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Today's Topics:
1. Telecom giants criticized for blocking competing services
(George Antunes)
2. Watchdog wants tough message sent to Sprint (George Antunes)
3. Web DJs silenced by royalty fees (George Antunes)
4. Pirated Music Helps Radio Develop Playlists (George Antunes)
5. Gloves are off in Chicago TV news fight (George Antunes)
6. As image spam declines, PDF spam ready to take its place
(Williams, Gregory S.)
7. In Satellite vs. Cable, The Battle Over HD Is Baffling
Consumers (George Antunes)
8. Mainlander's Radio Show Stirs Up US Virgin Islands Political
Scene (George Antunes)
9. Senate panel quizzes NOAA on satellite programs (George Antunes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:00:58 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Telecom giants criticized for blocking competing
services
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Telecom giants criticized for blocking competing services
Associated Press
Article Launched: 07/11/2007 03:17:26 PM PDT
http://www.siliconvalley.com/latestheadlines/ci_6350524?nclick_check=1
WASHINGTON - AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and other major telecom carriers
are coming under fire for blocking tech companies' services from their
networks.
Some technology companies accuse the telecom carriers of dictating what can
and can't be offered on their wireless networks, stifling innovation and
competition.
Research in Motion Ltd., which wants to offer new video, music and mapping
services over its popular Blackberry devices, is tangling with AT&T, which
denied RIM from offering a free mapping service because the carrier plans
to offer its own subscription-based version.
The tech companies, as well as consumer groups, say customers will lose out
if telecom carriers can block rival services on their networks because
consumers will have fewer choices of services and providers.
They're asking the federal government to intervene and open up the wireless
networks.
The telecom carriers and their supporters say new regulations would not
increase innovation or competition.
"The wireless industry is indisputably, workably competitive, said Philip
Verveer, a former attorney in the Justice Department's antitrust division
and at the Federal Communications Commission.
However, last month, 15 tech company executives signed a letter sent to FCC
Chairman Kevin Martin, requesting that a small percentage of wireless
spectrum, which is scheduled to be auctioned to the highest bidder before
year-end, be designated as open access.
Essentially, the spectrum would be available to all wireless devices. The
FCC is considering rules that will dictate how the spectrum will be used.
Jason Devitt, chief executive of San Mateo, Calif.-based Skydeck, signed
the letter to Martin.
Opening up the wireless spectrum is necessary "as long as no harm comes to
it," said Devitt at a House Commerce and Energy subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
Steven Zipperstein, vice president and general counsel of Verizon Wireless
- a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group
Plc. - argued that open access is unwarranted because no one has identified
that the current system is failing consumers.
He said the fact that consumers are being offered hundreds of applications
and services reflects sufficient competition exists in the industry.
For example, when Cingular Wireless first offered Motorola Inc.'s Razr
phone, the product cost about $500 and could only operate on one network.
It has since come down in price to about $50 and the service is available
on other networks, he said.
"The market really addressed the problem in a quick and efficient way," he
said.
Some lawmakers at Wednesday's hearing criticized the recently launched
Apple Inc. iPhone - a hybrid mobile phone, media player and wireless
Internet device - because it can only be used on AT&T's wireless network.
Of the first 1 million iPhones purchased after launch, up to 40 percent of
the buyers had to switch carriers, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., said at the
hearing.
Even having to pay costly early termination fees didn't seem to impede
consumers' desire for the gizmo.
Verveer added that there will be iPhone rivals soon enough and that at some
point, the iPhone likely will be offered on other wireless networks, as
happened following the launch of other innovative wireless communications
gadgets.
AT&T did not immediately comment.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:11:33 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Watchdog wants tough message sent to Sprint
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-sprint12jul12,1,721292.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Watchdog wants tough message sent to Sprint
By James S. Granelli
LA Times Staff Writer
July 12, 2007
Cellphone companies are notorious for socking customers with hefty fees if
they want to get out of their contracts early. Now, some people believe
Sprint Nextel Corp. ought to get a taste of its own medicine.
Sprint's decision to dismiss 1,100 customers for complaining too much
prompted Mindy Bockstein, chairwoman of New York's Consumer Protection
Board, to ask the company Wednesday to pay $200 in termination fees to each
of the customers.
"If someone adheres to a contract and pays for service that carries a
termination fee for quitting, it should be a two-way street," she said.
Sprint, the nation's third-largest cellphone carrier, believes that it
already has provided adequate compensation: waiving its $175 termination
fee and the customers' final monthly bills.
"We just felt we couldn't serve them anymore," spokesman William K. White
said. "And we thought that letting them go to another carrier would make
them happier. If they continue to call us after six months, they're clearly
not happy."
Among those whose contracts were severed, White said, were people who
called repeatedly to seek credits, to ask for phone records on another
person's account and to get new handsets because the previous four or five
didn't work. In many cases, he said, customers repeatedly called on matters
that the carrier believed it had fixed or they repeatedly posed questions
that the company, by law, couldn't answer.
In a little over six months, the 1,100 users called the customer service
line 40,000 times, White said. Sprint fields an average of one inquiry
every two months from each of its 53 million customers.
At the end of June, Sprint sent letters to the 1,100 customers saying the
number of service calls they made "led us to determine that we are unable
to meet your current wireless needs."
Bockstein, whose board has little regulatory authority over wireless
carriers, was unsure if the compensation was sufficient.
"While you may feel this action is justified by the behavior of these
customers, the [state board] is concerned that ultimately these customers
are not being treated fairly," she wrote to the company Wednesday.
In an interview, Bockstein said, "They seem to be cherry-picking customers,
and that signals a troubling trend."
Neither her office nor California's Department of Consumer Affairs
registered any complaints about the terminations.
The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco consumer advocacy group, said
Sprint should look at its policies to see what might be generating such
calls. "We are concerned any time customers are getting a message from
their phone company that having questions is not acceptable," said Bob
Finkelstein, the group's executive director.
"We would agree that customers shouldn't make nuisances of themselves," he
said. "On the other hand, the high price of cellphone plans includes
customer service."
One customer who is being bounced isn't happy.
Rene, a 29-year-old Miami resident who complained on an Internet chat site
but would not give her last name, said in an interview that she was a
Sprint customer for nearly eight years and signed a new two-year contract
six weeks ago after buying a $400 Treo handset.
She said the high number of calls attributed to her started about six
months ago with a billing issue on a new plan.
"The reps were nice and apologetic, but I believe that although the problem
looked solved, the system ? ultimately kept making errors," she said.
In addition, she said, Sprint counted as separate calls every transfer for
which she had to enter her number and password again and every call made
after one was dropped. Sprint never returned any calls it had promised to,
she said, forcing her to make more calls.
White said Sprint thoroughly investigated before making its decision. The
high number of calls from them, he said, affected the company's ability to
serve the rest of its customers, a term in the contract that allowed the
company to take the action.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:13:39 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Web DJs silenced by royalty fees
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-radio12jul12,1,3679134.story?coll=la-headlines-business
RADIO
Web DJs silenced by royalty fees
Small Internet stations shut down as a ruling raises charges for songs.
By Jim Puzzanghera
LA Times Staff Writer
July 12, 2007
WASHINGTON ? Every day was Christmas for Michael Clark, but now the
holiday's over.
From the attic of his condo in Woodbridge, Va., the 38-year-old Web
developer ran an Internet radio station that spun his beloved Christmas
carols all year long. Then in March, a panel of federal judges sharply
increased the royalty charges for playing music online.
Since then, it's been one long, silent night for Clark and his hundreds of
listeners at christmasmusic247.com. His site and hundreds of other free
Internet radio stations already have shut down. Most others say they will
stop when the rates kick in Sunday.
"It really isn't fair," said Clark, who pulled the plug when he realized he
could owe more than $20,000 in royalties if he continued.
The decision threatens the diversity that webcasters bring to an era of
large radio conglomerates and homogenized Top 40 playlists on many
over-the-air stations. Each month an estimated 72 million listeners tune in
to thousands of Internet radio stations programmed by devotees of every
musical genre and subgenre.
Those stations often feature programming that's like a party mix that can
be shared with the world, including obscure and independent recordings
never heard on the FM or even satellite airwaves. "I can't shoot up a
satellite, I can't put up a tower," Clark said. "It seems like you need
these niche broadcasters."
Clark and other Internet radio providers stopped their music streams to
avoid racking up more obligations after the Copyright Royalty Board set the
new rates March 2. Clark and others said they would resurrect their
stations if Congress or the courts halted the controversial hike, which by
2010 will more than double the current rate of .0762 of a cent each time a
song is played.
The royalty board also removed a provision that capped royalties for small
Internet radio stations at 10% to 12% of their revenue. The higher rate is
retroactive to the start of 2006, so webcasters also face large lump-sum
payments.
SoundExchange, the organization that collects and distributes Internet
music royalties, said the new rates were fair and necessary to compensate
performers and record companies for the use of their music. Negotiations
are continuing between webcasters and SoundExchange, which has the ability
to strike separate deals.
In the meantime, the Internet is losing some of its musical variety.
Webcasters say the preemptive shutdowns are just a taste of what would
happen if the rate hike becomes permanent.
"I miss it," said Glenn Wilcox, a manufacturing engineer and amateur
trumpet player in San Diego who started JazzPlayerRadio.com with three
friends in 2004. The station played nothing but trumpet jazz by legends
such as Maynard Ferguson and Bobby Shew as well as local artists, but
Wilcox and his friends stopped April 30 because of the pending royalty
increase.
"If I went to a show or a get-together of guys who are my heroes, because
I'm part of JazzPlayerRadio, I could walk up to one of them, like Bobby
Shew, and shake their hand," said Wilcox, 45. "He knew the station."
Despite the thrill of having hundreds or even thousands of listeners around
the world enjoying their favorite music, small webcasters have decided the
higher costs make it a luxury they can't afford.
Most Internet radio stations are free for listeners. Some large sites, such
as Yahoo Music, run advertisements to help offset the costs, but most
people who operate small stations simply foot the bill.
"I pay for this out of my own back pocket," said Dick Shuey, 68, of
Holladay, Tenn. He spends about $350 a month to run his country music
station, TwangTownUSA.com., but will stop Sunday because of the higher fees.
Many hobbyists use services such as Live365.com or LoudCity.net to
broadcast their stations for a flat monthly fee as low as $9.95. Live365
has lost about 300 of its 10,000 stations since the royalty increase was
announced in April, said Johnie Floater, the site's general manager of
media. And about 250 stations are starting each month, down from about 350
before the rate hike.
At LoudCity, the number of Internet stations has dropped from 550 to about
500 even though the company, and not the broadcaster, is responsible for
royalty payments under its monthly service plans, which range from $35 to
$200, co-founder Brandon Casci said.
"They're worried that somehow, someway, SoundExchange is going to come
after them," Casci said.
Clark started his Christmas-music station because he had always loved the
genre and enjoyed working at his college radio station. He built his
collection by scooping up CDs at after-Christmas sales. His playlist
totaled 2,959 songs from the likes of Peabo Bryson, Bing Crosby, Garth
Brooks and the Brady Bunch.
Interest in his station built throughout the year, from about 10 to 20
listeners in January to big spikes after Labor Day and Halloween. In
December, he averaged 625 listeners during the workday, with many people
listening in their offices. Fan e-mail has arrived from as far away as
Japan and Africa.
But after doing the math, he decided he couldn't survive under the new rates.
Clark offset his costs last year with $1,076 from advertising and listener
contributions. Under the higher royalty rate, Clark estimated he owed
$7,471 for 2006.
Based on feedback from listeners, he had started a second station on his
site this year devoted to instrumental Christmas music. By his
calculations, he would owe $13,410 for both stations this year.
"That's a car payment or the second mortgage," Clark said. "That's just not
realistic."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:17:56 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Pirated Music Helps Radio Develop Playlists
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Pirated Music Helps Radio Develop Playlists
By SARAH MCBRIDE
Wall Street Journal
July 12, 2007; Page B1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118420443945664247.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
The music industry has long blamed illegal file sharing for the slump in
music sales. But now, a key part of the industry is trying to harness file
sharing to boost its own bottom line.
Earlier this year, Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s Premiere Radio
Networks unit began marketing data on the most popular downloads from
illegal file-sharing networks to help radio stations shape their playlists.
The theory is that the songs attracting the most downloads online will also
win the most listeners on the radio, helping stations sell more
advertising. In turn, the service may even help the record labels, because
radio airplay is still the biggest factor influencing record sales.
Premiere's Mediabase market-research unit is working on the venture with
the file-sharing research service BigChampagne LLC. BigChampagne collects
the data while a Premiere sales force of about 10 people pitches the
information to radio companies and stations. Premiere declined to disclose
how much it charges.
The service has already had an impact. The Huey song "Pop, Lock and Drop
It" was in light rotation in April at Power 106, a big Emmis Communications
Corp.-owned hip-hop station in Los Angeles, and listeners weren't
requesting it much. The station's own research on the best music mix to
play indicated the song wasn't catching on with listeners. But data from
BigChampagne showed the song was hot on file-sharing networks, including in
Los Angeles. Emmanuel "E-man" Coquia, the station's music director, decided
to stick with it. Now, three months later, "Pop, Lock and Drop It" is
prominent on the station's playlist.
Using data on stolen music to help mold playlists may strike some as
ironic. File sharing has likely contributed to the continuing decline in
the music business. U.S. music sales were down 7% last year after a 3% drop
the year before, according to the London-based music trade group IFPI. But
BigChampagne's clients say ignoring file sharing wouldn't make sense. "It's
a fact of life at this time," says Rich Meyer, Mediabase's president and
executive vice president at Premiere.
Joe Fleischer, BigChampagne's vice president for sales and marketing, adds
that the legality of grabbing music is a separate issue from the insight
into peoples' taste the downloads offer. He also notes that the company
incorporates legal, paid downloads from sites like iTunes into its data,
though they represent a tiny fraction of all downloads.
Currently, says Emmis radio head Rick Cummings, the downloading information
is one more tool to figure out what to play. It's not yet as helpful as the
phone calls known in the business as "call-out" research, in which people
listen to clips of songs and rate them, he says. But at some point, the
download data are "going to be the primary method of research."
It's getting harder and harder to do passive call-out research, Mr.
Cummings says, because "people don't have time, they have their phone
blocked." He notes that it also "takes a while to play 20, 30 hooks," a
reference to researchers' practice of playing the catchiest part of a song
for survey participants.
But Emmis perseveres with the calls, in part because it reaches a slightly
different listener that way -- people who don't necessarily buy or download
music regularly but who like to listen to the radio and who make up a large
part of the station's audience. Filesharers tend to be bigger music fans
than radio listeners and generally warm to new songs faster. But basing a
playlist exclusively on downloaders' tastes could end up alienating more
passive listeners, Mr. Cummings says.
It also isn't easy to tell which medium influences the other more. "When a
radio station adds a song, you oftentimes see an immediate bump in
downloading activity" in that city, says Rich Meyer, president of Mediabase.
That was the case with "Party Like a Rockstar" by Shop Boyz. Like "Pop,
Lock and Drop It," the song wasn't requested much by listeners or popping
up in the call-out research, even though it was doing well on BigChampagne.
In April, "we were wondering, if this record is supposedly the next big
record, why is it taking longer than usual" to catch on, recalls Mr.
Coquia. But just about then, requests started swinging up, especially those
texted in by cellphone. Power 106 increased airplay somewhat, and downloads
in the Los Angeles area kicked up a bit. By May, the song was in heavy
rotation on Power 106 -- 18 spins a day -- and downloading continued to
increase. "It's still strong, it's still requesting, it's still very big
buzz," says Mr. Coquia.
Universal Music Group, the record company that distributes Shop Boyz, also
looks at file-sharing data, largely for help figuring out which songs are
working best or what to pitch to radio. But executives have mixed feelings
about the information. "It's troubling that there is so much activity
[that] it's useful" for research, says Larry Kenswil, executive vice
president for business strategy.
In "Like This," a follow-up to his hit track "This Is Why I'm Hot," Shawn
Mims alludes to scoring music online. Describing a woman who tells him she
liked his last song, he sings, "She got it on her phone, Top 10 download,
No. 1 ringtone." The new song's history also demonstrates the symbiotic
relationship between file sharing and airplay. "When we stayed steady on
it, downloads increased," Mr. Coquia says. The station played it
occasionally starting in April but now plays it about eight to nine times a
day.
Since the business was launched, Mediabase has cut deals with stations at
sister company Clear Channel Radio, as well as group-wide deals with Radio
One Inc. and Emmis. According to BigChampagne's Mr. Fleischer, the
partnership has already surpassed its target of signing up 100 radio
stations this year.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:42:01 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Gloves are off in Chicago TV news fight
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
[For those who have not followed this Chicago scandal, the Craig Stebic
with whom the Channel 5 anchor was sharing a pool is suspected in the
recent murder of his wife.]
This means war
Gloves are off in fight between old television rivals at NBC5, CBS2
(http://www.suntimes.com/business/feder/465261,CST-FIN-feder12.article)
July 12, 2007
BY ROBERT FEDER
Sun-Times Columnist
A six-minute piece of videotape shot over a backyard fence not only
torpedoed the career of WMAQ-Channel 5 reporter Amy Jacobson.
It also was the opening shot in what could become all-out war between two
television titans.
In choosing to air selected parts of a tape showing a swimsuit-clad
Jacobson and her two kids around Craig Stebic's pool, WBBM-Channel 2 broke
a longstanding tradition in Chicago.
With rare exception, stations have adhered to a gentleman's (and
gentlewoman's) agreement not to report on the foibles and failings of one
another.
So when a Diann Burns charges the builder of her multimillion-dollar manse
with racism or a Marion Brooks is forced to testify in court about her
affair with the former mayor of Atlanta, other TV newsrooms take a pass.
Not so on Monday when Joe Ahern, president and general manager of CBS-owned
Channel 2, approved airing a misleading and innuendo-filled version of the
tape that led to Jacobson's firing.
It was an unmistakable shot across the bow at NBC-owned Channel 5 and its
president and general manager, Larry Wert.
Wert and Ahern have a personal history that goes back to their early
careers together in the sales department of ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7.
They've always been friendly rivals.
But after what was described as a contentious shouting match between them
on the phone Tuesday, the "friendly" part could be inoperative for a while.
Now before you jump to the conclusion that this really is all about
ratings, consider this: On Tuesday night, when Channel 2 led its newscast
with an almost giddy report on Jacobson's ouster, the station still
finished dead last with a paltry 2.2 rating.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:59:46 -0400
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] As image spam declines, PDF spam ready to take
its place
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
New spam technique attaches PDFs that filters can't read
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/071107-pdf-spam.html
By Cara Garretson, Network World, 07/11/07
Security vendors and users agree that image spam is finally on the decline, but
at the same time a new kind of spam is emerging that uses an attached PDF file
to trick recipients into buying stock in a company.
Image spam, which has plagued antispam filters for the past year, is finally on
the decline as e-mail security vendors have tweaked their products to block it,
says Paul Henry, vice president of technology evangelism with Secure Computing.
Image spam has long fooled filters because the message's text is embedded in an
image found in an e-mail's body, and filters until recently couldn't decipher
images. At the beginning of July it comprised about 38 % of all spam and is now
down to about half that volume, says Henry.
Stats from Symantec also show the volume of image spam, which the company says
began to decline in May, has continued to shrink from its all-time high of 52%
of all spam sent in January.
"Image spam does seem to be decreasing ... Antispam software, RBLs [real-time
black lists] and other filtering techniques have done a good job at decreasing
the previous spammers' attempts; it is now time for them to find a new avenue
to annoy us," says Jim DeSantis, enterprise messaging architect with Abhir
Technical Consulting.
Beginning to take image spam's place is PDF spam, where the spammer sends an
e-mail message with a PDF attached - which most spam filters can't read - that
attempts to convince the recipient to purchase stocks. So far security vendors
are reporting two types; a professional-looking PDF of a newsletter pumping a
German company's stock that security company IronPort says was sent more than 5
billion times in its first few days, and a more rudimentary PDF attachment
containing text that pumped a stock which Symantec says was sent to more than
30 million users over a 10-day period in late June.
So far, PDF spam isn't approaching the volumes that image spam has enjoyed -
Secure Computing's Henry says in early July it accounted for about 4% of all
spam sent - yet this new spam trick could prove to be significantly more
malicious. Henry says proof-of-concept code exists that demonstrates security
vulnerabilities in PDF files, which means PDF spam could carry malware that is
secretly downloaded on the recipient's PC. Image spam was only dangerous to
those recipients who bought the stock that messages were touting and likely
lost money on it.
"I haven't seen any malware yet in PDF spam ...but I'm keeping my eye on it,"
Henry says.
PDF spam does hold some potential for spammers who are advanced enough to take
advantage of the technology, some say.
"Simply attaching a PDF to an e-mail and randomizing the size and name of the
title, to me, does not seem all that impressive, but it seems to be working,"
says Kyle Ohme, director of technology with W3i.com, an interactive marketing
services provider.
"I'm interested to see how far this will go, as some may start to use some of
the more advanced functions of Adobe to place beacons and other tracking
mechanisms that have become limited in the past years," Ohme says.
Malware-laden or not, PDF spam is an example of how spammers will continue to
innovate in order to get their messages across.
"The battle between spammers and spam-filter vendors will always be a game of
cat and mouse. The tools are definitely getting smarter ... the better the
tools the more creative spammers will be," says Sharon Finney, information
security administrator with Dekalb Medical Center in Decatur, Ga. "I am seeing
some increases in PDF spam, but no real volume yet. All spam is a nuisance
regardless of the technology behind it. I don't think that any one type of spam
is more of a nuisance than any other."
All contents copyright 1995-2007 Network World, Inc. http://www.networkworld.com
Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
?
?
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:23:12 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] In Satellite vs. Cable, The Battle Over HD Is
Baffling Consumers
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
In Satellite vs. Cable, The Battle Over HD Is Baffling Consumers
Carl Bialik
Wall Street Journal
July 13, 2007; Page B1
http://online.wsj.com/article/numbers_guy.html
As Americans upgrade to high-definition television, they're being barraged
by celebrity pitches for competing TV services -- and dueling statistics.
Most viewers will never compare cable with satellite in their own homes.
But they're asked to make the comparison in their heads, with the help of
some loaded claims.
DirecTV has been the big player in this numbers game. In a current ad,
Pamela Anderson, in "Baywatch"-era lifeguard garb, chastens viewers as a
swimmer calls for help: "I'm putting my life on the line and you're
watching me on cable instead of DirecTV?" Ms. Anderson explains: "DirecTV's
picture quality beats cable, four-to-one."
How one picture quality beat another, or exactly what the four-to-one ratio
represents, Ms. Anderson doesn't say; she launches into her trademark beach
run.
Later, the ad clarifies that DirecTV was preferred four-to-one among
home-theater installers. A company news release explains that 500
installers were surveyed by phone nationwide. Satellite was compared with
cable generically, not with a specific provider. Picture quality was a
convenient measure for the ad: There, DirecTV had the widest margin over
cable. The margin for best overall TV experience was two to one.
Much remains unclear about the survey, including how the installers were
selected. Analysts say most installers get a commission if they set up a
satellite system, but not so for cable. Also, the entire survey wasn't
presented in the release, so we don't know if the respondents preferred
cable in some measures. Such answers wouldn't make it into the news
release, let alone into Ms. Anderson's script.
Jon Gieselman, DirecTV's senior vice president of advertising and PR, said
he'd like to clarify things, but some of the company's ads are tied up in
court with its cable rivals. The two sides in the TV tussle are swapping
lawsuits as well as competing ads. "Because of the pending litigation,
DirecTV is not at liberty to discuss these issues in detail, other than to
say that we stand by our own advertising," Mr. Gieselman said. A DirecTV
spokeswoman did say that the home-theater installers worked with more than
one TV service, including some cable companies.
Comcast Cable, in turn, has advertised that satellite customers prefer its
HD picture quality over their own providers'. That claim is based on a test
of two TV sets, side by side, sponsored by Comcast and conducted with the
help of three outside companies. Comcast's news release trumpeted that
two-thirds of satellite customers preferred its service. But its margin of
victory narrows when cable customers are included in the blind test.
Nonetheless, there are problems with a side-by-side comparison of picture
quality. Not all HD channels are created equal. Some, but not all, pay
carriers to broadcast their pictures at maximum resolution. And picture
quality depends on how well the TVs were set up.
DirecTV has sued Comcast in U.S. District Court, Chicago, over its ads
based on the survey, calling them "literally false." Comcast has said it
stands by the ads, but declined to provide a copy of the full survey or
further clarification, citing the litigation.
The number of available HD channels is another arena of debate. DirecTV
touts that a satellite upgrade will soon provide its customers with 150
channels -- three times the number available with cable. But Sanford C.
Bernstein analysts stated in a report last month that there is no time
frame for the expansion. Also, the company counts twice two HD channels
with identical programming that are scheduled three hours apart because of
the time difference on the two coasts.
Comcast, meanwhile, has stated its goal of 800 HD "choices." These include
"every lame HD stream that a consumer could conceivably order up (think
interactive HD car commercials)," the Bernstein analysts wrote.
DirecTV lost one legal round because of another use of numbers.
Actress/singer Jessica Simpson suggested to viewers that DirecTV HD has the
best picture quality, then added, "It's broadcast in 1080i. I totally don't
know what that means, but I want it."
Apparently DirecTV wants viewers to channel their inner Jessica Simpson,
because 1080i is an HD standard that all the providers follow. It's like
boasting that your computer monitor is capable of a 1024x768 resolution
(the norm).
A federal judge for the Southern District of New York ordered the ads
pulled -- after they had already been stopped, says DirecTV. The company
appealed. Stating that your product is better than your competitor's is
deemed harmless "puffery." But "courts have recognized that scientific
claims are more persuasive," Georgetown advertising-law specialist Rebecca
Tushnet said. Then, advertisers must be able to back the claim.
When it comes to HD, consumers could use some help. Bruce Leichtman,
president of Leichtman Research Group, based in Durham, N.H., said only
half of people with HD sets watch HD programs, with many not realizing they
must subscribe to a special service.
Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett adds, "This is a market that is
characterized by rampant confusion, and therefore it lends itself to
hyperbole and inflated claims."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:51:24 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Mainlander's Radio Show Stirs Up US Virgin
Islands Political Scene
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
On St. Croix, Senators Feel Heat Over a Pay Increase
Mainlander's Radio Show Stirs Up Political Scene;
FCC Gets Drawn Into Spat
By CONOR DOUGHERTY
Wall Street Journal
July 13, 2007; Page A1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118426754160764945.html?mod=hps_us_pageone
ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Roger W. Morgan is of modest height, a
little pudgy, and on a recent morning his workday uniform consisted of
shorts, sandals and a flower-print shirt. He doesn't look like a
revolutionary, but a group of Virgin Islands senators say he's that kind of
threat.
A few months ago, the 64-year-old Mr. Morgan and listeners to his radio
call-in show, "Free Speech," led an unsuccessful effort to recall four St.
Croix senators after the senate voted itself a 31% pay increase. Since
then, one senator has accused Mr. Morgan of leading an attempt to overthrow
the Virgin Islands government. Another suggested Mr. Morgan is a member of
the Ku Klux Klan. Now, the senators are asking the Federal Communications
Commission to block Mr. Morgan's proposed purchase of WYAC-FM 93.5, the
station that broadcasts his show.
Mr. Morgan thinks the senators are using the FCC to punish him for letting
citizens complain about civic matters -- a right Mr. Morgan says is in
short supply on this tiny Caribbean island. Sen. Ronald E. Russell says
that's not so; he thinks Mr. Morgan is irresponsible and lets callers run
an unchecked smear campaign. "He allows people to destroy and injure
persons in the community's reputation without any type of restrictions,"
says Sen. Russell.
The fight between Mr. Morgan and the senators has touched on lots of lofty
issues, like free speech, political accountability and race relations on an
island where most people are black and many newcomers, including Mr.
Morgan, are white and wealthy by comparison. But the friction also
illustrates what can happen when Americans from the mainland -- known as
"continentals" to the local Crucians -- bring a more abrasive brand of
political criticism to a place where politicians have a cozier relationship
with their electorate.
The U.S. Virgin Islands -- which include St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John
-- are an unincorporated territory of about 110,000 people. St. Croix, the
largest of the three, has about 55,000 people. It's about 28 miles long and
7 miles wide. Senators here are everyday citizens, as likely to be seen at
the supermarket as on TV. Most everyone seems to know one of them. There
are 15 senators in the Virgin Islands Legislature, which meets in St.
Thomas, seven from St. Croix. So while Crucians have plenty of criticisms
about local politics, they didn't customarily call senators "thieves" on
the radio, as they did during the recall attempt.
Mr. Morgan's show changed that. From 9 to noon each weekday morning,
callers to "Free Speech" gripe about everything from driving on the left
side of the road to chatty bank tellers. Local politics, and the characters
in office, are a frequent topic. But because Mr. Morgan and many of his
callers are mainlanders (identified by their lack of an island accent) the
nagging tone of "Free Speech" offends some listeners.
"People get on the radio and they want us to do everything they do in
California and Oklahoma and Texas," says Roy Rodgers, who owns a tug and
barge company. "We've got some problems like everybody got problems. They
compare our bad to their good. They never compare our good to their bad."
Amid the controversy, Mr. Morgan's station is prospering. In May, readers
of the Virgin Islands Daily News named WYAC-FM "Best Radio Station" and Mr.
Morgan "Best Radio Personality." On a recent afternoon Mr. Morgan took his
staff out for margaritas to celebrate the station's rising advertising revenue.
Mr. Morgan -- born Jerry Lambert -- has always been an entertainer. As a
child he performed a roping routine while traveling the U.S. with his dad,
a rodeo announcer. Mr. Morgan got his first radio gig in junior high
school, and says he changed his name to get out from under his father's
shadow. He has been on the radio, and going by the name Roger W. Morgan,
ever since.
For most of Mr. Morgan's 50-year broadcasting career, his shows have been
about comedy and music. Listeners in Omaha, Neb., knew Roger W. Morgan as
the guy who makes prank calls, ending each call by telling hapless
answerers that they'd been "Morganized." He hosted rock shows in San Diego
and San Francisco, and had a syndicated oldies show in Omaha.
Mr. Morgan discovered St. Croix on a family trip and liked it so much they
decided to move there. At first, he continued airing rock on another
station. He began doing "Free Speech" in 2004.
Like any call-in show, "Free Speech" lives on the passions of its callers,
and Mr. Morgan does his best to rile them up. When the calls aren't coming,
he'll pose a question to listeners. One morning recently he asked callers
what makes a person a "true" Virgin Islander. (One caller suggested at
least 10 years of residency).
No issue has brought in more calls than Act 6905. The law, which was passed
in a special session on Dec. 28, raised the governor's salary to $150,000
from $80,000 and the senators' salaries to $85,000 a year from $65,000. The
average income on St. Croix is $26,548, according to a University of the
Virgin Islands survey.
Callers denounced the raises as excessive and the timing shady because the
issue was raised at the end of the legislative session. Jim Hoffman,
publisher of a monthly newspaper, suggested a recall drive. Within two
weeks about 1,000 people had signed a petition to recall five Virgin
Islands senators, including three St. Croix senators who had voted for the
raises (and a fourth who didn't show up for the vote).
A little more than a week later, Sen. Russell and other senators targeted
in the recall sent a letter to the FCC, on Senate stationery, asking the
commission to deny the transfer of WYAC-FM from its current owners to Mr.
Morgan. "It appears that [Mr. Morgan] is using the issue of a senatorial
recall to destabilize the legislative branch of government," the letter
says. The FCC says it is reviewing the objection and declined further comment.
During the months-long campaign, senators were blasted on bumper stickers
and labeled "Caribbean Pirates" on T-shirts. Listeners called out Sen. Juan
Figueroa-Serville, a target of the recall, for hiring his father as chief
of staff. The practice of hiring relatives is fairly common among St. Croix
politicians.
Sen. Figueroa-Serville swung back in March, when he delivered a five-minute
statement in which he made multiple references to "Roger W. Morgan and his
Ku Klux Klan cronies and puppets." He also framed his newly raised salary
in racial terms: "To them, black people should not make money."
While the war of words has gotten nasty, Mr. Morgan says he's more
concerned about his legal expenses -- $40,000 and counting. Sen. Russell,
who is a lawyer, won't say how much he has spent for legal expenses but
says he's using his own money.
The claims of racism have rung hollow to residents on the island. Around
St. Croix it's tough to find anyone, white or black, newcomer or native,
who wasn't opposed to the senators' raises. "It was ridiculous," says
Frances Molloy, who has lived on St. Croix since 1946 and owns a clothing
store here, about the racial charges. "We don't have that kind of tension
here, so we don't need anyone to start it."
What's going to happen when the spat is over? Actually, Sen. Russell thinks
he and Mr. Morgan will make up. "It's nothing personal," he says.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:28:20 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Senate panel quizzes NOAA on satellite programs
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
Senate panel quizzes NOAA on satellite programs
BY Wade-Hahn Chan
Federal Computer World
Published on July 12, 2007
http://www.fcw.com/article103206-07-12-07-Web
Lawmakers would like to know why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration awarded a bonus fee to a contractor working on weather
satellite programs suffering from schedule delays and significant cost
overruns.
At a hearing July 10, the Government Accountability Office reported that
cost estimates for both the National Polar-orbiting Environmental Satellite
System and the next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite-R have nearly doubled, despite the fact that NOAA is now asking
for fewer satellites with fewer capabilities. The first launch date for
NPOESS, originally scheduled for 2009, has now slipped to 2013.
Members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee told
NOAA officials they did not understand why the contractor for these
programs, Northrop Grumman, would receive a $123 million bonus.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) disapproved of the bonus, saying it was a
failure of NOAA to reward the contractor even as the the agency removed
vital climate change sensors from the satellites.
Committee members also questioned the oversight of NPOESS. On the one hand,
the three agencies overseeing the program ? NOAA, NASA and the Defense
Department ? seemed unable to assign tasks to one another properly, said
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).
On the other, Nelson also questioned why NOAA would be responsible for the
launch of the satellites instead of NASA. ?You?ve got a Hydra-headed
monster here that can?t decide which way it wants to go,? Nelson said.
Mary Kicza, assistant administrator of satellite and information services
at NOAA, said her agency has since taken control of ground systems and
made NASA responsible for the development of instruments, spacecraft and
launch equipment.
The NPOESS and GOES-R satellites would orbit Earth's equator and poles to
monitor worldwide weather patterns.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 322, Issue 1
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