1. Monthly archive
  2. August 2010

August 2010

The Plan Got it Right: 300 MHz is 10-15 Verizon-Size Networks

Imagine if five new networks with the capacity of Verizon's were built across the United States. Canadian wireless prices are dropping 10-15% because of new entrants. Xavier Niel's fourth French mobile net will bring down prices 17%, Merrill Lynch estimates.

The heart of the National broadband Plan is freeing more spectrum to bring in competition, with 300 MHz expected by 2015 and 500 MHz by 2020. Letting Phil Falcone's Harbinger use satellite spectrum for terrestrial, an AWS-3 auction, and other moves already under way will bring in 100 MHz, more than enough for 3 new Verizon-sized networks. That can be huge, if new entrants can succeed in taking major market share from AT&T and Verizon. More spectrum is not guaranteed to work -- Verizon and AT&T are at 60+% market share and pulling away -- but politics excluded any of the more effective moves. Although the Federal Communications Commission has apparently lost on using the 10 MHz 'D' block and some of the plans like relocating TV stations have issues, even half of what the plan asked could be huge.

NRB: Fight The Good Fight For Spectrum

National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith and National Religious Broadcasters President Frank Wright met for the first time on August 3. The general topic was cooperation. If the commercial broadcasters represented by Smith are wary of the National Broadband Plan, the religious broadcasters in Wright's camp are downright hostile toward it. Like their commercial TV brethren, NRB members have spent more than $1 billion to go from analog to digital, Wright said. "We were told the future was digital. Now that we're digital, the FCC is saying it is all going to be about wireless so we need to take back some of that digital spectrum. This is just the nonsense of that central planning mindset that assumes that they know where things are going and that they want to try to structure them to get us there."

Crucial for Competition: Don't Require Spectrum Fees in Advance

[Commentary] There's enough spectrum in sight to double the number of state of the art US mobile networks. To facilitate that, the Federal Communications Commission should immediately change the auction rules that are a huge obstacle to competition and almost certainly reduce the amount collected.

In most of the world, part of the spectrum fee is paid over time. In the US, it all has to be paid up front, three or four years before significant revenue (the network has to be built) and even more years before breakeven. With U.S. licenses going for $5B and more, that's a hell of a lot of cash to tie up without even a hint of return. That's a huge obstacle for most bidders, who would gladly pay more if the spectrum payments were more closely tied to when they have income. A new network competing with powerful Verizon and AT&T has to be considered speculative, which means their cost of borrowing the spectrum fee money for the three years of construction is very high.

On the Internet, no one has to be a gatekeeper, but everyone can be

[Commentary] While the Internet's made it possible for information to flow more directly from source to consumer, in practice, much information consumed on the Internet now flows through many more intermediaries than before.

Sources tweet information that then shows up on blogs, which are picked up by radio reporters, then make their way into newspapers, where readers post the stories to their Facebook pages, which prompts someone else to tweet about it... and the cycle begins again, taking slightly different paths with each circuit.

. Publishers, including online journalists, need to remember this if they're to maximize the audience for their work. All that's been lost has been the established news media's once-monopoly status as those gatekeepers. What's lost is lost.

Those who've gained money and influence by assuming gatekeeper status won't easily give it up to old media competitors simply because those newspapers, magazine and TV stations want back their monopoly profits. If the gatekeepers of today are to lose their influence, they will lose it the same way that the old media gatekeepers lost theirs - because they aren't paying sufficient attention while someone else was finding a better way to reach their audiences.

The Future of Broadband - in Tasmania

Tasmania is leading Australia's ambitious broadband plan to wire more than 90 percent of the nation's homes with high-speed fiber optics.

The first three communities in Tasmania started getting fiber-to-the-home technology last month, with data speeds starting at 100 megabits per second, or 20 times faster than typical broadband speeds today. By 2013, Tasmania plans to have the hyper-speed broadband available to nearly all its 500,000 citizens -- and the government is installing it without charging the users. The plan is for the rollout to be completed throughout Australia five to seven years. Larry Smarr, a director of California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, calls the Australian policy "one of the most interesting experiments in the world." The Australian government, according to Mr. Smarr, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, sees the "importance of broadband as part of a nation-building exercise, unlike this country."

Lots of Internet competition -- just not at home

[Commentary] At first glance, the broadband market in the nation's capital appears to be pretty competitive - at least as far as the Federal Communications Commission is concerned. The agency reports there are 35 providers of high-speed Internet service in the District of Columbia. But a closer look reveals what DC residents already know - most folks are lucky if they have three to choose from. The Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University researched all the companies that provide broadband in the District and learned that of the 35, only eight serve residential customers. That would still be an impressive number, but of those eight, three are satellite providers, whose relatively slow speeds and high cost make them attractive only in rural areas. Two others - DC Access LLC and Cavalier Telephone LLC - provide service only in limited areas. That leaves three: Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and RCN Corp.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
6:00-8:30pm
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/3290

Public Knowledge honors those who, over the past year, or over the course of their careers, advanced the public interest in one of three areas of "IP" -- Internet Protocol, Intellectual Property, or Information Policy.

Sponsorships are available. For more information, email sponsorship@publicknowledge.org

Tickets: $35


November 10-12, 2010
Mesa, Arizona
http://www.ruraltelecon.org/

This highly participatory conference will tap the collective knowledge to highlight best practices, identify major challenges, and begin developing innovative solutions. You will leave to valuable insight, strong relationships, and a powerful toolkit for getting more broadband and putting it to work as critical infrastructure for rural prosperity.


August 4, 2010 (On Defining the Third Way)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2010

A full agenda today http://bit.ly/9KS8hR


BROADBAND RECLASSIFICATION DEBATE
   On Defining the Third Way
   'Back Door' To Title II?
   FCC, Stakeholders Reconvening on broadband reclassification Aug. 4 and 5
   Critics Decry 'Secret Deal' as AT&T, Google Huddle With FCC

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Rockefeller: FCC must fix universal service system
   Public-private effort on cybersecurity needs a push from Congress
   AT&T lowers DSL prices to battle subscriber loss

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Finding 500 MHz of spectrum

OWNERSHIP
   New York Reps. Want FCC, Justice To Approve Comcast/NBCU Union
   Comcast-NBCU's Take on Merger Review
   Senate votes to clean up federal copyright laws
   Tribune report made public, reorganization hearings delayed

EDUCATION
   Minnesota schools are facing a chasm between the haves and have-nots over equal broadband access

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   Evolving Technologies Promise to Deliver Vital Safety Information for First Responders

HEALTH
   Stanley will help HHS build out health care info network

TELEVISION
   At CBS, a Recovery in Local Ad Sales and a Focus on Cost Controls Bolster Results
   Mad Men Ratings, Ad Revenue Small, So Focus Is on Overseas Sales, Digital

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   After Afghan War Leaks, Revisions in a Shield Bill
   Broadcasting board decides Voice of America can peruse WikiLeak documents
   BlackBerry Maker Resists Governments' Pressure
   UAE's BlackBerry ban: Why is Canada silent?
   Senate appropriators trim OMB's IT initiatives for 2011
   Google's Hong Kong question page blocked in China
   British government moves to dramatically cut public funding for the arts

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Fair Political Practices Commission should regulate online political activity
   Politicians' accountability extends online

MORE ONLINE
   On the Web's Cutting Edge, Anonymity in Name Only
   File-sharing now a no-no at colleges
   Tech Gadgets Steal Sales From Appliances, Clothes

back to top

BROADBAND RECLASSIFICATION DEBATE

ON DEFINING THE THIRD WAY
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Amina Fazlullah, Alexandra Wood]
[Commentary] On June 17, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened a Notice of Inquiry(NOI) seeking public comment on a new legal framework for broadband regulation. This move is intended to reestablish the FCC's authority over broadband overcoming a legal setback presented by the U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit and laying a strong legal foundation for transforming the National Broadband Plan into effective policy. Specifically, the FCC is considering reclassifying the transmission component of broadband Internet access—this is only the communications path that facilitates the transfer of data from one point to another—as a telecommunications service. This proposal, called the "Third Way," separates the transmission component and the computing functionality of broadband Internet access service. The "Third Way" is not radically new. The approach is rooted in the FCC's Computer Inquiries, which distinguished between Internet service, applications, and content for the purposes of drafting regulatory policy. Beginning in 1966, the FCC decided to classify telecommunications providers offering basic data transmission services as common carriers subject to regulation under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, the section that applies to the transmission of information without additional processing, such as telephone service. Notably, Title II also includes many of the consumer protective components that have ensured consumers fair access to telephone service. This left the smaller Internet service providers offering data processing services largely unregulated.
http://benton.org/node/40278
back to top


TITLE II
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission's determination that broadband is not being deployed in a "reasonable and timely fashion" could provide a backdoor means of establishing the agency's authority to regulate the Internet. The FCC's conclusion was based in part on a changed definition of broadband, as well as what qualified as getting it. Broadband had been defined at speeds of 200 Kilobytes per second, both upstream and down. The new definition is 4 megabytes per second downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. No longer does the existence of a single broadband subscriber in a ZIP code translate to availability in that entire ZIP code. The determination also was based on the FCC's interpretation of the statute, which says the FCC is to determine whether broadband is being deployed to "all Americans" in a timely and reasonable fashion. The FCC even underlined and italicized the word "all" in the release, in case anyone missed it. According to the release, up to 24 million Americans don't yet have broadband as classified under the new definitions. What happens when the FCC concludes broadband is not rolling along at a sufficient clip? The Telecommunications Act of 1996 says, "it shall take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market." Such action can include "pricecap regulation, regulatory forbearance, measures that promote competition in the local telecommunications market, or other regulating methods that remove barriers to infrastructure investment."
benton.org/node/40287 | Multichannel News
Recommend this Headline
back to top


MEETINGS CONTINUE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Apparently, this week's meetings between industry players and Federal Communications Commission Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus over possible broadband authority legislation are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 4 and 5). The same cast of characters is expected, which are representatives from Google, Skype, Verizon, AT&T, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the Open Internet Coalition. Sources say an agreement on a legislative fix is not imminent, but remains a possibility.
benton.org/node/40286 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top


FCC MEETINGS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
Google, AT&T, and Verizon executives are meeting behind closed doors with Federal Communications Commission officials in talks that critics say reduce the public's voice in keeping the Internet open. "These kinds of meetings where the substance isn't being revealed go against [FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's] promise of an open, transparent and inclusive agency," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. The FCC may be negotiating a "secret deal" that would keep Chairman Genachowski from fulfilling President Barack Obama's pledge to back net neutrality, said Josh Silver, president of the Washington-based advocacy group Free Press. The agency may be about to "abdicate its responsibility to protect Internet users," Silver said. "We are fully committed to preserving the free and open Internet," Jen Howard, an FCC spokeswoman, said yesterday. The sessions, held in conference rooms at the FCC's Washington headquarters, are properly disclosed in subsequent public filings, as are all such meetings with agency staff, she said. FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus is leading the meetings with a core group of six industry representatives. Among them are Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of Dallas-based AT&T; Tom Tauke, executive vice president of New York-based Verizon; Richard Whitt, telecommunications and media counsel for Mountain View, California-based Google; and Christopher Libertelli, senior director of Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA.
benton.org/node/40269 | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

FIX USF
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) wrote to all five members of the Federal Communications Commission on August 2 urging them to provide telecommunications and broadband services to rural residents across the country as required by law. "The existing universal service system has shortchanged too many residents of communities in West Virginia and in rural areas across the country," Chairman Rockefeller said, claiming that as many as one in five households in his state lack access to broadband service and only 71 percent of the population has access to 3G wireless service. "The stark fact is that the present universal service system has failed to provide the kind of ubiquitous service that the law requires." Chairman Rockefeller said that the shortcomings have been magnified by an FCC system that focuses on the size of the carrier rather than the needs of the service area.
benton.org/node/40275 | Hill, The | Chairman Rockefeller
Recommend this Headline
back to top


PUBLIC-PRIVATE CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Government Computer News, AUTHOR: William Jackson]
A White House report that highlights cybersecurity accomplishments during the 14 months since the release of the Cyberspace Policy Review includes some notable accomplishments. One of the biggest challenges remaining in securing the nation's information infrastructure is ensuring the cooperation of government, which has responsibility for the nation's defense, with the private sector, which owns and operates the majority of the critical systems. That challenge has long been recognized. The White House report notes that "government and the private sector are partnering" or "working together" to reduce financial risks from cyber threats, identify and reduce vulnerabilities from new devices such as smart phones, and protect industrial control systems. But despite those efforts, too little progress has been made. The need to improve the relationship between government and the private sector is a constantly recurring theme in cybersecurity. After years of lip service, information is being shared, but not on a scale or with a speed that is necessary to meet the demands of cyberspace. The sensible course is a reasonable set of regulatory standards that define the rights and responsibilities of each side in a public-private partnership, ensuring that government and industry each hold up their ends of the bargain and provide the information that the other needs. Voluntary incentives are fine, but some baseline of compliance is necessary.
benton.org/node/40273 | Government Computer News
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FINDING SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Andrew Seybold]
[Commentary] In order for the Federal Communications Commission to "find" 500 MHz of spectrum, there will have to be many changes to the spectrum map as we know it today. The first 300 MHz is to be released for use within five years with the next 200 MHz becoming available within ten years. But where will this spectrum come from? One answer is to squeeze the TV stations even further down the band. Since each channel occupies 6 MHz of bandwidth, if the FCC decided to move TV stations using channels 31 to 52, for example, that would open up 126 MHz of spectrum. If the TV stations were all pushed down below channel 20, that would open up another 66 MHz for a total of 192 MHz. Because this spectrum occupies the 500 MHz to almost 700 MHz spectrum, it would be even more valuable than the 700 MHz spectrum since it would require even fewer cell sites to cover large areas and its in-building penetration characteristics are near ideal. The best hope for finding more spectrum appears to be a combination of relocating some of the TV channels, moving some license holders higher in frequency, and finding government spectrum that could be turned over for commercial broadband use. But at the end of the day, it is important to remember a few things. Even with 500 MHz of additional spectrum, and even with new technologies, there is not enough spectrum available to be able to move the Internet to an entirely wireless system. Wireless will continue to be the last mile, and the wired Internet has it owns capacity issues. We will have to better manage our spectrum and our Internet going forward.
benton.org/node/40271 | Fierce
Recommend this Headline
back to top

OWNERSHIP

NEW YORK REPS BACK COMCAST-NBCU
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Add 11 New York House members to the Members of Congress asking the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department to get off the stick and approve the Comcast/NBCU merger. In a letter dated July 30, the members, which include Democrats Eliot Engel, Ed Towns and Steve Israel and Republican Chris Lee, said they recognized that large companies needed government scrutiny when they get together, that review should not "drag on indefinitely." They cited the numerous Hill hearings on the deal, the public-interest conditions and intervening side deals with producers, affiliates and minority groups, and the FCC's marathon Chicago hearing as evidence the deal had been vetted. They also suggested the public had had ample opportunity to weigh in as well, with five months to file comments and another two to file replies (which are now due Aug. 19). All but three of the 11 lawmakers received money this election cycle from Comcast's political action committee, and/or individuals who work for the company. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/40281 | Multichannel News
Recommend this Headline
back to top


COMCAST-NBCU REPS ON MERGER REVIEW
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Two key executives from Comcast and NBC Universal, speaking on the condition of anonymity, last week offered some background on where vetting of their joint-venture deal by the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department stands. They say they expect the deal will be approved with no additional conditions that could stop it. The executives said the NBCU joint venture will be bound to the public-interest conditions Comcast and NBCU offered up when the deal was announced and to the side deals with affiliates, minority groups and producers they have struck since then. They said some of those agreements would be hard to write up as conditions, but enforcement will be a combination of FCC conditions -- several of the NBC affiliate related deals, for instance -- and binding agreements between the parties, as spelled out in the individual agreements. Approval could come by the end of the year.
benton.org/node/40280 | Multichannel News
Recommend this Headline
back to top


SENATE APPROVES COPYRIGHT FIX
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
The Senate unanimously approved legislation to clarify federal copyright laws. The Copyright Cleanup, Clarification and Corrections Act (S 3689), introduced August 2 by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-AL), implements several recommendations from the Copyright Office to make the agency's operations more efficient. The bill also clarifies aspects of copyright law that are either ambiguous or have been made unclear by recent court decisions. The bill includes rule changes that will make it easier for the Copyright Office to transition to digital recordkeeping and allow filers to submit documents electronically. It also asserts that dramatic or literary works were not "published" when included on a record album, allowing their original owners to retain their rights. Other changes clarify aspects of the law or correct technicalities that hamper the agency's effectiveness.
benton.org/node/40276 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

EDUCATION

MINNESOTA BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: MinnPost.com, AUTHOR: Sharon Schmickle]
Minnesota's schools increasingly turn to the Internet for everything from science testing to foreign language classes. That's why Minnesota needs to heed a new study suggesting that disparities in Internet access are leaving some students far behind their peers in learning opportunities. There are wide gaps in the broadband speeds that are available from district to district, according to the study by the Center for Rural Policy and Development in St. Peter. Beyond questions of fairness, the findings raise cause for concern about the state's economic prospects. Too many Minnesota students lack full access to technological tools that are essential components of the training for jobs of the future.
benton.org/node/40285 | MinnPost.com | Center for Rural Policy and Development
Recommend this Headline
back to top

TELEVISION

CBS RESULTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
Reflecting a resurgence in advertising revenue, the CBS Corporation reported earnings of $150.1 million in its second quarter, up from $15.4 million in the period a year earlier. Revenue climbed 11 percent, to $3.33 billion. Like other major media companies, CBS said it was capitalizing on the economic recovery. Its earnings are an indication that local advertisers are starting to spend more after severe cutbacks in 2008 and 2009, which hurt local TV and radio stations. CBS said advertising at its local broadcasting unit was up 17 percent from the period a year earlier. Over all, local broadcasting revenues rose to $678 million from $579 million a year earlier. Though the midterm elections are still months away, companies like CBS are already benefiting from an increase in political advertising. CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves will now turn up the heat on its network affiliates to pay more to the network for its shows. He said CBS has struck some deals already and will make more down the road. "That is part of the new way of doing business," Moonves said. The push is part of the effort broadcast networks are making to better compete with cable. While cable channels get money from both subscribers and advertisers, broadcasters have traditionally only had an advertising revenue stream.
benton.org/node/40294 | New York Times | LATimes
Recommend this Headline
back to top


MAD MEN'S REVENUE MODEL
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Brian Steinberg]
"Mad Men" isn't a particularly huge draw for advertisers, despite plenty of interesting tie-ins with marketers such as BMW and Jack Daniel's whiskey over its three-plus seasons. Airings of "Mad Men" took in only $1.98 million in ad revenue in 2009, according to Kantar Media. In 2008, the show nabbed just less than $2.8 million, and in 2007, approximately $2.25 million. These are paltry amounts when one considers that a 30-second ad in an equally buzzy program such as "24" on Fox cost between $200,000 and $280,000 as the show, off its peak, headed into its final season. Despite the meager ad sums -- and a small audience for its first-run episodes -- "Mad Men" is an important program -- it is carrying aloft an economic model for TV production that grows in importance as more cable outlets test their hand at edgy dramatic fare. Under the emerging formula, TV networks and show producers must make do with smaller audiences and then work more furiously to secure every dollar that comes from merchandising, digital viewing, DVD purchases and international sales.
benton.org/node/40274 | AdAge
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

SHIELD LAW UPDATE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage]
Democratic senators who have been working on legislation providing greater protections to reporters who refuse to identify confidential sources are backpedaling from WikiLeaks, the Web site that recently disclosed more than 75,000 classified documents related to the Afghanistan war. Sens Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are drafting an amendment to make clear that the bill's protections extend only to traditional news-gathering activities and not to Web sites that serve as a conduit for the mass dissemination of secret documents. The so-called "media shield" bill is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. "WikiLeaks should not be spared in any way from the fullest prosecution possible under the law," Sen Schumer said. "Our bill already includes safeguards when a leak impacts national security, and it would never grant protection to a Web site like this one, but we will take this extra step to remove even a scintilla of doubt." The bill would allow reporters, when faced with subpoenas seeking to compel them to testify about their confidential sources, to ask a federal judge to quash the demand rather than fining or jailing them for contempt of court if they refuse to comply. About three dozen states have such a law for state courts. Under the bill, federal judges would evaluate requests to quash a subpoena by balancing the public interest against the need to identify a source, providing different levels of protection depending on the nature of the case. The information seeker would also have to exhaust all other means of obtaining the names before seeking a journalist's testimony, though matters involving threats to national security would be exempted from some protections. It is not clear whether WikiLeaks -- a confederation of open-government advocates who solicit secret documents for publication -- could be subject to a federal subpoena. Federal courts most likely do not have jurisdiction over it or a means to serve it with such a subpoena.
benton.org/node/40301 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top


OMB IT BUDGET
[SOURCE: FederalTimes, AUTHOR: Tom Spoth]
The Senate Appropriations Committee last week voted to give the Obama administration just 70 percent of requested fiscal 2011 funding for some of its key information technology initiatives. The Office of Management and Budget asked for $35 million for its E-Government Fund, about the same as it received in 2010, and $50 million for a new Integrated, Efficient and Effective Uses of Information Technology program. In marking up the 2001 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, the committee on July 29 gave OMB $20 million and $40 million, respectively, for the programs. The two funds would be used for initiatives such as: expanding federal use of cloud computing; online interactions with the public to promote Obama's goal of government transparency; consolidating data centers at federal agencies; online dashboards to track federal agencies' performance in different areas; and the Data dot gov website. It's unclear how the cuts, if enacted, would affect the administration's projects. The House has yet to take up these sections of the 2011 budget. OMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
benton.org/node/40272 | FederalTimes
Recommend this Headline
back to top


CHINA BLOCKING GOOGLE AGAIN?
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Melanie Lee, Ben Blanchard]
A question-and-answer page on Google Hong Kong's website became inaccessible to some mainland Chinese users, underscoring Beijing's sensitivity about the Internet. The Google page provides Chinese-speaking Internet users with a forum to ask questions of any description and some visitors had veered into highly sensitive territory. Several recent questions concerned the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations around Beijing's Tiananmen Square, a topic banned from public discussion in China.
benton.org/node/40279 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top

After Afghan War Leaks, Revisions in a Shield Bill

Democratic senators who have been working on legislation providing greater protections to reporters who refuse to identify confidential sources are backpedaling from WikiLeaks, the Web site that recently disclosed more than 75,000 classified documents related to the Afghanistan war.

Sens Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are drafting an amendment to make clear that the bill's protections extend only to traditional news-gathering activities and not to Web sites that serve as a conduit for the mass dissemination of secret documents. The so-called "media shield" bill is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. "WikiLeaks should not be spared in any way from the fullest prosecution possible under the law," Sen Schumer said. "Our bill already includes safeguards when a leak impacts national security, and it would never grant protection to a Web site like this one, but we will take this extra step to remove even a scintilla of doubt."

The bill would allow reporters, when faced with subpoenas seeking to compel them to testify about their confidential sources, to ask a federal judge to quash the demand rather than fining or jailing them for contempt of court if they refuse to comply. About three dozen states have such a law for state courts. Under the bill, federal judges would evaluate requests to quash a subpoena by balancing the public interest against the need to identify a source, providing different levels of protection depending on the nature of the case. The information seeker would also have to exhaust all other means of obtaining the names before seeking a journalist's testimony, though matters involving threats to national security would be exempted from some protections. It is not clear whether WikiLeaks -- a confederation of open-government advocates who solicit secret documents for publication -- could be subject to a federal subpoena. Federal courts most likely do not have jurisdiction over it or a means to serve it with such a subpoena.

© 1994-2026 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.