Communications-related Headlines for 6/13/97 (stay away from black cats today!)
Political Money, On Line
Madison Ave In Newsroom Once Again
Recipe for Halting Spread of 'Spam' Is Proving Elusive
TV Broadcasters Gain Ground in Effort To Delay Return of Licenses for Auction
Plan to Revise TV-Rating System Stalls As Parental Groups Seek Tough Criteria
FTC Vows to Crack Down on Fraudulent E-Mail
Burn Lifts "Hold," But Hollings Won't Budge on Klein's Nomination
House Commerce OKs Budget Measure on Party-Line Vote
Burns and Klein Make Up, But Klein's Nomination Still In Doubt
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Title: Political Money, On Line
Source: New York Times (A30)
Author: Topics of the Times
Issue: Campaign Fiance Reform
Description: The California State Senate has voted to require prompt online
filing of contributions to state-wide candidates and ballot measure
campaigns. The measure will take effect in 1998. All state legislature
offices will be covered by 2000. About a dozen other states, including
Hawaii, Virginia, and Washington, have similar laws. System will allow Press
to better monitor donations in waning days of a campaign.
Title: Madison Ave In Newsroom Once Again
Source: New York Times (C1)
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Journalism
Description: "If you are a journalist, you do not lend yourself to the
promotion of any goods or services," says Colombia Journalism Review's
Marshall Loeb. "It's a conflict of interest." Journalists' endorsements are
being discussed more in light of Jonathon Karl's Visa ad (he's a
correspondent for CNN) and CNN's news anchors and logos appearing in
Jurassic Park. See the Drudge Report , a web
site devoted to news media.
Title: Recipe for Halting Spread of 'Spam' Is Proving Elusive
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: For almost every move to cut down on junk email, spammers have
a counter move. Spammers use fake return addresses to get by filters. A
few years ago spammers were relatively rare and those that tried were
retaliated against by other users. Now, the number of spammers are growing
and only 4% of users respond against them.
Title: TV Broadcasters Gain Ground in Effort To Delay Return of Licenses
for Auction
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
Author: Bryan Gruley
Issue: Digital TV
Description: The House Commerce Committee adopted a provision that would
let broadcasters keep their second spectrum license beyond the FCC's 2006
deadline. The FCC would have to extend the deadline "for returning the
analog license in areas where 5% or more of households continue to rely
solely on over-the-air analog TV signals. Currently, about 30% of the
nation's households rely on such transmissions; the rest get their TV
signals from cable or satellite." Critics warn that extensions will slow
the transition to digital TV, lower the amount of money the government
raises in auctions, and enable broadcasters to limit competition since
they've got all the licenses: "if broadcasters get to hold on to both blocks
of spectrum, nobody else can have it, which means no [new] competition,"
says Gigi Sohn of the Media Access Project. Supporters of the provision
believe that it protects consumers who can't afford new digital TVs or set
top boxes.
Title: Plan to Revise TV-Rating System Stalls As Parental Groups Seek Tough
Criteria
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
Author: Kyle Pope
Issue: V-Chip
Description: Should hugging get an S for sexual content? Is the phrase
"getting lucky" bad language? Do veggie burgers merit a T for Tofu? These
kinds of questions have deadlocked the effort the develop more content based
TV ratings. Pro- and anti- hugging advocates both agree that everything
under discussion is still very much in draft form.
Title: FTC Vows to Crack Down on Fraudulent E-Mail
Source: Washington Post (G3)
Author:Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The Federal Trade Commission announced that regulators would
increase their efforts to protect Internet users from junk email. Not only
is junk email annoying because it clogs In boxes, but much of it makes
fraudulent business claims. AOL states that 5 to 30% of the 15 million
daily messages it carries is junk email.
Title: Burn Lifts "Hold," But Hollings Won't Budge on Klein's Nomination
Source: Telecommunications Reports Daily
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burn
(R-Mont) has lifted his hold on the nomination of Joel Klein for Assistant
Attorney General-Antitrust. Sen Burn had concerns that Klein may try to
regulate the phone industry too much. Sen Ernest Hollings (D-SC) will not
lift his hold on the nomination until "Mr. Klein has a better understanding
of the Telecommunications Act." Sen Hollings thinks Klein may not regulate
the phone industry enough. The antitrust division monitors phone company
mergers.
Title: House Commerce OKs Budget Measure on Party-Line Vote
Source: Telecommunications Reports Daily
Issue: Budget Issues/Spectrum
Description: The House Commerce Committee approved a budget reconciliation
bill that projects the US Treasury will get $26.3 billion for upcoming FCC
spectrum auctions. However, member of the committee, the Office of
Management and Budget, and the Congressional Budget Office do not believe
the auctions will raise even $20 billion. That's how we balance a budget
here in DC. The committee approved an amendment that will relax
broadcast/newspaper crossownership rules. The committee also approved a
loophole that may allow television broadcasters to retain 78 MHz of spectrum
they were scheduled to return to the government for auction in 2006. These
will probably be points of contention when a conference committee addresses
this bill later this month. The Senate Commerce Committee is expected to
consider its spectrum budget package on June 17.
Title: Burns and Klein Make Up, But Klein's Nomination Still In Doubt
Source: Telecom AM
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: Klein gets handoff; fakes Burns right; tries to cut-back left;
stopped by Hollings. Coach Reno has full confidence.
Congratulations to the Media Access Project's Gigi Sohn -- recently elected
to the DC Bar Board of Governors. (And a slick fielding third baseperson to
boot!)
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Go Bulls! And remember...as bad as it may seem on Friday the 13th, its
always worse on Saturday the 14th.