A Service of the Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org)
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
House May Block Part Of FCC's Media Plan
Commentary: "Big" Isn't "Bad"
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Bush Opposes Plan for Minority Grants
SPECTRUM
Reclaiming the Vast Wasteland: Unlicensed Sharing of Broadcast
Spectrum
INTERNET
Australia to Ban Spam
No Joke: FBI Calls Spoofing Hottest New Web Scam
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
HOUSE MAY BLOCK PART OF FCC'S MEDIA PLAN
Despite its strong record of party discipline, House Republican leadership
was unable to prevent a measure rolling back portions of the FCC's new media
ownership regulations from reaching a full vote. The House of
Representatives should vote today on a bill that would return the broadcast
TV ownership cap to 35 percent from the 45 percent limit adopted June 2 by
the commission. If the bill passes, as many expect, it will reach the
Senate, where the Commerce Committee has already approved a measure that
would revert the broadcast cap while restoring TV-newspaper cross-ownership
restrictions. The White House has indicated that it would veto any measures,
including spending bills, that include media ownership rollbacks. While
Democrats and consumer advocates remain confident, some House Democrats are
wary of the effect a potentially broad Senate action would have on the
tenuous coalition that has moved the House legislation forward.
SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHORS: Jonathan Krim and Christopher Stern
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31469-2003Jul22.html
See also:
White House Threatens Veto on Media-Ownership Cap
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030723/media_nm/medi...
nership_dc
and
Republicans are Adding Weight to Reversal of FCC Media Rule
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/business/media/23FCC.html
"BIG" ISN'T "BAD"
[Commentary] NBC Chairman and CEO Bob Wright weighs in on the media
ownership issue, dispelling the "politically convenient populism that
equates 'big' with 'bad.'" Wright says that "the record" shows that the
amount and quality of local news and public affairs programming actually
increases when networks take operating control of local TV stations. Wright
also seeks to change the public perception that networks dictate the
"cultural attitude" of the affiliates it operates or that stations absent
direct network control are owned by "a mom-and-pop enterprise with offices
above the five-and-dime on Main Street." More likely, the owner will be a
large non-network media company "like Belo, Gannett, Hearst-Argyle, Scripps
or the Washington Post." Finally, Wright points out that the FCC's ownership
cap is based on a network's potential national reach -- measured by signal
reach -- rather than actual market share. NBC estimates their "ownership" of
the prime time market at less than 3 percent and Wright argues that lifting
the cap to 45 percent would only serve to raise that number by a point or
two. The significance, he says, would be in allowing NBC to purchase
additional channels for its Telemundo network, offering additional hours of
Spanish language programming in areas in which the Hispanic community is
underserved.
SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal; AUTHOR: Bob Wright
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB105892169017460100-H9jeoNhlaB2o...
4CIaaiAm5,00.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
BUSH OPPOSES PLAN FOR MINORITY GRANTS
A bill pushed by Sen. George Allen (R-VA) and Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA)
would authorize $1.25 billion over the next five years to create a grant
program for computer technology at historically-black and other
minority-serving colleges and universities. Supporters say the legislation
is needed to address the digital divide that has left these colleges behind
their majority-white -- and often richer -- higher education counterparts.
Critics of affirmative action protest the award of grant money based on a
school's racial composition instead of economic need. The US Department of
Commerce, which would administer the program, has raised concerns about
defining eligible schools by racial categories. It also opposes the program
on the grounds that it duplicates a financial assistance program already
provided through the Department of Education. Despite opposition from the
Bush administration, Forbes is optimistic that the White House will support
the bill if it clears Congress and wins funding. He dismissed the
administration's objections, saying they come from "a very low-level
bureaucrat."
SOURCE: Daily Press; AUTHOR: David Lerman
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-46340sy0jul23,0,4334090.story
SPECTRUM
RECLAIMING THE 'VAST WASTELAND': UNLICENSED SHARING OF BROADCAST SPECTRUM
New America Foundation (NAF) has released it latest brief on spectrum policy
reform. Spectrum Series Issue Brief #12 argues that underutilized TV
broadcasting spectrum should be opened for license-exempt sharing with
broadband wireless devices. The piece reports that over 80 percent of the
400 MHz allocated to TV is "unassigned 'white space'" that could be more
efficiently shared among emerging technologies such as "smart" radios and
wireless broadband without causing harmful interference to broadcasters.
Wireless providers, including community networks, already employ unlicensed
spectrum to connect rural and other underserved areas, but such groups would
benefit from access to additional low-frequency spectrum. The paper also
summarizes the NAF's comments on a pending FCC inquiry concerning the
allocation of additional low-frequency spectrum for general unlicensed use.
SOURCE: New America Foundation
http://www.newamerica.net/index.cfm?pg=article&pubID=1286
See also:
Comments of the New American Foundation, joined by the Benton Foundation and
others, to the FCC on Opening Broadcast Spectrum for Unlicensed Sharing
http://www.newamerica.net/Download_Docs/pdfs/Pub_File_1212_1.pdf
INTERNET
AUSTRALIA TO BAN SPAM
According to a spokesperson for Australian Senator Richard Alston, Australia
is "definitely taking a leadership position" on the spam issue, intending to
introduce legislation later this year to ban unsolicited commercial email.
The multi-layered approach includes banning "the sending of commercial
electronic messages without the prior consent of end users unless there is
an existing customer-business relationship," imposing a range of penalties
for breaking this law, requiring that all commercial email include a
functioning opt-out mechanism and banning the use of email address
harvesting software. The legislation would only affect spam originating from
Australian companies, which accounts for only about 0.5 percent of all spam
received by Australian email users. However, the legislation also aims to
"cooperate with overseas organizations to develop international guidelines
and mechanisms to battle spam." Alston's spokesperson added that end users
also have a part to play in spam prevention: "There's increasingly effective
filter products that are available to trap this sort of stuff before it
arrives in your inbox."
SOURCE: ZDNet UK News; AUTHOR: Josh Mehlman
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2138021,00.html
NO JOKE: FBI CALLS SPOOFING HOTTEST NEW WEB SCAM
The FBI's specialized Cyber Squads and Cyber Crime Task Forces across the
country are zeroing in on the "hottest, and most troubling" new Internet
scam. "Spoofing" or "phishing" frauds trick customers into giving out
personal information over the Internet. With "email spoofing" the header of
an email is disguised to appear as if it came from a respected source. (One
member of the Headlines team recently received an email purportedly coming
from eBay asking them to go to a webpage and update their membership
settings; the underlying code of the email would have directed their data
not to eBay, but to a mysterious server.) "IP spoofing" allows an intruder
to gain unauthorized access to computers and thereby send a message as if it
is also coming from a known source. "Link alteration" involves altering the
return address in a Web page sent to a consumer that would redirect it to
the hacker's site -- for instance a phony "customer service" type of
website. According to Jana Monroe, Assistant Director of the FBI's Cyber
Division, this type of scam is contributing to a rise in identity theft,
credit card fraud, and other Internet frauds. The FBI is helping to
coordinate international investigations and working actively with key
Internet e-commerce stakeholders and merchants to identify and respond to
scams.
SOURCE: DC.Internet.com; AUTHOR: Roy Mark
http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2238361
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