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Whitacre likened Internet access to any other kind of service telcos have offered over the years and said commercial interests should be allowed to pay for the amount of access they need. Whitacre complained that “some people†want AT&T to act as a “dumb pipe that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.†He added about the market demand for bandwidth, “This thing is growing at a rate that nobody would imagine." He said AT&T networks are now handling 5.6 Petabytes of data every day. “There’s more and more content, and you need more and more bandwidth, and somebody’s got to build it. If you build it, you have to make a return on that,†he continued. “Nobody gets a free ride, that’s all.â€
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/3123
NO FLOOR VOTE SCHEDULED FOR FRANCHISE BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has not scheduled a floor vote this week for the video franchise bill, and is "highly unlikely to" given the already crowded schedule, according to a source close to the Leader's office. That likely means a September vote at the earliest. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is still lining up the 60 he needs to defeat a threatened filibuster of the bill over its absence of strong network neutrality provisions. Sen Frist has made it clear that he won't schedule a vote until he can be assured it won't take up floor time only to be mooted by a filibuster.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6358139?display=Breaking+News
See also --
* Why is Congress considering such anti-consumer telecom bills?
[SOURCE: Nieman Watchdag/Harvard University, AUTHOR: Bruce Kushnick]
Activist Bruce Kushnick writes that both telecom bills before Congress would be huge giveaways to the very same telecommunications giants that have in the past pocketed massive government subsidies while shafting consumers and knee-capping American competitiveness. But they've taken very good care of members of Congress.
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.viewContributor...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6358139?display=Breaking%20News
AT&T'S WHITACRE: 'NOBODY GETS A FREE RIDE'
[SOURCE: Light Reading, AUTHOR: Mark Sullivan]
AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre spoke to state utilities regulators in San Francisco Tuesday on a variety of subjects, but the one topic he seemed to want to block out was the issue of network neutrality. Whitacre didn't mention the issue in his prepared remarks at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) annual meeting and when network neutrality came up during the Q&A session, Whitacre quipped: "Well I've got to go; I've got to catch a plane.†Kidding aside, Whitacre likened Internet access to any other kind of service telcos have offered over the years and said commercial interests should be allowed to pay for the amount of access they need. Whitacre complained that “some people†want AT&T to act as a “dumb pipe that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.†He added about the market demand for bandwidth, “This thing is growing at a rate that nobody would imagine." He said AT&T networks are now handling 5.6 Petabytes of data every day. “There’s more and more content, and you need more and more bandwidth, and somebody’s got to build it. If you build it, you have to make a return on that,†he continued. “Nobody gets a free ride, that’s all.â€
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=100380
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=100380
CUSTOMER LOSS TO INTERNET CONTINUES TO HURT PHONE COMPANIES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
According to Todd Rosenbluth, a telecommunications analyst at Standard & Poor’s, “The threat of competition from cable companies and Internet phone companies was there a year ago, but the reality of it is something we’re seeing in 2006.†He added that the phone companies were fighting back by discounting and bundling their services. Verizon and Qwest reported yesterday that the defection of their residential phone customers to cheaper Internet-based services picked up speed in the second quarter. But they said that strong sales of wireless and broadband services, as well as cost-cutting efforts, offset some of the losses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/technology/02verizon.html
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* Verizon Loses Land-Line Customers, Profit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR200608...
* Verizon Unlikely to Buy Vodafone's Wireless Stake
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115437919580022595.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
Customer Loss to Internet Continues to Hurt Phone Carriers
TELECOM TAX IMPOSED IN 1898 FINALLY ENDS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
The Spanish-American War has been over for more than 100 years, and now so is the tax imposed in 1898 to help fund it. Cost over-runs invoiced by contractor Humbugton have finally been paid and the President (McKinley, obviously) recently declared gleefully, "We won!" As of Tuesday, all phone companies selling long-distance phone service are legally required to eliminate the 3 percent federal excise tax on long-distance service, which had been established in 1898 as a luxury tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones. Verizon Communications said Tuesday that it has stopped collecting the 3 percent federal excise tax on monthly consumer telephone bills for long-distance and bundled services. After a long legal battle and strong urging from Congress, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury decided in May to discontinue the federal 3 percent excise tax on long-distance telephone service effective Aug. 1. The last portion of the tax, pertaining only to local telephone service, remains in effect. But Verizon and other telecom companies are urging Congress to repeal the tax in total this year.
http://news.com.com/Telecom+tax+imposed+in+1898+finally+ends/2100-1037_3...
* Verizon stops excise tax on long distance, bundles
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...
Telecom Tax Imposed in 1898 finally Ends
MARKET RESEARCH FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
On July 31, 2006, NTIA published a Request for Information (RFI) to conduct market research for implementation of the Congressionally mandated Digital to Analog Converter Box Coupon Program. NTIA is seeking capability information from organizations with the experience, qualifications, solution approaches, and best practices necessary to implement and administer the Coupon Program. This RFI is for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal. On August 11, 2006, at 10 A.M., NTIA will hold an Industry Day at the NOAA Auditorium, 1305 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, to give interested organizations an opportunity to receive an overview briefing on the Coupon Program and to ask questions about the project. Responses to the RFI should be received by September 15, 2006, and any questions should be e-mailed to Catherine.Holland@noaa.gov in the Commerce Department's NOAA Procurement Office.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/new.html
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/dtv/NTIA_DTV_DraftRequirements_073106.htm
Market Research for Implementation of Digital to Analog Converter Box Coupon Program
MEDIA GENERAL SELLS THREE STATIONS
[SOURCE: TV Newsday/Broadcasting&Cable]
On Tuesday, Media General announced it was selling Chattanooga (TN) CBS affiliate WDEF to Morris Multimedia for approximately $22 million as well as CBS affiliates WIAT-TV Birmingham (AL) and KIMT Mason City/Iowa/Rochester to New Vision Television for $35 million. On April 6, Media General announced that it would divest four stations as part of its acquisition of four NBC stations, which the company completed on June 26. Media General currently owns 30 network-affiliated broadcast television stations, reaching more than 33 percent of all television households in the Southeast and more than 10 percent of those in the US. The company’s publishing assets include three metropolitan newspapers, The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Winston-Salem Journal; 22 daily community newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina; and more than 100 weekly newspapers and other publications.
* Media General Wraps Sales
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6358492.html?display=Breaking...
* Media General Sells WDEF Chattanooga
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/08/01/daily.4/
* New Vision Buying Two Media General TVs
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6358486.html?display=Breaking...
* Media General website
http://www.mediageneral.com/about/index.htm
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6358492.html?display=Breaking%20News
FOR TODDLERS, A WORLD LADEN WITH ADVERTISING
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Kim Masters]
For many weary parents of preschoolers, television can be a godsend. And some of the programming might even be educational. But some experts say even the most positive children's television can carry messages that aren't good for children. Research by Vicky Rideout of the Kaiser Family Foundation has shown that many parents of preschool-age children have an uneasy awareness of the impact of commercials on their kids. "One mom mentioned to me [that] her daughter, who couldn't even talk yet, was humming the McDonald's jingle every time she saw the Golden Arches," Rideout says. But Rideout's research says that discomfort does not translate into real concern for parents. In fact, most parents see appropriate programming as a godsend. About one-third of children age 6 and younger even have a television in their room, just so they can watch their shows while parents are occupied elsewhere. Cyma Zarghami, the president of Nickelodeon, says her own company's research confirms that parents aren't worried about television. They focus on issues such as safety, making family life manageable and living within a budget. Zaraghami says some parents do complain that food ads aimed at kids have turned grocery shopping into a challenge. Nickelodeon tries to address that by promoting some healthy products, such as Dora the Explorer carrots. But ultimately, Zarghami acknowledges, Nickelodeon believes that by putting characters on products, they are serving their real customers: kids.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5569423
TWEENS AND MEDIA: WHAT'S TOO ADULT?
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Lynn Neary]
Parents daily face innumerable decisions about the way their kids interact with the media. Letting an 8-year-old listen to music that's a little sexy, or watch certain TV programs, seems pretty innocent compared to some alternatives. So the question becomes: Where does a parent draw the line? Wheelock College Professor Diane Levin says that our culture is so saturated with sexual images that some parents may not realize how their children process those images. She cautions parents to consider where it all may end. Experts say that communication is the most potent line of defense; even the most careful parents can't be with their kids all the time.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5595146
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5598521
POSTAL SERVICE FINDS A FRIEND IN THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katie Hafner]
As people send e-mail and e-cards instead of handwritten letters and greetings, as they pay more bills online and file tax returns electronically, the Postal Service has started to seem like a drab and tired reminder of the old way of doing things. Yet the Internet is actually injecting new life -- and a sorely needed source of revenue -- into the Postal Service. And it is happening with packages -- millions of them shipped every day, in a journey that starts with a few mouse clicks and ends a day or two or five later at a customer’s door. In 2005, revenue from first-class mail like cards and letters, which still made up more than half the Postal Service’s total sales of $66.6 billion, dropped nearly 1 percent from 2004. But revenue from packages helped make up for much of that drop, rising 2.8 percent, to $8.6 billion, last year, as it handled nearly three billion packages. It is impossible to say how many of these were online orders, but Postal Service officials give e-commerce a lot of credit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/business/02postal.html
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Postal Service Finds a Friend in the Internet
STOP THE PRESIDENTIAL POWER GRAB
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] An editorial against legislation proposed by Sen Arlen Specter (R-PA) and the White House concerning the Administration's secret wiretapping program. Under the Specter bill, the president would have the option, but not the obligation, to submit the program for review by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which would determine whether it violates the Constitution. The FISA court is ill-equipped to make a judgment on constitutional matters. And it's no secret why Bush wants it to review the program: because that would shield it from scrutiny by the federal courts, and in particular, the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been highly skeptical of Bush's claims to extraordinary executive powers. Indeed, the Specter bill would also move lawsuits seeking to expose related domestic-spying programs, including one filed against AT&T in San Francisco, from the federal courts to a secret FISA court, whose judgment would be final. If the Specter bill becomes law, court orders will no longer be required for electronic surveillance of ordinary Americans. Because wiretaps would be secret, their targets would never find out they were monitored, even if they were deemed to be innocent. It would be up to the American people to trust the government's claims that it is only monitoring terrorists. In short, it would be an invitation to wholesale abuses of power and to the return of the politically motivated domestic spying that was commonplace in the 1960s and 1970s.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/15178716.htm
Stop the presidential power grab