October 2010

Appearing on this week's "The Communicators" on C-SPAN, former Federal Communications Commission Chairmen Kevin Martin (2005-09), Michael Powell (2001-2005) and Reed Hundt (1993-1997) talk about the current state of communications policy.

"Some of the most important advice I got as chairman was that you have to be deliberate in thinking and decision making but you have to make sure you move forward with what you thought was the right thing," Kevin Martin said. "You have to telegraph what your core principles are, what you are going to stand for and that you have to act consistent with them in a predicable way," said Michael Powell. He advised Chairman Genachowski to use his bully pulpit to influence the industry rather than implementing new regulations. And he talked about how an outdated 1996 Communications Act has in part contributed to problems currently facing Chairman Julius Genachowski. Cable, telephone, wireless and other communications mediums have been "balkanized into buckets" that predate the Internet, said Powell. Some rules fall into some of those buckets and some don't, which he said needs to be addressed by a broad re-examination of the Communications Act by Congress. That's what Genachowski has partly blamed for his own problems - with a federal court's recent interpretation that the agency overstepped its authority by sanctioning Comcast for allegedly blocking Internet traffic. In his defense, Hundt said Genachowski has succeeded in helping the nation rethink broadband policy, even amid an economic downturn.

KCET, the Los Angeles PBS member station, has decided to break away from the public broadcasting network and become an independent station.

Starting in January, station officials intend to replace such iconic PBS fare as "Charlie Rose," "NewsHour," "Sesame Street" and "Masterpiece" with news and documentaries from Japan, Canada and elsewhere, along with old feature films. Without recognizable series to promote, KCET will likely find it difficult to gain traction with viewers. Moreover, the station will find it tough to produce or buy shows that generate strong ratings as program costs keep escalating. A pullout isn't good news for PBS, either, as it signals "to other PBS members that affiliation isn't that important anymore," according to Jeffrey McCall, a media expert at DePauw University. It also increases doubts about the long-term future of public broadcasting. "PBS certainly does not play the essential role it once did in the nation's media landscape," McCall said. "For years, PBS provided things that couldn't be had from the traditional networks," including public affairs and educational programs.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting noted that KCET will operate as an educational television station, providing noncommercial, general interest programming and so will still be eligible for CPB support.

Comcast says it clearly explains its online data collection to users of Comcast.net, that those practices comply with "all applicable laws," and adds that it does not sell user data collected on the site.

That was in response to questions from Reps. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) released Friday. The legislators are co-chairs of the Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, who had asked for info from companies on their online tracking technologies. The letters bore August dates but were just made public Oct 8. Comcast said that it gave users "choice and control over when and how their personal information may be used," which it said was a mix of opt-in and opt-out techniques. It also said it only shared information with third parties that provide services on Comcast.net. The site provides a variety of "causal services" like gaming and online dating, as well as search, news and entertainment content, e-mail and voicemail. Comcast also said it limits that sharing to only information necessary to provide those services. The company said it discloses which third parties it uses for advertising services and links to the relevant policies and opt-out pages for those parties.

Technology has become so entwined with college students' often frantic lives that most in a new survey of student technology use say they'd be more frazzled without it.

Yet the Associated Press-mtvU poll, released Oct. 7 , also found that being perpetually connected comes at a cost. While 57 percent of students said life without computers and cell phones would make them more stressed, a significant number -- 25 percent -- said it would be a relief. A big majority feel pressured to instantly answer texts or voice mail messages, most get nervous if someone doesn't immediately reply to a message, and nearly half worry whether messages they get are jokes. "If you're without it, you're disconnected," Megan Earley, 20, a junior at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Md., said of technology. "You feel like it's a lifeline." The AP-mtvU poll of student technology use found that 9 in 10 had been on a social networking site like Facebook in the past week. About the same number routinely text to arrange meetings with friends, and two-thirds relax by watching movies or TV shows online.