Nov 15, 2008 (Weekend Update)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2008
Sorry for the unusual weekend post, but with so much going on, we thought you should know...
Don't forget that we're tracking Transition news at http://benton.org/headlines/transition_2008-09
THE TRANSITION
Obama's Victory: A Consumer-Citizen Revolt
Obama-Biden Transition names Agency Review Teams
In Transition, Tangle of Ties to Lobbying
Tech Chiefs in Running for Key Post
Will Obama's copyright czar help save the music?
Clyburn ties can help pave way to DC
Rockefeller To Seek Senate Commerce Committee Chair
Obama expected to push network neutrality
Obama, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News: A Look at Media in 2009
Tube-side chat? Obama takes radio address online
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Verizon finally gets 700 MHz assets
AT&T Changing Tune On Network Neutrality?
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Digital Infrastructure and Public Interest
Will DSL Survive?
FCC REFORM
FCC's Martin Is Silent in Probe
THE ECONOMY
Tech Companies, Long Insulated, Now Feel Slump
CABLE
MSOs Respond To FCC Rate Investigation
NTIA Supports Retransmission-Consent Quiet Period
QUICKLY -- DTV Ford's All Fired Up; Anti-Clinton docu goes back to court; Obama's high-tech win holds lessons for ed
THE TRANSITION
OBAMA'S VICTORY: A CONSUMER-CITIZEN REVOLT
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Shoshana Zuboff]
[Commentary] Barack Obama was elected not only because many Americans feel betrayed and abandoned by their government but because those feelings finally converged with their sense of betrayal at the hands of Corporate America. Their experiences as consumers and as citizens joined to create a wave of revolt against the status quo—as occurred in the American Revolution. Be wary of those who counsel business as usual. This post-election period is a turning point for the business community. It demands an attitude of sober reappraisal and a disposition toward fundamental reinvention. If you don't do it, someone else will. Tens of thousands gathered in Grant Park on the evening of Nov. 4 to hear President-elect Barack Obama. The faces turned toward him were animated—not by surprise, but by recognition. Their needs, yearnings, and injuries had been ignored for so long. Finally there was one man speaking their shared experience of betrayal and their shared hope for renewal. The path to reinventing American business was written on the faces of those gathered there that night. They know exactly what must be done. So can we invent a business model in which advocacy, support, authenticity, trust, relationship, and profit are linked? Can I write that sentence without invoking fear, disbelief, cynicism, or peals of laughter? The ugly practices that killed trust seem intractable to most people, whether they are the ones trapped inside the money machine or on the receiving end of its operations. But after this election, the answer to these questions has irreversibly changed. The answer today would have to be not only "yes we can" but also "yes we must."
http://benton.org/node/18953
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OBAMA-BIDEN TRANSITION NAMES AGENCY REVIEW TEAMS
[SOURCE: change.gov, AUTHOR: ]
On Friday, the Obama-Biden Transition Team announced a broad list of Agency Review Team leads that will complete a thorough review of key departments, agencies and commissions of the United States government, as well as the White House, to provide the President-elect, Vice President-elect, and key advisors with information needed to make strategic policy, budgetary, and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration. In Communicationsville, the big news is that Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach will head the Federal Communications Commission transition team. Crawford is a professor of law at the University of Michigan, teaching communications law and Internet law. She was a partner with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) until the end of 2002, when she left to become a legal academic. Crawford recently ended her term as a member of the board of directors of ICANN. Werbach is an assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the organizer of the annual Supernova technology conference. His research explores the legal and business dynamics of information and communications technologies. During the Clinton Administration, he served as counsel for new technology policy at the FCC.
http://benton.org/node/18952
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IN TRANSITION, TANGLE OF TIES TO LOBBYING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Kirkpatrick]
President-elect Barack Obama has imposed stricter conflict-of-interest restrictions on his White House transition team than any president before him. But a list of transition team members that his office made public on Friday includes a complicated tangle of ties to private influence-seekers. Among the full roster of about 150 staff members being assigned to government agencies between now and Inauguration Day are dozens of former lobbyists and some who were registered as recently as this year. Many more are executives and partners at firms that pay lobbyists, and former government officials who work as consultants or advisers to those seeking influence. At least one official initially involved in the transition appears to have been reassigned because of concern about his lobbying or legal work. Henry Rivera, a Benton Foundation board member and former commissioner on the Federal Communication Commission who was involved in planning for the agency's transition, has dropped out of that role because he had represented clients on communications policy in the last year.
http://benton.org/node/18951
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TECH CHIEFS IN RUNNING FOR KEY POST
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz, Shira Ovide]
Decisions about appointing a Chief Technology Officer or an Federal Communications Commission chairman aren't expected for several weeks. Who could serve in the Obama Administration as CTO? 1) Don Gips, chief strategy officer at Level 3 Communications, who was once an adviser to former Vice President Al Gore. 2) Julius Genachowski, a venture capitalist based in Washington (DC), who oversaw creation of the voluminous tech plan then-Sen Obama released during the campaign. 3) Charles E. Phillips Jr., president of Oracle and a former technology specialist in Morgan Stanley's equity-research group. Who could be tapped for the FCC? A) Blair Levin, a telecom analyst at research firm Stifel Nicholas who was the FCC chief of staff during the Clinton administration. 2) Scott Blake Harris, a partner at communications law firm Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis.
http://benton.org/node/18950
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WILL OBAMA'S COPYRIGHT CZAR HELP SAVE MUSIC?
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Antony Bruno]
In January, President Obama will appoint a copyright czar. That position -- officially known by the less glamorous-sounding title of intellectual property enforcement coordinator -- was created by the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act, signed in mid-October. The law is aimed at coordinating the anti-piracy efforts of such disparate agencies as the Department of Justice, the Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Trade Representative. Who might be appointed? 1) Hal Ponder, director of government relations at the American Federation of Musicians and the former director of policy for the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees. 2) Michele Ballantyne, senior VP of federal government and industry relations for the Recording Industry Assn. of America, the trade group for the major U.S. labels. 3) George Mason law professor Victoria Espinel, who held several positions in the U.S. Trade Representative's office. 4) Bill Ivey, former head of the Country Music Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Academy. He's currently at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, but he's working with Obama's transition team on cultural agency appointments.
http://benton.org/node/18949
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CLYBURN TIES CAN HELP PAVE WAY TO DC
[SOURCE: Myrtle Beach News, AUTHOR:]
As President-elect Obama forms his new administration, it helps to have a friend - or a father - in Rep Jim Clyburn (D-SC), if you want part of the action. The House majority whip's eldest daughter, Mignon Clyburn, is on the short list to head the Federal Communications Commission. Rep Clyburn himself has been mentioned as a potential secretary of housing and urban development under Obama, but aides say the Columbia (SC) Democrat is not interested in leaving his current job as the No. 3 leader of the House. Mignon Clyburn, 46, is a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission, which oversees public utilities and transit systems in South Carolina. She is the oldest of Jim and Emily Clyburn's three daughters.
http://benton.org/node/18948
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ROCKEFELLER TO SEEK SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE CHAIR
[SOURCE:Dow Jones , AUTHOR: Corey Boles]
Sen John Rockefeller (D-WV) will seek the chairmanship of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee when Senate Democrats meet next week to determine leadership positions. Sen Rockefeller is currently chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has a lower profile. It was the intelligence panel that was instrumental in crafting the deal this year that effectively granted telecommunications companies immunity from civil lawsuits alleging they helped the federal government illegally listen to US citizens' phone calls and read their e-mails.
http://benton.org/node/18947
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OBAMA EXPECTED TO PUSH NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
President Obama will make Network Neutrality and access to broadband Internet connections in rural and poor areas a key part of his agenda to close economic divides and help spur job creation. The task of putting net neutrality -- the notion put forth by academics that network operators should be banned from selectively slowing, blocking or altering Internet content and technologies -- into practice would probably fall to the Federal Communications Commission, business leaders and analysts said. The FCC has been criticized by consumer groups for trailing technology changes in the marketplace by grappling with reforms on land-line programs while falling short on consumer protections and rules for wireless operators. Under the Obama Administration, however, many high-tech leaders and analysts say the agency first formed to hand out broadcast licenses will be more important than ever.
http://benton.org/node/18946
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OBAMA, RUSH LIMBAUGH AND FOX NEWS: A LOOK AT MEDIA IN 2009
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Josh Silver]
Here's a quick list of the top policy reforms to watch in 2009 for anyone who shares a disgust with news coverage, sky-high cable and phone bills, and the other maladies brought by a media system dominated by the likes of Comcast, Disney, AT&T, General Electric, Verizon, News Corporation and Time Warner: 1) Getting super-fast, open/neutral, affordable Internet to every home and business in America, urban and rural, rich and poor - Internet that will allow every website to be a television or radio network... a complete game changer. 2) Reversing consolidation of media ownership through tougher broadcast license requirements and incentives for more independent, diverse and local radio, television and print outlets. 3) Dramatically increasing funding for public media: for PBS and NPR, as well as community radio and television, and other noncommercial outlets. This includes policies that better protect public media from undue political pressures.
http://benton.org/node/18945
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TUBE-SIDE CHAT? OBAMA TAKES RADIO ADDRESS ONLINE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Ann Sanner]
President-elect Barack Obama is taping Saturday's weekly Democratic address not just for listeners, but for YouTube viewers. And he plans to keep videotaping the radio addresses after taking the oath of office on Jan. 20. The broadcasts owe a debt to President Franklin Roosevelt, who seized on the new technology that was all the rage in the 1930s for his "fireside chats," famously reassuring through times of Depression and war. The modern era's Saturday radio addresses were initiated by President Ronald Reagan and have evolved into a weekly fixture of the presidency, accompanied by a response from the party out of power. President Obama is turning the radio address into a "multimedia opportunity" to communicate directly with the American people.
http://benton.org/node/18944
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
VERIZON FINALLY GETS 700 MHZ ASSETS
[SOURCE: RCR Wireless News, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Silva]
The Federal Communications Commission gave final clearance to Verizon Wireless' $4.7 billion purchase of a nationwide collection of regional licenses at the 700 MHz auction earlier this year, refusing Google's request to impose a stronger open-access condition and revising a key component of its merger review policy. FCC Commissioners Copps and Adelstein expressed measured support for more clarity. "When we voted to establish service rules for that spectrum, we both expected that the C-Block winner would observe the openness rules for its own devices as well as those sold by third parties," the commissioners stated. "And we believe today that the language in the commission's rules establishes this legal requirement. However, to the extent that any parties believe the language is not clear enough, we would have preferred that the commission dispel any potential confusion by making this point directly in today's item." One public-interest group urged the FCC to stay on the case regarding open access. "CTIA's flip-flop — coupled with the continued blocking and locking practices of the wireless networks — reminds us that we need the FCC to remain a vigilant cop on the beat protecting consumers with clear, enforceable openness rules," said Ben Scott of Free Press.
http://benton.org/node/18943
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AT&T CHANGING TUNE ON NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Last week, AT&T's chief lobbyist Jim Cicconi and Ben Scott of Free Press were in surprising agreement on Network Neutrality as it applies to the wireless industry. Scott said that broadband principles need to clearly include wireless service providers, particularly as technology innovation moves to mobile devices. Cicconi concurred: "The same principals should apply across the board. As people migrate to the use of wireless devices to access the Internet, they . . . certainly expect that we treat these services the same way." But before one thinks AT&T is pushing for new rules at the FCC for broadband operators or the adoption of bills on net neutrality on the Hill, Cicconi said rules in place at the FCC are working just fine, thank you. If it ain't broke, don't fix it seemed to be the upshot.
http://benton.org/node/18942
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND PUBLIC INTEREST
[SOURCE: Grantmakers in the Arts Reader, AUTHOR: Vince Stehle]
What is the best way to promote a vibrant and diverse exchange of educational information, cultural expression, and political discourse over the Internet? What type of service—commercial enterprise, government agency, or non-commercial organization—can be counted on to insure that quality and diversity are reflected prominently? Recent experience suggests that a new type of hybrid organization, driven by a strong non-commercial mission but operating with success in the consumer marketplace, may offer the optimal balance of financial sustainability and commitment to the public interest. Firefox, Wikipedia, and now Miro have all shown that non-commercial media and technology enterprises can achieve great success in the consumer marketplace without surrendering their missions to the marketplace. Philanthropy needs to acknowledge that this opportunity is an imperative that requires us to find ways to identify, evaluate, and support the non-commercial work that will help build a public interest infrastructure to promote the free exchange of knowledge over the Internet. If we don't, we will always have lots of "pics of pop's wildest girls" to keep us amused.
http://benton.org/node/18941
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WILL DSL SURVIVE?
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Mike Farrell]
DSL may be dying, but it certainly isn't dead. DSL's decline stands as an unavoidable truth to the nation's telephone companies, which are racing to build fiber lines to compete with cable. The simple logic of DSL's downfall is speed. Compared to DSL's top speed of 7.1 Mbps and a low of 256 Kilobits per second, cable-modem service varies from a low of about 5 Mbps to 30 Mbps for "Power Boost" service. And several MSOs are in the middle of rolling out DOCSIS 3.0 high-speed networks that will offer speeds of about 50 Mbps — Comcast expects 20% of its footprint to be DOCSIS 3.0-capable by the end of this year. Those speeds are matched by Verizon's FiOS product — between 30 Megabits per second and 50 Mbps — and AT&T's U-Verse, which comes in around the middle with a maximum speed of 18 Mbps. But for the vast majority of the telco footprint, DSL will be the only telco option for high-speed Internet service. The belief that every Internet user will be hungry for more bandwidth speed is a misplaced one, said Leichtman Research principal Bruce Leichtman, who doesn't believe that an explosion in video downloads has created a huge demand for speed. He cited research which states that the average U.S. consumer spends less than eight minutes per day downloading video.
http://benton.org/node/18940
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FCC REFORM
FCC'S MARTIN IS SILENT IN PROBE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Lawmakers investigating Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said yesterday that he has failed to respond to their requests for an interview, even though Congress has neared the final stages of its inquiry into his leadership. House Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI)and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D-MI) on Friday sent a letter to Chairman Martin and three other FCC staffers-- chief of staff, Dan Gonzalez; the FCC's inspector general, Kent Nilsson; and Catherine Bohigian, a former aide to Martin who is vice president of federal affairs for Cablevision Systems -- telling them that they have until Nov. 21 to meet with the House committee staff. If they do not, the committee will finalize its report without their input. A committee spokesperson said the final report is expected to be released this month. Martin's office said it has cooperated with Dingell and Stupak's office in the investigation and has provided thousands of documents at their request.
http://benton.org/node/18939
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THE ECONOMY
TECH COMPANIES, LONG INSULATED, NOW FEEL SLUMP
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ashlee Vance]
The technology industry, which resisted the economy's growing weakness over the last year as customers kept buying laptops and iPhones, has finally succumbed to the slowdown. In the span of just a few weeks, orders for both business and consumer tech products have collapsed, and technology companies have begun laying off workers. The plunge is so severe that some executives are comparing it with the dot-com bust in 2000, when hundreds of companies disappeared and Silicon Valley lost nearly a fifth of its jobs. October "was like turning a switch," said Robert Barbera, chief economist at the Investment Technology Group, a research and trading firm. "Everything pretty much shut down." Tech companies directly account for about 4 percent of the nation's employment. And globally, companies and governments spend about $1.75 trillion on technology a year, according to Forrester Research. But the industry's importance to the world economy is larger than its size might suggest. Technology has fueled many of the productivity gains of the last two decades. And about half of the capital spending by corporations goes toward technology products, according to Moody's Economy.com. As struggling businesses cut back on spending of all kinds, a slowdown in tech proved inevitable.
http://benton.org/node/18938
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CABLE
MSOs RESPOND TO FCC RATE REGULATION
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing two years of cable rate information submitted Thursday by 13 companies threatened with monetary fines for noncompliance. The agency, at the direction of chairman Kevin Martin, is examining whether cable operators violated any rules in connection with the migration of channels from analog to digital programming tiers, an industry practice developed years ago to make way for HD programming, video-on-demand services and faster Internet connections. "All 13 companies have responded. We are reviewing the responses," FCC spokesman Robert Kenny said Friday. In a letter Wednesday, FCC general counsel Matthew Berry warned cable operators to comply with the agency's 14-calendar day deadline to respond. The FCC sought the rate data on Oct. 30.
http://benton.org/node/18937
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NTIA SUPPORTS RETRANSMISSION-CONSENT QUIET PERIOD
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Moss]
After pulling data indicating that a recent TV-station blackout increased digital-to-analog converter box coupon requests, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Friday voiced support for a retransmission-consent quiet period to limit potential confusion and service disruptions during the all-digital TV transition next February. In a letter to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Congressman Nathan Deal (R-GA), the NTIA seemingly endorsed the initiation of a carriage agreement quiet period for cable operators and broadcasters during the time before and after the February DTV transition to avoid public confusion that could cause added strain on the government's transition assistance program. In the missive, NTIA Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information Meredith Attwell Baker said, "a retransmission consent 'quiet period' would be helpful in reducing consumer confusion during the DTV transition." NTIA's Baker did not say when the quiet period should begin or end. Cable wants it to start no later than Dec. 31 before thousands of current contracts expire.
http://benton.org/node/18935
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No Pole Price Hike, Says Cable
NO POLE PRICE HIKE, SAYS CABLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Cable operators are asking the Federal Communications Commission not to establish a uniform price for attaching to utility poles they say would be an unfair tax of hundreds of millions of dollars and a disincentive to broadband deployment. In a letter to the FCC, cable operators said Friday that broadband providers should pay the same rate to attach to poles as cable operators do, saying that was the fairest way to compensate pole owners and promote broadband service. The FCC is considering how to change the pole-attachment rate regime to better reflect broadband delivery and achieve regulatory parity among service providers.
http://benton.org/node/18936
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QUICKLY
DTV FORD'S ALL FIRED UP
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
At the direction of chairman Kevin Martin, the Federal Communications Commission is paying $350,000 to NASCAR driver David Gilliland to sponsor the digital TV transition on the hood of his Ford Fusion in a three-race deal that concludes Sunday [Nov. 16] at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In his first two Sprint Cup races, Gilliland hasn't fared well: he crashed and had to exit the competition. His Nov. 9 crash in Phoenix was spectacular, a nine-car pile up in which his No. 38 car, owned by Yates Racing, was engulfed in flames as it sat burning atop another racing vehicle.
http://benton.org/node/18934
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ANTI-CLINTON DOCU GOES BACK TO COURT
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: William Triplett]
A harshly critical documentary about Hillary Rodham Clinton will be at the center of a Supreme Court challenge of campaign finance laws next year. The high court announced Friday it would hear an appeal by Citizens United, a conservative advocacy group that produced "Hillary: The Movie," a 90-minute attack on the former Democratic presidential candidate as "unfit for office."
http://benton.org/node/18933
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OBAMA'S HIGH-TECH WIN HOLDS LESSONS FOR ED
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Maya Prabhu]
As educators continue to reflect on President-elect Barack Obama's historic victory in the Nov. 4 election, many are looking at the Obama campaign's unprecedented use of technology to mobilize support and wondering what lessons their schools and colleges might learn from his success. Observers have credited Obama's success in no small part to his campaign's innovative use of technology--including blogging, text messaging, and online social networks--to connect with younger voters and get them excited about politics and the election.
http://benton.org/node/18932
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