MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Mr. Murdoch Goes to Washington
Senate Commerce Committee to Hold Hearing on Media Ownership in
Broadcast Television
INTERNET
Calif. Senate Approves Making Online Retailers Collect Taxes
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Countryside Agency Warns of Digital Divide
MR. MURDOCH GOES TO WASHINGTON
News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch appeared before the House Judiciary
Committee yesterday to answer questions regarding his company's proposed
takeover of DirecTV. The tone of the hearing is subject to interpretation,
according to the various media outlets that covered it. A Reuters reporter
described Republican support for the merger as "just short of fawning,"
while Newsday said that the Committee "grill[ed]" Murdoch on his ability to
further spread the conservative slant of Fox News as a result of obtaining
DirecTV. Murdoch reported that the merger would increase competition with
cable amid critics' claims that New Corp. could use its distribution power
to overcharge cable companies for their popular programs.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHOR: Cynthia Web]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34258-2003May9.html
CALIF. SENATE APPROVES MAKING ONLINE RETAILERS COLLECT TAXES
The California State Senate voted yesterday to levy sales tax on products
sold to its residents via the Internet, a move that could bring in a
combined $20 million to the state and local governments. The move is likely
to bring legal challenges from BarnesandNoble.com and Dell Computers, both
of whom do business with California customers but claim not to have a
physical presence in the state. Legislators view the online bookseller as
"substantially" the same company as the brick and mortar stores that
populate California, and claim that Dell has representatives working
in-state, establishing minimum physical contacts.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHOR: Jim Wasserman, Associated Press]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31342-2003May8.html
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARING ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP IN BROADCAST
TELEVISION
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a
hearing of the full committee on the matter of media ownership regulations
in the broadcast television industry. The hearing will be held next Tuesday,
May 13, 2003 at 9:30 AM in room SR-253 of the Russell Building. The FCC
plans to rule on changes to the rules regulating various media outlets,
including broadcast TV, on June 2nd. A list of witnesses can be found at the
link below.
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=758
COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY WARNS OF DIGITAL DIVIDE
In its annual "State of the Countryside" report, the British Countryside
Agency warned that the divide between urban and rural Internet access is
growing. 95% of the urban population has affordable access, compared with
only 26% of market town residents, 7% in rural villages and a mere 1% in
remote rural areas. Agency chairman Ewen Cameron stated that this growing
divide hinders economic growth in the country's rural regions. "Lack of
broadband access can present an expensive obstacle to new rural businesses,
denying them markets for their products and services," he said. Cameron
hopes that plans to connect the unconnected will succeed in providing access
to 80-90% of the population within three years.
[SOURCE: Financial Times; AUTHOR: John Mason]
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullSto...
=StoryFT&cid=1051389835683
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