BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2009
Check out Headlines on the web at http://benton.org/headlines
THE ECONOMY
At His First Prime-Time News Conference, Obama Is Serious and Expansive
Senate Clears Path for Vote on $838 Billion Stimulus
Understanding What The Broadband Stimulus Does, and What It Doesn't Try To do
US Broadband Infrastructure Investments Need Transparency
Technology's fingerprints on the stimulus bill
Lobbying War Ensues Over Digital Health Data
ACA Backs Broadband Stimulus Spending
Senate Decides Millions of Rural Homes Don't Deserve Next-Generation Broadband
Can the DOE stimulate the smart grid?
PA's proposed budget eliminates public TV funding
Obama on Recovery.gov
Five trends that will shape business technology in 2009
Limbaugh, Hannity, and the GOP: an iron triangle of stimulus misinformation
Local TV Stations Face a Fuzzy Future
DIGITAL TELEVISION
Despite DTV Delay, Viewers May Still Lose Picture
NTIA's Web Site Giving Mixed Message About DTV Transition Date
L.A. ministers asked to spread the word about digital TV
NETWORK MANAGEMENT
DPI vendors start tuning for mobile networks
'AUB' Lessons From Canada
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Turning Universal Service Funds into Agents of Change
Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies
Bahrain Internet crackdown triggers calls for reform
Netflix Broadband Model May Upend Cable
DIGITAL CONTENT
Study: DRM demise clears way for home audio innovation
WIRELESS
How Wireless Saved Wireline
Rural India Snaps Up Mobile Phones
JOURNALISM
You Can't Sell News by the Slice
The News Narrative Turns Bearish on Obama
PCC rejects media watchdog criticism
AGENDA
Regulatory Commissioners Prepare To Talk Broadband
FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee to Meet March 4
QUICKLY -- Obama Asks For Review Of Online Security; New House Commerce Subcommittee Vice Chairs; White House Spokesman Gibbs Takes on Cable News; Politics, the Press, and the Public [Audio]; GOP Tech Summit
THE ECONOMY
AT HIS FIRST PRIME-TIME NEWS CONFERENCE, OBAMA IS SERIOUS AND EXPANSIVE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
In a prime-time debut for the new Oval Office occupant and a press corps often accused of being too enamored of him, President Obama faced journalistic skepticism from the opening question. President Obama controlled the tone of the East Room proceedings, speaking with utmost seriousness, gesturing with his hands and displaying a command of the facts. His lengthy, multi-part answers -- allowing for just 13 questions -- went well beyond what the journalists asked and defended his record while taking not-so-veiled slaps at the Republicans as "folks who presided over a doubling of national debt." The reporters' questions were direct, succinct and restrained, with none of the showmanship that has sometimes marked past news conferences. The journalists stopped short of confrontation, as though they were sobered by the gravity of the financial crisis. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/21855
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SENATE VOTES TO CUT OFF DEBATE ON STIMULUS BILL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: William Branigin, Michael Fletcher]
Senate Democrats on Monday advanced the $838 billion economic stimulus bill, clearing a major procedural hurdle by a razor thin margin with the help of just three Republicans. A vote on final passage of the bill is expected on Tuesday. Senators voted 61 to 36 to invoke cloture on the legislation, which President Obama today urged Congress to pass "immediately" to avoid the prospect of a "deepening disaster." Senate passage of the bill tomorrow would trigger a House-Senate conference to resolve differences in the versions of the two houses. Each chamber would then vote on the resulting legislative package, which Obama has said he wants to sign by the end of the week before the Presidents' Day recess. The $819 billion House package includes broader spending proposals and fewer tax cuts. This evening's vote was on a substitute bill negotiated late last week by a group of Democrats and moderate Republicans. Though early figures estimated the cost of the compromise at $827 billion, on Monday the Congressional Budget Office scored the bill's cost at $838 billion.
http://benton.org/node/21844
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UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE BROADBAND STIMULUS DOES, AND WHAT IT DOESN'T TRY TO DO
[SOURCE: Tales from the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
What are the merits of the broadband stimulus package? Looking at the broadband piece alone, it appears to be designed to address a very narrow problem: how do
you get build out in the high cost (usually rural) areas? And how does it do so in a way that creates the most jobs on the short term? It makes a nod to urban and suburban. And it is being used by the Administration to leverage, NOT SOLVE, the overall issues on how to keep incumbents from messing with "openness." Those who observe that this doesn't do enough for urban or how it doesn't address the question of convincing people they even need broadband in the first place, ignore how other portions of the bill work in different ways to re-enforce each other. The billions for health IT, digital education reform, and urban renewal and smart grid all act to supplement the build out and uptake issues. People who see no reason to get broadband will do so if it saves them a trip to doctor, for example. Funds "to deliver health IT services" go readily to build urban community wireless systems in poor neighborhoods.
http://benton.org/node/21840
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US BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS NEED TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
[Commentary] Government investment in broadband networks has emerged as one of the more controversial parts of the economic stimulus legislation slated for a Senate vote Tuesday. Already, at least $2 billion of a planned $9 billion for broadband has reportedly been cut from the latest bill, as legislators and interest groups squabble over who should control Internet infrastructure funding, and under what rules. What should be less controversial is that intelligent spending decisions about funding for high-speed Internet connections can't be made without good-quality and transparent data about our broadband infrastructure. The key public policy problem with broadband is that citizen-consumers and policy-makers still lack basic information. The Bush administration set a goal of achieving universal broadband by the end of 2007, then declared "mission accomplished" without providing much evidence to substantiate its claim. And under former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, the agency refused to release what data it did have about competitors in the broadband marketplace. The Obama administration's broadband policy should be guided by three important principles: 1) Use the Internet to empower citizens and consumers. 2) Ensure that infrastructure investment is made on the basis of cost-benefit data. 3) Use the transparency of the Internet to regulate incumbents through public disclosure.
http://benton.org/node/21853
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TECHNOLOGY'S FINGERPRINTS ON STIMULUS BILL
[SOURCE: International Herald Tribune, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage and David Kirkpatrick]
To many on K Street, the stimulus bill was the clearest guide to the new administration's closest friends in the business world. What oil was to President George W. Bush, some say, clean energy and technology are to the Obama White House. close look at the history of the stimulus bill — the first major product of the new administration — shows that the industries that stand to gain most from the proposed legislation were also working to help shape it even before Obama had won the election. For months, the industry officials had been talking with Obama advisers about how to use taxpayer aid to jump-start the economy while laying the groundwork for both the new president's and their own goals of building a high-tech infrastructure. Obama's advisers say that the administration was only following through on the public promises he made in a campaign that began with a call two years ago to curb America's dependence on foreign oil and extend broadband access "through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America." And they emphasized that Obama had taken unusual steps to disclose what those firms were saying, like posting any proposals submitted to the transition on its Web site, in contrast to the Bush administration's fight to keep secret how fossil fuel company executives shaped its energy policy in 2001. Campaign finance records also show that executives at many of the energy and technology companies that stand to profit from the stimulus bill were also big contributors to Obama's campaign. His promises about a "smart grid" and universal broadband dovetailed with the dreams of many in the technology industry, as well as allied fields like renewable energy and electric power.
http://benton.org/node/21854
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LOBBYING WAR ENSUES OVER DIGITAL HEALTH DATA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
The Senate and House appear headed for a clash over competing visions of how to protect the privacy of patients' electronic medical records, with the House favoring strict protections advocated by consumer groups while the Senate is poised to endorse more limited safeguards urged by business interests. President Obama has called creation of a nationwide system of electronic medical records fundamental to health-care reform, and both chambers of Congress have included about $20 billion to jump-start the initiative as part of their stimulus bills. But as with much in the stimulus package, it is not just the money but the accompanying provisions that groups are trying to influence. The effort to speed adoption of health information technology has become the focus of an intense lobbying battle fueled by health-care and drug-industry interests that have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying and tens of millions more on campaign contributions over the past two years, much of it shifting to the Democrats since they took control of Congress. At the heart of the debate is how to strike a balance between protecting patient privacy and expanding the health industry's access to vast and growing databases of information on the health status and medical care of every American. Insurers and providers say the House's proposed protections would hobble efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of health care, but privacy advocates fear that the industry would use the personal data to discriminate against patients in employment and health care as well as to market the information, often through third parties, to generate profits.
http://benton.org/node/21851
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ACA BACKS BROADBAND SPENDING
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
The American Cable Association, which represents smaller independent cable operators, voiced its support for federal spending on broadband-network services in letters last week to congressional leaders, saying the money will create new jobs. The ACA urged lawmakers to make federal assistance available to cable providers as part of the economic stimulus package pending in Congress to deliver faster broadband service in these communities.
http://benton.org/node/21839
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SENATE DECIDES MILLIONS OF RURAL HOMES DON'T DESERVE NEXT-GENERATION BROADBAND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
The Senate cut $2 billion for rural broadband from the stimulus over the weekend, reducing from nine to seven. Two billion dollars budgeted for partial loan guarantees could have empower tens of billions of private capital to flow into rural next-generation broadband. Tens of billions of dollars means millions of rural homes getting connected. And there are projects ready to start deploying within weeks all across America creating thousands of jobs if we could get this support through the gears of government quickly. We can't just be thinking about how to reduce government spending; we need to find new mechanisms to spend those dollars in smart ways. Because the way things stand now we're on the verge of taking away the opportunity to get connected with next-generation broadband from millions of rural homes, and Daily can't see how that's either good policy or smart politically.
http://benton.org/node/21838
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CAN THE DOE STIMULATE THE SMART GRID?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: John Timmer]
Although the federal stimulus package is a work in progress, it seems pretty clear that substantial funding will be directed to the Department of Energy for promoting smart grid programs, aimed at providing finer grained control of usage, distribution, and pricing of power in the grid. A smart grid involves building a large network of devices to monitor and control the flow of power, and it's possible that some of the money dedicated to expanding broadband could help in this regard. There are also some tax breaks in the form of accelerated depreciation that could benefit utilities, and money in the form of state aid could go to grid projects in some states. Still, the DOE allotment appears to contain the vast majority of the money for the grid.
http://benton.org/node/21837
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PA'S PROPOSED BUDGET ELIMINATES PUBLIC TV FUNDING
[SOURCE: Pittsburgh Business Times, AUTHOR: Tim Schooley]
Amid Gov. Ed Rendell's new budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, one budget cut certainly wasn't broadcasted: the elimination of all state funding for the Pennsylvania Public Television Network. Last year, according to press materials issued along with the governor's budget proposal, PPTN had $12.3 million in state funding. Rendell's budget proposes eliminating that funding and transferring PPTN's infrastructure responsibilities to the state Office of Administration. PPTN used the funding for its own operations and to allocate to eight public television stations throughout the state. According to the PPTN's 2007 annual report, the most recent available, the agency distributed more than $8.9 million to its member stations statewide that year. PPTN Chairman Tony May said the allocation was reduced to $7.9 million last year, but still represented approximately $1 million in grant funding to each of Pennsylvania's eight public stations. While Pennsylvania's public stations receive only about 10 percent of their funding from the state, May said, the grants play a key role in leveraging matching funds from the federal government and other sources.
http://benton.org/node/21836
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OBAMA ON RECOVERY.GOV
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Clint Hendler]
President Obama, in his town hall-style meeting in unemployment-battered Elkhart, Indiana, fleshed out his views of what Recovery.gov, the administration's own stimulus watching Web site, will be designed to do: "We're actually going to set up something called Recovery.gov—this is going to be a special website we set up, that gives you a report on where the money is going in your community, how it's being spent, how many jobs it's being created so that all of you can be the eyes and ears. And if you see that a project is not working the way it's supposed to, you'll be able to get on that website and say, 'You know, I thought this was supposed to be going to school construction but I haven't noticed any changes being made.' And that will help us track how this money is being spent. ...The key is that we're going to have strong oversight and strong transparency to make sure this money isn't being wasted."
http://benton.org/node/21835
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FIVE TRENDS THAT WILL SHAPE BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY IN 2009
[SOURCE: McKinsey Quarterly, AUTHOR: Stefan Spang]
When downturns hit, there is a certain inevitability to their impact on IT. Declining profits will place tremendous pressure on IT budgets in most sectors and regions. CIOs will be called on to rationalize projects, downsize organizations, renegotiate contracts, and seek out other cost-reduction opportunities. Taken together, this combination of cost pressures and IT organizations that are leaner, larger, and more vital to company goals will have new implications for business technology in 2009. Here's what may be in store: 1) IT and corporate finance converge; 2) Tension around IT budgets increases; 3) organizations that have used IT less successfully in the past will probably throw up their hands and shut off all discretionary; 4) Regulators demand more from IT; and 5) The offshoring and outsourcing landscape shifts.
http://benton.org/node/21834
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LIMBAUGH, HANNITY, AND THE GOP: AN IRON TRIANGLE OF STIMULUS MISINFORMATION
[SOURCE: Media Matters for America, AUTHOR: ]
On any given day during the current congressional debate over the economic recovery plan, chances are good that Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity will say something false about the administration's or congressional Democrats' efforts to pass a bill. And they do not promote these falsehoods in isolation; they are often promoted concurrently with each other and with Republican members of Congress. Hannity and Limbaugh have created an echo chamber of Republican talking points and misinformation criticizing the economic recovery plan. And given the acknowledgment by some national journalists that they pay attention to Limbaugh and Hannity, it follows that they care what the two are saying about the stimulus -- CNBC anchor Erin Burnett said as much about Limbaugh, touting his op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on that topic as "serious."
http://benton.org/node/21833
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LOCAL TV STATIONS FACE FUZZY FUTURE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sam Schechner, Rebecca Dana ]
Local television stations' viewership is in decline and ad revenue is on a downward spiral. Many local TV stations face the prospect of being cut out of the picture. Executives at some major networks are beginning to talk about an option that once would have been unthinkable: eventually taking shows straight to cable, where networks can take in a steady stream of subscriber fees even in an advertising slump. Many local stations -- once treated like royalty by broadcast networks -- are scaling back their original programming, cutting down on weekend news shows and trimming staff. Nationwide, 2009 TV-station ad revenue is projected to fall 20% to 30%, according to Bernstein Research. Local TV stations won't vanish overnight. Networks' parent companies still own some of the largest stations, giving them a possible incentive to preserve that slice of the business. And while their profits are down, the vast majority of stations are making money: Local, regional and national businesses, like car dealers and retailers, spent more than $20 billion on local TV-station ads in 2008. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/21849
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DIGITAL TELEVISION
DESPITE DTV DELAY, VIEWERS MAY STILL LOSE PICTURE
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Joel Rose]
Independent analyst Barry Goodstadt says that according to his research, there are about 15 million households in the US that only get their TV signals over the airwaves. And he thinks many of them are going to lose channels after the transition to digital. "Seventy-two percent have indoor antennas," says Goodstadt, "and those folks will have serious problems getting reception." The reason, he says, is that digital TV signals behave differently than do analog signals. Digital signals are more susceptible to interference from trees, buildings, low-flying aircraft and even the wind. When digital signals get weak, the picture doesn't just get fuzzy — it drops out altogether. But broadcasters say most viewers should be able to watch digital TV without buying new antennas.
http://benton.org/node/21827
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NTIA'S WEB SITE GIVING MIXED MESSAGES ABOUT DTV TRANSITION DATE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Telecommunications & Information Administration's website is still informing visitors that "at midnight on Feb. 17, all full-power TV stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to 100% digital broadcasting." That comes five days after Congress voted to move the DTV transition hard date and will be news to the hundreds of stations that, on the advice of the government, aren't pulling the plug on analog as they had planned. Elsewhere on the site, under the "coupon program update" section, it points out that the date is postponed to June 12.
http://benton.org/node/21843
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LA MINISTERS ASKED TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT DIGITAL TV
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Nathan Olivarez-Giles]
Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein visited Los Angeles on Monday. He noted that FCC staffers can't make sure that people buy and set up the converter boxes they'll need for their older TV sets that are hooked up to antennas. Who can? Ministers. "We need people to take up leadership in their community and make sure nobody gets left out in the switch," Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said during a public forum at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church in South Los Angeles. "Churches already have the infrastructure in place to do that." Standing at the church pulpit, Adelstein asked the Baptist Ministries Conference of Los Angeles, nearly 50 African American preachers who meet once a month, to include information on the June 12 digital TV switch in their sermons. L.A. County has the largest number of over-the-air viewers in the country, Adelstein said, and those viewers are concentrated in the minority and elderly communities.
http://benton.org/node/21850
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NETWORK MANAGEMENT
DPI VENDERS START TUNING FOR MOBILE NETWORKS
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Rich Karpinski]
With controversy over deep packet inspection (DPI) deployments on wired broadband networks at an all-time high, mobile operators and their vendors are nonetheless moving forward to deploy DPI boxes to manage consumption of mobile broadband data services. Cam Cullen, director of Americas product management for Allot, says, "The stats and visibility that DPI provides at the access and applications layer lets mobile operators build better service plans for congestion control and feed that data into mobile billing systems to support things like roaming and advice of charge." Mobile operators absolutely will turn to DPI, much like wireline broadband vendors, "to drive new revenue while assuring the proper levels of network management and security that broadband subscribers demand," said David Vorhaus, analyst for Yankee Group.
http://benton.org/node/21825
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'AUB' LESSONS FROM CANADA
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Leslie Ellis]
Is the broadband consumer with a monthly usage tab of 8 Terabytes a heavy user, or your greatest customer ever? On the one hand, it's hard not to love customers who love your bandwidth that much. On the other hand, and from a network management perspective, traditional "all-you-can-eat" pricing structures make it difficult for broadband service providers to love heavy users. That's why some broadband providers in Canada chose to slowly, gently shift consumers to what they call "AUB," or "Additional Usage Billing."
http://benton.org/node/21829
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
TURNING UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUNDS INTO AGENTS FOR CHANGE
[SOURCE: Cisco, AUTHOR: Andres Maz]
[Commentary] The Universal Service Fund will play a critical role in bringing Internet connectivity to all, especially high-cost, remote regions and low-income households. There are many challenges in the design of a USF programs today. These include not only the definition of the policy objective no one should be invested in narrowband networks-, but also the effective collection of funds, the competitive and neutral distribution, issues such as supply vs. demand incentives, and financial debates such as allocating USF to capex vs. opex. USF is one tool of many policies and initiatives required to expand broadband. However it is also crucial that Governments let the market work at its full potential, letting network service providers use and put spectrum to work and removing artificial limitations that inhibit investment. The right policies together with an efficient USF program will transform these programs into powerful agents of change.
http://benton.org/node/21824
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ENHANCING CHILD SAFETY AND ONLINE TECHNOLOGIES
[SOURCE: Internet Safety Technical Task Force, AUTHOR: ]
Many youth in the United States have fully integrated the Internet into their daily lives. For them, the Internet is a positive and powerful space for socializing, learning, and engaging in public life. Along with the positive aspects of Internet use come risks to safety, including the dangers of sexual solicitation, online harassment, and bullying, and exposure to problematic and illegal content. The Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, comprising 50 state Attorneys General, asked this Task Force to determine the extent to which today's technologies could help to address these online safety risks, with a primary focus on social network sites in the United States. To answer this question, the Task Force brought together leaders from Internet service providers, social network sites, academia, education, child safety and public policy advocacy organizations, and technology development.
http://benton.org/node/21823
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BAHRAIN INTERNET CRACKDOWN TRIGGERS CALLS FOR REFORM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Frederik Richter]
A Bahraini crackdown on websites the government deems indecent or socially explosive has triggered calls for reforms by rights activists and bloggers, who say the ban tarnishes the kingdom's reputation for openness. "Instead of tackling the social issues people discuss online, the government blocks websites. But that does not change the reality," said Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. "Hundreds of websites are blocked now, and many are related to politics, human rights issues or are Shia community forums." Bahrain's Culture and Information Minister Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed al-Khalifa issued a decree in January advising local Internet service providers to block access to websites it considers pornographic or incite violence and religious hatred.
http://benton.org/node/21822
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NETFLIX BROADBAND MODEL MAY UPEND CABLE
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Diane Mermigas]
[Commentary] The explosion of Netflix's unlimited, flat-fee instant home video demonstrates how rapidly a recession can transform a living room TV into a digital hub that threatens big guns like Blockbuster, cable and other pay services. Add in the burgeoning popularity of free, ad-supported online streaming video and Web-enabled portable devices--conventional distributors, it's time to worry. Netflix is changing the home-video delivery model the same way Amazon continues to reinvent bookselling. Both are evolving personalized on-demand, subscription-based business models that are upending license fees, advertising and everything about the status quo. Netflix is skillfully maneuvering the rapidly shifting broadband terrain, using its wireless wits to conquer a corner of the new digital market--one consumer at a time.
http://benton.org/node/21828
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DIGITAL CONTENT
STUDY: DRM DEMISE CLEARS WAY FOR HOME AUDIO INNOVATION
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: David Chartier]
So-called "whole-home" audio systems that allow users to rock out to their music in multiple rooms via remote controllers have, so far, not quite caught on with the public. While a variety of options have existed for some time between the high end, like Sonos, and the low end, like the Roku SoundBridge or even Apple's AirPort Express, a new study claims that 2009 may be the year that whole-home systems get their groove on. Forrester's study, called "How Whole-Home Audio Products Can Find Their Rhythm," argues that two primary barriers to entry for these systems are finally at their tipping points now: networked homes and DRM. According to the report, 28 percent of US homes are now networked properly to provide the bandwidth required to push audio all over the house. Further, Apple's announcement in January that it is finally removing all DRM technology from iTunes Store music purchases means that the most popular music store in the US is finally selling the same clean MP3s as its many competitors. Compiled alongside other factors in a new "Convenience Quotient" methodology, Forrester believes networked homes and the freedom provided by music DRM's demise allows manufacturers to shift their battle to the most important factor for new product adoption: convenience.
http://benton.org/node/21841
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WIRELESS
HOW WIRELESS SAVED WIRELINE
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: John Celentano]
With US telephone companies in the throes of their year-end 2008 reporting, the emerging picture is a mixed bag. Access line losses are in free-fall, down another 9-10% for the year to around 130 million. (Remember access lines peaked at nearly 200 million in 2000.) A similar drop is expected in 2009. Broadband lines are growing at or near double-digit rates but there are not yet enough of them to offset basic voice service declines. At best, telco revenues are flat. Consider three wireless scenarios for telcos: femto cells, broadband wireless access, and wireless backhaul.
http://benton.org/node/21826
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RURAL INDIA SNAPS UP MOBILE PHONES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Eric Bellman]
Even amid the global economic slowdown, one Indian industry continues to boom: selling cellphones to the rural poor. Economists have slashed Indian economic growth forecasts for this year and the stock market is in the doldrums. But cellphone companies are signing millions of new subscribers a month, making India the fastest growing mobile-phone market in the world. There is no sign of a slowdown yet: figures to be released later this month are expected to show that new subscriptions in January reached a record 11 million. The demand for cellphones is coming mainly from rural consumers, who typically earn less than $1,000 a year. These buyers haven't been affected by plunging stock and real-estate prices or tighter bank lending since they typically don't own land and don't borrow. A large majority of them don't have access to regular landline phone networks -- there are only about 40 million landline subscribers in India -- so once cellular coverage comes to their towns or villages they scramble to get their first phones.
http://benton.org/node/21830
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JOURNALISM
YOU CAN'T SELL NEWS BY THE SLICE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Kinsley]
[Commentary] Every so often the dream of getting people to pay for online content recurs. It's recurring now because of the newspaper crisis: they have been hemorrhaging subscribers and advertisers for their paper editions, even as they give away their contents online. In the current Time, its former managing editor, Walter Isaacson, urges a solution: "micropayments." A more promising idea is the opposite: give away the content without the paper. In theory, a reader who stops paying for the physical paper but continues to read the content online is doing the publisher a favor. If the only effect of the Internet on newspapers was a drastic reduction in their distribution costs, publishers could probably keep a bit of that savings, rather than passing all of it and more on to the readers. But the Internet has also increased competition — not just from new media but among newspapers as well. Or rather, it has introduced competition into an industry legendary for its monopoly power. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/21848
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THE NEWS NARRATIVE TURNS BEARISH ON OBAMA
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
Two different stories combined to create one major media narrative last week—a new President off to a shaky start. For the second week in a row the economic crisis was the dominant story in the news, filling 44% of the Feb. 2- Feb. 8 newshole in the weekly News Coverage Index produced by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The only other subject to generate significant attention was a related one, the new Obama Administration at 17% (up from 7% a week earlier). But both stories contained themes depicted as negative for Obama—problems winning Republican votes on the stimulus package and no fewer than four Presidential nominees tainted by tax problems.
http://benton.org/node/21847
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PCC REJECTS MEDIA WATCHDOG CRITICISM
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Ben Fenton]
The UK's Press Complaints Commission has rejected criticism that it was not "fit for purpose", condemning a report by a media watchdog group as ill informed and ill tempered. The Media Standards Trust issued a report on Monday stating that public trust in the newspaper industry was sinking fast and that the PCC needed to be reformed if it was to become relevant to the self-regulation of the UK press. Basing its contentions on public opinion surveys, the trust said the PCC's inadequacies contributed to the decline in public faith in newspapers, particularly over the correction of accuracies and invasion of privacy.
http://benton.org/node/21846
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AGENDA
REGULATORY COMMISSIONERS PREPARE TO TALK BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The economic stimulus package, whose broadband funding just got cut as part of the general Republican-driven paring back of spending, will be one of the top items on the agenda of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) when they meet in Washington next week. Also on the program are FCC reforms and universal service. NARUC represents state public service commissioners who regulate essential utility services including telecommunications. Among those scheduled to weigh in on the economic stimulus package are Blair Levin, managing partner with Stifel Nicolaus and a member of the Obama transition team who was on a short list of possible FCC chair candidates. Also discussing broadband's role in stimulating the economy will be Tom Tauke, VP, public affairs, policy and communications for Verizon.
http://benton.org/node/21842
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FCC'S CONSUMER ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO MEET MARCH 4
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission's Consumer Advisory Committee will meet on Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M., at the Commission's Headquarters Building, Room TW-C305, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20554. The CAC will consider internal matters relating to its structure, operations, and future agenda, which were not addressed at its January 30, 2009 meeting because of time constraints. The Committee may also consider other matters within the jurisdiction of the Commission. It is anticipated that a majority of Committee members will participate via teleconference. A limited amount of time on the agenda will be available for oral comments from the public attending at the meeting site. The purpose of the Committee is to make recommendations to the Commission regarding consumer issues within the jurisdiction of the Commission and to facilitate the participation of all consumers in proceedings before the Commission.
http://benton.org/node/21832
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QUICKLY
OBAMA ASKS FOR REVIEW OF ONLINE SECURITY
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
President Obama yesterday ordered a 60-day review of the nation's cybersecurity to examine how federal agencies use technology to protect secrets and data. Former Bush administration aide Melissa Hathaway will head the effort to examine all the government plans, programs and activities underway to manage large amounts of data -- including passport applications, tax records, personal tax returns and national security documents. A failure or attack on that infrastructure could harm the country by, for example, shutting down the nation's airlines or shutting down the stock market. Hathaway will carry the title of acting senior director for cyberspace in both the national security and homeland security councils. She led Bush's Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, which cost the government about $6 billion this budget year and has a reputation as a leading expert on cybersecurity issues.
http://benton.org/node/21852
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NEW HOUSE COMMERCE SUBCOMMITTEE VICE CHAIRS
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced new vice chairs for the Committee's subcommittees. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) is the Vice Chair of the full Committee. Rep. Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY) will serve as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. Rep. Bruce L. Braley (D-IA), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Health.
http://benton.org/node/21831
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WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN GIPPS TAKES ON CABLE NEWS
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs may have raised tensions with cable news outlets, suggesting today that they have a view of the world that doesn't necessarily reflect real life. Gibbs said questions being asked about the stimulus on cable news aren't the same as those that the public is asking.
http://benton.org/node/21821
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POLITICS, THE PRESS, AND THE PUBLIC
[SOURCE: Public Affairs Television, AUTHOR: Bill Moyers]
Bill Moyers spoke with prominent bloggers Jay Rosen and Glenn Greenwald about the role of the establishment press in America's dysfunctional political system. Rosen suggested that members of the press may have a variety of preconceived notions through which they filter their reporting. Greenwald argued that the establishment media may be an impediment to political change.
http://benton.org/node/21820
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GOP TECH SUMMIT
[SOURCE: Politico.com, AUTHOR: Ben Smith]
The Republican National Committee is hosting a Tech Summit on Friday. A Republican closely involved with the changes at the party said the summit "underscores the seriousness with which Michael Steele, the new chairman, takes the party's deficiency in terms of the use of technology internally and externally," and the fact that "the Republican party is well behind the Democratic Party."
http://benton.org/node/21819
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