August 2012

Republican Party Platform Advocates More TV Obscenity Prosecutions

Would a Mitt Romney administration mean more fines for cable and satellite companies and even TV executives being jailed for distributing obscene and pornographic material?

As the Republican National Convention kicks off in Tampa, Morality in Media is crowing over convincing the GOP to adopt platform language calling for a crackdown on pornography. Although the official text of the platform hasn't been released, Morality in Media says in a press release that the previous platform only targeted child pornography but will now read, “Current laws on all forms of pornography and obscenity need to be vigorously enforced.” Morality in Media CEO Patrick Trueman says this means that prosecutors should be targeting obscene material distributed on the Internet, on hotel TV, on cable and satellite TV and in retail shops.

Social media 'staged' at conventions?

The omnipresence of Facebook, Google, FourSquare and other social media at the GOP convention is billed as a way Americans can interact with pols from afar — but some say it’s now just part of the political theater.

Paul Ryan’s Facebook campaign page featured a posting of a video titled “The Cheesehead Revolution has hit Tampa!” And at nearly the same time Mitt Romney was being nominated from the floor, the GOP presidential and vice presidential candidates both tweeted, “If you have a business and you started it, you did build it. And you deserve credit for that.” Even the purveyors of the major social media outlets acknowledge that the seemingly altruistic goal — to use social media to connect the public to its leaders — can be manipulated just like many of the other tools of modern politics, from TV debates to attack ads. “More and more politicians are getting more used to being careful in terms of what they say and what their post is to make sure they think through it just like anybody has to think through what they say when they’re in a public setting representing their company,” said Katie Harbath, who leads Facebook’s Republican outreach.

How the Media Adapt When News Is Scarce

Media organizations have turned the political parties’ quadrennial gatherings this year into laboratories of innovation and experimentation, straying from their traditional areas of expertise as they search for new ways to engage readers and audiences.

So far, it seems, the new media has decided that it wants to be the old media, and the old media has decided that it wants to be the new media. Convention coverage has come a long way from the days when the “boys on the bus” — the pack of A-list print reporters like R. W. Apple Jr. of The New York Times, David S. Broder of The Washington Post and Walter R. Mears of The Associated Press — set the pace for political reporting more than a generation ago armed with little more than a pen, a pad and a wicked hangover. Back then, conventions were less scripted and generated more surprises, while today’s media labor to enliven coverage of what typically are endless hours of preordained events.

Judge Koh Sets Dec. 6 Hearing on Apple’s Request to Ban Several Samsung Phones

The paperwork continues in the patent dispute between Apple and Samsung. Aiming to put some limits on things, Judge Lucy Koh established a schedule for post-trial filings as well as a pair of hearings in the case.

The parties will indeed show up in court on Sep. 20, though that day’s hearing will cover only Samsung’s effort to have an injunction lifted against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 now that the tablet has been found not to infringe on an Apple design patent. Apple’s request for an injunction against at least eight Samsung phones — as well as Samsung’s effort to have the jury’s verdict set aside — will be heard at a Dec. 6 hearing, Judge Koh announced. The December hearing date means that the injunction will likely have even less practical impact. The phones in the case are largely older models already, though the list does include several versions of the Galaxy S II, which is still being sold, as well as Verizon’s Droid Charge.

Apple vs. Samsung: Infringing by design

[Commentary] After finding Samsung liable for more than $1 billion in damages for infringing Apple's iPhone and iPad patents, members of a federal jury told reporters that they hoped to deter companies from copying one another instead of developing their own designs and features. That's a laudable goal, and the public would surely benefit from more choice and differentiation among products. The challenge is in distinguishing between the sorts of innovations that should receive patent protection and the ones that shouldn't. But it is worth remembering that Apple made its name building successful, even iconic products based on ideas that other companies pioneered. Innovation is by its nature an iterative process, and good patent policy creates an incentive to innovate more. Bad policy just makes it easier for patent holders to extract royalties from anyone venturing within reach of their claims.

Case demonstrates why 'patent' has become a dirty word

[Commentary] Sometimes the problems engulfing the U.S. patent system can seem like a thousand shades of gray where it's hard to sort the good guys from the bad. And then, at other times, the absurdity of the system just smacks you right on the face.

The latter is the case in a bizarre piece of patent litigation involving several companies, including The New York Times, a mobile technology that sends links through text messages, and an obscure inventor who has turned his patent portfolio into a weapon of mass litigation. Despite recent reforms, the patent system can't undo years of bad patent awards. It appears we need Congress and the president to step in to figure out ways to curb runaway patent litigation. I'm old enough to remember when "patent" wasn't a dirty word. Sadly, rather than being the hallmark of achievement, patents have become just another club to wield in a courtroom to pound your foes into submission.

The Internet: Command and control

[Commentary] In December, the UN World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai will set out a broad framework of regulations for the Internet – the global network of networks that links more than 2 billion people, is gaining more than 500,000 users daily, and is the platform on which the web was founded. But the meeting’s goals are causing alarm.

Technically, the conference focuses on international agreements governing telecommunications, but some proposals stretch further than many want into Internet governance. The battle is already being fought behind meeting room doors at the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the UN. Western nations – such as the US and the EU – in particular do not want to give the ITU extra authority that could indirectly benefit authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, eastern Europe and Asia. They are accused of seeing an opportunity to enhance their ability to control the web and crack down on political dissidents. Much of the controversy will hinge on the language of the regulations to be mapped out in Dubai. Some proposals published by the ITU and released to member states are seen as creating a benign environment for state intervention in content and access. Because of the vague language, that could mean blocking anything from spam to political material perceived as illegal.

New York Times reporter leaked advance copy of Maureen Dowd column to CIA

Newly available CIA records obtained by Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog group, reveal that New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti forwarded an advance copy of a Maureen Dowd column to a CIA spokesperson — a practice that is widely frowned upon within the industry.

Mazzetti's correspondence with CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf, on Aug. 5, 2011, pertained to the Kathryn Bigelow-Mark Boal film "Zero Dark Thirty," about the killing of Osama bin Laden, and a Times op-ed column by Dowd set to be published two days later that criticized the White House for having "outsourced the job of manning up the president’s image to Hollywood." According to Judicial Watch, Mazzetti sent Harf an advance copy of Dowd's column, and wrote: “this didn’t come from me… and please delete after you read. See, nothing to worry about!”

When Chief Executives Share Company News on Facebook

RealNetworks, an online media pioneer that is trying to turn itself around, told employees that it would lay off 14 percent of them, or about 160 people over the next seven months, starting with 80 right away. Instead of trying to keep his e-mail to the staff a secret, though, Rob Glaser, the founder of RealNetworks and its interim chief executive, cut and pasted it onto his Facebook page. RealNetworks made the layoffs public through filings with securities regulators, but the e-mail Glaser shared online provided a clearer window into the emotional impact of the layoffs.

In a short e-mail in response to a question about the Facebook posts, Glaser said he was limiting them to major companywide e-mail messages. Glaser isn’t the only executive to turn to Facebook to share news. In July, Reed Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive, posted a message on his page congratulating Ted Sarandos, the Netflix executive who cuts licensing deals with Hollywood studios, for reaching a big milestone in viewership for its movie streaming service.

Newspapers in Syracuse and Harrisburg to End Daily Distribution

Newhouse Newspapers, which earlier this spring announced that it would stop printing a daily paper at The New Orleans Times-Picayune and its Alabama newspapers, said it would end the daily distribution of two more of its newspapers, The Post-Standard in Syracuse, and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg (PA).

The papers will merge their content with local news Web sites and deliver the printed newspaper only three days a week. Starting in January, The Post-Standard will publish on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The Syracuse Media Group, the company formed to oversee The Post-Standard, is still considering whether to publish a newspaper that it would not deliver to homes and businesses on the other four days.

Benton

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