FCC
FCC Approves Low-Power FM Radio (WP)
FCC Unveils New Rules on Hiring (WP)
EDTECH
High-Tech Gifts to Education Sets Record (WP)
INTERNET
To Fight Hate Speech Online, U.S. Turns to Housing Law (CyberTimes)
More Firms Seek Unity of Ads on Web, TV (USA)
BROADBAND
Time Warner Deal Partners America Online With AT&T (WSJ)
( at )Home Puts Speed Limits on Uploads by Subscribers (NYT)
TELEVISION
America Online Plans Campaign To Sell Interactive TV to Masses (WSJ)
The Times in News Deal With ABC (NYT)
FCC
FCC APPROVES LOW-POWER FM RADIO
Issue: Radio
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved a new class of
low-power FM stations and said it would start accepting applications for
them in May. The new FM stations could hit airwaves by late this year.
"This will empower people to more effectively use the public airwaves to
build stronger communities. There has been an outpouring of support from
around the country, from really diverse communities," FCC Chairman Kennard
said after the vote. The new stations would vary in strength from one watt
to 100 watts, compared to the 6,000 watts used by the smallest FM stations
now allowed. The farthest a low-power FM station could reach is about three
miles; the smallest distance covered would be several blocks. Existing
broadcasters, led by the National Association of Broadcasters, had fought
the measure, saying that the new stations would cause interference on an
already crowded FM band. NAB President Edward Fritts issued this statement
after the vote, "The FCC has turned its back on spectrum integrity. Every
legitimate scientific study validates that additional interference will
result from [low-power FM]. It's a sad day for radio listeners."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E2), Author: Frank Ahrens]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/A7858-2000Jan20.html)
See Also:
LOW POWER RADIO
[SOURCE: FCC (Press Release)]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2000/nrmm0001.doc)
FCC UNVEILS NEW RULES ON HIRING
Issue: Employment
The Federal Communications Commission replaced a 30-year-old equal
employment opportunity program yesterday with new rules that require
broadcasters to have an active outreach program for hiring women and racial
minorities. The commission doesn't specify a particular outreach program
that must be used, though it does require broadcast companies to produce an
annual report on the results of their efforts. Chairman William Kennard
compared the hiring issues at stations to the continuing controversy over
the dearth of minority characters in network television shows. "We wouldn't
be having this national dialogue if everything was copacetic. We have a
problem." FCC commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth disagreed. He argued in
a statement that the rules constituted "a most grievous offense" because
they required that broadcast companies engage in "discrimination based on
race" under the guise of promoting equal opportunity.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), Author: John Schwartz]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/a9950-2000jan21.htm)
See Also:
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
[SOURCE: FCC (Press Release)]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2000/nrmm0002.doc)
F.C.C. REVISES RULE ON HIRING OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES
[SOURCE: New York Times (A16), AUTHOR: Neil A. Lewis]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/fcc-affirm.html)
EDTECH
HIGH-TECH GIFTS TO EDUCATION SETS RECORD
Issue: EdTech/Philanthropy
Microsoft and Intel announced a gift of nearly $500 million yesterday to
provide 100,000 teachers in the US and another 300,000 teachers abroad with
40 hours of training on how to use computers in their classrooms. The
training will take place at regional laboratories, the first which are
scheduled to be established in Arizona, Northern California, Oregon and
Texas. "Computers aren't magic-teachers are," said Intel's chief executive
officer Craig Barrett. Hewlett-Packard and Premio Computer are giving
smaller gifts of computers to support the laboratories. Former Netscape
chief executive James Barksdale and his wife also announced a gift of $100
million to the University of Mississippi. Their gift will be used to
replicate a model reading program that was tested by the state in 1997. The
model reading program will be introduced in preschool through third grade.
The size of the donations set records.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A12), Author: Kenneth J. Cooper]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/feed/a9826-2000jan21.htm)
See Also:
INTEL PROGRAM TO BOLSTER EDUCATION AND COMPUTERS
[SOURCE: New York Times (A16), AUTHOR: Edward Wyatt]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/21soft.html)
INTERNET
TO FIGHT HATE SPEECH ONLINE, U.S. TURNS TO HOUSING LAW
Issue: Internet/Content
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has invoked the Fair
Housing Act in a lawsuit filed over hate speech on the Internet. The case,
filed in Philadelphia last week, stems from accusations that Mr. Ryan Wilson
and the white supremacist group that he runs, ALPHA HQ, posted death threats
on a Web site in 1998. The charges against Wilson says he violated the law
by threatening a local official and her daughter in order to prevent her
from enforcing the Fair Housing Act. The federal housing act prohibits
anyone from discriminating against people when renting or selling housing.
It also prohibits anyone from threatening, coercing, intimidating or
interfering with anyone "exercising a fair housing right or assisting others
who exercise that right." Jouhari's job was to help housing discrimination
victims file complaints under the act. "The interesting question to me is,
even assuming it's a violation of the housing act, is it First Amendment
protected speech," said Chris Hansen, a lawyer with the American Civil
Liberties Union. "Saying 'I'm going to punch you in the nose' is something
we think of as a threat when you are standing nose-to-nose with a person.
But almost by definition, on the Net such a threat is less imminent," he
said.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/cyber/cyberlaw/21law.html)
MORE FIRMS SEEK UNITY OF ADS ON WEB, TV
Issue: Advertising
Those who head network ad sales say that there has been a big change in
attitude toward online advertising. Mainstream advertisers are moving to
showcase their products on the TV and Web in unison. "Some of our
mainstream clients recognize that they would be missing the boat not to
communicate through the Net," says Laura Nathanson, the executive vice
president of prime-time sales at ABC. "The industry knows that advertisers
want integrated advertising opportunities. Advertisers are demanding it and
content players are offering it," says Jupiter Communications analyst Drew
Ianni. But not all major companies are embracing the Web the way they do
TV. Proctor & Gamble is one company that is wary of jumping in until they
see how advertising on the Web can boost their sales. "By putting first one
toe, then a foot in the water, packaged companies are going to recognize
that there's huge value out there," Nathanson says.
[SOURCE: USA Today (1B), Author: Greg Farrell]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000121/1865351s.htm)
BROADBAND
TIME WARNER DEAL PARTNERS AMERICA ONLINE WITH AT&T
Issue: Broadband
In buying Time Warner, America Online will find itself linked to arch-rival
AT&T through a separate media partnership called Time Warner Entertainment,
which consists of Time Warner's cable-TV systems -- HBO, Warner Bros. movie
studios and Road Runner, a high-speed Internet access service that works
over cable lines. Time Warner Entertainment, (TWE), is majority owned by
Time Warner and 25.5% owned by cable giant MediaOne Group, which AT&T is
buying. The two separate marriages are making cousins out of AT&T and AOL.
The problem is that each company was seeking a competitive advantage in
broadband -- the very reason AT&T is buying MediaOne, and AOL is buying Time
Warner. The Road Runner product is a potential area of competition. AT&T,
the nation's biggest cable-TV operator, has a major stake in Excite At Home
Corp. - a Road Runner rival that is carried exclusively on AT&T cable
systems. Road Runner is controlled 50-50 by Time Warner and MediaOne. While
the two products do not currently compete they could later depending how the
broadband market unfolds. Once the MediaOne deal closes, AT&T would have a
big influence over both services raising suspicion that antitrust regulators
won't let AT&T keep stakes in both At Home and Road Runner. Further
complicating things for time Warner is a pact announced years ago that was
never acted up: Time Warner giving AT&T use of Time Warner's cable lines for
local phone service. Now this pact will have to receive the nod of AOL --
which might not like giving AT&T a helping hand on broadband. It's also
possible that AOL, anxious for access to AT&T cable systems, might find a
way to work out a deal. There's a chance the two giants could even wind up
becoming major customers of each other.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Leslie Caulie]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948408784261188803.htm)
( at )HOME PUTS SPEED LIMITS ON UPLOADS BY SUBSCRIBERS
Issue: Broadband
( at )Home, which provides Internet access over cable to one million subscribers
is in the final stages of introducing a program that limits the speed at
which users can send data. When it is fully implemented in the next few
months, ( at )Home's ONadvantage program will limit the upstream speed for all
customers to 128 kbps. Although cable modems can provide speedy downloads of
Web pages and other data from the Internet, the speed of data moving
upstream, from a subscriber's computer through the cable system and onto the
Internet, is much slower, because the upstream data stream is shared by many
users. Milo Medin, ( at )Home's architect, predicts that only the "bandwidth
hogs" will be upset by the company's new policy. "They are the server
abusers or the people working at home and not fairly using a residential
product that is really for e-mail and Web-surfing," Medin said. "We are not
apologizing for this. We think it's a good thing. Many people will see their
upload speeds increase when the abusers are stopped. Download speeds may
even increase."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Marty Katz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/cyber/articles/21home.html)
TELEVISION
AMERICA ONLINE PLANS CAMPAIGN TO SELL INTERACTIVE TV TO MASSES
Issue: Interactive TV
If all goes as planned with the proposed acquisition of Time Warner, AOL
plans to launch this summer an ambitious new service called AOL TV. Among
other features, subscribers to the new service may be able execute a stock
trade while watching Time Warner's CNNfn financial news, or chat with
friends as they view "ER." AOL Time Warner stands to face tough competition
in the Interactive TV area. Microsoft has agreed to distribute interactive
set-top boxes to millions of AT&T cable subscribers. AOL and Microsoft both
see their respective boxes as tuners that will allow TV sets to blend the
worlds of entertainment and information. Control of those tuners could yield
huge subscription, commerce and marketing opportunities. Past interactive TV
experiments, however, have been far from successful. "In the early days of
this stuff, it's always hardest," says Barry Schuler, president of AOL's
interactive services group. "It's not like you will have an audience with
interactive TVs overnight."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Nick Wingfield]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948408398158789164.htm)
THE TIMES IN NEWS DEAL WITH ABC
Issue: Television/Journalism
The New York Times and ABC News announced an agreement to share news
coverage in certain fields, with the information to be delivered both on
television and over the Internet. A daily 15-minute video report on
politics, entitled "Political Points," will be delivered on each
organization's World Wide Web site starting on Monday with coverage of the
Iowa presidential caucuses. At first, the Times will contribute reports in
the areas of technology and health to certain ABC news shows. The deal
between the Times and ABC News comes on the heels of a similar arrangement
announced in November between NBC and the Washington Post Company in which
reporters from The Post and its cousin Newsweek magazine will appear on
MSNBC.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/times-abc.html)
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