September 2010

Local TV needs financial lifeline, says panel

A government-backed plan to set up a network of local television stations in the UK will probably fail unless it secures funding beyond advertising revenue, an expert panel studying the idea has warned ministers.

The panel, headed by the investment banker Nicholas Shott, said the network is likely to have to be rolled out in two phases - the first in about a dozen urban areas and the second in the rest of the country once the take-up of Internet protocol television (IPTV) is big enough to make it viable. Jeremy Hunt -- the culture, Olympics, media and sport secretary -- has made local television a key part of his media strategy, arguing that it is vital for democracy that local news coverage should not become the sole province of the BBC. He points out that commercial broadcasters, facing tough economic times, are struggling to provide it.

Subcommittee on Technology & Innovation
House Committee on Science and Technology
September 30, 2010
10 am
http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?News...

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Justice Department Requires Six High Tech Companies to Stop Entering into Anticompetitive Employee Solicitation Agreements

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies-Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar-that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees.

The department said that the agreements eliminated a significant form of competition to attract highly skilled employees, and overall diminished competition to the detriment of affected employees who were likely deprived of competitively important information and access to better job opportunities. The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust complaint today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the lawsuit. According to the complaint, the six companies entered into agreements that restrained competition between them for highly skilled employees. The agreements between Apple and Google, Apple and Adobe, Apple and Pixar and Google and Intel prevented the companies from directly soliciting each other's employees. An agreement between Google and Intuit prevented Google from directly soliciting Intuit employees. The proposed settlement, which if accepted by the court will be in effect for five years, prohibits the companies from engaging in anticompetitive no solicitation agreements. Although the complaint alleges only that the companies agreed to ban cold calling, the proposed settlement more broadly prohibits the companies from entering, maintaining or enforcing any agreement that in any way prevents any person from soliciting, cold calling, recruiting, or otherwise competing for employees. The companies will also implement compliance measures tailored to these practices.

In This War, Movie Studios Are Siding With Your Couch

Sometime in the next few months, there is likely to be an explosion in the movie business. The question is which studio will detonate the bomb.

Tension between studios and theater owners has been simmering a long time, but it intensified in May, when the Federal Communications Commission issued what appeared on the surface to be an arcane ruling. After two years of prodding from Hollywood, the FCC agreed to let movie studios activate technology to prevent films sold through video-on-demand systems from being copied. Ho-hum? Hardly. The ruling gave studios the ability to pursue a new business -- so-called premium VOD -- that may be the industry's best hope of restoring itself to health, now that the bottom has fallen out of the DVD market. Right now, theaters get an exclusive period -- 120 days, on average -- to serve up new movies. Then the releases appear on television video-on-demand services at a price of about $4.99. Armed with the new copy-blocking technology, studios want to offer new movies on video-on-demand services about 45 days after they arrive in theaters, for a premium price of $24.99. The business opportunity is multifold. With as much as 80 percent of that early VOD revenue going to the studio, movie executives see a new engine to compensate for the sputtering DVD. And for the studios, the need is urgent: DVD sales for the year are expected to total about $9.9 billion, down 30 percent from their peak in 2004, according to Adams Media Research.

French court orders Google to pay libel damages - media

A French court has ordered Google to pay 5,000 euros ($6,672) in libel damages to a man who claimed that searches for his name automatically yielded a list of harmful suggestions. The man, whose name was not given, said the suggested terms that came up when typing his name on Google.fr -- including the words "rape", "rapist" and "prison" -- were damaging for his reputation, court documents showed. The man had previously been condemned to a prison sentence on charges of corrupting a minor, the documents showed. The decision was published in court documents dated Sept. 8 on the French legal web site Legalis.

US television rights battle set to rage

Describing the Olympics as the last refuge of family viewing in the United States, Dick Ebersol, the head of NBC Universal Sports, said the network is ready to battle for American broadcast rights to the 2014 and 2016 Games. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge had signaled that after several false starts the IOC was finally prepared begin negotiating a deal for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. A fragile economic climate in the United States had prompted the IOC to delay the start of negotiations. The IOC president said in July that bidding could be put off until after the 2012 Olympics in London because of the uncertainty of the American economy.

Digital TV Coupon Program Officially Retired

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issues this final rule to remove its regulations to implement and administer the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program (Coupon Program).

Chicago-area Online News Site Survey Results Released

The second annual "NEW News" report, produced by Community Media Workshop and funded by The Chicago Community Trust's Community News Matters program, surveyed 121 online news outlets on matters ranging from salaried employees to the type of content produced. According to the report, most online sites surveyed rely heavily on unpaid bloggers and reporters and piggy-bank financing.

More than 60% had only one full-time staffer. A similar percentage reported no one receiving health insurance from their online news outlet. The report also shows the Chicago area's online news ecosystem is "still growing, evolving and retooling," Chicago Community Trust CEO Terry Mazany said in a statement. "Through our work with the John S. and James Knight Foundation's Community Information Challenge, The Chicago Community Trust is committed to examining how the rapidly changing media landscape is impacting the residents of our region. The NEW News report helps us understand the sources and availability of information in our community and whether or not it is meeting the needs of residents." The report contains the survey's findings and list of 146 outlets identified as online news sites, which give an idea of the diversity in size, content, format and issue area of Chicago's online news ecosystem. While the report show more competition than ever for news consumers said Community Media Workshop President Thom Clark, "the roadmap for vetted, authoritative information that frames the public debate is still being charted."

OSTP Full of Firsts

Office of Science and Technology Policy staff gathered for a few minutes Tuesday morning to celebrate a significant event: For the first time in a decade, OSTP has the full complement of four Associate Directors authorized by Congress.

Completion came this week with the swearing in of Nobel Prize winner Carl Wieman, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as OSTP's Associate Director (AD) for Science. He joins Phil Coyle (AD for National Security and International Affairs), Shere Abbott (AD for Environment), and Aneesh Chopra (AD for Technology and the first ever U.S. Chief Technology Officer), under the leadership of OSTP Director John P. Holdren, who also serves as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Dept of Energy's Latest Efforts to Address Cybersecurity

Speaking at the inaugural GridWise Global Forum, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the investment of more than $30 million for ten projects that will address cybersecurity issues facing the nation's electric grid.

Together, these projects represent a significant investment in addressing cybersecurity issues in the nation's electric infrastructure. The announcement supports the Administration's goal of building a 21st Century clean energy economy supported by a secure, reliable, electricity system delivering power to American homes and businesses. "These awards help us make a significant leap forward to strengthen the security and reliability of the nation's electric grid, in a climate of increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks," said Secretary Chu. "The development of technologies that can provide defense-in-depth cybersecurity solutions, and increased insight from private-public collaborations, will allow us to better protect the nation's energy delivery systems that keep our lights on and the power flowing." The selections address cyber security concerns from two approaches: 1) research and development on innovative cybersecurity solutions and 2) the establishment of the National Electric Sector Cybersecurity Organization.

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