Benton RSS Feed

To view Benton's Headlines feed in your RSS Aggregator, paste
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=taxonomy/term/6/all/feed into your reader.

The FCC's Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the
Digital Age meets today. For this and other upcoming media policy
events including the COPE mark-up, see http://www.benton.org

LEGISLATION
Video Franchise Gains Steam in DC
Retrans Amendment Surfaces
Chairman Smith readies New Digital Copyright Bill
Bush shows support for tech industry

BROADCASTING
Three TV Groups to Ask for Kids TV Relief
Public Broadcasters Use Web to Make Their Budget Case
Broadcasters Focus on Challenge From Web
RTNDA Session Stresses Continued Post-Katrina Coverage
CEA, NCTA Team on DTV Education Campaign
ABC, Sprint Nextel Agree on Spectrum Relocation

QUICKLY -- The Dollars and Sense of Government-Led Wireless Internet;
VoIP for Rural phone competition?; Columnist Who Used a False Web
Name Loses His Blog; Company fined $4.5M for E-Rate fraud

LEGISLATION

VIDEO FRANCHISE GAINS STEAM IN DC
[SOURCE: Light Reading, AUTHOR: Mark Sullivan]
House Commerce Committee will vote on Chairman Joe Barton's
Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006
(COPE) this week -- and, apparently, House leadership is already
scheduling time in May for a floor vote. If the House Commerce
committee makes quick work of passing the COPE bill next week, it
could reach the floor of the House for a vote in the second week of
May. "On the floor, it will probably pass by a fairly wide margin,
creating some momentum for Senate action," say Sanford Washington
Research Group analysts Paul Glenchur and Paul Gallant in a policy
bulletin released this week. "We think the chances for ultimate
enactment of franchise relief legislation in 2006 are now approaching
50 percent."
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=93017
* For more on the bill, see:
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1882
* For more on the House Commerce mark-up Tuesday & Wednesday:
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/2058
* Strange Bedfellows Unite to Save the Internet
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=128
* Cerf's Up in Telco Tussle
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327125?display=Breaking+News
* Congress Is Giving Away the Internet, and You Won't Like Who Gets It
http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/29086

RETRANS AMENDMENT SURFACES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
As the House Commerce Committee votes telecom reform legislation,
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) and Charles Bass (RH) are working on an
amendment addressing retransmission consent between local
broadcasters and cable operators. The amendment would put a shot
clock on retrans deals, then send them to arbitration. It would also
let cable operators team up for talks and require operators to supply
the FCC with program pricing information.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327020?display=Breaking+News

CHAIRMAN SMITH READIES NEW DIGITAL COPYRIGHT BILL
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
For the last few years, a coalition of technology companies,
academics and computer programmers has been trying to persuade
Congress to scale back the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Now
Congress is preparing to do precisely the opposite. A proposed
copyright law would expand the DMCA's restrictions on software that
can bypass copy protections and grant federal police more wiretapping
and enforcement powers. The draft legislation, created by the Bush
administration and backed by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), already enjoys
the support of large copyright holders such as the Recording Industry
Association of America. The 24-page bill is a far-reaching medley of
different proposals cobbled together. One would, for instance, create
a new federal crime of just trying to commit copyright infringement.
Such willful attempts at piracy, even if they fail, could be punished
by up to 10 years in prison. Rep Smith is the chairman of the U.S.
House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees
intellectual-property law. Rep Smith's press secretary, Terry Shawn,
said Friday that the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2006 is
expected to "be introduced in the near future."
http://news.com.com/Congress+readies+new+digital+copyright+bill/2100-102...

BUSH SHOWS SUPPORT FOR TECH INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Greg Sandoval]
The United States is losing its competitive edge in science and
technology, and President Bush told Silicon Valley leaders Friday
that the country can't afford to let that happen. President Bush was
at Cisco Systems headquarters to promote his plan to bolster
America's competitive advantage in technology. This is the same plan
that the president outlined three months ago in his State of the
Union address. "Our economy is good, real good," Bush said. "But the
fundamental question is: Can it stay that way five years from now? Or
10 years? The most important thing, in my judgment, to keep America
competitive, is for the U.S. to remain at the bleeding edge of
technology," President Bush said, adding that it made sense for the
federal government to fund research and development to "ensure the
U.S. remains the innovation center of the world." President Bush
spent the week promoting his American Competitiveness Initiative,
which proposes spending $136 billion over 10 years. The bill has the
support of many Silicon Valley leaders.
http://news.com.com/Bush+shows+support+for+tech+industry/2100-1008_3-606...

BROADCASTING

THREE TV GROUPS TO ASK FOR KIDS TV RELIEF
[SOURCE: TVNewsday, AUTHOR: Kim McAvoy]
To head off more legal and regulatory wrangling, the broadcast
networks last December reached an agreement with kids TV advocates in
which the networks agreed to go along with new FCC rules that require
stations to air three hours of educational kids programming each week
on every one of their digital multicast channels. But at least three
prominent broadcast groups will ask the FCC today to exempt from the
three-hour-a-week requirement digital channels devoted to weather,
news or other "public interest programming." Represented by Dow,
Lohnes & Albertson, the ad hoc Local Broadcasters Alliance comprises
Allbritton Communications, Media General and McGraw-Hill
Broadcasting. Jerry Fritz, Allbritton's senior vice president for
legal and strategic affairs, says the rules need "real world
flexibility." Channels promising news or weather 24/7 will lose
viewership if people tune in to find children's programming, he said.
It's "counterproductive" to force children's programming on these
channels, he said. The Alliance is also concerned that, in the
absence of a multicast must-carry rule, they may have trouble
persuading cable operators to carry their news-and-information
channels if they are interrupted by children's programming.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/04/21/daily.5/
* Cox Still Pondering Kids Comments
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327118?display=Breaking+News

PUBLIC BROADCASTERS USE WEB TO MAKE THEIR BUDGET CASE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
Ten days ago, National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service
and the lobbying arm of the Association of Public Television Stations
introduced a joint promotional Web site to generate grass-roots
messages to members of Congress. Local stations are publicizing the
site (www.tellthempublicmatters.org). Last year, public broadcasters
were sent scrambling when a House Appropriations subcommittee
suggested cutting $100 million from the already reduced financing
proposed for public broadcasting in the Bush administration's budget.
The financing was eventually restored, but only after a frantic
lobbying blitz, including a flurry of messages on public radio and TV
stations, as well as discussions on PBS news and talk programs. Last
year's on-air efforts by stations to preserve the allocation had some
critics warning about the illegality of using federal funds for
lobbying purposes. Stations denied that any such funds were used in
those efforts. The Web site addresses the concern via a disclaimer
noting that it is "not paid for with federal funds." This year the
budget process isn't expected to get fully under way for a few more
weeks, and public broadcasters are not certain what to expect. The
administration's proposed budget, from February, suggested $201.5
million in cuts for public broadcasting, a reduction of almost 38
percent, according to the Web site. Federal funds account for about
15 percent of a station's revenue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/business/media/24pbs.html
(requires registration)

BROADCASTERS FOCUS ON CHALLENGE FROM WEB
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Gary Gentile]
Local television broadcasters, seeing their networks potentially
bypassing them in the rush to offer shows and other content online,
will meet this week to figure out how to hang onto viewers and
dollars. TV stations are already moving to provide their own video
clips to Web sites hungry for content and insist they can use their
strong relationships with local audiences to market network shows on
their own sites in exchange for a share in the profits. It's not
entirely clear yet they can cash in on the growing shift of
advertising dollars and eyeballs to the Internet, but local
broadcasters have no choice but to try. "The question is, do they
partner with those new forms of content or those new providers? Or do
they sit on their hands and become less and less relevant," said
Jimmy Schaeffler, an analyst with The Carmel Group, a market research
firm. Those challenges will be discussed at the annual gathering of
the National Association of Broadcasters, which begins Sunday in Las
Vegas. The show draws more than 100,000 TV and radio broadcasters
from 130 countries as well as TV networks and technology companies
that provide everything from cameras to traffic helicopters.
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/business/ci_3739770

RTNDA SESSION STRESSES CONTINUED POST-KATRINA COVERAGE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Allison Romano]
The 2006 hurricane season is less than six weeks away, but
broadcasters who have covered Hurricane Katrina's devastation on the
Gulf Coast say they are still struggling to cover that storm's
far-ranging damage. "There are basic quality-of-life issues," said
Sandy Breland, news director for WWL New Orleans, speaking at the
opening session of the Radio Television News Directors Association
convention Sunday in Las Vegas. "There is no housing, no schools, no
hospitals. People are still waiting for FEMA trailers." Breland
joined New Orleans media executives including WDSU New Orleans News
Director Anzio Williams, as well as several network representatives,
including CBS correspondent Lee Cowan, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith,
and CNN executive Jack Womack on a panel to reflect on the coverage
of Hurricane Katrina and the storm's aftermath.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327205?display=Breaking+News

CEA, NCTA TEAM ON DTV EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Consumer Electronics Association and the National Cable &
Telecommunications Association are teaming on a DTV transition
consumer-outreach campaign. The campaign will include PSAs, retailer
education, bilingual education, and cable customer communication. The
cable industry has been trying to communicate the benefits of digital
cable to the almost two-thirds of its customers who still have analog
service. Once those 40 million or so customers convert to digital, it
will free up bandwidth for the delivery of more channels and
even-higher-speed Internet service.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6326989?display=Breaking+News

ABC, SPRINT NEXTEL AGREE ON SPECTRUM RELOCATION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Glen Dickson]
The ABC station group and wireless carrier Sprint Nextel have agreed
to terms on how Sprint Nextel will reimburse ABC's 10
owned-and-operated stations for new digital microwave gear that will
allow ABC stations to vacate spectrum they have been using for
electronic news gathering (ENG) and free it up for Sprint Nextel's
use. 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. Sprint Nextel must
spend roughly $500 million on digital ENG gear that will allow
broadcasters to operate in a smaller swath of microwave spectrum. The
wireless carrier will give back spectrum valued at $2.1 billion and
also write the federal government a check for $2.2 billion.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6326943?display=Breaking+News

QUICKLY

THE DOLLARS AND SENSE OF GOVERNMENT-LED WIRELESS INTERNET
[SOURCE: MuniWireless]
Local governments provide key services and infrastructure to their
citizens: water, roads, parks, schools, emergency services. Although
not all communities are interested in providing low or
no-cost Internet access for their citizens, wireless infrastructure
deployment can still benefit the community by making government more
efficient, enhancing public safety , and spurring economic
development. This guide is a how-to introduction for you to explore
if and how wireless broadband might be the right fit for your community.
http://www.muniwireless.com/reports/docs/Intel_dollars_and_sense_of_gove...
* Pioneering Wi-Fi city seeing some startup problems
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/14412918.htm
* Pioneering Wi-Fi City Sees Startup Woes
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/04/23/financial/f12182...

RURAL PHONE COMPETITION ON HORIZON
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
Many rural phone companies -- some backed by their state regulators
-- are blocking cable TV providers from competing with them by
selling inexpensive Internet-based phone service. The battles have
spawned a legal ruckus that could affect millions of customers in
less-populated areas. At the heart of the disputes, likely to be
settled by the Federal Communications Commission or Congress, is a
seismic collision of policies. While legacy rules protect rural
carriers from competition, new policies promote technologies that
foster greater consumer choice, even in the countryside. Voice over
Internet Protocol service -- VoIP -- from cable companies is becoming
the leading alternative to standard local phone service now that
companies such as AT&T and MCI have stopped competing with the local
phone companies. AT&T and MCI, respectively, were bought last year by
SBC and Verizon. VoIP lets customers get discount phone service by
connecting a regular phone and adapter to a high-speed Internet line.
Time Warner has signed up 1.1 million customers for its VoIP service,
which costs as little as $39.95 a month when bundled with cable and
broadband. But rural telephone carriers say they are not required by
federal law to provide local phone numbers and 911 services to VoIP
providers. They say that these providers would not serve area
residents directly and that the service used by residents would not
be a "telecommunications service." The FCC, in fact, has signaled it
likely will label VoIP an "information service," a move that VoIP
providers support because it would keep them unregulated.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060424/voip19.art.htm
* Skype Chief Calls for Change
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-ft-skype24apr24,1,648498...
(requires registration)

COLUMNIST'S BLOG: HE HASN'T BEEN HIMSELF LATELY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
What exactly are the rules for print or television journalists
blogging on company sites? Reporters are usually told not to take
political stands or say anything they wouldn't say in print or on the
air. But blogs by their nature are more personal, attitude-filled,
sharp-edged or sarcastic -- often dashed off within minutes -- and
that is the essence of their appeal. It can also be dangerous
territory. The Los Angeles Times suspended Michael Hiltzik's blog on
the paper's Web site last week after he admitted using one or more
pseudonyms, in violation of the company's policy, to post derogatory
comments on his and other people's blogs. The anonymous blasts by
"Mikekoshi" were usually aimed at the same people he peppers on his
Golden State blog, which is far more personal and inflammatory than
his newspaper column on financial issues. Hiltzik also got into
trouble in 1993, when the Times recalled him from the paper's Moscow
bureau after he was caught hacking into colleagues' e-mail. He was
exposed through an internal sting operation when he asked about phony
messages that had been sent to other staffers in the bureau. Cathy
Seipp says Hiltzik has apparently been taking potshots at her because
she criticized him at the time of the 13-year-old incident. While
Hiltzik is "a very smart reporter and writer," Seipp says, his
behavior "suggests that this guy has a history of snooping around and
is dishonest and doing things he shouldn't be doing. It's also
self-destructive."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/23/AR200604...
(requires registration)
* At Los Angeles Times, a Columnist Who Used a False Web Name Loses His Blog
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/business/media/24hiltzik.html

COMPANY FINED $4.5 MILLION FOR E-RATE FRAUD
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
NextiraOne, a networking equipment and services vendor, was sentenced
Thursday to paying more than $4.5 million in fines and restitution
for defrauding the E-rate program intended to bring the Internet to
schools and libraries. NextiraOne, a subsidiary of Platinum Equity,
defrauded the E-Rate program and the Oglala Nation Educational
Coalition (ONEC) member schools by inflating equipment prices,
submitting false and fraudulent invoices for payment, and failing to
install and deliver certain equipment and services originally billed
to the E-Rate program, according to charges filed in U.S. District
Court in South Dakota. NextiraOne cooperated in the investigation,
and under a plea agreement, has agreed to continue to do so, the
Department of Justice said. NextiraOne will pay a $1.9 million
criminal fine, and a civil settlement filed Thursday requires
NextiraOne to forfeit more than $2.6 million for uncompensated work
previously performed at other school districts. Also this week, the
DOJ announced an indictment against Cynthia K. Ayer, a former
technology director of Bamberg County School District One in South
Carolina, on E-Rate-related fraud charges.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/04/21/77649_HNeratefraud_1.html?sour...
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------