For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
AGENDA
Media Ownership Top Challenge for New Commission, Copps Says
CONTENT
TV Reporter Earned Money from State
More Products Get Roles in Shows
Hollywood, do you Hear America Griping?
Cleaning up TV
Online Music Case Outcome Rests on VCR Technology
Internet's Future Hangs in Balance with Two Cases
OWNERSHIP
Cablevision May Join Adelphia Bid
Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend
QUICKLY -- Consumers Buying High Definition TV Sets; USF May Boost Phone
Fees; Qwest Gives MCI April 5 Deadline; Cellular Complaints; VeriSign May
Operate '.net'; The UN and Internet Governance; Gadgets rule on College
Campuses; Making the Most of Tech in Schools
AGENDA
MEDIA OWNERSHIP TOP CHALLENGE FOR NEW COMMISSION, COPPS SAYS
The FCC should begin a "comprehensive, open and public" rulemaking on media
ownership, complete intercarrier compensation (ICC) reform by year's end,
and improve homeland security initiatives under FCC purview. This ambitious
agenda proposal comes from Commissioner Michael Copps, not the new FCC
Chairman Kevin Martin. Commissioner Copps indicated he and fellow
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein are "hitting the road" to gather Americans'
opinions on media ownership. "We have a second opportunity to step up to
the plate and come up with a set of rules to encourage localism, diversity
and competition -- and also a set of rules that can pass the red-face test
in court," Commissioner Copps told a luncheon hosted by the Federal
Communications Bar Association. Copps said he would back revisiting
multicast must-carry rules, specifically localism and diversity issues he
sees as inadequately explored. "I've been disappointed we haven't had a
better dialogue on this," he said. The Commission needs to complete action
on digital broadcasters' public interest obligation, an issue that has
"languished at the Commission for years," Copps said: "On the central
question of what the digital transition means for the public interest, the
Commission has had a bad case of lock-jaw," with the result a "big digital
gap." The task is to decide how the DTV transition will serve adult viewers
and listeners, he said.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Anne Veigle]
(Not available online)
Trade magazines covered pieces of Copps' speech at the URLs below --
Multicast must-carry:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA513483.html?display=Breaking+News&...
Homeland Security:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA513519?display=Breaking+News&...
Top Five consequences of Kevin Martin's chairmanship:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA513522?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
CONTENT
TV REPORTER EARNED MONEY FROM STATE
At the same time one of Florida's most visible television reporters brought
the news to viewers around the state, he earned hundreds of thousands of
dollars on the side from the government agencies he covered. Mike
Vasilinda, a 30-year veteran of the Tallahassee press corps, does public
relations work and provides film editing services to more than a dozen
state agencies. His Tallahassee company, Mike Vasilinda Productions Inc.,
has earned more than $100,000 over the past four years through contracts
with Gov. Jeb Bush's office, the Secretary of State, the Department of
Education and other government entities that are routinely part of
Vasilinda's stories. Vasilinda also was paid to work on campaign ads for at
least one politician and to create a promotional movie for Leon County. One
of his biggest state contracts was a 1996 deal that paid nearly $900,000 to
air the weekly drawing for the Florida Lottery. Meanwhile, the freelance
reporter's stories continued to air on CNN and most Florida NBC stations.
[SOURCE: Herald Tribune, AUTHOR: Chris Davis chris.davis( at )heraldtribune.com
& Matthew Doig matthew.doig( at )heraldtribune.com]
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005503260408
Also in --
NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/national/29florida.html
MORE PRODUCTS GET ROLES IN SHOWS, AND MARKETERS WONDER IF THEY ARE GETTING
THEIR MONEY'S WORTH
Branded entertainment involves embedding advertising inside the content of
television and radio programs and movies by placing products in important
scenes or making brands intrinsic elements of plot lines. The goal of such
ploys is to regain the attention of consumers who can avoid advertising by
using digital video recorders, satellite radio and digital juke boxes. PQ
Media, a research company, plans to release a report today that summarizes
spending on product placement for the last three decades. The report
predicts that spending this year will total a record $4.25 billion, an
increase of 22.8 percent from the $3.46 billion spent in 2004. As recently
as 1999, the spending totaled just $1.63 billion.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stuart Elliott]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/business/media/29adco.html
(requires registration)
HOLLYWOOD, DO YOU HEAR AMERICA GRIPING?
[Commentary] More than half of America's TV watchers - 53% - think the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should place stricter controls on
broadcast-channel shows depicting sexual content and violence. An imposing
68% believe the entertainment industry has lost touch with the moral
standards of the audience. 66% said there is too much violence on open-air
TV, 58% said there's too much cursing, and 50% found too much sexual
content, the Time poll said. So upset is the public that about 49% agree
that FCC regulation ought to be extended to cover basic cable, which
includes raunchy reality shows on MTV and the over-the-top FX shows "The
Shield" and "Nip/Tuck" on many cable systems. The public is making its
feelings known in poll after poll. The indecency issue isn't going away,
and the anything-goes entertainment elite is not on the winning end. It's
time for a cleanup.
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: L. Brent Bozell III,
Parents Television Council]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0329/p09s01-coop.html
CLEANING UP TV
[Commentary] The new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin
Martin has been leading a crusade for stricter enforcement and tougher
fines for indecent programming on free TV and radio. But we must strike a
balance between moral protest and public demand. For many, the issue boils
down to how to protect children from inappropriate content while still
upholding the First Amendment rights of artists, directors and producers.
It is unfair to impose a uniform solution on all Americans when tastes in
media are anything but uniform. We should look at indecency as a symptom of
a larger problem: the lack of consumer choice and control over what they
see on television. The answer to concerns over indecency, then, is not less
speech, but more speech. We should reduce media concentration and require
more independent and noncommercial content on broadcast, cable and
satellite TV. We should pursue policies that ensure that families can
select and pay for the channels they want from a vastly expanded and
diverse set of options, including more programming serving minority
communities. A policy mandating materials to educate consumers on
channel-blocking technologies also would further empower parents without
undercutting the First Amendment. Giving everyone more programs
representing a wide variety of tastes and views would increase the
likelihood that consumers will get more of what they want and less of what
they don't.
[SOURCE: Detroit Free Press, AUTHOR: Robert McChesney & Ben Scott]
http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/efcc27e_20050327.htm
ONLINE MUSIC CASE OUTCOME RESTS ON VCR TECHNOLOGY
At the Supreme Court today, backers of "peer to peer" networks like
Grokster will argue that the software makers deserve the same protections
as VCR manufacturers, because both can be used for good or ill. Record
labels and movie studios will argue that Grokster should be held
responsible when its millions of users illegally copy movies and music
directly from each others' computers. Both sides will agree on one thing --
the court could harm their ability to produce innovative new products if it
doesn't rule in their favor.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andy Sullivan]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=8016008
INTERNET'S FUTURE HANGS IN BALANCE WITH TWO CASES
[Commentary] From its inception, the Internet has thrived on openness and
competition. It's those forces that have allowed it to develop into a
hotbed of innovation and emerge as the most powerful communications and
commerce medium the world has ever known. Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court
will hear, back to back, two cases whose outcomes will determine whether
the Internet continues on this path or veers in a very different direction.
One case, known as FCC vs. Brand X Internet Services, will establish the
rules that govern access to the pipes -- cable and telephone lines -- that
are the conduit for Internet traffic. The other, known as MGM Studios vs.
Grokster, will determine not only the fate of the peer-to-peer networks,
which are at the heart of the case, but also the freedom to innovate in
burgeoning areas such as digital music and video. Rulings are not expected
until summer, but the hearings Tuesday should give some indication of
what's in store for the future of the Internet.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/11251123.htm
Also see --
* California's Civil War
[Commentary] Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will intervene in California's
civil war -- the conflict between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over digital
copyright rights.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-supreme29mar29,1,...
(requires registration)
* What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate
A look at the stakes in today's Brand X hearing at the Supreme Court.
[SOURCE: AlterNet, AUTHOR: Ren Bucholz, Electronic Frontier Foundation]
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21598/
OWNERSHIP
CABLEVISION MAY JOIN ADELPHIA BID
Cablevision Systems is in advanced talks to join two big private equity
firms -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Providence Equity Partners -- that are
bidding for Adelphia Communications, adding an 11th-hour twist to an
auction that had seemed certain to be won by another team comprising
Comcast and Time Warner, the nation's two biggest cable operators. The Time
Warner-Comcast alliance has long been favored to win, and in recent weeks
has appeared close to reaching a final agreement for control of the company
by paying more than $18 billion in stock. Kohlberg Kravis and Providence
have already submitted an all-cash bid worth about $15 billion for Adelphia
and would submit a "substantially higher" offer if Cablevision decided to
join them.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/business/media/29auction.html
(requires registration)
BRAZIL: FREE SOFTWARE'S BIGGEST AND BEST FRIEND
Looking to save millions of dollars in royalties and licensing fees,
Brazil's president has instructed government ministries and state-run
companies to gradually switch from costly operating systems made by
Microsoft and others to free operating systems, like Linux. Brazil has also
become the first country to require any company or research institute that
receives government financing to develop software to license it as
open-source, meaning the underlying software code must be free to all. Now
Brazil's government looks poised to take its free software campaign to the
masses. And once again Microsoft may end up on the sidelines. By the end of
April, the government plans to roll out a much ballyhooed program called PC
Conectado, or Connected PC, aimed at helping millions of low-income
Brazilians buy their first computers. And if the president's top technology
adviser gets his way, the program may end up offering computers with only
free software, including the operating system, handpicked by the government
instead of giving consumers the option of paying more for, say, a basic
edition of Microsoft Windows.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Todd Benson]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/technology/29computer.html
(requires registration)
QUICKLY
HIGH DEFINITION TV SERVICE NOW IN 10 MILLION HOMES
As of March 2005, 10 million homes around the world were watching HDTV
programming on a high-definition TV set. By the end of 2005, the worldwide
total of these HDTV service households is projected to reach 15.5 million,
reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). The rate of growth of HDTV
households will continue to be strong over the next several years, and by
2009, HDTV households worldwide are forecasted to reach 52 million,
according to the high-tech market research firm. A recent report by In-Stat
also found 1) there are currently 4 million HDTV households in the US, up
from 1.6 million in March 2004 and 2) survey of US consumers showed that an
amazing 76% of the respondents had watched HDTV programming on an HDTV set,
although many of the respondents noted that they had simply seen a
demonstration of HDTV in a retail store. The report was originally priced
at $3,000, but we've secured a special discount for Headlines subscribers
-- get it for a mere 2,995 U.S. Dollars. (We are always looking out for our
subscribers!)
[SOURCE: In-Stat Press Release]
http://www.instat.com/press.asp?ID=1284&sku=IN0501899MB
UNIVERSAL SERVICE CHARGES MAY BOOST US PHONE FEES
In a report released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to the
Senate Budget Committee, there's a warning that US households could see
fees on their telephone bills rise at much as 18.1% by 2007 depending on
what changes are made to the universal service fund which subsidizes
communications services. If no action is taken, a shrinking long-distance
revenue base and increased demand on the USF program would cause the
average payment by each household to rise 8.1 percent to $2.26 a month in
2007 from $2.09 per month in 2003, the CBO said. The monthly average charge
would likely rise to $2.47 a month by 2007 or 18.1 percent if the USF
program was switched to a per-number charge or if cable high-speed Internet
service was included in the revenues for calculating contributions.
[SOURCE: Reuters]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=8016663
The CBO report -- Financing Universal Telephone Service -- is available online.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/61xx/doc6191/03-28-Telephone.pdf
Coverage in --
LATimes:
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-phonefees29mar29,1,46...
QWEST GIVES MCI A WEEK TO ACCEPT BID
In a letter to MCI's board of directors, Qwest has given the long distance
company until April 5 to accept its merger bid.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Yuki Noguchi]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7409-2005Mar28.html
(requires registration)
Also see --
WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111203513555591037,00.html?mod=todays...
NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/business/29place.html
LATimes:
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-qwest29mar29,1,229068...
HOW CELLULAR SERVICES RANK ON COMPLAINTS
With the purchase of AT&T Wireless and adding new subscribers quickly,
Cingular Wireless now has about 50 million cellphone customers. But it also
leads the industry with the country's highest customer-complaint rate. In
the fourth quarter, Cingular Wireless had a rate of 4.6 complaints per
100,000 customers. The rate of complaints for T-Mobile USA was next highest
at 4.3 per 100,000 customers. Sprint and Nextel Communications -- which
announced plans to merge in December -- posted complaint rates of 3.6 and
2.3 per 100,000 customers, respectively. By comparison, Verizon Wireless, a
joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, and the nation's
second-largest cellphone operator, had the lowest rate of complaints, with
1.4 per 100,000 customers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Li Yuan li.yuan( at )wsj.com and Jesse
Drucker jesse.drucker( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111205654336591433,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
VERISIGN LEADS LIST TO OPERATE '.NET. INTERNET REGISTRY
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) said
yesterday that VeriSign Inc. leads its list of candidates to operate the
registry of addresses ending in the ".net" suffix, when VeriSign's own
current contract expires this year. VeriSign also operates the registry for
Internet addresses ending in the popular ".com" suffix. The ".net" registry
currently includes about 5 million domain name addresses and represents
about $30 million in annual revenue, from annual fees paid by the domain
owners. VeriSign had revenue of $1.2 billion last year.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kevin J. Delaney
kevin.delaney( at )wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111206789472391732,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
THE UN THINKS ABOUT TOMORROW'S CYBERSPACE
An interview with Houlin Zhao, director of the Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
http://news.com.com/The+U.N.+thinks+about+tomorrows+cyberspace/2008-1028...
GADGETS RULE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES
A look at the role of technology on college campuses.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:Paul Davidson]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050329/1b_collegetech29.art...
TRANSFORMATION KEY TO COSN CONFERENCE
Finding a way to go beyond the wires and boxes and use technology to better
equip today's students for life in an increasingly digital economy was the
goal last week as a record number of educators and school technology
leaders converged on Washington, DC, for the Consortium for School
Networking's (CoSN's) 10th Annual Networking Conference.
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Corey Murray]
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5581
--------------------------------------------------------------
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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