The Federal Communications Commission delayed its December open meeting by six days, to Dec. 21. The delay gives the FCC an extra week to prepare its agenda, typically released three weeks prior to the meeting date. Industry insiders had said the meeting was likely to be postponed after reports that the FCC planned to take up network neutrality -- also known as open Internet principles -- at its December meeting spurred Republican opposition.
In the Tribune Company's bankruptcy case, Judge Kevin Carey is allowing the unsecured creditors committee to file an uncensored version of a lawsuit against key players in the leveraged buyout that saddled the company with debt. The new, unredacted version could shed light on the creditors' allegations about Morgan Stanley's role in connection with the 2007 buyout. Morgan Stanley was a financial adviser to Tribune's board in connection with the buyout engineered by real estate mogul Sam Zell, who also is a defendant in the lawsuit. Judge Carey also set aside the week of March 7 for a trial on whether to approve Tribune's proposed reorganization plan, or any of three competing plans filed by creditors.
Most Americans will be checking their work e-mails over Thanksgiving and other holidays this year, according to a new survey conducted by research firm Harris Interactive.
Harris found that 79% of U.S. working adults say they have been sent work-related e-mails over a holiday and 59% say they will be checking their work e-mail this holiday season. Of those 59% e-mail checkers, 55% said they peek in their In Box ox for work messages at least once a day, while 28% admitted to checking e-mails multiple times a day. 15% said they were thankful or relieved to have the distraction of work e-mail during the holidays, the survey said. Others don't view work messages in their In Box so happily -- 41% who get work-related e-mails over a holiday say it frustrates or annoys them. Younger adults, ages 18 to 34, are most likely -- 56% -- to be irritated by work e-mails on their off-days. Even worse, about 12% of those surveyed said they actually "dread" getting any work e-mails during a holiday.
A senior GOP aide to the House Commerce Committee said that Republicans will remain opposed to Internet service rules even if Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski can convince Verizon, AT&T and the cable industry to support his plan.
"We're supposed to be the adults in the room," the aide said. "We're supposed to be looking out for the interests of the country. Net neutrality is a bad policy and bad for the economy." Republican members would be even more opposed to a prospective FCC plan if it does not get hearings before becoming a federal rule, according to the aide. But he added that "hopefully" Chairman Genachowski will not move ahead with his efforts to broker a compromise so that there "is no need for a next step" from House Republicans.
Comcast confirms that its outside mediation with Tennis Channel to try to resolve a carriage complaint has failed and the dispute will now go before an Federal Communications Commission administrative law judge.
The FCC designated the dispute for a hearing last month, saying there were "substantial and material question of fact as to whether Comcast has engaged in conduct that violates the program carriage provisions of the ACT and the Commission's rules." But it also gave the parties an option of making one last try through outside mediation, which both agreed to. Now, the judge will make a finding based on the evidence presented, though the commission has the ultimate decision on the complaint. The FCC made clear that beyond a finding that, contrary to Comcast assertions, the statute of limitations on the complaint had not run out, the jury is still out on the merits of the case. But the FCC's Media Bureau said in referring the complaint to the judge, that on the face of it, Tennis Channel has made a case for program carriage discrimination by Comcast. The judge will look at the case de novo, meaning from scratch, and is directed not to take that FCC determination into account.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals wants to know what standard of proof the Federal Communications Commission would use to conclude that CBS was reckless in broadcasting most of Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl halftime show.
CBS has said it did not know the reveal was coming. The court wants to know whether CBS knew or should have known that Justin Timberlake was going to bare most of Janet Jackson's breast. It also asks, assuming the network was reckless in broadcasting the reveal anyway (given that presumed knowledge is the standard for an FCC penalty for indecency), "is the standard for recklessness the one commonly used in the civil context or the one commonly used in the criminal context?" It is a narrow point of law, but could signal where the court is heading. "[The court] implies that they are going to rule that the FCC has to figure out if CBS knew, or should have known, that Janet Jackson was going to show her breasts," said Andrew Schwartzman, of the Media Access Project, which represented writers, producers and directors in a friend of the court brief.
Contrary to common belief social media websites such as Facebook do not weaken personal ties, they strengthen them in unique ways for different age groups, according to a new study.
The rapid spread of Facebook, which has more than 500 million users worldwide, has prompted concerns about its negative effects, but researchers at the University of Texas have reached a different conclusion. "Our findings suggest that Facebook is not supplanting face-to-face interactions between friends, family and colleagues," said S. Craig Watkins, an associate professor of radio, TV and film who headed the research team. "In fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community."
TV viewers who vote Republican and identify themselves as conservative are more likely than Democrats to love the biggest hits on TV. Of the top 10 broadcast shows on TV in the spring, nine were ranked more favorably by viewers who identify themselves as Republican, according to data compiled by media-research company Experian Simmons.
These include "NCIS," "The Big Bang Theory," "American Idol," and "Modern Family." Liberals appreciate many of the same shows, mind you. But their devotion typically is not quite as strong as right-wingers, and Dems are more likely to prefer modestly rated titles like "Mad Men." That show scores through the roof with Democrats, but it has one of the weakest scores among Republicans. The same is true for FX's "Damages," Showtime's "Dexter," HBO's "Entourage" and AMC's "Breaking Bad." And it's not as if Republicans have something against cable shows: The GOP has plenty of love for "White Collar," "Pawn Stars" and "American Chopper."
The Federal Communications Commission recently took action to extend the deadline for broadcasters, cable companies, satellite radio and television operators, and wireline video service providers to implement the new federal common messaging protocol adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the transmission of next generation emergency alerts and warnings to the public.
In 2007, the FCC required all Emergency Alert System (EAS) participants to have the capability to receive Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)-formatted EAS messages within 180 days of FEMA's adoption of a CAP standard (i.e., March 29, 2011). The new deadline for all EAS participants to implement the new technology was extended to September 30, 2011. The FCC's decision to provide an extension was based on public comment and a specific recommendation by the FCC's Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), a federal advisory committee, calling for an extension of the CAP-compliance deadline. CSRIC and others from the public cited multiple factors in their call for an extension of the deadline, including the need for more time for the development, testing and potential certification of the new equipment and the costs associated with purchasing the CAP-compliant equipments by EAS participants. The FCC took these factors into consideration and extended the deadline from 180 days to 360 days for EAS participants to come into compliance.
The Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force announces that the closing deadline for submission of comments responsive to the October 5, 2010 Notice of Inquiry on copyright policy and innovation in the Internet economy has been reopened and will extend until 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 10, 2010.
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