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U.S. Wants Public Interest Rules For New Digital TV Channels
[SOURCE: New York Times 2/6/1997, AUTHOR: Mark Landler]
Ten years ago, Vice President Al Gore announced that the President Bill Clinton planned to appoint an advisory group to recommend guidelines within a year on new public interest programming requirements on broadcasters as a condition of awarding them extra channels for use in digital television. "Digital technology will greatly enhance the opportunities available to broadcasters to utilize multiple channels," VP Gore said in a session with reporters in which he observed the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. "the public interest obligations should be commensurate with these new opportunities." FCC Chairman Reed Hundt has been pushing for broadcasters to turn over a full 5 percent of the programming schedules of their digital channels to public interest programming. After Gore's announcement, Chairman Hundt hailed the Administration's proposal as a way to drive home his proposal. "These digital licenses should not be given out unless and until there is an absolutely clear, quantifiable and meaningful commitment to serve the public interest," Chairman Hundt said.
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00F15FC3C580C75...
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* Of course, we're still waiting for the FCC to act on the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee. For more info, see http://www.benton.org/pioguide/index.html
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00F15FC3C580C758CDDAB08…
"We must engage in a concerted effort to regain our place as the world leader in communications services. There is no one answer, but we must make improving access to broadband services, modernizing universal service, funding federal research in new communications and information technology, and promoting competition national priorities."
-- Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
BUSH PROPOSES STEEP CUT TO PBS FUNDING
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
President Bush is reopening the fight over government support of public television, unveiling a budget that would cut federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by nearly 25 percent. There was some confusion on how to tally the exact cut, but public TV and congressional sources said at least $114 million of the $460 million CPB budget for the fiscal year that starts in October would be cut. The Association of Public Television Stations said the total impact could be $145 million when cuts in related programs are added, including a program to upgrade radio station satellite facilities. A CPB analysis of the budget said the cuts include the $50 million already appropriated by Congress for next year, elimination of additional funding for digital conversion of public TV stations and a slight decrease in the Ready to Learn program. In addition to the cuts, the traditional advance funding for future years' programs would disappear, potentially making it harder for public stations to commit to future TV programming. A spokeswoman for PBS said that the cuts would be "disastrous" for public TV stations.
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11508
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* Reaction from Rep Ed Markey (D-MA)
Rep. Markey said of the cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, “In a 24-7 television world with content often inappropriate for young children, the public broadcasting system represents an oasis of quality, child-oriented educational programming. We owe America’s children and their parents this free, over-the-air resource."
http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2587&I...
Fore more see --
* Press Briefing by OMB Director Rob Portman on the President's
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070205-3.html
* Bush seeks more war funding
President Bush asked Congress to approve defense spending of $622 billion -- much of it for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- as he unveiled a $2.9 trillion budget request for the 2008 fiscal year.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007...
* Bush budget plans cuts to education, other grants
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID...
BUSH SEEKS SPENDING INCREASES IN RESEARCH, SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
President Bush's proposed $2.9 trillion budget for next year calls for increases in some scientific research funding, along with boosts for counterterrorism surveillance and screening programs. The president's plan includes beefing up spending for his American Competitiveness Initiative, which aims to ensure that the United States keeps up with its global competitors in the science and technology realm. Under the proposed budget, the National Science Foundation would receive $6.4 billion in funding, a 6.8 percent boost from last year. Of that amount, about $5.1 billion would go to "research and related activities," which in the past "has contributed to the development of the Internet and Internet search engines, fiber optics, color plasma displays, magnetic resonance imaging, and other advances that now help each of us in our daily lives," according to the president's budget breakdown for that agency. That number includes $390 million -- an increase of 4.5 percent from last year -- for NSF's nanotechnology research arm, and $994 million -- a 10 percent boost -- for its Networking and Information Technology Research and Development program. Some tech-centric agencies could experience cuts. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, for instance, saw an increase in budget levels for its core research activities. But its Advanced Technology Program, which is designed to explore "unproven, early stage technologies," appears to be on the way out. Its proposed funding plummeted from about $79 billion this year to zero dollars for the next fiscal year. NIST representatives did not respond immediately to requests for clarification.
http://news.com.com/Bush+proposes+spending+hikes+for+research%2C+surveil...
BUSH'S BUDGET: $313M FOR FCC, FUNDING FOR DTV CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Under President Bush's proposed FY 2008 budget, the Federal Communications Commission would receive $313 million. Under the new budget plan, all but $1 million in FCC funding would come from fees assessed against regulated entities. The FCC’s current budget, adopted for FY 2006, is frozen at $289.8 million until Congress resolves disputes that prevented passage of a FY 2007 budget. The FCC has asked Congress for $1.5 million for a DTV education campaign. The FCC says it plans to produce PSA's, Web material and publications. It also plans to participate in forums and to work with the National Association of Broadcasters and the Association of Public Television Stations to air the PSA's. The campaign will include expanding its "DTV Deputy" campaign educating kids about the transition by encouraging those kids to educate their parents and caregivers. The FCC plans to use the money to distribute the information to low-income and minority consumers and translate the information into Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413571.html?display=Breaking...
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6413605.html?display=Breaking+News
* FCC news release
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270286A1.doc
NTIA'S FY 2008 BUDGET REQUEST
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
A look at the budget of the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The budget of $18.6 million and 103 FTE will enable NTIA to pursue these goals. The budget does not include funds for the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program "as funds are available for these activities from other sources." This program has helped public broadcasting stations construct facilities. Goals: 1) American Competitiveness Initiative: creating a regulatory environment that fosters private sector innovation in telecommunications. 2) President’s Spectrum Policy for the 21st Century initiative -- foster economic growth; ensure national and homeland security; maintain U.S. global leadership in communications technology development and services; and satisfy other vital U.S. needs in areas such as public safety, scientific research, Federal transportation infrastructure, and law enforcement. The NTIA is responsible for the development of domestic and international telecommunications and information policy for the Executive Branch, for ensuring the efficient and effective use of the Federal radio spectrum, and for performing state-of-the-art telecommunications research, engineering, and planning.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/budget.htm
* Fact Sheet: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/FY2008/budgetrequest2008_factsheet.pdf
* Executive Summary: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/FY2008/budgetrequest2008_summary.pdf
* As presented to Congress: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/FY2008/budgetrequest2008.pdf
* Bush Proposes Slight Boost For His Telecom Advisers
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-LYMQ1170792755749.html
BUSH BUDGET AGAIN WOULD CUT E2T2
[SOURCE: eSchool News]
For the fourth straight year, President Bush has proposed cutting the Enhancing Education Through Technology block-grant program -- the primary source of federal funding for school technology -- from the federal budget. Advocates of educational technology say the move makes little sense, given the president's stated commitment to ensuring the global competitiveness of American students. Altogether, President Bush proposes cutting 44 education programs totaling $2.2 billion -- including the $273 million that E2T2 received in 2007, as well as $35 million for arts education, $35 million for school counseling, and $60 million for enhancing teacher quality. Most of these same programs have been slated for elimination in Bush's budget plans for the past three years, but Congress each year has voted to spare them.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6861
WHAT THE FCC PROMISES TO DO -- BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
What does the FCC promise to do with funds from the proposed budget?
1) Promote the availability of broadband to all Americans.
How? Support and facilitate the development and deployment of broadband services across multiple platforms. Support and defend the adoption of policies and regulations to increase the availability of unlicensed and licensed terrestrial wireless broadband devices and licensed satellite broadband devices. Work in partnership with state, local, and tribal governments, consumer groups and industry to promote broadband availability to all Americans, including consumers in rural and high cost areas. Measure and report on the number of consumers that have adopted various broadband technologies. Measure and report on the number and category of consumer inquiries and complaints received regarding broadband availability and deployment.
2) Define broadband to include any platform capable of transmitting high-bandwidth intensive services, applications, and content.
How? Continue to evaluate and refine, as necessary, what constitutes broadband to ensure that it encompasses future, next-generation offerings that may not be in use today.
3) Ensure harmonized regulatory treatment of competing broadband services.
How? Support and encourage policies and regulations to ensure harmonized regulatory treatment among broadband technologies, platforms and service providers. Support and address regulatory requirements that affect broadband service providers, including universal service, 911 and E911, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), and consumer protection.
4) Encourage and facilitate an environment that stimulates investment and innovation in broadband technologies and services.
How? Employ appropriate strategies (including deregulation, forbearance, and waiver of regulatory requirements) to encourage new entrants and providers of nascent technologies to participate in broadband markets. Vigorously enforce and defend against legal challenge policies and regulations that promote the deployment and adoption of all broadband technologies. Maintain efficient licensing and facilities siting processes to encourage and facilitate rapid deployment of broadband infrastructure.
http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/fcc2008budget_complete.pdf
WHAT THE FCC PROMISES TO DO -- MEDIA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
What does the FCC promise to do with funds from the proposed budget? In FY 2008, the FCC will review media regulation to foster competition and diversity, and continue its management of the Digital TV transition process, pursuant to which over-the-air broadcasters will convert to digital transmission and relinquish their current channels, which can then be reallocated to commercial and public safety uses. To support this goal and facilitate the Digital TV transition, the FCC is seeking additional resources to develop a consumer outreach campaign to help educate the public about the impact and benefits of Digital TV.
1) Reevaluate media ownership rules in light of a changing marketplace and judicial review.
How? Support the development of and defend against legal challenge to broadcast ownership rules that comply with judicial directives and statutory requirements.
2) Facilitate the transition to digital television and further the transition to digital radio.
How? Adopt the final DTV Table of Allotments. Conduct outreach campaign to educate and inform consumers about the transition to digital television (DTV). Continue to negotiate and implement agreements with Canada and Mexico for the deployment of digital services in border regions. Maintain dialogue with policy makers, regulators, research communities, and industry on emerging technologies and services in the media marketplace. Adopt, enforce and defend against legal challenge policies and regulations to facilitate the transition to DTV and Digital Radio.
3) Enforce compliance with media rules.
How? Timely resolve and defend against legal challenge adjudicatory proceedings involving cable television, broadcast television and radio, and satellite services. Balance the protection of children and freedom of speech through firm and fair action on indecency, including enforcing and defending the Commission’s indecency-related actions in litigation. Timely resolve cross-border interference issues with Canada and Mexico. Participate in international organizations such as ITU, CITEL, APEC and OECD to establish procompetitive regulatory frameworks for the advancement and deployment of new media technologies.
http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/fcc2008budget_complete.pdf
What the FCC Promises to Do
WE CAN BE A LEADER IN COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)]
[Commentary] In March 2004, President Bush called for universal, affordable broadband access by 2007. It is now 2007, and according to various statistics, the United States is still falling behind the rest of the world in the availability and quality of advanced communications services. Furthermore, we do not even have an accurate measure of how many households have access to broadband services. History shows that the United States is fully capable of being the world leader in technology, but our preeminence is threatened. We must devise a strategy to regain and retain our edge. We must engage in a concerted effort to regain our place as the world leader in communications services. There is no one answer, but we must make improving access to broadband services, modernizing universal service, funding federal research in new communications and information technology, and promoting competition national priorities. The Senate Commerce Committee will push forward to identify barriers to, and opportunities for, forward progress in these areas. We plan to hold a series of hearings at which we will ask experts, regulators, and representatives of the public to provide us their insights and recommendations, so that we may develop a comprehensive strategy for broadband innovation and access for all. Policymakers and companies must work together to find the answers to ensure America is competitive in the world.
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020607/sf_inouy...
The Hill has a special focus on telecom policy issues running. Other commentaries --
* Communications issues still need Congress’s attention (Sen Ted Stevens R-Alaska))
"As our nation moves farther into the digital age, there are several important issues that Congress should consider which will dramatically affect the way millions of Americans communicate. These issues include reforming universal service, easing the transition to digital television, and encouraging Internet access."
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020607/sf_steve...
* Internet freedom at risk (Sen Byron Dorgan D-ND)
"[W]e face a situation where the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has removed nondiscrimination rules that applied to Internet providers for years. Those are the very rules that enabled the Internet to flourish, innovation, and the movement of ideas, information and commerce to thrive. Without the rules that prohibit discrimination, the broadband operator could become a gatekeeper, capable of deciding who can get through to a consumer, and under what conditions. This fundamentally changes the way the Internet operates."
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020607/sf_dorga...
* ‘Net neutrality’ — no one even knows what that means (Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas))
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020607/sf_barto...
* Affordable broadband for everyone (Rep John Dingell D-MI)
House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell proposes updating the FCC's definition of broadband and collection of data on broadband deployment. He also points to additional needs: encouraging infrastructure investment, promoting competition, spectrum management, modernizing universal service, fostering innovation and protecting consumers.
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020607/sf_dinge...
"We can be the world leader in communications technology"
PARENTS SEE MEDIA, NOT SEX, AS TOP WORRY: STUDY
[SOURCE: Reuters]
U.S. parents are more worried about the amount of time their kids spend watching television or meeting friends on Internet social networks than about sex or alcohol abuse, according to a study released on Monday by Insight Research Group and commissioned by Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based group that studies the impact of media on kids. Some 57 percent of parents surveyed were either very concerned or strongly concerned about children spending too much of their time with different media outlets. By comparison, about 45 percent of parents said they were as concerned about their kids engaging in sex or using alcohol. Parents also saw themselves as bearing the biggest responsibility for the way media affects their kids, well ahead of the companies that create TV shows or Internet content, who ranked third on the list. TV viewing topped the list of media categories that worried parents, following by Internet use and playing video games. Listening to the radio and reading magazines were deemed as the safest types of media, according to the poll.
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
* See Common Sense Media press release: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/news/press-releases.php?id=48
* See complete survey: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/news/pdfs/National-Parent-Poll.ppt
* Study Finds Next Big Media Backlash Could Be, Well, Media
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=55...
* Parents rate high as Internet controls - Software packages aren't enough to protect children from online threats
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/05/BUGV1NT4R...
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/news/press-releases.php?id=48
ACA TO TAKE AIM AT FCC AFTER SINCLAIR/MEDIACOM RETRANS DEAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Matthew Polka, President of the American Cable Association, which represents smaller and mid-sized cable operators, says the group is preparing to issue a statement expressing its displeasure with the FCC and calling for Congressional action on retransmission consent. "FCC has completely abdicated its public authority to regulate retransmission consent for the benefit of consumers," Polka said, arguing that a recent deal involving Mediacom was a case not of the marketplace working, but of Sinclair leveraging "every benefit of federal rules to the detriment of consumers." He said that the retransmission consent process unfairly disadvantages his member companies, but more importantly the subscribers to those companies, because they wind up paying more than the subscribers of big cable companies like Time Warner, with which Sinclair struck a deal just before Mediacom, but without pulling any stations from its systems to get the deal done.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413581.html?display=Breaking...
See also --
* Commisso: ‘Industry Has Major Issues’
The cable-television industry must seek significant changes in laws governing relationships with broadcasters, the chairman of Mediacom Communications said Monday.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6413340.html?display=Breaking+News
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413581.html?display=Breaking%20News
WINK TV TO PAY $16,000 FOR FAILURE TO PROVIDE INFO TO THE HEARING IMPAIRED
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
WINK TV in Fort Myers (FL) has agreed to pay $16,00 to the FCC to settle a complaint that the station failed to provide life-saving information to the hearing impaired. WINK will also take a host of remedial actions prescribed by the FCC per similar consent decrees with other broadcasters. TV and radio stations must either caption or otherwise make information like evacuation orders and other warnings available to hearing-impaired viewers. In settling with the FCC, the station admitted no fault. They agreed to caption in real time all its local newscasts, as well as any extended news coverage of an "emergency conditions affecting the Fort-Myers-Naples Designated Market Areas." And if there is not enough time to close caption in an emergency, it must use "crawls, scrolls, handwriting on a blackboard," or some other way to visually present the information.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413460.html?display=Breaking...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413460.html?display=Breaking%20News
CONGRESS LISTENING IN ON WIRETAPPING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] The National Security Agency's eavesdropping on Americans suspected of ties with foreign terrorists is slowly being brought under the rule of law. But the Bush administration still owes not just Congress but the country some straight answers about the program. The attacks of 9/11 changed a lot of things in the United States -- but not the meaning of the 4th Amendment or the need for congressional oversight of the executive branch. The administration can show its respect for these principles by being more forthcoming with the American people about its activities.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-nsa06feb06,1,265...
(requires registration)
Congress listens in on wiretapping
WIRETAPPING COULD STIFLE VOIP TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dean Takahashi]
[Commentary] In its zeal to pursue terrorists and criminals, the federal government could crush a nascent technology and, ironically, jeopardize the nation's security. That's one of the consequences of enabling wiretapping in the digital age. At the request of the FBI, the Federal Communications Commission is soon expected to require companies that provide certain kinds of Internet phone calls to enable law enforcement to conduct wiretapping, given court approval. Conventional phone calls are already subject to wiretapping when law enforcement obtains a court order. Internet phone calls, also called VOIP for voice over Internet protocol, can bypass phone-system charges by using the Internet to route calls from one Internet user to another. That makes for cheap or free calls -- but complicates wiretapping. To comply with the wiretapping rule, a service such as Skype might have to centralize its architecture and forgo communications innovations the current architecture offers. Or eBay might sell Skype to an offshore entity. Or Skype could design a backdoor, or vulnerability, into the technology to enable wiretapping. That not only would be ridiculous, but hobbling a communications network in such a way would also expose it to criminals with the technical know-how to exploit it.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/16627393.htm
Wiretapping could stifle VOIP technology