BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY JUNE 16, 2008 (Happy Bloomsday -- see story below)
Find Headlines online at http://www.benton.org/headlines
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FISA negotiators near deal
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
The Internet and the 2008 Election
HisSpace
Can McCain compete with Obama online?
Barack Obamas Media Agenda
Cable Doesn't Face Easy Choice With McCain Or Obama
Primaries' TV Victors
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC Chair To Support XM-Sirius Merger
Google-Yahoo ad deal faces intense scrutiny
NBCU Enters Exclusive Talks for Weather Channel
NBC To Take Over More Local Stations' Web Sites
Tribune Plans Safety Net for Stations
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC Finally Redefines Broadband
Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic
Google prepping broadband-monitoring tools
BROADCASTING
Red Lion Redux
Rep Boehner, Conservative Groups Weigh In on Localism
DTV Angst Abounds
Cultural divide needs bridging as TV goes digital
Schumer has plan to smooth digital TV transition
Separate Bloomsdays for Theater and Radio
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Ambassador: U.S. Wireless Policies Emulated by Developing Nations
CHILDREN & MEDIA
Adelstein: Rate Commercials for Content
QUICKLY -- EU scales back plan for telecommunications regulator; AT&T: termination fees ultimately a great deal for consumers; Verizon: Drop your landline, get a discount; Weak evidence links congressmen's cyberattacks to China
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FISA NEGOTIATORS NEAR DEAL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Manu Raju]
Apparently House and Senate negotiators are on the verge of striking an accord on a contentious overhaul of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The proposed agreement would give federal district courts the authority to review whether civil liability protections should be afforded to those companies that received orders from the administration to wiretap phones after Sept. 11, 2001. That plan differs from the approach Republicans offered before Memorial Day to give that authority to the secret court that operates under the FISA. But the deal allows a court to look at a lower standard of evidence to determine if companies received such orders -- a provision sought by the GOP. The language will likely anger people on both sides of the debate. Initially, Republicans insisted on full retroactive immunity for the telephone firms, saying companies would be less likely to participate if they had to face lawsuits for cooperating, and that would undermine national security. But Democrats contend that blanket immunity is not needed if the Bush administration and the phone companies did not break the law when eavesdropping on American citizens. About 40 lawsuits are pending nationwide against the companies, which they say could cost them billions of dollars. Civil libertarians are certain to object to the deal over concerns that courts may simply rubberstamp immunity orders without looking at the possibility that companies broke the law. Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the deal appears unconstitutional.
http://thehill.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74112&Itemi...
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
THE INTERNET AND THE 2008 ELECTION
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Aaron Smith, Lee
Rainie]
A record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the Internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others. And Barack Obama's backers have an edge in the online political environment. Furthermore, three online activities have become especially prominent as the presidential primary campaigns have progressed: First, 35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos a figure that nearly triples the reading the Pew Internet Project got in the 2004 race. Second, 10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved. This is particularly popular with younger voters: Two-thirds of Internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of these use social networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns. Third, 6% of Americans have made political contributions online, compared with 2% who did that during the entire 2004 campaign. A significant number of voters are also using the Internet to gain access to campaign events and primary documents.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/252/report_display.asp
* Survey: Record number of Americans following election via Web
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9968497-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=...
* So maybe the Internet is a cure for stupidity after all
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-9968429-60.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag...
* Study: Americans use Net to look beyond sound bite (Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080615/ap_on_hi_te/internet_politics
* Web is window into '08 election for many
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080616/a_capcol16.art.htm
HISSPACE
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Marc Ambinder]
America's politics have regularly been transformed by sudden changes in the way we communicate. And revolutions in communications technology have always bestowed great gifts on those politicians savvy enough to grasp their full potential. Improvements to the printing press helped Andrew Jackson form and organize the Democratic Party, and he courted newspaper editors and publishers, some of whom became members of his Cabinet, with a zeal then unknown among political leaders. The postal service, which was coming into its own as he reached for the presidency, was perhaps even more important to his election and public image. Newspapers enabled Lincoln to become a viable national candidate. Franklin Roosevelt used radio to make his case for a dramatic redefinition of government itself. John F. Kennedy understood the strengths and limitations of broadcast television before his peers did, and his election and popularity resulted partly from that understanding. The communications revolution under way today involves the Internet, of course, and if Barack Obama eventually wins the presidency, it will be in no small part because he has understood the medium more fully than his opponents do. Obama clearly intends to use the Web, if he is elected president, to transform governance just as he has transformed campaigning.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200806/ambinder-obama
CAN MCCAIN COMPETE WITH OBAMA ONLINE?
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Ben Adler]
Comparing Sens John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) campaigns respective approaches to technology, PoliticsOnline founder Phil Noble said, "It's the difference between a horse and buggy and a NASA space ship." "Every time Obama had seven seconds when we spent the day together in South Carolina, he whipped out his Blackberry," recalled Noble. Contrast that to McCain's response when Politico's Mike Allen asked him whether he used a Mac or a PC: "Neither. I'm an illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance I can get." "There is a gap between people who are digital natives and people who are digital immigrants. Obama clearly has an advantage over McCain in that he is a more comfortable user of these tools," said Micah Sifry, founder of TechPresident.com, a blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates use the Web. And in the ways they use the Web, "campaigns are a reflection of the candidate," he added. "In terms of the usage of new media, there's definitely a dramatic difference between how McCain and Obama are operating," said Ian Rowe, vice president for strategic partnerships and public affairs at MTV, who worked in the Bush White House. "Within barackobama.com he has the same set of tools you use in Facebook or MySpace or YouTube. The age gap inherently creates more of an affinity with the younger generation [for Obama]. But Obama's general approach is in tune with reaching young people where they are." Obama has also significantly outspent McCain in online advertising, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission numbers by Politico's Ken Vogel. While Obama has reported spending $6.8 million on Web ads (including ads on Politico.com) since beginning his campaign, McCain has reported spending $1.9 million on "Web service" a category that likely includes advertising, among other things.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11086.html
BARACK OBAMA'S MEDIA AGENDA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A Q&A with Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) on his communications policy agenda. He indicates that he is committed to working toward a digital-TV transition that is without significant disruption (the switchover would come less than four weeks after his inauguration); said the Federal Communications Commission needs to take merger reviews more seriously; asserted that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, like his predecessor Michael Powell, has tried to dismantle rules that protect the public; and gave his thoughts on whether cable content should be regulated or its channels unbundled. Sen Obama believes the consequence of consolidation of media ownership has been less diversity, less local news and the parroting of stories across multiple outlets. That, he said, needs to change.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6570325.html?desc=topstory
CABLE DOESN'T FACE EASY CHOICE WITH MCCAIN OR OBAMA
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Would the cable industry prefer Sen John McCain (R-AZ) or Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) as president? Tough choice. Sen McCain voted to regulate cable rates in 1992 and refused to deregulate the industry in 1996. Sen Obama favors Network Neutrality which would regulate how cable operators manage traffic on their broadband networks. Even cable's top lobbyist -- National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow -- is unsure what awaits his industry when the White House gains a new occupant next January. I guess the good news is that after the last couple of years, I'm kind of ready for anything now, quipped McSlarrow, referring to cable's repeated clashes with Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin. McSlarrow is personally backing presumptive Republican nominee McCain and is one of his biggest fund-raisers. I think what matters is that we have members of the FCC and people in key positions in the administration who have some appreciation for the extraordinary change and dynamism of this industry across the board, McSlarrow said.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6570420.html?nid=4262
PRIMARIES' TV VICTORS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Robert Marich]
Cable TV news networks were able to parlay the election-induced ratings bump into a 10% year-over-year revenue jump since October 2007, according to research firm SQAD. Buoyed by the long and high-profile race for the Democratic nomination between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the ad dollar increases for CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC significantly outperformed the 3% average ad revenue hike across all basic cable networks for the same period. Researcher SNL Kagan estimates that the three big cable news networks will rake in around $1.4 billion in gross advertising revenue this year. SNL Kagan forecasts Fox News will capture 47% of gross ad spend in the category, versus 40% for CNN and 13% for MSNBC.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6570388.html
* Election Ad Uptick (Multichannel News)
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6570404.html?nid=4262
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC CHAIR TO SUPPORT XM-SIRIUS MERGER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said yesterday that he will support a merger between the nation's sole satellite radio operators, XM and Sirius, a decision that could remove the last regulatory hurdle in the lengthy and heavily criticized move to make the companies one. Chairman Martin could circulate an approval for the merger for the other four FCC commissioners to vote on as early as this week after the companies agreed to several commitments intended to prevent the monopoly from raising programming prices and from stifling competition among radio makers. The companies have agreed to: 1) Place price caps on programming and offer a la carte programming so that subscribers could pick programs they want and not have to subscribe to all channels or certain packages. 2) Open their technology standards to any radio-device manufacturer, paving the way for consumers to buy radio transmitters from retail stores. 3) Provide interoperable radios. 4) Set aside 12 channels for noncommercial services such as educational and public safety programming [long live POTUS!]. They would lease another 12 channels for programming run by minorities and women, groups that are underrepresented in entertainment broadcasting. If the merger is approved, it would be a major reversal of FCC rules. The agency distributed licenses to XM and Sirius in 1997 on the condition the two satellite companies never merge.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR200806...
(requires registration)
* FCC Staff Back XM-Sirius Merger
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121357587939276011.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
* FCC chief expected to back Sirius-XM merger
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9969202-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=...
* FCC Chief Backs XM-Sirius Deal (Associated Press)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/business/16fcc.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1...
GOOGLE-YAHOO AD DEAL FACES INTENSE SCRUTINY
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Richard Waters, Joshua Chaffin]
Google and Yahoo have structured an alliance that cleverly gets around the immediate antitrust pitfalls that stem from linking the two biggest Internet search companies. However, the two face a tough ride in Washington over the longer-term implications of a link that could further strengthen Googles grip on a market it already dominates. Much will depend on whether advertisers and publishers are alarmed enough about this long-term risk to lobby against the deal. Yahoos decision came as a disappointment to media companies, which had hoped an acquisition of the company by Microsoft would establish a stronger competitor to Google and give them leverage to negotiate better terms for search and other online advertising deals. The Department of Justice now has three and a half months the length of time Google and Yahoo said they would allow before going ahead with the alliance to weigh up the strength of those concerns.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac4c7718-3973-11dd-90d7-0000779fd2ac.html
(requires subscription)
NBCU ENTERS EXCLUSIVE TALKS FOR WEATHER CHANNEL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Robert Marich]
A consortium led by NBC Universal said late Friday that it started exclusive negotiations to buy The Weather Channel, shortly after Time Warner pulled out of the auction because pricing concerns. The price tag for the cable channel is approximately $3.5 billion. NBC Universals bid is in partnership with private-equity outfits Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. NBCU could realize its own synergies by linking TWC to its NBC Weather Plus service.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6570253.html?rssid=193
NBC TO TAKE OVER MORE LOCAL STATIONS' WEB SITES
[SOURCE: Silicon Alley Insider, AUTHOR: Michael Learmonth]
NBC is going to bring the Web operations of eight owned stations currently managed under contract by Internet Broadcasting back into NBC, where they will be managed by a group headed by Brian Buchwald, NBC SVP of Local Integrated Media. The transition will happen by the end of the year. This is a bit of a no-brainer. The sites look like they're languishing under Internet Broadcasting, and NBC can broaden the reach of its sales and share content and share resources such ad sales, news operations, and content -- like video from newly-acquired LX.TV, which produces local lifestyle and cultural programming. NBC says its 10 owned local station Web sites draw 7.2 million unique visitors and 95 million page views annually.
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/5/nbc_to_take_over_more_local_stations_...
TRIBUNE PLANS SAFETY NET FOR STATIONS
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Chris Pursell, Jon Lafayette]
The Tribune Co., which owns 23 television stations, is beefing up its library of programming, providing the company flexibility either to launch a new national broadcast network or invigorate the slate of its rebranded WGN America channel. The contingency plans are being spurred in part by concern about the future of the companys 15 CW affiliates. The CW, which went live in 2006, has stumbled in the ratings. Should it not be able to return to the air for the 2009-2010 season, Tribune doesn't want its CW outlets to have to scramble for programming. Tribune executives said they hope The CW will return for another season and they are optimistic about the networks upcoming schedule. Still, one executive said, they don't want to be caught with their pants down, recalling the difficulty Fox initially had pulling together viable programming for MyNetworkTV after its stations lost their UPN programming. The plans for a new network are being developed to prepare for a worst-case scenario."
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/06/tribune_plans_safety_net_for_s.php
(requires free registration)
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC FINALLY REDEFINES BROADBAND
[SOURCE: TelecomWeb, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission, following years of criticism and threats of Congressional action, yesterday finally issued an order scrapping its previous definition of "broadband" as any service delivering of at least 200 Kb/s. The order, to be implemented by new rules to be issued within 120 days, sets 768 Kb/s as the minimum speed for what the FCC is now calling "basic" broadband, which extends up to 1.5 Mb/s. Slower speeds, from the old 200 Kb/s definition of broadband up to 768 Kb/s are redefined as "first generation data." In addition, the FCC said it will now require broadband providers to report subscriber totals for individual higher speed tiers, which it didn't give names to, of; 1.5 Mb/s - 3 Mb/s; 3 Mb/s - 6 Mb/s; and above 6 Mb/s. Changing the definition of broadband had become a highly politicized issue, with the Republican-controlled FCC often accused of keeping the lower speed definition in an attempt to show that broadband in the United States was growing at a healthy pace. However Democrats, on both the FCC and in Congress, had been howling. Now, with election year finesse, things are apparently changing. The FCC also is scrapping the highly-criticized FCC methodology of using Zip codes to assess broadband penetration, and counting an entire Zip code as having broadband available if even just one resident had broadband. Data will now be collected by census tract, giving a much finer-grained view of the situation. Also changed has been the FCC's practice of completely ignoring the difference between business and residential broadband. The new rules require wired, terrestrial fixed wireless, and satellite broadband service providers to report, for each census tract and each speed tier in which the provider offers service, the number of subscribers and the percentage of subscribers that are residential. The rules don't, though, require categorization of business broadband - essentially services that might be symmetrical and delivers speeds that can be 100 Mb/s or even 1 Gb/s. Also glaringly absent from the new reporting regime, in the opinion of highly vocal members of the Democratic minority on the FCC, is any requirement to provide pricing information.
http://www.telecomweb.com/tnd/260781.html
CHARGING BY THE BYTE TO CURB INTERNET TRAFFIC
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Steler]
(6/15) Some people use the Internet simply to check e-mail and look up phone numbers. Others are online all day, downloading big video and music files. For years, both kinds of Web surfers have paid the same price for access. But now three of the countrys largest Internet service providers are threatening to clamp down on their most active subscribers by placing monthly limits on their online activity. One of them, Time Warner Cable, began a trial of Internet metering in one Texas city early this month, asking customers to select a monthly plan and pay surcharges when they exceed their bandwidth limit. The idea is that people who use the network more heavily should pay more, the way they do for water, electricity, or, in many cases, cellphone minutes. That same week, Comcast said that it would expand on a strategy it uses to manage Internet traffic: slowing down the connections of the heaviest users, so-called bandwidth hogs, at peak times. AT&T also said Thursday that limits on heavy use were inevitable and that it was considering pricing based on data volume. Based on current trends, total bandwidth in the AT&T network will increase by four times over the next three years, the company said. All three companies say that placing caps on broadband use will ensure fair access for all users. Critics of the bandwidth limits say that metering and capping network use could hold back the inevitable convergence of television, computers and the Internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/technology/15cable.html?ref=todayspaper
(requires registration)
* Debate at Broadband Policy Summit (BroadbandCensus.com)
http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=34
GOOGLE PREPPING BROADBAND-MONITORING TOOLS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Steven Musil]
When it comes to your broadband connection, Google wants you to know that it has your back. The Internet giant is developing a suite of tools to help broadband users identify traffic discrimination by their Internet service providers. "We're trying to develop tools, software tools...that allow people to detect what's happening with their broadband connections, so they can let (ISPs) know that they're not happy with what they're getting--that they think certain services are being tampered with," Google Senior Policy Director Richard Whitt said during a panel discussion at the Innovation '08 conference. "If the broadband providers aren't going to tell you exactly what's happening on their networks, we want to give users the power to find out for themselves."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9968972-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=...
BROADCASTING
RED LION REDUX
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] B&C is in agreement with the Parents Television Council and not with the Parent Teacher Association on how deeply the Supreme Court should delve into the arcane workings of the Federal Communications Commission's indecency campaign. In short, the trade magazine wants the Court to wade in and rule on whether the FCC should still be in the business of regulating broadcast content based on the shopworn and ludicrous justification of spectrum scarcity. As you can guess, we don't think that scarcity issue is justified, especially now. In a world where there are literally millions of information outlets, arguing that broadcasting must be micromanaged by government bureaucrats because it is unique is a joke.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6570392.html
* Interest groups to FCC: "Save the Red Lion!"
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080615-save-the-red-lion.html
REP BOEHNER, CONSERVATIVE GROUPS WEIGH IN ON LOCALISM
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) wrote Federal Communications Commission Kevin Martin saying that adopting new localism requirements would be a "stealth enactment of the Fairness Doctrine." "It is clear," Boehner said in a statement, "that the commission is proposing no less than a sweeping takeover by Washington bureaucrats of broadcast media." Elsewhere on the localism pen-pal front, a group of conservative organizations including Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, the Christian Coalition and Citizens United wrote Martin to say that they were "deeply concerned" by the proposals.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6570305.html?rssid=193
DTV ANGST ABOUNDS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
An optimist might suggest that as the digital-TV countdown clock continues to tick away toward the Feb. 17, 2009 deadline, problems should be dissipating. But if that is the case, it would be hard to tell from the issues that roiled in Washington last week. Smaller cable operators, for one thing, are attempting to leverage the DTV transition in their battle with broadcasters over the retransmission consent process. Officials last week were making the novel argument that breakdowns in retransmission consent negotiations (many current contracts are up at the end of this year) could confuse viewers and impede the process. Also in conflict is the issue of how to handle DTV-to-analog converter box subsidies when the program runs through its first round of funding -- $890 million -- less than two months from now. At a Capitol Hill oversight hearing on the state of the transition last week, there appeared to be confusion, or at least disagreement, over whether viewers whose $40 DTV-to-analog converter box coupons had expired would be able to reapply for them. Some key legislators have been pushing for an answer to that question, though the government agency overseeing the program may have to turn back to those same legislators to get that authority. At that same hearing, Mark Goldstein of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) pointed out that more than a third of analog-only households surveyed indicated they had no plans to buy a new TV or converter box, or had no plans to hook up to cable or satellite, or did not know what they would do.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6570378.html
CULTURAL DIVIDE NEEDS BRIDGING AS TV GOES DIGITAL
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Joe Garofoli]
The cable and consumer electronics industry is spending more than $1 billion to make sure that TV-watching Americans know they have until February to prepare their sets to receive a digital signal. It's a public information campaign so pervasive that every American will be exposed to an estimated 642 messages - on TV, radio, online and elsewhere - reminding them that if they don't take the appropriate action they will live the darkest of American nightmares: Their TVs will stop working on Feb. 17, 2009. Make that every English-speaking American will receive that number of nags. For other sectors of the TV audience - specifically, TV watchers for whom English is a second language, money is sometimes tight and television is a main connection to native culture - the warnings will be few. Some representatives of that audience were sitting among the gray-haired folks in Lady Shaw Senior Center in San Francisco's Chinatown this week listening to community organizer Anni Chung explain the technicalities and practicalities of the digital TV changeover. None of the campaign's billion dollars trickled down to Chung's Self-Help for the Elderly senior care organization, but she's taken the responsibility of spreading the message to native Chinese speakers, particularly low-income seniors.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/13/DDJA1180IU.DTL
SCHUMER HAS PLAN TO SMOOTH DIGITAL TV TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Ithaca Journal, AUTHOR: Laura Brandt]
Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY) said that nearly 300,000 Upstate New York households, particularly the elderly, may be left in the dark as television switches from analog to digital transmission. He went on to unveil a three-part plan he said would ensure that residents get coupons for the DTV converter boxes that older TVs will require when the switch is made nationally on Feb. 18, 2008: 1) Increase funding for awareness and implementation of the analog-to-digital switch and converter box coupon program; 2) Direct the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to allow consumers with expired coupons to reapply for new ones; and 3) Request the Federal Communications Commission to identify the pitfalls of the program and fix them.
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080614/NEWS...
SEPARATE BLOOMSDAYS FOR THEATER AND RADIO
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Colin Moynihan]
For nearly three decades theatergoers, literature lovers and admirers of Irish culture have traveled to Symphony Space or tuned in to WBAI on June 16 in order to watch or listen to actors honor the life of James Joyce and interpret his novel Ulysses, one of the most celebrated and recondite books of the 20th century. June 16 -- Bloomsday -- is the day in 1904 on which the characters in Ulysses, among them Leopold and Molly Bloom, roam the streets of Dublin. The sprawling novel of more than 200,000 words includes inebriated hallucinations, a visit to a brothel and the famous lengthy monologue of erotic musings. The date also marks the actual day that Joyce and his future wife, Nora Barnacle, are thought to have had one of their first formal outings. On Monday night, for the first time since 1981, the theater and radio productions, long the joint effort of the Symphony Space artistic director, Isaiah Sheffer, and Larry Josephson, a producer for WBAI (99.5 FM in New York), will go their separate ways as a result of apprehension about obscenity and government regulation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/arts/16bloo.html?ref=todayspaper
(requires registration)
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AMBASSADOR: US WIRELESS POLICIES EMULATED BY DEVELOPING NATIONS
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: William Korver]
Americas wireless policies continue to be emulated by developing nations, Ambassador David Gross, United States coordinator for international communications and information policy, said Friday at Broadband Policy Summit IV. Therefore, the US must think domestically but act internationally in wireless regulation because many nations monitor and dissect carefully the telecommunications debates that now rage in Washington. More than 100 independent regulatory agencies have been modeled on the Federal Communications Commission. Gross also said that it was the US model of private enterprise that is now widely adopted throughout the world. Gross, who will be attending the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ministerial next week in Seoul, noted the exponential growth of cellular devices. He said that India and China represent the height of cellular expansion. In India, the cell phone industry gains over 10 million new subscribers each month. In China, seven to eight million are added monthly. Wireless expansion has also occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan as well, he said.
http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=33
CHILDREN & MEDIA
ADELSTEIN: RATE COMMERCIALS FOR CONTENT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
This week's guest on C-SPAN's The Communicators is Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein. He said children are "swimming in a sea" of inappropriate material across the TV, cable, satellite and video-game platforms and programmers should rate their commercials as well as their shows. Watching sports or American Idol, kids are likely to see ad for erectile dysfunction [down, boy] or beer or a violent program that is inappropriate for children. If broadcasters are going to do that, they should rate their ads just as they rate their shows. Commissioner Adelstein said a parent has the right to control that ad, as well as the program.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6570328.html?rssid=193
QUICKLY
EU SCALES BACK PLAN FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATOR
[SOURCE: International Herald Tribune, AUTHOR: Stephen Castle]
The European Commission on Thursday scaled back plans to create a Europe-wide telecommunications regulator, apparently making a tactical retreat as it attempted to win support for more controversial measures to regulate the sector. At a meeting of telecommunications ministers in Luxembourg, Viviane Reding, the commission member who oversees the industry, conceded that her proposals would have to be scaled back, admitting that they had faced "a lot of opposition" from European Union member states. Nevertheless, plans to replace the existing network of national regulators with a still-to-be-defined new agency will proceed. The proposed new body, however, will not merge with the European Network and Information Security Agency, or Enisa, which oversees the security of telecommunications networks, and is likely to have a staff of 50, or half of what Reding had proposed. Though the decision was a setback for the commission, the EU-wide regulator was just one element of a wide-ranging package of measures designed to overhaul the regulatory system.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/12/business/regulate.php
AT&T: TERMINATION FEES ULTIMATELY A GREAT DEAL FOR CONSUMERS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Those early termination fees (ETFs) that consumers pay for switching cell phones in mid-contract are a great deal, an attorney for AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission. "ETF-backed term contracts give customers the ability to lower their monthly charges and upfront handset costs in exchange for their promise to pay monthly charges for the life of the contract or alternatively to pay the ETF in lieu of the remaining charges," Seamus C. Duffy explained to the FCC. Not only that, but "the overwhelming popularity of these rate plans has fueled the tremendous increase in wireless penetration, usage, and technical innovation documented by the [FCC's] annual reports on wireless competition." Ironically, the reason Duffy spoke before the Commission was because these allegedly popular plans have also fueled a veritable tsunami of state-level class action lawsuits across the country. He represents AT&T in several of them.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080613-att-termination-fees-ultim...
VERIZON: DROP YOUR LANDLINE, GET A DISCOUNT
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Leslie Katz]
Verizon Communications says it will offer discounts to landline-free wireless customers who combine Internet or TV service from the company. The discounts will range from $8 to $21 a month, depending on the wireless package. As early as this week, Verizon will introduce the Flex Double Play bundle for those who combine a Verizon Wireless plan with broadband or Fios TV, the company's cable TV service. The discount applies to DSL service with downloads at 3 megabits per second, and to Fios (fiber-optic) broadband at up to 20Mbps. The fastest DSL plan, at 7Mbps, and the fastest Fios service, at 50 mbps, are not eligible for the bundle.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9968910-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=...
WEAK EVIDENCE LINKS CONGRESSMEN'S CYBERATTACKS TO CHINA
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Robert McMillan]
House of Representatives members who worry that China may have been responsible for attacks on their computers have provided little evidence to back up their claims, according to computer security experts. Computer attacks are often launched from Chinese IP addresses because a large number of computer systems in China have been hacked and are being used to redirect online attacks. Also, the country is notorious for providing so-called "bulletproof" hosting services that keep servers running even when international law enforcement tries to take them down.
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