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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Powell Wants to Leave FCC Top Post -- Report
News Corp Presses for Change
E-GOVERNMENT
Touch-screen Voting Set for Texas Election
INTERNET
Amazon Plan Would Allow Searching Texts of Many Books
Wireless Networks Could Get Personal
If Marketers Can't Get You by Phone, Check Your Email
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
POWELL WANTS TO LEAVE FCC TOP POST -- REPORT
FCC Chairman Michael Powell has reportedly told friends that he wants to
leave his post at the commission by this fall, writes the New York Post. And
according to a related story by Time Magazine, three of Powell's four top
staffers are putting out feelers for other jobs as well. Powell's top
communications policy advisor, Susan Eid, has already quit, according to the
Post's source. Powell has been at the center of the growing controversy over
the FCC's June decision to roll back US media ownership rules -- a decision
that is now being challenged by a bipartisan group in the House and Senate.
"The inner circles of Washington have been abuzz for months over Powell's
fate," writes the Post. According to observers, the chances of Powell
landing another job in the Bush administration "now seem like a long shot."
Potential successors to Powell include current FCC commissioner Kevin Martin
and Rebecca Klein, head of the Texas public utility commission.
SOURCE: New York Post; AUTHORS: Suzanne Kapner and Ben Silverman
http://www.nypost.com/business/1078.htm
See Also:
THE FCC UNDER FIRE
SOURCE: Time Magazine; AUTHOR: Viveca Novak
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030728-465798,00.html
NEWS CORP PRESSES FOR CHANGE
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is aggressively lobbying the US Congress
not to overturn the FCC's decision to relax media ownership rules. News
Corp, along with Viacom, had supported Michael Powell and the FCC when they
pushed through new rules that would increase the national television
ownership cap from 35 percent to 45 percent. Both companies were already in
breach of the previous cap. If Congress succeeds in reinstating the old
rules, News Corp and Viacom would be forced to sell off a number of media
properties in order to be in compliance with the cap.
SOURCE: Financial Times; AUTHOR: Demetri Sevastopulo
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullSto...
=StoryFT&cid=1057562578107
E-GOVERNMENT
TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING SET FOR TEXAS ELECTION
The iVotronic touch-screen voting system will be rolled out September 13 in
Bexar County, Texas, for a state constitutional amendment election. The
computerized voting system is designed to avoid some of the problems of
paper ballots and make voting easier. Volunteers from businesses, high
schools and other organizations will be recruited as election judges and
voting trainees. In addition to a three-minute looped video available to
voters, on-site volunteers will be able to answer questions about the
iVotronic system. The county's election administrator, Cliff Borofsky, met
with a group of senior citizens to demonstrate the touch-screen machine.
There were some initial concerns about power outages, the placement of
electrical cords and how to correct a mistake on the screen. But after some
hands-on practice, concerns were quelled. "That's absolutely terrific!"
exclaimed 89-year-old Angie Weaver. "I think it's a wonderful gadget. They
finally caught up with the computer age." Genice Hansen, 81, said voters
shouldn't feel intimidated: "If they can read and don't panic, it's very
simple."
SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News; AUTHOR: Rebeca Rodriguez
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1028311
INTERNET
AMAZON PLAN WOULD ALLOW SEARCHING TEXTS OF MANY BOOKS
Amazon is planning to assemble a searchable online archive with the texts of
tens of thousands of nonfiction books. The move could make Amazon a more
authoritative source of information and draw additional traffic to its
online store. Websites such as Google and Yahoo are currently diverting
shoppers who might have gone straight to Amazon. In fact, Google appears to
be taking on Amazon and other online retailers directly by testing a spinoff
service called Froogle.com, which allows users to browse and compare many
online stores at once. Amazon faces several challenges in developing its
searchable online program. In addition to the expense of converting books
to a digital format, publishers and authors have expressed concerns with the
project. Publishers in particular note that Amazon stands to benefit far
more than they do, with potential sales of music, electronics, clothing and
other goods to users drawn to the site by the digital archive. Authors may
contend that Amazon's search service resembles a research system or
anthology, and demand reasonable compensation.
SOURCE: New York Times; AUTHOR: David D. Kirkpatrick
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/21/technology/21AMAZ.html
WIRELESS NETWORKS COULD GET PERSONAL
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, has developed a new technology
that could allow consumers to create personal wireless networks with a
transmission range anywhere from one to 100 square miles. Wozniak,
affectionately known as Woz in the tech world, says the technology he calls
wOzNet could solve a range of everyday problems such as keeping track of
your kids or making sure the stove in your house has been shut off. Woz's
company, Wheels of Zeus, Inc. (WOZ, of course), reports that the technology
will fill the gap that exists between the limited range of wireless local
area networks and the broad range of communications networks like cell phone
networks. It's also being reported that WozNet devices will allow for
instant person-to-person two-way communications within a network's hot spot,
but would not offer details.
SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle: AUTHOR: Benny Evangelista
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/0...
/BU291111.DTL
See also:
http://www.woz.com/press/072103.html
IF MARKETERS CAN'T GET YOU BY PHONE, CHECK YOUR EMAIL
Privacy experts fear that telemarketers, newly constrained by restrictions
prohibiting them from phoning many customers, may resort to spam. More than
26 million phone numbers have been submitted to the government's do-not-call
list and an estimated 60 million numbers are expected by mid-2004, according
to the Federal Trade Commission. Do-not-call lists could be the "death
knell" of the telemarketing industry, eliminating 25 to 50 percent of its
4.1 million jobs, says Louis Mastria of the Direct Marketing Association.
Spam offers a cheap alternative for telemarketing firms, which face fines of
up to $11,000 per violation under the do-not-call rule. However, several
telemarketers say they would never consider spam because they could suffer
legal consequences and damage their brand, said Trevor Hughes, executive
director of the Network Advertising Initiative. The Internet is already
buckling under the weight of unwanted e-mail messages: Spam is expected to
reach seven trillion messages this year, nearly doubling from last year.
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: Jon Swartz
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-07-20-spam_x.htm
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