Two events today: 1) the FCC's Technological Advisory Council will hold a
meeting to discuss Ultra Wide Band and 2) New Millennium Research Council
will discuss communications policy reform. For these and other upcoming
media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Pappas Hammered For Election Ads
Vet Group Will Pull Sinclair Complaint
MEDIA POLICY
FCC Poised to Reward Sinclair with More Stations
Stern Takes On Powell On Air
TELECOM
High-Speed Internet Policy Failure
FCC Approves Cingular Wireless Acquisition of AT&T Wireless Licenses
FCC Releases New Telephone Subscribership Report
QUICKLY
Classroom Blogs Raise Issues of Access and Privacy
New Search Software Raises Privacy Issues; Recording IM Sessions
Sony's Location-Free TV Makes Local Shows Portable
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
PAPPAS HAMMERED FOR ELECTION ADS
Move over Sinclair, there's another broadcast group in the hot seat. Media
activists are turning their attention to Pappas which is giving $325,000
worth of airtime on seven TV and two radio stations to GOP candidates in
many of California's closest legislative races. "This is yet another
example of a huge media company abusing the public's airwaves to advance
their own political agenda," said Free Press Executive Director Josh
Silver. "Pappas is making a bogus claim that the ads are not contributions.
This is nothing but smoke and mirrors to avoid what appears to be a
violation of federal laws requiring equal time," he said.
See the Stop Pappas web site at http://www.freepress.net/pappas/
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA475467.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
VET GROUP WILL PULL SINCLAIR COMPLAINT
The Veterans Institute for Security and Democracy plans to dismiss its
complaint against Sinclair Wednesday, but also plans to attach a press
statement expressing dissatisfaction with the program. The group filed the
complaint with the FCC Oct. 18. In that complaint, which anticipated that
Sinclair would air the entire anti-Kerry documentary, Stolen Honor, the
group had asked the FCC to rule that the program should not merit a media
exemption from the equal opportunities clause of the Communications Act.
That clause requires a station that allows one candidate to use its
airwaves to offer an equal opportunity for the opposing candidate.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA475448.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
MEDIA POLICY
FCC POISED TO REWARD SINCLAIR WITH MORE STATIONS
[Commentary] Very few rules remain in place to hold broadcasters to
even-handed service of the public. The government's policies have
encouraged media concentration and empowered media conglomerates, which
return the favor by trying to sway public opinion towards candidates that
are more amenable to their political and business agenda. FCC Chairman
Powell appears to be a media regulator who wants his lasting legacy to be
the concentration of American media into the hands of a few corporations.
The transition to digital television lets Sinclair, and every other
over-the-air broadcaster, create up to six channels of programming in the
broadcast space it now uses to broadcast one. That means that Sinclair's 62
stations will have the programming power of 372 channels. Broadcasters want
the FCC to ensure that all six of those channels appear on local cable
systems. Now is the time for the public to act. Before the FCC votes to
give broadcasters another billion-dollar giveaway, they must require them
to uphold meaningful and measurable public interest obligations so the
public isn't fed a steady diet of Sinclair style "news." With clearer
limitations in place, broadcasters that fail to serve their audiences will
put renewal of their licenses at risk. The FCC must act on our behalf now;
our democracy is at stake.
[SOURCE: MediaChannel.org, AUTHOR: Celia Wexler (Common Cause) & Timothy
Karr (Media Channel)]
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/affalert283.shtml
STERN TAKES ON POWELL ON AIR
The most-heavily fined radio personality took advantage of FCC Chairman
Michael Powell's appearance on a San Francisco area talk radio station to
challenge the Chairman on indecency regulation. "The Commissioner has fined
me millions of dollars for things I have said and consistently avoids me
and avoids answering my questions," Howard Stern said as he called into the
radio program. Stern called indecency fines a racket, saying: "[you make]
stations pay up or you hold back their license renewal." Chairman Powell
indicated that he thinks Stern's qualm should be with the entire
Commission, not just the Chairman himself. "The entire commission has voted
on those fines. The commission has statues it's required to enforce," he
said. Stern finished by saying that the indecency safe harbor, which holds
that broadcast indecency is only permissible between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is
"a complete double standard when it comes to me and morning radio--it's
probably the only time of day when parents listen with their children."
Chairman Powell was not scheduled to talk to callers, but he and host Ronn
Owens had taken several calls before Stern called in. Powell and the shock
jock conversed for just over 10 minutes. According to a station spokesman,
Stern was informed of Powell's appearance by a listener.
Recorded segments from the interview may air on Stern's show today.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Joel Meyer]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA475452.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
See additional coverage --
* LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-howard27oct27,1,27172...
TELECOM
HIGH-SPEED INTERNET POLICY FAILURE
The Bush Administration's Internet policy has resulted in high prices that
are retarding the spread of high-speed Internet service and widening the
digital divide, a report released today by the Consumer Federation of
America and Consumers Union concludes. The report, Expanding the Digital
Divide and Falling Behind in Broadband, documents the advantages that
Internet households, particularly those with high-speed access, have in
conducting economic, social and political activities, and concludes that it
is critical to aggressively close the digital divide by promoting universal
service at affordable prices for all. The report notes that in 2001, FCC
Chairman Michael Powell and the National Telecommunications Information
Administration declared the digital divide a non-problem and proceeded to
ignore it, adopting policies to eliminate all public interest obligations
for the advanced telecommunications networks used to provide high-speed and
voice over Internet service. "Allowing cable and telephone companies to
squeeze out competition is a double-barreled failure," said Mark Cooper,
director of research for the Consumer Federation of America. "Americans pay
ten to twenty times as much as consumers in Korea and Japan for broadband,
and the U.S. has fallen from third to thirteenth in the world in the
percentage of citizens with broadband service. Meanwhile, the percentage of
households that have the Internet at home has stagnated at about 60
percent." "The digital divide is growing because consumers pay inflated
prices for the basic services needed to connect to the high-speed
Internet," said Gene Kimmelman, senior director of public policy for
Consumers Union. "About half of all households with incomes above $75,000
have broadband, but half of all households with incomes below $30,000 do
not even have a slow Internet connection at home."
See the report at http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/ddnewbook.pdf
[SOURCE: Consumers Union Press Release]
http://www.consumersunion.org/pub//001464.html#more
See also --
REPORT: U.S. LAGS IN SPEEDY INTERNET
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: John Wollfolk]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/10025760.htm
FCC APPROVES CINGULAR WIRELESS ACQUISITION OF AT&T WIRELESS LICENSES
On Tuesday, the FCC approved Cingular's purchase of AT&T Wireless. The
Commission denied all of the petitions filed in opposition to the merger,
finding that the merger as conditioned would serve the public interest. The
Commission concluded that the likely public interest benefits of the merger
outweigh the potential public interest harms. The Commission consented
also to two related sets of applications: 1) the applications filed by
Cingular and T-Mobile in connection with the unwinding of their GSM network
infrastructure joint venture in portions of California, Nevada, and New
York, and 2) the applications filed by Triton PCS and AT&T Wireless to
exchange spectrum in portions of North Carolina and Georgia.
See the FCC's order at:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-255A1.doc
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253545A1.doc
Statements of Commissioners --
* Powell: Cingular will emerge a stronger competitor with better coverage,
improved customer service and a renewed commitment to innovation. This
will not only be true in the voice market but also increasingly for
data. The diverse cross section of support the transaction garnered from
groups with disabilities, rural carriers, as well as labor and public
safety organizations aptly demonstrates its benefits.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253545A2.doc
* Abernathy: The wireless industry, and in particular the mobile wireless
sector, is a shining example of what a well-functioning market can achieve
when it is not hindered by unnecessary regulation.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253545A3.doc
* Copps: . I must dissent to those parts of the Order relating to the
intermodal aspects of the merger, however, because of the increased
potential for discrimination by the merged entities' wireline parent
companies and also because I find the lack of rigorous competitive analysis
troubling. This proceeding was harmed by the absence of rigorous analysis
of the implications of this merger for intermodal competition. Again and
again over the past few years the FCC has undermined competition to
wireline incumbents. As a result, competitors have become far less
effective. After this merger the chance that wireless will compete
effectively with wireline incumbents is diminished.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253545A4.doc
* Adelstein Statement: Unfortunately, the majority falls short in
addressing the impact of the improved market position and incentives of
Cingular and its parent companies in the SBC and BellSouth regions. In
many major in-region markets, Cingular now will have almost half of the
mobile wireless market share. And in allowing the acquisition of AT&T
Wireless, we permanently remove an independent source of competition to
Cingular, SBC and BellSouth.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253545A6.doc
* Martin:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253545A5.doc
Transaction Team Web Page on Cingular/AT&T Wireless
http://www.fcc.gov/transaction/cingular-att_wireless.html
Additional Coverage --
* Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A606-2004Oct26.html
* USAToday:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20041027/cingular27.art.htm
* News.com:
http://news.com.com/Cingular+closes+41+billion+AT38T+Wireless+buy/2100-1...
* NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/technology/27phone.html
FCC RELEASES NEW TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERSHIP REPORT
On Tuesday the FCC released its latest report on telephone subscribership
levels in the US. The report presents subscribership statistics based on
the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the Census Bureau in July
2004. The report also shows subscribership levels by state, income level,
race, age, household size, and employment status. Here's some statistical
nuggets: 1) the telephone penetration rate was 79.9% for households with
annual incomes below $5,000,
while the rate for households with incomes over $75,000 was 98.1%; 2) the
penetration rates ranged from a low of 87.1% in Arkansas to a high of 97.5% in
New Hampshire; 3) households headed by whites had a penetration rate of
94.7%, while those headed by blacks had a rate of 87.4% and those headed by
Hispanics had a rate of 90.2%; 4) the overall telephone subscribership
penetration rate in the U.S. was 93.8%.
In a related story, Communications Daily reports that FCC Commissioner
Adelstein, speaking at a NECA-NARUC broadband conference, urged the FCC to
sponsor a "public solutions summit" to explore the importance of universal
service to the development of Internet telephony services. "It's time to
recognize the critical importance of universal service" in the provision of
VoIP," Commissioner Adelstein said. "If there are no broadband facilities
out there (in rural areas), there will be no place for VoIP to ride." The
FCC has been holding a series of "solutions summits" on various aspects of
VoIP, such as one in May on disabilities issues. "We need to make sure
universal service evolves as technology evolves" and doesn't deter the
"lofty goals" many have for IP-based services, he said.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/FCC-State_Link/IAD/sub...
Adelstein Calls for FCC Summit Meeting on Universal Service
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Edie Herman]
(Not available online)
QUICKLY
CLASSROOM BLOGS RAISE ISSUES OF ACCESS AND PRIVACY
Blogs -- simple, diary-like Web sites -- have found their way into
America's classrooms because they promote student expression, critical
thinking and exchange. But the use of blogs by students also raises
concerns about the amount of control over access and content that educators
should exercise. As blogging spreads, it could revive debates over student
expression similar to those that have cropped up around school newspapers.
"What we want to see is a Web log where a teacher has final control, acts
as a filter for any postings or comments," says Janey Mayo, technology
coordinator for Harford County Public Schools. "We're trying to be very
cautious with this because we're working with kids." School administrators
also want to see further research on whether blogging has educational value
at the elementary-school level, but so far haven't found any. Proponents of
blogging argue that kids surf the Web outside of school already, so
teaching them to deal with inappropriate comments on blogs is important.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kevin J. Delaney kevin.delaney( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109882944704656461,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
The NYTimes has a story about the use of blogs by ad agencies
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nat Ives]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/business/media/27adco.html
(requires registration)
NEW SEARCH SOFTWARE RAISES PRIVACY ISSUES; RECORDING IM SESSIONS
Desktop search software may make wading through e-mail and files easier,
but it may also raise privacy concerns, allowing colleagues, family members
and even strangers to snoop more readily through your private files. The
software is "really going to cause people to think more about what data
they store on the computer, how you store data and how you segregate"
private files, says Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch, an
industry Web site. Mr. Sullivan says it is ironic that a program designed
to free users from thinking about where information is stored may turn out
to have the opposite effect.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kevin J. Delaney kevin.delaney( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109882915218056441,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
SONY'S LOCATION-FREE TV MAKES LOCAL SHOWS PORTABLE
On Oct. 15, Sony began selling "LocationFree TV", a portable LCD television
panel that uses Wi-Fi wireless technology to receive video content and
access the Internet from a base station hooked up to a broadband
connection. The televisions can access the base stations remotely over a
wired or wireless connection so that a traveler can reach his or her base
station to watch local television shows even when far from home. The
televisions can also access content from a device connected to the base
station--letting them play whatever they left in the DVD player before
going on the road, for instance.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Richard Shim]
(http://news.com.com/Sonys+location-free+TV+makes+local+shows+portable/21...
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang
(headlines( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
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