September 10, 2003
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC TO APPROVE UNIVISION'S ACQUISITION OF HBC In a vote split along party lines, the FCC approved Univision Communications, the nation's largest Spanish-language media conglomerate, to expand its reach by purchasing Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. for $3.5 billion. Univision would acquire HBC's 63 radio stations and would be required to sell two radio stations as a condition of FCC approval. With the merger, Univision would have the top Spanish-language broadcast TV network, cable channel, record label, Internet site and radio network, as well as the largest group of television and radio stations. Rival networks have complained that the merger would cause too much concentration in Hispanic media and limit the choices for Spanish-speaking Americans. Univision responds that there is not a separate market for Spanish-language media and that local radio stations would retain control over their programming. SOURCE: The New York Times; AUTHOR: AP http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Hispanic-Media.html
FCC CHIEF WARNS OF FUTURE SHOCK "I think free, over-the-air TV is dying," says FCC Chairman Michael Powell. "I don't care how much money they made this year, they're dying." Part of the reason, he says, is that cable networks have both subscriber and advertising revenue, unlike network television. Powell also cites cable's freedom from the federal indecency rules that broadcast stations must follow. "In 10 years, free TV is going to be gone -- absent any policy decisions trying to help," he claims. Opponents remain unconvinced. "Here we have the chairman of the FCC trying to somehow protect four of the six largest and most profitable media companies that dominate the news, information and entertainment market in America today," said Gene Kimmelman, of the Consumers Union. "His entire philosophy reeks of corporate welfare for the wealthiest, most profitable companies at the expense of competition." Powell also fears that the nation's public telephone network will start to fail because rather than building facilities, companies such as MCI and AT&T are piggybacking on the equipment of regional phone companies "like sucker fish on whales." However, he was unsuccessful in his bid to revise FCC policy regarding the telephone industry. SOURCE: Chicago Tribune; AUTHOR: Frank James http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0309070507sep07,1,7218069 .story (Registration required)
E-GOVERNMENT
ENERGY DEPT'S KAREN EVANS NAMED NEW US E-GOVERNMENT CZAR US Department of Energy Chief Information Officer Karen Evans has been tapped to take over the leading US e-government post, reports Government Computer News. Evans will assume her new role as the Office of Management and Budget's associate administrator for IT and e-government next month. Evans replaces Mark Forman, who resigned last month to return to the private sector. "We need to complete and implement the e-government projects and realize the benefits of the rigor and discipline we are trying to build into the [budget and planning] processes," said OMB Deputy director Clay Johnson. Adds David McClure, Vice President for E-Government at the Council for Excellence in Government: "She has been in the trenches and knows how to get it done." Evans also serves as vice-chairwoman of the Federal CIO Council, the primary forum for federal government CIOs to develop inter-agency IT policies. SOURCE: Government Computer News; AUTHORS: Thomas R. Temin and Jason Miller http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/23438-1.html
INTERNET
JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF POP-UP ADS A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by truck rental company U-Haul regarding the use of pop-up advertising on the Internet. US District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee dismissed U-Haul's suit against Internet advertising company WhenU, whose software pops up advertisements of U-Haul's competitors when Internet users visit the U-Haul website. Judge Lee's decision said that WhenU's software did not violate U-Haul's copyrights or trademarks, nor did it force unsuspecting users to see the ads, since WhenU's users must voluntarily download the software to see the pop-ups. "While at first blush this detour in the user's Web search seems like a siphon-off of a business opportunity, the fact is that the computer user consented to this detour when the user downloaded WhenU's computer software from the Internet," Lee wrote. Lee added that pop-ups are admittedly an online nuisance, but do not rise to the occasion of violating laws cited in the U-Haul complaint. "Alas, we computer users must endure pop-up advertising along with her ugly brother, unsolicited bulk e-mail, 'spam,' as a burden of using the Internet," he wrote. SOURCE: Wired News; AUTHOR: Reuters http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60347,00.html
PHILANTHROPY
PHILANTHROPY WHERE IT COUNTS [Commentary] David Stern, president of the Stern Family Fund, argues the case that foundations should "put their money where it was intended: into worthwhile causes, not foundation expenses." At issue is the current debate over the Charitable Giving Act of 2003, which would reduce foundation taxes from two percent to one percent, while at the same time require that foundations not count administrative and operating costs when calculating the federally required five percent annual payout rate. The biggest foundations are lobbying hard against this latter provision of the bill. This is not surprising, says Stern, as the top one percent of foundations have overhead that equals half the aggregate overhead reported by the nation's 58,000 foundations, including $45 million paid to wealthy board members and trustees of the top 238 foundations in 1998 alone. Stern is concerned that some foundations are more concerned with their well-being than with addressing the problems for which they were created. He believes the bill would give foundations new incentives to keep administrative costs down. No longer would the Dallas-based foundation with $50 million in assets be able to pay out just $1.1 million in grants in 2000, while spending $2.6 million on its salaries and expenses, he writes. SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHOR: David Stern http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39809-2003Sep7.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
NATIONAL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY PLAN TAKES SHAPE IN CAMBODIA The Cambodian government, with support of the UNDP and its Asia Pacific Development Information Programme, is developing its first national technology plan. Cambodia's IT development has progressed since the end of its long-running civil war in the early 1990s, with the deployment of Internet access, satellite TV and mobile telephony. But most information and communications technologies (ICTs) are still unknown to rural Cambodians, who remain largely disconnected. Cambodian President Hun Sen says the new technology plan will address rural connectivity issues, as well as promote the development of Khmer-language computer fonts. "The formulation and implementation of ICT policies and strategies is crucial to keeping Cambodia firmly on the development track," the president said. The government expects the first draft of the plan to be ready before the end of the year. SOURCE: United Nations Development Programme http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/september/8sep03/index.html

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