OWNERSHIP
FCC Asks The Wrong Questions In Media Ownership Studies
INTERNET
Web Calling Roils the Telecom World
Lobbying Pressure Leads U.S. to Speed Approval of Internet Change
SPECTRUM
Chairman Powell and Assistant Secretary Victory Meet to Coordinate
Spectrum Policy
OWNERSHIP
FCC ASKS THE WRONG QUESTIONS IN MEDIA OWNERSHIP STUDIES
As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) embarks on a review of media
ownership rules, consumer groups charge Commission Chairman Michael Powell
with acting against public opinion and disregarding values by articulated
Congress and embraced by the Supreme Court. Led by The Consumer Federation
of America, several public interest and consumer groups released a statement
of principles and a comprehensive legal and economic analysis of the
increasing problem of concentration in mass media markets. The report
predicts that repeal or significant modification of media ownership rules
will open the floodgates of mergers and acquisitions and will reduce
competition and diversity in the media. Analyzing several previous instances
in which ownership limits were relaxed, the paper concludes that the
industry behaves according to a simple principle "If you let them, they will
merge."
[SOURCE: Consumers Union]
(http://www.consumerfed.org/demodiscoursesum.pdf)
INTERNET
WEB CALLING ROILS THE TELECOM WORLD
While Internet-based calling is still in its early stages, some large
telephone companies are beginning to get concerned. Phone monopolies,
especially in the developing world, are beginning to feeling threatened by
the increasingly common practice of routing International calls over the
Internet at steep discounts. Internet-based calls -- most of which originate
or terminate in poor countries -- account for more than 10 percent of all
international calling traffic today, up from almost nothing five years ago,
according to TeleGeography, a research firm. Analysts predict that the real
disruption to the industry depends on whether large carriers decide to
mothball billions of dollars' worth of traditional switching equipment in
favor of Internet-based technology.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/technology/16TELE.html)
(requires registration)
LOBBYING PRESSURE LEADS U.S. TO SPEED APPROVAL OF INTERNET CHANGE
In the past year, several organizations have attempted to use national
security to push policies through the federal government. The technology
sector is not immune to this trend. In October of this year, Verisign
lobbied the Department of Commerce to move one of the 13 Internet "root
servers," which manage global Web traffic, in the interest of national
security. DOC approved the request after just two days, providing evidence
that companies are able to wield enormous policy power using homeland
protection as a justification. Tech experts and senior government officials
said the change merely corrected a design flaw, shrugging off suggestions
that DOC was swayed by the security argument. Watchdog organizations
disagree.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-12-16-net-lobby_x.htm)
SPECTRUM
CHAIRMAN POWELL AND ASSISTANT SECRETARY VICTORY MEET TO PLAN AND COORDINATE
SPECTRUM POLICY
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information Nancy J. Victory met last Tuesday to
coordinate the efforts of the Commission and DOC's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to improve U.S.
spectrum policy. The meeting came as a result of requests from industry
leaders and spectrum users at NTIA's Spectrum Summit last spring. Among the
agenda items were: the current process for coordinating use of the spectrum;
maximizing spectrum use while reducing interference to existing users and
new entrants; emerging technologies that may address various concerns; and
alternative licensing regimes and the success of the unlicensed model. The
two agencies plan to meet again next summer.
[SOURCE: US Dept. of Commerce]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2002/spectrumleadership_12102002.htm
)
----------------------------------------------------------------------