A Service of the Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org)
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Senators Move to Block New Media Ownership Rules
Analysis: Minorities, Media a Potent Mix
DIGITAL DIVIDE
World's Poor to Get Own Search Engine
EDTECH
Tauzin Probes SBC, IBM School Contracts
TECHNOLOGY
Consensus Builds for Ultra Wideband
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
SENATORS MOVE TO BLOCK NEW MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES
A "resolution of disapproval" introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has
garnered the support of 35 senators, more than enough to usher the measure
to the Senate floor and forego committee consideration. Dorgan's resolution,
justified under the Congressional Review Act, would effectively overturn the
FCC's media ownership rules adopted June 2nd. The announcement comes as
media lobbyists prepare to approach Congress today arguing for more
deregulation and against efforts to roll back the FCC decision. "We are
moving to roll back one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests
I've ever seen by what is supposed to be a federal regulatory agency,"
Dorgan said. The resolution has earned the signature of 28 Democrats along
with 8 Republicans. The measure is especially significant because should it
win majority approval in the Senate it would go immediately to the House
floor for consideration, bypassing committees in which House Republican
leaders have vowed to block debate on the issue.
SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61629-2003Jul15.html
ANALYSIS: MINORITIES, MEDIA A POTENT MIX
[Commentary] Frustrated by television's offerings to black America, former
Discovery Networks President Johnathan Rodgers decided to pitch his ideas
for a new African American cable channel, TV One, targeting the 25- to
54-year-old demographic. He outlined his business strategy at a conference
of the National Association of Minority Media Executives (NAMME), a
400-member group that sponsors conferences featuring industry leaders,
management development seminars, networking and continuing education.
Panels at the conference discussed topics such as implications of the FCC's
deregulation ruling on media ownership, the Latino market, best practices
for building an audience, and essential tools minorities need to advance in
media. Additionally, the Minority Media & Telecom Council is sponsoring a
conference on "Building and Financing Minority Broadcast Companies," in
Washington, DC July 21-22 to help minority broadcasters survive the new FCC
regulations. Such efforts attempt to address what some see as a lack of
minority interests in media. Swanson foresees minorities becoming more
important to media companies, as the American population ages and grows more
ethnically and racially diverse.
SOURCE: United Press International; AUTHOR: Al Swanson
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030711-021938-6196r
DIGITAL DIVIDE
WORLD'S POOR TO GET OWN SEARCH ENGINE
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are
developing a search engine to address Internet problems faced by people in
developing countries, such as the speed and cost of an Internet connection
and the large number of hits returned by search engines. The "Time Equals
Knowledge" (TEK) project is based on the premise that people in developing
countries are "short of money but have time on their hands." Users of the
TEK software would send an email query to a server in Boston. The program
would search the Net, select the most relevant Web pages, compress them and
email the results the next day. When users return for the results, "they
can browse through those pages the way they would if they had full Internet
connectivity," said MIT Professor Saman Amarasinghe. The program is in its
early stages, but researchers aim to test a beta version in the next three
to four months. Because the program would be too big to download over a
slow Internet connection, the team is thinking of sending CDs to libraries
so that people can borrow and install the software on their machines.
SOURCE: BBC News; AUTHOR: Alfred Hermida
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3065063.stm
EDTECH
TAUZIN PROBES SBC, IBM SCHOOL CONTRACTS
Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, is
stepping up investigations into some of the E-Rate's largest contractors to
determine whether they worked with schools to bilk the program. Tauzin and
Rep. James Greenwood (R-PA) sent letters to 15 companies yesterday,
including SBC Communications and IBM, requesting that they "assist the
review being conducted by Greenwood's Oversight and Investigation
subcommittee." The E-Rate program been praised for bringing schools into the
digital age, though its detractors claim that lax oversight has led to fraud
and abuse.
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: The Associated Press
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-07-14-tauzin-erate_x.htm
TECHNOLOGY
CONSENSUS BUILDS FOR ULTRA WIDEBAND
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is likely to
make significant steps this week toward adopting standards for ultra
wideband wireless technology (UWB). Tech developers TI and Intel, who at one
point planned to submit competing proposals for the technology, have instead
opted to merge their plans. IEEE still expects over 20 different proposals
for the UWB standard, which is a "cheaper, less power-hungry" way to
wirelessly network devices over a short range than Bluetooth, and may do so
at speeds up to 100 times faster. Critics fear that UWB will interfere with
spectrum neighbors such as most Wi-Fi technologies. The company that
ultimately wins IEEE's seal of approval could corner nearly $1.4 billion by
2007, according to some analysts. While the TI-Intel partnership has scared
off some potential competitors, start-up XtremeSpectrum sees the alliance as
a sign of weakness. "These are large companies that aren't necessarily
developers of bleeding-edge stuff," said Chris Fisher, the company's vice
president. "Our perception is they are fearful they won't survive the
process ultimately and need more strength."
SOURCE: CNET News; AUTHOR: Ben Charny
http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-1026002.html
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