Dec 3, 2008 (Diverse group calls for national broadband policy)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3, 2008

THE TRANSITION
   Diverse group calls for national broadband policy
   Will Obama's FCC Push For Internet Access For All?
   A Public Interest Agenda for Media and Technology
   An Action Plan for America: Using Technology and Innovation to Address our Nation's Critical Challenges
   Emanuel says infrastructure money a priority for Obama
   Digital Divide, Minority Media Ownership Should be Obama Priorities, Groups Say
   Richardson to head Commerce
   Obama Teams Are Scrutinizing Federal Agencies
   'Help Wanted' ad names next FCC chair's priorities
   Wiley Predicts Smooth Sailing For DTV Transition

THE ECONOMY
   Cash-rich tech companies could make good acquisitions
   Google Gears Down for Tougher Times
   Not ye olde banners
   Economic Gloom Could Be Boon For Cable
   BIA: Radio Revenue Expected to Drop 7% This Year
   2 Canadian Phone Giants in Different Struggles

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC changes spectrum allocation rules — after much of it is captured
   Hey FCC, let parents be the Internet censors
   Lawsuit Demands Cell Phone, Traffic Fatality Stats

INTERNET/BROADBAND
Why Do ISPs Hate Beaumont, Texas?
Facebook Connect: a failure to understand online identity management

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Bush administration faces new challenges to spying powers

EDUCATION
College May Become Unaffordable for Most in US

OBITS
Edward S. Rogers Jr., Canadian Media Mogul
Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement

QUICKLY -- 2008 Political Ads Worth $2.5+ Billion; Bush signs Child Safe Viewing Act; Gunmen Used Technology as a Tactical Tool; Government as cyber-bully

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THE TRANSITION

DIVERSE GROUP CALLS FOR NATIONAL BROADBAND POLICY
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
On Tuesday, a diverse group of 55 signatories (including the benton Foundation) released a call to action for a national broadband strategy aimed at making broadband deployment and adoption a priority for the Obama administration. The document, endorsed by parties as varied as AT&T, Verizon, Google, Free Press and municipal broadband players, seeks to find a middle ground on which all broadband players can stand and endorse the push to make broadband ubiquitous in the US. According to organizer Jim Baller, this is the first step in a process that will include a major event in the spring of 2009 to continue to focus on the need for broadband deployment and adoption. Past "a comprehensive national broadband strategy," the groups called for 1) Open access to the Internet "to the maximum feasible extent" for all users, service providers, content providers, and application providers. 2) Rights for network operators to manage their networks "responsibly, pursuant to clear and workable guidelines and standards." 3) A competitive Internet and broadband marketplace, to the greatest extent possible. 4) Broadband network performance, capacity, and connections that US citizens need to compete successfully in the global marketplace.
http://benton.org/node/19468
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WILL OBAMA'S FCC PUSH FOR INTERNET ACCESS FOR ALL?
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Joel Rose]
Broadband, high-speed Internet access, is likely to be a top priority for the Federal Communications Commission as Barack Obama becomes President. For years, FCC critics have been demanding a national broadband strategy -- an official policy on universal Internet access or, at the very least, government incentives to encourage more competition among Internet service providers. On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, a coalition of organizations unveiled recommendations for a comprehensive national broadband strategy. Ben Scott, the policy director for Free Press, says Americans are currently paying more for less. Because of that, the U.S. has fallen out of the top 10 countries in the world when it comes to the percentage of households using broadband, Scott says. Just over half of American homes have it, which puts the U.S. behind Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Sweden, Korea, Finland, Luxembourg, Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Germany. "If you look overseas," Scott says, "most of the world's leading nations have half a dozen or more different companies offering a similar broadband product. They're competing on price. They're competing on speed. They're competing on the attractiveness of the services they offer on top of their broadband package." Moreover, about 10 percent of Americans still have no access to broadband at all. Many of those people live in rural areas. Scott says, "We need to have a similar 21st century highway bill where we invest in our broadband infrastructure." But he also notes such a plan would require unprecedented leadership from the White House, Congress and, most of all, the FCC — because it's likely to face vigorous opposition from cable and telecom companies.
http://benton.org/node/19467
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A PUBLIC INTEREST AGENDA FOR MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: ]
A comprehensive look at the key media and telecommunications policies President-elect Barack Obama and Congress should implement next year. This document builds upon the proposals detailed in Obama's technology innovation agenda by offering concrete recommendations for legislative and regulatory action. Free Press highlights four public interest priorities: 1) Protect an Open Internet: The Obama administration should move swiftly to put Net Neutrality into law by urging Congress to pass Net Neutrality legislation. Obama's FCC should adopt Net Neutrality rules that pertain to all wireless and wireline networks; add a fifth principle of nondiscrimination to the Internet Policy Statement; establish an expedited complaint process; and require extensive disclosure for all network management practices. 2) Promote Universal, Affordable Broadband: Next year, the new administration should lay the groundwork in Congress for new telecommunications law that recognizes the growing convergence of communications platforms. The next FCC should set new speed standards for broadband; collect meaningful data on deployment; transition the Universal Service Fund toward broadband; and open inquiries to stimulate broadband competition. 3) Increase Diversity in Media Ownership: The road to media ownership reform begins by reversing the Bush administration's pro-consolidation policies. Obama's FCC should also investigate the impact of concentration on localism and diversity; advance a new minority tax certificate program; and increase competition among cable operators and content providers. 4) Renew Public Media: President-elect Obama should urge Congress to substantially increase funding for all levels of public media; create a long-term funding strategy that protects public media from undue political interference and supports the digital transition; and promote new Low Power FM stations and existing PEG channels.
http://benton.org/node/19466
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AN ACTION PLAN FOR AMERICA: USING TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO ADDRESS OUR NATION'S CRITICAL CHALLENGES
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Jonathan Rintels]
Persuasive research indicates that connecting our nation to broadband will bring remarkable economic, social, cultural, personal, and other benefits to our citizens. Citing this research, a bipartisan chorus of America's leaders has for years advocated the deployment across our nation of robust and affordable broadband access to the Internet. Taken together, the rhetoric and research tell a compelling story; that in the Digital Age, universal, affordable, and robust broadband is the key to our nation's citizens reaching for - and achieving - the American Dream. Yet, America has failed to deploy universal, affordable, and robust broadband. This troubling trend will not reverse itself soon. America's global competitors are executing well-conceived and -financed national strategies to dramatically increase their competitive advantage in broadband over the United States, which has no national broadband strategy. Without strong federal leadership on the deployment of universal, affordable, and robust broadband, the broadband- enabled, Digital Age "American Dream" that other nations' citizens are already beginning to enjoy remains to Americans just a dream. Failing to deploy universal, affordable, and robust broadband denies a wealth of tangible economic and quality-of-life benefits to our citizens.
http://www.benton.org/initiatives/broadband_benefits/action_plan
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EMANUEL SAYS INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY A PRIORITY FOR OBAMA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sam Youngman]
President-elect Obama's chief of staff-designate said Tuesday that billions of dollars in infrastructure building and repair will be a key component of Obama's economic recovery act. "A lot of people say, you know, 'It doesn't happen, it takes too long,' " Emanuel said. "There's now a consensus that we've for a long time had to deny our investments in our critical needs ... be that refurbished schools, our water treatment facilities, our roads, our bridges, our mass-transit systems, our 21st century infrastructure, universal broadband, medical ID ... [I]f we did [invest in those projects], we would be a more productive economy. And that was shared by governors of both parties." He continued, "We need to rebuild America, we need to build those critical areas today to do it and an Economic Recovery Act has to do that." Emanuel said the first half of the meeting between the president-elect and the governors dealt with the need for infrastructure funding and the positive impact it could have on the economy. The "ballpark" amount used for the discussions was about $136 billion.
http://benton.org/node/19464
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DIGITAL DIVIDE, MINORITY MEDIA OWNERSHIP SHOULD BE OBAMA PRIORITIES, GROUPS SAY
[SOURCE: Desert Runner, AUTHOR: Press release]
On Tuesday, five Hispanic organizations called on President-elect Obama to make enhancing minority access to digital opportunities and media ownership an early priority of his new administration. In a joint statement sent to the transition team, the ASPIRA Association, Inc., Latinos in Science and Technology Association (LISTA), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly, Inc. (IPR/HE), and National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) outlined actions the new president must take, including affordable high-speed access, creation of minority media ownership opportunities through DTV sublicensing, and capacity set-asides on all multi-channel video platforms for national non-profit minority controlled broadcasters.
http://benton.org/node/19463
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RICHARDSON TO HEAD COMMERCE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sam Youngman]
President-elect Obama is set to announce Gov Bill Richardson (D-NM) as his secretary of Commerce at a Wednesday press conference in Chicago. The Department of Commerce's mission is to foster, serve, and promote the Nation's economic development and technological advancement. The Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information heads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the President's principal adviser on telecommunications and information policy issues, and in this role frequently works with other Executive Branch agencies to develop and present the Administration's position on these issues. Traditionally, the commerce secretary slot has gone to business executives, especially those who provided financial backing for the president's election bid. The current secretary, Carlos M. Gutierrez, had been chief executive of cereal giant Kellogg Co. President George W. Bush's first commerce secretary, Don Evans, was an oil-services company executive and one of the leaders of then-Gov Bush's campaign team in 2000.
http://benton.org/node/19462
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OBAMA TEAMS ARE SCRUTINIZING FEDERAL AGENCIES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Shailagh Murray, Carol Leonnig]
Wearing yellow badges and traveling in groups of 10 or more, agency review teams for President-elect Barack Obama have swarmed into dozens of government offices. With pointed questions and clear ground rules, they are dissecting agency initiatives, poring over budgets and unearthing documents that may prove crucial as a new Democratic president assumes control. Their job is to minimize the natural tension between incoming and outgoing administrations, but their work also is creating anxiety among some Bush administration officials as the teams rigorously examine programs and policies. Questions include: Which is the division that has really run amok? Or that has run out of money? If someone is confirmed, what's going to be on their desk from Day One? What are the main things that need to happen, vis-a-vis Obama's priorities?
http://benton.org/node/19479
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'HELP WANTED' AD NAMES NEXT FCC CHAIR'S PRIORITIES
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stephanie Condon]
With numerous and diverse groups pushing for President-elect Barack Obama to adopt open media principles, many are anxiously awaiting his choice for chair of the Federal Communications Commission, expecting it to signal what kind of media approach the new administration will take. The media reform group Free Press is highlighting the significance of the selection in a new ad campaign and appeal for public input on what the next chair's top priorities should be. The group's "Help Wanted" ad reads: "The American people seek a new leader at the Federal Communications Commission to take media and technology policy into the 21st century... Applicant must be willing to hold long and unruly public hearings and enjoy arcane telecom banter. Wardrobe malfunctions, NASCAR wreckage and fleeting expletives are discouraged."
http://benton.org/node/19461
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WILEY PREDICTS SMOOTH SAILING FOR DTV TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, Multichannel News, AUTHOR: P.J. Bednarski]
On Tuesday, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Richard Wiley predicted relatively smooth sailing for the digital conversion next February. Instead, he offered, people should be nervous about the soon-to-be Democratic-led FCC ("more regulation"), Congress ("may be tough on the media"), and deregulation of white spaces in rural areas which might risk "the wonder of the broadcasting industry" [whoops! there goes the pattern].
http://benton.org/node/19460
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THE ECONOMY

CASH-RICH TECH COMPANIES COULD MAKE GOOD ACQUISITIONS
[SOURCE: TheDeal.com, AUTHOR: Andrea Orr]
Goldman Sachs & Co. has compiled a list of high-tech companies that are rich in cash, meaning that cash constitutes 20% or more of their market cap. The investment bank argues that the carnage in the stock market of late has thrown "babies out with the bath water," slamming values of companies across the board, whether they're swimming in cash or drowning in debt. This trend has become more pronounced in recent months, creating some compelling opportunities for investors, and presumably acquirers, as well. Goldman's list of today's cash rich companies could evolve into next year's juiciest acquisition targets.
http://benton.org/node/19459
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GOOGLE GEARS DOWN FOR TOUGHER TIMES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro, Scott Morrison]
Revenue growth at Google has slowed dramatically over the past year. Google's years of rapid growth were fueled almost entirely by a single business: sales of search ads, the small text ads that appear next to search results cranked out by its Internet search engine. The company realized that the torrid growth couldn't continue forever. So far, it hasn't come up with any big new revenue streams. Products such as Google Checkout, a Web payment service, and Google TV Ads, which sells television advertising time, haven't generated significant revenue, leaving online ads still accounting for 97% of revenue. So with the U.S. economy in a recession, Google is ratcheting back spending and cutting new projects.
http://benton.org/node/19474
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NOT YE OLDE BANNERS
[SOURCE: The Economist, AUTHOR: ]
eMarketer, a market-research firm, predicted that online-advertising spending in America, which makes up about half the global total, will increase by 8.9% in 2009, rather than the 14.5% it had forecast in August. The firm thinks search advertising will grow by 14.9% and rich-media ads by 7.5%, whereas display ads will grow by 6.6%. In short, online advertising will continue to expand in the recession -- just not as quickly as previously expected. Online marketing increasingly aims for awareness, consideration, preference and loyalty all at once. Marketing managers can therefore defend their online budgets as being both above and below the line. The industry is also cautiously excited about two new forms of online advertising. The first is video and the second is social networks. Two years ago 11% of time spent online was at Yahoo! and MSN, two web portals; now their share is down to 5%, and 5% of online time is spent at YouTube and Facebook. Online traffic, in other words, is moving towards sites where advertising has so far proved ineffective and is therefore cheap. This, says Ms Meeker, presents an opportunity for innovation and arbitrage by clever marketing managers as they cut their conventional ad budgets. It may also provide a glimmer of hope for the advertising industry as it enters recession.
http://benton.org/node/19458
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ECONOMIC GLOOM COULD BE BOON FOR CABLE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Mike Farrell]
Influential Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen painted a somewhat gloomy picture for the overall economy at an industry conference, but added that the downturn could present a big opportunity for cable companies. Cohen said that Merrill's own economists are bearish on the state of the economy, predicting that the recently-called recession could be "one of the longest and deepest in our lifetime." And while those same economists are estimating that the country should brace itself for at least another four quarters of negative growth in the Gross Domestic Product, cable investors should find some solace in the fact that their holdings have already taken a big hit. Cable stocks historically hit bottom faster than the overall market and in turn recover sooner. While stopping short of saying cable stocks are recession-proof she said they were more recession resistant she predicted the sector would outperform the rest of the market, turning in mid-single digit revenue, cash flow and free cash flow growth.
http://benton.org/node/19457
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BIA: RADIO REVENUE EXPECTED TO DROP 7% THIS YEAR
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
BIA Advisory Services, a subsidiary of BIA Financial Network, predicts radio industry revenue to drop 7 percent this year to $16.7 billion, the lowest total in more than five years. Next year radio revenue could plummet 10 percent, going as low as $15 billion. Positive growth isn't forecast until 2010 with a very modest 1.5 percent gain. Radio station values are down and transactions have significantly slowed. Between Jan. 1 and the end of October, some 641 radio stations were sold in transactions valued at $698 million, a 34 percent decline in the number of stations sold compared to the first 10 months of 2007 and a 44 percent decline in value, the lowest level since 1992.
http://benton.org/node/19456
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2 CANADIAN PHONE GIANTS IN DIFFERENT STRUGGLES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ian Austen]
Canada's two major communications companies are grappling with tough decisions about their futures as one firm deals with a founder's death while the other faces a possible collapse of a buyout deal. Rogers Communications, Canada's largest wireless carrier and biggest cable television operator, must find a successor to its founder and chief executive, Edward S. Rogers Jr., who died on Tuesday [see obit below]. At the same time, Rogers Communications' once much more powerful rival, Bell Canada, faces an almost certain collapse of a proposal to take it private through what would have been the world's largest leveraged buyout. The $50 billion deal, which expires next week, has foundered after accountants cast doubt on its impact on the company's solvency.
http://benton.org/node/19477
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FCC CHANGES SPECTRUM ALLOCATION RULES -- AFTER MUCH OF IT IS CAPTURED
[SOURCE: RCR Wireless, AUTHOR: Eric Peterson]
[Commentary] Historically, the Federal Communications Commission has applied a three-part screen to identify those geographic areas that receive more detailed examination for spectrum allocation and divestiture in merger proceedings. The FCC's standard competitive analysis practice is first to define the relevant product and geographic markets, then to apply an initial screen to the spectrum holdings of the applicants, and then to conduct a market-by-market analysis of the markets captured by the initial screen. On Nov 4, the FCC noted its intention going forward to expand the commission's use of the three-part screen. In the decision, the FCC for the first time stated that it "intend[s] to apply prospectively [its] standard competitive analysis to spectrum acquired via auction as well as via transactions." In other words, from now on, the FCC will apply its 95 MHz spectrum screen to both forms of spectrum acquisition — via auction and acquisition. One must wonder why, after all the "prime beach front property" spectrum has been captured, the commission is now finally willing to establish this broader analysis. One must also wonder what the actual benefit will be to the tier-two and tier-three wireless carriers who have attempted to acquire spectrum at auction, only to be outbid by the unfettered resources of certain tier-one competitors. It may take some time to answer these questions. However, what is clear is that the FCC should have taken such action a long time ago.
http://benton.org/node/19455
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HEY FCC, LET PARENTS BE THE INTERNET CENSORS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Lazarus]
[Commentary] Universal Internet access sounds great. But not the way the head of the Federal Communications Commission envisions it. FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin is proposing that free wireless Net access be made available to everyone as part of a sale of public airwaves. At the same time, he wants filters put in place so that no smut slips through to impressionable young Web surfers. This would be the first time such filters have been imposed by an Internet service provider rather than individual users, allowing government officials or a private company to decide what can and can't be seen online. "It's very troubling," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a digital-rights watchdog. "A government-mandated filter at the network level means the government can block anything it finds objectionable."
http://benton.org/node/19478
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LAWSUIT DEMANDS CALL PHONE, TRAFFIC FATALITY STATS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is unlawfully withholding records that detail the relationship between driver cell phone use and traffic fatalities, Public Citizen claimed late Monday in a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The nonprofit Center for Auto Safety first requested the documents in March but NHTSA attorneys rejected the request, saying the records were exempt from disclosure. Public Citizen's complaint asks the court to order NHTSA to release the records. The analysis stems from a 2003 letter from then-Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta urging governors to take action against hand-held and hands-free cell phones. The Center for Auto Safety claims the letter was never sent and the study on which it was based was buried.
http://benton.org/node/19451
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

WHY DO ISPs HATE BEAUMONT, TEXAS?
[SOURCE: PC Magazine, AUTHOR: Chloe Albanesius]
In an effort to crack down on bandwidth hogs, AT&T last month kicked off a test in Reno (NV) that limited monthly usage to 150 Gbytes. That test was expanded to Beaumont (TX) on Monday. New residential AT&T high-speed Internet customers in Reno and Beaumont will now receive a bandwidth usage amount between 20 GB and 150 GB, depending on their broadband speed tier. Existing Reno and Beaumont customers who exceed that 150-GB threshold in one month will automatically become part of the trial later this year. Customers who exceed 150 GB will be given a one-month grace period for their first offense, but will incur charges of $1 per GB thereafter. Customers will be notified when they reach 70 percent of their usage amount, and service will not be cut off. AT&T is not the first company to target Beaumont customers. In January, Time Warner Cable announced that it was testing a usage-based system in the Texas town. Participants were placed on metered billing plans, and Time Warner started with four tiers of 5, 10, 20 and 40 GB. AT&T declined to comment on whether Time Warner's presence in Beaumont had anything to do with its choice to also test that market.
http://benton.org/node/19454
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FACEBOOK CONNECT: A FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND ONLINE IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Amanda Lenhart]
[Commentary] Facebook has recently announced the rollout of a new feature called Facebook Connect, which will allow users to login to other websites using their Facebook identity and information and which will then potentially feed back to a users Facebook network information about their actions on the site. Sold as an identity management system, and similar to programs announced this year by other major Internet players like MySpace and Google, and these features purport to save the user time and energy by allowing them to port over personal information and in the case of Facebook, privacy features, as well as to up the social nature of the use of these secondary sites by allowing users to "bring their friends along." However, these new tools seem to ignore a fundamental disconnect between our online and offline identities. In the offline world, we don't present ourselves in the same way to all people in our lives we show different sides of ourselves to our mothers, our friends, our employers. And even in the age of fine-grained privacy tools, those tools do not eliminate the complexity of figuring out how to best present oneself in a multi-use public space, particularly for those who have personal, professional and family contacts on these sites.
http://benton.org/node/19453
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

BUSH ADMINISTRATION FACES NEW CHALLENGES TO SPYING POWERS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR:Carol Williams]
A federal judge who earlier rejected Bush administration claims that it was exempt from laws governing domestic surveillance was asked Tuesday to strike down an act of Congress that grants retroactive immunity for illegal wiretapping. Congress enacted the FISA Amendments Act to shield the telecom companies from the lawsuits. But in a class action against AT&T, the Electronic Frontier Foundation asked US District Judge Vaughn Walker to rule the FISA Amendments Act unconstitutional, saying that it violated individual privacy rights and granted excessive latitude for the attorney general to decide the legal responsibility of carriers that gave data to the NSA. Justice Department lawyers reminded Judge Walker that the congressional action was intended to shield the telecom carriers from liability for complying with government orders, and urged the judge to dismiss both challenges. The ACLU action alleging that President Bush overstepped his powers was dismissed by the Supreme Court in February, when the justices said that the rights group had failed to prove actual privacy violations.
http://benton.org/node/19472
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EDUCATION

COLLEGE MAY BECOME UNAFFORDABLE FOR MOST IN US
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tamar Lewin]
The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the annual report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Over all, the report found, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, adjusted for inflation, while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families. "If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won't have an affordable system of higher education," said Patrick M. Callan, president of the center, a nonpartisan organization that promotes access to higher education. "When we come out of the recession," Mr. Callan added, "we're really going to be in jeopardy, because the educational gap between our work force and the rest of the world will make it very hard to be competitive. Already, we're one of the few countries where 25- to 34-year-olds are less educated than older workers."
http://benton.org/node/19469
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OBITS

EDWARD ROGERS, CANADIAN MEDIA MOGUL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ian Austen]
Edward S. Rogers Jr., who transformed Canada's first FM radio station into one of North America's most diverse communications and media companies, died on Tuesday at his home in Toronto. He was 75. Businesses controlled by Mr. Rogers included Canada's largest wireless operator, its biggest cable television system, several of its largest-circulation magazines, the leading provider of residential Internet service, 52 radio stations, 10 television stations, a shopping channel, a national sports cable network and the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. Rogers Communications, which posted revenue of about 10 billion Canadian dollars last year, currently outperforms its rivals, particularly Bell Canada, by most financial measures. But in the past, Mr. Rogers's reliance on debt brought the operation close to ruin more than once. And his relentless drive for expansion sometimes created clashes with regulators, competitors and consumers.
http://benton.org/node/19476
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ODETTA, VOICE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Weiner]
Odetta, the singer whose deep voice wove together the strongest songs of American folk music and the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. She was 77. Odetta sang at coffeehouses and at Carnegie Hall, made highly influential recordings of blues and ballads, and became one of the most widely known folk-music artists of the 1950s and '60s. She was a formative influence on dozens of artists, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin. Her voice was an accompaniment to the black-and-white images of the freedom marchers who walked the roads of Alabama and Mississippi and the boulevards of Washington in the quest to end racial discrimination. In 1999 President Bill Clinton awarded Odetta the National Endowment for the Arts Medal of the Arts and Humanities.
http://benton.org/node/19475
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QUICKLY -- 2008 Political Ads Worth $2.5+ Billion; Bush signs Child Safe Viewing Act; Gunmen Used Technology as a Tactical Tool; Government as cyber-bully

2008 POLITICAL ADS WORTH $2.5+ BILLION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Claire Atkinson]
TNS Media Intelligence estimates that between $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion were spent on political ads this election season. Television's share was $2.2 billion. The total figure is slightly short of the projected $3 billion take, in part because of a shortened general election season, but up from $1.7 billion back in 2004. In what will no doubt be welcome news for beleaguered TV executives, Evan Tracey, president of TMS' Campaign Media Analysis Group said, "2009 is going to be another record setting cycle. There's no reason to think there's going to be any decline." Issue advocacy also predicted to be big business in 2009 as groups do table setting for issue fights on healthcare down the line. "The Obama campaign built an organization that extends outside of Washington. Anybody serious about engaging on legislation will have to do it outside of Washington," said Tracey. "You won't have the back room deals with this administration so you'll have to rely on people putting pressure on elected officials and advertising is the strongest vehicle for that." There will be 36 gubernatorial races in 2010.
http://benton.org/node/19452
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BUSH SIGNS CHILD SAFE VIEWING ACT
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stephanie Condon]
President Bush on Tuesday signed the Child Safe Viewing Act, requiring the Federal Communications Commission to explore the market for technologies that allow parents to censor the programming their children watch. The new law requires the FCC to issue a notice of inquiry to examine what advanced content-blocking technologies are available for various communication devices and platforms. It also calls for the FCC to consider how to encourage the development and use of such technologies without affecting content providers' pricing or packaging.
http://benton.org/node/19471
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GUNMAN USED TECHNOLOGY AS A TACTICAL TOOL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Emily Wax]
Terrorism in the Digital Age: The heavily armed attackers who set out for Mumbai by sea last week navigated with Global Positioning System equipment, according to Indian investigators and police. They carried BlackBerrys, CDs holding high-resolution satellite images like those used for Google Earth maps, and multiple cellphones with switchable SIM cards that would be hard to track. They spoke by satellite telephone. And as television channels broadcast live coverage of the young men carrying out the terrorist attack, TV sets were turned on in the hotel rooms occupied by the gunmen, eyewitnesses recalled.
http://benton.org/node/19473
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GOVERNMENT AS CYBER-BULLY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The tactic that won a conviction in the tragic MySpace suicide case is a misuse of Internet regulations.
http://benton.org/node/19470
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Dec 3, 2008 (Diverse group calls for national broadband policy)

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