracies have no tradition of independent news media, without which it is difficult, if not impossible, to sustain an open political dialogue and transparency in governance. Strengthening independent news media in the developing world should be the cornerstone of any effort to build democracies.
http://benton.org/node/21482
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RULING DID NOT VINDICATE BUSH'S WIRETAPPING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Defenders of the Bush administration are crowing over a court decision holding that the government doesn't need warrants to monitor electronic communications between Americans and suspected terrorists abroad. Their jubilation is unjustified. The decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review -- handed down in August and made public in January -- is not a blank check for presidential power, nor does it legitimize the abrogations of personal liberty that the Bush administration embraced in its so-called war on terror. In fact, the ruling vindicates Congress' decision to establish safeguards for such surveillance -- a reform that never would have occurred if President Bush had succeeded in keeping the existence of his surveillance program from the public. This wasn't a vindication of the Bush administration's original program. Rather, the court upheld a 2007 law, the Protect America Act, that was enacted by Congress in response to the furor over the administration's original program. According to the court, its judges assessed the validity of the government's conduct "through the prism" of the law.
http://benton.org/node/21481
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THE ECONOMY
CONGRESS APPROVES BROADBAND TO NOWHERE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: L. Gordon Crovitz]
[Commentary] Broadband, once thought to be in line for $100 billion as part of the stimulus legislation, ended up a low priority, set to get well under $10 billion in the package of over $800 billion. This is a reminder that even with a new president whose platform focused on technology, and even with the fully open spigot of a stimulus bill, technology gets built by private capital and initiative and not by government. Techies may be surprised by how these funds would be dispersed. The House would give the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service control over half the grants and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration control of the other half. Tax credits would have been a faster way to make a difference than government agencies dividing spoils across the country. More fundamentally, nothing in the legislation would address the key reason that the U.S. lags so far behind other countries. This is that there is an effective broadband duopoly in the U.S., with most communities able to choose only between one cable company and one telecom carrier. It's this lack of competition, blessed by national, state and local politicians, that keeps prices up and services down. What we need to get the U.S. back into the top ranks of wired countries is more competition, not taxpayer handouts. That would be a real stimulus.
http://benton.org/node/21480
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LET LOCAL NETWORKS DELIVER BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Daily Yonder, AUTHOR: Wally Bowen]
[Commentary] In the mountains of North Carolina, Verizon, AT&T and Charter control more than 90 percent of the landlines to homes and businesses. Yet local politicians and economic development officials -- and the state's broadband authority -- gave up years ago trying to cajole or bribe the big carriers into deploying broadband to underserved neighborhoods and rural areas. The idea that these carriers might suddenly produce plans for "shovel-ready" broadband projects in our rural mountains is more magical thinking than pragmatic logic. Instead, we are far more likely to find "shovel-ready" projects on the drawing boards of local planning agencies and state broadband initiatives like the NC Rural Internet Access Authority, now known as the e-NC Authority. The danger with tax credits for the big cable and telephone companies is that they can become a bait-and-switch scheme. When some suggest that "a sizeable portion" of any stimulus package should go to these companies to deploy broadband "in areas without it," we see the bait. But then we hear that the tax credits can also be used "to expand speeds in areas with it," and there we see the potential switch. So, why are we trying to bribe the big telephone and cable companies to go where their Wall Street business models have no future? That's a question that advocates for tax credits must answer.
http://benton.org/node/21479
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DIGITAL TV
TV'S NEW DATE WITH DESTINY
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives will vote on whether the transition to digital broadcast television will be delayed, setting off a new scramble by broadcasters to adjust to a changing DTV switch deadline. After a political back-and-forth that kept station managers off-balance for two weeks, June 12 is the new date for the digital switch. Legislators have said a delay from the original Feb. 17 deadline could cost individual stations up to $1 million in additional utility and lease costs. Whether or not the delay is enacted this week, the National Association of Broadcasters is ready to deploy new public-service messages telling the public about the delay. TV stations that have been preparing contingency plans since President Barack Obama indicated last month that he wanted a delay are deciding whether to go ahead and switch to digital or wait until June. The FCC said that of the nation's 1,800 or so TV stations, 133 have terminated their analog signals already, another 67 will terminate their signals before Feb. 17 and 93 have told the agency they will terminate their signal on Feb. 17. That means no matter what Congress does, about 16% of the nation's TV stations will have switched by Feb. 17.
http://benton.org/node/21478
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For more on the DTV Delay Act
http://www.benton.org/node/20829
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THE TRANSITION
SEN GREGG IS TOP PICK FOR COMMERCE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman, Jonathan Weisman]
Sen Judd Gregg (R-NH) has emerged as President Barack Obama's top choice for commerce secretary, with an announcement coming as soon as Monday, an Obama administration official and lawmakers said Sunday. The expected move won backing from key Republican leaders, smoothing the way for the longtime fiscal conservative to take the post, if offered. Some Republican leaders had urged Sen. Gregg not to take the job because of concerns that his departure could tip the balance of power in the Senate in favor of Democrats. If Sen. Gregg is appointed as commerce secretary, New Hampshire's Democratic governor could appoint a Democrat to take his seat. The Democrats hope to gain another Senate seat when the Minnesota race is settled; Democrat Al Franken currently leads in that race. Republicans on Sunday suggested that their concerns over Sen. Gregg's seat had been worked out. "Sen. Gregg has told me that if he were to take this appointment, it would not alter the makeup of the Senate in terms of the majority and the minority," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said. Sen Gregg helped shepherd last year's $700 billion financial-rescue package to final approval. He has been a proponent of reforming Social Security and controlling federal spending.
http://benton.org/node/21477
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MORE ON DASCHLE-HINDERY LINK
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Kirkpatrick]
Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate leader, had been voted out of office. His close friend Leo Hindery, a Democratic donor and media mogul, was out of a job too, having just sold his latest company, Yes Networks. So in early 2005 the two men decided to team up. Daschle agreed to become the founding chairman of "a world-class executive advisory board" of "industry and regulatory experts" for a new investment firm run by Hindery. The Daschle-led board would help provide a "collective depth of industry knowledge and expertise that will allow us to pursue unique and high-value opportunities." In addition to lending the prestige of his name, Daschle traveled to help raise money from investors for Hindery's new venture. And in exchange, over the next four years the firm compensated Daschle with over $2 million, and Hindery lent Daschle the use of a chauffeured limousine in Washington. What expertise Daschle contributed to Hindery's firm is hard to determine. The firm, Intermedia, has hired no federal lobbyists and it mainly invests in media businesses — the television program "Soul Train," for example; cable networks devoted to gospel music or hunting and fishing; and the Christian publisher Thomas Nelson — with few interests before the government. Beyond the ramifications for Mr. Daschle's ascent to the cabinet, the disclosures about Mr. Hindery and the many clients Mr. Daschle advised on public policy offers a new window into how Washington works. It shows how in just four years an influential former senator was able to make $5 million and live a lavish lifestyle by dint of his name, connections and knowledge of the town's inner workings.
http://benton.org/node/21476
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WIRELESS
BRINGING THE INTERNET TO REMOTE AFRICAN VILLAGES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Chris Nicholson]
In recent years the mobile phone has emerged as the main modern communications link for rural areas of Africa. From 2002 to 2007, the number of Kenyans using cellphones grew almost tenfold to reach about a third of the population, many of whom did not have land lines, according to the International Telecommunication Union. But many of the phones were simple models made more for talking than Web browsing, and wireless data networks are slow, with sporadic coverage. Satellite connections are faster and more stable, which is why they are attracting interest from the likes of Google, as a way to provide Internet connections to the estimated 95 percent of Africans who, according to the telecommunications union, have no access. Although providing Internet access is outside the normal business realm of Google, with this project it is looking at how obstacles might be overcome in Kenya and other parts of Africa.
http://benton.org/node/21474
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WHAT THE CELLPHONE INDUSTRY WON'T TELL YOU
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Myron Levin]
In mid-January, the National Safety Council called for a nationwide ban on the use of cellphones while driving, citing overwhelming evidence of the risk of injuries and death from driver distraction. California has banned texting behind the wheel and, along with several other states, prohibits the use of hand-held phones while allowing drivers to talk with hands-free devices. But research has shown talking is risky even when both hands are free, because the mind is somewhere else. About 4 in 5 cellphone owners make calls while driving, and nearly 1 in 5 sends text messages, according to a survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. The habit is so deeply ingrained that the likelihood of all-out bans seems practically nil. Individuals still can make the sensible decision to hang up and drive, but they won't get any encouragement from the wireless industry.
http://benton.org/node/21472
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QUICKLY
DESPITE ITUNES ACCORD, MUSIC LABELS STILL FRET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Arango]
Last month the music industry and Apple, long uneasy partners, seemed a picture of harmony when they agreed on new terms for pricing on iTunes, Apple's online music store. Behind the scenes, however, the relationship remains as tense and antagonistic as ever. Apple's primary goal was securing distribution of music over its iPhone, as mobile phones are expected to become an increasingly important outlet for music.
http://benton.org/node/21475
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BORROWED TIME? LIBRARIES STUNG AS FUNDING SHRINKS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Marisol Bello]
Dwindling tax dollars are forcing libraries to close branches, cut hours and end programs just as more people are turning to them for services. Cities are making tough choices, says Chris Hoene, director of policy and research at the National League of Cities. As people lose income or curb spending, income tax and sales tax revenue falls. Local officials must choose between core services, such as police and fire protection, and services such as libraries and parks. "Obviously, when push comes to shove," he says, city governments facing budget cuts "will protect city services considered more vital to the safety of the community."
http://benton.org/node/21473
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