BROADCASTING
FCC to Begin Rewriting Media Ownership Limits
The Big Picture on Digital TV: It's Still Fuzzy=20
INTERNET
Afghans Thirst for Web Access=20
Bill Urges Rules For Policing Privacy
=20
BROADCASTING
FCC TO BEGIN REWRITING MEDIA OWNERSHIP LIMITS
At its monthly meeting today, the Federal Communications Commission =
will
launch a broad effort to relax rules that govern the ownership of =
newspapers
and television stations. FCC Chairman Michael Powell has said he =
expects the
new rules to be a bit more "liberalized," which makes some lawmakers =
and
consumer groups worry that allowing companies to get bigger will =
negatively
impact diversity. The review will probably include limits on how much =
of the
national television audience one company can reach as well as limits on
local radio station concentration.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
(http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=3Dbusinessnews&StoryID=3D=
1432242
)
See Also:
FCC'S MEDIA OWNERSHIP PROCEEDING WILL HURT NATIONAL SECURITY
[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/ownershipNPRM.html)
THE BIG PICTURE ON DIGITAL TV: IT'S STILL FUZZY
The mandate that requires the United States' 1,309 local commercial
broadcast stations to switch from analog to digital transmission has =
been
terribly slow. Only 393 stations have started (despite the May 1, 2002
deadline to begin transmission) and the government seems to be off =
schedule
for the 2006 deadline of having all stations fully converted. The FCC =
admits
that the transition has been difficult. "We're midstream in a boat that =
some
say has leaks," states Kenneth Feree, chief of the FCC media bureau. =
"We're
patching the leaks and trying to get to shore." A survey produced by =
the
Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing states that 32
percent of adults have never heard of HDTV (high definition =
television),
while 56 percent have no idea how to go about receiving digital tv =
signals
and 81 percent are unlikely to buy an HDTV set in the next 12 months.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric A. Taub]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/12/technology/circuits/12TEEV.html)
(requires registration)
INTERNET
AFGHANS THIRST FOR WEB ACCESS
One might not expect the Internet to be high on the list of =
Afghanistan's
priorities, but Andrew Stroehlein says that among local journalists,
government workers and other educated Kabulis, "there is a real thirst =
for
access." Stroehlien writes about a recent media-training visit to Kabul =
in
which he instructed a group of Afghan journalists in online publishing. =
Many
returning Afghans, who became accustomed to the Internet while living
abroad, have found almost nonexistent access in Afghanistan. The =
capital
city of Kabul has only two Internet caf=E9s, and in a country where the =
annual
GDP per capita is $160, four dollars an hour online is prohibitively
expensive for most Kabulis.
[SOURCE: Online Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Andrew Stroehlein]
(http://www.ojr.org/ojr/world_reports/1030032560.php)
BILL URGES RULES FOR POLICING PRIVACY
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee =
approved
the Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act, a bill that requires =
federal
agencies to prepare and publish a "privacy impact analysis" of any =
proposed
regulation. "Americans deserve to know how government regulations will
impact their personal privacy, and this legislation reforms the =
regulatory
process to make sure that occurs," says Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), who wrote =
the
bill. The bill gives Americans the opportunity to sue in federal court =
if
they were targets of agencies that did not prepare privacy impact
statements. The bill does not apply to private firms or state and local
agencies, however. Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) has introduced a similar =
bill
in the Senate, but no hearings have been held thus far.
[SOURCE: CNET, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1023-957419.html?tag=3Dfd_top)
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