November 2011

Sens DeMint, Blunt Ask FCC to Repeal Ownership Regulations

Sens Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) have asked the Federal Communications Commission to repeal its radio and television station ownership restrictions and newspaper/broadcast and radio/TV cross-ownership restrictions, saying TV and radio stations should not be forced to try to compete in the fast-moving digital age while "strapped with regulations that do not apply to other competitors."

That is a point broadcasters have been making to the FCC for years, and with increasing urgency as the Internet continues to remake the model for video delivery. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the senators said that an "honest assessment" in the FCC's ongoing media ownership regulation review -- mandated by both the courts and Congress -- compels repeal, or at least modification, given the growth of competition, including from the Internet. They say that ownership regulations are antiquated and maintain a structural imbalance that has the practical effect of picking winners and losers rather than providing a fair competitive environment.

Silicon Valley legislators oppose online piracy act

Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Mike Honda (D-CA), all representing the Silicon Valley, oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill they argue would undermine legal protections that foster online innovation and create jobs.

"At a time of continued economic uncertainty, this legislation will result in fewer new businesses, fewer new investments and fewer new jobs," the representatives said. "We understand the importance of combatting piracy to protect the intellectual property of the American entertainment industry from copyright infringement in other parts of the world," they said. "The SOPA as written, however, is overly broad and would cause serious and long-term damage to the technology industry, one of the few bright spots in our economy."

Shootout at the digital corral

Hollywood’s in a showdown over its TV shows, movies and music with an up-and-coming opponent in the Washington arena: the Silicon Valley gang. And that can only mean a huge payday for lobbyists.

According to figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, the film, music and TV industries have spent more than $91 million on lobbying so far this year — an amount that puts them on pace to beat all of their previous spending records. Not to be outdone, Google and its tech cohorts — including eBay, Yahoo and Facebook — have been ramping up spending and are looking for a hired gun to lead their newly revamped coalition. The focus of the faceoff: a pair of online copyright bills aimed at getting Internet companies to help shutter websites that profit from illicit copies of blockbuster films, TV shows and chart-topping songs.

FCC Proposes New Form Requiring TV Broadcasters to Document their Public Interest Programming

When the Federal Communications Commission last month started a new proceeding to mandate an online public file for television stations, the FCC promised to soon initiate another proceeding to look into the need for a new form to document the public interest programming that TV stations provide. The FCC fulfilled that promise, and issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to start the process of adopting a new form for TV stations to complete to report on various categories of "public interest programming," however that might be defined. In 2007, the FCC had adopted Form 355 to accomplish that task. But, after an outcry from stations about the paperwork burden that the form would impose, the FCC never submitted it to the Office of Management and Budget for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act, and thus the form never became effective. The adoption of the Form 355 was vacated last month in the online public file proceeding. But the FCC now proposes its return - in some fashion. So what does the FCC now propose to require from TV stations to document their public interest programming?

First, the FCC asks a series of questions about how such a form should be structured, and how the information should be collected to be meaningful for those that want to analyze it, but not overly burdensome for the TV stations. The FCC then goes on to discuss the Quarterly Programs Issues lists (QPIs) that are currently required to be placed in a station's public file every three months - describing the issues that station management sees as important in the community and the programs that the station has broadcast to address those issues.

Once Wary, Apple Warms Up to Business Market

Steven Jobs never cared much for selling Apple products to big businesses. The late Apple chief executive so disliked the process of catering to the needs of business, rather than those of consumers, that he called chief information officers in corporations “orifices” at a conference in 2005. A funny thing happened, though, in the last few years. Big companies started buying Apple products — a lot of them — for their employees. The iPad and iPhone have given the Apple symbol a presence in workplaces that Apple never enjoyed when it was strictly focused on selling Macintosh computers. While corporate technology buyers say Apple does not try to hide the fact that consumers are still its top priority, they note that the company has gotten easier to work with in recent years, adding features to its devices that make them more palatable to business. It also doesn’t hurt that Apple’s new chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, is known to be far more at ease meeting with the C.I.O.’s Mr. Jobs once so memorably disparaged.

Self-Publishers Get Help

In a sign that major book publishers are now recognizing the potential of the digital self-publishing industry, Penguin Group (USA) is launching a service to help writers publish their own books.

For a fee of between $99 and $549, plus a cut of any sales revenue, Penguin's subsidiary Book Country will offer an array of tools—ranging from professional e-book conversion to a cover creator—to help a writer make their work available through digital book outlets and print-on-demand services. The self-publishing venture could help Penguin discover new writers while creating an additional revenue stream. Penguin Group (USA) has invested "a substantial amount of money" in technology to launch the new service, said Chief Executive David Shanks. "If some of these books hit the best-seller lists, it could be very successful."

Facebook, Google join to fight Internet piracy legislation

Facebook, Google and other Silicon Valley Internet giants put aside their competitive battles and jointly warned federal lawmakers against anti-piracy legislation they fear could place too much responsibility on firms like them. A House legislative proposal has drawn fresh attention from Internet firms and venture capital investors who are at odds with Hollywood and record labels advocating for stronger laws. Silicon Valley giants Twitter, Yahoo and LinkedIn also signed onto the letter that asks leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees to be more specific in any new rules to ensure online firms aren’t liable for pirated material that may appear on their sites. A similar bill by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) passed the Senate in September. Online giants say they support efforts to fight against illegal exchange of copyrighted material on the Internet. But they said in their letter the House Stop Online Piracy Act proposal would “expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring web sites.” Specifically, they say language is too vague in the House bill and that it could make online sites like theirs responsible for pirated content. They say a safe harbor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 protects them from legal action as long as they show good faith to remove infringing content from their site.

Copyright Chief: Online Piracy Threatens Whole System

The director of the U.S. Copyright Office says that unless Congress continues to take serious steps to combat online piracy -- like the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) -- the nation's copyright system cannot be sustained.

"I would like to be very clear at the outset," Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante said in testimony prepared for the House Judiciary Committee's Nov. 16 hearing on SOPA. "It is my view that if Congress does not continue to provide serious responses to online piracy, the U.S. copyright system will ultimately fail." That panel's chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), sponsored the bill, which would give industry and government more tools to pursue and potentially shut down websites believed to be trading in pirated content, including TV shows and movies. "Congress has repeatedly acted to improve enforcement provisions in copyright law over the years, including in the online environment," Pallante's testimony said. "SOPA is the next step in ensuring that our law keeps pace with infringers." She said the bill enlists all stakeholders in the crucial task of protecting intellectual property.

Sponsor Of Piracy Bill: Legit Companies ‘Have Nothing To Worry About’

The Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is pushing back against critics like Google and Facebook who say that impending piracy legislation is a draconian mistake.

In a statement, the chairman said that free speech concerns about the bill are “false and misleading” and that law-abiding websites have nothing to fear. The remarks come ahead of a hearing tomorrow that has suddenly grabbed the attention of both Washington and Silicon Valley. The fuss is about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a law that is nominally designed to help American companies shut down websites that sell counterfeit or pirated merchandise. Earlier versions of the legislation have attracted controversy for months but, in the last week, SOPA has suddenly become a national flash point with Hollywood and the Chamber of Commerce on one side and Silicon Valley on the other.

To quell the criticism, the House Judiciary Committee has released a “Facts & Myths” sheet while Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) released a statement that says only bad guys need to worry:
Claims that the Stop Online Piracy Act would limit lawful free speech on the Internet are false and misleading. This bill specifically targets websites that are dedicated to the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit material and products. It does not target the lawful activity of legitimate websites. Because this bill focuses on illegal activity, legitimate and lawful American businesses should have nothing to worry about.

Smith’s statement reiterates an often-repeated argument that the bill is just intended to close a loophole that prevents the government from shutting down foreign websites that facilitate criminal activity. This is unlikely to assuage critics, however.

Chairman Walden Seeks Review Of Emergency Alert Test

House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) says he wants answers about last week's test of the emergency alert system, which was highly promoted and then plagued by reports of problems.

Chairman Walden said on he has scheduled a meeting with federal officials to review the Nov. 9 test. Across the country many people reported that no signal appeared or the transmission was garbled on outlets ranging from radio, TV, and cable. "By many accounts, last week's test had major problems," Chairman Walden said. "In my home state of Oregon, most -- if not all -- stations didn't even receive the signal. He said he has contacted officials at the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Emergency Management Agency to schedule a briefing for the subcommittee's members on Nov 17. "I look forward to hearing where the agencies can relay what worked, what didn't, and where we can go from here to fix it," Chairman Walden said. The FCC and FEMA contend that the test played out exactly as needed.

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