It must be summer 'cause the policy world is a-heatin' up. The California
PUC is beginning a statewide tour asking for public comment on the proposed
SBC-AT&T merger this week. And CTCNet gathers this weekend in Cleveland.
For these and other upcoming media policy events, see
http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
*************************************************************************************************************
* Sure we just got back, but we're off for the rest of the week now. We'll
catch you on the tour *
* at Wrigley, Comerica and "The Cell." See you here again Monday June
20. *
**************************************************************************************************************
LEGISLATION
Sen. Ensign Drafting Comprehensive Telecom Bill
McCain Slams Broadcasters
PUBLIC BROADCASTING
Squelching Public Broadcasting
PBS Adopts Updated Editorial Standards for On-Air and Online
Content, Hires Ombudsman
BROADCASTING
FCC Asks for Help on Stealth TV Ads
Jerry Kang on TV News, Viruses and the Public Interest
TV News Needs a Makeover
Viacom Spins Off CBS
TELECOM
FCC Launches Inquiry Into Management and
Oversight of Universal Service Fund
Study Warns Of Costly 'Domination' Resulting From
Telecom Mergers
Slowing Down The Bells
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Music Industry Eyes 'Casual Piracy'
Don't Re-Hoist the Broadcast Flag
A deal made in Washington?
QUICKLY -- Prometheus on Supreme Court/Media Ownership Decision; Cellphones
Bad for Drivers; Microsoft censoring China blogs; FCC Continues EEO Random
Audits; FCC Releases NPRM on Auctioning Spectrum; Court Rules Borders Owed
Sales Taxes on Online Purchases; The Great TV Debate; Radio Rookies; Top
ISPs host most infected computers
LEGISLATION
SEN ENSIGN DRAFTING COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM BILL
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, is
quietly drafting a comprehensive deregulatory telecom reform bill that he
plans to introduce in mid-July. Sen Ensign has been given responsibility by
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to update several
aspects of the watershed 1996 Telecommunications Act by providing
deregulatory relief to the former "Baby Bells," long distance companies,
wireless phone providers and cable operators. The measure would limit
regulation of new technologies, particularly voice-over-Internet protocol,
or Internet telephony, by subjecting VoIP only to restrictions at the
federal level. Apparently, the bill will 1) include nationwide franchises
for phone companies planning to offer video services, and 2) lift some
restrictions requiring the Bells to provide their competitors with access
to their telecom networks.
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-XTJO1118790268913.html
MCCAIN SLAMS BROADCASTERS
Sen. John McCain launched a public relations campaign against broadcasters
Tuesday, warning that TV stations could be blamed in part for future
terrorist casualties if they to not relinquish their old analog channels,
portions of which are slated to be turned over to fire, police and other
emergency departments. He unveiled legislation he is sponsoring that would
force broadcasters to return their old analog channels to the government on
Jan. 1, 2009, years sooner than current law requires. The bill also calls
for the federal government to provide a $468 million subsidy for converters
required to keep old analog sets working in the all-digital world.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA608450?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* McCain DTV Bill Includes Must-Carry
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA608508.html?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* McCain Unveils Measure To End Analog Broadcasts
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-ULSZ1118779571532.html
PUBLIC BROADCASTING
SQUELCHING PUBLIC BROADCASTING
[Commentary] Do little boys and girls out there know how to spell "spite"?
For those who don't, the House Republicans who voted last week to gut
federal support of public broadcasting - from "Sesame Street" to well
beyond - are offering a graphic demonstration as they attack one of the
nation's more valued institutions. The Appropriations Committee voted not
only to end taxpayers' support for next year's children's shows on public
radio and television, but also to close out entirely the $400 million in
federal support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- the aid
funnel to local stations -- across the next two years. Republican lawmakers
insist that the budget cuts are only one of many sacrifices required for
fiscal discipline -- a truly laughable contention from a Congress that has
broken all records for deficit spending and borrowing. The pending highway
bill alone has 3,800 pet projects. These include $2 billion-plus for two
ludicrous "bridges to nowhere" in rural Alaska, where, incidentally,
station officials say public broadcasting may fade from the air unless the
Senate blocks the House's spiteful cuts.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/opinion/15wed2.html
(requires registration)
PBS ADOPTS UPDATED EDITORIAL STANDARDS FOR ON-AIR AND ONLINE CONTENT, HIRES
OMBUDSMAN
On Tuesday, the PBS Board voted to adopt an updated set of Editorial
Standards and Policies that will guide PBS' programming and content
development decisions. In a separate action, PBS CEO and President Pat
Mitchell announced that PBS management has decided to add an ombudsman
position to the PBS staff. The ombudsman will report directly to Ms.
Mitchell. A search has not yet begun and details of the process are to be
announced in the future. The updated standards and policies are the product
of more than a year of careful evaluation by PBS, including the creation in
Fall 2004 of a committee of national experts for the purpose of conducting
a formal review of PBS' content policies. This assessment included a
thorough examination of the standards and codes of many media and
journalistic organizations, including the Society of Professional
Journalists, the Radio and Television News Directors Association, the
Poynter Institute of Media Studies, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Wisconsin
Public Broadcasting, among others. The panel met in a series of open
meetings from February to June 2005. The policies were made available to
the public today and are currently posted on pbs.org
(pbs.org/aboutpbs/aboutpbs_standards.html). The updated policies do not
represent a significant departure from those PBS has used since 1987.
[SOURCE: PBS Press Release]
http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20050614_editorialstandards_ombudsman.html
* PBS Updates Editorial Standards, Adds Ombudsman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR200506...
(requires registration)
* PBS Makes Changes Amid Charges of Liberal Bias
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-pbs15jun15,1,684...
BROADCASTING
FCC ASKS FOR HELP ON STEALTH TV ADS
The Federal Communications Commission wants people to help it spot
potential broadcast payola as the agency comes under growing pressure to
investigate stealth product promotions on television and radio shows.
Agency officials have created a Web page noting that stations must be
upfront when they are paid to air program materials, and that employees
need to notify stations when they accept payment to air material. TV
viewers and radio listeners are urged to file complaints if broadcasters
fail to adequately disclose paid promotions. The move comes after a call
last month by FCC Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein for a sweeping
crackdown on broadcasters who are increasingly slipping "covert commercial
pitches" into TV entertainment and news shows. Commissioner Adelstein
contends that the FCC has been lax in enforcing anti-payola rules by
allowing stations to inadequately disclose product placements as well as
instances when on-air personalities are paid to endorse products. FCC
Chairman Kevin J. Martin has said the FCC can't investigate potential
violations absent complaints. Hoping to jump-start a probe, FreePress,
a media watchdog group, is expected to file some today. In a draft
document, FreePress said broadcasting "is chock-full of pay-for-play
endorsements of commercial products and federal policy." Under FCC rules,
"sponsored material must be explicitly identified at the time of broadcast
as paid for and by whom," the group said.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jube Shiver Jr]
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-tvpromo15jun15,1,4103...
(requires registration)
JERRY KANG ON TV NEWS, VIRUSES AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST
A Q&A with Jerry Kang, a law professor at UCLA who lectures and writes
about civil procedure, race and communications. This spring, he published a
Harvard Law Review an article entitled Trojan Horses of Race, in which he
argues that racial biases are being exacerbated by the emphasis on violent
crime in local news broadcasts. Kang says, "First, my only concrete,
current recommendation is for the FCC to break the near equivalence between
the "public interest" and "local news." That equivalence is not justified.
The Commission should examine how it defines the public interest and
whether local news should play such a crucial role. ... What contributed
more to the public interest: the airing of Alex Haley's Roots or another 15
minutes on an armed robbery?"
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Susan Stranahan]
http://www.cjrdaily.org/archives/001587.asp
see Trojan Horses of Race
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/kang/dropbox/kangtrojan.pdf
TV NEWS NEEDS A MAKEOVER
[Commentary] Denver's local TV news shows have perfected the art of finding
"news" stories linked to the prime- time entertainment shows their stations
broadcast. 1) Offer advice on a topic addressed by the entertainment show,
2) Cover a local resident who's on the entertainment show, 3) Cover Denver
tryouts for the entertainment show, 4) Stage an event that mimics the
entertainment show, 5) Describe a controversy caused by the entertainment
show, and 6) Treat events in the entertainment show as news. Salzman
concludes: "if the local TV outlets insist on broadcasting "news" about
entertainment programming, they should inform viewers when they have a
financial interest in the success of the show mentioned. Without proper
disclosure, these local stories should be seen by viewers as advertisements
embedded in the newscasts."
[SOURCE: Rocky Mountain News, AUTHOR: Jason Salzman
salzmanj( at )RockyMountainNews.com]
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRM...
VIACOM SPINS OFF CBS
Viacom's board of directors unanimously approved a plan to split the
company into two parts. The company said it will spin off the bulk of its
operations into a new company to be called CBS Corp. That unit will include
CBS network and stations, Paramount and King World television production;
Infinity radio, Viacom Outdoor; Showtime, and publisher Simon & Schuster.
Viacom will retain faster-growing business units, including MTV Networks
and Paramount Pictures. Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone will be Chairman of both
companies.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John M. Higgins]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA608498?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* Viacom Board OKs Split
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA608499.html?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* Viacom to Split, Create 2 Companies
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111877911609259421,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
* Viacom plans split to spur growth
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050615/1b_viacom_15.art.htm
* Viacom Board Agrees to Split of Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/business/media/15viacom.html
* Viacom OKs Plan to Split, but 1 Man Will Still Run the Show
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-viacom15jun15,1,42740...
TELECOM
FCC LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND
On Tuesday, the FCC launched a broad inquiry into the management,
administration and oversight of the Universal Service Fund. The
Commission's goals are to improve the operation of the program for its
beneficiaries and contributors and to enhance program integrity. The four
programs of the Universal Service Fund, or USF, help provide affordable
phone service in rural areas, fund Internet access and telecommunications
equipment and services in the nation's schools and libraries, bring
telemedicine services to rural areas, and assist low-income families with
their phone bills. Since 1997, the Universal Service Administrative
Company, or USAC, which administers the fund, has disbursed approximately
$30.3 billion from the fund. This proceeding will provide an opportunity
for the Commission to work with all USF stakeholders to learn from the
experience of the past eight years and find new, constructive ways to both
meet the needs of those who depend on the USF and protect the integrity of
the program. In particular, the Commission is seeking comment in the
following areas: 1) The Commission is exploring ways to simplify and
streamline the management of the program, 2) The Commission seeks comment
on the effectiveness of existing efforts to protect the fund against
potential misuse, 3) The Commission is examining the effectiveness of the
existing administrative structure and seeks comment on whether any rule
changes are needed to ensure the USF is administered in an effective,
competitively neutral way and 4) The Commission is seeking comment on
establishing performance measures to assess the effectiveness of the program.
Docket Nos. 05-195, 96-45, 02-6, 02-60, 03-109 and 97-21
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Press Release:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-259330A1.doc
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-124A1.doc
Chairman Martin's statement:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-124A2.doc
Commissioner Copps' statement:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-124A3.doc
"I am concerned about one aspect of the NPRM. It asks if we should replace
the application process and distribute E-Rate funds directly to schools and
libraries according to their size. Such a change could also allow funds to
be used for unspecified communications-related services and equipment,
rather than requiring applications that specify services and equipment. So
many questions about this approach remain unaddressed. Distributing funds
directly to schools could conceivably exclude Catholic and other private
and parochial schools from the E-Rate program. Tying funds to school size
could conceivably result in our rural and insular schools being denied the
funds they need for the extraordinary cost of services in these areas, just
because they have fewer students. And if schools are given a sum of money
to be used for unspecified purposes rather than for specified and
verifiable services and equipment, it could be much more difficult to
identify fraud. Without assurances that parochial schools and rural
schools would not be disadvantaged, and fraud detection would not be
undermined, I must express my concern with this aspect of a generally very
sound item. I urge all those who share this concern to respond to this
notice so that our record leaves no doubt about the effects, including
those always pernicious unintended effects, of proposals that would so
dramatically affect this very successful program."
* FCC Will Review Subsidy Program For Rural Phones
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brian Blackstone
brian.blackstone( at )dowjones.com and Amy Schatz Amy.Schatz( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111879916643259911,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
STUDY WARNS OF COSTLY 'DOMINATION' RESULTING FROM TELECOM MERGERS
If AT&T and MCI are acquired by SBC Communications and Verizon
Communications, respectively, the two Bell companies will control telephone
service in nine out of 10 commercial buildings in their regional operating
territories, Bell competitors said Tuesday. The resulting "domination [of]
each [in] its own region will fuel at least a 15 percent increase in
wholesale prices for local access, in turn driving up retail prices to
business by a similar amount," according to a statement by the Alliance for
Competition in Telecommunications -- ACTel -- a group formed by Bell
competitors to challenge the two mergers.
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-TGXH1118779898628.html
SLOWING DOWN THE BELLS
Last December, SBC Communications and Verizon Communications were proudly
promoting their impending entry into pay television. These telecom titans
bragged about going head-to-head against media and cable giants such as
Comcast and Time Warner. Six months later, SBC and Verizon are fuming about
their still-pending entry into the video marketplace. Business and
technology issues haven't always been smooth -- but both companies believe
that the vast bulk of their frustration results from cable operators such
as Comcast, Cox Communications and Cablevision. For its part, the cable
industry has been nakedly transparent about its tactics of delay. At a
meeting of the Cable Television Public Affairs Association last month,
cable industry executives assessed the competitive from the regional Bell
operating companies. It was very real, they said.
[SOURCE: Wired In Washington, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-XMFW1113937467518.html
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
MUSIC INDUSTRY EYES 'CASUAL PIRACY'
The record labels are in pursuit of a new class of music pirates -- not the
millions who download bootlegged songs over the Internet but those who copy
music CDs for their friends. The music industry considers the seemingly
innocuous act of duplicating a music CD for someone else "casual piracy,''
a practice that surpasses Internet file-sharing as the single largest
source of unauthorized music distribution. After fits and starts, the
industry's largest players are taking measures to place curbs on copying.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment plans to copy-protect all music CDs sold in
the United States by the end of the year. Another major label, EMI, will
introduce copy-protected CDs in its two largest markets -- the United
States and the United Kingdom -- in the coming weeks. For consumers, it
signals an abrupt change to the rip, mix, burn mania embodied by the 2001
Apple Computer ad campaign promoting the first iMac computer with a CD
burner and software for creating custom music CDs. These new copy-protected
discs limit the number of times people can create copies of music CDs or
add individual songs to music mixes.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dawn C. Chmielewski]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/11898486.htm
DON'T RE-HOIST THE BROADCAST FLAG
[Commentary] When a federal court roundly strikes down an anti-consumer
regulation like the FCC's "broadcast flag," Congress ought to take a long
breath before trying to revive it. Even legislators who believe copyrighted
works on broadcast TV need more protection will find, if they look hard at
the broadcast-flag scheme, that it harms consumers in countless ways, and
not just by limiting how many copies they can make of recorded TV shows.
The battle over broadcast-flag legislation gives the Congress a unique
opportunity to re-establish its pro-consumer and pro-market bona fides. If
Congress chooses instead to reinstate this broad, intrusive regulation, the
broadcast flag will entangle the government in massive industrial policy
and place absurd new limits on what consumers and others can lawfully do
with free over-the-air television. Now that a federal court has lowered the
broadcast flag, Congress should think twice before raising it again.
[SOURCE: Center for American Progress, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge]
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=749361
A DEAL MADE IN WASHINGTON?
[Commentary] If the MPAA expects Congress to ratify a rule that would limit
the ability of ordinary consumers to share lawfully acquired digital
broadcast television programs with one another, then it shouldn't be
surprised if Congress insists that the MPAA accept in return a restoration
of the fair use rights taken from consumers through the enactment of the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Rep Rick Boucher]
http://news.com.com/A+deal+made+in+Washington/2010-1071_3-5744982.html?t...
QUICKLY
SUPREME COURT REJECTS CORPORATE MEDIA APPEAL in PROMETHEUS vs. FCC
"By refusing to hear the corporations' appeal, the Supreme Court is
affirming the demands of millions of people in the United States: the FCC
needs to take a close look at its rules about media ownership and the
assumptions guiding these rules," said Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio
Project, the lead petitioner in the case against the agency. "The FCC
chose a course that would add a few percentage points to the profit margins
of a handful of corporations, while exposing Americans to a throttled
public debate. Under the FCC's rules, just a handful of corporate
executives could easily stifle unpopular opinions. We need to look no
further than today's Italy, where a media mogul has become Prime Minister,
to understand the problems that these new rules could have created for
American democracy."
[SOURCE: Prometheus Radio Project Press Release]
http://www.prometheusradio.org/lawsuit_supreme_victory_june_13th.doc
CELLPHONES ARE FOUND TO POSE RISKIEST DISTRACTIONS FOR DRIVERS
Among the many distractions faced by car drivers, cellphones and other
wireless devices contributed to far and away the most crashes, near-crashes
and other incidents, according to a new government study expected to be
released next week. The yearlong study, which tracked 100 cars and their
drivers by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, highlights the danger of
talking on cellphones. The results come as Connecticut last week passed a
law banning the use of hand-held phones while driving. Several other states
are considering similar legislation. But even as safety concerns have led
several states and local jurisdictions to ban drivers from using hand-held
phones, some 40% of cellphone use still takes place while driving.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Karen Lundegaard
karen.lundegaard( at )wsj.com and Jesse Drucker jesse.drucker( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111879162641559699,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
MICROSOFT UNDER FIRE FOR CENSORING CHINA BLOGS
Microsoft's new MSN China Internet venture is censoring words such as
"freedom," "democracy" and "human rights" on its free online journals,
Microsoft said on Tuesday, putting itself in the middle of a major Web
controversy. The world's largest software maker said that its "MSN Spaces"
service operated out of China, which allows users to set up their own
blogs, or online journals, was acting in accordance with local laws. The
move comes as the Chinese government attempts to tighten control over the
Internet. Last week, a media watchdog group said China would close
unregistered China-based domestic web sites and blogs. About three-quarters
of domestic Web sites had complied with the registration orders, the group,
Reporters Without Borders said, citing Chinese figures.
'Course, we're doing a pretty good job of censoring "freedom," "democracy"
and "human rights" in these parts these days, too.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Reed Stevenson]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=1CVSE2Q2SLJA2CRBAEKS...
FCC CONTINUES EEO RANDOM AUDITS
On June 10, 2005, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began mailing
the second of its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audit letters for 2005
to randomly selected broadcast stations and multi-channel video programming
distributors (MVPDs). In accordance with the provisions of the
Commission's EEO rules, the FCC is auditing the EEO programs of randomly
selected broadcast licensees and MVPDs. Each year, approximately five
percent of all stations and MVPDs are selected for random EEO audits. Audit
letters will be mailed to additional broadcast licensees and MVPDs
throughout the year.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-1654A1.doc
FCC Releases NPRM on Auctioning Spectrum for Advanced Wireless Services by
Implementing Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-123A1.doc
See June 9 Press Release:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-259249A1.doc
CALIFORNIA COURT RULES BORDERS OWED SALES TAXES ON ONLINE PURCHASES
A California appeals court has ruled that the online division of bookseller
Borders Group Inc. should have collected sales tax on orders from state
residents, setting a precedent that other states could follow. The ruling
overturns an advantage that some Web-based retailers have long had over
their "bricks-and-mortar" counterparts, experts said. According to a 1992
U.S. Supreme Court ruling, companies have to collect state sales taxes only
in states where they have a physical presence, such as offices or warehouses.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Mike Musgrove]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR200506...
(requires registration)
THE GREAT TV DEBATE
[Commentary] Does television have a place in the progressive agenda? Why
should we pay attention to it, and what does it do for us? If we ignore
mainstream culture, we would be doing a disservice to our readers. We do
live in this country, and we do want change; in the meantime, we must know
whom we're trying to reach, and whom they're listening to.
[SOURCE: AlterNet, AUTHOR: Monica Mehta]
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/22191/
WITH RADIO ROOKIES, TEENAGE NEW YORK GETS VOICE ON AIR
Starting today, WNYC-FM, an affiliate of National Public Radio, will carry
reports by the latest crop of young reporters, four students who live in
the Bronx, on the subjects that concern them: immigration status, their
obsessions, aggression, parents. The pieces will be broadcast on "Morning
Edition," and will be played again in August. (NPR plans to carry some of
them nationally later this year.)
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Julie Salmon]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/arts/15rook.html
(requires registration)
TOP ISPs HOST MOST INFECTED COMPUTERS, REPORT SAYS
AOL and other large Internet service providers serve as launching pads for
most "denial of service" attacks, according to Prolexic Technologies, which
helps companies fend off such attacks.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andy Sullivan]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=8790623
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------