Send Medianews-digest mailing list submissions to
[email protected]
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews-digest
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
You can reach the person managing the list at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Medianews-digest digest..."
Medianews-Digest
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with any questions.
Today's Topics:
1. [Medianews] US plans GPS satellite navigation upgrade to
rival EU ([email protected])
2. [Medianews] Unusual Pacific conditions force Sea Launch Co
to call off launch ([email protected])
3. [Medianews] Uploading Speeds Slowly Catch Up
([email protected])
4. [Medianews] LPFM Rules... ([email protected])
5. [Medianews] 'Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer' Singer Sued
([email protected])
6. [Medianews] Yahoo, AOL May Abandon Web Radio After Royalties
Rise ([email protected])
7. [Medianews] Design the next Mountain Dew
([email protected])
8. [Medianews] Billie Piper to appear again on 'Dr. Who'
([email protected])
9. [Medianews] Supreme Court weighs Internet sales regulation
([email protected])
--- Begin Message ---
US plans GPS satellite navigation upgrade to rival EU
Agence France-Presse
Nov. 27, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j3ZQCFnCij_rImToHsjrq61fyFhQ
WASHINGTON (AFP) The US military is working on super-powerful updates to
its GPS satellite navigation technology to try to trump the rival European
Galileo project which just received key funding, experts say.
European Union lawmakers agreed last week on a budget to include 2.4
billion euros (3.5 billion dollars) for the stalled Galileo
satellite-navigation project, now set to be deployed by 2013, the EU
presidency said.
But in a bid to maintain its economic and military edge in the sector, the
United States has been preparing to wheel out GPS III satellites, the most
significant upgrade to its Global Positioning System since it was first
launched in the 1990s.
"The next-generation GPS III system is expected to have about 500 times the
transmitter power of the current system, multiplying its resistance to
jamming," said the defense analysis website Globalsecurity.org.
Satellite navigation systems can allow users on the ground -- from jet
pilots to lost motorists -- to locate any point on Earth.
"GPS III will have second and third frequencies to contain civilian signal,
more robust signal transmissions, and provide real-time unaugmented
one-meter accuracy" to locate objects on the ground, Globalsecurity said.
Galileo meanwhile envisages its own network of 30 satellites to beam radio
signals to receivers on the ground. Its supporters promise it will give
greater accuracy and reliability than the GPS -- a challenge to the US
leaders in the field.
"The GPS Block III satellite will provide improved positioning, navigation,
and timing services to military and civil users by improving accuracy,
integrity, and resistance to hostile jamming," said David Madden, commander
of the GPS Wing in the US Air Force, in a recent interview.
"These new capabilities will be introduced incrementally in a series of
three blocks. The first Block IIIA launch is scheduled for late 2013," he
was quoted as saying, on the specialist GPS website Inside GNSS.
The new US network will eventually consist of 32 satellites.
The GPS system, also known as Navstar (Navigation Satellite for Time and
Ranging), was developed by the US Department of Defense in 1986.
The Pentagon grants free access to the satellite network for companies
making GPS gadgets for civilian use, such as public or maritime transport
systems.
It updated the technology last year, releasing a new generation of
satellites with a higher-quality signal, jamming resistance and the
capacity to locate positions extra-precisely, within a few meters.
But as prospects improve for the Galileo project, the US military is
looking into further expansion. In July it made a 1.8 billion-dollar call
for offers for companies to make the first installment of eight satellites
in the GPS III range.
Spokesman Steve Tatum of Lockheed Martin, one of the firms manufacturing
the GPS devices, said the Air Force was expected to award this contract
early in 2008.
The force said in a recent statement it was also awarding separate
contracts worth 160 million dollars each to two US contractors, Northrop
Grumman and the Raytheon Company, for preliminary development work on the
ground bases and antennas.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Unusual Pacific conditions force Sea Launch Co to call off launch
By JOHN ANTCZAK
Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 11/27/2007 07:36:53 PM PST
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7574965?nclick_check=1
LOS ANGELESSea Launch Co.'s oceangoing launch platform and control ship
were sailing back from the equator to their home port Tuesday after
unusually strong Pacific currents and winds stymied the company's attempt
to put a commercial satellite into orbit for the first time since a
damaging rocket explosion in January.
The launch of the mobile voice and data services satellite for Abu
Dhabi-based Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co. will be rescheduled,
Sea Launch spokeswoman Paula Korn said.
The vessels had been at the Pacific Ocean launch site since Nov. 10,
initially aiming for a Nov. 14 blastoff.
But the countdown was repeatedly put on hold because ocean currents up to
twice as strong as normal and high winds did not allow the self-propelled
Odyssey platform to maintain its launch position.
"We were just using up fuel trying to stay still," Korn said.
The countdown was finally stopped and the decision was made Monday to bring
the vessels back to Long Beach, Calif.
"We determined we would come back, resupply, realign ourselves and
reschedule the mission," Korn said.
The Sea Launch system is designed to take advantage of physics that allow a
rocket launched from the equator to carry a heavier payload into orbit than
it could if the launch point was elsewhere on the Earth's surface.
The vessels have been sailing to the equator for launches since 1999.
"We've never had conditions like this before," Korn said.
Among unusual observations noted by the captains were a drop of sea
temperature by several degrees while the vessels were at the equator, she
said, noting that the Pacific is in the grip of the La Nina phenomenon.
During La Nina, cold water that usually lies along South America moves out
across the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean, altering global weather.
A successful liftoff of the Boeing-built Thuraya-3 satellite would have put
Sea Launch back on track.
The Odyssey had to undergo repairs after the January accident in which one
of its Zenit 3SL rockets blew up seconds after ignition during Sea Launch's
24th mission.
The platform remained seaworthy, but its massive gas deflector, an
approximately 300-ton steel structure suspended below the launch pad, was
lost in the blast and had to be replaced, among other repairs.
The cause of the rocket failure also had to be determineddebris in a
liquid oxygen turbopumpand corrective action taken to prevent it from
happening again.
The Odyssey has a crew of 67 and the control ship Sea Launch Commander has
about 240 people aboard. The ship will reach California next week; the
slower platform will arrive in about two weeks.
Sea Launch is owned by Boeing Co., RSC-Energia of Moscow, Aker ASA of Oslo,
Norway, and SDO Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
[Upload speed in Houston is still stuck in the slow lane. Comcast Houston
broadband service (which now costs $55/month) offers 6 megabits/sec down
and 385 kbits/s up. AT&T describes their best residential DSL ($35/month)
as "Downstream Speed: Up to 6.0 Mbps Upstream Speed: Up to 768 Kbps." The
catch is that many Houston CO facilities are not equipped for DSL. My
sample of 500 residences found that over 2/3 of Houston households could
not get DSL because AT&T was unable to offer service.]
Uploading Speeds Slowly Catch Up
By DIONNE SEARCEY
Wall Street Journal
November 28, 2007; Page D1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119621285234906029.html?mod=hps_us_inside_today
Uploading is getting an upgrade.
After years of cranking up the speed of downloading material from the
Internet, which made it faster to surf the Web and play music and videos,
Internet service providers are finally starting to boost the speed of files
moving onto the Web from your personal computer.
The acceleration is being spurred by the rise of social-networking sites
like Facebook and video-sharing sites like YouTube, as a growing number of
people are posting their own music and video clips online. Upload speeds
have long been a fraction of the speed of downloads, forcing most users to
wait several minutes to upload a photo, for example, that they could
download in seconds.
But in recent months, companies have been ratcheting up their upload speeds
-- for consumers willing to pay a bit more. Verizon Communications Inc.
announced recently that it would start offering upload speeds of 20
megabits per second -- roughly 25 times as fast as what its most popular
DSL service offers -- in some markets for customers of its new fiber-based
network, called FiOS.
Verizon's rivals have also been increasing their upload speeds, offering
special features that allow for quicker capabilities. Comcast Corp. this
year began offering subscribers a temporary "turbocharge," or boost in
speed, which kicks in when it detects very large uploads. When the
PowerBoost feature is activated, Comcast subscribers can receive upload
speeds of up to two megabits per second.
Last year, Cablevision Systems Corp. doubled the upload speed of its most
popular high-speed Internet service to two megabits per second and added a
premium tier of service that offered five megabit-a-second uploads.
Verizon's new offering costs $64.99 a month, compared with the $45 a month
that Verizon charges FiOS customers in some markets for slower five
megabit-per-second uploads. But Verizon's service is less expensive -- and
slower -- than another offering from Cablevision, which charges $200 a
month for upload speeds of 50 megabits per second. That service is intended
mainly for businesses and homes that use the Internet extensively.
200 Photos in 90 Seconds
At the new speeds Verizon's FiOS is offering, consumers could upload 200
photos in about 90 seconds. The same upload would take 47 minutes over
Verizon's most popular DSL service, which offers uploads at 768 kilobits a
second. Verizon says a three-gigabyte file, such as a one-hour family video
shot with a high-definition video camera, could be uploaded in around 20
minutes, compared with more than nine hours at the slower speed. The FiOS
service offers 20 megabits a second for downloads as well.
Verizon's announcement could prompt other phone and cable operators to more
aggressively boost upload speeds. Until now, most cable and phone companies
have only incrementally raised uploads, even as they've lifted download speeds.
Comcast's fastest upload speed, for instance, is available only to
customers who take its more expensive high-speed offerings, with downloads
of up to 16 megabits a second. Comcast charges $52.95 a month for that
broadband service when customers subscribe to other services. Subscribers
to Comcast's lower-price offerings get much slower upload speeds of either
384 or 768 kilobits a second, though they also can get a boost up to two
megabits per second. AT&T Inc., likewise, offers an upload speed of only
768 kilobits a second on its fastest DSL service, paired with a downloading
speed of six megabits a second. AT&T offers a faster upload, of one megabit
a second, to customers in the limited areas where it sells its "U-Verse" TV
service.
A Sought-After Niche
Fast uploads appeal to a niche of Web users, but cable and phone companies
want to accommodate them because such users are willing to pay more for the
service, says Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst of Leichtman
Research Group in Durham, N.H. Among the consumers demanding faster speeds
are people working at home who want to share large files with co-workers in
the office.
Telecommuters also want faster uploads because the higher speed makes
videoconferencing much easier.
Faster upload speeds will also please users of peer-to-peer networks, which
allow users to share music, videos, software and photos. Some peer-to-peer
networks are used for sharing pirated movies. Verizon, for one,
acknowledges this but says it is working with Hollywood studios to look for
ways to block pirating on its network.
Sluggish Networks
High-speed networks aren't always as fast as promised. Heavy network
traffic and other issues can sometimes cause delays. But any speed boost at
all is welcome to some customers.
Among Verizon's new customers is Scott Shapiro, a music composer for TV
shows, films and games who is based in Westchester County, N.Y. He uses his
Internet connection to deliver video and large audio files to his
customers. He had been subscribing to Cablevision's service with
five-megabit uploads, as well as the company's cable TV service. Now he
says he pays less than $150 for Verizon's new service, which includes TV
and phone service and is slightly less than what he paid Cablevision.
(Prices for both companies vary depending on the services ordered and
promotions.)
"The Internet and files are only getting larger," he says. "The faster, the
better."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
>From AllAccess.com:
After a long delay, the FCC finally got down to business with an open
meeting on TUESDAY, and the Commission voted to change low-power FM rules in
a move it says will promote the stations' growth. Among the changes, the
Commission will allow some transfers of LPFM licenses subject to
"significant limitations." The FCC is also reinstating the rules limiting
ownership to local entities (one station per licensee), defining local
origination by disallowing "repetitious, automated programming," and
encouraging voluntary time-sharing agreements between applicants.
In addition, the FCC is imposing an application cap on 2003 FM translator
window filers, and is limiting LPFMs' responsibility to resolve interference
issues with later-authorized full-power stations. The Commission has
tentatively concluded that full-power stations must provide technical and
financial assistance to LPFM stations when the full-power station is
applying for a facility change that would increase interference to the LPFM.
and will recommend to Congress that it end third-channel interference
protection for full-power stations from LPFMs. A Second Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking will be opened to take comments on the interference
proposals.
Commissioner MICHAEL COPPS voiced his approval in a concurring statement,
saying, "This item makes good progress in putting LPFM on a firmer
foundation. In particular, I welcome the decisions on ownership and
eligibility that will ensure that LPFM retains its local character; the
initial steps we take to limit the preclusive effect of existing translator
applications on LPFM; and the initial steps we take to protect LPFM from
full-power station encroachment. But we have a lot of work ahead of us."
Commissioner DEBI TATE dissented from the Order's limitation of 10 FM
translator applications per applicant, saying that she prefers a "more
measured approach" rather than an 80% cut. ROBERT MCDOWELL dissented from
the new processing policy ("premature"), the additional protection for LPFMs
from changes to full-power facilities (:The majority should not have
reversed this precedent without at least seeking further public comment"),
and the cut for FM translator applications.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.etskywarn.net/pipermail/medianews-digest/attachments/2007=
1128/0aebc57a/attachment-0001.htm
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
'Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer' Singer Sued
Company Sues Shropshire, Claiming Breach Of Contract
http://www.nbc4.com/entertainment/14713387/detail.html
LOS ANGELES -- A feud involving the man who sang "Grandma Got Run Over By a
Reindeer" could wind up in court, just in time for Christmas.
Elmo Shropshire was sued for breach of contract Monday by a company that claims
he interfered in a $1 million-plus deal to sell musical trucks, bobblehead
dolls, snow globes and cookie jars featuring characters from an animated show
based on the novelty song.
The tale about Santa mowing down a tipsy grandma with his sleigh was first
heard in 1979 and has become a holiday favorite. It inspired a 2000 animated
television program that continues to run seasonally around the world.
The Fred Rappoport Company contends it has the rights to use the song for
products featuring characters from that program.
But Shropshire said that he holds the copyright to the song and it can't be
used without his permission.
Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Yahoo, AOL May Abandon Web Radio After Royalties Rise (Update2)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a0pKOrcpw6yE&refer=us
By Meg Tirrell
Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit may shut
down their Web radio services after being hit with a 38 percent increase in
royalties to air music.
``We're not going to stay in the business if cost is more than we make long
term,'' Ian Rogers, general manager at Yahoo's music unit, said in an
interview.
Yahoo and AOL stopped directing users to their radio sites after SoundExchange,
the Washington-based group representing artists and record labels, began
collecting the higher fees in July. Those royalties may stifle the growth of
Internet radio, which increased listeners 39 percent in the past year,
according to researcher ComScore Inc. in Reston, Virginia.
Radio sites have been ``dealt a severe blow,'' said Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst
at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. ``It seems very unlikely that at
this stage a solution will be reached.''
Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, is promoting a music service offering
videos and songs for sale rather than its Launchcast, the largest Web radio
site, Rogers said.
As a result, the number of people using Launchcast fell 11 percent to 5.1
million in October, according to ComScore. AOL Radio users declined 10 percent
to 2.7 million from 3 million. Radio sites attracted 51.2 million U.S. visitors
last month, more than a quarter of all U.S. Web users.
`Very Challenging'
SoundExchange, which represents record companies including Sony BMG, Warner
Music Group Corp., and Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, sought the royalty
increase amid a drop in industry revenue. U.S. sales of compact discs fell 20
percent from 2004 to 2006, according to data from the Recording Industry
Association of America.
The two sides couldn't agree on new rates in late 2005, putting the matter
before the Copyright Royalty Board, a panel of three judges appointed by the
U.S. Copyright Office.
Siding with the music companies, the board in March ordered that royalties be
raised to 0.11 cent for each song listened to from 0.08 cent last year. The
rate is scheduled to reach 0.19 cent in 2010.
``The current math doesn't add up,'' said Lisa Namerow, managing director of
AOL Radio in Dulles, Virginia. ``If the rates remain as they are, it would be
very challenging to sustain a business that is profitable.'' The radio sites
generate revenue by selling advertising.
Losing Money
Yahoo and AOL don't disclose the finances of their Web radio units. Oakland,
California-based Pandora Media Inc., the largest privately owned Internet radio
company, is losing money, founder Tim Westergren said in an interview.
The companies are hoping to wrest a reduction in the royalties in discussions
that have been held since July with SoundExchange, which has offered lower fees
to smaller Internet radio sites. The major Webcasters are represented in the
talks by the Washington-based Digital Media Association, which also has asked
the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to overturn the royalty board.
Peter LoFrumento, a spokesman for Santa Monica, California- based Universal
Music Group, the world's largest record company, referred questions on the
royalties to SoundExchange. John McKay, a spokesman for New York-based Sony
BMG, the second-biggest music company, also declined to comment. The company is
owned by Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG.
``We want to make sure there's fair treatment of everybody,'' said Richard
Ades, a SoundExchange spokesman. ``That doesn't mean cutting what the recording
artists are paid.'' SoundExchange collects monthly fees for more than 3,000
record labels and 20,000 artists.
Threat to Growth
The new rates are a fair increase from modest levels, Cathy Fink, a Grammy
Award-winning children's musician, told Congress in June. ``The royalty fees
that were ultimately set by the board reflected the value of the recordings,''
Fink said in written testimony.
According to analyst Lindsay, the higher fees will ``kill the growth'' of
Yahoo's Launchcast. Revenue at Yahoo's music unit may rise 4.7 percent to $45
million in 2008, compared with a 19 percent increase this year, he estimated.
Launchcast accounts for about a quarter of the division's sales, Lindsay said.
Total sales at Yahoo reached $6.43 billion last year, while net income was
$751.4 million. AOL's 2006 operating profit amounted to $1.92 billion on
revenue of $7.87 billion.
Yahoo increased 61 cents to $26.20 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock
Market trading. Time Warner advanced to $17.22 on the New York Stock Exchange.
``We're really re-examining the radio model,'' AOL's Namerow said. ``Shutting
down the business'' is a possibility if Webcasters and the music industry don't
come to an agreement.
Bills in Congress
Congress may be the last resort for the Webcasters. Bills introduced in the
House by Democratic Representative Jay Inslee of Washington and in the Senate
by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon would repeal the royalty increases.
Democratic Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts said in July that
Congress may act if a compromise isn't reached.
Failure to reduce royalties may mean shutting down Pandora, founder Westergren
said.
``At the new rates we're losing tons of money,'' he said. ``If we don't think
there's a real answer that's going to happen, it's our fiduciary responsibility
to stop.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Meg Tirrell in New York at [EMAIL
PROTECTED]
Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
http://www.dewmocracy.com/overview/default.aspx
Help create the next Mountain Dew.
Starting November 2007, you are invited to join the movement to create
the next Mountain Dew. Your journey will give you the power to select
the flavor, color, name, logo, label, and tagline for the next Mountain Dew.
Your journey will take you through seven Chambers, where you will meet
mythical characters, answer questions, and play games.
* Upon entering each Chamber, you will be tasked to create a specific
feature of the next Mountain Dew. For example, in the first Chamber, you
will select your Drink’s flavor.
* Creating the individual features of your Drink will be the first task
of each Chamber. Once completed, you can wait for the next Chamber to
open or can continue exploring the world of DEWmocracy by playing a
series of games.
* Your decisions in the first three Chambers will lead you to join 1 of
the 3 Teams that will ultimately create the next Mountain Dew. After the
3 most popular combinations of features are determined, you’ll be
aligned with the Team whose drink most closely matches your own.
* Once aligned with a Team, you will be responsible for creating the
logo, label, and ultimately the tag-line of the next Mountain Dew. Each
Team will vote on which Drink candidate from those submitted by all Team
members will be put forth for a national vote.
* Points earned in the game get you higher visibility for your drink,
increasing its chances of being selected as your Team’s candidate.
Accruing the most points does not directly result in your drink being
one of the 3 final selections.
* In the final Chamber, your team will vote to determine the Drink
candidate that you collectively would like to bring into the real world.
The Legend.
Corporate Barons rule the city with an iron-fist, but a thirst for
change is in the air. As a “Seeker,” you have the chance to return
choice to the people. To do so you must embrace adventure, face your
destiny, and help create the next Mountain Dew.
Starting November, 2007, you are invited on a mythic journey through
interactive Chambers of adventure that, once entered, will let you vote
on new features for the next Mountain Dew: flavor, color, name, logo,
label and tag line.
To succeed, you will need all of your cunning and strength. Each Chamber
is blocked by a Guardian and ruled by a Master, epic creatures of
adventure and deception. There are enemies to fight, lessons to learn,
and tools to earn – like a 2-sided battle axe or a coral divining rod to
point the way. And there are points to be scored. The more points you
win, the greater your fame in the fellowship of Seekers everywhere.
Upon your return to the city for a final showdown with the Authorities,
the people will be set free to vote on which elixir shall pour across
the land – the People’s Dew. Your destiny will become clear. Choice and
creative freedom will become the rule. And the next Mountain Dew will
become reality
--
Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net
http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Billie Piper to appear again on 'Dr. Who'
LONDON (UPI) -- Actress Billie Piper is set to reprise her role of
Rose Tyler in three new episodes of the British TV drama "Dr. Who,"
the BBC reported Tuesday.
Piper first played Tyler on the sci-fi show when the Doctor character
was portrayed by Christopher Ecclestone.
She continued to play the part when David Tennant assumed the Doctor
role and left the series last year when her character was transported
to a parallel universe, leaving the door open for a possible return.
Piper will be seen in three episodes during the upcoming season,
which is to begin in March and which will consist of 13 installments.
There will be three "Dr. Who" specials in 2009 before the show goes
on hiatus until 2010, the BBC said.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Duane Whittingham (N9SSN)
Tom and Darryl Radio Shows & Saturday Morning Confusion
Heard on C-Band Analog Satellite (W0KIE) - Telstar 6 Ch 7 - 6.2/6.8
-------Coming soon to Telstar 5 (G25) KU MPEG Free to air------------
WTND-LP Macomb 106.3 FM, WBCQ 7415 kHz & the Internet.
Heard Fridays 9pm ET, Sundays 12am ET and Tuesdays 1am ET (Folk)
An Independent Freeform Eclectic Radio Show.
http://www.tomanddarryl.org
http://www.wtnd.us
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-scotus29nov29,1,4187793.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Supreme Court weighs Internet sales regulation
The Bush administration opposes restrictions favored by states to prevent
minors from buying cigarettes and other products on the Web.
By David G. Savage
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 29, 2007
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court took up a little-noted case Wednesday that
could prove a boon in the era of Internet commerce -- and deal a setback to
states' efforts to keep cigarettes, drugs and other harmful products out of
the hands of minors.
Until the last decade, states restricted sales of certain products by
regulating the sellers. For example, retailers were banned from selling
cigarettes to those under age 18.
But cigarettes, like nearly every other product, now can be bought over the
Internet and sent directly to the consumer, which means the seller cannot
verify the age of the purchaser. The number of Web vendors of cigarettes
rose from 88 in 2000 to 772 early last year, according to the California
attorney general's office.
As a fallback, states increasingly have turned to shippers and delivery
services, such as UPS or FedEx, and said they must see to it that certain
products, including tobacco, are delivered only to adults, not minors.
Maine, for example, adopted a law requiring shippers who deliver tobacco
products to obtain a signature from an adult and see a government-issued
identification card.
But Bush administration lawyers joined the trucking industry Wednesday in
urging the high court to throw out Maine's law and to shield shippers from
all such state regulation of delivery services. This would speed the flow
of Internet sales and reduce costs, they said.
Forcing delivery services to check on who is receiving a particular product
disrupts "the timely and cost-effective flow of packages to our businesses
and homes," lawyers for the shippers said.
They referred to an industry-friendly measure passed by Congress in 1994
that bars states from enforcing any law "related to the price, route or
service" of a trucker or a shipping firm. The administration's lawyers say
this broad deregulatory measure goes beyond economic regulation. There is
no "exception for state health and safety regulations," they argued.
Most of the justices signaled during the hourlong argument that they
favored freeing the shipping industry from state regulations.
"We are very worried," California Deputy Atty. Gen. Laura Kaplan said after
the argument. "We don't know how far the Supreme Court will go, but there
are a lot of other dangerous products besides cigarettes. And this could
leave a big void."
California does not regulate delivery services as strictly as required
Maine does. "We don't have anything exactly like" Maine's law, Kaplan said.
Under California law, Internet vendors are required to check whether
purchasers are adults. However, as the Supreme Court was told, a test of
the state law had children try to buy a carton of cigarettes from 234
websites, and they succeeded with 129. Most of the sites did nothing more
than ask purchasers to certify that they were 18 or older, the state's
lawyers said.
"The law has not been as effective as we'd like," Kaplan said.
The California lawyers, joined by those from 37 other states, filed a brief
that warned against making the shipping industry's "expansive view of
[federal] preemption . . . the law of the land."
Doing so would threaten "state restrictions on the delivery of a myriad of
other dangerous products, including explosives, liquor, drugs, poisonous
reptiles and wild animals," they said.
Justice Antonin Scalia made clear that he did not share the states'
concern. "Maybe Congress wanted the regulatory void," he told the Maine
lawyer who was defending the state's efforts to regulate delivery services.
Comments and questions by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices
Stephen G. Breyer, David H. Souter and Samuel A. Alito Jr. suggested
similar views.
"Congress wanted to end a category of regulation," Souter said.
Breyer said states were unlikely to set exactly the same rules for delivery
services. He added: "If every state does it differently, it's going to be a
nightmare."
With the steady growth of sales over the Internet, the case has been seen
as the key test of whether delivery services can be required to enforce
some of the state sales restrictions imposed on retailers.
The Maine law was struck down by two lower courts, but the justices agreed
to hear an appeal from the state's attorney general, Steven Rowe.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
--- End Message ---
_______________________________________________
Medianews-digest mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews-digest
