Nov 14, 2008 (Obama to Leave Senate)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2009

A few events of note next week: 1) How Information Technology is Transforming How We Use and Produce Energy; 2) 2008 State New Economy Index; 3) Eric Schmidt on What's Ahead; 4) Are Broadband Markets Competitive Enough?; and 5) Homes With Tails: What If You Could Own Your Internet Connection?. For a complete list see http://benton.org/calendar/2008-11-16--P1W

THE TRANSITION
   Obama Leaving Senate on Sunday
   Role of Federal Tech Czar to Be Defined by Obama
   Telecom Warily Waits on 'Wired' President
   Vast Obama network becomes a political football
   FCC needs an upgrade
   The Next Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
   Right-wing radio sounds false alarm on 'Fairness Doctrine'

THE INTERNET
   Dorgan Plans Network Neutrality Bill
   Voting for Glass Houses
   Broadband access for the next generation
   Bandwidth Caps Not Evil If Done Right
   Houses Get Smarter

THE ECONOMY
   The Herd Effect And The Influence Of Technology On Consumer Behavior In A Crisis

CABLE/BROADCASTING
   FCC's Martin to Push Against Clock, Cable During Final Months
   FCC Won't Disclose Cable Operator's Rate Information To Public
   2 Fox and NBC Stations to Pool Video News Gathering
   Low Ratings End Show and a Product Placement

DIGITAL CONTENT
   Studios can watch Strike.TV, but they can't touch its content
   Aide to Sen Boxer Fired After Being Charged in Child Pornography Sting

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THE TRANSITION

OBAMA LEAVING SENATE SUNDAY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Michael Fletcher, Peter Slevin]
President-elect Barack Obama announced that he will resign his Senate seat effective Sunday, leaving Gov Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) to choose from among a host of willing successors for the final two years of the Democrat's term. Among the contenders for Obama's seat are two members of Congress from Chicago -- Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. and Rep. Jan Schakowsky -- and the head of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, Tammy Duckworth. All are strong supporters of Obama and have made clear they would jump at the chance to take the appointment. Other possibilities include Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a rising political star and potential rival to Blagojevich in his quest for reelection, and Illinois Senate leader Emil Jones Jr., a mentor to Obama in the mid-1990s. Chicago businesswoman Valerie Jarrett, an Obama confidante, has taken her name out of consideration.
http://benton.org/node/18913
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ROLE OF FEDERAL TECH CZAR TO BE DEFINED BY OBAMA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama said he would appoint the nation's first chief technology officer who would, according to his Web site, help federal agencies use technology "to make government work better." But he's given no specifics about the job, leaving the tech community to speculate about the role and who might fill it. Would the CTO focus on technology policy issues such as net neutrality and broadband access? Or would the technology czar aim to update the government's information technology systems and weave the Internet into more agency activities? The Obama camp isn't talking, but during the campaign it proposed using technology to, for example, make government records more accessible, increase network security and digitize health records. Also in question is whether a CTO would be a Cabinet-level position or a post within the White House.
http://benton.org/node/18912
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TELECOM WARILY WAITS ON 'WIRED' PRESIDENT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
President-elect Barack Obama famously made the Web a pillar of his campaign, so it is not surprising that the man called the nation's first "wired" president has championed the idea of an open Internet. And that is what Sprint Nextel chief executive Dan Hesse said recently "should scare" the telecom industry the most. Republican lawmakers and technology regulators have fought the idea of an open Internet, or net neutrality, calling it a "solution in search of a problem." But it is widely expected that Obama will make net neutrality and access to broadband in rural and poor areas a key part of his agenda to close economic divides and help spur job creation. The task of translating net neutrality -- the notion put forth by academics that network operators should be banned from slowing, blocking or degrading Internet content and technologies -- could likely fall under the Federal Communications Commission, business leaders and analysts said.
http://benton.org/node/18911
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VAST OBAMA NETWORK BECOMES A POLITICAL FOOTBALL
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Peter Wallsten, Tom Hamburger]
It is the biggest and broadest American political force ever created -- a vast, electronically linked network of activists, neighborhood organizers and volunteers who raised record amounts of money and propelled Barack Obama to the White House. Now, as Obama turns from campaigning to governing, his advisors are struggling to harness this potent web of supporters to help him move his agenda over the next four years. But it is no simple task to convert an insurgency into a standing army. That challenge has sparked rare discord among Obama advisors who ran a highly disciplined operation with no public disagreements throughout the long campaign. The Obama machinery relied heavily on idealistic political outsiders committed to breaking free from old ways of doing politics. The worry is that these enthusiastic activists might drift away if they are turned over to the Democratic National Committee, where the party might ask them to support Democrats and target Republicans. Instead, Obama advisors involved in building the force think it should remain an independent entity -- organized around the "Obama brand."
http://benton.org/node/18910
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FCC NEEDS AN UPGRADE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] More important than a possible Chief Technology Officer is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC needs fresh ideas on how to encourage competition and promote broadband Internet access. It also needs to fix nagging problems with its own procedures and stop trying to regulate speech. President Obama should strive for a technologically savvier FCC, which would be better equipped to regulate how broadcasters, phone and cable companies influence the flow of information and communications. Finally, he also should place a priority on opening the FCC itself. Under Martin, the commission was often slow and riven by internal battles. It needs to reform its arcane procedures, which give industry lobbyists an advantage they don't need and shouldn't have.
http://benton.org/node/18909
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THE NEXT CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] The great parlor game in Washington these days is to try to figure out who is going to get what appointment in the Obama Administration. Who will be the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission? The first qualification should be a firm dedication to Goal No. 1 — The public interest, not private interest, should govern. Qualification No. 2 is that the Chairman know how to accomplish an ambitious FCC policy agenda dealing with the Internet, spectrum, media ownership and a host of other issues.
http://benton.org/node/18894
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RIGHT-WING RADIO SOUNDS FALSE ALARM ON 'FAIRNESS DOCTRINE'
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
[Commentary] It would be a shame if Congress or a Barack Obama-controlled Federal Communications Commission wasted time resurrecting the Fairness Doctrine, which were abolished in 1987. President Reagan and his FCC decided there were enough alternative outlets for a range of opinion. The free market offers plenty of room for liberals to have their say, even in an era when the vast multitude of radio stations are owned by a few conglomerates. Democrats have made it clear they do not view the Fairness Doctrine as politically feasible. They have cited numerous more urgent priorities for Democrats to address. And they have said they have no intention of forcing the issue. As on many other issues, they want the new Obama administration to take the lead. And the president-elect, as a candidate last summer, said unequivocally that he did not support reimposing the Fairness Doctrine.
http://benton.org/node/18908
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THE INTERNET

DORGAN PLANS NETWORK NEUTRALITY BILL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kim Dixon]
Sen Byron Dorgan (D-ND) plans to introduce a bill in January that would bar Internet service providers from blocking Web content, setting up a renewed battle over Network Neutrality. He believes a law is essential to prevent telephone and cable companies from discriminating against Internet content, even though regulators have taken actions to enforce free Web principles. Sen Dorgan has been influential on the issue, and will be among the highest ranking Democrats on the Senate's Commerce Committee when it reconvenes in January.
http://benton.org/node/18893
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VOTING FOR GLASS HOUSES
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Michael Schudson, Danielle Haas]
The Internet could be a great tool transparency in the legislative process but neither house of Congress nor the councils of the 35 largest cities in the US makes an individual legislator's votes—on the floor or in committee—available in a simple, downloadable format. According to new research by J. H. Snider—the president of iSolon.org, a nonprofit aimed at advancing government transparency through new technologies—it's not inertia that holds the government back, nor orgcost (an unpaid intern could do it), nor lack of demand. It's not even the novelty of the idea. Instead, Snider says, it's simply self-interest. Politicians are ultimately more worried about thwarting the mischief that potential rivals could do with the data than they are interested in educating voters.
http://benton.org/node/18887
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BROADBAND ACCESS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
[SOURCE: Times-Standard (Eureka CA), AUTHOR: Sean McLaughlin]
[Commentary] The future of broadband is about more than surfing the web, watching video, playing interactive games, texting and making phone calls. It is about entirely new forms of communication, including diverse community-wide conversations and large scale social collaboration. Through any media, broadband represents the future common means of sharing ideas and organizing people to act, regardless of frontiers. To deliver on the promise of open media providing freedom of information and freedom of expression for the next generation, "through any media and regardless of frontiers," local governments -- including our libraries, colleges, schools and community service districts -- need to participate in developing local broadband resources. Our general plan documents must provide a guiding vision for universal access to broadband media. And we all need to be more involved to support local efforts that build community media and broadband infrastructure. This is particularly true in remote, rural and micropolitan regions.
http://benton.org/node/18892
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BANDWIDTH CAPS NOT EVIL IF DONE RIGHT
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] AT&T and the cablecos aren't necessarily big, evil corporations for having begun implementing bandwidth caps. These caps are simply a natural evolution of the broadband business model. Private enterprise as a rule of thumb only builds enough supply to meet demand, and the percentage of people using a ton of bandwidth today is still small. It's hard to build 100Mbps to everyone when only 1% of your users need or even want it. This doesn't mean though that we should not be vigilant in monitoring what's happening and vocal in expressing our displeasure when good intentions turn into harmful actions. But let's take a breath and let things pan out before rushing to judgment.
http://benton.org/node/18891
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HOUSES GET SMARTER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Billie Cohen]
Technology moves fast. And as it does, it not only tends to improve in quality, it also gets less expensive. For second-home owners who want to monitor their residences from a distance, or who like having lots of gadgetry on hand to ease the transition between houses, that's the best news.
http://benton.org/node/18903
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THE ECONOMY

THE HERD EFFECT AND THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN A CRISIS
[SOURCE: Forrester, AUTHOR: Reineke Reitsma, Benjamin Ensor, Laura Wiramihardja]
There have been tough economic times before, but those were in a different era. In the 1980s, consumers only received information via television and newspapers, which meant a certain delay in getting the news and then being able to react to it. Consumers were aware of issues involving the world economy, but what counted most to the majority was what happened in their own country. But times have changed — information is everywhere, bad news travels fast, and people rely on their peers more than on experts. The credit crisis has painfully exposed banks' vulnerability to the rapid spread of bad news. But banks are not the only firms vulnerable to this effect. Market researchers at companies need insight into their customers' technology uptake, Social Computing behavior, and psychographics to understand how they will behave when the going gets tough.
http://benton.org/node/18890
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CABLE/BROADCASTING

FCC'S MARTIN TO PUSH AGAINST CLOCK, CABLE DURING FINAL MONTHS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg News, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin shows no sign of relenting on cable as his term nears its likely end. With less than 10 weeks left in President George W. Bush's administration, the FCC is still considering whether to loosen cable's grip on some professional sports programming and raise the price companies pay to attach lines to utility poles. Any new rules Chairman Martin shepherds through would stand, unless undone by a court, a future commission or Congress. Last week, he announced an investigation of whether cable carriers are exploiting next year's transition to digital television to overcharge consumers.
http://benton.org/node/18889
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FCC WON'T DISCLOSE CABLE OPERATOR'S RATE INFORMATION TO PUBLIC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission said it would protect rate information that it is seeking from cable operators from public disclosure. In protective orders issued Nov. 13, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau said that, "In general, the Commission will grant more limited access to those materials which, if released to competitors, would allow those competitors to gain a significant advantage in the marketplace."
http://benton.org/node/18888
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2 FOX AND NBC STATIONS TO POOL VIDEO NEWS GATHERING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
In a move intended to save money in the economically pressed business of local television news, two stations in Philadelphia owned by NBC and Fox are combining some of their video operations with a plan to provide the service to all the stations owned by each company. Executives from NBC and Fox compared the arrangement, announced Thursday, to the pool coverage that news outlets use to report on certain events, or to what wire services provide to newspapers. "It's really taking pool coverage and expanding it to day-to-day news coverage," said Jack Abernethy, the chief executive of Fox Television Stations. He said stations could save significantly in such an arrangement, adding that individual stations would not have to each send out "a truck that costs $250,000 or a crew with lights and tripods that cost $40,000 to $50,000."
http://benton.org/node/18907
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LOW RATINGS END SHOW AND PRODUCT PLACEMENT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
Even in a fictional world, it seems, General Motors cannot catch a break. The struggling car company's splashy deal to integrate two vehicles into the NBC drama "My Own Worst Enemy" hit a snag Thursday when the network confirmed that it was canceling the series after only four episodes had been shown. The partnership represented a big push for both GM, which has sought new ways to market cars and trucks in a troubled economy, and NBC, which has aggressively recruited advertisers to underwrite some of the production costs of its shows. The demise of "My Own Worst Enemy" highlights the risks of the advertiser partnerships that NBC and other broadcasters are turning to. But the network is not backing away from the model; if anything, it is doubling down.
http://benton.org/node/18906
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DIGITAL CONTENT
   Studios can watch Strike.TV, but they can't touch its content
   Aide to Sen Boxer Fired After Being Charged in Child Pornography Sting

STUDIOS CAN STRIKE.TV, BUT THEY CAN'T TOUCH ITS CONTENT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Richard Verrier]
A look at Strike TV, an online "network" for original programming launched by Hollywood writers. It marks an ambitious effort to connect film and TV writers to the fledgling world of online video. The portal will run 45 original Web series with more than 200 episodes from such veteran writers as Lester Lewis, a producer on "The Office," and "Star Trek: Enterprise" scribe Ken LaZebnik. Shows include actors Timothy Dalton and JoBeth Williams.
http://benton.org/node/18905
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AIDE TO BOXER FIRED AFTER BEING CHARGED IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY STING
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ben Pershing]
A senior aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was fired from his post last week after he was charged with distributing and receiving child pornography. According to an FBI affidavit, an unnamed person "distributed more than 600 files containing graphic images and movies of child pornography to an undercover detective that [the person] believed was a 13-year-old boy" over the course of more than 15 online chats during a three-week period in January. In that person's computer, the FBI found information suggesting the person had exchanged pornography with Jeffrey P. Rosato, an aide to Boxer and a senior policy adviser on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Investigators also found pornographic photos and movies of children on Rosato's laptop computer during a Nov. 4 search of his Alexandria home.
http://benton.org/node/18904
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