Benton RSS Feed

LEGISLATION
Spying bill clears Senate Panel
FEMA Overhaul Debate Stalls Funds for Interoperable Radios
Gordon Smith On Stuck Telecom Bill: Help!

NEWS FROM MARTIN NOMINATION HEARING
FCC chief appears to aim for AT&T-BellSouth Vote in Fall
Sen Sununu Questions Martin's Record

TELEVISION
Head of Broadcasts Board Survives Effort to Oust Him
Who Is Warren Bell?
Iowa Lawsuits Target Franchise Fees
Sprint Nextel signs with Tribune, Hearst-Argyle
Verizon strikes TV deal with Maryland county
Disney to include local ads with ABC shows online

QUICKLY -- Local Leaders Urge Owner of The LA Times to Avoid Cuts;
Challenges in Developing a Public/Private Internet Infrastructure
Recovery Plan; New Site Educates Political Speakers About Their
Rights Online; FAA proceeding threatening unlicensed service;
Children at risk on networking Web sites; EchoStar: Don't Sink Our
Subs; Has the FBI ever heard of Google?

LEGISLATION

SPYING BILL CLEARS SENATE PANEL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Thomas Ferraro]
A bill backed by President George W. Bush to enable a court review of
his domestic spying program won the approval on Wednesday of a U.S.
Senate panel under election-year pressure to safeguard civil
liberties. Bush's Republicans hailed the measure and brushed off
Democratic complaints that it could actually further undermine the
rights of law-abiding Americans because of what they called loopholes
that would expand presidential powers. The bill would clear the way
for a secret court created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act to examine the legality of the warrantless
surveillance program the White House launched after the September 11
attacks. On a party-line vote of 10-8, the Republican-led panel sent
the bill to the full Senate for an uncertain fate ahead of November 7
congressional elections.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID...
* Committee Votes to Expand Warrantless Surveillance Authority
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved several NSA bills today --
two of which would radically expand the President's authority to
conduct warrantless surveillance inside the United States. Senator
Arlen Specter's (R-Pa.) bill (S. 2453), which Specter revised to
accommodate White House requests for greater authority, would ratify
and dramatically expand the President's authority to wiretap
Americans without judicial approval. Senator Mike DeWine's (R-Ohio)
bill (S. 2455) would authorize warrantless wiretapping programs
without prior judicial approval and under a lower standard than the
Fourth Amendment requires. CDT supports the Specter-Feinstein
measure (S. 3001), which, unlike the other bills, restores the
constitutional balance of power while addressing the legitimate
concerns the Administration has raised. The full Senate could take up
the bills as early as next week.
Analysis: Specter and Wilson FISA Bills:
http://www.cdt.org/security/nsa/20060913fisa-bill.php
* GOP Leaders Back Bush on Wiretapping, Tribunals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR200609...
* NSA court review bill is sent to full Senate
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060914/a_capcol14.art.htm
* Senate Panel Sends a Mixed Message on Wiretapping
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-spy14sep14,1,474...

FEMA OVERHAUL DEBATE STALLS FUNDS FOR INTEROPERABLE RADIOS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Spencer S. Hsu]
House Republicans are blocking an attempt to spend $3.1 billion to
help the nation's police and fire agencies communicate in emergencies
as Congress debates a proposed overhaul of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. As both parties intensified the election-season
rhetoric over national security, Democrats accused GOP leaders of
shortchanging the well-documented need to improve communication among
first responders. Republicans acknowledged that they do not want to
spend billions prematurely, saying more planning and coordination are
needed. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff rebuffed calls
for dedicated federal grants to upgrade equipment, coordinate plans,
train emergency workers and adapt common technology standards.
Instead, he said, state and local leaders must first agree on radio
codes and protocols. "This is not, frankly, a technology issue,"
Chertoff told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs on Tuesday. "This is an issue of having
community leaders come to an agreement." The inability of police and
firefighters to talk by radio was a critical factor after the 2001
World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, according to the Sept. 11 commission.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR200609...
(requires registration)

GORDON SMITH ON STUCK TELECOM BILL: HELP!
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen Gordon Smith (R-OR) told a Media Institute luncheon Wednesday
that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is trying to help get
the 60 votes needed to bring the communications reform bill to a
floor vote (essentially to make it filibuster-proof), but said that
likely won't happen, if at all, until a lame duck session after the
November elections. If the bill doesn't pass, he said, the country
will fall behind in broadband deployment to the tune of a trillion
dollars and a million-plus jobs lost. "We need your help, we need 60
votes," he told the crowd of media executives at The Media Institute.
Asked why the network neutrality supporters had been so successful in
impeding the bill, given they had been outspent by the telcos on
lobbying, Sen Smith said he could only speculate, but pointed to the
populist argument that the Internet, that came to us "almost by
accident" and had become available virtually for free. They don't
want to change that. I'd love everything to be free too," he said,
but argued that if the country is to get to the "next level" of
broadband, and get it to more and more Americans, "you allow the
marketplace to work. If you say right up front you can't charge this
or you can't discriminate as to customers who bring volume, then you
take a tremendous incentive away from investment." Republicans have
already threatened to make a campaign issue out of the bill's
stalemate, pitching it as Democrats standing in the way of broadband
deployment and price and service competition to cable.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6371856?display=Breaking+News

NEWS FROM MARTIN NOMINATION HEARING

FCC CHIEF APPEARS TO AIM FOR AT&T-BELLSOUTH VOTE IN FALL
[SOURCE: MarketWatch, AUTHOR: Siobhan Hughes]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Tuesday
appeared to suggest that he is hoping to vote over the next month or
so on whether to approve AT&T purchase of BellSouth. In late April,
the FCC commenced a review of the transaction and the Commission
generally tries to approve transactions six months after beginning
its review. The Justice Department hasn't yet approved the merger.
Traditionally, the FCC waits to act until the Justice Department has
completed its own review. The FCC meets in two weeks and again on
Oct. 12. Chairman Martin still faces questions about whether he will
be able to count on both Republican colleagues on the five-member
commission. FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell on Tuesday reiterated he
may be recused from voting, given that his former employer opposes
the merger. McDowell would be a crucial swing vote because the two
Democrats may favor imposing conditions that don't fit in with
Martin's largely hands-off approach.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=...

SEN SUNUNU QUESTIONS MARTIN'S RECORD
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) Tuesday questioned some policy calls of
Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin at a Senate
Commerce Committee hearing on whether Martin should receive another
five years at the agency. Sen Sununu, a brash and vocal advocate of
communications deregulation, indicated that Martin had been too
willing to insert the FCC into places that should be left to the
market. "Without a doubt, [Martin] has pursued policies to restrict
marketing of Internet services ," Sen Sununu said. "He's pushed to
establish must-carry regulations for multicasting. He's advocated
price controls on cable television."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6371180.html?display=Breaking+News

TELEVISION

HEAD OF BROADCAST BOARD SURVIVES EFFORT TO OUST HIM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the embattled chairman of the federal board
that oversees most government broadcasts to foreign countries,
narrowly survived an effort to oust him on Wednesday. After a recent
report by the inspector general at the State Department that Mr.
Tomlinson had used his office to run a horse-racing operation and
that he had improperly put a friend on the payroll, the three
Democratic members of the seven-member Broadcasting Board of
Governors offered two resolutions. One resolution called for his
resignation as chairman during a continuing inquiry; the other sought
to curtail his authority sharply. The Justice Department has declined
to pursue a criminal investigation but is conducting a related civil
inquiry. Both resolutions failed 3 to 3 on party-line votes. Mr.
Tomlinson did not participate in the votes, people involved in the
closed-door session said. Mr. Tomlinson has denied doing anything
improper and had said the investigation "was inspired by partisan
divisions inside the Broadcasting Board of Governors." Mr. Tomlinson,
whose term has expired, has been nominated for a second term and
continues to have the support of the White House. Republicans in the
Senate said that in light of the continuing inquiry, they would not
bring his nomination to the floor this year. Under federal law, board
members may continue to serve past the expiration of their
appointments until successors are named.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/washington/14broadcast.html
(requires registration)

WHO IS WARREN BELL?
[SOURCE: Common Cause]
The White House this summer nominated three people to fill vacant
slots on the CPB. Two of the nominees have distinguished careers and
a track record of public service. Not so for Bell, who has no
discernable background in public broadcasting, education,
philanthropy, or public service, and has written a number of
outrageous comments in his columns and blog on National Review
Online. Bell made his mark in the world of commercial
television. Indeed, he declares, "creating pop culture has been the
focus of my adult life."6 His TV credits include According to Jim,
Coach, Ellen, and The PJs, an animated comedy series about life in a
public housing project. Even Bell can't explain why the
Administration nominated him to serve on the CPB board. Bell has not
demonstrated much of an interest in public broadcasting, let alone
any professional expertise in the field. When asked if he listened to
National Public Radio, Bell confessed that he usually tunes into
sports radio instead. Ironically, Bell has been selected to fill the
slot vacated by an earlier Bush Administration appointee, Kenneth Tomlinson.
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=2004587

IOWA LAWSUITS TARGET FRANCHISE FEES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
Consumers in seven Iowa cities are challenging cable-franchise fees,
arguing that they violate state law because the amount collected is
larger than the actual cost to regulate the businesses. Individual
lawsuits have been filed in Iowa District Court against Bettendorf,
Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Sioux City and
Waterloo. The suits were filed Sept. 5-9. Richard Davidson, attorney
for the plaintiffs, said the suits were triggered by a May ruling by
the state's Supreme Court. The ruling was on a case -- launched by a
utility user, Lisa Kragnes of Des Moines -- that affirmed that taxing
agencies can only assess and recover the actual cost of regulating a
utility. That suit, against gas and electric utility taxes, seeks
class-action status. In most of the country, cable-franchise fees are
classified as rent -- the price paid by a commercial entity for the
use of the public right of way. But Iowa's laws are different,
Davidson explained. In a utility franchise case litigated in 1917,
state courts established that the people, not the cities, own the
rights of way. Because it is the public's ground, cities are not
authorized to rent it out, he added. The cities that have been sued
each charge a 5% franchise fee on cable revenues -- the amount
authorized by the federal Cable Act. The cities targeted by the suits
funnel the franchise-fee revenue into the general fund, where the
monies are used for any purpose, not just cable-related ones.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6371639.html?display=Breaking+News

SPRINT NEXTEL SIGNS WITH TRIBUNE, HEARST-ARGYLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Glen Dickson]
Sprint Nextel has made fresh progress in moving broadcasters off
spectrum the wireless carrier has secured for its future use,
reaching "Frequency Relocation Agreements" with Tribune station WGN
Chicago and Hearst-Argyle station WESH-Orlando on how they will be
reimbursed for new digital microwave gear. The process, known as "2
GHz Relocation," is the result of a $4.8 billion agreement the FCC
brokered with Sprint Nextel in February 2005. The deal moves some of
Sprint Nextel's operations out of the 800 megahertz (MHz) frequency
band, where its signals were interfering with public-safety
communications, and into part of the 2 gigahertz (GHz) band, which
broadcasters use to send both live and taped feeds from their trucks
to the station. Broadcasters will move off existing ENG channels and
use new digital microwave gear to continue operations in a smaller
slice of microwave spectrum. Sprint Nextel must spend roughly $500
million on the digital ENG gear. It will give back spectrum valued at
$2.1 billion and also write the federal government a check for $2.2
billion. The FCC has set a deadline of September 2007 for completion
of the nationwide project.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6371890?display=Breaking+News

VERIZON STRIKES TV DEAL WITH MARYLAND COUNTY
[SOURCE: Reuters]
Verizon, the No. 2 U.S. telephone company in the US, said on
Wednesday that officials in Montgomery County (MD) have agreed to let
it sell Web-based video service to local residents and that it may
drop its lawsuit against the county for blocking it. Verizon sued the
county, which is near Washington (DC) in June, saying the
subscription television licensing process was delaying plans to
expand the company's new FiOS TV video service and violating U.S.
antitrust and communications laws. The company said it reached an
agreement with county officials under the mediation of U.S.
Magistrate Judge James Bredar, although a dismissal of the lawsuit
and a franchise agreement depend on final approval by the county
council. Montgomery County said Verizon agreed to pay it $1 million
over five years for cable-related investments, in addition to five
percent of gross revenues as a franchise fee and three percent of
gross revenues for public access programming and other costs. Verizon
also agreed to support public education and government channels and
offer cable services to 100 public-use buildings, such as schools and
libraries, under the 15-year franchise agreement, the county said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
* Verizon, Montgomery Reach Tentative Deal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR200609...

DISNEY TO INCLUDE LOCAL ADS WITH ABC SHOWS ONLINE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Gina Keating]
The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday said it reached an agreement with
ABC television affiliates to include local advertising in the
network's online offering of seven prime-time TV series, including
"Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." Disney plans to reintroduce its
free, ad-supported broadband video player software at ABC.com later
this month after a two-month test this summer showed that viewers
could recall the interactive ads at far higher rates than on TV
airings. ABC affiliates had expressed concern that the Web program
would cut into viewership and appeared to offer no local advertising
participation. On Wednesday, ABC said it had agreed to allow local
affiliates to sell one ad per episode, in what it believes is the
first time local ads have been inserted in a nationally operated
broadband player. Local stations can feature the broadband player on
their Web sites, and will keep all revenue from ads they sell for the
player, Disney said. Affiliates have agreed to promote the player
software online and on air, and the ABC Affiliate Board has endorsed
the program.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID...
* ABC, Affils Reach Broadband Arrangement
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/09/13/daily.3/
* Primetime ABC Shows to Stream on Affiliates Websites
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6371673.html?display=Breaking...
* One Million Free Downloads from ABC
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6371897.html?display=Breaking...
* ABC.com Shows to Take Local Ads
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-disney14sep14,1,20618...

QUICKLY

LOCAL LEADERS URGE OWNER OF THE TIMES TO AVOID CUTS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
Twenty Los Angeles civic leaders sent a letter of protest to the
Chicago-based owners of the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, saying
that continued staff reductions threatened to seriously erode the
quality of journalism at The Times. Former U.S. Secretary of State
Warren Christopher was among the prominent citizens who urged Tribune
Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis J. FitzSimons and the media
company's board of directors "to resist economic pressures to make
additional cuts which could remove it from the top ranks of American
journalism." "All newspapers serve an important civic role," the
letter adds, "but as a community voice in the metropolitan region,
the Los Angeles Times is irreplaceable."
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-times14sep14,1,675631...
(requires registration)

INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE: CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING A PUBLIC/PRIVATE
RECOVERY PLAN
[SOURCE: Government Accountability Office, AUTHOR: David A. Powner
and Keith A. Rhodes]
Federal policy recognizes the need to prepare for debilitating
Internet disruptions and tasks the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) with developing an integrated public/private plan for Internet
recovery. GAO was asked to summarize its report -- Internet
Infrastructure: DHS Faces Challenges in Developing a Joint
Public/Private Recovery Plan, GAO-06-672 (Washington, D.C.: June 16,
2006). This report 1) identifies examples of major disruptions to the
Internet, 2) identifies the primary laws and regulations governing
recovery of the Internet in the event of a major disruption, 3)
evaluates DHS plans for facilitating recovery from Internet
disruptions, and 4) assesses challenges to such efforts. In its
report, GAO suggests that Congress consider clarifying the legal
framework guiding Internet recovery and makes recommendations to DHS
to strengthen its ability to help recover from Internet disruptions.
In written comments, DHS agreed with GAO's recommendations. (GAO-06-1100T)
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-1100T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d061100thigh.pdf

NEW SITE EDUCATES POLITICAL SPEAKERS ABOUT THEIR RIGHTS
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy & Technology]
The vast majority of political speech by individuals on the Internet
is fully protected by the law and carries no risk of violating
campaign finance rules. That is the key message of
NetDemocracyGuide.org, a new Web site created by the Center for
Democracy & Technology (CDT) to educate Internet users about their
rights and obligations under campaign finance law. Developed with the
support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York,
NetDemocracyGuide.org makes it easy for bloggers and other citizen
activists to quickly understand the new campaign finance rules, and
how those rules apply to them.
Net Democracy Guide: http://www.netdemocracyguide.org
Press Release: http://www.cdt.org/press/20060912press.php

FAA PROCEEDING THREATENING UNLICENSED SERVICE
[SOURCE: Truth, Justice & Telecom Policy, AUTHOR: JH Snider]
[Commentary] Yesterday the New America Foundation, Media Access
Project, Free Press, and others filed comments in a proceeding at the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerning the creation of new
limitations on unlicensed and other private sector spectrum users.
The FAA was motivated by a praiseworthy goal: to prevent harmful
interference to FAA communications. But the restrictions it proposed
on private sector spectrum users were so onerous that they invited a
tsunami of opposing comments. New America et al.'s filing was
noteworthy not in its general critique of the FAA's proposal but in
its specific focus on the potential impact of the FAA proposal on
unlicensed service.
http://quixote.blogs.com/telecompolicy/2006/09/yesterday_the_n.html

CHILDREN AT RISK ON NETWORKING WEB SITES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Michael Holden]
Children using hugely popular social networking Web sites such as
MySpace.com and Bebo.com face bullying, unsuitable advertising and
pornography, a report by a UK consumer watchdog magazine said on Thursday.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...

DON'T SINK OR SUBS, ECHOSTAR TELLS COURT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
EchoStar has told a Florida district court that it should not have to
pull the distant network signals of 800,000 subscribers because
circumstance have changed dramatically since a court ordered it to,
and consumers would be unduly and unfairly hurt by the move. Also,
they say, competitor DirectTV would directly benefit from the move.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6371879.html?display=Breaking...
* EchoStar Seeking 120-Day Transition
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6371889.html?display=Breaking+News

HAS THE FBI EVER HEARD OF GOOGLE?
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Eric Sinrod]
[Commentary] When it comes to the federal government's rationale for
not producing information to answer inquiries citing the Freedom of
Information Act, the recent case of Davis v. Department of Justice
falls under the "you gotta be kidding" category.
http://news.com.com/Has+the+FBI+ever+heard+of+Google/2010-1028_3-6115295...
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------