November 2009

MPAA to FCC: critics of video blocking proposals are lying

The movie studios have a new Holy Grail, it seems: Federal Communications Commission permission to cable companies to shut down the analog streams on video-on-demand movie programming. As Ars readers know, we've been covering this issue for a while. But the Motion Picture Association of America's latest letter to the FCC pulls out all the stops, rhetoric-wise, calling criticisms of this scheme "complete and utter nonsense that only can be intended to stir up baseless fears among consumers that their equipment will suddenly go dark and be unusable for any purpose." These are "deplorable claims," the MPAA told the FCC on Monday. Plus they "distort the truth." They're also "simply and irrefutably untrue," the trade association adds. The main target of MPAA's outrage is the advocacy group Public Knowledge.

Community Standard or Double Standard?

It wasn't really the man-on-man kiss or the simulated oral sex that marked Adam Lambert's performance on the American Music Awards on Sunday as shocking. Mostly it was ABC's reaction. By rescinding Lambert's invitation to sing on "Good Morning America," ABC self-protectively drew a line that networks usually prefer to keep blurred. Or as Lambert said Wednesday morning on "The Early Show" on CBS, "There's a lot of very adult material on the AMAs this year, and I know I wasn't the only one." Mr. Lambert, runner-up on this year's "American Idol," was referring to other risqué performances Sunday night, including Lady Gaga smashing whiskey bottles, Janet Jackson grabbing a male dancer's crotch and Eminem talking about his character Slim Shady's rap sheet of rape, assault and murder. There is a lot of very adult material on television all the time, and mostly it flows unchecked and unpunished, except when it comes as a surprise and hits a nerve. Community standards are mutable and vague; lots of people don't know obscenity until someone else sees it. Ms. Jackson transgressed during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show because she exposed a nipple, which is one thing that network television normally doesn't show. Mr. Lambert, who just released his first album, startled viewers because he did things akin to what outré rappers and female pop stars have performed onstage to get attention, only he did it as a gay man.

FCC Chair Genachowski a frequent White House visitor

Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski was a frequent visitor to the White House this year, making nearly four dozen trips there between Jan. 26 and Sept. 1, according to a White House release of its visitor log.

A new kind of company, a new challenge for feds

One is a giant of the entertainment world -- a tangle of television networks, a film studio and a stable of hit shows. The other is a cable colossus, the nation's largest provider of cable TV and Internet access. Together, the possibilities are endless. And that prospect has caught regulators' attention. With Philadelphia-based cable operator Comcast apparently hoping to acquire NBC Universal from General Electric, federal regulators are realizing that they may be thrust into a new era. A combination of the two would create the prospect of a single company controlling how customers access information--through cable and online -- and what they watch there. Comcast, for instance, could consider same-day releases of Universal movies for its cable customers. With control over more news and entertainment content, it would have greater flexibility to explore online business models, perhaps offering cable subscribers free online access to certain content, such as the show "30 Rock" or CNBC or USA Network programming. Comcast already is the nation's second-largest provider of Internet access, and NBC owns a large stake in Hulu.com, where television shows can be accessed through any broadband connection. Such are the makings of a complicated regulatory challenge.

FCC Seeks Delay Of Court Review of Ownership Rules

The Federal Communications Commission asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to once again hold off on considering appeals of its 2008 relaxation of the broadcast-newspaper crossownership rule until it completes its current 2010 review of all broadcast ownership rules. "There is no guarantee that any decision by the court in these cases regarding the reasonableness of the prior commission's 2008 order will bear any relationship to the judgments the current commission makes in the first instance in the already-commenced 2010 ... review," FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick wrote in a letter to the court Wednesday. A law mandates that the FCC review its media ownership rules every four years with the intent of eliminating or relaxing those that no longer makes sense. The 2008 action was the result of the 2006 review.

FCC Seeks White Spaces Database Managers

Moving forward with plans to use 'white spaces' for wireless broadband, the Federal Communications Commission is seeking an administrator of a planned TV band database. "The database will tell a TV band device which TV channels are vacant and can be used at its location," the FCC said in its request for proposals, issued Wednesday. "The database also will be used to register the locations of fixed TV band devices and protected locations and channels of incumbent services that are not recorded in Commission databases." With the move, the FCC takes another step toward implementing its November 2008 order allowing the unlicensed use of white spaces -- or the radio airwaves not used by television broadcasters -- for broadband. Proposals are due January 4, 2010; comments on proposals are due February 3, 2010; and replies to comments are due February 18, 2010.

Cable One To FCC: We Need More Time To Roll Out Low-Cost HD Set-Tops

Cable One has asked the Federal Communications Commission for more time to roll out its low-cost HD boxes, saying it has not been able to find an HD box for the requisite $50-or-under price. The FCC in May said it would let Cable One offer low-cost, one-way integrated HD all-digital devices (ADD) in its Dyersburg, Tenn., system, but the operator said at the time that rolling out the boxes was predicated on the assumption it could get the devices at $50 or less so that the box could, indeed, be low-cost. Cable One said it has been in discussions with vendors, including Evolution Broadband, and still thinks it can get the devices for that price, but it says the solution is ultimate, not immediate. "None of the potential options results in the availability of an HD ADD at the requisite wholesale price of $50 or less," the operator said.

Internet Gambling Ban Delayed Six Months

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve announced Friday that regulations designed to ban Internet gambling are being delayed by six months, giving US financial institutions additional time to comply. The two agencies said the new rules, which were to take effect on Dec. 1, would be delayed until June 1.But it remains in question whether the rules will ever go into force. In their joint notice, Treasury and the Federal Reserve said several lawmakers had sought a delay, arguing there was considerable support for new legislation to clarify the current laws.

Sagan: TV Survival Means Hyper-Local Online Video

[Commentary] Broadcasters are about to experience the equivalent of the Big Bang, warns Akamai Technologies CEO Paul Sagan, a broadcast and cable veteran whose company facilitates more than one-fifth of the world's Web traffic. The ability to match high-definition TV picture quality with Internet interactivity is creating a sea change for online video that will begin rippling through the television industry in 2010. Only TV station owners that leap to the new arena, playing the strength of their hyper-local connections, will survive. "The dominos are going to fall. The television industry is going to feel the impact of the Internet that music and print have suffered through," Sagan said. "It will change everything about television production, distribution, advertising -- where revenues come from and how wealth is created." Traditional content producers and distributors that are among Akamai's deep client base are in peril; their audiences are rapidly migrating to the Internet. Too many broadcasters are obsessing about cannibalizing their content instead of using the efficiency and convenience of interactivity to expand their local power base.

Open Government Directive?

Remember the open government directive - the guidance that President Obama on his first day in office memoed his administration about? He said he wanted recommendations by May 21 for regulations -- to be issued by the Office of Management and Budget -- that would put the principles of transparency, collaboration and participation in government into practice. Six months later, after receiving recommendations from agency heads, citizens and federal employees, there is still no directive. But there is a lot of hope. Dave McClure, associate administrator for the Office of Citizen Services and Communications at the General Services Administration, said that the directive should be released next month.

Benton

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