September 2011

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

The long-awaited Senate Google hearing headlines today http://benton.org/calendar/2011-09-21/ (and preview below)

AT&T/T-MOBILE
   AT&T Antitrust Hearing May Offer Settlement Clues
   After losing round 1, AT&T gears up for next fight to buy T-Mobile
   House Republicans Challenge U.S. Effort To Block AT&T Deal
   DoJ not meeting with Members of Congress about AT&T
   AT&T may have to settle for weaker T-Mobile tie-up - analysis
   AT&T Launches Ad Blitz in DC to Push T-Mobile Deal

MORE ON WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Increased competition means lower wireless rates in Canada
   Mobile voice revenue slowdown predicted from 2013
   Will Super Wi-Fi Live Up To Its Name? - analysis [links to web]

GOOGLE HEARING
   Google's Schmidt to testify before Senate panel
   Google Rivals Are Readying An Antitrust Assault in DC
   Why an antitrust investigation into Google is a mistake
   The Google Problem Isn't Antitrust
   True-blue Google wraps itself in red
   Consumer Watchdog Channeling Marcel Marceau [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   America: Land of the Slow Internet Speeds
   Ten States Where The Internet Is Too Slow
   Rep. Matsui: Cap the USF, Ensure Broadband Adoption
   Hawaii Seeks 1 Gbps Statewide Broadband Access by 2018
   Broadband under the sea: Where do those cables go? [links to web]
   Don’t let regulators be the champions of customer experience - analysis

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Rules don't stop U.S. companies from restricting Internet overseas

JOURNALISM
   News Corp. Said to Get Letter From U.S. in Probe
   Ted Turner: Murdoch ‘Going to Have to Step Down’ [links to web]
   Poll: More prefer Fox News
   Jobs Drive Economic Coverage - research [links to web]
   For First Time in 9 Years, All Three Evening Newscasts Grow Viewership [links to web]
   Newspaper editors argue for self-regulation [links to web]

ADVERTISING
   TV Lures Ads as Audiences Scatter [links to web]
   Twitter to launch political advertising [links to web]

LOBBYING
   Chairman Issa to launch probe of Obama actions on Solyndra, LightSquared
   GOP claims White House interference in LightSquared's broadband plan
   Republicans demand LightSquared documents [links to web]

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   FTC OK With TWC-Insight, Liberty-Barnes & Noble [links to web]

ACCESSIBILITY
   FCC Proposes IP Video Captioning Regime

CONTENT
   Entertainment industry urges Senate to pass anti-piracy bill [links to web]

EDUCATION
   iPads for every high school student in Michigan district [links to web]
   Apple finds a use for some of those first-generation iPads [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Bipartisan group of House lawmakers urge revamp of Postal Service business model [links to web]

back to top

AT&T/T-MOBILE

AT&T HEARING
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Tom Schoenberg]
Lawyers for AT&T and the U.S. will spar over a trial date and may offer clues on a possible settlement as they appear in court for the first time since the government sued to block the company’s merger with T-Mobile. Today’s hearing before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in Washington is intended to set a schedule for moving the antitrust case toward a trial, which could begin as early as January if AT&T gets its way. Judge Huvelle also ordered both sides to be prepared to discuss the prospects for settlement. “It will be very interesting to see how strongly the government responds,” said Andrew Gavil, who teaches antitrust law at Howard University School of Law in Washington. “Do they leave the door open or do they shut it firmly? What kind of sign do they want to send the judge about a negotiated resolution?” AT&T may use the hearing to argue that the government isn't considering all of its proposals, such as asset sales, that in its view might remedy the antitrust concerns raised by the deal, Gavil said. The aim would be to enlist Judge Huvelle in pressing the Justice Department to ease its stance that the transaction must be blocked, he said.
benton.org/node/90749 | Bloomberg | National Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AT&T GEARS UP FOR FIGHT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Few corporations know their way around Washington — and spend as much money lobbying for their causes — as the nation’s original phone monopoly, AT&T. So it was a surprising setback for AT&T and its hard-charging top political operative, James W. Cicconi, when the Justice Department sued to block the company’s $39 billion bid for T-Mobile. Analysts say AT&T’s mistake was to focus on political arguments — that the deal would create jobs and bring wireless Internet access to more Americas. Justice officials brushed aside those claims, ultimately concluding that the merger reduced competition and violated antitrust laws. But the deal is hardly dead for AT&T as the court challenge gets underway Sept 21, the analysts say. The company spent $11 million in the first six months of the year on lobbying, more than any individual company except for General Electric. It employs 99 lobbyists, including former Republican senator Trent Lott of Mississippi and former Republican congressman Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, according to data by the Center for Responsive Politics. Cicconi’s vast operations have also revved up a fresh campaign to win support for the deal.
benton.org/node/90748 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOP LETTER SUPPORTS AT&T/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Siobhan Hughes]
A group of 100 House Republicans challenged the Obama Administration's decision to block AT&T's $39 billion purchase of Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA. "As House Republicans, we have both called for and supported your efforts to require federal agencies to adhere to rigorous cost-benefit analyses before adopting rules and to eliminate job-killing regulations," Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) and about a quarter of the Texas delegation and their colleagues wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama. "That is why we are so concerned that, during the same month that you announced these initiatives, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block the AT&T/T-Mobile merger," they wrote. "This action by your administration will thwart job creation and economic growth and undermine your own efforts to achieve our shared goal." With the action now in the hands of the courts instead of Congress, the letter appears unlikely to influence the outcome of the deal. But it helps show that Republicans "are concerned about the policies coming out of the White House that seem to be stifling job creation instead of enhancing it," a spokeswoman for Rep Olson said. In the letter, the Republicans wrote that "if your administration is truly committed to creating jobs, you should let the private sector do so, not erect impediments to job creation based upon a flawed understanding of the competitiveness of the U.S. wireless market."
Advocacy groups that oppose the merger blasted the Republican effort. “Today’s House Republican letter is yet another indication that AT&T’s congressional support for its takeover of T-Mobile comes at a price," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. "In this case, the total is close to $1,000,000. That’s how much the company gave to members of Congress who signed the letter and who are willing to allow their constituents to be subjected to a wireless market controlled by only two huge companies."
benton.org/node/90721 | Dow Jones | The Hill | Public Knowledge
Recommend this Headline
back to top

DOJ REJECTS AT&T/T-MOBILE BRIEFING
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
House Republicans should not expect a briefing soon from the Department of Justice on AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, now that the agency is proceeding with a lawsuit to block the deal on antitrust grounds. The agency declined a request made earlier this month by Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), Greg Walden (R-OR), and Joe Barton (R-TX), key Republicans on the House Commerce Committee. The lawmakers asked both DOJ and the Federal Communications Commission for a meeting so members could learn more about their proceedings. The lawmakers also said they had “specific concerns” with the DOJ about the deal, “and how these concerns relate to the impact on jobs and economic growth.” But responding Sept 19, a top official at Justice said the agency cannot provide such a briefing now because “the matter is in active litigation.” “While we have long recognized the legitimate congressional interest in information about how the department enforces the law,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, “our disclosure of nonpublic information about matters in litigation outside of the judiciary process complicates and may jeopardize our law enforcement efforts, as well inescapably creating risk that the public and the courts will perceive undue political and congressional influence over litigation decisions.” For now, Weich said it is “important our discussions be limited” to the pending case, and pointed members to the DOJ’s recent filing to U.S. District Court. That document, supported now by seven state attorneys general, details federal prosecutors’ argument that the AT&T/T-Mobile deal is anti-competitive.
benton.org/node/90719 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AT&T MAY SETTLE FOR WEAKER TIE-UP
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sinead Carew, Nicola Leske]
If AT&T fails to convince US regulators that its proposed purchase of Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA should go ahead, the pair may end up having to settle for a lesser relationship. While it wouldn't be as attractive as an all-out marriage, a network partnership would sidestep the regulatory heat and give the spectrum-hungry companies more capacity to support high-speed wireless services, according to analysts. "They've done a lot of work with AT&T figuring out the network synergies. They'd be able to achieve a significant amount of that without a merger," said Roe Equity Research analyst Kevin Roe about Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA.
benton.org/node/90717 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AT&T AD CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shira Ovide]
As AT&T Inc. works to convince regulators and lawmakers on the merits of its proposed takeover of T-Mobile USA, the telecom giant said it is launching an advertising blitz in Washington focused on its original selling point for the deal: better wireless service. “In case you’re wondering why Sprint is trying to kill the AT&T/T-Mobile merger… It’s all about spectrum,” reads the text of the AT&T ad slated to run starting Sept 20 in publications popular on Capitol Hill, such as the Washington Post, Politico and the Hill newspapers. AT&T declined to disclose how much it is spending on the ads. “We have a plan to combine our limited spectrum with T-Mobile to create a 4G LTE mobile broadband network that will reach 97% of Americans,” AT&T says in its ad. AT&T’s new campaign also attacks Sprint by name, continuing a months-long war of words between the rivals. AT&T’s ads say Sprint and Clearwire Corp., the wireless-Internet company partially owned by Sprint, together “control over one-third of the mobile wireless spectrum held by U.S. wireless carriers — far more than any other provider. You can't blame them for wanting to keep it that way,” the ads say.
benton.org/node/90670 | Wall Street Journal | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MORE ON WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

WIRELESS COMPETITION IN CANADA
[SOURCE: Globe and Mail, AUTHOR: Iain Marlow]
The price of monthly wireless bills is coming down in Canada as a surge of new competitors offer rate plans that are challenging established telecom providers. A new report by Convergence Consulting Group Ltd. shows just how much pressure new entrant wireless companies are putting on the margins and metrics, such as the average revenue per user, at Rogers, BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. New entrant providers are offering combined voice and data plans that are 58 per cent cheaper than the incumbents, and their wholly-owned discount brands. For data plans, new entrant providers are charging as much as 83 per cent less. “The new entrants haven't disappointed – they've come out with a big price undercut,” said Brahm Eiley of Toronto-based Convergence. That has contributed to a 1.4-per-cent drop in average revenue per user for the Big Three in 2011, Convergence said, powered by an 11-per-cent falloff in voice revenues and despite data revenue growth of 28 per cent per user. As plans and prices get more competitive, big wireless companies have been offering existing consumers better value-for-dollar – this is especially the case in Quebec.
benton.org/node/90681 | Globe and Mail
Recommend this Headline
back to top

VOICE AND DATA REVENUE PREDICTIONS
[SOURCE: The Register, AUTHOR: Bill Ray]
Ovum reckons revenue from voice will start dipping within two years, and the increasing data revenues won't be enough to replace it either. That's not to say that people are making fewer calls, but in developed markets we've long seen voice traffic rising as revenue remains static. Ovum's latest predictions are based on that model continuing into expanding markets, where margins are tighter, and concludes the end of the data subsidy will come in 2016. Voice calls have been subsidizing data for a long time now. Three, for example, reckons more than 90 per cent of its UK traffic is data, but that data only contributes around 30 per cent of the revenue, so those making voice calls are paying for those of us using our data connections. That's obviously unsustainable, and Ovum puts the end game (worldwide) just five years down the road: "In 2016, non-voice revenues will no longer be a supplement to voice revenues. Instead, they will begin to replace them" the company tells us. But Ovum also reckons that data revenues won't rise fast enough to make up the drop, leading to mobile telecommunications revenue dropping globally as operators fail to squeeze more revenue from their data customers.
benton.org/node/90656 | Register, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOOGLE HEARING

SCHMIDT AT SENATE HEARING
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mike Swift]
As Google's Eric Schmidt faces a row of senators Sept 21 in a hearing on the company's search dominance, it will be a moment of high-stakes theater for Silicon Valley, and a potentially fateful milestone for the "Don't be evil" startup that has muscled up into an Internet superpower. Schmidt's appearance on the hot seat comes in the wake of a remarkable blitz by Google to boost its influence inside the Beltway, with the company hiring more than a dozen lobbying firms between late June and late August, and sending Schmidt and another emissary on earlier trips to plead Google's case in Washington. The Senate hearing -- "The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?" -- technically has no connection to an ongoing federal inquiry into whether Google has unfairly blocked or eliminated search competitors, to the detriment of consumers. But Google's executive chairman will be under oath, handling what are expected to be tough questions about those same issues.
In written testimony Schmidt describes the search giant as a company facing fierce competition on many fronts, a relentless innovator in a dynamic industry and a creation of the open Internet so consumers can easily switch to competing services. Google generates wealth for itself, he writes, but even more in total for small businesses across America. And he portrays the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust investigation of Google, begun earlier this year, as largely the result of complaints by disgruntled competitors.
benton.org/node/90747 | San Jose Mercury News | NYTimes | USAToday | WashPost | The Hill | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOOGLE RIVALS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amir Efrati, Thomas Catan]
Three Internet companies -- Nextag, Yelp and Expedia -- are gearing up to attack Google on Capitol Hill, claiming the company is taking new profits for itself by unfairly punishing them on its search engine. In a preview of Sept 21's Senate antitrust hearing on whether Google abuses its dominance on the Web, representatives of the sites -- which help people search for information on consumer goods, local businesses and airline flights -- said that Google has increasingly sought to drive people who use its search engine to its own specialized sites that compete with theirs. One of the companies, Nextag, is going even further. Chief Executive Jeff Katz said Google also prevents his company's site from bidding on the prominent ads that show up next to search results for products such as running shoes. Instead, he said, because Google sees his company as a threat, Nextag can only bid to appear in text ads lower down on the results page, limiting its exposure to consumers. "Google is the dominant digital advertising resource in the world, and Nextag is restricted from marketing itself to shoppers about the services we can provide," said Katz, whose site helps consumers comparison shop for electronics, home goods and other products. Google has long denied that it profits by punishing other sites on its search engine.
benton.org/node/90745 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

WHY GOOGLE ANTITRUST IS A MISTAKE
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
After years of suspicion and finger-pointing by competitors and would-be competitors, Google is finally coming under the scrutiny of federal antitrust regulators, with a Senate committee hearing scheduled to begin on Sept 21. Its critics say that the web giant has a monopoly in both search and search-related advertising, and that Google uses this market power — and the billions in cash it generates — to harm its competitors and to finance the company’s moves into new markets and services, giving it an unfair advantage. But the fact is that just like a similar federal investigation into Microsoft over a decade ago, subjecting Google to an antitrust inquisition is likely to be a massive waste of time and effort. Is Google playing favorites in search? Does Google use its monopoly power to enter new markets? Is Google disrupting others, or being disrupted?
benton.org/node/90727 | GigaOm
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOOGLE HEARING
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Holman Jenkins Jr]
[Commentary] With each hour Google amasses unspeakable volumes of information about its users -- their search histories, their e-mails and voicemails, their photos, their travels, their moment-by-moment locations, their purchases. Who can gain licit or illicit access to this information (the Chinese government?) and how it might be used are the great unaddressed issues. Forget antitrust. Almost inevitably the day will come when Congress will seek to regulate these worries by regulating Google.
benton.org/node/90744 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOOGLE GOES RED
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Mike Zapler]
Google has long been known as Barack Obama's BFF: The company and its employees made the top-five list of contributors to the president's 2008 campaign. Its executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, endorsed Obama and donated $25,000 to his inauguration fund. And Obama tapped Schmidt as an unpaid adviser. But that's all so 2008. In 2012, the search giant headquartered in bright blue Silicon Valley has wrapped itself in red, hiring a string of Republicans and even hosting a GOP presidential debate with Fox News. Tech observers say Google is finally wising up politically: Playing clear favorites with one party or the other was bound to backfire in Washington. But neither the company's reputation as liberal corporate poster child nor its more recent rightward tack seem to be paying off so far.
benton.org/node/90740 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

PANDO BROADBAND SPEED REPORT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Verne Kopytoff]
Internet speeds in the United States have long trailed those in other countries like South Korea. Downloading videos, games and other big files often takes far longer for Americans than their counterparts across the globe. In the latest global rankings, the United States remained a slow-poke, placing No. 26 in terms of speediest Internet connections, according to Pando Networks, a company whose software is used for sharing large files. South Korea led the list followed by Romania and Bulgaria. “The U.S., as whole, is slower than many people think,” said Robert Levitan, chief executive of Pando Networks. “It’s not bad compared to Europe, but it’s bad compared to South Korea.” Average Internet downloads in South Korea of 2,202 kilobytes per second were nearly four times faster than the 616 KBps in the United States, the report found. South Korea has invested heavily in its Internet infrastructure and has the advantage of high population density that makes it more cost efficient to install the necessary cables. Hungary came in just ahead of the United States in the rankings at 624 KBps. France and the United Kingdom were slightly slower at 604 KBps and 599 KBps.
benton.org/node/90716 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top

10 STATES WITH WORST INTERNET
[SOURCE: 24/7 Wall Street, AUTHOR: Michael Sauter]
In much of the country, access to affordable, high-speed Internet is taken for granted. However, in vast sections of the United States broadband Internet is either unavailable or too expensive for low-income families. The Federal Communications Commission, the Small Business Committee, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have all urged service providers to expand to rural areas. But the companies contend that it would cost far more to run lines or install wireless towers in these remote areas than the profits that could be made from the few low-income families that live there. Most of the areas with slow or nonexistent Internet access are indeed in remote regions with tiny populations. On the West Coast and in the Northeast, where the average population can by anywhere from 200 to 1,200 people per square mile, providing service makes sense for companies. In areas like Wyoming, Montana and Alaska, the average can be fewer than 10 people per square mile. In addition to a lack of concentrated paying customers and rocky and mountainous terrain, which often goes hand-in-hand with sparse population, complicates the cost of developing broadband networks in these locations. Here's the bottom ten: Missouri, Alaska, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho.
benton.org/node/90679 | 24/7 Wall Street
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CLARIFYING PRICING AND BILLING
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Alex Leslie]
From Australia to Washington, via London, regulators have recently hit the spotlight with warnings and new rules aimed at clarifying pricing and billing. Regulators around the world are beginning to tighten the rules about clarity and billing practices and in effect are becoming the customers’ champion. This may well provide the incentive for telcos to stay ahead and get to grips with the customer experience before they are forced to do so. Michael Morgenstern suggests that carriers can do much more than merely simplify and streamline the billing plans – they can create much simpler access. "In my home, everything should transmit over the same coax or fiber cable – my wireline voice, my wireline data, and as carriers get more sophisticated, even my wireless voice and data (through a local femtocell). I'd like this to be provided by my “Home” carrier. And please give me only one piece of equipment that contains the modem, the wireless router, and the femtocell. If you want me to be the happiest about this, give me a single connection, and a single price point. I'm also willing to have an “Away” carrier for my wireless needs, but I still want only one wireless connection, and one price point. This means that my mobile phone (with voice and data) should be able to generate a wireless network for my laptop (and my tablet , Kindle, etc.). With the new 4G networks, speed should be less of an issue here – at least in the short run."
benton.org/node/90658 | Connected Planet | Connected Planet - Michael Morgenstern, Marconi Pacific
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MATSUI USF LETTER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), a member of the House Communications Subcommittee, is trying to collect signatures on a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski asking him to ensure that its Universal Service Fund (USF) reforms include funding for broadband adoption as well as deployment, and that the FCC cap the fund. "Consumers today contribute $4.5 billion annually toward the USF support for incumbent telephone companies in high-cost areas. Some of the plans proposed to the Commission would increase the amount of this support," the letter says, arguing that it need not be increased. "The availability of up to $4.5 billion per year, appropriately targeted to high-cost areas, should provide sufficient funding to support broadband deployment," she wrote. "A truly complete USF program would include adequate funding to bring critical programs, like broadband adoption initiatives modeled after the [phone-based] Lifeline and Link Up, into the broadband era," she said.
benton.org/node/90729 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

HAWAII BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Brian Heaton]
With its picturesque beaches and natural beauty, Hawaii has traditionally been a popular vacation spot. But state officials are hoping the islands will also be known as a broadband paradise in the next few years, as a plan is developed to roll out statewide 1 Gbps high-speed Internet access by 2018. The Hawaii Broadband Initiative, released by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s office last month, directs state agencies to work with stakeholders to make affordable 1 Gbps broadband connectivity available to underserved and rural communities, businesses and public institutions throughout the state. Funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is already being used to eventually provide the gigabit connectivity at public schools, libraries and other buildings. But the initiative aims to expand that high-speed connectivity to help increase innovation, improve Hawaii’s economy and spur job creation. The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) and the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) are the key agencies that will spearhead the project.
benton.org/node/90725 | Government Technology
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

US COMPANIES RESTRICT SPEECH OVERSEAS
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Current laws and corporate codes of conduct aren't preventing Western tech companies from colluding with repressive governments around the world, according to a report released by SecDev Group, a Canadian security firm. "Most companies have acceded to China's demands for information control, seeing this as the price of doing business," concluded the report by SecDev, which researches global security issues and has a hand in providing software used by the U.S. government to overcome international Internet firewalls. "This choice has often led to concrete instances where the companies have aided and abetted human rights abuses." Some of America's largest companies have been caught up in controversy over their work in China, which has millions of tech-savvy citizens. "Complying with local regulations is evidently a necessary part of doing business in any jurisdiction," the report said. "However, if those local regulations contravene commonly held and even self-declared values, this signals a problem. Companies are clearly struggling with how to navigate the censorship terrain while staying competitive at the same time."
benton.org/node/90714 | National Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

JOURNALISM

NEWS CORP INVESTIGATION GROWS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Greg Farrell]
Apparently, News Corp. was sent a letter by U.S. prosecutors investigating foreign bribery, requesting information on alleged payments employees made to U.K. police for tips. The letter is part of an effort by the U.S. Justice Department to determine whether News Corp. violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The inquiry advances an existing U.S. probe that is reviewing claims that victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had their phones hacked by News Corp. employees. The letter doesn't carry the same legal force as a grand jury subpoena, which would compel a response under law.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, enacted in 1977, makes it a crime for U.S. businesses or their employees to pay off representatives of a foreign government in an attempt to gain a commercial advantage. Federal prosecutors have broad discretion to interpret the law and its definition of who qualifies as a government official.
benton.org/node/90684 | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PLURALITY PREFERS FOX
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: ]
A plurality of Americans think Fox News is a better cable network than CNN and MSNBC, according to a survey of cable news networks done by Poll Position, a nonpartisan polling site. The numbers appear to reinforce the widely held belief that conservatives prefer Fox News: 61.9 percent of Republicans surveyed preferred Fox. CNN was preferred by 40.8 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Democrats chose MSNBC as “best.” Poll Position surveyed 472 Democrats and Republicans each as well as 236 independents. Thirty-six percent of independents chose Fox News as best, 31 percent preferred CNN and 9.1 percent of respondents chose MSNBC. A plurality of respondents preferred Fox News across all age groups except for those aged 18 to 29; 39.4 percent of those younger viewers chose CNN as “best” compared to 19.8 percent choosing MSNBC and 16.7 percent choosing Fox News.
benton.org/node/90662 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

LOBBYING

LIGHTSQUARED INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Justin Sink]
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said that his committee plans to investigate government loan programs to private corporations in light of allegations of improper dealings between the White House and failed energy company Solyndra and wireless start-up LightSquared. "I want to see when the president and his cronies are picking winners and losers… it wasn't because there were large contributions given to them," Chairman Issa said.
Republicans have charged that the White House pressured an Air Force general to revise testimony before a closed congressional hearing to aid LightSquared, a wireless start-up company. E-mails between the company and the White House make mention of the fact that the company's CEO would be attending Democratic fundraisers in Washington, and Administration officials met with executives from the company on the same day that CEO Sanjiv Ahuja wrote a $30,400 check to the Democratic National Committee. The company is facing a tough regulatory road after initial tests showed LightSquared's technology had been found to interfere with military and aviation GPS. But both the company and White House have denied any influence-peddling.
benton.org/node/90668 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

GOP CLAIMS WHITE HOUSE INTERFERENCE
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Bob Brewin]
The battle over whether or not a cellular network planned by startup LightSquared interferes with GPS receivers has now entered the political realm, with Republican members of Congress charging that the Obama administration has intervened to aid the company, backed by billionaire Philip Falcone, a major contributor to Democratic campaign coffers. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration put the new round of tests on a fast track, with plans to finish them in just under 90 days, or by Nov. 30, according to a Sept. 9 letter NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling sent to top officials at the Defense and Transportation departments. But, in that letter, Strickling said NTIA wants to conduct those tests "without waiting for the interference issues to be resolved relating to high-precision and timing receivers." Instead, Strickling said, NTIA wants to "move forward to reach resolution of any remaining federal agency concerns with respect to the cellular and personal/general navigation receivers." Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) said he viewed this language for a fast-track test schedule as favoring LightSquared and indicative of administration interference in the process. Brandishing a copy of the letter at the hearing, Scott said, "I've been in politics 14 years, and I have never seen an agency so strongly advocate for something like this unless there was pressure from above."
benton.org/node/90732 | nextgov
Recommend this Headline
back to top

ACCESSIBILITY

VIDEO CAPTIONING PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has proposed requiring programmers to provide closed captioning for Internet and other IP-delivered video and requiring distributors to make sure it gets through to their viewers. The Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, which passed a year ago next week, required the FCC to come up with rules requiring any online video that is closed captioned on TV to be closed captioned online and look into requiring captioning of web-originated video. The FCC says it only plans to require captioning of full-length programming, not outtakes or clips. Congress gave the FCC until Jan. 12, 2011 to come up with the new rules. In a notice of proposed rulemaking Monday, the FCC proposed the captioning and pass-through obligations, as well as requiring that the quality of IP captioning be at least as good as that on TV, which would include being able to change format and size. That could be crucial given the size of some of the small screens IP video is accessed from.
benton.org/node/90687 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top