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CWA OPPOSES SENSENBRENNER NET NEUTRALITY BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Communications Workers of America has written House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) opposing his network neutrality bill. Rep Sensenbrenner's bill would not allow networks to charge online content companies for providing them enhanced bandwidth or security, which CWA and the phone companies argue will not allow companies to get a return on their investments in network build-outs and slow those build-outs, and will delay the broadband rollout that is the driving force behind video franchise reform legislation in the House and Senate. CWA says it supports an open Internet, and even used the letter to plug legislation mandating cable à la carte, but said the Sensenbrenner bill was not the right approach.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6337857?display=Breaking+News
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6337857?display=Breaking%20News
MAKE NO LAW
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled today to mark up legislation dealing with the National Security Agency's program of warrantless domestic surveillance. What kind of bill it will report out is anyone's guess. Three different bills are floating around -- one by Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), one by Mike DeWine (R-OH) and one by Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) -- and they would do wildly different things. What the committee should do now is clear: nothing. Any legislation is premature, because most members of the committee still have no firm sense of what the NSA surveillance program consists of. The goal of legislation should be to legitimize important surveillance by requiring judicial review, limiting the use of material collected to counterintelligence purposes and ensuring that irrelevant material is not retained. The best way for the Judiciary Committee to move toward this goal is to hold off on a markup and insist that it receive more information about the program -- so that it's not shooting in the dark.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/24/AR200605...
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Make No Law
A VOTE FOR ENGLISH
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: George Will]
[Commentary] What public good is advanced by encouraging the participation of people who, by saying they require bilingual assistance, are saying they cannot understand the nation's political conversation? By receiving such assistance they are receiving a disincentive to become proficient in English. Declaring English the national language is a mere gesture. But by ending bilingual ballots, American law would perform its expressive function of buttressing, by codifying and vivifying, certain national assumptions and aspirations. Among those is this: The idea of citizenship becomes absurd when sundered from the ability to understand the nation's civic conversation. What makes Americans generally welcoming of immigrants, and what makes immigrants generally assimilable, is that this is a creedal nation, one dedicated to certain propositions, not one whose origins and identity are bound up with ethnicity. But if you are to be welcomed to the enjoyment of American liberty, then America has a few expectations of you. One is that you can read the nation's founding documents and laws and can comprehend the political discourse that precedes the casting of ballots. Is this unreasonable? Of course not.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/24/AR200605...
(requires registration)
A Vote For English
HALT PENTAGON PAYMENTS TO IRAQI JOURNOS, DOD REPORT RECOMMENDS
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher]
The Department of Defense investigation into revelations the U.S. military was paying for favorable Iraqi press concludes the propaganda effort could harm American credibility -- and the payments should stop. According to a summary of the investigation led by Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, the Pentagon failed to consider whether the payments would "undermine the concept of a free press in Iraq," and must now implement procedures to "ensure proper oversight" of the private contractors leading the propaganda effort. This appears to be a reference to the Lincoln Group, a Washington-based firm that, according to press reports last fall, was paid to plant articles in Iraqi newspapers without revealing the stories were written by the military. The Lincoln Group also paid some Iraqi journalists directly for favorable press.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
* U.S. Urged to Stop Paying Iraqi Reporters
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/world/middleeast/24propaganda.html
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=…
HOUSE OPEN TO NARROWER SENATE BILL ON DECENCY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
The House of Representatives would accept a narrower Senate bill to boost fines on television and radio stations for decency violations if differences cannot be worked out between the two chambers, House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) said Wednesday. "The (House) Majority Leader and Speaker are working with the Majority Leader in the Senate to see what their timetable might be to appoint conferees," Rep Barton said. "If that doesn't look hopeful, then the recommendation would be to accept the Senate bill."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/05/24/house_o...
TV STATIONS REVENUES TO RISE $1.5 BILLION, SAYS BIA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Political bucks will drive a boost in TV station revenues in 2006, according to BIA Financial Network analysts. BIA Financial predicts 2006 TV market revues will be up more than 7% to a total $22.2 billion. That is versus a drop of more than 7% last year to $20.7 billion, again partly because of the drop in election ads form the presidential year of 2004. The 2006 increase is expected to be primarily driven by states with competitive Senate and governor races, a pattern BIA has picked up over the last several years. Fox is the leading moneymaker among network TV groups, raking in $2.3 billion in 2005, according to BIA, followed by CBS, NBC, Tribune, then ABC.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6337725?display=Breaking+News
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6337725?display=Breaking%20News
PRODUCTS PLACED IN TELEVISION PLOTS ARE HERE TO STAY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Bauder]
Product placement -- a can of soda casually placed on a table while the characters are standing around it -- has been a part of TV for decades, usually creating little controversy. But producers John Wells of "ER" and Neil Baer of "Law & Order: SVU" say they're worried about being forced to use products in their stories in ways that make them look silly. The producers, representing the Writers Guild of America, said they recognize ad integration is here to stay. What they want is to negotiate with networks a process that gives creators a say in what can and can't be done, and they said the networks haven't been willing to put that on paper. They'd like to get a cut of these deals too. There's increased pressure toward integrated ads from several directions. Advertisers are worried that digital video recorders are encouraging more and more consumers to fast-forward through commercials. Between dwindling viewership and increased competition from the Internet, networks are eager to keep their sponsors happy. Product integration has been more prevalent on reality shows, where contestants recently won a bottle of mouthwash in a reward challenge and let it swirl around their mouths like fine wine.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0605230377may24,1,7735248.story
Products placed in television plots are here to stay
FCC'S KATRINA PANEL TO MEET JUNE 9
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The FCC's Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks will hold its final meeting on June 9, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. in the FCC's Commission Meeting Room which is located at 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305, Washington, DC. The Panel will consider and vote on a report that addresses the impact of Hurricane Katrina on communications infrastructure, including public safety communications, and includes recommendations for improving disaster preparedness, network reliability and communications among first responders. The Panel Report is due to the FCC by June 15, 2006. As part of its consideration, the Panel may vote on proposed amendments to the Panel Report, if any. Members of the general public may attend the meeting. The FCC will attempt to accommodate as many people as possible. Admittance, however, will be limited to seating availability. Real Audio access to the meeting will be available at www.fcc.gov. Open captioning will be provided for this event. Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. To request accommodations, send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY). Include a description of the accommodation you will need with as much detail as possible. Also include a way we can contact you if we need more information. Please allow at least five days advance notice; last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill. The public may submit written comments before the meeting to: Lisa M. Fowlkes, the FCC's Designated Federal Officer for the Independent Panel, at lisa.fowlkes@fcc.gov or by U.S. Postal Mail (Lisa M. Fowlkes, Designated Federal Officer, Hurricane Katrina Independent Panel, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW, Room 7-C737, Washington DC 20554).
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1085A1.doc
FCC's Katrina Panel to Meet June 9
MERGERS MAY BE NEXT TREND FOR BIG INTERNET COMPANIES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Eric Auchard]
Speculation is rife on Wall Street that a big Internet deal or alliance is in the works, with Google, Yahoo, eBay or Microsoft as possible partners -- and a Yahoo-eBay partnership seen as most likely. "A partnership or merger between eBay and Yahoo! is the most strategically feasible," a report authored by analyst Imran Khan and the JP Morgan Internet team said on Monday. "A combined company would have the leading position in auctions, communications, payments, graphical advertising, audience reach, and geographic breadth," the report said. Silicon Valley insiders, high-tech bankers and financial analysts are giving new credence to potential merger deals, which fly in the face of common wisdom that the Internet's rapid growth has always outweighed the logic of consolidation. But Internet growth is slowing and competition among the biggest companies -- Google, Yahoo, eBay and Microsoft -- is intensifying.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
** BREAKING NEWS: Yahoo and eBay announced a strategic partnership for Internet searches, advertising, online payments and a co-branded toolbar. **
COURT PULLS ECHOSTAR'S DISTANT SIGNALS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John M. Higgins & John Eggerton]
In a decision that could have serious implications for EchoStar's satellite TV business, a federal appeals court has ordered to stop delivering the signals of distant TV stations to its subscribers. The ruling could force EchoStar’s Dish Network to shuffle the station lineup delivered to hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Some subs may be temporarily unable to receive any broadcast stations at all. In a harshly-worded opinion, the three-judge panel declared: "We have found no indication that EchoStar was ever interested in complying with" laws regulating how satellite TV companies deliver broadcast stations to their customers. The case is part of a long-running copyright dispute between broadcasters and satellite companies over homes located in the fringes of TV markets. EchoStar is permitted to deliver so-called "distant" signals only to homes that receive no other stations over the air. But EchoStar’s method of determining which customers were eligible for the distant signals has been a bone of contention, and litigation, for years. Broadcasters complain that the company abuses the rules and violates the Satellite Home Viewer Act by regularly delivering the wrong market’s stations to its subscribers.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6337470?display=Breaking+News
* EchoStar Must Cut Off Distant Nets
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6337495.html?display=Breaking+News
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6337470?display=Breaking%20News