to Meet May 2, 2006
The of the CPB Board of Directors will meet in public session Tuesday, May 2, 2006, from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm ET. On the draft agenda is approval of minutes and an update on consultation with the public broadcasting system and research. The public may attend and observe this meeting in the Blair-Killian Board Room of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
April 26, 2006 The House Commerce Committee, by an overwhelming vote of 42 to 12, has paved the way for the creation of national video franchises, though the bill itself still has a ways to travel before it becomes law.
"The House vote today ignores a groundswell of popular support for Internet freedom," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press. "We hope that the full House will resist the big telecom companies and reject the bill. But we look to the Senate to restore meaningful protections for net neutrality and ensure that the Internet remains open to unlimited economic innovation, civic involvement and free speech."
COALITION PRAISES RETRANS ROUNDTABLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Coalition To Reform Retransmission Consent Wednesday praised House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) for agreeing to hold a retransmission consent reform "roundtable." That came after a retransmission consent-related amendment the coalition had supported was not introduced during markup of a national video franchising bill, a victory for broadcasters, though one that had been widely anticipated. The coalition, which includes Advance/Newhouse Communications, Cox Communications, Discovery Communications, Hallmark Channels, Insight Communications, Oxygen Media, and Suddenlink Communications, expressed its gratitude to Republican Reps. Nathan Deal (GA) and Charles Bass (NH) for their "leadership and hard work."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6328576?display=Breaking+News
* See Broadcasters' reaction at:
http://www.nab.org/newsroom/pressrel/statements/042606_DKR_statement_Dea...
PARALLEL UNIVERSES OR A HOUSE DIVIDED AMONG ITSELF: THE TURF WAR BEGINS -- COMMERCE COMMITTEE VS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Jeff Pulver Blog]
[Commentary] The House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Telecom and Antitrust held an Oversight Hearing on "Network Neutrality: Competition, Innovation and Nondiscriminatory Access." It was a world away from the Hearings and Markups we have experienced in the House Commerce Committee in the past few weeks. Does Judiciary offer us a glimpse of a better world? I'm inclined to say yes. Others might disagree. It, however, is hard to believe that these two Committees represent the same constituency, the same country. How could two adjoining Committees suggest two such radically different policy results? The Commerce Committee is large predisposed against Net Neutrality. It was hard to find a harsh sentiment towards Net Neutrality in Judiciary. In fact, the Judiciary Hearing was, for the most part, a total dogpile on Walter McCormick, the President of USTA, the trade association for the Bell Companies and other ILECs. As best we could tell, virtually all the members, across the aisle in Judiciary, were generally inclined towards ensuring a competitive marketplace, and using competition to drive innovation. The Judiciary Hearing seemed more like an experiment, a glimpse of what could be if industry lobbyists did not wield so much sway in Congress. What is clear is that there is a brewing turf war between Commerce and Judiciary, and Judiciary made a strong case today for jurisdiction over issues implicating Net Neutrality. I suspect House leadership might have to weigh in at some point soon.
http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/004433.html
AMAZON.COM PUSHING FOR TWO NET NEUTRALITY SAFEGUARDS
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Sarah Lai Stirland]
Congress should enact two specific proposals to prevent communications companies from making exclusive deals that would discriminate against the transmission of certain Internet content, an Amazon.com lobbyist told members of the House Judiciary Committee. "We respectfully ask that Congress enact modest but effective safeguards to reinstate limited protections that the FCC recently abandoned and thereby preserve American consumers' longstanding freedom of choice of Internet content," Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy, said in prepared testimony. Misener said network neutrality provisions must be included in any legislation granting cable companies video franchising relief. He said the proponents of so-called network neutrality want content traveling across an operator's high-speed Internet network to be prioritized based on the service purchased by consumers -- and not on which firm is transmitting the information. According to Misener, Amazon also urges that any deals on expediting access to content between owners of Internet pipes and content providers be kept at non-discriminatory rates.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-MSBV1146080956829.html
WORLD'S DIGITAL DIVIDE IS NARROWING: STUDY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Lucas van Grinsven]
The digital divide is narrowing as citizens in emerging markets get online via computers and mobile phones, with some regions now on a par with developed nations, a ranking of Web-savvy nations showed on Wednesday. "Encouraging is the apparent narrowing of the digital divide," said the annual study published by U.S. computer company International Business Machines Corp. and the intelligence unit of British magazine The Economist. "This is particularly evident in basic connectivity: emerging markets are providing the vast majority of the world's new phone and Internet connections," the study found. Within China and India, regions such as Shanghai and Bangalore have almost the same level of Internet and mobile phone connections as developed nations, said Peter Korsten, European director at IBM's Institute for Business Value. The difference between the world's Web-savviest nation Denmark and the least "e-ready" country Azerbaijan remains nevertheless huge, with respective scores of 9.0 and 2.9 out of a possible 10. India and China, including their less developed provinces, scored 4.25 and 4.02, ranking No. 53 and 57 respectively.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
DISNEY TO TEST NEW INTERACTIVE ADS ON ABC.COM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Gina Keating]
Walt Disney Co. will try a new type of advertising when it begins showing prime-time ABC television shows on the Web, using a single, interactive ad during each break rather than the flurry of short spots that are the norm on network TV. Each online episode will kick off with a 10-second sponsorship message from a single advertiser and will feature one commercial from that sponsor per commercial break. Commercials from each advertiser will cycle through an episode every time it is viewed online, meaning that different commercials could appear each time the show was watched online. Only three of the five commercial breaks built into episodes for broadcast television will be used in the online model. Viewers will have to watch or click through ads to get to the next segment of the program. The commercials were designed to last at least 30 seconds, but some feature interactive games, coupon offers or product information that may engage viewers longer. There is the option of clicking out of the advertisements and returning to the program after 30 seconds.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
SHOULD OWNERS OF WEB SITES BE ANONYMOUS?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: William M. Bulkeley bill.bulkeley@wsj.com]
Whois is regulated by the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, usually called Icann, a nongovernmental organization based in Marina del Rey, Calif., that handles many vital Internet issues. Under Icann's current regulations, anyone who gets a Web site is supposed to list a name, phone number and address in Whois of a contact person to resolve both technical problems with a site and administrative issues. Earlier this month, at the urging of privacy advocates and over the opposition of major corporations, the Icann committee responsible for Whois voted 18-9 to restrict its listings solely to someone who can resolve technical "configuration" problems. That means a Web-hosting company could be listed without any link to the person who controls what appears on the site. After the committee makes recommendations on other aspects of the Whois rules, the full Icann board is expected to approve the reduced disclosure requirement. The dispute partly reflects the growth of the Internet from a communications network used by scientists and academics into a global river of commerce. The requirement for a name, phone number and street address came years before identity theft became a mainstream concern. Advocates of reduced information say that the original purpose was to make sure someone was available to fix Web-site problems that were interfering with the broader network, and the changes are consistent with the original goals of the Internet of permitting free-wheeling communications. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group based in Washington, said "for privacy, this is a very good result," because bloggers and other individuals who operate their own Web sites will no longer need to fear stalkers or threats of lawsuits. However, law-enforcement agencies around the world and companies such as Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Time-Warner Inc. are criticizing the plan because they say they need the information now in Whois to combat financial fraud and trademark violation. With only the identity of a technical person, they say investigators won't be able to find a site's owner without filing a lawsuit and getting a subpoena.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114609925357637113.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)
MS GAUWEILER GUARDS US PHONE NETWORK FROM 'IDOL' THREAT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dionne Searcey at dionne.searcey@wsj.com ]
Phone-call volume in the world is greater than ever before, and so is the risk that phone service will be strained beyond limits. Last year 380 million calls traveled over AT&T's network in the average 24-hour day. This year, that number has increased to 440 million. The network is built to handle 15% more than what AT&T engineers have determined to be typical volume. Ruth Gauweiler spends her days patrolling the Internet, TV news networks and newspapers, trying to spot man-made current events that could upset AT&T's phone-traffic flow. In the 10 years she has had the job, she has cultivated relationships with radio and TV stations so they alert AT&T when planning call-in contests or talk shows that could cause a spike in phone traffic. When she spots a potential problem, Ms. Gauweiler alerts the workers who manage capacity at AT&T. They can open up new channels in the network, the nation's biggest, to make room for an influx of calls and can even haul in extra equipment to add phone capacity on the spot.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114610182322237181.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
(requires subscription)
TV STATIONS STILL CAN'T RESIST PRE-PACKAGED VIDEO NEWS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal 4/26, AUTHOR: Joe Flint joe.flint@wsj.com]
Local television stations are again coming under fire from media watchdogs and the Federal Communications Commission for using so-called video news releases during their newscasts without full disclosure. A video news release, or VNR, is basically a press release in video form. Just as news organizations are inundated every day with press releases from government agencies, consumer groups and corporations, television stations receive the equivalent in video form. While there is nothing inherently wrong with reporting a story based on a press release, many television stations are using the VNRs alone in lieu of original reporting. What's more alarming, these stations are airing these videos without revealing the origin of the footage to viewers. "Viewers are accustomed to watching news programs with an uncritical eye and only put their filter on when commercials start. VNRs take full advantage of this tendency and do a direct attack," says Matthew Felling, a director of Center for Media and Public Affairs, a Washington, D.C., media watchdog group. The makers of VNRs say they aren't trying to deceive viewers and don't have a problem with disclosing their involvement or their clients. Douglas Simon, president of D S Simon Productions Inc., a public-relations firm whose clients have included Sony Corp., Panasonic and March of Dimes, says "disclosure is great from a client's perspective as it becomes another plug."
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114591217366434458-e7v3MOPfZ3SvlT...
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