MEDIA & SOCIETY
Open Access and Mergers: Public Concerns and Preferences (MAP)
Two Parties Share Soapbox in Hearing To Scold Hollywood (NYT)
Commercialism In U.S. Schools Is Examined In New Report (NYT)
TV Show Takes Aim At Ethnic Prejudice (USA)
EPIC Ends Ties with Amazon.com (EPIC)
Speech: Reflections and Challenges (FCC)
MERGERS
Inktomi to Buy FastFoward In $1.3 Billion Stock Swap (NYT)
FCC Enters Debate on Internet Access (WP)
INTERNATIONAL
China May Impose Restrictions On Operating in Internet Sector (WSJ)
English Without Tears, Thanks to TV (NYT)
LEGISLATION
Markup Sessions (House)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
OPEN ACCESS AND MERGERS: PUBLIC CONCERNS AND PREFERENCES
Issue: Media & Society
The Digital Media Forum sponsored a study of national public opinion that
demonstrates Americans have clear preferences with respect to
telecommunications offerings. This study was conducted independently by
Professor Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was designed to
generate rich, yet objective, data about the opinions, behaviors, and media
access patterns of the American public. Because of the systematic and
rigorous nature of the study's design, the results accurately represent the
public's preferences and practices concerning digital media. The DMF is
releasing the data included in this study regarding mergers and open access
on cable broadband networks. In general, this portion of the study shows
that Americans are skeptical of media mergers, believe strongly in choice
among ISPs, and do not want Internet search engines to favor their
affiliated advertisers. Additional data from the study will be released in a
series of reports in
the coming months.
Specifically, the study reveals:
* 70% of Americans believe media companies are getting too big.
* Nearly 60% of Americans do not believe that mergers between media
companies produce better content and services.
* 86% of the public express at least a moderate level of concern about media
mergers -- with 46% expressing a high level of concern.
* An overwhelming majority of individuals -- almost 90% -- does not want to
be required to use the Internet service provider affiliated with their cable
company.
* A vast majority of the public, 78%, does not want to pay a premium for the
option of selecting an alternate Internet service provider.
* 65% of the public believe that search engines should not give preferred
placement to their advertisers.
* 64% of the public believe that search engines should not speed up access
to their advertisers.
* Each of these opinions are widely shared across several demographics,
including age, income, political party affiliation, and Internet usage.
[SOURCE: Media Access Project]
(http://www.mediaaccess.org/whats_new/DMF913.PDF)
TWO PARTIES SHARE SOAPBOX IN HEARING TO SCOLD HOLLYWOOD
Issue: Media & Society
Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on one thing: the entertainment
industry should be taken to task for marketing violent movies, music and
video games to children. Lynne Cheney, former chairwoman of the National
Endowment for the Humanities and wife to vice presidential nominee Dick
Cheney, went even further at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing yesterday:
"There is a problem with the product they market, no matter how they market
it." Mrs Cheney suggests community pressure on entertainment companies
instead of government regulation. At the same hearing, Sen Joseph Lieberman,
VP Gore's running mate, promised that if elected, the two would take action
against entertainment companies if they persist in marketing to children.
The industry was defended by longtime Washington insider Jack Valenti who
conceded that "some marketing people" have "stepped over the line" -- such
as test marketing violent films on focus groups of 10 and 12 year-olds. But
Valenti suggested Congress should be proud of the daily contributions the
movie and TV industries make to the nation's art and commerce. Danny
Goldberg, president of Artemis Records, defended popular culture noting that
there was no one at the hearing representing youth and/or music fans. He
suggested that the reason young people are disaffected by politics and
politicians is because the same politicians -- and academics -- have no real
understanding of their culture and make sweeping generalizations about their
entertainment. [To read more about the hearing, see
http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/issues/telco.htm#Hearings]
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: David Rosenbaum]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/14/politics/14VIOL.html)
(requires registration)
COMMERCIALISM IN U.S. SCHOOLS IS EXAMINED IN NEW REPORT
Issue: Media & Society
Recognizing that the nation's 47.2 million students are an increasingly
lucrative target market for consumer product companies, school districts are
often willing to join with corporations. A new report to be released by the
General Accounting Office today begins: "In-school marketing has become a
growing industry. Some marketing professionals are increasingly targeting
children in schools, companies are becoming known for their success in
negotiating contracts between school districts and beverage companies, and
both educators and corporate managers are attending conferences to learn how
to increase revenue from in-school marketing for their schools and
companies." About 25 percent of the nation's middle schools and high schools
now show Channel One, a broadcast of news features and commercials, in their
classrooms, and about 200 school districts have signed exclusive contracts
with soft-drink companies to sell their beverages in schools. And in at
least one case, students using computers in classrooms were offered
incentives to enter personal data -- names, addresses, information on
personal habits -- which would then be sold to advertisers.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Constance Hays]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/14/business/14SCHO.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
EDUCATORS BUY INTO SELLING KIDS ON ADVERTISING TRUTHS
[SOURCE: USAToday (1D), AUTHOR: Karen Thomas]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000914/2642022s.htm)
TV SHOW TAKES AIM AT ETHNIC PREJUDICE
Issue: Media & Society
A report to be released this weekend finds that an American-conceived
television show has produced a dramatic reduction in ethnic hatred among the
Macedonian children who watched the first season. "Our Neighborhood," funded
in part by the U.S. Agency for International Development, is aimed at 7- to
11-year-olds and was made in collaboration with Sesame Workshop, producer of
the long-running children's series Sesame Street. Gil Kulick, spokesman for
Search for Common Ground, which oversees the show's production company, says
Macedonia was chosen for the television show precisely because its ethnic
mix is similar to that which led to war in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo after
the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. "This was an opportunity to get to the
roots of the stereotypes and prejudice before they lead to violence," he
said. After seeing eight episodes of the show, which stars a half-dozen
children from different ethnic groups who live in or near a high-rise
building, the percentage of ethnic Macedonians who said they would invite
home an Albanian child went from 30% to 60%.
[SOURCE: USAToday (22A), AUTHOR: Barbara Slavin]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000914/2642106s.htm)
EPIC ENDS TIES WITH AMAZON.COM
Issue: Privacy
EPIC has sent a letter to its subscribers notifying them that we will no
longer have a formal relationship with Amazon.com due that company's recent
changes to its privacy practices. The EPIC Bookstore has been part of the
Amazon Affiliates program since 1996 as part of our efforts to make our
publications as widely available as possible. The recent changes in Amazon's
privacy policy indicate that the online retailer can no longer guarantee
that the its customers' personal information will not be disclosed to third
parties. See the press release
(http://www.epic.org/privacy/internet/amazon/letter_pr.html) for more details.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/)
SPEECH: REFLECTIONS AND CHALLENGES
Issue: Ownership
Chairman Kennard's Remarks before the National Association of Black Owned
Broadcasters.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/2000/spwek020.html)
MERGERS
INKTOMI TO BUY FASTFOWARD IN $1.3 BILLION STOCK SWAP
Issue: Mergers
Internet infrastructure specialist Inktomi will buy FastFoward, developer of
software technology for the distribution and management of live Webcasts, in
a stock swap for $1.3 billion. Inktomi's network service products are aimed
at improving Web performance through the more efficient distribution of
content, and are typically bought by large Internet service providers. The
company's core product, Traffic Server, is a Web cache and adding
FastFoward's technology "added the intelligence to put the content into the
caches in an intelligent way and keep it up to date," said an industry analyst.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C6), AUTHOR: Lawrence Fisher]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/14/technology/14NET.html)
(requires registration)
FCC ENTERS DEBATE ON INTERNET ACCESS
Issue: Open Access
Today, the FCC is scheduled to launch an inquiry into the complex question
of whether cable television systems - an increasingly popular conduit for
high-speed Internet access - must share their wires with rivals that want to
ride them into homes. The issue has become unavoidable as a result of the
debate over America Online's pending $183 billion merger with Time
Warner. Competitors of the two companies have complained that they
could be shut out from substantial portions of the marketplace if federal
regulators allow AOL, the nation's largest Internet service provider, to
combine with cable and programming giant Time Warner. The FCC will begin to
gather comment on whether consumer choice and evolving competition require
federal rules giving Internet providers the right to connect to customers
over all cable networks, much the same way they now have access to local
telephone systems. Consumer advocates and industry proponents for an
open-access policy derided the new FCC proceeding as too late. They noted
that it is likely to continue for months, and no rules can be enacted before
the launch of another proceeding - a formal rulemaking. Meanwhile, the
dominant companies will grow stronger. FCC officials said their reluctance
to regulate does not amount to doing nothing. They have watched keenly as
the market has produced a multitude of high-speed ways to reach the Internet
- cable; DSL (digital subscriber line), a technology that rides over
telephone lines; plus emerging wireless and satellite connections. FCC
Chairman Bill Kennard has argued that new rules might discourage cable
companies from rolling out
the new services, depriving consumers of choice. Though the draft order
launching the FCC inquiry is mostly a long list of questions, it seeks to
put to rest the argument over the technicalities.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, (E1) AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
INTERNATIONAL
CHINA MAY IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS ON OPERATING IN INTERNET SECTOR
Issue: International
Although China pledged to open its Internet sector in preparation for it's
entry to the World Trade Organization last November, it is now discussing
draft laws that could impose draconian restrictions on who can operate in
the country's promising Internet sector. The Internet sector is arguably the
most promising part of the Chinese economy to foreign investment. In the
absence of clear laws, foreign investment banks, venture-capital firms and
technology concerns have taken big stakes in leading electronic-commerce
firms in China. A draft of new telecom law calls for anyone seeking to
operate "Internet and multimedia network services" to apply for a license
from authorities under the State Council,
China's cabinet. The most troubling obstacle would require any foreign
investor in a joint venture engaged in "Internet and multimedia network
services" to have $10 billion in annual revenue over the past two years. The
Chinese partner in such ventures would have to be state controlled, with a
permit to operate in telecommunications and more than $360 million in annual
revenue over the past two years. That would rule out almost every company
currently operating in China's Internet sector, the entire revenues of which
don't approach the $10 billion mark by a long shot.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A21), AUTHOR: Leslie Chang]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB968868084756723036.htm)
(Requires subscription)
ENGLISH WITHOUT TEARS, THANKS TO TV
Issue: International
MovieTalk is a series of CD-ROMs that convert popular American television
shows, like Beverly Hills 90210, into interactive English lessons. The CDs
are being given away by L'Espresso magazine, hoping to sell magazines by
capitalizing on Italians' thirst to improve their English. MovieTalk, a
system designed by the American software company, Softrade International,
has already been marketed in Germany and Japan using episodes of "Beverly
Hills 90210," "Columbo," "Murder, She Wrote," and "Star Trek."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A4), AUTHOR: Alessandra Stanley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/14/world/14ROME.html)
(requires registration)
LEGISLATION
MARKUP SESSIONS
Issue: Legislation
The Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection has
scheduled a markup for Wednesday, September 13, 2000, and subsequent days if
necessary, at 3:00 p.m. or 20 minutes after the conclusion of the Health and
Environment Subcommittee hearing in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The
Subcommittee will be considering:
(1) H.R. 3011, the Truth in Telephone Billing Act of 1999; and
(2) H.R. 4445, the Reciprocal Compensation Adjustment Act of 2000
The Full Committee will meet in OPEN MARKUP SESSION at 10:00 a.m. on
Thursday, September 14, 2000, and subsequent days if necessary, in 2123
Rayburn House Office Building, to consider the following measures:
1. H.R. 3100, the Know Your Caller Act;
2. H.R. 3850, the Independent Telecommunications Consumer Enhancement
Act of 2000;
3. H.R. 2346, to authorize the enforcement by State and local
governments of certain Federal Communications Commission regulations
regarding use of citizens band radio equipment.
Additional legislation may be noticed for this markup in conformity with
House Rules.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://www.house.gov/commerce/)
--------------------------------------------------------------