For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
TODAY'S QUESTION comes from our last story... yes, this may well be a false
choice, but would you trade peer-to-peer networks for tighter gun control?
MEDIA POLICY
Appeals Court Tells FCC to Say Why It Hasn't Acted on Must-Carry
FCC, Viacom Agree on Indecency Fine
More Indecent News
Children's Programming Obligations for Digital Television Broadcasters
Let the Market Decide
JOURNALISM
Dan Rather Stepping Away from Anchor Chair
Radio Liberty
INTERNET
E-Rate Program Issues New Funding Commitments
Bytes and Bullets
MEDIA POLICY
APPEALS COURT TELLS FCC TO SAY WHY IT HASN'T ACTED ON MUST-CARRY
The FCC must tell the U.S. Appeals Court in Washington, DC within 30 days
why it hasn't acted on DTV must-carry, the court ruled. The cable industry
immediately urged the FCC to respond by reaffirming decisions reached in
2001 that dual must-carry regulations would likely be unconstitutional. The
court ruling was in response to an action brought by Paxson Communications
which wants the FCC to resolve broadcasters' cable carriage rights for
their DTV signals. After the FCC responds, Paxson then will have 14 days to
respond, the court said in the brief order.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Anne Veigle]
(Not available online)
See more in B&C:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA482802?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
FCC, VIACOM AGREE ON INDECENCY FINE
On Tuesday, the FCC entered into a $3.5 million Consent Decree with Viacom
and certain of its subsidiaries to resolve investigations into whether
Viacom broadcast stations, as well as non-Viacom owned affiliates of the
CBS Television Network and UPN, had aired obscene, indecent, and/or profane
material in violation of the Communications Act and Commission rules. As
part of the agreement, Viacom admits that some of the material that it
broadcast was indecent. In addition to the $3.5 million payment to the
U.S. Treasury, Viacom has committed to implementing a company-wide
Compliance Plan aimed at preventing future violations. Communications Daily
reports that Viacom will install video and audio time delay controls at TV
and radio stations. Any future airing of indecent content will result in
suspension and an investigation of the employees responsible. Viacom said
it also intended to continue its efforts to encourage parents to use
ratings and V-chips tools to make informed
decisions on the programming their children watch. The Wall Street Journal
reports that the payment will cover five outstanding fines totaling
$440,500 involving radio programs. It also will settle numerous other
incidents under investigation by the FCC that could have led to millions of
dollars in additional penalties. Among them was an expected fine of nearly
$1.5 million related to shock jock Howard Stern's raunchy on-air antics, as
well as complaints involving television shows on CBS and UPN including
"Cold Case," "CSI" and the Victoria's Secret annual fashion show. The
Washington Post reports that the biggest fine covered in the settlement was
spurred by an August 2002 broadcast of the "Opie & Anthony Show" in which
the hosts, since fired and now employed by XM Satellite Radio, aired what
the FCC described as a "couple engaged in actual or simulated sexual
activity inside [New York's] St. Patrick's Cathedral while the program
hosts . . . discussed that activity on the air." Notably, the agreement
does not include last year's Super Bowl, Viacom will still fight that fine.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254596A1.doc
Order: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-268A1.doc
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Tania Panczyk-Collins]
(Not available online)
Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110124179578082178,00.html?mod=todays...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8977-2004Nov23.html
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-viacom24nov24,1,101...
MORE INDECENT NEWS
The FCC had additional announcements concerning indecent broadcasts: 1) the
Commission issued a $55,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture
against WQAM License Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of Beasley Broadcast
Group, Inc., for the willful broadcast of sexually explicit material over
Station WQAM(AM), Miami, Florida; 2) the FCC denied indecency complaints
against "Off Centre" episodes; 3) FCC denied indecency complaints against
"Coupling" episodes; and 4) FCC denied indecency complaints against "Keen
Eddie" episode.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
(http://www.fcc.gov)
WQAM: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254172A1.doc
"Off Centre":
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254607A1.doc
"Coupling": http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254588A1.doc
"Keen Eddie":
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254583A1.doc
CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING OBLIGATIONS FOR DIGITAL TELEVISION BROADCASTERS
Sure it was adopted September 9, but those new kidvid rules are now
available online. See the URL below. Broadcasting&Cable provides the
following on the Order. Starting in January 2006, promos for other shows
aired during kids' TV shows will count as advertisements unless the shows
promoted are educational/informational. The FCC says the new rules apply to
cable as well as broadcasting, analog as well as digital, and it would like
to apply them to DBS, too, though that is only a tentative conclusion.
Digital broadcasters who broadcast free video services must increase that
three-hour core minimum by one-half hour for every 1-28 hours of additional
free multicast content. That would work out to an additional three hours
for every new 24/7 channel it added. Half of that material can be repeats
of the core three hours, however. Although many of the changes don't kick
in until January 2006, the rules applying to the definition of core kids
programming kick in February 1, 2005.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-221A1.doc
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA483195.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
LET THE MARKET DECIDE
A short paper from CU on the advantages of a la carte pricing options for
cable TV. CU has been critical of the recently-released FCC report on a la
carte. As cable companies across the nation hike rates yet again -- in some
cases by double-digit increases -- the FCC, CU says, missed a prime
opportunity to help put a lid on higher cable bills by skewing its report
to Congress on the benefits of letting cable customers pick and pay only
for the channels they want. Consumers Union said an FCC analysis released
on cable a la carte is dramatically flawed because it studies a model not
advocated for by consumer groups. Specifically, it focuses primarily on a
mandatory a la carte system rather than the voluntary system Consumers
Union and other public interest groups have proposed. It also inflates the
cost by assuming that everyone would have to buy or rent a special cable
box, when consumer groups have said that the proposal should target digital
cable subscribers, who already pay for the box.
[SOURCE: Consumers Union]
http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/0901%20a%20la%20carte%20white%20paper.pdf
http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_telecom_and_utilities/001656.html...
JOURNALISM
DAN RATHER STEPPING AWAY FROM ANCHOR CHAIR
The National Guard story has done in Dan Rather, he will end his 24-year
run as CBS News anchor in March. Rather's departure could signal the rise
and influence of politically motivated Internet "bloggers," who
relentlessly attacked him and the documents that were used to back up his
60 Minutes story. Some political and media analysts have said the
"Memogate" scandal damaged CBS News' reputation, especially among viewers
in largely rural, conservative states -- the network's core audience. The
moves will leave ABC's Peter Jennings as the sole survivor among the
longtime anchors at the Big Three networks at a time when their clout and
influence -- and perhaps their news divisions -- are declining as more
Americans turn to other news sources. This dramatic decline was underscored
by a post-election poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People
& the Press. The survey found that more voters called cable TV their
primary source of campaign news rather than the broadcast networks.
[SOURCE: USAToday]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20041124/1a_dancov24.art.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20041124/a_hype24.art.htm
RADIO LIBERTY
[Commentary] The media are once again not free in Russia, the hand of the
government is growing heavier, and anti-Americanism is rampant. So,
perhaps, Radio Liberty, the U.S.-funded Russian-language broadcaster, is
needed now more than ever. But there's consideration now to revamp the
service with shorter programs and a greater reliance on journalists based
in Moscow instead of in Prague. Radio Liberty's president, Thomas A. Dine,
says the changes will make the station more accessible to Russians
accustomed to an FM-radio format and will provide more news about Russia
itself. His opponents within the service argue that the move from Prague to
Moscow risks putting Radio Liberty editors under greater pressure from the
Russian government and will make the station indistinguishable from
hundreds of others in Russia. The Post urges Congress to monitor the
changes and concludes: The imposition of a one-size-fits-all plan to make
American broadcasters sound more like Russian broadcasters (or worse, more
like American pop music stations) wouldn't serve the causes of human
rights, public diplomacy or anything else.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: WP Editorial Staff]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8895-2004Nov23.html
(requires registration)
INTERNET
E-RATE PROGRAM ISSUES NEW FUNDING COMMITMENTS
The Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative
Company has approved $24.2 million in new funding for projects and services
and expects to issue additional funding letters by the end of the
month. The commitments will fund some of the applications and appeals
remaining from 2003 and prior funding years. USAC had issued $764 million
in commitment letters for funding year 2004 before new letters were
suspended in August. Letters to be sent near the end of November will be
for additional Funding Year 2004 commitments that have been approved for
funding and for which cash is available. Additional Funding Year 2004
commitments will be issued in the future as money is available.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254540A1.doc
The American Library Association is asking for support of legislation that
could fix the E-rate's accounting problems. See the Action Alert at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/techinttele/erate/erate.htm
BYTES AND BULLETS
[Commentary] A federal court declared that the manufacturers of the most
popular forms of peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing technology are not liable
for copyright infringement committed by people using their technology and
Congress considered legislation to reverse the court's ruling. The goal is
to make it clear that p2p manufacturers are indeed liable for copyright
violations committed with their products. A recent proposal from the
Copyright Office purports to hold manufacturers responsible for
"technolog[ies]" that "cause" copyright "infringement," if those
technologies 1) rely on infringement for "commercial viability," 2) derive
"a predominant portion" of their revenue from infringement and 3) rely on
infringement to "attract individuals" to the technology. Lessig opposes the
legislation but asks, "if Congress passes this bill, on what principled
basis can it then refuse to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the
crimes committed with their technologies?"
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Lawrence Lessig, Stanford University]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8882-2004Nov23.html
(requires registration)
Also see how the record industry is now embracing file swapping.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/10261238.htm
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang
(headlines( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
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