RADIO
A Sixth Low-Power FM Radio Station Premiers (WP)
Arbitration Panel To Rule On Internet Radio Royalties (NYT)
INTERNET
Cable TV Lobby, Including Comcast, Tells FCC: Give Us A "Closed"
Broadband 'Net (CDD)
Grid Project to Wed Web Services(NYT)
ANTITRUST
Judge Tells Microsoft to Share Code (NYT)
RADIO
A SIXTH LOW-POWER FM RADIO STATION PREMIERS
Issue: Radio
WRYR (97.5 FM) made its inaugural broadcast on February 18. It is only the
sixth low-power FM station to begin broadcasting since the FCC began issuing
licenses two years ago. Low-power station licenses were offered to promote
the notion that airwaves are public property. Under a torrent of
applications, Congress was pressed by existing broadcasters to tighten
restrictions on low-power stations. In December 2000, Congress laid down
rules that effectively pushed low-power FM out of urban areas and into rural
areas. Although more than 3,400 licenses have been issued, most stations
have remained little more than dreams. WRYR is run by an environmental group
in Marlyand's Chesapeake Bay. Its founder, Michael Shay has taped bluegrass
ensembles, lined up feeds from environmental groups, contacted black
watermen and visited with gospel groups. He says his station will celebrate
the Chesapeake's diversity.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Manuel Roig-Franzia]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/media/15226-1.html)
ARBITRATION PANEL TO RULE ON INTERNET RADIO ROYALTIES
Issue: Radio/ Internet
This week an arbitration panel will rule on the royalties an Internet
company must pay companies for songs played online. Internet radio operators
and radio stations that stream their music via the Web are concerned that
high fees will prohibit the growth of Internet radio into a full-fledged
business. While resolving the royalty issue will be a major factor in the
success of online broadcasters, they must also deal with regulatory fights,
lack of interest by advertisers and rising costs.
[SOURCE:NY Times, AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/18/technology/ebusiness/18ECOM.html?pagewant
ed=print)
INTERNET
CABLE TV LOBBY,INCLUDING COMCAST, TELLS FCC: GIVE US A "CLOSED" BROADBAND
'NET
Issue: Broadband
The cable industry is pressing the FCC to classify the cable modem business
as an "information service". Comcast and the National Cable
Telecommunications Association have told the FCC that they oppose policies
supporting "forced access" requirements, meaning open-access provisions that
would favor an open marketplace. Public interest advocates and cable's
Internet competitors are calling for an open access policy similar to the
current policy governing telephone-based Internet service. Those policies
force large cable and telephone companies to interconnect with local
telephone and broadband Internet providers on a nondiscriminatory basis. In
addition to the "closed access agenda", cable lobbyists are asking that the
FCC prevent local governments and communities from requesting that a certain
portion of bandwidth be set aside for "public, educational and governmental"
(PEG) use.
[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy, AUTHOR:CDD]
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/washingtonwatch/cableletter.html)
GRID PROJECT TO WED WEB SERVICES
Issue: Internet
In a paper presented yesterday at a conference in Toronto, four computer
scientists laid out a plan for marrying Web services with grid technology.
Grid technology is a worldwide computing project that hopes to bring
supercomputing to individuals. Web services promise a new level of computer
automation and convenience to consumers over the Internet. The long-range
goal for marrying these two technologies is to transform computing by
allowing large scale sharing of resources, concepts and infrastructures.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/technology/19GRID.html?pagewanted=print)
ANTITRUST
JUDGE TELLS MICROSOFT TO SHARE CODE
Issue: Antitrust
Federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has ruled that Microsoft must give nine
states that are seeking tougher sanctions against the company access to the
software code for its flagship Windows operating system. Kollar-Kotelly made
the order during a conference call late on Friday with lawyers representing
Microsoft and the nine states that object to the government's settlement
with the company. Microsoft has long maintained that its Internet Explorer
browser is an integrated feature of Windows and could not be removed without
damaging the operating system. Last week, the dissenting states asked to be
able to inspect the code for Windows. "It seems to me that if your side has
access to it, then the other side, frankly, should have access to it," the
judge said to Microsoft's lawyers, according to a transcript of a conference
call released later.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/technology/19SOFT.html
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