Broadcasting is the topic of the day. The House Commerce Committee will
investigate the transition to digital television while the FCC's localism
task force is likely to get an earful in Monterey, California. For these
and other upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
TELECOM
FCC Considers Higher Phone Access Rates
A Cheap-Talkin' Bureaucrat
Judge: Feds, Not States, Should Govern VoIP
MEDIA
A People's Democratic Platform
Abernathy Tells Minorities to Take Advantage of New Technologies
Study Reports Decline in Journalism Standards
QUICKLY
U.N. Internet Policy Off Course, Pioneer Says
New Technology Heralds Unlimited Web Sites - ICANN
Comcast Starts Disney Delivery Via Internet
Clear Channel Plans Stern Countersuit
TELECOM
FCC CONSIDERS HIGHER PHONE ACCESS RATES
Higher local telephone rates are expected for the 19 million consumers and
small businesses served by companies such as AT&T as the FCC considers
allowing regional phone companies to raise rates they charge competitors
for access to their networks by as much as 15%. Under the proposal
circulating among the FCC's five members, current discounts would remain in
place for six months. Regional phone companies could then raise rates for
consumer users by as much as $1 a month. Rates for small-business users
could rise as much as 15%. The proposal would prohibit competitors from
signing up new customers under the existing discounts after six months.
After that first six months, new customers would pay market-based rates as
much as 500% higher. FCC Chairman Powell has set August 4 as the deadline
for completing a final vote on the interim rules. He and Commissioner
Abernathy have already voted "yes" on the proposal.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A492-2004Jul20.html
(requires registration)
See also:
USAToday http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040721/6382152s.htm
Federal regulators are proposing sharper-than-expected wholesale price
increases for local phone-service rivals to use the regional Bells' networks.
A CHEAP-TALKIN' BUREAUCRAT
Michael Powell is a innovation-oriented free-market bureaucrat, writes
Riley who celebrates the FCC Chairman's attempts to deregulate phone
competition and media ownership rules. Chairman Powell has worked with the
disadvantage of an Administration that focuses on other domestic issues,
but President Bush "did the right thing" by backing Chairman Powell as he
oversees an end to the anticompetitive requirement that the Bell companies
lease their networks to rivals, including AT&T and MCI, at discount rates.
Riley concludes, "The good news for the marketplace is that Mr. Powell
knows the FCC's limitations, which by itself places him in a small minority
of Washington bureaucrats running powerful regulatory agencies. The bad
news is that there are rumors he might quit the post before his term ends
in 2007."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jason Riley, WSJ Editorial Writer]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109037672334769474,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
WSJ is also reporting that "AT&T Board May Pull Plug on Consumers,"
considering phasing out local and long-distance phone service to consumers
nationwide
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109036838923769262,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
JUDGE: FEDS, NOT STATES SHOULD GOVERN VOIP
U.S. District Judge Douglas Eaton has ruled that state regulators can work
with Vonage to rectify customer complaints but won't be able to regulate or
tax the VoIP provider. "On balance, the Public Service Commission has not
demonstrated state public interests, which require the immediate exercise
of state common-carrier regulations," the judge wrote. But the New York
state PSC can collect complaints from Net phone customers, refer the
complaints to Net phone providers and even offer nonbinding arbitration as
a way to settle any disputes, Judge Eaton said. The decision could
foreshadow an important regulatory win for the Net phone industry, which
typically sells unlimited dialing that's much cheaper, because calls use
the Internet, where they aren't subject to the myriad of traditional phone
rules, regulations and taxes.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Ben Charny]
http://news.com.com/Judge%3A+Feds%2C+not+states%2C+should+govern+VoIP/21...
MEDIA
A PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
The Nation asked a disparate group of people -- ranging from retired
newsman Walter Cronkite to hip-hop activist Bakari Kitwana -- what plank
each of them would like to propose for the Democratic Party. Below is the
response from media advocate Andrew Schwartzman.
Congress, the courts and the American public have resoundingly repudiated
the Bush media deregulation policies. The Democratic Party should
acknowledge the growth of this grassroots rebellion, starting with a pledge
that upon taking office, President Kerry will obtain prompt confirmation of
a Democratic FCC chair.
The party should also pledge to repeal the 1996 law allowing unlimited
radio-station ownership, establish stronger limits on broadcast ownership,
extend the prohibition on newspapers owning local TV stations to cable
companies and implement an existing but unenforced law capping national
cable ownership.
To assure that the public benefits from its ownership of the airwaves, the
party should pledge to restore the fairness doctrine; make "issue" ad
sponsors more accountable; require licensees to carry news and public
affairs programming, provide free airtime to candidates and promote
music-format diversity by ending payola loopholes and concert-promoter
tie-ins; expand federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
and protect it more strongly from political intrusion; reject schemes to
convert spectrum into private property; adopt the "Berlin Plan," which
accelerates transition to high-definition TV by using revenues from "old"
TV spectrum to provide consumers with digital tuners.
Additionally, it should encourage localism by supporting bipartisan
legislation that authorizes up to three times more low-power community FM
stations and protect the future of civic discourse by guaranteeing all
citizens a choice of Internet provider and access to all content.
[SOURCE: The Nation, AUTHOR: Andrew Jay Schwartzman is president and CEO of
the Media Access Project]
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040802&c=5&s=forum
ABERNATHY TELLS MINORITIES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
"I haven't seen anything the FCC has done to promote minority ownership,"
said one panelist at the Minority Media & Telecom Council conference on
Tuesday. FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy encouraged minority
broadcasters to take advantage of new communications technologies to
increase minority business ownership. Opportunities lie "not just in radio
or TV, but Wi-Fi, broadband. You don't need as much capital and it's kind
of a free-for-all right now," she said. Jane Mago, the designated federal
officer on the FCC advisory committee on diversity, pointed out that the
Commission will conduct audits of broadcast stations to ensure equal
employment opportunity compliance. Former FCC Commissioner Andrew Barrett
placed part of the blame on those minority advocacy groups that have
"mouthed off a lot" but haven't been persistent about increasing minority
ownership. "There hasn't been a consistent prodding from the outside," he said.
In addition on Tuesday, MMTC Executive Director David Honig met with FCC
staffers the organization's recent motion to stay FM auction rules. MMTC
claims the rules promote fraud and undermine the integrity of auction
bidding credits. MMTC said the auction rules fatally imperil the credits,
which it called the Commission's only significant policy aimed at fostering
minority broadcast ownership. In November the Commission is scheduled to
proceed with Auction #37, in which the FCC is offering "the last best"
chance for minorities to acquire a significant number of new FM facilities,
mostly in rural areas, MMTC said. About 290 construction permits are involved.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Tania Panczyk-Collins, Tack Nail]
(Not available online)
STUDY REPORTS DECLINE IN JOURNALISM STANDARDS
The Newspaper Guild, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and
Technicians and the Writers Guild of America, East released survey results
Tuesday finding almost 80 percent of journalists say journalism standards
have declined as the media industry has consolidated in recent years, with
too much attention being paid to the bottom line. 69 percent of the 400
journalist respondents said corporate owners were exerting too much
influence over news coverage, while 73 percent felt understaffing was
threatening the quality of news reporting. In addition, 62 percent said
entertainment coverage was growing at the expense of hard news.
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Doug Halonen]
http://www.tvweek.com/news/web072004.html#study
QUICKLY
UN INTERNET POLICY OFF COURSE, PIONEER SAYS
The United Nations is veering off-track in its discussions on whether
government officials should set Internet policy, says Vinton Cerf. Instead,
governments should join together to fight electronic crime globally and
develop best practices to encourage the growth of Internet commerce. "We
need the U.N. to foster global standards, global frameworks," said Cerf,
who is chairman of ICANN, the U.S.-based body governing Internet domain
names. "We don't need redundant coordinating bodies, but what we do need
and don't have are parts of the U.N. to look at issues such as electronic
commerce, the question of digital signatures, tax, fraud and enforcement."
[SOURCE: Reuters]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=N5Y4PFFX0NNOACRBAEOC...
NEW TECHNOLOGY HERALDS UNLIMITED WEB SITES -- ICANN
Vinton Cerf of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) said the next-generation protocol, IPv6, had been added to its root
server systems, making it possible for every person or device to have an
Internet protocol address. Cerf said about two-thirds of the 4.3 billion
Internet addresses currently available were used up, adding that IPv6 could
magnify capacity by some "25,000 trillion trillion times." [For my fellow
English Lit majors, he means "a whole big bunch."
[SOURCE: Reuters]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=X3Z0LNFOOLPLMCRBAELC...
COMCAST STARTS DISNEY DELIVERY VIA INTERNET
See, they can deal! Beginning today to coincide with the run-up to the
Democratic National Convention, Comcast's 5.7 million high-speed Internet
subscribers will receive a number of ABC News features, including live
streaming news and archived versions of its "World News Tonight" and
"Nightline" programs. Later this year, Comcast will launch an online
children's channel that will offer Disney features such as short videos and
activities as well as discounted rates to Toontown Online, a multi-player,
subscription-based computer game.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A111-2004Jul20.html
(requires registration)
CLEAR CHANNEL PLANS STERN COUNTERSUIT
Clear Channel will file a $3 million lawsuit against Howard Stern and his
distributor, Infinity Broadcasting, claiming the shock jock breached his
contract by airing indecent programs.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-rup21.9jul21,1,99148....
(requires registration)
--------------------------------------------------------------
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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