BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010
To view Benton's Headlines feed in your RSS Aggregator, paste http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=taxonomy/term/6/all/feed into your reader.
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
The Internet War
China accuses US of using cyberwarfare
China Blasts Clinton Speech
Reform Groups Seize On Clinton's 'Internet Freedom' Speech
Internet freedoms and Internet radicals
Cable TV Station Critical of Chávez Is Shut Down
Obama Can Revolutionize Government Through Democratizing Data
US Government, OSTP, Open New Troves of Data to the Public
NBC News Files Complaint with White House Over ABC's Access
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Clyburn Says Network Neutrality Is in Minorities' Interest
Minority Groups Take Network Neutrality Codification Concerns to White House, Congress
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
24 States' Laws Open to Attack After Campaign Finance Ruling
See also: President Obama Addresses This Week's Supreme Court Decision
NAB's Smith: Supreme Court Decision Good For Speech, Bottom Line
NABPAC: Donating Is A Matter Of Survival
Sen Brown's Wife to Keep TV News Gig
BROADBAND
The FCC's Genachowski: On a Broadband Crusade
Levin: Net Has Potential to Improve Minority Job, Health Care, Education Opportunities
FCC's Consumer Committee to Consider Truth In Broadband Billing
FCC Urged To Steer Clear Of Online Privacy Issues
WIRELESS
Why App Stores Are Not the Business Model for the 21st Century
CONTENT
After 10 Years, Federal Money for Technology in Education
Third Circuit Rethinking Janet Jackson Case
Apple's tablet and the future of literature
With Kindle, the Best Sellers Don't Need to Sell
More Internet Retailers Change Misleading Marketing Tactics
TELEVISION
Comcast, Michigan Towns Bury PEG Hatchet
Comcast Still Has Persuading To Get NBC
Next News From Haiti: Pulling Out
MORE ONLINE ...
A Big-Picture Look at Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo | Cost Estimate for the Free Flow of Information Act | CMS to match EHR funding in four states | 'Controlled Serendipity' Liberates the Web | House Subcommittee Examines Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programs at the Department of Commerce | The Fluid Nature Of Gen Y's Media Habits | Glickman to quit MPAA early | Corporate Antagonism Goes Public
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
THE INTERNET WAR
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The Internet has produced a vast expansion of free speech and access to information around the world. But for China and Russia, it has also become a means for waging a covert war against other nations, including the United States -- a brazen effort to steal secrets and plant malware. For those countries and for a host of other authoritarian regimes, Internet freedom is a threat, to be countered by censorship, the imprisonment of bloggers and domestic spying. That's why the speech delivered Thursday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was so important. She made it admirably clear that abusers such as China will no longer get a free pass in U.S. public diplomacy or in international forums. Sec Clinton pledged that in addition to defending its own companies and cyberspace, the United States would take measures to help human rights advocates, political dissidents and civil society groups overcome their governments' censorship. Until now, the State Department has been negligent in this area; it has misspent -- or failed to spend at all -- money appropriated by Congress for firewall-busting. A group called the Global Internet Freedom Consortium has been denied funding, even though it says that it has a proven record of breaching the firewalls of both China and Iran. A State Department official told The Post that the group was refused help because it is connected to the banned Falun Gong movement and "the Chinese would go ballistic if we did that." But other officials told us that is not the case; they said that they hoped that the consortium would apply for future funding, which the State Department sensibly plans to spread, venture-capital style, among various groups and technologies. Regardless of who is funded, Beijing will probably "go ballistic." A Foreign Ministry statement issued in response to Ms. Clinton's speech already threatened that the new agenda could be "harmful to China-U.S. relations." And perhaps it should be. Far better that the United States raise issues of Internet freedom, discrimination against U.S. companies and cyberwar stemming from China directly and openly with the Communist leadership than allow Beijing to poison and abuse the Internet without paying a price.
benton.org/node/31566 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CHINA ACCUSES US OF CYBERWARFARE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Kathrin Hille]
China raised the ante in an escalating war of words with the US as the ruling Communist party's mouthpiece accused Washington of employing cyberwarfare. "The US was the first country in the world to introduce the concept of cyberwar; it has introduced and developed a new kind of army, a cyberarmy, and even set up a hacker brigade," People's Daily said in a vitriolic editorial. "US intelligence agencies can, through technical means, fully monitor, follow and erase online information harmful to the US' national interest. It is really ridiculous that under such circumstances, it demands other countries to allow the free flow of information on the net." The editorial, published on People's Daily's website under the name Wang Xiaoyang, is the latest shot in an exchange of remarks that were triggered by Google's threat to pull out of China but are escalating into a full-scale dispute over the diverging values of China and the west. It is also a rare example of Beijing handing back the accusation of cyberwarfare to Washington, which regularly lists cyberwarfare from China as one of the main security risks on the rise.
benton.org/node/31567 | Financial Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CHINA BLASTS CLINTON SPEECH
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu Friday blasted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech calling for countries to respect the rights of their citizens by allowing the free flow of Information over the Internet. "The U.S. attacks China's Internet policy, indicating that China has been restricting Internet freedom. We resolutely oppose such remarks and practices that contravene facts and undermine China-US relations," Ma Zhaoxu said. China has imposed an Internet censoring system that blocks access in China to some information and Web sites. Despite this, Ma claimed China's Internet is "open" and the country "supervises" the Internet according to Chinese law. The official called on the United States "to respect facts and stop attacking China under the excuse of the so-called freedom of [the] Internet." Ma condemned hacking, saying it violates Chinese law and urged international cooperation to combat hacking.
benton.org/node/31537 | CongressDaily | People's Republic of China | NYTimes | www.reuters.com
Recommend this Headline
back to top
REFORM GROUPS SEIZE ON CLINTON SPEECH
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
Consumer advocates say that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's sweeping call Thursday for global Internet freedom lends support to their calls for new domestic laws about matters like text messaging, net neutrality and privacy. The Open Internet Coalition seized on Sec Clinton's remarks to support the need for network neutrality laws in the U.S. that would require Internet service providers to let consumers access all lawful content. "We must also protect the rights of individual free expression on the Internet at home as well as abroad because neither government nor network provider should be able to interfere with this freedom," the Open Internet Coalition said. "The current effort at the FCC to enact common-sense rules to ensure the Internet remains a platform for free expression at home is critical to making sure that the freedom of choice for our own citizens is protected." Advocacy group Public Knowledge added that Clinton's remarks about texting highlighted the need for laws banning censorship of SMS. "While Secretary Clinton commented on the benefits of text messaging as a means of expression abroad, there are no legal protections for text messaging here," Public Knowledge president and co-founder Gigi Sohn said.
benton.org/node/31538 | MediaPost
Recommend this Headline
back to top
INTERNET FREEDOMS AND INTERNET RADICALS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Andrew Keen]
[Commentary] Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's warnings about bloodthirsty, oppressive regimes who hijack the Internet "to crush dissent and deny human rights" were themselves hijacked by a radical "media reform" group, Free Press, that ironically seeks to dramatically increase state intervention in both the Internet and media. Rather than simply commending Hillary Clinton's uncontroversial defense of Internet freedom, Free Press used — or should I say, abused — the speech to launch a ridiculous attack on American companies. Explicitly comparing American phone and cable corporations with repressive overseas regimes in Iran and China, Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver conflated the network neutrality debate in the U.S. to the struggle for human rights in the rest of the world. Yes, the network neutrality issue is hideously complex and, yes, there are important considerations in terms of actual anti-competitive or harmful behavior. But Free Press stepped over the mark of rational political discussion and entered the theater of political absurdity. Free Press lost its mind by conflating the reactionary butchers of Tehran with American telecoms like Verizon and AT&T. Free Press totally flipped by equating the one-party apparatchiks in Beijing with American cable providers like Comcast or Time Warner cable.
(Keen is author of Cult of the Amateur and is an adviser to Arts+Labs, a technology policy coalition of entertainment companies, software providers, telecommunications providers, artists and creators.)
benton.org/node/31556 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CABLE TV STATION CRITICAL OF CHÁVEZ IS SHUT DOWN
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
A cable television channel that has been critical of President Hugo Chávez was taken off the air on Sunday after defying new government regulations requiring it to televise some of President Chávez's speeches. Venezuelan cable and satellite television providers stopped transmitting the channel, Radio Caracas Television, after it did not broadcast a speech by President Chávez on Saturday at a rally of political supporters. "They must comply with the law, and they cannot have a single channel that violates Venezuelan laws as part of their programming," Diosdado Cabello, director of Venezuela's state-run telecommunications agency, said Saturday. But the cable channel, known as RCTV, said the telecommunications agency "doesn't have any authority to give the cable service providers this order." It said in a statement, "The government is inappropriately pressuring them to make decisions beyond their responsibilities."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/world/americas/25venez.html?ref=todays...
Venezuela President Chávez orders TV station off the air (WashPost)
benton.org/node/31565 | Associated Press | WashPost
Recommend this Headline
back to top
DEMOCRATIZING DATA
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: W. David Stephenson]
[Commentary] Ramping up the Obama Administration's "democratizing data" initiatives could both cut government spending and increase its effectiveness. It could be done through administrative reforms Obama could implement unilaterally rather than requiring legislation that might fail in today's bitter wrangling. Democratizing data refers to a combination of policy and technology innovations that make government data available to those who need it, preferably on a real-time basis (i.e., data is released as soon as it is entered) plus tools that allow users to interpret and use that data. You need only think of how government real-time GPS data fostered an multi-billion dollar industry (location-based services) while improving the quality of our lives, to understand the potential benefits. This data is "tagged," i.e. information that identifies the data and lets it be automatically used by both equipment and programs is permanently linked to the data as it is entered. Tagged government data can serve many purposes at minimal cost since the information flows automatically. The Obama Administration launched Data.gov in May to release government data streams for public (including commercial) use. Starting with 47 feeds, within less than 2 months the number had increased to a staggering 100,000. These feeds not only make government transparent and accountable, but can be used by state and local governments, non-profits, and businesses to create new services. That same data should also be made available internally in real-time to government employees. It would help them make better decisions by considering both historical trends and current conditions. Even better, Web 2.0 data visualization tools to interpreting data using striking graphic displays plus collaboration tools such as wikis could improve agency decision-making by encouraging collaborative analysis among many users.
benton.org/node/31545 | Huffington Post, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
CLYBURN SAYS NETWORK NEUTRALITY IS IN MINORITIES' INTEREST
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Speaking at the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council meeting Jan 22, Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn said network neutrality is not a threat to minority advancement but smart regulation that will help avoid the "damage" done to diversity by radio and TV deregulation. The minority community has been divided over the issue of network neutrality, with a number of groups cautioning the FCC, and more recently the White House and Congress, that network neutrality rules could widen the digital divide by discouraging the private investment necessary to get broadband to the poorer and minority communities that are currently unserved and underserved. Commissioner Clyburn made it clear she sided with those who saw the rules instead as a way to prevent "[ceding] control of the most significant communications advancement in our lifetimes." "Together we must ensure that people of color--and all Americans--can 'participate as owners, employees, and suppliers' on-line," she said. "That cannot happen, however, if we passively permit a new set of gatekeepers to erect yet another set of barriers to entry." While broadband adoption has been the focus of much attention in terms of enfranchising the minority community, Commissioner Clyburn said closing the digital divide was about more than that. "[W]hen it comes to communities of color--and other traditionally underrepresented groups -- the broadband story does not and cannot end with adoption. Broadband is not simply a one-way challenge limited to finding ways in which individuals can obtain meaningful high-speed Internet access." She said it was also about economic empowerment of entrepreneurs who could only succeed so long as they do not face entry barriers too high too surmount. "To my surprise, most of the filings submitted and public statements issued by some of the leading groups representing people of color on this matter have been silent on this make-or-break issue," she said. "There has been almost no discussion of how important--how essential--it is for traditionally underrepresented groups to maintain the low barriers to entry that our current open Internet provides."
benton.org/node/31555 | Broadcasting&Cable | Commissioner Clyburn
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MINORITY GROUPS TAKE NET NEUTRALITY FIGHT TO WHITE HOUSE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Foundation for Women Legislators, National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women, National Conference of Black Mayors, and the National Association of Black County Officials have sent letters to the White House and Congress calling on them to intervene in a rulemaking -- the Federal Communications Commission's open Internet proceeding -- they warn could widen the digital divide rather than close it. The groups are asking President Obama to keep the FCC focused on the National Broadband Plan. While they said they were "enthusiastic supporters" of an open Internet, a point which both sides of the debate usually concede, they said they were "concerned that some of the net regulations currently being contemplated by the FCC lend themselves to the creation of unmanaged networks that would increase consumer costs, hinder new job creation, diminish service quality and reduce broadband adoption and use, particularly among the underserved."
benton.org/node/31534 | Broadcasting&Cable | CongressDaily
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
24 STATES' LAWS OPEN TO ATTACK AFTER CAMPAIGN FIANCE RULING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ian Urbina]
A day after the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government may not ban political spending by corporations or unions in candidate elections, officials across the country were rushing to cope with the fallout, as laws in 24 states were directly or indirectly called into question by the ruling. "One day the Constitution of Colorado is the highest law of the state," said Robert F. Williams, a law professor at Rutgers University. "The next day it's wastepaper." The states that explicitly prohibit independent expenditures by unions and corporations will be most affected by the ruling. The decision, however, has consequences for all states, since they are now effectively prohibited from adopting restrictions on corporate and union spending on political campaigns. In his dissent to the 5-to-4 ruling, Justice John Paul Stevens highlighted the burden placed on states. "The court operates with a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel when it strikes down one of Congress's most significant efforts to regulate the role that corporations and unions play in electoral politics," he wrote. "It compounds the offense by implicitly striking down a great many state laws as well."
benton.org/node/31554 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NAB LIKES SUPREME COURT DECISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith and B&C reporter John Eggerton appeared on C-Span's The Communicators over the weekend. Smith called the Supreme Court's decision to allow corporations and unions to directly fund more on-air political spots "a good one for freedom of speech." The interview also addressed spectrum and indecency regulation. On spectrum he said, "Digital TV should not be sacrificed on the altar of the digital divide." He also said a problem is that spectrum is not a "straight line" issue but a patchwork quilt of uses from community to community. He said he was not sure broadcasters would be able to share their spectrum. "When you say, 'Take it back or turn it in,' I don't know fully how that translates or whether or not we could share the space because the technology that broadcasters use is not compatible with the digital technology that one-to-one types of devices use." He said that after all the billions spent on the digital transition, he thinks it would be "politically impossible" to sell a spectrum reclamation proposal that takes that spectrum back.
benton.org/node/31564 | Broadcasting&Cable | C-Span
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BROADCASTERS NEED TO DONATE TO PAC
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] If you are an owner or manager of a television station, you need to write a check to the National Association of Broadcasters Political Action Committees (NABPAC). TV broadcasting is a highly regulated business. The actions (or inactions) of Congress, the FCC or other federal agencies have a profound impact on the value of stations, how profitable they are and how much everybody gets paid. These days, they may also determine whether more jobs will be slashed. So, it's imperative that you try to shape those actions any which way you can. One way is by supporting the NAB. Most broadcasters do with their dues and, in many cases, their time. The association's boards and committees comprise owners and top managers. Another critical way is by contributing to NABPAC. Most broadcasters don't. The PAC has been sorely underfunded for years — a fact that has weakened the NAB in all that it is trying to do in Washington on your behalf. In fact, it's become something of an embarrassment for the industry. Broadcasting isn't keeping up with its media neighbors. By making legitimate contributions to campaigns coffers, NABPAC, like other PACs, can reward members of Congress who stand up for broadcasting and open doors to others who hold key committee chairs and leadership positions. Without plenty of NABPAC funds to spread around, NAB can't play in the big leagues of Washington. It's kind of like the Cincinnati Reds trying to win the NL flag on their paltry player budget. Not impossible, but also not likely.
benton.org/node/31552 | TVNewsCheck
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SEN BROWN'S WIFE TO KEEP TV NEWS GIG
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
Gail Huff, wife of Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-MA), is staying put as a general assignment reporter for WCVB-TV, Hearst Television's ABC affiliate in Boston. WCVB made the announcement about Huff Thursday (Jan. 21) as the press speculated about her future now that her husband was elected to fill the seat held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. During the Senate race, Huff did not campaign with or for her husband, only appearing with him publicly on election night. Huff also did not cover politics during the campaign, and she will not cover them in the future.
benton.org/node/31549 | MediaWeek
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BROADBAND
GENACHOWSKI ON A BROADBAND CRUSADE
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Tom Lowry]
Julius Genachowski is not a member of President Barack Obama's Cabinet, but the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is likely to have more influence on our lives than many Obama Cabinet secretaries. Why? In a word, broadband. President Obama has asked Chairman Genachowski to come up with a road map to make speedy Web access more ubiquitous and robust so the U.S.—an international broadband laggard—can gain a technological edge. The FCC will present its recommendations to Congress in mid-March.
benton.org/node/31536 | BusinessWeek
Recommend this Headline
back to top
LEVIN AT MMTC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Blair Levin, the man leading the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan effort, spoke at the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council's Broadband and Social Justice Summit on Friday. He said the Internet has the potential to "exacerbate in equality," which is why universal broadband deployment and adoption is so important. Levin said keys to spurring that adoption are a "social infrastructure" that "weaves our investments in digital access into the fabric of our communities," with that fabric including libraries and community centers; "social innovation" like online credit counseling or grant programs to "micro entrepreneurs; and "social purpose media," which means high-value content from private and government sources.
benton.org/node/31535 | Broadcasting&Cable | Blair Levin
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC'S CONSUMER COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER TRUTH IN BROADBAND BILLING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
At its February 12, 2010 meeting, the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee will consider a recommendation regarding truth-in-billing to be filed in CG Docket 09-158, CC Docket 98-170 and WC Docket 04-36 (In the Matter of Consumer Information and Disclosure, Truth-in-billing and Billing Format, IP-enabled Services, Notice of Inquiry). 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.
benton.org/node/31548 | Federal Communications Commission
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC URGED TO STEER CLEAR OF ONLINE PRIVACY ISSUES
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
The Interactive Advertising Bureau is urging the Federal Communications Commission to refrain from addressing privacy issues in the national broadband plan. "IAB believes that regulation by the commission, or potentially conflicting regulations from multiple government agencies, could stifle the Internet," the trade group said in a letter to the FCC. "Existing robust self-regulatory principles provide consumers with strong protections in a manner that has allowed the Internet to thrive, thereby benefiting the U.S. economy." The group's filing came in response to a request for comments about privacy issues raised by the Center for Democracy & Technology. Earlier this month, that organization asked the FCC to solicit input on how to meet consumers' expectations of privacy online and build privacy protections into new technology.
benton.org/node/31563 | MediaPost
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WIRELESS
WHY APP STORES ARE NOT THE BUSINESS MODEL FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Farhad Manjoo]
Companies across a range of industries are joining the App Store parade. But the widespread homage may be premature. Don't be surprised if the app bandwagon soon hits a dead end. While others rush to set up their own stores, Apple's gatekeeper model of software distribution is being questioned by developers and industry leaders. The struggles point to the difficulties that other app stores may face, none of which should be a surprise. In the age of the Web, developers can get their programs to end users without anyone intervening, so locked-down software sales will always be going against the grain. An app store lets companies tap into ideas from third-party innovators while retaining firm control over their brands. And that's both its charm and its flaw. The App Store's true rival isn't a competing app marketplace. Rather, it's the open, developer-friendly Web. Apple's app bonanza won't end anytime soon, but you'd be a fool to ignore the long-term trend in software -- away from incompatible platforms and restrictive programming regimes, and toward write-once, run-anywhere code that works on a variety of devices, without interference from middlemen. As different kinds of mobile devices hit the market, from phones to tablet PCs to smartpens to e-book readers and beyond, developers will find that trend harder to ignore. They'll need to create programs that can work not just on iPhones but on everything. Fortunately, there's an app for that: It's called the Web.
benton.org/node/31529 | Fast Company
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CONTENT
AFTER 10 YRS, FEDERAL MONEY FOR TECH IN EDUCATION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
More than a decade ago, Lawrence Grossman, former president of both NBC News and PBS, and Newton Minow, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, were asked by several foundations to explore how nonprofits like schools, libraries and museums could tap into emerging digital technologies. Their bold recommendation in 2001 was to set up a multibillion dollar trust that would act as a "venture capital fund" to research learning technology. After a tortuous journey, their organization, what is now being called the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies, finally has Congressional appropriation through the Education Department and will be introduced Monday. It could be handing out grants by fall. "It's time that education had the equivalent of what the National Science Foundation does for science, Darpa does for the national defense and what N.I.H. does for health," Grossman said. He and Minow will be the co-chairmen of the nonprofit organization, along with Anne G. Murphy, former director of the American Arts Alliance. James H. Shelton III, the assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement at the Education Department, has been shepherding the new center. "We're really excited about exploring the opportunities for advanced technology in education," he said. "The vision that started Digital Promise was well before its time. Its time has finally come."
benton.org/node/31561 | New York Times | WSJ - 7/01
Recommend this Headline
back to top
COURT RETHINKING JACKSON CASE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
While the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has clearly signaled that it still has major problems with the Federal Communications Commission's fleeting-profanity enforcement regime, the Third Circuit has quietly signaled that it may be going in another direction on indecency. At stake is what degree of leeway broadcasters will have from the government to compete with other media not subject to similar content regulation. The Third Circuit is set to hear oral re-arguments on Feb. 23 about CBS stations' liability for broadcasting Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl reveal. Just as the Second Circuit had done with the FCC's profanity ruling against Fox, the Third Circuit initially threw out the FCC's indecency finding against CBS, concluding that its fleeting-nudity enforcement represented an arbitrary and capricious change in policy. And just as the Supreme Court ruled in April 2009 that the FCC had justified its fleeting-profanity decision against Fox and sent the case back to the Second Circuit, it also kicked the Jackson case back to the Third Circuit, advising it to explore how the Fox ruling might apply. In a sign that the Third Circuit has taken that to heart, the court issued a request for more information on a point in an FCC brief that invokes the Supreme Court's Fox ruling. In that brief, the FCC notes that the Court had found it was "entirely reasonable" for the commission to conclude that non-literal uses of "offensive words" (an f-word as an adjective) did not need to be uttered repeatedly to meet its indecency standard, which considers a single literal utterance (referring to the act of copulation) as indecent.
benton.org/node/31562 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TABLETS AND THE FUTURE OF LITERATURE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Akst]
[Commentary] It is important to bear in mind that technology is not the sworn enemy of literature as Apple prepares to unveil its much-anticipated new tablet computer. Still, the collision of technology and literature in this case may well prove explosive. A well-designed Apple tablet, embedded in the right business model, has the potential to blow up the book business as we know it, ultimately upending the whole rickety edifice of publishers, booksellers and agents, much as the digital revolution (and Apple) have done to the music business. The result will be a seismic change in the literary culture. Ubiquitous tablets will make books cheaper and more readily available. Tablets will also change the nature of books. And a tablet will offer not just text but also sound, images and video -- which will all be commonplace in books someday, in a balance we can't yet foresee. This may undermine the primacy of text. "The history of literature," Alvin Kernan reminds us, "has always been closely involved with such worldly things as royal courts, patronage, copyright laws, middle-class leisure, nationalism, democratic educational systems, steam-driven rotary presses, free markets and Linotype machines." Sparks always fly when technology and literature get together. We can expect that this time, as usual, they will burn down the old and light up the new.
benton.org/node/31558 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FREE KINDLE CONTENT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Motoko Rich]
Here's a riddle: How do you make your book a best seller on the Kindle? Answer: Give copies away. That's right. More than half of the "best-selling" e-books on the Kindle, Amazon.com's e-reader, are available at no charge. Although some of the titles are digital versions of books in the public domain — like Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" — many are by authors still trying to make a living from their work. Publishers including Harlequin, Random House and Scholastic are offering free versions of digital books to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other e-retailers, as well as on author Web sites, as a way of allowing readers to try out the work of unfamiliar writers. The hope is that customers who like what they read will go on to obtain another title for money.
benton.org/node/31550 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MORE INTERNET RETAILERS CHANGE MISLEADING MARKETING TACTICS
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement regarding the notification from several major e-retailers that they will no longer allow third party companies to make misleading offers to their customers during the checkout process on their websites. For financial gain, these e-retailers had shared their customers' billing information, including credit card numbers, with Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty. "This is a step in the right direction for American consumers that is a direct result of the Commerce Committee's investigation into Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty's aggressive online marketing tactics," said Chairman Rockefeller. "Tricking consumers into buying goods and services they do not want is not okay. It's not ethical, it's not right, and it's not the way business should be done in America. American consumers shouldn't have to worry that their favorite websites are ripping them off during the checkout process. While I am pleased that Fandango, Priceline.com, and other companies have discontinued using these misleading practices, there are many other websites still engaged in practices designed to confuse and trick online consumers. I will continue working until these practices have been stopped."
benton.org/node/31547 | US Senate Commerce Committee
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELEVISION
COMCAST, MICHIGAN TOWNS BURY PEG HATCHET
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Comcast's Michigan division has officially settled a lawsuit with four communities in the state that had sued the cable operator over its plans to deliver public, education and government channels in digital-only format. Under the settlement with three of the communities -- Dearborn, Bloomfield Township and Meridian Township -- Comcast will continue to deliver existing PEG channels in an analog format on the limited basic cable tier in Michigan until the company digitizes its entire lineup or until a community voluntarily agrees to the digitization of the PEG channels. In addition, Comcast agreed to pay Meridian Township a one-time grant of $250,000 to be distributed proportionately among the three communities. Comcast has also reached a separate agreement with the city of Warren (MI), which will be joining in the filing of the consent judgment and order of dismissal.
benton.org/node/31546 | Multichannel News
Recommend this Headline
back to top
COMCAST BRINGING NBC DEAL TO WASHINGTON
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Joelle Tessler]
Before Comcast Corp. can transform the entertainment business by taking control of NBC Universal, it must convince Washington that the plan won't hurt rivals and consumers. And the promises the cable company has made so far don't impress opponents who want federal regulators to attach strict conditions to the deal. To show that it would not abuse its control over NBC's broadcast networks, cable TV channels and movie studios, the nation's largest cable provider is making nine pledges, including a vow not to move the NBC broadcast network to cable and a commitment to expand public interest programming. But consumer groups and competitors say Comcast is offering token concessions that don't address their biggest fears about the NBC combination. "Comcast is either promising to do what it was already planning to do or simply what it is required to do by law," says Corie Wright, policy counsel at the public interest group Free Press. "I don't think Comcast can just tie a bow around the status quo and call it a public interest commitment." Comcast is quick to defend its position. "We think we have made significant and meaningful commitments that are designed to ensure the deal is pro-consumer," says Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen. Now it is up to Washington to decide. The Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission are examining Comcast's plans to buy a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co. for $13.75 billion. Those reviews could last up to a year. Congressional hearings are also scheduled for February.
benton.org/node/31560 | Associated Press | BroadbandBreakfast.com
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NEXT NEWS FROM HAITI: PULLING OUT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
The devastation in Haiti has, in the words of the Pew Research Center, dominated the "public's consciousness" in a way that few international disasters ever have. Dozens of television channels showed a celebrity telethon on Friday, raising at least $57 million. The attention has come in large part because of the news media's reportorial muscle, the kind that is harder to flex in a challenging economic climate. In an event of this magnitude, "you cover it first and worry about the money second," said Paul Friedman, an executive vice president for CBS News. Executives acknowledge that the worries arise now. They say, however, that the same technology that let reporters and camera crews arrive ahead of aid shipments will let them withdraw staff from the country but return with relative ease when events call for it.
benton.org/node/31559 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top