Subject: Benton's Communications-related Headlines for 3/16/05

From: Kevin Taglang <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 07:00:36 -0600

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MARCH 16, 2005

Three hearings of note today: 1) Erate Oversight, 2)  Obscenity Prosecution 
and the Constitution (see story below), and 3) How Internet 
Protocol-Enabled Services are Changing the Face of Communications: A Look 
at the Voice Marketplace. We'll link you to more information -- for free! 
-- is you click to http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm

MEDIA & SOCIETY
        Viewer Beware
        And Now, the Counterfeit News
        Truth Is, Bush's Propaganda Hurts the U.S.
        Judiciary Targets Gannon
        Stop News Fraud
        Senate Judiciary Contemplates Obscenity
        Senator Suggests Targeting Net 'Indecency'

TELEVISION
        Barton Targets DTV Bill for Spring
        Comcast Users to Get TiVo Options That Go Beyond Generic DVRs

TELECOM
        Antitrust Senators to Send Telecom Merger Conditions to DoJ
        Florida Works to Kill Potential VoIP Tax

DIGITAL COPYRIGHT
        More Arguments Sought in D.C. Appeals Suit on Broadcast Flag
        Professor's Online Publishing Experiment

QUICKLY -- Reality TV Not so Real; Adjusting Your Digital TV; Arbiter of 
Rap Trends or Promoter of Violence, Racism?; Family films outdrew R-rated 
movies in '04; 3 States Move Toward Online Gambling; Liberty Media to Spin 
Off Discovery Cable; Vodafone to Buy Cell Operator  In Eastern Europe for 
$3.5 Billion

MEDIA & SOCIETY

VIEWER BEWARE
[Commentary] What does Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" have in common with 
the Bush Administration? They're both unabashed about putting out fake 
news. Although this Administration apparently isn't the first to use video 
news releases, it seems more enamored of them than its predecessors. It's 
humiliating that local news stations, however short-staffed and desperate 
for footage, would run these releases without attribution to the 
government. But it's disingenuous for administration officials to blame the 
stations, given that many releases are crafted precisely to disguise their 
government origin. This technique is both illegal and unwise. As a legal 
matter, the prepackaged news releases run afoul of the prohibition on the 
use of government funds for domestic "propaganda." The Administration's 
interpretation -- it's okay to hide the source as long as the spot is 
"purely informational" -- is untenable: Highlighting some "facts" and 
leaving out others can be even more persuasive than outright advocacy, 
which is why the administration chose this device. More important, this 
kind of propaganda masquerading as news is a deceitful way for a democratic 
government to do business; fake journalists paid by the government to 
deliver its version of news are as disturbing as real commentators paid by 
the government to tout its views. White House Press Secretary Scott 
McClellan defended the video news releases on Monday as "an informational 
tool to provide factual information to the American people." Nice 
sentiment, but why, exactly, wouldn't the administration want to let the 
people in on one of the most salient facts: who, really, is doing the talking?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38596-2005Mar15.html
(requires registration)

AND NOW, THE COUNTERFEIT NEWS
[Commentary] The Bush administration has come under a lot of criticism for 
its attempts to fob off government propaganda as genuine news reports. 
Whether federal agencies are purchasing the services of supposedly 
independent columnists or making videos extolling White House initiatives 
and then disguising them as TV news reports, that's wrong. But it is time 
to acknowledge that the nation's news organizations have played a large and 
unappetizing role in deceiving the public. Too many television stations run 
government videos without any hint of where they came from. And while some 
claim they somehow stumbled accidentally into this trap, it seems obvious 
that in most cases, television stations that are short on reporters, long 
on air time to fill and unwilling to spend the money needed for real news 
gathering are abdicating their editorial responsibilities to the 
government's publicity teams. If using pretend news is one of the ways 
these stations have chosen to save money, it's a false economy. If it 
represents a political decision to support President Bush, it will 
eventually backfire. This kind of practice cheapens the real commodity that 
television stations have to sell during their news hours: their credibility.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/opinion/16wed1.html
(requires registration)
Also see 7 letters to the NYTimes editor under the heading "Hidden News and 
Government Spin"
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/opinion/l16covert.html

TRUTH IS, BUSH PROPAGANDA HURTS THE US
[Commentary] Spin is nothing new in American politics, but the Bush 
Administration has not contented itself with trying to influence the news. 
It's in the business of producing the news itself, in the hopes of passing 
it off as generic, third-party reporting. This is propaganda parading as 
journalism, in the finest PRI (or Soviet) tradition. This clumsy branding 
of George W. Bush's vision of America to Americans will not only backfire 
at home, it invariably subverts efforts to brand America overseas. Public 
candor and transparency are supposed to be one of the American brand's 
distinguishing assets. Because the administration insists on operating in 
its imagined version of reality, the U.S. and American credibility begin to 
look rather commonplace  and unreliable  to the world. You can imagine 
how many conspiracy theories are fed and validated on the streets of Cairo 
and Tehran when word gets out that U.S. government agencies produce their 
own propagandistic "news" reports.
[SOURCE:  Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Andres Martinez]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-martinez16mar16,1,3442746.story?coll=la-news-comment
(requires registration)

JUDICIARY TARGETS GANNON
The House Judiciary Committee plans to mark up a bill Wednesday targeting 
the vetting process, or lack thereof, that allowed James Guckert (under the 
name of Jeff Gannon) to become a credentialed White House reporter. The 
bill, H. Res 136, would give the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland 
Security two weeks to turn over documents relating to, among other things, 
the security checks Guckert/Gannon went through, who, if anyone, at the 
Secret Service was supposed to have done a background check on Gannon, and 
any phone records, mail, e-mail, or faxes between Guckert/Gannon and the 
Secret Service. Among the raft of Democratic House members sponsoring the 
bill are Californians Henry Waxman and George Miller. Rep Miller has been 
one of the lead critics of administration pay-for-play PR policies, VNRs 
and other attempts to influence public opinion through quasi-journalism
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA511178?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

STOP NEWS FRAUD
State-run media” is a phrase normally reserved for regimes such as North 
Korea that manipulate and censor all public information. Media in the 
United States were thought to be free of such autocratic control, but 
recent maneuvers by the Bush administration should make all of us stand up 
and take notice. After recent revelations that several “journalists” have 
been working as propagandists on the White House payroll, more are 
beginning to wonder how free America’s press actually is. Read the in-depth 
Free Press report on the Bush administration's efforts to manipulate the 
press and the American public at http://freepress.net/propaganda/. If you 
are angry and just can't take it anymore, take action to force the White 
House to account for millions in taxpayer money spent to spread propaganda 
at http://www.freepress.net/action/fakenews.
[SOURCE: Free Press]

SENATE JUDICIARY CONTEMPLATES OBSCENITY
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), a foe of cable porn and broadcast indecency, 
has sponsored legislation that would call for federally funded research 
into the possibly addictive effects of pornography. He'll preside over a 
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today on obscenity. There is a growing 
sentiment in Congress that one way to ban cable porn, which is not subject 
to the FCC indecency restrictions, would be to go after it on obscenity 
grounds.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA511179?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

SENATOR SUGGESTS TARGETING NET 'INDECENCY'
Sen. Ted Stevens, the influential chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Commerce, Science & Transportation, has indicated that Internet decency 
regulations could be inserted into legislation that was originally intended 
to boost fines for off-color radio and TV broadcasts. "It looks like 
Stevens is talking about some sort of ratings system for the Internet," 
said Marv Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties 
Union. "But you really can't have the FCC or the federal government be the 
taste police for the American citizens. It's just not going to work." One 
explanation for Sen Stevens' remarks is that he's worried about the trend 
of movies and TV shows being offered for download over the Internet, which 
places the material outside the purview of the FCC. "I think Stevens is 
probably laying the groundwork for another assault on speech online," said 
Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the free-market Progress & Freedom 
Foundation. "He's obviously pointing the way to other members of Congress, 
saying that if they want to control the media, they have to start at cable 
and satellite first, and then target the Internet...This foreshadows the 
coming debate we'll have over IP-enabled services in the video space."
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
http://news.com.com/Senator+suggests+targeting+Net+indecency/2100-1028_3-5618332.html?tag=nefd.top

TELEVISION

BARTON TARGETS DTV BILL FOR SPRING
At the Consumer Electronics Association's annual HDTV Summit in Washington, 
House Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) said Tuesday that he 
plans to introduce his long-awaited digital-TV legislation "sometime in the 
spring," and he expects to move it though the House by early summer. He 
revealed  few details of the bill, which he said are still being worked out 
with House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and 
the ranking Democrats on the panels, John Dingell (MI) and Ed Markey (MA). 
He did let the audience know what his preferences are: a Dec. 31, 2006, 
deadline for making TV stations go all-digital and reclaiming their old 
analog channels; no "multicast must carry" on cable for digital 
broadcasters; and $400 million to  $500 million in subsidies to make 
digital-to-analog convertor boxes more affordable for low-income 
households. Rep Barton estimates revenues from auction of returned spectrum 
could reach $4-$17 billion.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA510868?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA511015.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
In a related story, farmers no like Dec 2006 hard date. See:
Farmers Concerned About Analog-TV Cutoff
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA511119.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

COMCAST USERS TO GET TIVO OPTIONS THAT GO BEYOND GENERIC DVRs
TiVo has a shot at becoming a mainstream household gadget with the 
announcement of a partnership with cable giant Comcast. The nation's 
largest cable company will make a version of TiVo's service available as an 
option to Comcast's cable subscribers, which number 21.5 million. The 
companies said the TiVo service for Comcast subscribers may include a 
variety of features that go well beyond those in generic DVRs, including 
the ability to display digital photographs and play music. and to download 
video from the Internet. The companies expect to offer the TiVo service, 
which will run on existing Comcast digital video recorders made by Motorola 
and others, during the second half of next year.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Nick Wingfield [email-masked] 
and Peter Grant [email-masked]]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111089847979879900,00.html?mod=todays_us_personal_journal
(requires subscription)
NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/technology/16tivo.html
LATimes: 
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-tivo16mar16,1,5170783.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business

TELECOM

ANTITRUST SENATORS TO SEND TELECOM MERGER CONDITIONS TO DOJ
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on proposed telecom 
mergers, Senators said Congress must make sure consumers are adequately 
protected from the tremendous acquisition of power” of a combined SBC-AT&T 
and Verizon-MCI. Wisconsin Democrat Sen Kohl promised the antitrust 
subcommittee would send “pro-competitive merger condition” recommendations 
to the Justice Department and FCC “in coming weeks.” One possible merger 
condition was proposed: the merged companies should have to sell DSL 
without requiring a subscription to standard phone service.Antitrust 
Subcommittee Chairman DeWine (R-OH) said the
mergers should raise more concern than expressed. “These deals have 
received an unusual reception in the press and within the industry -- an 
unusually friendly reception and one that I'm not sure is wholly deserved,” 
he said. “A quick analysis, whatever the outcome, in not enough. And in 
fact, I think that certainly there are some antitrust
issues that require more thorough examination.” Sen Kohl added, “We must 
seek to avoid the creation of a world where consumers are left with only 
two choices for a bundle of telecom services -- the Baby Bell phone company 
and the cable company.”
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Terry Lane]
(Not available online)
See WashPost coverage: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38649-2005Mar15.html
Communications Daily also reports that the six largest competitors to the 
Baby Bells -- XO, Savvis, Eschelon Telecom, Cbeyond, Covad, and Broadwing 
-- have formed a as yet unnamed body to challenge the proposed Verizon-MCI 
and SBC-AT&T mergers.
See more on that in 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38353-2005Mar15.html
See also:
SBC, Verizon Chiefs Vow No VoIP Blocking
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA511171.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

FLORIDA WORKS TO KILL POTENTIAL VOIP TAX
The State House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of repealing 
part of a communications tax on businesses that run their own networks. The 
complex tax dates back to telecommunications deregulation in the 1980s. The 
statute was originally meant to tax businesses that bypassed the local 
telephone network by establishing their own communications networks. While 
it was originally written with technologies such as satellite and microwave 
in mind, critics have argued that it could be applied to businesses 
carrying voice traffic over Internet data networks, as well as individual 
customers of companies like Vonage that provide voice over Internet 
Protocol services, which route phone calls over the less-expensive, 
less-regulated Internet. Critics also argue that the language of the 
so-called "Substitute Communications Tax" could be applied to businesses 
with networked computers, two-way radios and wireless dispatch systems. The 
bill moves now to the Florida Senate.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
http://news.com.com/Florida+works+to+kill+potential+VoIP+tax/2100-7352_3-5618272.html?tag=nefd.top

DIGITAL COPYRIGHT

MORE ARGUMENTS SOUGHT IN DC APPEALS SUIT ON BROADCAST FLAG
More written arguments are required before the U.S. Appeals Court, DC, can 
decide “conclusively” whether a coalition of consumer and library groups 
that challenged the FCC’s authority to impose broadcast flag rules have the 
“Article III standing” to do so, the court ruled Tuesday. Petitioners 
challenging the Commission’s standing include Consumer Federation of 
America, Consumers Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, 
the American Library Assn., the Assn. of Research Libraries, the American 
Assn. of Law Libraries, the Medical Library Assn. and the Special Libraries 
Assn. The court gave the petitioners 2 weeks to file affidavits, and a 
brief of no more than 4,000 words, answering questions to determine their 
qualifications to challenge the FCC’s authority on broadcast flag. For 
example, the court said, the petitioners must explain whether the broadcast 
flag will hinder the groups’ ability to “engage in otherwise permissible 
copying and distribution of television broadcasts to distant locations and, 
if so, in precisely what way such hindrance is likely to occur.” The court 
said the petitioners must identify the “relevant member or members” at risk 
“and describe the precise nature of the injury that will be caused by the 
FCC’s adoption of the broadcast flag regime.”
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Paul Gluckman]
(Not available online)
See coverage in Broadcasting&Cable:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA511177?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

PROFESSOR'S ONLINE PUBLISHING EXPERIMENT
Further nudging outward the boundaries of online publishing, Stanford 
University Professor Larry Lessig will put his 1999 book "Code'' online 
today and invite Internet users to help him write an updated version. A 
noted copyright expert and proponent of free software, Prof Lessig is 
putting the 297-page treatise about technology, culture and regulation on 
the Web in the form of a ``wiki,'' a site that can allow people to freely 
edit its contents. The law professor will take the contributions at 
http://codebook.jot .com and edit them into a printed version of the book.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Michael Bazeley]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/11148136.htm

QUICKLY

ONE SHOW'S UNEXPECTED LESSONS IN REALITY
A look at the "unreality" of reality TV.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jacques Steinberg]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/arts/television/16swap.html
(requires registration)

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET
Although today's high-definition TVs render dazzling, theater-quality 
pictures, the technology inside has become mind-bogglingly complex. An 
improperly adjusted set can produce jaundiced, hazy, lifeless images. 
Reenter a 1950s-era practice: house calls by technicians to calibrate for 
the best picture.
[SOURCE:  Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR:Alex Pham]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-goldeneyes16mar16,1,1495051.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
(requires registration)

AN ARBITER OF HIP-HOP FINDS ITSELF TARGET
Recent events involving New York's Hot 97 FM have critics contending that 
the radio station has tilted from credible arbiter of rap trends to 
ratings-hungry promoter of violence and racism.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Lola Ogunnaike & Jeff Leeds]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/arts/music/16hot.html
(requires registration)

FAMILY FILMS OUTDREW R-RATED MOVIES IN '04
For the first time in two decades, PG-rated films outperformed R-rated 
films in theaters, even though Hollywood cranks out many more movies aimed 
at adults. Last year, PG-rated films took in $2.3 billion in U.S. ticket 
sales, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. R-rated 
movies, which require that anyone younger than 17 be accompanied by an 
adult, accounted for $2.1 billion
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050316/d_undergrids16.art.htm

3 STATES MOVE TOWARD LEGALIZING ONLINE GAMBLING
North Dakota, Illinois and Georgia are edging toward legalizing online 
gambling, and Great Britain is on the verge of permitting its land-based 
casinos to take bets online from U.S. citizens.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:Jon Swartz]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050316/1b_cybergaming16.art.htm

LIBERTY MEDIA TO SPIN OFF DISCOVERY CABLE
Liberty Media is spinning off its stakes in Discovery Communications and 
Ascent Media Group, as John Malone reshapes his vast holdings in a bid to 
prove they should be valued higher.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Goldfarb]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7907132
WashPost: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38667-2005Mar15.html
WSJ: 
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111089119771179790,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/business/media/16liberty.html
LATimes: 
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-liberty16mar16,1,5629517.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business

VODAPHONE BUYS IN EASTERN EUROPE
Vodafone said Tuesday it will buy Telesystem International Wireless Inc.'s 
operations in the Czech Republic and Romania for about $3.5 billion in 
cash. The world's largest cellphone-service provider agreed to acquire 79% 
of Mobifon SA in Romania -- boosting its ownership to 99% -- and all of 
Oskar Mobil in the Czech Republic. Vodafone Group will assume about $900 
million in debt as part of the deal.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111089460221779821,00.html?mod=todays_us_money_and_investing
(requires subscription)
NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/business/worldbusiness/16tele.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
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 
([email-masked]) -- we welcome your comments.
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