CABLE
Supreme Court Lets Stand Federal Law
That Limits Number of Cable Subscribers (WSJ)
INTERNET
Is Online Journalism On Its Way Out? (WP)
'Facing History' Online (NYT)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Napster to Offer Record Labels Proceeds (WSJ)
RADIO
Traditional Radio Stations Make Play
for Online Listeners (WSJ)
The FCC's Earplug Answer to Indecency (WP)
NOTICE
Senate to Hold Hearing on Transition to Digital TV (Senate)
OWNERSHIP
SUPREME COURT LETS STAND FEDERAL LAW THAT LIMITS
NUMBER OF CABLE SUBSCRIBERS
Issue: Ownership
The U.S. Supreme Court left intact a 1992 federal law that put limits on the
number of subscribers a cable television company can reach. The justices
rejected an argument by Time Warner, which said that such limits -- intended
to preserve diverse cable TV programming -- violate the Constitution's First
Amendment free-speech protection. Time Warner, now part of AOL Time Warner
also lost a bid to overturn a section of the statute that limits on the
number of channels a cable operator can fill with its own programming. In
1997, the justices upheld another provision of the 1992 law that required
cable systems to set aside up to one-third of their channels for local
broadcast stations. Cable companies had argued the law violated their
free-speech rights by forcing them to carry stations they would rather drop.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: A WSJ.COM News
Roundup](http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB982683323438363369.htm)
(requires subscription)
INTERNET
IS ONLINE JOURNALISM ON ITS WAY OUT
Issue: Journalism
Content-driven Web sites are a dying breed on the Net. Salon.com, for
example, premiered to rave reviews for its irreverent, politically incorrect
style. Now its stock, which had hit $14.25 a share, is worth 75 cents. When
Jim Cramer founded TheStreet.com, he attracted such blue-chip partners as
the New York Times. Now the Times has bailed out and the financial news
service is struggling. And those are the sites that are only wounded or
weak, consider the vanquished: APBNews.com, Voter.com, Pseudo.com and
Disney's Go.com. "There is no prognosis; the patient has died," says New
York magazine columnist Michael Wolff, whose own Internet company went belly
up. "Virtually everyone who took public money is either going to go out of
business or be merged out of business." And yet millions of people still
click on these news-related sites, major media companies are still pouring
big bucks into them, and their sheer speed has changed the journalistic
culture. The business side of the Net is gloomy, but what of the actual
content? Some media companies are still drawing heavy traffic: MSNBC.com
(9.8 million visitors last month), CNN.com (7.7 million), NYTimes.com (3.4
million), USAToday.com (2.7 million) and washingtonpost.com (2.6 million),
according to Media Metrix. The larger problem is content supported by
advertising revenue isn't working. "Some of these things are bad ideas and
will die," Andersen says. "Some of them are good ideas and will survive. And
some won't have time to prove they are good ideas."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C01), AUTHOR: Howard Kurth]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31505-2001Feb20.html)
'FACING HISTORY' ONLINE
Issue: Nonprofits
"Facing History and Ourselves," a 25 year-old Brookline, Massachusetts-based
organization, provides interdisciplinary programs, resources and speakers to
help educators and young people examine racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism.
This fall, the organization plans to launch an on Online Campus, a distance
learning initiative that will allow educators from around the world to take
part in the group's programs. The prototype Online Campus already includes
the program's "Holocaust & Human behavior" primary resource book, and
another, "The Hidden History of the American Eugenics Movement," is being
created online. "Facing History's" five-year-old Web site
(www.facinghistory.org) offers complex but easily navigated paths for
teachers, students and parents interested in examining history and human
behavior. "This is not distance learning -- this is close and powerful
learning! We need to invent another term," says Margot Stern Strom,
co-founder of "Facing History.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Margaret W. Goldsborough]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/21/technology/21EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
NAPSTER TO OFFER RECORD LABELS PROCEEDS FROM A NEW
SUBSCRIPTION-BASED VERSION
Issue: Intellectual Property
Napster has offered record labels $1 billion over five years to let
consumers swap copyrighted music through a new version of the popular
service. Each record company's precise proceeds would depend on how many
times its recordings were downloaded. Hank Barry, Napster's chief executive,
said the plan was designed to offer guaranteed revenue to record labels,
which had balked in private negotiations about receiving a percentage of a
revenue stream that might not materialize. Thomas Middelhoff, Bertelsmann's
chairman and CEO, appealed to heads of other record labels to halt the legal
assault on Napster, arguing the new version of the service could expand the
music industry to the benefit of all players. Nevertheless, record industry
executives question how well the latest Napster proposals will fly with
songwriters and music publishers. Richard Parsons, co-chief operating
officer of AOL Time Warner said his company won't talk about new business
models until Napster closes its existing service.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Don Clark]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB98270917386359154.htm)
(requires subscription)
See Also:
NAPSTER OFFERS $1B IF RECORD COMPANIES DROP SUIT
[USA Today (), AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/2001-02-20-napster-offer.htm
)
RADIO
TRADITIONAL RADIO STATIONS MAKE PLAY FOR ONLINE
LISTENERS
Issue: Radio
With a variety of choices available to music listeners, radio-industry
experts say close integration between radio stations' on-air broadcasts and
the Web is crucial to keep their audience. According to a recent
Arbitron-Edison Media study, 22% of Americans above age 12 say they have
visited a radio station Web site. Of those visitors, only a small number
return every day, with 68% of those polled visiting just once a month.
Internet-only audio continues to grow, providing programming that people
want to hear," says Joan FitzGerald, director of marketing and research &
development at Arbitron. Internet-savvy youngsters raised on Napster will
make new demands, like customization and music on demand, when they grow up.
"If radio doesn't supply it, the Web will," says Tom Barnes, a new-media
consultant. David Schwartz, former editor-in-chief of Mix magazine, says
that "radio must reevaluate its strengths in the wake of the Internet," just
as radio did in the wake of television.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR:
Flip Michaels]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB979352848590215929.htm)
THE RADIO LISTENER: THE FCC's EARPLUG ANSWER TO INDECENCY
Issue:
A Birmingham resident recently learned of the FCC's official stance on
indecent language on radio. Angela Woods of Hueytown, AL. called in a local
radio station to complain about The host's use of a vulgar word for female
genitalia. After being berated on air by the deejays, Woods penned an angry
complaint to the Federal Communications Commission. Last week she received a
reply stating that no FCC action could be taken in the case as the vulgarity
did not meet the agency's standards for "patently offensive" material. To
merit sanction material must "depict or describe sexual or excretory
activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by
contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium." Consider this:
if the hosts of the radio show had used the same word while describing a
sexual act, it would be more likely to get them fined than if they used it
as the synonym for "wimp." It boils down to this: the radio industry, and
the view of the new FCC chairman -- Michael Powell -- is if listeners are
offended by a show, they should turn it off. Broadcasters will be the first
to say that all shows are not for everyone - the equivalent of designating
some radio programs, "G" and others "R." It's an odd stance for
organizations use the public's property to make a living.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C01), AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27476-2001Feb19.html)
HEARING NOTICE
SENATE TO HOLD HEARING ON TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TV
Issue: DTV
Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation, announced a hearing on digital TV. The hearing,
scheduled for Thursday, March 1, at 9:30 a.m., will examine the progress of
the transition from analog to digital TV. Senator McCain will preside.
Witnesses will be announced at a later time.
[SOURCE: US Senate]
(http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/press/107-14.html)
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