For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
POLITICS
Here Comes Broadband John
See Spots Run
CONTENT
Content Protection Possibly on FCC Agenda
Limited to Cancel Lingerie TV Show
Stop Embracing the Negative
BROADBAND
Ninth Circuit Grants Cable-Modem Stay
Congress Should Put VoIP on its Priority List
TELECOM
Are U.S. Telecom Networks Public Property?
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. Headlines are compiled by
Kevin Taglang (ktaglang( at )etpost.net) -- we welcome your comments.
POLITICS
HERE COMES BROADBAND JOHN
He's no Al Gore, but he cana speaka the geek. Sen John Kerry (D-MA) has a
history of promoting tech-friendly policies in the Senate and working to
bring high-speed data lines to rural Massachusetts. He was one of the first
lawmakers to back the industry on issues such as Internet taxation, has
long championed a permanent R&D tax credit, more federal funding for
research, and a zero capital-gains tax when investors hold stock in
startups for four years or longer. Expected soon from the likely nominee
for President is a speech proposing a national broadband strategy to
promote high-speed Internet connections, tax breaks for investments in
startups, and more federal dollars for research that can foster lucrative
commercial spin-offs. Sen Kerry wants to leverage small federal investments
into a big economic impact. He's counting on technology industry to create
1 million of the 10 million new jobs he claims his economic policies will
create. The proposal will probably include tax credits for companies that
deploy next-generation speeds, freeing up more airwaves for new wireless
technologies to compete with cable and phone companies, a high-speed
network to connect health-care organizations, a broadband version of the
E-rate, and possible tax breaks and the creation of rural cooperatives to
deliver affordable broadband to rural areas. There's more -- including the
potential political gains of these proposals -- at the URL below.
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Catherine Yang]
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_16/b3879111.htm
See Also:
PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS DIVIDE SILICON VALLEY
See which candidates various IT executives are supporting.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Laurie Flynn]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/12/technology/12give.html
(requires registration)
SEE SPOTS RUN
Republicans including Party Chairman Ed Gillespie have charged that a
number of 527 organizations are acting illegally because they raise soft
money, but are coordinating their ad campaigns with those of Sen John Kerry
(D-MA). The GOP, in a legal complaint, claims that "Democratic
special-interest groups have created an illegal conspiracy with the stated
intent of injecting more than $300 million of banned soft money into the
2004 election for the purpose of defeating President Bush and electing John
Kerry." But if the suit against these groups fail, Republican 527
organizations are gearing up, too. "Ed Gillespie has made no secret of the
Republican Party's plan to ramp up their own groups should his legal
complaint fail," says Sarah Leonard, spokeswoman for the Media Fund and
American's Coming Together, two Democratic-leaning groups that hope to
raise almost $175 million. Republicans counter that the existence of the
groups is not the problem, just their raising of soft-money to aid a
Presidential campaign.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA409688?display=Washington
(requires subscription)
SHOW US THE MONEY
In a related article, B&C reports that even though MoveOn.org and Howard
Dean may have updated campaigning with savvy use of the Web, the basic
formula remains the same: raise funds to fiance attack ads on TV.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell ]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA409686?display=Washington
(requires subscription)
CONTENT
CONTENT PROTECTION POSSIBLY ON FCC AGENDA
On Thursday the FCC will consider adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM) on broadcast digital audio using in-band on-channel (IBOC)
technology. The NPRM may include proposals advocated by the Recording
Industry Association of America to establish broadcast flag-like content
protection to digital radio. Last week, Public Knowledge and Consumers
Union sent an open letter to the FCC in opposition to a digital radio
broadcast flag. "There is no reason for the FCC to create a broadcast flag
for radio. The record companies have done nothing to establish that digital
radio is a potential threat to record sales or a potential source of
content for Internet file-sharers," said Mike Godwin, senior technology
counsel for Public Knowledge. The Consumer Electronics Association has also
voiced opposition to the digital radio broadcast flag.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Paul Gluckman]
(Not available online)
LIMITED TO CANCEL LINGERIE TV SHOW
Victoria's Secret's annual TV special is the latest victim in the indecency
fight. CBS, in the wake of the Janet Jackson flap, will not carry the
parade of scantily clad supermodels wearing the company's latest lingerie
line. Even before the Super Bowl, the TV show faced opposition. The
National Organization for Women complained that the program was demeaning
to women.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shelly Branch shelly.branch( at )wsj.com
and Joe Flint joe.flint( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108172222992679829,00.html?mod=mm%5Fm...
(requires subscription)
See Also:
CLEAR CHANNEL FIRES MORE HOSTS, AS ITS INDECENCY PURGE CONTINUES
The giant radio station owner fired two hosts from an Atlanta station after
indecent content was aired during their program.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah McBride sarah.mcbride( at )wsj.com
and Anne Marie Squeo annemarie.squeo( at )wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108172297539979852,00.html?mod=mm%5Fm...
(requires subscription)
STOP EMBRACING THE NEGATIVE
In his column, Mr. Raspberry is critical of Air America radio host Al
Franken and others on both sides of American political debate who credit
anything that is going correctly to their own party and anything that is
going wrong on the other party. He decries the lack of civil discourse on
TV and radio with misrepresentations from both the Left and the Right. "I
find these broadcasters dangerous and divisive," he writes. "It is a
further rending of the fabric of our society, a further poisoning of the
public dialogue."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: William Raspberry willrasp( at )washpost.com]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4445-2004Apr11.html
(requires registration)
BROADBAND
NINTH CIRCUIT GRANTS CABLE-MODEM STAY
You may have read this in between jellybeans over the weekend, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided to stay its decision
delaying what could have lead to open-access regulation of cable's
high-speed-data service. The National Cable & Telecommunications
Association now has until June 29 (mark your calendar) to appeal the ruling
to the U.S. Supreme Court. The FCC and Department of Justice had joined the
NCTA is requesting a stay, but it is uncertain whether or not the DoJ will
join in the appeal. The DOJ and the FCC have an ongoing dispute over the
correct legal classification of broadband data. The DOJ believes the Ninth
Circuit decision bolsters its ability to track criminals and terrorists who
use the Internet to plot their crimes.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA409676?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
CONGRESS SHOULD PUT VOIP ON ITS PRIORITY LIST
Contrary to his usual systemic approach, Jackson likes the idea of Congress
considering Internet telephone service (VoIP) legislation separately from
overall telecom reform. There seems to be consensus to treat VoIP with a
light regulatory touch, the bills Congress is considering would give the
FCC sole jurisdiction over VoIP (a paradigm shift that should come from
Congress instead of the FCC), and a clear policy regarding VoIP
applications would make for a nice base around which to negotiate the rest
of telecom reform. And, Jackson concludes, "revamping the Telecom Act could
take years, and leaving VoIP in limbo for such an extended period is a
risky proposition for a technology that most industry experts believe to be
the future of voice communications."
[SOURCE: Telephony's Regulatory Insider , AUTHOR: Donny Jackson]
TELECOM
ARE U.S. TELECOM NETWORKS PUBLIC PROPERTY?
Are America's telephone networks privately owned or do they belong to the
government? The question seems an odd one. From the time of Alexander
Graham Bell, the vast majority of U.S. telephone companies have been
privately owned. Yet in the current debate over telephone regulation, some
people propose that telephone network assets belong to the public because
captive ratepayers funded them under a system of monopoly regulation. Far
from being a gift from an age long past, today's ILEC networks are
overwhelmingly the product of recent private investment. Critically,
maintaining and upgrading these networks depends upon a continuation of
that private investment. Declaring the networks to be "public property"
would not only be legally and historically wrong, but also economically
dangerous.
[SOURCE: Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, AUTHOR: James Gattuso and
Norbert Michel]
http://www.heritage.org/Research/InternetandTechnology/bg1745.cfm
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