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ONLINE GAMBLING BILL HITS SNAG IN CONGRESS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Thomas Ferraro and Peter Kaplan]
Efforts to win U.S. congressional passage of a bill to ban most forms of Internet gambling by tacking it onto a must-pass bill hit a roadblock on Tuesday, but aides said Republican backers were exploring other ways to make it law. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) raised a "strong objection" to attaching any unrelated legislation to a pending defense bill, which has been viewed by supporters of the Internet gambling bill as a prime vehicle for it. A Republican aide said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has not given up on passing the Internet gambling bill before lawmakers recess at the end of this week to campaign for the November 7 elections. He and other proponents are looking at other possible vehicles, such as a pending measure to bolster port security against potential terrorist attacks, aides said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
FOIA MEASURE A GOOD STEP FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy and Technology]
The Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved a bill that, among other things, requires government agencies to respond in a timelier manner to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. Introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) the Open Government Act would require agencies to provide information within 20 days of receiving a FOIA request or be subject to penalties. It is unclear whether the bill will make its way to the President in the few remaining days before Congress recesses. CDT strongly supports the measure.
The Open Government Act: http://www.cdt.org/legislation/109/8#S.394
CDT Letter in Support of S. 394, February 11, 2005: http://www.cdt.org/righttoknow/20050211cdtsupport.pdf
CDT Testimony: FOIA, May 11, 2005: http://www.cdt.org/testimony/20050511schwartzfoia.pdf
LOCAL NEWS MEANS... MORE LOCAL NEWS
[SOURCE: Seattle Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] Media ownership is too serious a question to be the subject of political games at the Federal Communications Commission. But under former Chairman Michael Powell, the FCC started a study of media concentration, saw results critical to industry trends and quietly shelved the study. Local owners care about local news. Many people could have told the FCC that, and some did, but under Powell the majority on the FCC didn't want to hear it. It was in the midst of a plan to lift restrictions on media mergers, allowing them to be ever more elephantine, and it didn't want any study to trip it up. The current FCC chairman, Kevin Martin, has been more cautious than Powell, and he needs to be more cautious still. There is no need to liberalize media ownership limits, and much reason to keep them just as they are.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2003277060_xowne...
Local news means ... more local news
'NEUTRALITY' IS NEW CHALLENGE FOR INTERNET PIONEER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
A Q&A with Sir Tim Berners-Lee who is credited with helping to create the Internet. He is a vocal proponent of Network Neutrality, a hotly debated issue as Congress moves to update the nation's telecommunications laws. One quote: "Net neutrality is one of those principles, social principles, certainly now much more than a technical principle, which is very fundamental. When you break it, then it really depends how far you let things go. But certainly I think that the neutrality of the Net is a medium essential for democracy, yes — if there is democracy and the way people inform themselves is to go onto the Web."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/technology/circuits/27neut.html
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'Neutrality' Is New Challenge for Internet Pioneer
RESURRECTING '7TH HEAVEN' -- ON THE CHEAP
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brooks Barnes brooks.barnes@wsj.com]
The story of how "7th Heaven" was killed and buried and then exhumed and resuscitated underscores the new agility TV producers must have in the rapidly changing TV business. In the days of vertically integrated media companies, distribution via the Internet, DVDs and instant feedback from fans, shows must be much more nimble than in the past. Decades ago, new shows were given a season or two to find an audience. Nowadays, shows are lucky to get a few episodes to prove themselves, but new technology can just as easily change network minds. A big network show can be canceled and then brought back to life after selling well on DVD. (The animated series "Family Guy" is an example.) If writers launch a new story line fans don't like, they must quickly retrench or suffer the wrath of bloggers who can hurt ratings with negative buzz ("Desperate Housewives"). And shows must be able to expand or contract from a half hour to an hour and back with a week's notice to cover holes on the schedule ("American Idol"). The return of "7th Heaven" -- the series premiered to soft ratings on Monday, attracting about four million viewers -- also is an example of how networks can rein in escalating production costs. To make "7th Heaven" more affordable, the studio producing it, CBS Paramount Television, cut salaries for actors, producers and writers. Executives ordered that each episode be taped and edited in six days instead of seven, as in the past. Expensive outdoor filming at night? Forget about it. CW now has to pay only between $1.4 million and $1.8 million an episode to license the show, down from nearly $3 million an episode three years ago, according to two people close to the show. That price is about 70% below what the average hourlong show costs per episode.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115931596049875005.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115931596049875005.html?mod=todays_us_marketplac…
CHRISTIANS ARE BIDDERS TOO
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] When the owner of KOCE-TV, Orange County's (CA) public television station, decided to sell, the highest bidder was a Dallas-based Christian broadcaster. But the station's leaders wanted it to remain a PBS affiliate. Rejecting the Dallas bid, in 2004 the owner illegally accepted a lower offer from a well-connected local group. Now Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has on his desk a bill that would allow this deal to stand. He should reject it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-orange27sep27,1,5...
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Christians Are Bidders Too
IS PUBLICLY OWNED INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE A WISE PUBLIC INVESTMENT FOR SAN FRANCISCO?
[SOURCE: Institute for Local Self-Reliance & Media Alliance, AUTHOR: Becca Vargo Daggett]
San Francisco has launched an initiative to provide wireless access everywhere in the city. Media Alliance invited the Institute for Local Self-Reliance to investigate the economics of a publicly owned information infrastructure. Based on conservative assumptions, a publicly owned wireless network can repay its original investment within five years and generate an average net income of over $2 million per year for ten years.
http://www.newrules.org/info/sf-financial.pdf
Is Publicly Owned Information Infrastructure A Good Investment for San Francisco?
CBS COMBINES SYNDICATION COMPANIES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Ben Grossman]
The CBS Corporation has formed the CBS Television Distribution Group (CTDG), a new entity that will combine CBS Paramount Domestic Television, King World and CBS Paramount International Television. Former King World CEO Roger King will take over as CEO of the new organization. Robert Madden and John Nogawski become presidents and COOs, while Armando Nunez Jr. continues as president of CBS Paramount International Television. All three report to King in the new structure.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6375383.html
CBS Combines Syndication Companies
US PUSHES ANTI-CASTRO TV, BUT IS ANYONE WATCHING?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Abby Goodnough]
Soon after Fidel Castro announced his mysterious illness in July, the Bush administration stepped up its anti-Castro television broadcasts to Cuba with a new $10 million system. For the last two months, a twin-engine plane has beamed the signal of the American broadcast, called TV MartÃ, toward the island from over the Straits of Florida for four hours a day, six days a week, up from four hours of transmission from an Air Force plane on Saturdays. Because the plane flies at 20,000 feet, administration officials say, the Cuban government cannot jam the signal as easily as in the past, when a blimp tethered 10,000 feet over the Florida Keys did the transmitting. But in interviews in the past two weeks, many Cubans said they still saw just snowy interference where the TV Martà broadcasts should be. About a dozen people in Havana said they still had never glimpsed the station even after the expanded airborne broadcasts began, raising questions about the usefulness of the $10 million expenditure. Some said they would not watch the station even if they could, because they assumed that it would be biased.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/us/27marti.html?hp&ex=1159416000&en=d0...
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U.S. Pushes Anti-Castro TV, but Is Anyone Watching?
IN ITALY, POLITICAL FALLOUT OVER PLANS FOR TELECOM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Sylvers]
It started with the announcement of a clear-cut plan to split up Italy’s largest phone company, Telecom Italia, into separate mobile and fixed-line units. But that seemingly simple plan has led to a verbal slugfest between the prime minister, Romano Prodi, and the company’s chairman, Marco Tronchetti Provera, who is also the country’s best-known executive. Now, Mr. Prodi’s government, which has a razor-thin majority in Parliament, seems to be wavering for the first time since he took office in May. On Thursday, he faces public scrutiny by opposition members of Parliament when he appears before the lower house to answer to criticism that he might be interfering in Mr. Tronchetti Provera’s corporate sphere. Then, on Oct. 5, Mr. Prodi will again face opposition Parliament members at a hearing in the Senate. Some members of Parliament are concerned that Mr. Prodi appears to be meddling in the affairs of a private company, despite European Union guidelines against such interference.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/technology/27tele.html
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In Italy, Political Fallout Over Plans for Telecom