BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for OCTOBER 1, 2008
Tomorrow ITIF hosts a forum on Understanding Our Digital Quality of Life. For this and other upcoming media policy events see http://benton.org/calendar
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Satellite-Surveillance Program to Begin Despite Privacy Concerns
Report Implicates White House
Palin Had Another Private E-Mail Account, Company Says
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Palin Effect on Ratings Only Modest for CBS
Candidates 'Approve' Ads and Get a Bit Creative
PAC funds anti-Obama TV ad in California
NEWS FROM CONGRESS
Broadband data collection bill moving through Congress
R&D tax credit stalled
Bill would boost public TV's learning power
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Sprint's WiMax policy says it can enforce bandwidth limits
Consumers prefer premium broadband to caps, metering
NYC Considers White Spaces
DTV TRANSITION
NTIA's New DTV Pitch: 'Apply, Buy, Try'
NTIA's Baker Opposed To Capps DTV Bill
QUICKLY -- Film studios, RealNetworks battle over DVD copying; Consumers prefer phone company bundles; Verizon: Hike Satellite TV Regulatory Fees
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SATELLITE-SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM TO BEGIN DESPITE PRIVACY CONCERNS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman]
The Department of Homeland Security will proceed with the first phase of a controversial satellite-surveillance program, even though an independent review found the department hasn't yet ensured the program will comply with privacy laws. Congress provided partial funding for the program in a little-debated $634 billion spending measure that will fund the government until early March. For the past year, the Bush administration had been fighting Democratic lawmakers over the spy program, known as the National Applications Office. The program is designed to provide federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery -- but no eavesdropping -- to assist with emergency response and other domestic-security needs, such as identifying where ports or border areas are vulnerable to terrorism. Since the department proposed the program a year ago, several Democratic lawmakers have said that turning the spy lens on America could violate Americans' privacy and civil liberties unless adequate safeguards were required. A new 60-page Government Accountability Office report said the department "lacks assurance that NAO operations will comply with applicable laws and privacy and civil liberties standards," according to a person familiar with the document. The report cites gaps in privacy safeguards. The department, it found, lacks controls to prevent improper use of domestic-intelligence data by other agencies and provided insufficient assurance that requests for classified information will be fully reviewed to ensure it can be legally provided.
http://benton.org/node/17469
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REPORT IMPLICATES WHITE HOUSE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Carrie Johnson]
In 18 months of searching, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility chief H. Marshall Jarrett have uncovered new e-mail messages hinting at heightened involvement of White House lawyers and political aides in the firings of nine federal prosecutors two years ago. But they could not probe much deeper because key officials declined to be interviewed and a critical timeline drafted by the White House was so heavily redacted that it was "virtually worthless as an investigative tool," the authorities said.
http://benton.org/node/17468
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PALIN HAD ANOTHER PRIVATE E-MAIL ACCOUNT, COMPANY SAYS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Karl Vick]
Gov Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) maintained a private e-mail account that she used to communicate with a small circle of staff members outside the state government's secure official e-mail system, according to the Wasilla company that established the site. The account was separate from the Yahoo e-mail address that was abruptly abandoned by the McCain campaign on Sept. 17, the day hackers penetrated the account and posted pages from it on the Internet. Palin had routinely used her Yahoo address for state business. Quentin Algood, the owner of ITS Alaska, said a discreet e-mail system was created from an old campaign account, with access confined to "a group of people, her closest confidants and co-workers and advisers and the person she sleeps with." Algood said the system was maintained by Frank Bailey, a Palin aide. Bailey disputed the existence of the private circle of e-mail recipients run through PalinForGovernor.com, the Web site that Algood, a Palin supporter, established free of charge for Palin's 2006 campaign. "As a champion of government accountability and transparency, Governor Palin was exercising an abundance of caution to ensure that all state and personal business matters were being kept separate," said Meghan Stapleton. "Governor Palin is committed to serving with the highest regard toward ethics." The existence of additional private e-mail accounts may affect two state probes into whether Palin, her husband and her staff attempted to influence the job status of a state trooper who divorced Palin's sister.
http://benton.org/node/17467
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
PALIN EFFECT ON RATINGS ONLY MODEST FOR CBS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
Katie Couric's newsmaking interviews with the Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, last week had only a slight impact on the ratings for her CBS newscast. But if the network could have added up all the other viewers the interviews (and its spoof) racked up, on places like CNN, YouTube and "Saturday Night Live," Couric would surely have been more seen and talked about than in any week since she began her tenure as anchor. The first interview last Wednesday, for example, has been viewed more than 1.4 million times on YouTube, while the parody of the interview on "SNL" was streamed more than 4 million times on NBC.com, viewed in full more than 600,000 times on YouTube and in shorter clips many more hundreds of thousands of times. Still, the "CBS Evening News" gained only about 10 percent in audience from the previous week — and it was actually down from the same week the year before. The newscast averaged just under 6 million viewers for the week, up from 5.44 million the previous week. A year ago Ms. Couric's program drew about 6.2 million viewers. (CBS was also a distant third last week behind ABC, which won with 8.07 million viewers, and NBC, with 7.98 million.)
http://benton.org/node/17466
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CANDIDATES ' APPROVE' ADS AND GET A BIT CREATIVE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Friess]
A 2003 election reform law requires candidates to acknowledge in their own voices their responsibility for advertisements they run on public airwaves. But five years later, the "I approved" has become a pivotal device in commercials for Congress and the White House, a place for candidates to make a declaration of intent, summarize the message or take a parting shot. The intent of the law was twofold: to inform the public of who paid for the advertisement and to discourage candidates from slinging so much mud at one another. The first part has worked, said a Vanderbilt University political science professor, John Geer, but the level of political vitriol has not changed. "This reform was completely counterproductive," Geer said. "Everybody complains about the sound bite as it is and here we took the ad and made it shorter. And it didn't work. The 2004 campaign was more negative than 2000 by far."What's more, the phrase is now a political cliché, as evidenced recently when "Saturday Night Live" spoofed it by having a Senator McCain doppelganger approving increasingly ridiculous attacks on Senator Obama.
http://benton.org/node/17465
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PAC FUNDS ANTI-OBAMA TV AD IN CALIFORNIA
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Dan Morain]
An independent political action committee is spending $2.2 million to air a television ad across California, starting today, that criticizes Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on national security issues. The group, Vets for Freedom, has been active in several battleground states. But this is its first ad buy in California, which is considered to be firmly in Obama's column. His Republican rival, John McCain, is making only token campaign efforts in the state. Former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, who is backing McCain, said the commercial is not specifically aimed at turning Californians against Obama. But "if people are persuaded by the ads, it can only help -- not just Sen. McCain but anyone else who shares [the group's] view," he said. Issue advocacy commercials don't expressly support or oppose a particular candidate but can be used to sway an election's outcome. The Vets for Freedom spot will air in all California markets except the Bay Area over the next week.
http://benton.org/node/17464
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NEWS FROM CONGRESS
BROADBAND DATA COLLECTION BILL CLEARS CONGRESS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stephanie Condon]
Providing universal broadband may very well start with simply finding out who has broadband access and who doesn't. Congress has passed legislation that will require the government to keep closer tabs on who has access to the Internet and who does not. Supporters hope the Broadband Data Improvement Act will help policymakers better identify areas of the country that are falling behind when it comes to high-speed Internet access. The bill passed both houses of Congress, with the Senate approving a final version Tuesday on a voice vote. The legislation, introduced by Sen Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) in 2007, calls for the Federal Communications Commission to collect a broader swath of information regarding who has broadband access. The Commission would also be required to identify tiers of broadband service in which most connections can transmit high-definition video, as well as collect demographic data for geographical areas not served by any advanced telecommunications provider. The bill also requires other government offices to collect information, such as whether Internet subscribers use dial-up or broadband. The bill also establishes a grant program for organizations to track and promote Internet usage.
http://benton.org/node/17453
Update: Congress passes bill aimed at measuring Internet access
http://benton.org/node/17470
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R&D TAX CREDIT STALLED
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Ephraim Schwartz]
While all eyes are on Congress to see whether they will resolve the credit crunch by bailing out banks and other financial institutions from their own greed, another money bill, the Research and Development Tax Credit moved one step closer to passage on Friday. However, the deal is not yet closed. In the latest news, the House of Representatives and Senate both passed a two-year extension to the Tax Credit that is fully offset, meaning it will be retroactive for 2008 and expire in December 2009. That is the good news. The bad news is the same extension was added to two separate bills, one in the Senate and one in the House, and neither body was compromising on how to budget for the credit -- and a conference committee cannot be used to resolve the differences.
http://benton.org/node/17452
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BILL WOULD BOOST PUBLIC TV'S LEARNING POWER
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Meris Stansbury]
Schools across the United States soon could have online access to a vast amount of educational content from public television archives to help raise student achievement, if a new bill called the Ready to Compete Act (HR 6856) is enacted. The bill would reauthorize two existing federal programs: Ready to Learn, which aims to improve literacy by encouraging the creation of educational public TV programming, and Ready to Teach, which intends to boost teacher quality through the development and use of public TV content for teacher professional development. In addition, the bill would create two new programs: Ready to Achieve and Ready to Earn. Ready to Achieve would create a national, on-demand, online digital media service that would allow teachers to access public television's extensive archives of educational content. Ready to Earn would allow stations to create new resources to address the needs of adult learners in a changing economy. The goal behind both of these new initiatives is to prepare learners more effectively for the 21st century workforce by tapping into the potential of digital technologies to explore science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, as well as history, literacy, and other subjects.
http://benton.org/node/17451
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
SPRINT'S WIMAX POLICY SAYS IT CAN ENFORCE BANDWIDTH LIMITS
[SOURCE: The Industry Standard, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
Sprint Nextel has promised an "open Internet business model" without restrictions on services and customer choice on its new WiMax service, but its acceptable use policy says the company may limit bandwidth for some applications and protocols, including file sharing. Sprint rolled out its Xohm WiMax service in Baltimore Monday, and the company plans to expand the service to Washington, D.C., and Chicago by the end of the year. In the Xohm news release, Sprint said its WiMax service's "open Internet business model transcends other carriers' wireless walled gardens that restrict services, choice and innovation." However, Xohm's acceptable use and network management policy says: "To ensure a high-quality experience for its entire subscriber base, Xohm may use various tools and techniques designed to limit the bandwidth available for certain bandwidth intensive applications or protocols, such as file sharing." Those terms of service suggest some restrictions on service and customer choice, said Free Press, an advocacy group that supports net neutrality rules for broadband providers.
http://benton.org/node/17463
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CONSUMERS PREFER PREMIUM BROADBAND CAPS, METERING
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
A new International Data Corp. survey shows consumers adamantly oppose bandwidth caps or metered Internet services but do see value in premium services that provide special treatment of voice, video, gaming, telecommuting or other specific applications. According to the survey results, 94% of respondents saw value in such premium services and 54% would be willing to change to a broadband service provider that offered this service. A smaller number, 26%, was willing to pay their service provider additional fees for a premium bandwidth service, however.
http://benton.org/node/17450
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BIG APPLE TAKES BITE OF WHITE SPACES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The New York City Council is considering a resolution opposing the Federal Communications Commission's authorization of mobile unlicensed devices in the so-called white spaces between digital-TV channels. The resolution would not carry the force of law, but would simply let the FCC know how the council felt about the issue. Free Press Campaign Director Timothy Karr argued against the resolution. He said that the devices can be made to work without interfering. He called it a developing technology that "can and will meet acceptable and certifiable standards of non-interference." Karr sees the debate as one of haves vs. have nots. "The white spaces issue pits those who have access to spectrum, and want to keep it for themselves, against those who don't, and want spectrum to be used to serve other purposes as well." Karr argues that there will be 10 vacant channels in New York City after the DTV transition, or 20% of the band "sitting idle," which he called a lot of airspace that could be put to good use.
http://benton.org/node/17449
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DTV TRANSITION
BAKER PITCHES 'APPLY, BUY, TRY' DTV MESSAGE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Meredith Attwell Baker Tuesday held a conference call to pitch the NTIA's new "apply, buy, try" campaign. Baker told reporters she "could not emphasize enough" that some viewers may be adversely affected if they don't prepare early for the digital-TV switch. The NTIA, which oversees the DTV-to-analog converter-box program, wants to make sure viewers who need the boxes are applying for them and those who apply are actually buying them rather than letting the coupons expire, as they do within 90 days. More than one-half of the coupons are expiring without being redeemed. Baker also wants viewers to try out the boxes -- an emphasis that stems from the Wilmington, early analog-shutoff test, which revealed a lot of folks who either: did not know how to set up the boxes; didn't know they needed to scan, or rescan, for DTV channels; or did not know they might not get a signal because of antenna or station-coverage issues.
http://benton.org/node/17448
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NTIA'S BAKER OPPOSED TO CAPPS DTV BILL
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Meredith Attwell Baker opposes a bill introduced last week by Rep Lois Capps (D-CA) that would delay recovery of old analog TV spectrum for two weeks to ensure that no one lost access to emergency communications around the time of the digital TV transition next February. "We feel that certainty is best at this point. Delay confuses consumers," Baker told reporters.
http://benton.org/node/17447
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QUICKLY
FILM STUDIOS, REALNETWORKS BATTLE OVER DVD COPYING
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alex Dobuzinskis]
Technology company RealNetworks and major film studios on Tuesday squared off in a legal battle over a new product allowing consumers to make computer copies of DVDs that the studios claim is illegal. RealDVD, a software product from RealNetworks subsidiary RealNetworks Home Entertainment Inc, allows users to create a copy of a DVD for their computer's internal or portable hard drive. RealNetworks said RealDVD gives consumers the ability to do with movie or TV show DVDs what they already do with music CDs, and RealDVD eliminates the hassle of searching for a missing DVD or dealing with a scratched and unplayable disc. The company also said its product allows customers to view DVDs while traveling with a computer. But the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents Hollywood's major film and TV studios, disagreed and its member companies sued RealNetworks seeking a temporary restraining order to stop it from selling RealDVD software.
http://benton.org/node/17446
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CONSUMERS PREFER PHONE COMPANY BUNDLES
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
Results from a new customer survey suggest consumers would rather subscribe to a triple play bundle of services from a phone company than from a cable operator.
http://benton.org/node/17445
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VERIZON: HIKE SATELLITE TV REGULATORY FEES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Congress requires the Federal Communications Commission to fund nearly 100% of its operations by assessing annual fees on cable TV providers, satellite TV providers, phone companies, broadcasters and other entities under its jurisdiction. Satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network need to pay millions of dollars more each year to help finance the FCC's $313 million budget, according to Verizon Communications. For the current fiscal year, DirecTV is paying about 7 cents and Dish Network about 5 cents per subscriber in FCC regulatory fees. Cable operators, in a disparity that has existed for many years, are paying 80 cents per subscriber. In 2008, cable operators, with 64.8 million subscribers, need to pay $51.8 million. DirecTV and Dish Network, with about 30 million subscribers, are to pay about $2.3 million combined. Verizon also pointed out that the FCC hasn't been collecting regulatory fees from Internet Protocol TV providers, such as AT&T, because the agency hasn't classified IPTV providers as cable operators.
http://benton.org/node/17462
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