Recent postings on internet issues from Benton.org

July 2004

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
STATE AND NATIONAL CONSUMER GROUPS URGE CONGRESS TO ROLL BACK FCC MEDIA DEREGULATION Fifty-five consumer groups have called on Congress to adopt legislation to roll back the FCC's recent deregulation of the national media before its August recess. Both chambers of Congress are considering such legislation. "This letter sends a strong signal to Congress that average Americans support legislation that will prevent large media conglomerates from dominating local sources of news and information," said Gene Kimmelman of Consumers Union. Dr. Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America echoed his sentiments, arguing that such legislation "is needed to preserve independent news voices so critical to our democracy." SOURCE: Consumer Federation of America For the full text of the letter, please contact Dr. Mark Cooper at mcooper@consumerfed.org

FOCUS ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP ISSUE TAKES LAWMAKERS BY SURPRISE
As House Republicans worked to drum up support for Medicare legislation late last month, Rep. Richard Burr was trolling the floor for co-sponsors to his bill to roll back the FCC's recently adopted broadcast ownership cap expansion. With 163 cosponsors signed on, Burr is quickly approaching the threshold at which the House leadership will take notice. "If we get up to 230, 240, 250 cosponsors, it becomes an issue that the leadership has to deal with," he said last week. "I think we'll aggressively work it over the next couple weeks and make sure we get to that level." By all accounts, the issue of media ownership was not expected to rise to the top of the telecommunications policy agenda, let alone become a hot legislative issue. Lawmakers were stunned by the public outcry following the commission's June 2 vote, and the issue rose to more prominence when the Senate Commerce Committee approved a series of measures scaling back the FCC's recent moves and directing further regulations on the broadcast industry. House Republican leaders, such as Rep. Billy Tauzin, Rep. Tom DeLay and Speaker Dennis Hastert support the FCC changes, however, suggesting that the commission did not go far enough to protect free speech and property rights. The stage is set for a legislative dogfight as the session comes to a close; tactics are likely to include riders to appropriations bills, which House Appropriations Committee Chairman Billy Young say he will vigorously oppose "unless the leadership tells [him] to do it." SOURCE: CQ Weekly; AUTHOR: Joseph C. Alselmo http://www.cq.com (subscription required)

COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE
Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt says that the FCC's June 2 ruling on media ownership has left his congressional colleagues "perplexed, dumfounded, outraged, aghast, troubled, mystified and bewildered" about the transformation of the FCC, as well as how to fight the news rules. Noting that the commission improperly used competition as a basis, Hundt called the rules "an abandonment of the traditional policing function of the FCC [representing] a disregard of the responsibility to promote democracy [or] to follow the dictates of congress." He said he would like to see the FCC "say things that are true" regarding the impact of Internet use on more traditional media. When asked about the current rollback legislation under debate in Congress, Hundt suggested that "Congress should pass a law, in whatever is the most rapid and feasible manner, that tells the FCC to throw out this new proposed set of rules and adopt rules that reflect the anti-trust law and democracy values," adding that every American should contact their representatives on Capitol Hill and weigh in on the debate. Ultimately, Hundt said he regrets not having foreseen this kind of action as chairman and taken affirmative steps to prevent it. "I never anticipated that anyone could do anything like this.... [T]hey have acted like channel 45 in Washington is just as important as channel 4 and as if Salon.com... was just as important as the Washington Post....[T]hese are crazy ideas." SOURCE: The Foundation for National Progress; AUTHOR: Jennifer Hahn http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2003/28/we_440_01.html

FEWER OWNERS MEANS FEWER WATCHDOGS
Wisconsin columnist and former radio broadcaster Warren Bluhm laments the current climate of shrinking media voices, especially in the news arena. Before the newsroom became the business it is today, it was more common to see reporters from multiple outlets covering items of local interest such as town meetings. "Eventually the bean counters began to think of news as a product, not a public service, and pressure was exerted to make the news a profit center, too," he writes. "That meant fewer reporters on the local level, just as the big guns had decided to make do with fewer reporters on a global scale." Bluhm voices frustration that media consolidation as a political issue has only reached the mainstream in the brief time since the FCC's June vote to loosen media ownership rules. "The sad thing about the current debate is how long it took people to care, because the horse was out of the barn long before the recent FCC decision to relax media ownership rules even further. Deregulation and consolidation long ago took those eight radio news jobs in Green Bay away." SOURCE: Green Bay News-Chronicle; AUTHOR: Warren Bluhm http://www.gogreenbay.com/page.html?article=120915 See also the Internet story "Online, Off and Running," below, for more on media ownership via Lawrence Lessig and Howard Dean.

21ST CENTURY SKILLS
A QUESTION OF SKILLS OR SCHOLARS BBC correspondent Mike Baker asks his readers the question, "Which do we need most: more university graduates or more adults trained in technical or craft skills?" The short answer, he says, is both, but the British government is now beginning to recognize the importance of the latter. While the percentage of Brits receiving university degrees is higher than the average industrialized country, the UK is lagging behind when it comes to its citizens possessing relevant technical skills for the workplace. According to a new British government white paper, "21st Century Skills: Realising Our Potential," only 28 percent of the British workforce possesses technical skills, compared to 51 percent in France and 65 percent in Germany. The UK government has decided to assist adult tech students at the intermediate level with weekly stipends and free tuition. "Our fast-changing economy needs workers who retrain in new -- but same level -- skills just as much as it needs the unskilled to gain better qualifications," Baker writes. "So, if we are providing a substantial subsidy for young people to go to university, shouldn't there be a similar, or even higher, level of support for those working towards the lower-level skills of which the economy has the most pressing shortage?" SOURCE: BBC; AUTHOR: Mike Baker http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3059647.stm

DIGITAL DIVIDE
HILL TRIBES GO HIGH-TECH TO PRESERVE WAY OF LIFE A village in northern Thailand is preparing to make the leap to cyberspace. Members of the Lahu tribe are designing a virtual museum to showcase the region's minority ethnic communities.
The plan is to have an Internet link in a village building, dependent upon solar power until the village gets electricity.
The museum will chronicle and preserve ceremonies, traditions, rituals, clothing and other aspects of minority culture that are being lost. Another objective is an online talking dictionary for the Akha tribe, which lacks a written script.
These communities, which have roots going back to Burma, Tibet and southern China, are noted for colorful women's clothing, their diverse languages and unique customs.
This cultural diversity has not always translated into broad societal support, however.
Hill tribe members do not automatically get Thai citizenship, and the educational system tends to emphasize assimilation into Thai culture.
Phayoong Phetcharat, a Thai language teacher, says that the hill tribe children need alternative ways to gain awareness and celebrate their way of life.
The museum, he points out, is ''trying to fill this void to help preserve and sustain hill tribe culture.'' SOURCE: Inter Press Service News Agency; AUTHOR: Marwaan Macan-Markar http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=19238

INTERNET
ONLINE, OFF AND RUNNING: WEB A NEW CAMPAIGN FRONT Democrat presidential hopeful Howard Dean is redefining the way campaigns are organized and financed through his use of the Internet. At a recent neighborhood Dean campaign meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, more than 100 activists gathered to support the candidate and write personal appeals to Democrats in Iowa. This meeting, along with the 300 others that occurred that same night accross the country, was organized online via the meeting tool Meetup.com, with the idea to write Iowa voters coming from an online suggestion.
With Dean's blessing, tens of thousands of his supporters are chatting up ideas and strategy over the Net, not to mention raising money -- more than $3.5 million so far from online contributors. According to Internet politics expert Michael Cornfield, Dean already has as many online supporters on his email list as Internet campaigning pioneer John McCain had at the peak of his campaign in 2000.
"The Internet benefits insurgents," adds political scientist Carol Darr. "It is a way for candidates who can connect with people to make an end-run around the established process." SOURCE: USA Today: AUTHOR: Jim Drinkard and Jill Lawrence http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2003-07-14-online-cover-usat_x.htm
See also: Stanford Professor Lawrence Lessig's Web Log. Howard Dean is subbing for Lessig while he's on vacation. Dean begins the blog with a discussion on the FCC media ownership decision. As of 10am this morning, over 175 users had posted responses on the topic. http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/lessig/blog/

YOU'VE GOT MAIL (AND COURT SAYS OTHERS CAN READ IT)
Last week a federal appeals court in Boston ruled that federal wiretap laws do not apply to e-mail messages if they are stored, even for a millisecond, on the computers of the Internet providers that process them - meaning that it can be legal for the government or others to read such messages without a court order. The court was interpreting the Stored Communications Act of 1986 which allows prosecutors access to stored messages with a search warrant, while imposing stricter requirements on parties in civil suits.
But the law offers much protection for messages already opened by users and stored on an Internet provider's computer system. Prosecutors can typically
gain access to an opened e-mail message with a simple subpoena rather than a search warrant. Similarly, lawyers in civil cases, including divorces, can subpoena opened e-mail messages. The ruling is important because most email messages make several momentary stops as they are processed by various computers en route to their destination. More at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Saul Hansell]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/technology/06net.html (requires registration)

NEW EXCHANGE AIMS A KICK AT PUBLIC RADIO
Although independent production of radio shows has never been easier, finding an audience (and a way to get paid) is still very hard. Enter PRX -- the Public Radio Exchange, a fledgling nonprofit Web site. It is part radio distribution service and part peer-review resource. For a minimum $50 annual fee, a producer can post audio material on PRX for audition and licensing. Other members then listen -- free -- or acquire the feature or news piece for broadcast. Executive Director Jake Shapiro says the intent is not only to help producers but also to give public radio a good "kick." "Public radio needs to figure out what public service media means in a commercial and consumer culture." PRX, he claims, will make broadcasters
aware of new talent, voices, ideas, models and "new ways to connect [their] listeners to the world." The service launched last September and now has over 2700 members. PRX is supported by grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the MacArthur Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Commerce Department and other organizations, as well as by membership fees.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Alex van Oss]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29919-2004Jul5.html (requires registration)

INTERVIEW WITH USA FCC COMMISSIONER POWELL
Michael K Powell, a Republican, was nominated 31 July 1997 as a member of the FCC by President William J Clinton and confirmed by the US Senate on 28 October 1997. President George W Bush appointed Powell chairman of the FCC on 22 January 2001. Gartner Fellow Kenneth McGee met recently with Chairman Powell in his Washington, DC, office to discuss issues and policies concerning broadband, telecommunications, media ownership and content issues and digital TV.
On Media ownership Powell said: Here's the truth: the ownership debate is about nothing but content. Don't be fooled. I mean, this is my greatest warning to the American public. It's easy to go after every ill in society by claiming it's the media's fault. It's the American pastime, right? Anything you don't like, it's the media's fault. What scared me in that debate is that it's not about the ownership rules at all. The vast majority of people don't even know what the rules say, to be perfectly candid. Name all six of them. Name what they actually do. Nobody can. They became a
stalking horse for a debate about the role of media in our society. I can expect and understand consumer anger and anxiety about that. But the ownership rules are not the cause or the cure. It was really an invitation for people with particular viewpoints to push for a thumb on the scale, for content in a direction that people preferred. The danger with that? It's easy to say, "I'm comfortable with that when the government's doing it for something I like. But I get really scared when it's something I don't." And
what is juxtaposed against the media ownership debate? Indecency, which maybe is what you mean by content. Hollywood was happy to beat up on ownership liberalization because they want the government to intervene so we can promote more independent programming — which is content. But the same Hollywood says the government can't say that Howard Stern can't say the F word, because that's censorship and inappropriate.
http://www4.gartner.com/research/fellows/asset_91308_1176.jsp
[SOURCE: Gartner, a provider of research and analysis on the global IT industry]

CABLE TO NEW PROGRAMMERS: "WE ARE THE 'GATEKEEPERS,' SO DROP DEAD!"
As a new national debate emerges over the failure of U. S. television journalism to effectively report on key issues of concern it is time to turn our attention to the narrow programming landscape of cable
television. Programmers who want to offer Americans services that provide for independent points of view, have no chance of emerging on the multi-channel dial (or the electronic program guide). Cable conglomerate
Comcast now controls the future of almost all potential new programmers. As CableWorld magazine recently reported, "Comcast has become the …kingmaker, with the power to make or break a digital network. Without a carriage commitment from Comcast, it is difficult for start-ups to raise the investment capital they need." And as the article also makes clear, Comcast is "not looking" to place any new channels on its systems. Four "specific criteria" must be met before Comcast will "invest" in and carry a
programming service: "It needs to be unique to the channel lineup; it needs to be inexpensive to program; it needs to appeal to a specific demographic; and preferably that's a younger demographic, because it needs to make its money on advertising revenue as opposed to relying heavily on affiliate revenue." Given the hold that the gang of six media giants has over broadcast, cable, and satellite programming, and the lack of opportunity for real content diversity, it's time to address breaking up the TV oligopoly. If the country is to have a serious independent press and in order to foster a robust culture of ideas, breaking up big cable must be high on the policy agenda.
[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy]
http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/marketwatch/needleye.html

WE SPAMMERS CAN BE BEATEN IN TWO YEARS -- REGULATORS
Software makers and regulators have the means to bring spam under control within two years, if they work together, say officials of the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which is holding a three-day meeting this week. The ITU says spam drains national economies around the world of about $25 billion a year and estimates that lost
productivity -- through time wasted in clearing e-mail boxes -- could be four times that amount. Officials said the conference would examine legislation that could enable governments to crack down on Internet service providers, or ISPs, who allow spammers to use their systems. International cooperation would also enable regulators to assemble dossiers on companies
and individuals engaged in spamming or in "phishing" and provide the basis for criminal prosecutions in the perpetrators' home countries.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Robert Evans]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=IS3NYATRNDUDQCRBAEKSFEY?type=internetNews&storyID=5600362

CALIFORNIA PRIVACY LAW KICKS IN
The California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA) of 2003 went into effect July 1. The legislation requires companies doing business with Californians online to post a conspicuous privacy policy on their Web sites, disclose the kinds of personally identifiable data that they collect and share with third parties, clearly mark their privacy statements; abide by their policies; inform consumers of processes to opt out of data sharing; and publish a date it goes into effect. The statute is the first of its kind in the nation. Privacy experts commended the new policy as clear and easy to read.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stefanie Olsen]
http://news.com.com/California+privacy+law+kicks+in/2100-1028_3-5258824.html?tag=nefd.top

EFF Announces Ten Most-Wanted Patents
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Patent Busting Project announced which patents the organization will target first in its campaign to rid the world of frivolous patent infringement lawsuits. After sifting through dozens of software and Internet-related patents submitted to its patent busting contest, EFF targeted ten whose crimes have made them enemies of the public domain. All the most-wanted patents are dangerously overbroad; many pose a threat to freedom of expression online. And every single one of the
targeted patents is held by an entity that has threatened or brought lawsuits against small businesses, individuals, or nonprofits.
[SOURCE: Electronic Frontier Foundation Press Release]
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_06.php#001665
Ten "most wanted" patents
http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted

CONCERNS ARISE AS INTERNET CALLERS PICK OWN AREA CODES
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is raising worrisome questions for law-enforcement officials, regulators and emergency agencies in part because it may accelerate the end of location-based phone numbers as we know them. The process of freeing phone numbers from fixed locations started with the spread of cellphones over the past decade. With Internet phone service, callers from anywhere in the U.S. or around the world can adopt nearly any U.S. area code they like, a prospect that has already created a run on desirable area codes such as Manhattan's 212 and Beverly Hills's 310. Even international callers could obtain US exchanges for savings in long distance bills and allowing offshore companies to fake offices and legitimacy with a U.S. area code. But law enforcement officials can't tap into VoIP calls due to both technological limitations and regulatory uncertainty and VoIP systems are not connected to 911 emergency
services.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Christopher Rhoads at christopher.rhoads@wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108923965170657887,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace (requires subscription)

F-WORD NOT BANNED, SAYS FCC
FCC's Enforcement Bureau Chief David Solomon spoke at a Media Institute gathering Wednesday about broadcast indecency enforcement. He said that the Bono decision did not mean the f-word was, per se, off limits noting the exception for NPR's airing the word recorded in John Gotti tapes. But news is not a complete shield for indecency as highlighted by the KRON-TV puppetry of the penis case, in which a morning news show was fined for an errant puppet. Solomon said that fine was because the on-air newspeople appeared to be encouraging the "flash." Mr. Solomon said that broadcasters must do more to self-regulate instead of hiding behind "the mantra of the First Amendment."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA434719?display=Breaking+News (requires subscription)

FEWER NOSES STUCK IN BOOKS IN AMERICA, SURVEY FINDS
The National Endowment for the Arts will release 2002 Census Bureau data today which describes a precipitous downward trend in book consumption by Americans. The survey, called "Reading at Risk," finds that fewer than half of Americans over 18 now read novels, short stories, plays or poetry; that the consumer pool for books of all kinds has diminished; and that the pace
at which the nation is losing readers, especially young readers, is quickening. In addition it finds that the downward trend holds in virtually all demographic areas. The study, with its stark depiction of how Americans now entertain, inform and educate themselves, does seem likely to fuel debate over issues like the teaching and encouragement of reading in schools, the financing of literacy programs and the prevalence in American life of television and the other electronic media that have been increasingly stealing time from readers for a couple of generations at least. It also raises questions about the role of literature in the contemporary world.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bruce Weber]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/books/08READ.html (requires registration)

INTERNET AS UNIQUE NEWS SOURCE
New research by the Pew Internet Project shows that during some of the most turbulent weeks of the Iraq war nearly one quarter of Internet users (24%) went online to view some of most graphic war images that were deemed too gruesome or horrific for newspapers and television to display. Further, of those who have seen the images, 28% actively sought them out. Overall, however, Americans are conflicted about the idea of these disturbing images being available online. By a 49%-40% margin, Americans disapprove of the posting of such images. A strong cultural divide emerges between Internet users and non-users: Internet users approve of the images being online by a small margin of 47% - 44%, while non-users disapprove by an overwhelming58% - 29% margin. The horrific nature of many of the war-related images that have appeared online have left Internet users with a range of
feelings. "Millions of Internet users want to be able to view the graphic war images and they see the Internet as an alternative source of news and
information from traditional media," said Deborah Fallows, Senior Research Fellow at the Project, and co-author of the report. "But many who do venture outside the traditional and familiar standards of the mainstream news organizations to look at the images online end up feeling very uncomfortable."
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project]
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/87/press_release.asp

ONLINE FILE SWAPPING ENDURES
Despite entertainment industry attempts to curb online song and movie swapping with lawsuits and education campaigns, more people than ever are using peer-to-peer services. 8.3 million people were online at any one time in June using unauthorized services like Kazaa and eDonkey -- up 19% from 6.8 million in June 2003. BigChampagne, which tracks Internet file sharing, says 1 billion songs were available for free trading in June. That compares with 820 million a year ago.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:Jefferson Graham]
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040712/6356647s.htm
In a somewhat related story, see
E-Commerce Report: Online Battle of Low-Cost Books
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/12/technology/12ecom.html (requires registration)

SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO FIGHT JUNK E-MAIL
Two systems -- Yahoo's DomainKeys standard and Sender ID, which is backed by Microsoft and the Pobox.com e-mail service -- are being tested now to best fix the authentication problem and, hopefully, curtail email spam. Sender ID has attracted the most interest. It counts on the fact that though e-mail headers are easy to forge, IP addresses -- the unique set of numbers attached to every Internet domain -- are not. In this system, a domain name owner publishes its IP address in a public database. When a message arrives that claims to be from the domain name, the recipient's e-mail program automatically checks the information in the header and compares it with the information in the database. If it matches, the message goes through. If it doesn't match, the message is quarantined or blocked. DomainKeys takes an approach that is based on public-private key cryptography. Sent messages include an encrypted digital signature created by the e-mail provider's private key. When the message arrives at the recipient's e-mail server, the server checks a database for the sender's public key. If the public and private keys match up, the signature can be decrypted and the sender's identity validated. If not, the message can be blocked by spam filters.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR:Chris Gaither]
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-email15jul15,1,5585848.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business (requires registration)

STUDY REPORTS DECLINE IN JOURNALISM STANDARDS
The Newspaper Guild, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians and the Writers Guild of America, East released survey results Tuesday finding almost 80 percent of journalists say journalism standards have declined as the media industry has consolidated in recent years, with too much attention being paid to the bottom line. 69 percent of the 400 journalist respondents said corporate owners were exerting too much influence over news coverage, while 73 percent felt understaffing was threatening the quality of news reporting. In addition, 62 percent said entertainment coverage was growing at the expense of hard news.
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Doug Halonen]
http://www.tvweek.com/news/web072004.html#study

NEW TECHNOLOGY HERALDS UNLIMITED WEB SITES -- ICANN
Vinton Cerf of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said the next-generation protocol, IPv6, had been added to its root server systems, making it possible for every person or device to have an Internet protocol address. Cerf said about two-thirds of the 4.3 billion Internet addresses currently available were used up, adding that IPv6 could magnify capacity by some "25,000 trillion trillion times." [For my fellow English Lit majors, he means "a whole big bunch."
[SOURCE: Reuters]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=X3Z0LNFOOLPLMCRBAELCFFA?type=internetNews&storyID=5722767

A LIFE-SAVING TECHNOLOGY
Once thought of as a luxury, high-speed Internet access is viewed increasingly as a necessity. Broadband is being used in projects that could revolutionize such critical areas as education, health care and public safety while creating enormous opportunities in business and entertainment. Policymakers are recognizing that fast Internet connections are as essential to the future of the economy now as railroads and highways were in the last two centuries. So important is the technology that it has been elevated to a national campaign issue this election year. President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry have each outlined plans to increase investment in the technology as part of their platform agendas, and policymakers of all stripes cite it as an important driver of future economic growth. Critical uses for broadband technology are multiplying every day in a wide range of fields: 1) Public Safety. Emergency services--including firefighters, police forces and medical crews--see wireless broadband as a vital addition to their tools, and are lobbying Congress to help improve these capabilities. 2) Health Care. Diagnoses and consulting can be done with the help of high-quality audio and video and of real-time data connections between central and remote facilities. 3) Education. Schools at all levels are already using high-speed Internet connections in teaching and research, and many see the networks as ways to help smooth out the radically unequal distribution of resources between different regions and institutions. There's much more at the URL below.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: John Borland and Jim Hu]
http://news.com.com/Broadband%3A+A+life-saving+technology/2009-1034_3-5261361.html?tag=nl

THE NETWORKS DON'T LIKE THIS REALITY SHOW
The networks that give us "Fear Factor," "Big Brother" and "The Bachelor" didn't see good business in showing us the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night. It's true enough that, as a reality show, the convention doesn't offer people eating worms or pledging their undying love to a hard body they met a few hours ago. Is this a violation of public trust or a strategic, if jaded, view of the lack of drama at today's political conventions? No doubt ABC, NBC and CBS felt vindicated after Monday night's coverage mustered fewer than 14 million total viewers combined, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research, down 24% from first-night coverage of the convention four years ago. Tuesday night, all they missed was an electrifying speech by 42-year-old anointed rising star Barack Obama and the unveiling of first lady hopeful Teresa Heinz Kerry -- a black man and a middle-aged woman, neither of whom represents demographics the networks particularly care about.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Paul Brownfield]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-tv28jul28,1,4350962.story?coll=la-news-a_section (requires registration)

SOUTH KOREA LEADS THE WAY
The United States considers itself the center of technological innovation, yet South Korea has gone considerably further in making a mainstream reality out of the futuristic promises of bygone dot-com days. Eight megabits per second Internet connections are the norm in South Korea while broadband subscribers in the US are lucky to enjoy 1 Megabit connections. Many U.S. executives and policy makers are quick to dismiss the disparity, noting correctly that South Korea's densely populated areas have made it easier for telecommunications companies to offer extremely fast service to large numbers of people. But even with such geographic and demographic differences, the United States can learn some valuable lessons from South Korea's experience in jump-starting a broadband powerhouse. The country's achievements are even more impressive considering its starting point in technology. In 1995, fewer than 1 percent of South Korean residents used the Internet, though a larger number subscribed to proprietary Korean-language networks that were somewhat like the closed CompuServe and America Online networks of the late 1980s. By 2004, more than 71 percent of South Korean households subscribed to broadband Net services, according to local estimates. See much more at the URL below.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: John Borland and Michael Kanellos]
http://news.com.com/South+Korea+leads+the+way/2009-1034_3-5261393.html?tag=nl

Click here for other Benton files.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
(c) Benton Foundation 2003. Redistribution of this email publication -- both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message.
Communications-Related Headlines are compiled, summarized and edited by Rachel Anderson (rachel@benton.org), Andy Carvin (andy@benton.org) and Charles Meisch (charlie@benton.org) of the Benton Foundation -- we welcome your feedback. Based in Washington DC, the Benton Foundation's mission is to
articulate a public interest vision for the digital age and demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. Other projects at Benton include:
Digital Divide Network (www.digitaldividenetwork.org)
Digital Opportunity Channel (www.digitalopportunity.org)
OneWorld US (www.oneworld.net/us)
Sound Partners for Community Health (www.soundpartners.org)