MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC Asked to Deny Renewal of Clear Channel Broadcast Licenses
Commentary: Powell Muses: Maybe Public Broadcasting Can Help!
INTERNET
Studios Moving to Block Piracy of Films Online
Net Guru Peers into Web's Future
TELEPHONY
Do-Not-Call List Blocked By Court
EVENTS
Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Edtech in Rural Schools
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC ASKED TO DENY RENEWAL OF CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCAST LICENSES
Essential Information, a public interest group, urged the FCC to deny
license renewal for 63 stations owned by Clear Channel, the nation's largest
radio conglomerate. The stations are located in Washington DC, Virginia,
West Virginia, and Maryland. "The FCC is required by statute to deny
applications for license renewal if a licensee exhibits poor character,"
said Jim Donahue, project director of Essential Information. Donahue claims
that Clear Channel and its subsidiaries have violated the law on 36 separate
occasions over the last three years. "Clear Channel is not qualified to hold
a broadcast license under the FCC's own character rules," he added. The
group cites Clear Channel's illegal behavior on various occasions, including
deceptive advertising, broadcasting obscene and indecent material during
hours when children are likely to be listening, disturbing the peace,
defacing public property, and conviction for animal cruelty.
SOURCE: U.S. Newswire; CONTACT: Jim Donahue
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=103-09242003
Essential Information's FCC complaint:
http://www.essential.org
POWELL MUSES: MAYBE PUBLIC BROADCASTING CAN HELP!
[Commentary] At the FCC's only official media ownership forum last February,
Chairman Powell had an epiphany about the increasingly important role of
public, noncommercial media. After hearing from Brent Bozell of the Parents
Television Council that its members are "disgusted, revolted, fed up,
horrified" by the "raw sewage of the ultra-violence, the graphic sex, the
raunchy language" spewing from their televisions, Powell mused: "Maybe a
greater commitment to public broadcasting or forms of public broadcasting is
one of these things this country, the government ought to put more stock
in." Benton's Norris Dickard urges that public broadcasting and its
advocates take advantage of this opportunity. First, Dickard says pubcasting
should be at the table with the FCC's localism and diversity task force to
help expand public media choices, such as low-power television, low-power
FM, cable access channels and community access to media creation technology.
Second, advocates need to make a persuasive case that pubcasting still plays
a vital role, yet is experiencing a financial squeeze and decreased
government funding. Finally, Dickard says it is time to develop improved
revenue models and make stronger linkages to local news, information, arts
and culture. One possible model is the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust
(DO IT).
SOURCE: Current; AUTHOR: Norris Dickard
http://www.benton.org/publibrary/issuesinfocus/pubcasting.html
INTERNET
STUDIOS MOVING TO BLOCK PIRACY OF FILMS ONLINE
Using the music industry as an example of how not to handle piracy,
Hollywood executives are pondering more effective ways to deal with online
file sharing of movies. In contrast to the music industry's failed attempt
to combat piracy, the movie industry has initiated a coordinated offensive
to impede the free downloading of films before it spins out of control. Part
of this initiative includes a "stealing is bad" hour-long class for fifth
through ninth graders on the history of copyright law and the evils of
online file sharing. "There is no issue in my life I take as seriously as
this," said Peter Chernin, president of News Corporation, which owns 20th
Century Fox. "This is going to be with us for the rest of our careers. But
if we remain focused on it, maybe it won't kill us and we won't have to
panic." Some in Hollywood and in education circles wonder if it is
appropriate for the movie industry to be teaching children about the moral
and ethical consequences of downloading when the legal and cultural issues
are still being worked out. Many Hollywood executives believe there is still
time before Internet movie swapping takes hold, but industry analysts
suggest there could be as 500,000 copies of movies swapped daily.
SOURCE: New York Times; AUTHOR: Laura M. Holson
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/25/business/media/25STUD.html
NET GURU PEERS INTO WEB'S FUTURE
Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web, discusses the development of a
more "intelligent" Web in an interview with the BBC's Go Digital program.
Berners-Lee is promoting his new Web development, the Semantic Web, which
helps give actual "meaning" to content on the Web through the use of
additional meta-data. Berners-Lee admits, though, that to think of the Web
as a "giant brain" can be a frightening thought for some. He says not to
worry -- the giant brain days are a long way off. "All I'm looking for now
is just interoperability for data," he says.
SOURCE: BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3131562.stm
TELEPHONY
DO-NOT-CALL LIST BLOCKED BY COURTS
Yesterday a federal judge ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
overstepped its authority in creating the national do-not-call registry. By
late last night, both the House and Senate leadership had scheduled a vote
for today to ratify the FTC's plan, effectively reversing the decision.
"When it comes to passing legislation, Congress can be a real slow beast,
but when 50 million Americans are mad, it can be a real fast rabbit," Rep.
Billy Tauzin (R-LA) said. The FTC notified the court that it planned to
appeal and asked the judge to freeze his ruling, meaning that the list would
take effect as scheduled. Telemarketing industry officials, however, said
they would continue to challenge the registry's constitutionality on the
grounds that it violates the right to free speech. FCC Chairman Michael
Powell said yesterday that the judge was "wrong in the bottom line" and that
he was confident the government would find a way to make sure the registry
goes forward as planned.
SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Caroline E. Mayer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61231-2003Sep24.html
EVENTS
VIRTUAL TOWN HALL MEETING ON EDTECH IN RURAL SCHOOLS
The Rural Education Task Force, directed by US Education Secretary Rod
Paige, will host a virtual town hall meeting this afternoon at 3:30 pm ET.
The meeting will highlight successful technology practices for implementing
No Child Left Behind education legislation in rural America. Sites from
across the country, including New Mexico, West Virginia, Montana and Iowa
will demonstration projects at this meeting.
SOURCE: US Department of Education
http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=17351
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