INTERNET
Total Number Of Internet Addresses Shrinks - Study (WP)
BROADCASTING
EchoStar Says it Won't Pay 'Hush Money' to Win Disney Support for
Merger (WP)
New XM Satellite Service Offers More Radio Channels for Drivers
(WSJ)
WIRELESS
FCC Set to Expand Wireless Frontier (USA)
INTERNET
TOTAL NUMBER OF INTERNET ADDRESSES SHRINKS - STUDY
Issue: Internet
The total number of Internet addresses worldwide fell in December for only
the second time in nearly six years, according to a survey by Netcraft. The
fall has been put down to a drop in the practice of domain name speculation.
Netcraft also predicted that the drop off in domain-name speculation would
boost the percentage of Internet addresses that are "active" at any given
time on the Web. Former ICANN President Mike Roberts said that during his
tenure with the organization that manages the Internet's addressing system,
no more than two-thirds of all registered domain names were being actively
used at any time.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David McGuire (Newsbytes.com)]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/netarch/14421-1.html)
BROADCASTING
ECHOSTAR SAYS IT WON'T PAY 'HUSH MONEY' TO WIN DISNEY SUPPORT FOR MERGER
Issue: Satellite
The war of words between EchoStar Communications and The Walt Disney
Co.escalated Wednesday, with EchoStar saying it would not pay Disney "hush
money" to keep it from opposing its proposed merger with DirecTV. The
nation's second-largest satellite television operator said its dispute with
Disney goes beyond EchoStar's decision to drop Disney's ESPN Classic and ABC
Family channel from its Dish Network. The company said Disney's decision to
charge high fees for popular channels such as ESPN means satellite and cable
distributors must drop other, less popular channels. In court filings,
EchoStar has said Disney officials threatened to oppose its merger with
Hughes Electronics, which operates the DirecTV network, if a deal could not
be reached to keep ABC Family on the Dish Network. On Monday, a federal
judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing EchoStar from dropping
ABC Family. Disney said EchoStar's statement shows the dangers of having
only one satellite television provider. "Disney sought to negotiate issues
with EchoStar that would have reduced fears that Disney shares with
regulators and public interest groups regarding EchoStar's penchant for
wielding monopoly power in unfair ways," Disney's statement said.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Gary Gentile (Associated Press)]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/media/14432-1.html)
NEW XM SATELLITE SERVICE OFFERS MORE RADIO CHANNELS FOR DRIVERS
Issue: Radio
While television has been dramatically transformed and expanded by cable and
satellite, radio is still based on the same AM and FM technologies used for
decades. And the variety of radio programming has actually diminished, as
stations have been homogenized by national owners into a small number of
standard formats. This began to change last month as XM Satellite Radio, a
company based in Washington, D.C., launched a nationwide service that beams
100 channels of digital radio to cars whose drivers have installed special
radio receivers and subscribed at $10 a month. While XM is considered a
great leap forward in radio programming, there are some drawbacks that make
it much less attractive than it might be. Mainly, it's expensive with the
cost of XM radios range from $200 to $400, not including the monthly fee,
which irritates some because most XM stations carry commercials.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Walter S. Mossberg]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1010006951246852080.htm)
(requires subscription)
WIRELESS
FCC SET TO EXPAND WIRELESS FRONTIER
Issue: Wireless
Regulators are poised to approve a breakthrough wireless technology despite
concerns by airlines and cellphone carriers about interference. The Federal
Communications Commission is expected to OK the versatile technology,
ultra-wideband (UWB), next month, paving the way for product rollouts this
year. By precisely timing returning pulses, UWB can sense objects and
measure their position far more accurately than traditional radar. It also
operates across a wide swath of frequencies, enabling it to run at very high
speeds and very low power levels. The technology is expected to have a
varity of uses, from allowing police to detect the movements of a hostage
taker through a wall, to spawning wireless home networks.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020103/3743093s.htm)
See Also:
FCC ALLOCATES ADDITIONAL SPECTRUM FOR NEW WIRELESS SERVICES
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/2001/nret01
08.html)
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