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Research
Cox Blocking P2P, Too
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:44pmCox Communications appears to be impeding peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic in the same way Comcast has, according to a study released Thursday by a German research group. Germany’s Max Planck Institute, a science and technology research organization, analyzed a test of 8,175 Internet volunteers around the world and found that both Comcast and Cox are blocking peer-to-peer traffic over their networks during all hours of the day.
One in Five U.S. Households Has Never Used E-mail
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:43pmRoughly one-fifth of all U.S. heads-of-household have never used e-mail, according to National Technology Scan, a forthcoming study from Parks Associates. This annual phone survey of U.S. households found 20 million households are without Internet access, approximately 18% of all U.S.
Study: Moderate Growth for Cable Through 2012
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 4:40pmA new SNL Kagan survey predicts annual multichannel-subscription growth of 2.1%, or 108.5 million by 2012, with the total multichannel market accounting for about 89% of TV households. Kagan did not predict that the digital-TV switch will drive very many over-the-air viewers to multichannel providers, saying that about 10% of over-the-air households will opt to move to multichannel, with most of those going to cable.
New Study Calls 'Embed' Program for U.S. Media in Iraq a 'Victory' -- for the Pentagon
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 15, 2008 - 6:25amDebate over the "embedded journalist" program run by the Pentagon since the weeks before the Iraq invasion in 2003 has long raged, with some claiming that it gave reporters valuable close access to action while others saying that the journalists were severely compromised within it.
Telcos Fall Behind Cable in Broadband Battle
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 14, 2008 - 7:00pmTwo separate sources this week are offering up more analysis showing the telcos are falling behind the cable companies in the broadband and video battle. Information Gatekeepers, an analyst firm that once predicted the telcos would overtake cable in broadband penetration, this week issued its High-Speed Access Report for the first quarter of 2008, showing cable is outperforming its forecast and the telcos are under-performing what IGI had forecast in 2006.
First Spouse: Comparing Coverage of Bill, Michelle and Cindy
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 14, 2008 - 6:58pmSince January 1, the husband of candidate Hillary Clinton (D-NY) appeared as a lead newsmaker in nearly four times as many stories (298) as the spouses of Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen John McCain (R-AZ) combined (78).
Consumers ditching land-line phones
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 14, 2008 - 7:28amTraditional land-line phones, once the bedrock of communications in the USA, are quickly going the way of eight-track tapes as consumers go wireless or choose Internet-based phone calling.
Pentagon Media Pundits Appeared 4,500 times since Jan 1, 2002
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 13, 2008 - 7:16pmLast updated: May 13, 2008 - 7:27pm
A New York Times article detailed the connection between numerous media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries, reporting that "the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform" media military analysts "into a kind of media Trojan horse -- an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks." A Media Matters review found that since January 1, 2002, the analysts named in the Times article -- many identified as having ties to the defense industry -- collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200805130001
Broadband: other countries do it better, but how?
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 13, 2008 - 7:10pmOne of the ironies of the current broadband situation in the US is that staunch free marketeers defend the status quo even though the result of their views has been duopoly and high prices.
Mobile phones more important than wallets: survey
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 13, 2008 - 7:01pmMore than one-third of workers would choose their mobile phone over their wallet, keys, laptop or digital music player if they had to leave the house for 24 hours and could take only one item, a new survey has found.
