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On the agenda for next week: 1) a hearing on Communications and Taxation, 2) a meeting of the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee, 3) a hearing on legislation Addressing Broadband Mapping and Data Collection, 4) Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America, and 5) the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks. For these and other upcoming media policy events, see http://http://www.benton.org/?q=event
http://www.benton.org/?q=event
POLITICOS TAKE ON YOUTUBE, VIDEO'S FUTURE
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
Thursday's House Telecom Subcommittee hearing explored the future of video. It quickly became apparent that the hearing wasn't just a playful show-and-tell for the companies represented, as some politicians proceeded to put YouTube in the hot seat over its copyright policies. YouTube CEO Chad Hurley defended the site's practices as in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a federal law designed to shield Internet hosts from liability provided that they meet certain requirements and respond to notices from copyright holders to remove offending content. The event also turned into yet another debate over enacting so-called Net neutrality laws, with Democrats continuing to urge such a move and Republicans decrying them as unnecessary regulation.
http://news.com.com/Politicos+take+on+YouTube%2C+videos+future/2100-1028...
* Markey Makes First 'HillTube' Clip
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) pulled out a digital camera at the start of a subcommittee hearing on the future of digital video Thursday and began taking pictures of fellow committee members, the audience, and the press.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6440949.html?rssid=193
* Chairman Markey's opening statement
"Today the Subcommittee will explore the future of video more broadly. This inquiry will run the gamut -- from high resolution, high definition digital on big screens to digital wireless video services on mobile gadgets and finally, to the video services and technologies enhanced by a high speed, open architecture Internet. It is a future characterized by services that may compete with the movies or traditional television, as well as by services and technologies that will complement the video experience consumers have been used to for years."
http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2809&I...
* House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell's opening statement
"I will pay particular attention to the impact of digital video on local media outlets. This Committee has worked in the past to see that local media outlets, including television broadcasters, adequately serve their local communities. It is clear that the advent of digital video is both an opportunity and a challenge for local broadcasters. It is an opportunity to better serve local communities with increased coverage and more delivery options. It also presents challenges to a business model centered on advertising."
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110st49.shtml
* Eshoo Troubled By Cable’s Switch Digital Plans
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) voiced concern Thursday that a new capacity-expanding cable technology would disable digital set-top boxes that rely on CableCards to unscramble content, frustrating attempts by Congress to allow consumers to shop at retail stores for channel-surfing devices.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6441140.html?rssid=196
* TV Plugs May Need Regulating, Says Raymond Creator
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Everybody Loves Raymond creator/executive producer Phil Rosenthal said Thursday that the government may have to step in and regulate product integration, which he said adversely affects the creative community and is being forced on it by studios, though he later clarified to say that the key was disclosure to the public that the products were being hawked.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6440974.html?rssid=193
* Cuban: 'Net Can't Handle Streaming HD
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
HDNet founder Mark Cuban downplayed the future of live Internet streaming as the Internet is currently configured, a technology he pioneered with broadcast.com, while pitching the future of high-definition television, his latest venture.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6440959.html?rssid=193
* Rep Ed Markey Interviews YouTube's Chad Hurley
http://463.blogs.com/the_463/2007/05/rep_ed_markey_i.html
* Mostly Pleasant Surprises and One Expected Unpleasantness at "Future of Video" Hearing
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/934
SENATOR ROCKEFELLER INTRODUCES BROADBAND RESOLUTION
[SOURCE: TMCNet, AUTHOR: Greg Galitzine]
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV has introduced a resolution calling for the creation of a National Broadband Policy with the goal of becoming a “100 Megabit Nation†by 2015. Sen Rockefeller believes that, “A national broadband policy is critical to the future of our country,†and, “would provide a tremendous social and economic benefit,†to all Americans. He cited popular video and social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace and how they have become such integral parts of society. He stressed that those popular sites are just scratching the surface when it comes to the transformational power of broadband. Sen Rockefeller proposed a roadmap towards establishing a set of goals. “The first step in going somewhere is to know where you are going, and the same is true in public policy.†By the end of 2007, we should establish a national goal and pass a series of policy actions designed to achieve our national goal. There will likely be multiple parts to the plan, and we will likely need to modify those parts over time. But if we do not have a plan, we cannot expect to accomplish our goal.†Sen Rockefeller suggests policy actions such as tax incentives to spur the private sector to act more aggressively in pursuit of this goal. He believes that Government should offer low-interest loans, and he calls for reform of the Universal Service Fund to encourage broadband deployment.
http://internetcommunications.tmcnet.com/topics/broadband-mobile/article...
Senator Rockefeller Introduces Broadband Resolution
HEARING: BROADBAND MAPPING AND DATA COLLECTION
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a Legislative Hearing on H.R.____, a Discussion Draft Addressing Broadband Mapping and Data Collection. Thursday May 17 at 2:00 p.m. in room 2322 Rayburn House Office Building
http://energycommerce.house.gov/membios/schedule.shtml
HEARING: BROADBAND MAPPING AND DATA COLLECTION
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a Legislative Hearing on H.R.____, a Discussion Draft Addressing Broadband Mapping and Data Collection. Thursday May 17 at 2:00 p.m. in room 2322 Rayburn House Office Building
http://energycommerce.house.gov/membios/schedule.shtml
Hearing: Broadband Mapping and Data Collection
TV VIOLENCE BILL HEADS TO SENATE NEXT WEEK
[SOURCE: Reuters]
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is set to introduce legislation next week aimed at protecting children from violent television programming. The bill is likely include some of the recommendations from a recent government report that concludes Congress could craft laws to regulate violent content without trampling on constitutional protections for free speech.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=televisionNews&story...
"NATIONAL" BROADBAND PLAN A STALKING HORSE FOR REGULATING INTERNET
[SOURCE: Scott Cleland]
[Commentary] A "national broadband plan" is a codeword for a 1970's-style government "industrial policy" where the government decides what technologies consumers get and which companies will succeed of fail. By arbitrarily choosing speeds and arbitrarily setting timetables for deployment, the government is setting itself up to take a much more proactive and interventionist role in heavily regulating and managing broadband competition into a utility-like system.
http://www.precursorblog.com/node/389
"National" broadband policy a stalking horse for regulating Internet
MUNICIPAL WI-FI: A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: ]
EarthLink plans to undercut traditional broadband prices. That starts with a $21.95 monthly plan, or $3.95 per hour, for Internet access anywhere in a city, indoors or out. What that gives you, when it works, is impressive. But the challenge for municipal Wi-Fi providers is to deliver broadband-like reliability. Wireless consultant Novarum found that it got connections only 72% of the time for the 20 Anaheim sites where EarthLink's service was working. Cell phones, Novarum notes, work about 86% of the time. EarthLink maintains that Feather, which is now in 40% of Anaheim, connects 90% of the time indoors and 95% outdoors. But in buildings of more than three stories, you need additional receivers to boost the signal. That's also true, I found out, in Starbucks, McDonald's, and other businesses with competing Wi-Fi.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_21/b4035084.htm?campaign...
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_21/b4035084.htm?campaign_id=rss_…
WHO'S AFRAID OF GOOGLE?
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Verne Kopytoff]
For a company that pledged to not be evil, Google makes a lot of enemies. From Madison Avenue to Hollywood, some of industry's most powerful entities are marshaling their forces to combat a company that has risen to the top of the business world in less than a decade. Fear is the motivating factor. And with every passing quarter, there is more to be worried about if you count Google as a competitor. Since going public in 2004, the Internet giant's market value has grown to dwarf Disney and McDonald's combined. Earlier this year, it became the most visited Web property in the world and was named the world's most valuable brand. And its runaway success in search and advertising has big corporations like AT&T and Microsoft crying monopoly without a trace of irony. In perhaps the greatest testament to Google's power, media reports surfaced late last week that its archival Yahoo was considering teaming up with Microsoft in an effort to compete. "Essentially, the new Microsoft is Google," said Jeff Clavier, a prominent Silicon Valley investor in startups.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/11/GOOGLE.TMP
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/11/GOOGLE.TMP
GOOGLE SHAREHOLDERS VOTE DOWN PROPOSAL ON CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Elinor Mills]
Google shareholders rejected a proposal on Thursday to require the search giant to set policies to protect freedom of access to the Internet and not self-censor. Google "must make special efforts to avoid being seen as complicit in human rights abuses...and not be proactive in censorship," said Patrick Doherty, a representative of the New York City Pension Fund, which submitted the resolution. When it created its Web search site for China, Google said it would remove results from its www.google.cn Web site that would likely offend the Chinese government. Yahoo shareholders face several similar resolutions at their annual meeting.
http://news.com.com/Google+shareholders+vote+down+proposal+on+censorship...
Google shareholders vote down proposal on censorship