KIDS AND MEDIA
A Report on Childhood Obesity
BROADCASTING
White House Pushes Fines, Fees on Broadcasters
VoIP
Senate Panel Hears VoIP Arguments
PRIVACY
Covering Tracks: New Privacy Hope for P2P
QUICK HITS
Study: HDTV Will Be Cable's Defense vs. DBS
Qwest To Offer DSL Separate From Phone
Microsoft to Launch Plan to Control Spam
Publication: Toward Equality of Access
KIDS AND MEDIA
A REPORT ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY
The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report Tuesday that suggests links
between obesity in children and exposure to television, video games and
movies. One of the main contributors to obesity may be food advertising
targeted at kids. Some of the most compelling evidence summarized in the
report came from studies that reduced children's exposure to media, said
Vicky Rideout, vice president and director at the program for the study of
entertainment media and health at the Kaiser Foundation. "What's really
powerful are the interventions that have succeeded in reducing children's
weight problems by reducing the time spent with media," Ms Rideout said.
"If you find that something is succeeding, you don't necessarily have to
wait for 100 percent proof explaining why it's succeeding." Childrens'
cable channel Nickelodeon is already responding with a "Let's just play"
campaign that encourages physical activity and restricting commercials to
the beginning and end of shows [hey, just like PBS]. But advertising
executives are not ready to accept all the blame and endorse changes in
their industry. They prefer expansion of public education programs to
promote healthy eating and exercise [what we need is more advertising!].
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nat Ives]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/25/business/media/25adco.html
(requires registration)
BROADCASTING
WHITE HOUSE PUSHES FINES, FEES ON BROADCASTERS
National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Michael
Gallagher told the Media Institute that the Administration wants to see
pending decency enforcement legislation toughened so stations pay the
highest possible fines when they air indecent programming during kids'
shows and shows rated suitable for children such as the Super Bowl. The
White House may ask bill sponsor House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Fred
Upton (R-MI) to amend the bill with the specific language concerning
children. Additionally, the Administration is proposing fees for spectrum
users that would include digital TV broadcasters. The White House is
proposing a user fee on unauctioned spectrum that would begin in 2005 and
generate $3.1 billion over the first 10 years. The White House is also
asking Congress for fees on analog spectrum that would begin in 2007 and
expire when a station went all-digital and returned the analog channel for
auction. The analog spectrum fee has been proposed for a number of years
without success; it is not expected to pass in this year's budget
legislation either.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA386123?display=Breaking+News
VoIP
SENATE PANEL HEARS VoIP ARGUMENTS
The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on Internet telephone service
(VoIP) Tuesday and much of the talk focuses on how to regulate and tax the
new service. Currently, states rely on some $13 billion raised annually
through phone taxes to pay for emergency calling, subsidized phone services
and other social programs. But there's some fears these funds may dry up as
more calling moves to VoIP. And, on the flip side of the coin, other fear
that taxing VoIP may lead to taxes on e-mail and other Internet
applications. Senators seem to agree that VoIP providers should be forced
to follow some federal rules, such as being required to offer 911 service
or comply with law enforcement wiretapping demands, but they are leaning to
a hands-off approach to regulation as VoIP starts to grow. FCC Chairman
Powell testified at the hearing and endorsed telecommunications reform
legislation. He told the committee regulation of new technology such as
VoIP could not be resolved under the Telecom Act of 1996 since it doesn't
allow such services as VoIP to be "harmonized" and makes it difficult to
resolve intercarrier compensation. "The days are numbered on the way we're
doing this under the current statute," Chairman Powell said. "I do believe
there is going to have to be a statute in the future that recognizes these
dramatic technical changes."
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com and Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Ben Chamy and
Terry Lane]
http://news.com.com/2100-7352_3-5164239.html?tag=nefd_top
See links to testimony delivered at
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1065
Read FCC Chairman Michael Powell's written testimony at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-244231A1.pdf
Politicians Against Web Tax Turn Efforts Toward VOIP
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107765327809137965,00.html?mod=teleco...
(requires subscription)
Few Rules Better for Calls On Internet, Powell Says
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Griff Witte]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3495-2004Feb24.html
PRIVACY
COVERING TRACKS: NEW PRIVACY HOPE FOR P2P
Responding to Recording Industry Association of America lawsuits against
digital music file swappers, peer-to-peer network developers are trying to
find ways for Internet users to remain anonymous while downloading files.
Efforts have not been very successful yet because in order to download a
song from another computer online, a file swapper's computer must make some
kind of connection to it. That leaves a digital record that can be traced
back to a person's Internet service provider, and from there to the account
holder. Creating more privacy often creates efficiency problems that ruin
the peer-to-peer network. "The bottom line is that you just can't be
anonymous on the Internet if you're going to have some kind of peer
transaction," said Mark Ishikawa, chief executive officer of BayTSP, a
company that tracks and identifies file swappers for music labels and
Hollywood studios. "There is this myth that you can be anonymous. You can
hide, but we can get you."
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: John Borland]
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5164413.html?tag=cd_lede
QUICK HITS
STUDY: HDTV WILL BE CABLE'S DEFENSE VS. DBS
Each year Horowitz Associates surveys cable system staff and consumers and
then issues a report called State of Cable & Broadband. The research found
this year that 68% of cable operator respondents cited HDTV service built
into digital boxes as the key driver for acquisition and retention of
customers, followed by an interactive programming guide (58%),
video-on-demand (55%) and digital-video recorders (54%). But only 5% of all
consumers surveyed, however, were aware that they can get HDTV service from
a cable or satellite provider. And only 38% of cable subscribers surveyed
were aware that they can get DVR service from their operator.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Mike Reynolds]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA386126?display=Breaking+News
QWEST TO OFFER DSL SEPARATE FROM PHONE
"Naked DSL" may be coming your way, but don't delete this email from your
spam folder. Qwest is the first regional Bell telephone company that will
offer high-speed digital-subscriber-line (DSL) Internet service to
customers who are not regular phone subscribers as well. This company
policy change will allow more consumers to choose alternative local phone
service providers or even go all-wireless for phone service. Consumer
advocates endorsed the move by the Denver company. "We love lots of
different pricing options for consumers," says Chris Murray, legislative
counsel for Consumers Union Qwest's new a la carte DSL service is
particularly timely, he says, because more consumers are experimenting with
alternative ways of making calls. The other regional Bells may follow suit,
but not anytime soon, it appears. Why did Qwest make the move? "We decided
we'd rather not lose the customer," said Qwest Chairman and Chief Executive
Richard Notebaert.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shawn Young shawn.young( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107766524136738263,00.html?mod=teleco...
(requires subscription)
MICROSOFT TO LAUNCH PLAN TO CONTROL SPAM
"Caller ID for E-mail" is a new system being launched by Microsoft that
will allow computers to recognize whether incoming e-mail is from a
legitimate Internet address. Rather than using filters to try to identify
and weed out spam, the new approach seeks to spot legitimate e-mail and
automatically segregate everything else. Microsoft's Bill Gates introduced
the system during a keynote address to a computer security conference in
San Francisco.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jonathan Krim]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3385-2004Feb24.html
See Also:
Latest Ideas for Fighting Spam Not the Greatest
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dan Gillmor]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/8035672.htm
PUBLICATION: TOWARD EQUALITY OF ACCESS
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a number of other national civic
organizations, released a new report finding that public libraries have
helped close the digital divide by providing free, public access to
computers and the Internet, particularly for people without access at home
or work. The report, "Toward Equality of Access: The Role of Public
Libraries in Addressing the Digital Divide," also identifies significant
challenges libraries face in sustaining and improving this service and
recommends the public and private sectors work together to ensure that
libraries can continue to provide this vital access to technology for years
to come.
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/Downloads/libraries/uslibraries/report...
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