February 2006

For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org

CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA
Budget-Cutting Bill A Key Test for Blunt
Cable Transmission Deals Emerge As New Hill Battle
Few Senators Access Video-Access Hearing
Net Neutrality Debate May End Up in Congress
U.S. companies won't go to briefing on human rights, Internet in China

TELEVISION
Phone Firms Get Anaheim Mayor's Backing to Offer TV Service
Free of Limits on Cable
Cable Rolls Out Ad Campaign, Views On Video Franchises
White Paper on Video Programming
FTC OK's Adelphia Deal
Religion-based shows fear yet more remoteness in TV wilderness
As TV Networks Use Web, Affiliates Seek Piece of the Action
NCTA, CEA at Odds Over Interactivity
CPB Grants Help Local Public Television Stations Move
Towards a Digital Future

TELECOM
Verizon Lays It on the Line
FCC to consider changes on call data privacy
AT&T sued over NSA spy program
CDT Calls for Delay of FCC Wiretapping Rules

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Disney-Pixar, UPN-WB

NEW BOOKS OF INTEREST
Wireless Networking in the Developing World
From Rural Village to Global Village
$200 Billion Broadband Scandal

QUICKLY -- Community Web Sites Explore How to Sustain Themselves
Financially; Wi-Fi in Airports

CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA

BUDGET-CUTTING BILL A KEY TEST FOR BLUNT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jonathan Weisman]
Is passage of digital TV transition legislation, wrapped in the
budget bill, a sure thing today? Um, well, OK, maybe. Supporters and
opponents of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo), who is bidding to
succeed Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) as majority leader, say passage of the
budget bill may not ensure his victory in the leadership vote on
Thursday, but its failure could be a serious blow. As Republican
whip, Rep Blunt is supposed to win votes, and he took considerable
heat last year for the GOP's difficulties passing high-profile
legislation. The vote on the budget bill will be a close one. The
budget vote will be close, according to lawmakers and aides. An
almost identical measure -- saving $39.7 billion over five years by
paring back Medicaid rolls, cutting student loans and trimming other
entitlement programs -- passed the House at the crack of dawn Dec.
19, by a vote of 212 to 206. But small changes in the Senate forced
the bill back to the House. New information -- and an aggressive
lobbying campaign by teachers groups, the senior citizens lobby AARP,
pharmacists, radiologists and others affected by the cuts -- have
taken a toll in recent weeks. On Friday, the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office informed lawmakers that $28 billion in
cuts to Medicaid over the next decade would impose new costs on 13
million poor and working poor recipients. By 2015, new fees would end
insurance coverage for 65,000 Medicaid enrollees, 60 percent of them
children, CBO analysts said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/31/AR200601...
(requires registration)

CABLE TRANSMISSION DEALS EMERGE AS NEW HILL BATTLE
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
Retransmission consent deals between broadcast television stations
and cable operators are emerging as a new front in the battle on
Capitol Hill to overhaul the nation's communications laws. The
American Cable Association held a press conference calling for
substantive changes to retransmission laws that have been in place
for more than a decade. A 1992 cable law allows TV stations to elect
either mandatory cable carriage known as "must carry" or
retransmission, a negotiated agreement in exchange for carriage. The
provisions were designed to enhance localism, the notion that
communities should be served by locally broadcast stations available
free to all viewers. But speakers asserted that broadcasters are
taking advantage of retransmission consent to make excessive
financial and programming demands from cable operators. They added
that the competitive landscape has changed as satellite TV providers
make increased inroads in rural areas without the same carriage obligations.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-VNYG1138737391067.html
* See NAB letter to Senate Commerce Committee highlighting the recent
findings by the Federal Communications Commission in their September
Report to Congress, "Retransmission Consent and Exclusivity Rules,"
in which the FCC concluded: "Our review of the record does not lead
us to recommend any changes to the retransmission consent regime at this time."
http://www.nab.org/images/xertimages/corpcomm/pressrel/012706_DKR_to_Sen...
* Sen Stevens Sees Need To Address Cable Transmission Deals
[SOURCE: Dow Jones Newswires, AUTHOR: Maya Jackson Randall]
http://news.morningstar.com/news/DJ/M01/D31/200601311842DOWJONESDJONLINE...

FEW SENATORS ACCESS VIDEO-ACCESS HEARING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Players outnumbered the audience 3-1 at Tuesday afternoon's Senate
Commerce Committee hearing. Just Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and
Sen Byron Dorgan (D - ND) heard industry players argue for and
against tiering, importing out-of-market broadcast signals, and
placing conditions on the sale of bankrupt cable operator Adelphia to
Time Warner and Comcast. The senators who didn't attend will get to
ask questions of the witnesses in writing.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6303670?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* Link to hearing: http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1701
* NTCA Urges Policymakers to Eradicate Barriers to Rural Telecom
Video Deployment
http://www.ntca.org/ka/ka-3.cfm?content_item_id=3988&folder_id=644

NET NEUTRALITY DEBATE MAY END UP IN CONGRESS
[SOURCE: eWeek, AUTHOR: Caron Carlson]
U.S. senators are getting ready to delve into the slippery subject of
network neutrality, which most people are in favor of -- as long as
they can define it on their own terms. The principle of net
neutrality generally holds that network owners should remain neutral
with respect to the content they carry. The three largest network
operators -- all regional Bell operating companies -- have voiced
support for the principle, while their top executives have suggested
over recent months that large content providers should pay a premium
for priority use of the networks. The suggestions have come from
BellSouth, AT&T and Verizon Communications. The notion of a priority
content delivery system, in which service quality levels are
guaranteed only at a price, is sounding alarm bells for user rights
activists and free speech advocates. Charging that a multitiered
Internet would force users to pay twice for online content and that
access to some sites could end up being impaired, the Consumers
Union, Consumer Federation of America and Free Press are calling on
Congress to enact net neutrality legislation
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,183353,00.html
* Telco Chief Explains That We Really Only Pay For Half Of Our
Internet Connection
[Commentary] AT&T is suggesting that when we buy bandwidth, we're
just buying the bandwidth from the end-point to the backbone... and
everything else is just free. It is conveniently forgetting (again)
that without the content and services provided at all the other
endpoints, the value of connecting from the end to the middle is
pretty much gone. No one is paying to connect from the end to the
middle. They're paying to connect all the ends to each other. That's
the value of network
http://techdirt.com/articles/20060131/0923209_F.shtml

US COMPANIES WON'T GO TO BRIEFING ON HUMAN RIGHTS, INTERNET IN CHINA
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Foster Klug]
Representatives from several powerhouse technology companies say they
won't attend a congressional briefing Wednesday meant to shine a
spotlight on U.S. Internet businesses operating in China. Critics
have been blasting American companies for helping China's communist
government enforce censorship and silence dissent in return for
access to a potentially lucrative market. Three of the four companies
invited by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus -- Microsoft, Cisco
Systems and Google -- won't attend Wednesday's session, said Lynne
Weill, a congressional spokeswoman. Yahoo has yet to announce its decision.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/13758626.htm
See also --
* Microsoft clarifies policy on censoring blogs
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Ina Fried]
Under fire after censoring a Chinese blogger, Microsoft on Tuesday
announced a new policy for dealing with government requests to block
content that violates local laws. Microsoft's new MSN Spaces policy
states that the company will remove content only when it "receives a
legally binding notice from the government indicating that the
material violates local laws" or when the content violates MSN
contract terms. When it does take down content, it will only be done
in the country issuing the order, and the company
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+clarifies+policy+on+censoring+blogs/2100-1...
* Microsoft Amends Its Policy for Shutting Down Blogs
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/technology/01blog.html
(requires registration)

TELEVISION

PHONE FIRMS GET ANAHEIM MAY'S BACKING TO OFFER TV SERVICE FREE OF
LIMITS ON CABLE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James S. Granelli]
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle broke with mayors nationwide Tuesday by
proposing to abolish local pay TV fees and to allow phone companies
to sidestep the rules that cable companies currently must follow. In
his state of the city address, Mayor Pringle said the typical cable
franchise agreements and "other restrictive policies" built into old
laws were "standing in the way" of creating a more competitive pay TV
market. He wants to allow AT&T to work on upgrading its network to
carry video, even without a written agreement with the city. The
proposal puts the city in the middle of a heated war between regional
phone companies and cable TV operators over rules governing the
delivery of television programming. In siding with AT&T, Pringle
parted ways with state and national mayoral and municipal groups
including the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of
Cities and its California chapter and the National Assn. of
Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, a group of local government
telecom officials and consultants. Those groups have insisted that
phone carriers play by the same local rules as cable companies in an
attempt to ensure, among other things, that all of a city's residents
get service.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-iptv1feb01,1,7573767....
(requires registration)

CABLE ROLLS OUT AD CAMPAIGN, VIEWS ON VIDEO FRANCHISES
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
The National Cable and Telecommunications Association rolled out a
new multimillion dollar television and print advertising campaign
designed to showcase the industry's hardscrabble roots and its
"honorable" and entrepreneurial role in the nation's culture and
economy. The campaign, dubbed "A Great American Success Story,"
attempts to showcase positive attributes about the cable industry. It
lays the groundwork for a long-ranging role in telecommunications
policy debates.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-CRHC1138737666293.html
See NCTA: http://www.ncta.com/press/press.cfm?PRid=659&showArticles=ok

WHITE PAPER ON VIDEO PROGRAMMING
[SOURCE: Media Access Project]
MAP's new white paper on video programming addresses the question in
media policy as to whether direct broadcast satellite (DBS),
terrestrial cable overbuilders, or potential new entrants such as the
incumbent telephone companies, provide true competition to
traditional incumbent cable operators, such as Comcast. The paper
suggests that unless subscribers can switch from one service to
another with reasonable ease, the expected benefits of competition --
lower prices, innovation, and diverse high quality programming --
simply will not emerge.
http://www.mediaaccess.org/Video%20Programming%20White%20Paper.pdf

FTC OK'S ADELPHIA DEAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Trade Commission Tuesday approved the approximately $12.7
billion purchase of bankrupt Adelphia by Time Warner and Comcast
without any conditions attached. The two companies plan to split
Adelphia's 5.2 million subscribers between them and to swap some of
their own existing subscribers between each other. Even so, the FTC
said its investigation "does not suggest that the proposed
transactions are likely to substantially lessen competition in any
geographic region of the U.S." The FTC said it was not persuaded that
the deal would harm consumers by affecting the terms of contracts for
regional sports networks, as some deal critics have argued. But two
of the five commissioners dissented in part, saying they thought the
new companies could tie up sports programming contracts to the
detriment of consumers. They said they would have preferred
conditions insuring that did not happen, but did not oppose the
merger. The FCC is still reviewing the merger.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6303706?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* FTC Approves Sale of Adelphia...With Reservations
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=10019...

RELIGION-BASED SHOWS FEAR YET MORE REMOTENESS IN TV WILDERNESS
[SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel, AUTHOR: Lisa Hoffman]
Since Congress opted not to include in recent digital television
legislation "multicast, must-carry" provisions that would have made
it mandatory for cable companies to carry the multiple digital
signals of existing local broadcasters. And since the FCC has also
rebuffed the broadcasters twice, the cable industry thinks the issue
is dead. But apparently religious broadcasters haven't gotten the
memo. "It's the top priority," Michele Combs, Director of
Communication for the Christian Coalition, said recently of her
organization's focus on the matter. "It is far from over. We are
going to keep fighting for this," Combs said, adding that they
already have secured backing from a host of senators and are
launching a nationwide petition drive to rally support from the
estimated 140 million Americans who say they watch or listen to
religious broadcasts at least once a month. Religious broadcasters
want cable companies to "multicast" all their digital channels which
could be up to six for each current TV station. The cable industry
essentially says it will air only one for each. Without a government
mandate that they carry all six, broadcasters say they will shrink to
a tiny, even easier-to-overlook presence on cable systems that offer
as many as 1,000 channels to customers.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/religion/article/0,1406,KNS_315_4426824,00.html

AS TV NETWORKS USE WEB, AFFILIATES SEEK PIECE OF THE ACTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brooks Barnes brooks.barnes( at )wsj.com]
A civil war is simmering beneath the surface of the television
business. On one side are big networks such as Walt Disney Co.'s ABC
and CBS Corp.'s CBS, which are aggressively courting new business
opportunities in digital media, cutting deals to distribute hit
programs in cyberspace. Confronting the giants are local television
stations angry that their affiliated networks aren't giving them a
bigger piece -- or in some cases any piece -- of the action. So far,
affiliates have mostly engaged in saber rattling. But that's starting
to change, with stations demanding that networks include them as
partners in digital endeavors. "We aren't going to be accidentally --
or purposely -- left out of the equation," says David Rehr, president
of the National Association of Broadcasters. Most of the nation's TV
stations are owned by independent companies that contract with the
national networks, much as car dealerships are linked to auto makers.
Networks need affiliates to reach the biggest possible audience and
command higher rates from advertisers. Affiliates need strong network
programming to help their own local ratings. The two sides have
jostled for years over how much control networks have over
affiliates. In the early days of TV, the fledgling networks were the
weaker partner, enticing station owners to sign on with them. But
today many affiliates say they're getting marginalized as a result of
networks being able to own dozens of stations themselves due to
federal deregulation. Stations were more willing to put up with
diminishing power while they were still cash cows faced with little
competition. But the station business is increasingly under attack.
TV-station advertising dropped 8% in the first nine months of 2005 to
$12 billion, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising. The
outlook doesn't look much better: The troubled auto manufacturers are
local TV's biggest customer, accounting for about 29% of $16 billion
spent on local advertising each year. Among the other problems facing
stations: Beefed-up on-demand offerings from big cable operators, the
proliferation of sports events on satellite and cable and the shift
of local news and weather services online.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113876015568661709.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)

NCTA, CEA AT ODDS OVER INTERACTIVITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In filings at the FCC the National Cable and Telecommunications
Association and the Consumer Electronics Association said they are
talking -- but not liking it. The topics are interactive cable-ready
equipment and a software-based security system. The filings are part
of FCC requirements aimed at developing 1) interactive equipment from
vendors not associated with cable companies and 2) unbundling cable
channel security functions from navigation functions of digital
set-tops -- and come up with a software-based solution -- to drive a
competitive retail market in the boxes.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6303342?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

CPB GRANTS HELP LOCAL PUBLIC TELEVISION STATIONS MOVE TOWARD A DIGITAL FUTURE
[SOURCE: Corporation for Public Broadcasting]
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) today awarded over $9.7
million to 30 public television stations nationwide. The funds will
allow the stations to acquire equipment needed to transmit a digital
signal, and eventually to provide digital services, which could range
from regional public affairs multicasts to full-time instructional
and teacher development channels and the delivery of new community
emergency preparedness content. Congress has provided CPB with nearly
$220 million in special funding to aid public television and radio's
conversion from analog to digital broadcasting. With today's
announcement, CPB has distributed grants to 461 public radio stations
and 285 public television stations to complete their digital
transition. At present, 326 of 356 public television stations are
already broadcasting in digital, making public digital television
available in approximately 95 percent of U.S. television households.
This spring, following a review of remaining conversion needs within
the system, CPB expects to initiate the disbursement of the $29.7
million in Fiscal Year 2006 funding recently approved by Congress.
http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=522
* New York PBS stations land grant for an interconnected TV network
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--pbsgrant0130jan...

TELECOM

VERIZON LAYS IT ON THE LINE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Arshad Mohammed]
His company's stock has sunk, its debt has been downgraded, and its
investment in a new fiber-optic network is regarded by some as a pipe
dream, but Verizon Communications Inc.'s chief executive is certain
he is doing the right thing. "This is almost religious . . .
religious with proper financial accounting," Ivan G. Seidenberg said.
Seidenberg is faced with deep skepticism on Wall Street about
Verizon's multibillion-dollar investment in a fiber-optic network to
carry TV, high-speed Internet and old-fashioned phone service. When
it's all said and done, the growth opportunity here will be far
greater than anybody is accepting at this point," he said, suggesting
that Verizon's fiber-optics project could someday allow people to
consult their doctors by video link, to telecommute in numbers large
enough to reduce global warming and to enjoy services not yet dreamed
up. Doubts about the undertaking -- which is called Fios and is
expected to give consumers far greater bandwidth than Verizon's main
competitors now offer -- have helped drag the company's stock down by
more than 10 percent over the past year and influenced Moody
Investors Service's and Standard and Poor's Corp.'s recent decisions
to downgrade Verizon's debt. Analysts are particularly worried about
the company's spending on Fios as Verizon's traditional local phone
business shrinks -- it lost nearly 3.5 million lines last year alone
-- in the face of competition from cable, wireless and Internet phone
providers. Company officials say the line losses are easily offset by
growth from Verizon Wireless Inc., high-speed Internet and
long-distance service. To Seidenberg, wireless is another example of
an area where the company had the vision to make early investments
over the objections of skeptics -- and now it's driving the company's growth.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/31/AR200601...
(requires registration)

FCC TO CONSIDER CHANGES ON CALL DATA PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
The Electronic Privacy Information Center says the FCC is planning to
review whether tougher protections are needed to safeguard telephone
customer information. The move would come amid pressure to clamp down
on companies that offer to obtain and sell telephone subscriber
information. State attorneys general, lawmakers, the FCC and Federal
Trade Commission are all investigating the practice.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...
See also --
*House Panel to Press Cellphone Industry on Improving Protection of
Customer Records
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/technology/01cell.html
(requires registration)

AT&T SUED OVER NSA SPY PROGRAM
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh ]
AT&T has been named a defendant in a class action lawsuit that claims
the telecommunications company illegally cooperated with the National
Security Agency's secret eavesdropping program. The lawsuit, filed
Tuesday in San Francisco's federal district court, charges that AT&T
has opened its telecommunications facilities up to the NSA and
continues to "to assist the government in its secret surveillance of
millions of ordinary Americans." The Electronic Frontier Foundation,
which filed the suit, says AT&T's alleged cooperation violates free
speech and privacy rights found in the U.S. Constitution and also
contravenes federal wiretapping law, which prohibits electronic
surveillance "except as authorized by statute."
http://news.com.com/AT38T+sued+over+NSA+spy+program/2100-1028_3-6033501....
* More from EFF: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_01.php#004369

CDT, OTHERS CALL FOR DELAY OF FCC WIRETAPPING RULES
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy and Technology]
CDT joined with a coalition of industry and public interest groups
this week to urge the Federal Communications Commission to delay its
controversial Internet wiretapping rules. In comments filed with the
FCC, the groups requested that the commission push back the effective
date of the rule requiring that broadband Internet and interconnected
voice-over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services be designed to make
government wiretapping easier. CDT, which is also involved in a court
challenge against the ruling, supports the delay because the FCC set
a deadline for VoIP and broadband providers to modify their networks
but failed to specify what modifications were required.
http://www.cdt.org/security/20050131fcccomments.pdf

MEDIA OWNERSHIP

DISNEY-PIXAR, UPN-WB
[SOURCE: Center for Creative Voices in Media 1/24]
[Commentary] What do the deals mean? In Disney's case, the purchase
of Pixar was an admission of defeat, as well as a bold attempt to
embrace the future. On the whole, even though Pixar's independent
voice and vision is no longer independent, we think it's a good
thing. We don't think that Disney's famously bureaucratic culture
will put the creative kibbosh on Steve Jobs and especially John
Lasseter, the top Pixar animator and former Disney animator, who will
now take over Disney Animation and surgically implant and graft
Pixarians into it. And putting Steve Jobs and Apple and iTunes and
iPod and Pixar together with Disney will initiate a wave of creative
rethinking of everything. At least, let's hope so. AS FOR UPN-WB,
this is a mixed and muddy picture, but again, we're hopeful. there
will be a number of local broadcast stations that will now have no
network affiliation, as there were in the old days. Those stations
will be looking for new content to fill up their schedules. Now,
there's no doubt some will just show old network reruns. But our hope
is that some of them Go Native and actually show some locally
produced content, or that they become a way for non-network voices to
once again reach a mass audience over the airwaves, as they were
before Fox, UPN, and WB signed them up as affiliates. We also think
this combination is evidence of the sea change in the TV industry
brought about by the Net, the iPod, and other new means of
distribution. Outside of the largest markets and the strongest
stations, the local station business will not be not a good business
for the networks. Their distribution of original content will bypass
the weak and the small stations, instead reaching consumers via
cable, Net, DVD, and iPod. Warners no longer needed a weak and
unprofitable network to protect its profitable TV content production
business. If it has to, it can do that by starting a new basic cable
net on Time Warner Cable or a new channel on AOL.
http://www.creativevoices.us/php-bin/news/showArticle.php?id=147&PHPSESS...

NEW BOOKS OF INTEREST

WIRELESS NETWORKING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Imagine trying to piece together a wireless network with no manuals,
sporadic and slow access to the Internet, inadequate tools, a
shortage of supplies, and in the most inclement weather. The authors
of this recently published book don't need to imagine. They have been
doing so for years.
The book is available in PDF form and for sale in print at http://wndw.net/

FROM RURAL VILLAGE TO GLOBAL VILLAGE
This book, written by the University of San Francisco's Heather
Hudson, examines the role of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in development on the
macro level (societal, socio-economic, and governmental), emphasizing
rural and developing regions. Communication technology's role in
influencing and aiding development is a hot topic in policy circles,
yet there has been little analysis on the potential impact of ICTs
and related policy issues. From Rural Village to Global
Village addresses this lack by reviewing the existing research on the
impact of communication technologies and adding other findings. It
also provides analysis of the policy issues that must be addressed to
facilitate affordable ICT access in rural and developing regions. The
volume concludes with case studies demonstrating
the role of ICTs in situ. The discussion relates to the bigger
"digital divide" issue, the repercussions communication technology --
or the lack of -- it has on communities and societies.

$200 BILLION BROADBAND SCANDAL
Starting in the early 1990's, SBC, Verizon, BellSouth and Qwest made
commitments to rewire America, state by state. Fiber optic wires
would replace the 100-year old copper wiring. The push caused
techno-frenzy of major proportions. By 2006, 86 million households
should have had a service capable of 45 Mbps in both directions, (to
and from the customer) could handle over 500 channels of high quality
video and be deployed in rural, urban and suburban areas equally. In
order to pay for these upgrades, in state after state, the public
service commissions and state legislatures acquiesced to the Bells'
promises by removing the constraints on the Bells' profits as well as
other financial perks. They were able to print money -- billions of
dollars per state -- all collected in the form of higher phone rates
and tax perks. Broadband Scandal's conclusion: Publicly paid for
infrastructure is being held hostage and needs to be freed. Customers
funded the fiber optic networks and the Public Switched Telephone
Networks (PSTN) should be opened to ALL competition with strict rules
of Net Neutrality. The Bells have harmed America's economic growth
and our global competitiveness. Investigations into all of the monies
collected in the name of fiber optic broadband in America should
start immediately. These investigations should include how the Bells
improperly funded their DSL and long distance rollouts. The Bells
should be forced into refunds or giving the money to municipalities.
This would be a better solution than allowing the companies who have
harmed our digital future to control America's digital destiny.
http://www.newnetworks.com/broadbandscandals.htmhttp://www.newnetworks.c...

QUICKLY

COMMUNITY WEB SITES EXPLORE HOW TO SUSTAIN THEMSELVES FINANCIALLY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lee Gomes]
Community Web sites started showing up a few years ago, often as a
labor of love by some Web-savvy local resident. Now, many of these
sites are trying to become actual businesses, complete with the sort
of profits that can make them self-sustaining. The fact that a few of
them are managing to attract advertisers shows they are taking the
first fledgling steps down that path. Alas, the particular economic
circumstances behind these ads demonstrate just how long that journey
may be. Community sites operate much like a traditional community
newspaper would, though all of them take advantage of newfangled,
Web-based tools, such as allowing readers to submit digital photos or
blog posts. The best of them also make an effort to do something
resembling journalism: getting out and talking to people, then
writing about what was learned in the process.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113875833236061670.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)

COMMENTS IN MASSPORT/CONTINENTAL AIRLINES OTARD PROCEEDING
[SOURCE: Media Access Project]
MAP files comments urging FCC to consider impact on community
wireless networks and "last mile" broadband competition when
resolving wi-fi fight between Massport and Continental Airlines.
http://www.mediaaccess.org/OTARD%20comments.pdf
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