Benton's Communications-related Headlines for 3/30/05

AT THE SUPREME COURT
Supreme Court Scrutinizes Regulatory Issues in 'Brand X'
Supreme Court Hears Grokster Case; Pundits Predict Narrow Decision

CONTENT
Bob and Barney, With a Few Words From Sponsors
Every Nook and Cranny: The Dangerous Spread of Commercialized Culture
FCC and GOP May Over Reach If They Go After Cable TV
Dow Jones Executive Foresees More Paid Web Sites

SPECTRUM
Dolan to FCC: Block Deal with EchoStar
Spectrum Needs of Emergency Response Providers
Two Upstarts Vie For Dominance In Satellite Radio

TELECOM
MCI Formally Spurns Revised Qwest Offer, Will Stay with Verizon
NASUCA Appeals FCC Billing Rules

QUICKLY -- Energy Efficient DTV; We're at WISPCON VII, Commissioner;
Product Place in Media 2005

AT THE SUPREME COURT

SUPREME COURT SCRUTINIZES REGULATORY ISSUES IN 'BRAND X'
In the Brand X cable modem case hearing at the Supreme Court yesterday,
Justices asked about how the FCC defines an information service. "The
justices appeared willing to grapple with the substantive issue themselves
rather than sending the case to the lower court," said a Legg Mason
analysis. "Based on oral argument, we believe the Supreme Court will likely
side with cable and Bell companies seeking a 'bottom up' approach to
regulating" -- putting the burden on proponents of regulation. But ISPs
have a fighting chance to get the Court to side with them on their "top
down" approach to deregulating -- shifting the burden, Legg Mason said. The
Court is expect to make its decision in June.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Anne Veigle]
(Not available online)
Links to coverage --
Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=8028212
B&C:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA513835?display=Breaking+News&...
MCN:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA513740.html?display=Breaking+News&...
WP: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11429-2005Mar29.html
USAToday:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050330/3b_broadband_30.art.htm
News.com (op-ed):
http://news.com.com/Is+an+open+Internet+a+doomed+concept/2010-1034_3-564...

SUPREME COURT HEARS GROKSTER CASE; PUNDITS PREDICT NARROW DECISION
Tuesday was a busy day for the Supreme Court. Justices expressed concerns
over the impact on technological innovation of holding file sharing firms
liable for illegal copying done using their programs. During oral argument
in MGM v. Grokster, the Justices engaged in brisk exchanges with attorneys
for both sides, treading cautiously on the Sony/VCR standard set by the
High Court in a close decision over two decades ago. Members of both camps
agreed the justices asked the questions needed to rule on whether
peer-to-peer (P2P) companies should be subject to secondary liability for
copyright infringement by their users. The decision is expected before the
end of the Supreme Court session in June.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
(Not available online)
Links to coverage --
Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=8026655
News.com:
http://news.com.com/Supreme+Court+takes+hard+look+at+P2P/2100-1028_3-564...
B&C:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA513842?display=Breaking+News&...
NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/technology/30bizcourt.html
WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111211785362792087,00.html?mod=todays...
WP: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8684-2005Mar29.html
WP (Editorial):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11315-2005Mar29.html
USAToday:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050330/3b_fileshare_30.art.htm
(Editorial):
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050330/edit30.art.htm
(Op-ed)
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050330/oppose30.art.htm
LATimes:
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-scotus30mar30,1,43303...
(Op-ed):
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-anderson30mar30,1...
(Editorial):http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-justices30mar30,1...

CONTENT

BOB AND BARNEY, WITH A FEW WORDS FROM SPONSORS
On Monday Comcast is to announce the details of its new 24-hour digital
cable channel for preschoolers, which will feature Elmo, Big Bird, Barney -
and commercials. PBS not only approves, but is a partner: the channel's
co-owners are PBS, Sesame Workshop and HIT Entertainment, producer of
"Barney and Friends" and "Bob the Builder." "I don't like pitching
products to young children and I never have," said Joan Ganz Cooney, a
co-founder of Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) and the
chairwoman of the executive committee of its board. "But to some degree
that is nostalgia for a time that is past. The whole society, the whole
business is so commercialized, even public television. This is another way
of getting PBS's excellent programming to children." The distinction
between public and commercial television has become increasingly ephemeral
in the last decade as traditional underwriter announcements have taken on
the trappings of regular advertising. The merchandizing of popular
characters like Barney and Elmo is big business. Meanwhile, technology has
upended traditional ideas of what people watch and when.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Julie Salmon]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/arts/television/30pbs.html?
(requires registration)

EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY: THE DANGEROUS SPREAD OF COMMERCIALIZED CULTURE
Advertisers have long relied on 30-second TV spots to deliver messages to
mass audiences. During the 1990s, the impact of these ads began to drop
off, in part because viewers simply clicked to different programs during
ads. In response, many advertisers began to place ads elsewhere, leading to
?ad creep? -- the spread of ads throughout social space and cultural
institutions.
[SOURCE: Multinational Monitor (via Media Savvy), AUTHOR: Gary Ruskin and
Juliet Schor]
http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2005/012005/ruskin.html

FCC AND GOP MAY OVER REACH IF THEY GO AFTER CABLE TV
[Commentary] The FCC and prominent Republicans seem interested in
regulating decency on cable TV the way they do on the broadcast networks.
It's an interesting prospect. But one that could bite them at the polls if
they continue to misread the public. Consumers of all political stripes
don't like it when government removes choices from them.
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: David Kiley]
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/00000052.htm
Also see (thanks to Media Savvy)--
* THE COMING CONTENT WARS
[Commentary] "Reasonable, mature, reflective and democratic. Ideally, these
should be the hallmarks of our media, but with people like [Brent] Bozell
and [FCC Chairman Kevin] Martin uninterested in allowing discerning
citizens to make their own choices, and politicians interested in scoring
cheap points to "protect" us from ourselves, there's a real danger that we
will get merely the media we're allowed, and not the one we deserve."
[SOURCE: CJR Daily, AUTHOR: Paul McLeary]
http://www.cjrdaily.org/archives/001403.asp
* CLEANUP CRUSADE COULD CENSOR CONTROVERSY, TOO
[Commenary] One of the signposts of America's cultural divide is the
renewed insistence that TV and radio clean up their tawdry acts, or else.
But making the "or else" too extreme will do more than clean up the
airwaves, it will inevitably lead to so much self-censorship that anything
seriously controversial may also disappear, claims this Detroit Free Press
editorial.
[SOURCE: Detroit Free Press, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.freep.com/voices/editorials/eindecency28e_20050328.htm

DOW JONES EXECUTIVE FORESEES MORE PAID WEB SITES
Gordon Crovitz, president of electronic publishing at Dow Jones, predicts
that more publishers likely will try to wean readers off free Internet
versions of their newspapers by starting to charge online subscription
fees. Charging for news that appears in print -- and then giving it away
over the Web -- is "an unsustainable business model," he says.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Martha Graybow]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=8026971

SPECTRUM

DOLAN TO FCC: BLOCK DEAL WITH ECHOSTAR
Cablevision Systems chairman Charles F. Dolan and a group called The
Association of Consumers to Preserve and Promote DBS Competition asked the
Federal Communications Commission to reject the transfer of
direct-broadcast satellite spectrum from Rainbow DBS to EchoStar
Communications. They argue that EchoStar's acquisition of the satellite
assets "would undermine" competition in the pay TV market and clash with
"well-established" FCC policies of "fostering competition and new entry
among DBS service providers." Dolan's filing said the EchoStar deal would
harm competition because it "would result in a loss of service to the
approximately 40,000 existing subscribers to the Voom DBS service," which
is in the process of raising funds to purchase the Rainbow assets.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA513846.html?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
See also --
* Dolan Pledges $400 Million to Voom
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111214427178692679,00.html?mod=todays...

SPECTRUM NEEDS OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROVIDERS
On December 17, 2004, the President signed the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 ("Intelligence Reform Act" or "Act") into
law to reform the United States intelligence community and
intelligence-related activities. Title VII of the Act implements certain
recommendations of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the
United States, including a number of communications-related provisions,
particularly with respect to use of the electromagnetic spectrum by
Federal, State, and local emergency response providers. Among other
requirements, the Intelligence Reform Act requires the Federal
Communications Commission to conduct a study to assess the short-term and
long-term spectrum needs of emergency response providers, and report its
findings to Congress not later than December 17, 2005. Accordingly, the
Commission seeks comment from interested parties in order to assist it in
conducting the study.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-80A1.doc

TWO UPSTARTS VIE FOR DOMINANCE IN SATELLITE RADIO
Sirius and XM are fighting for supremacy in the satellite-radio industry.
Racing to win control of an embryonic new medium, the two have followed
sharply different paths: XM has cut extensive distribution deals and offers
distinctive technology while Sirius is amassing a trove of exclusive
content. Both want to lure listeners away from regular radio broadcasts
with subscription services offering more than 100 channels. When satellite
radio launched, few thought consumers could be persuaded to pay for a
service that was similar to what they already got free. But the services'
high-quality programming and minimal commercial interruptions have been a
strong lure. XM and Sirius have signed up more than four million
subscribers who pay $12.95 a month. That's tiny compared with the total
universe of 229 million radio listeners, as measured by the ratings service
Arbitron Inc., but double the number of subscribers compared with a year ago.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah McBride sarah.mcbride( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111214960407492809,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)

TELECOM

MCI FORMALLY SPURNS REVISED QWEST OFFER, WILL STAY WITH VERIZON
No MCI for you, Qwest. MCI once again rebuffed Qwest Tuesday accepting a
revised -- but still lower -- bid from chosen merger partner Verizon.
Verizon offered $23.50 a share in cash and stock. Qwest instead has offered
$26 a share. Qwest said in a statement it was still assessing and left the
door open to another run at MCI.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Howard Buskirk]
(Not available online)
More coverage --
NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/business/30phone.html
WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111210284638691884,00.html?mod=todays...
WP: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11437-2005Mar29.html
USAToday: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050330/1b_mci30.art.htm
LATimes:
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-mci30mar30,1,2349224....

NASUCA APPEALS FCC BILLING RULES
National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (affectionately
known as NASUCA) appealed an FCC billing decision extending
truth-in-billing rules to wireless carriers and preempting state controls
on line items on wireless consumer bills. The FCC order responded partly to
a NASUCA petition seeking a ban on many "regulatory" charges on
long-distance and wireless bills. "Unfortunately, in response to our call
for misleading charges to be eliminated, the FCC has failed to take any
meaningful action that will benefit our nation's telephone consumers," said
NASUCA Telecom Committee Chairman David Bergmann. He said NASUCA appealed
"the entire order, but the two key things we are appealing are state
preemption and extension of what we believe inadequate rules to wireless
carriers... We plan on looking at the order to see whether there are any
other points we want to make on the appeal." The National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) will also appeal the decision.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Susan Polyakova]
(Not available online)

QUICKLY

ENERGY EFFICIENCY ADVOCATES EYE STATE STANDARDS FOR DTV CONVERTORS
At the federal level, the digital TV debate focuses on setting a hard date
to end the transition to DTV. At the state level, the current debate seems
to be about setting energy level standards for digital convertor boxes. In
fighting bills aiming to set energy standards for settop boxes, industry
representatives say they will stifle innovation and complicate bundling.
Proponents of the legislation say this year's legislative crop seeks to
keep the market from being flooded with "cheap and inefficient" converter
boxes when a hard date is set for digital conversion:
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Dinesh Kumar]
(Not available online)

WISPS: PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL AMERICA THROUGH ACCESS TO BROADBAND
Text of FCC Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein's speech at the Wireless
Internet Service Providers Convention (WISPCON VII).
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-257737A1.doc

PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN MEDIA 2005
Following on the NYTimes article summarized here yesterday, PQ Media
released a report Tuesday on the size and structure of the product
placement market. See a summary of the report at the URL below.
http://www.pqmedia.com/ppsm2005-es.pdf
See coverage in --
Broadcasting&Cable:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA513541.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
--------------------------------------------------------------
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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