June 2009

A Media Guy Asks: Why Do They Hate Us?

[Commentary] On the Internet, articles about the demise of traditional news media are commonly greeted with glee and schadenfreude. And it's not just the online cranks. The Pew Research Center recently found that most Americans feel that the press is biased and inaccurate, and large percentages even said it was "immoral" and "hurts democracy." So to borrow a phrase that became a media refrain in 2001: why do they hate us?

Chicago launches new push for broadband

Chicago is angling for about $100 million in federal stimulus money to build a high-speed Internet network that would reach some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. City officials have seized on the stimulus program as a second chance to bring broadband service to underserved areas like the South Side, after a more ambitious proposal to blanket the city with a wireless Internet signal fizzled in 2007. In the next few months, they plan to apply for federal funds to provide high-speed Internet access to tens of thousands of Chicago residents and a multitude of businesses. An expanded high-speed wireless network would help fulfill a goal of Mayor Richard M. Daley and others who long have argued that the lack of affordable broadband in some areas is an obstacle to education and economic development. The city estimates that broadband penetration in 23 of its 77 neighborhoods is lower than that in rural areas.

Panel meets to map meaningful use standards

The Department of Health and Human Services Health Information Technology (HIT) Standards Committee took aim at a moving target Wednesday as it began to discuss how to apply specifications and certification criteria to the definition of "meaningful use" of health information technology. "Meaningful use" is the formula used in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to describe criteria for qualifying hospitals and practices for Medicare incentive payments for adopting health IT systems. Last week, the HIT Policy committee unveiled a first draft of a definition for meaningful use. In the end, it tabled its initial recommendations in favor of a more ambitious plan that would move forward elements of the health IT adoption plan from 2013 to 2011. "The definition of meaningful use will be evolving in the next 60 days," noted John Halamka, the chief information officer of Harvard Medical School and co-chairman of the standards committee, at Wednesday's meeting in Washington. "This will require the standards committee to coordinate their work with "a set of evolving criteria."

Microsoft's Ballmer: Traditional media will not bounce back

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer says that the global advertising economy has been permanently "reset" at a lower level, warning that media companies should not plan for revenues to bounce back to pre-recession levels. He argues that traditional broadcast and print media would have to plan business models around a smaller share of the advertising market, as revenues continue to move to digital outlets. He paints a bleak picture for the future of traditional media, arguing that newspaper publishers have failed to generate new revenues from the digital opportunity. He said that within 10 years all traditional content will be digital and yet, Google aside, publishers are failing to generate serious digital revenues.

US sees 'broadband boom' this decade

Entropy Economics says the US government should avoid making huge changes in its deregulatory telecom policies because consumers have seen a "broadband boom" since 2000. "Some interest groups have asserted we live in a sort of digital Dark Age," said Bret Swanson, the paper's author and president of Entropy Economics. "But this didn't seem quite right to us, so we attempted to measure the growth of consumer bandwidth -- or the capacity to communicate -- over the last several years." Residential broadband speeds in the U.S. grew by 54 times between 2000 and 2008, while wireless broadband speeds grew by a factor of 542.

Swanson was previously executive editor of the Gilder Technology Report and a senior fellow at The Progress & Freedom Foundation.

The Case for Creating a White House Office of Innovation Policy

Duke Law School professors Stuart Benjamin and Arti Rai propose that the Obama administration (or Congress, if Congress is willing) create an Office of Innovation Policy that would draw upon, and feed into, existing regulatory review processes but would have the specific mission of being the "innovation champion" within these processes.

Broadcast legend John Callaway dies

Chicago television news giant John Callaway died Tuesday evening. He was 72. Callaway was the founder of WTTW's ''Chicago Tonight,'' a program he anchored for 15 years before retiring in 1999. Callaway was known for his penetrating interviews and the depth and breath of his preparation. Callaway's work has won more than 60 awards, including seven Emmys and a Peabody award.

June 24, 2009 (New Media and Iran)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY JUNE 24, 2009

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/benton_fdn


GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Western Journalists Among Reporters Detained in Iran
   From new media, a new portrait of Iran emerges
   Obama Points To New Media In Bringing Struggle in Iran to World
   DHS to Cut Police Access to Spy-Satellite Data

CYBERWARFARE
   Pentagon approves creation of cyber command
   CDT Releases Report Tracking Cyberspace Policy Review Privacy Action Items

POLICYMAKERS
   No Agreement Yet On Genachowski, McDowell Senate Vote

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Taking The FCC's Website To 2.0
   Verizon Raises FiOS Prices, but Hardly Mentions It
   FCC Nears Decision on Embarq Deal
   Cable TV's Big Worry: Taming the Web

TELEVISION
   House Committee To Mark Up SHVERA Reauthorization Bill Thursday
   NCTA: Government Has No Need to Step In to Spur Video Competition
   Arbitron Meters to Track TV Viewing

PRIVACY
   Internet Marketing: Is Regulation Coming?
   TiVo To Match TV Viewing With Internet Activity
   EU Lays Out Web Privacy Rules

JOURNALISM
   Viewers Tune Out Networks' Nightly News
   Iran Dominates the News
   The NEW News

MORE ON THE WEB
   Media stocks slide as worries overtake markets
   Malone Fined $1.4 Million Over Discovery Share Buys
   Apps Deficit Hurts Palm In Rivalry With iPhone
   Online shoppers leaving purchases behind

Recent Comments on:
A Weak Spot in Our Defenses
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS


WESTERN JOURNALISTS AMONG REPORTERS DETAINED IN IRAN
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Tara Bahrampour]
In the first days after Iran's disputed election, journalists covered it openly. Then, as government militias cracked down, they were told to stay in their offices. Now, many are being arrested -- so far, a Canadian Iranian reporter for Newsweek, a Greek reporter for the Washington Times and several dozen Iranian reporters, including a group arrested en masse at their office. It is unclear why the journalists were arrested or what, if anything, they will be charged with. The detentions could, some experts say, be a scare tactic. Or, as with so much of what is happening in Iran now, they could be the beginning of a new phase in which old rules don't necessarily apply.
http://benton.org/node/26093
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FROM NEW MEDIA, A NEW PORTRAIT OF IRAN EMERGES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Geraldine Baum]
By the time Iranian authorities drew the curtain this week, it was too late. Attempts to choke off coverage of massive protests and postelection street battles between dissidents and government forces came well after the American public had reset a nascent and evolving impression of Iran, experts say. With the cooperation of the government, the global media buzzed in the days before the June 12 election with images of a youthful and exuberant Iran engaged in political debate. Even "The Daily Show" was allowed to profile a lovable, not-unlike-us Iranian family. It was a far cry from footage from decades ago of fanatics raging against America, more recent focus on Iran's nuclear program, or reports of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's frequent America-bashing as he traveled the world. That won't be true again, predicts James Rubin, a former U.S. assistant secretary of State for public affairs. "Whether it's in the Arab world or developing world, or even in Los Angeles, the perception of Iran is forever changed as a result of what's happened."
http://benton.org/node/26092
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OBAMA POINTS TO NEW MEDIA IN BRINGING STRUGGLE IN IRAN TO WORLD
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
At a news conference, President Barack Obama pointed to the power of new media to bring the struggle in Iran to the world. Opening the press conference with a reference to the violence in that country, he said that the Iranian people can speak for themselves in the ongoing debate about their future. "That is precisely what has happened these last few days. In 2009, no iron fist is strong enough to shut off the world from bearing witness to the peaceful pursuit of justice. Despite the Iranian government's efforts to expel journalists and isolate itself, powerful images and poignant words have made their way to us through cell phones and computers," he said, "and so we have watched what the Iranian people are doing."
http://benton.org/node/26086
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DHS TO CUT POLICE ACCESS TO SPY SATELLITE DATA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Spencer Hsu]
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced yesterday that she will kill a controversial Bush administration program to expand the use of spy satellites by domestic law enforcement and other agencies. Sec Napolitano said she acted after state and local law enforcement officials said that access to secret overhead imagery was not a priority. Two years ago, President George W. Bush's top intelligence and homeland security officials authorized the National Applications Office (NAO) to expand sharing of satellite data with domestic agencies. But congressional Democrats barred funding for what they said could become a new platform for domestic surveillance that would raise privacy and civil liberties concerns.
http://benton.org/node/26096
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CYBERWARFARE


PENTAGON APPROVES CREATION OF CYBER COMMAND
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andrew Gray]
The Pentagon will create a Cyber Command to oversee the U.S. military's efforts to protect its computer networks and operate in cyberspace, under an order signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday. The new headquarters, likely to be based at Fort Meade (MD), outside Washington (DC), will be responsible for defending U.S. military systems but not other U.S. government or private networks, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Asked if the command would be capable of offensive operations as well as protecting the Department of Defense, Whitman declined to answer directly. Whitman said the new command will consolidate existing Pentagon efforts to protect its networks and operate in cyberspace. Those efforts currently come under the auspices of US Strategic Command in Nebraska, which will also oversee the new headquarters. The U.S. Department of Defense runs some 15,000 electronic networks and runs some 7 million computers and other information technology devices, Whitman said. The new command should begin initial operations by this October and be fully up and running a year later. The head of the Cyber Command would also be the director of the US National Security Agency, which conducts electronic surveillance and communications interception and is also based at Fort Meade.
http://benton.org/node/26085
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CDT RELEASES REPORT TRACKING CYBERSPACE POLICY REVIEW PRIVACY ACTION ITEMS
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy and Technology, AUTHOR: ]
The Center for Democracy and Technology released a report to help track the progress of the privacy "action items" contained in the Administration's recently released Cyberspace Policy Review. The Review discusses a wide range of issues that the country needs to address in order to ensure that national security, economic and civil liberties interests are adequately protected. The action items outlined in the CDT report were derived from the Review and President's subsequent remarks on the document. The action items that develop from these themes are offered to supplement the Review's broader near and mid-term Action Plan for the incoming Cybersecurity Policy Official.
http://benton.org/node/26084
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POLICYMAKERS


NO AGREEMENT YET ON GENACHOWSKI, MCDOWELL SENATE VOTE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would like the body to vote on the nominations of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commissioner Robert McDowell before the Senate breaks for its July 4 recess on Friday. Both are expected to be confirmed but, apparently, there's no deal yet on when a vote could take place. The problems with getting that agreement could stem from issues at least a couple of Senators had with the nominees' written answers to some questions.
http://benton.org/node/26083
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INTERNET/BROADBAND


TAKING THE FCC'S WEBSITE TO 2.0
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission's website is painful to use. There's hope it could be upgraded -- here's how we could create FCC 2.0, using features of social networking. Basically what would happen is if you're an individual or an organization that wants to comment on an FCC proceeding, you sign up for an account, which opens up a slew of features including: 1) Easy comment/reply submittals, 2) FCC proceeding tracker, 4) More robust reply system, 5) Commenter ratings, 6) Commenter classifications, 7) Public requests for information, 8) Deputize some commenters, 9) Empower some commenters as moderators, 10) Consumer complaint section, and 11) Regular video updates.
http://benton.org/node/26079
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VERIZON RAISES FIOS PRICES, BUT HARDLY MENTIONS IT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Saul Hansell]
It takes a lot of moxie to raise prices in a deep recession, particularly when you are the newcomer to a hotly competitive market. But that's exactly what Verizon is doing with its FiOS service. In many markets, the company is raising the price of basic triple-play bundle (TV, Internet and Phone) to $109 from $99. However gutsy it may be, Verizon didn't want to talk about its price increases. It called a video press conference Monday, to boast about the faster Internet speeds, as well as new promotions and new local TV news channels for Long Island and northern New Jersey. The price increases were not mentioned.
http://benton.org/node/26082
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FCC NEARS DECISION ON EMBARQ DEAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
The Federal Communications Commission is in the final stage of reviewing CenturyTel's $11 billion acquisition of Embarq Corp. and could sign off on the deal as soon as this week, clearing the last regulatory hurdle facing the merger of the two midsize phone companies. The three-member FCC board is waiting to review a final draft of a deal to approve the merger, said people familiar with the review, although negotiations on merger conditions have been substantially completed. The deal received shareholder approval in January and a final nod from state regulators last month. The companies have agreed to provide faster Internet speeds to their broadband customers at the request of the FCC. The companies committed to providing substantially higher speeds to customers in rural areas within a relatively short time frame to gain the FCC's approval of the deal, which was announced in October. The FCC's insistence on improved broadband service for rural customers as part of the deal shows how its been focusing more intensely recently on ways of getting more Americans online at faster speeds.
http://benton.org/node/26081
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CABLE TV'S BIG WORRY: TAMING THE WEB
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Arango]
Like newspaper owners, media moguls are looking for new ways to protect their investment from the ravages of the Internet. And, as with the newspaper industry, the answer remains elusive. What is at stake is perhaps the last remaining pillar of the old media business that has not been severely affected by the Internet: cable television. Aware of how print, music and broadcast television have suffered severe business erosion, the chief executives of the major media conglomerates like Time Warner, Viacom and NBC Universal have made protecting cable TV from the ravages of the Internet perhaps their top priority.
http://benton.org/node/26100
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TELEVISION


HOUSE COMMITTEE TO MARK UP SHVERA REAUTHORIZATION BILL THURSDAY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House Communications, Technology and Internet Subcommittee plans to mark up the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act this Thursday (June 25). SHVERA allows satellite companies to deliver distant TV network-affiliated TV station signals to markets that can't receive a viewable signal from their own local affiliate, or lack one altogether. A draft circulated early last week did not deal with anything but a straight reauthorization plus some updates given the digital switch. One of those was instructing the FCC to come up with a new formula for determining what satellite subscribers qualified for distant network signals. The old test was based on a grade B analog signal contour that is no longer relevant in the digital world. But sources say the draft is only a placeholder, and that the heavy lifting will come in as amendments from Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA), which will be the true measure of what issues will be in the bill.
http://benton.org/node/26077
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NCTA: GOVERNMENT HAS NO NEED TO STEP IN TO SPUR VIDEO COMPETITION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Reiterating that the video marketplace is "diverse, dynamic, and fiercely competitive," the National Cable & Telecommunications Association told the Federal Communications Commission again that the government has no need to step in to further spur video competition or give cable's satellite and telco competition an "unfair regulatory advantage." That came in reply comments to the FCC's "annual" video competition report. Annual is in quotes because the FCC in January issued a three-years overdue report and is in the process of trying to catch up with the intervening years by collecting that data and input in order to roll the reports into one. NCTA urges the commission to conclude in its video competition report that the goal of a "highly competitive video marketplace" has been achieved.
http://benton.org/node/26078
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ARBITRON METERS TO TRACK TV VIEWING
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah McBride]
Arbitron Inc. said Tuesday it will use its Portable People Meter radio-audience measurement device to track TV viewership, vaulting it onto Nielsen's turf. Arbitron aims to offer more details about who watches various TV shows. Filling advertisers' demands for as much information as possible on their target customers has become increasingly important for media companies as more ad spending moves online. The company, whose pager-sized meters are worn by a sampling of people in about 15 major U.S. cities to track radio listening, says the devices also can track TV viewing by using sound encoding that isn't audible to humans. The idea is to use the meters to track people's TV viewing in bars and other locations outside the home.
http://benton.org/node/26097
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PRIVACY


INTERNET MARKETING: IS REGULATION COMING?
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Douglas MacMillan]
The impetus to regulate online marketing may be gathering steam. On June 18 a House of Representatives subcommittee held a hearing to take a closer look at how advertisers gather and use information on consumers' Web-surfing habits. Up to now the government has had a hands-off policy toward online marketing, giving companies relatively free rein in how they use tools that track what people do online and then use that data to deliver tailored marketing messages. Although regulation is likely to be far off, it would surely rewrite how Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Facebook, and a wide range of other Internet companies grapple for share in the $25.7 billion online ad market. The hearing, which brought together representatives of Web companies and online privacy advocates, may mark "the beginning of the end of self-regulation for online advertising," says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).
http://benton.org/node/26072
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TIVO TO MATCH TV VIEWING WITH INTERNET ACTIVITY
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
TiVo announced a deal with Quantcast, a Web audience-measurement startup, that will allow it to track the Internet activity of about 35,000 DVR customers and sell that research to advertisers and media companies. The PowerWatch for Quantcast service, to be available from TiVo later this summer, combines data from the DVR company's existing 35,000-household PowerWatch ratings panel with Quantcast's direct-measurement offering that tracks views on more than 10 million Web destinations. Members of TiVo's PowerWatch panel are anonymously paired with a Quantcast ID when their DVRs connect to the Internet, allowing the companies to track visits on sites with the Quantcast tags. Customers of San Francisco-based Quantcast, which launched in 2006, include NBC, Hulu.com, CBS, Viacom and Fox Entertainment.
http://benton.org/node/26075
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EU LAYS OUT WEB PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Matthew Dalton]
European regulators have laid out operating guidelines for Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking Web sites to ensure they comply with the region's privacy laws, in a move to address concerns about the handling of users' personal information. The privacy issue is key for social-networking companies, many of which are based outside of the European Union but have millions of users within it. Regulators here say social-network users are protected by the 27-nation EU's strict privacy laws, which require Web sites to warn users of privacy risks and limit the sites' ability to target advertising based on members' race, religion or other sensitive categories. A panel of European privacy regulators that advises the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, issued an opinion, which was released Tuesday, that describes how EU privacy laws apply to social-networking sites. The opinion stated that the sites should place default security settings at a high level and allow users to limit data disclosed to third parties. The recommendations also seek to limit the use of sensitive information, such as race, religion or political opinion in behavioral advertising, which targets users based on aspects of their online activity.
http://benton.org/node/26098
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JOURNALISM


VIEWERS TUNE OUT NETWORKS' NIGHTLY NEWS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Frazier Moore]
The big news in TV ratings last week was how few people bothered to watch the news — the three network evening newscasts, anyway. Logging only 4.9 million viewers, the "CBS Evening News" slipped below 5 million for the first time on record. And ABC's "World News" had 6.4 million viewers — a drop of a half-million viewers from the week before, according to Nielsen Media Research. NBC won the week with a three-day average of 7.8 million viewers, down a half-million from the week before.
http://benton.org/node/26094
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IRAN DOMINATES THE NEWS
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
The violent unrest in Iran exploded onto the news landscape last week as the rapidly evolving crisis became the biggest international story—other than Iraq—in more than two years. The events triggered by the disputed June 12 Iranian elections filled 28% of the newshole from June 15-21, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. That more than quadrupled the coverage from the previous week (6%). Even more notably, it marked the most weekly attention to any international event other than the Iraq war since PEJ began its weekly News Coverage Index in January 2007. (No. 2 was the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, at 26%).
http://benton.org/node/26074
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THE NEW NEWS
[SOURCE: Community Media Workshop, AUTHOR: Gordon Mayer, Thom Clark]
Economic pressures on one hand and continuing democratization of news on the other have already changed the news picture in Chicago, as elsewhere in the US. The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times are in bankruptcy, and local broadcast news programs also face economic pressures. Meanwhile, it seems every week brings a new local news entrepreneur from Gapers Block to Beachwood Reporter to Chi-Town Daily News to Windy Citizen to The Printed Blog. In response to these changes, the Knight Foundation is actively supporting a national effort to explore innovations in how information, especially at the local community level, is collected and disseminated to ensure that people find the information they need to make informed decisions about their community's future. The Chicago Community Trust is fortunate to have been selected as a partner working with the Knight Foundation in this effort through the Knight Community Information Challenge. Understanding how online information and communications are meeting, or not, the needs of the community is crucial to the Trust's project supported by the Knight Foundation. This report is a first of its kind resource offering an inventory and assessment of local news coverage for the region by utilizing the interactive power of the Internet. Essays in this report also provide insightful perspectives on the opportunities and challenges.
http://benton.org/node/26073
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Cable TV's Big Worry: Taming the Web

Like newspaper owners, media moguls are looking for new ways to protect their investment from the ravages of the Internet. And, as with the newspaper industry, the answer remains elusive. What is at stake is perhaps the last remaining pillar of the old media business that has not been severely affected by the Internet: cable television. Aware of how print, music and broadcast television have suffered severe business erosion, the chief executives of the major media conglomerates like Time Warner, Viacom and NBC Universal have made protecting cable TV from the ravages of the Internet perhaps their top priority.

Apps Deficit Hurts Palm In Rivalry With iPhone

By all accounts, Palm's new Pre smartphone is elegant and powerful. On sale for just a few weeks, it has a crisp touch screen, a pull-out keyboard aimed at e-mail devotees and a new operating system that can manage multiple applications at the same time. But in a world crowded with iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smartphones, success for the Pre — and possibly the survival of Palm itself — is going to take a lot more than a well-designed device. These days, it is all about the apps. Industry experts and programmers say that the company needs to cultivate a system of developers eager to write and publish small useful programs, or applications, for the Pre and its core software, WebOS. Palm also needs to provide an easy way for Pre users to download, pay for and install those apps, similar to Apple's App Store.