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Today's Topics:
1. In a Search Refinement, a Chance to Rival Google (George Antunes)
2. Cartoon Network chief quits over Boston scare
(Williams, Gregory S.)
3. Circuit City to Close 70 Stores (George Antunes)
4. EMI May Sell Recordings Online With No DRM (George Antunes)
5. Shrinking Pains at Kodak (George Antunes)
6. Ken Kennedy, 61, a Pioneer of Supercomputer Software, Dies
(George Antunes)
7. Cartoon Network chief resigns over Boston scare (George Antunes)
8. Appeals Court Examines FCC Effort To Charge USF Fees For VoIP
(George Antunes)
9. Playboy Archives Go Digital (George Antunes)
10. Nielsen's New College Numbers (George Antunes)
11. EPIC Alert 14.03 (Monty Solomon)
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:31:01 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] In a Search Refinement, a Chance to Rival Google
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
February 9, 2007
In a Search Refinement, a Chance to Rival Google
By MIGUEL HELFT
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/technology/09license.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 8 ? Early in the decade, a struggling Xerox Corporation
was trying to sell off a stake in its Palo Alto Research Center, which it
could no longer afford to support. But with the technology bubble bursting,
the price that investors were willing to pay for a piece of PARC, as the
center is known, kept going down.
So in 2002, Xerox switched to Plan B: it spun off the center into an
independent subsidiary and sought to prove that it could sustain itself by
licensing technology and forming partnerships with outside companies.
On Friday, PARC is announcing a deal that underscores that strategy. It is
licensing a broad portfolio of patents and technology to a well-financed
start-up with an ambitious and potentially lucrative goal: to build a
search engine that could some day rival Google.
The start-up, Powerset, is licensing PARC?s ?natural language? technology ?
the art of making computers understand and process languages like English
or French. Powerset hopes the technology will be the basis of a new search
engine that allows users to type queries in plain English, rather than
using keywords.
In the fall, Powerset raised $12.5 million in its first round of financing
from venture-capital firms and individual investors. The challenges facing
it are immense, and the odds of success are long. But the PARC technology,
which is a result of 30 years of research, is certain to lend it an aura of
credibility.
PARC?s natural-language technology is among the ?most comprehensive in
existence,? said Fernando Pereira, an expert in natural language and the
chairman of the department of computer and information science at the
University of Pennsylvania. But by itself, it will not guarantee Powerset?s
success, Mr. Pereira said.
?The question of whether this technology is adequate to any application,
whether search or anything else, is an empirical question that has to be
tested,? Mr. Pereira added.
As part of the deal, a leading natural-language researcher at PARC, Ronald
M. Kaplan, will join Powerset?s staff of about 40 as chief technology and
scientific officer. PARC will also receive an equity stake in Powerset and
earn royalties from the company. Additionally, Powerset will sponsor a
handful of researchers at PARC.
The specific financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. But
Mark Bernstein, president and center director of PARC, said: ?It?s one of
the biggest deals that we have done, and we hope that it grows into the
biggest in terms of the length of the relationship and the amount of value
we can create together. It represents a commitment of some of the
intellectual crown jewels that PARC has created.?
As part of the business model forged when it was spun off, PARC has struck
various business relationships with outside firms and organizations.
About half of its research is still sponsored by Xerox, Mr. Bernstein said.
But the lab is also conducting paid research for Fujitsu, Dai Nippon
Printing and others. Some of its researchers work on federally financed
projects, and the lab is working with ipValue, a intellectual-property
licensing firm, to commercialize some of its research.
PARC has also formed a partnership with the Scripps Research Institute in
San Diego to develop a system that uses laser printing technology to detect
cancer cells.
And in the deal that most closely mirrors the alliance with Powerset, PARC
has helped incubate SolFocus, a start-up that is developing solar power
technology.
PARC now has about 220 employees, including 160 researchers, down from its
peak of 318 employees and 100 contractors and temporary workers in 1995.
Mr. Bernstein said PARC, which has an annual budget of $55 million to $60
million, is profitable.
?We are very pleased with where it is today,? Anne M. Mulcahy, Xerox?s
chief executive, said about PARC. Ms. Mulcahy said she did not rule out the
possibility of selling an equity stake in PARC in the future, but added,
?We are very comfortable with continued ownership.?
In Silicon Valley and beyond, PARC has often been called the lab of missed
opportunities. It has been credited with many breakthroughs, including the
graphical user interface and the Ethernet networking technology, that have
revolutionized the computer industry, but that were commercialized by others.
?There?s no way anyone can top what they did in the past in terms of
dramatic research developments,? said the futurist Paul Saffo, a fellow at
the Institute for the Future. But Mr. Saffo praised PARC for finding a
business model that has allowed it to survive at a time when many research
groups at American corporations are being cut.
?This is an organization that has done well at keeping researchers, and
spinning out a steady stream of little products,? Mr. Saffo said. ?PARC has
been a very quiet success.?
The success of its bet on Powerset is another matter. Over the past year,
PARC researchers have worked with Powerset engineers to build a prototype,
but the company does not expect to release its search engine to the public
until the end of this year.
Meanwhile, other start-ups and several of the search giants are also
working to develop natural-language search technology. The appeal is clear.
A successful natural-language search engine could, in theory, answer real
questions ? for example, what companies did I.B.M. acquire in the last five
years? ? that existing search engines are not equipped to handle. And it
could turn the process of finding information on the Web into a
conversation between the search engine and the user.
?For a lot of things, keyword search works well,? said Barney Pell, chief
executive of Powerset. ?But I think we are going to look back in 10 years
and say, remember when we used to search using keywords.?
Researchers have predicted breakthrough applications for natural languages
for years, but the technology has proved usable in only limited contexts,
turning many experts into skeptics about its potential, at least in the
short term.
?My general feeling about natural-language processing in search is that I?m
a bit of a skeptic in the sense that even the best systems, and I include
there the systems from PARC, make many mistakes,? said Mr. Pereira of the
University of Pennsylvania.
In a November interview, Marissa Mayer, Google?s vice president for search
and user experience, said: ?Natural language is really hard. I don?t think
it will happen in the next five years.?
================================
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: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 12:29:08 -0800
From: "Williams, Gregory S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Cartoon Network chief quits over Boston scare
To: <Medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Jim Samples says 'gravity of the situation' compels him to leave
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/02/09/0209bizt
urner.html
By SCOTT LEITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/09/07
The head of Cartoon Network resigned Friday, citing his role in last
week's terrorism scare in Boston.
The departure of Jim Samples as Cartoon Networks general manager came in
the wake of a botched marketing promotion for a show called "Aqua Teen
Hunger Force." Mini-billboards that promoted the program were mistaken
for possible bombs in Boston Jan. 31, leading to massive disruptions and
nationwide news coverage.
Atlanta's Turner Broadcasting System, the parent of Cartoon Network,
quickly apologized for mess and, on Monday, agreed to pay $2 million to
settle with Boston-area authorities.
On Friday, Samples fell on his sword, saying he would leave the company.
He has worked at Turner for 13 years.
"As general manager of Cartoon Network, I feel compelled to step down,
effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation
that occurred under my watch," he said in a statement sent to staffers.
"It's my hope that my decision allows us to put this chapter behind us."
Samples, a Jonesboro native, was tapped to run Cartoon Network in 2001.
Among others things, he helped build Cartoon's Adult Swim programs into
a major success.
"Aqua Teen" appears during Adult Swim, usually late at night. "Aqua
Teen" is an unconventional cartoon, featuring a talking meatball, carton
of fries and milkshake as main characters.
Staffers developed a promotion for the show that consisted of small
devices similar to Lite-Brites. The devices lighted up in the shape of
one of two characters from "Aqua Teen."
Those who worked on the project didn't anticipate that the devices could
be mistaken for bombs.
Turner hasn't named a successor for Samples. He was praised by his boss,
Turner Entertainment Group President Mark Lazarus. "He has been a valued
friend and mentor," Lazarus said in a note to staffers. "Jim's decision
to leave his post is a reflection of his regard for the business he
helped build and the people he trusts to move it forward. He has our
respect, appreciation and sincerest best wishes."
Samples said in his note that he is seeking "new professional
challenges." "I will always cherish the experience of having worked with
you," he said. "I appreciate the support you have shown me."
The end of Samples' Turner career is yet another twist in the strange
Boston incident. Two men were arrested, but officials are seeking to
settle their cases without a trial.
Turner has not said whether others have been or will be reprimanded
because of the incident. "That's an internal issue," said spokeswoman
Shirley Powell.
The marketing promotion ended as soon as the problems in Boston
surfaced. Similar devices were placed in nine big cities other than
Boston, including Atlanta, without causing problems.
Gregory S. Williams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:49:47 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Circuit City to Close 70 Stores
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
February 9, 2007
Electronics Retailer to Close 70 Stores
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/business/09circuit.html?pagewanted=print
Circuit City Stores said yesterday that it was closing about 70 stores,
most of them in Canada, and that its chief merchandising officer, Douglas
T. Moore, had left as the company responds to increased pressure in the
electronics retail market.
The retailer, which lags its main rival, Best Buy, is revamping operations
after facing intense pressure on margins in the flat-panel television
category in the third quarter, Philip J. Schoonover, the chairman and chief
executive, said in a statement.
Under the new management structure, merchandising, services and marketing
will fall under one leader, David L. Mathews, and all of the retail
channels ? United States stores, international stores and Circuit City
Direct ? will report to George Clark Jr., executive vice president for
multichannel sales.
Circuit City reported a surprise third-quarter loss in December. Its shares
rose $1.07, to $21.67.
================================
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: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:52:12 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] EMI May Sell Recordings Online With No DRM
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
February 9, 2007
EMI May Sell Recordings Online With No Anti-Copying Software
By JEFF LEEDS
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/business/media/09online.html?ref=technology&pagewanted=print
The EMI Group, the British music giant, has been considering a plan to
offer a broad swath of its recordings for sale online without anti-copying
software, executives involved in discussions with the company said.
EMI, which releases music by artists including Coldplay and the Beatles,
has discussed various proposals to sell unprotected files through an array
of digital retailers, including Apple, Microsoft, Real Networks and Yahoo,
said the executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
EMI declined to comment.
It is far from clear that the company, which has tested the concept
recently by selling a song from Norah Jones in unprotected form, will reach
a deal.
But if it does, it would be the first of the four major music companies to
distribute its catalog without software designed to limit copying. Because
various online retailers use different forms of security software, known as
digital-rights management, their services are not always compatible with
all music-playing devices on the market.
The debate over the industry?s handling of the issue heated up this week
when Steven P. Jobs, chief executive of Apple, which leads the market with
its iPod and iTunes service, suggested that the music companies offer their
music without anti-copying software.
Mr. Jobs?s stance drew catcalls from executives at several major labels ?
though some have experimented by selling a handful of songs in unprotected
form, as EMI did with a single from Ms. Jones?s new album.
Reports of the EMI plan surfaced in Europe this week when music executive
speculated that EMI was close to a deal with several online music services
that went beyond the relatively limited experiments with non-copy-protected
music that it had conducted so far.
================================
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: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:53:50 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Shrinking Pains at Kodak
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
February 9, 2007
Shrinking Pains at Kodak
By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/business/09kodak.html?ref=technology&pagewanted=print
On Tuesday, as the Eastman Kodak Company unveiled its long-anticipated
consumer inkjet printer in New York, the mood at the company?s Rochester
headquarters could not have been more positive.
?People know we are back on the offensive,? said Frank Sklarsky, Kodak?s
chief financial officer. ?And that?s making them a lot more charged up
about coming to work.?
But yesterday, Kodak gave them reason again to feel depressed. The company
said it would cut 3,000 more jobs this year, on top of the 25,000 to 27,000
it had already said would be gone by the end of 2007. At that rate, Kodak
will end the year with about 30,000 employees, half the number of just
three years ago and a fraction of the 145,000 people it employed in 1988,
when its brand was synonymous with photography.
Kodak executives insist that the new cuts do not indicate any snags in the
continuing struggle to transform itself from a film-based company into a
major competitor in digital imagery. And analysts, too, say the cuts are
inevitable, and probably healthy.
?Kodak finally has the right products for the digital market,? said Jack L.
Kelly, an analyst at Goldman Sachs. ?But given the competitive nature of
the digital world versus the film world, the real question is still how
much profit can they wring from the digital portfolio.? The new wave of job
cuts, Kodak executives said, are a side effect of the sale of Kodak?s
health imaging business last month. The sale will bring in more than $2.2
billion, but the unit was one of Kodak?s most profitable, contributing $157
million to earnings last year. The unit also picked up some of the costs of
human resources, finance and other support services.
?When a big business is no longer available to absorb its share of the
accounting department, of me, of the chief executive, it ends up as an
overhang that could depress profits,? Mr. Sklarsky said.
The job cuts are coming at a high price. Kodak has taken $2.7 billion in
charges related to the 23,400 jobs it has already cut. With the new job
cuts, those charges could be as high as $3.8 billion.
Some investors insist the payback will be worth the price. Ulysses Yannas,
a broker at Buckman, Buckman & Reid who continues to buy Kodak shares for
himself and his clients, insisted that Kodak would be at the right
employment level for the $10 billion to $10.4 billion in revenue it expects
this year. ?I?ve always said their sales per employee should exceed
$300,000, and finally they will,? he said.
Kodak executives, many of whom turned up for a meeting with analysts in New
York yesterday, rushed to put a positive spin on the continuing
transformation. They said that Kodak will earn $200 million to $300 million
from its growing portfolio of digital products in 2007. Last year, it
earned $343 million, but that included the health care unit.
They said they expect to reap $250 million in royalties and other revenues
from their intellectual property. And they said that Kodak?s growing
commercial printing business, which has been struggling to digest four
large acquisitions, is finally through its integration pains. The group
earned $141 million on revenues of $3.6 billion last year ? a welcome
change from its flat earnings in 2005 and losses in 2004.
And, of course, there is the new inkjet printer. With that product, Kodak
has effectively turned the printing industry business model on its head.
Companies like Hewlett-Packard, Epson and Canon have long sold printers at
rock-bottom prices, content to make the money back on ink cartridges.
Kodak?s printers, which will go on sale at Best Buy in March, will sell for
$149 to $300 ? at least $50 more than comparable models. But it will sell
cartridges for $10 for black ink and $15 for color ink, about half the
price of competitive products.
?I think they will get heavy traction with this printer, as consumers
realize that it will pay for itself in a year,? Mr. Yannas said.
Analysts are hard to persuade, though. According to Thomson Financial, five
of the eight analysts who follow Kodak are telling clients to sell the
shares, and the other three rate it a hold.
Several note that Antonio Perez, Kodak?s chief executive, and several of
his executives spent much of their pre-Kodak days at Hewlett-Packard and
thus are not digital novices. Still, they question Kodak?s prospects.
?They are not fools, they are going after the sweet spot of the market, the
people who print a huge number of photos at home.?? said Matt Troy, an
analyst with Citigroup Investment Research who has maintained a sell rating
on Kodak for three years. ?But they are up against big companies that can
give a haircut to their own prices if they want.?
Kodak is also up against consumer resistance to paying now to save later.
?When it comes to printers, consumers look for the features they want, then
find the least expensive device that offers them,? said Ron Glaz, director
of digital imaging programs at the market research firm IDC. ?It is only
later that they get sticker shock, when they?re spending $50 for ink.?
Tuan Tran, vice president for imaging and printing supplies at
Hewlett-Packard, shrugged off the Kodak printer. He disputed Kodak?s claim
that it would offer Hewlett-brand speed and quality at half the price.
?And even if the claims were true, it?s no slam-dunk,? he said. ?It is a
hard sell to get customers to pay more upfront for a possible payback
later.? Even if consumers did flock to the Kodak printer, he said, ?we can
always raise our printer price and cut our ink prices, too.?
Kodak readily concedes that it will take at least three years for the
printer to be profitable. Kodak spent more than $100 million on development
costs last year, and it will probably spend that much on rolling out the
product this year.
But Mr. Sklarsky is upbeat. The fact that Kodak entered a new market speaks
of a change at the company, he said. ?We think of 2005 as the year we
acquired companies, and 2006 as the year we integrated them,? he said.
?This year will be all about products and growth.?
================================
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: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:56:00 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Ken Kennedy, 61, a Pioneer of Supercomputer
Software, Dies
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
February 9, 2007
Ken Kennedy, 61, a Pioneer of Computer Software, Dies
By JOHN MARKOFF
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/obituaries/09kennedy.html?pagewanted=print
Ken Kennedy, a Rice University computer scientist whose software design
work paved the way for the broad scientific and engineering use of modern
supercomputers, died Wednesday in Houston. He was 61.
The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, said Jade Boyd, a
spokesman for the university.
A member of the generation of researchers who were the first to have access
to modern supercomputers, Mr. Kennedy spearheaded early work on software
programs known as parallelizing compilers, systems that can automatically
spread workloads among a large number of processors, vastly speeding
calculations.
Early computers were based on a single processor that would perform the
steps of a software program sequentially. But in the 1970s and 1980s
researchers began to look for ways to increase computing speed by
harnessing tens, hundreds and even thousands of processors, in much the
fashion that adding lanes to a freeway will allow more traffic to flow.
The challenge that such systems presented was the need to create
programming tools that would hide the interdependencies and complexity from
the scientists and engineers who wanted to use the machines as
problem-solving tools.
"These compilers made it possible for mere mortals to write advanced
programs," said Edward Lazowska, the Bill and Melinda Gates professor of
computer science at the University of Washington in Seattle. "Ken was the
No. 1 person in parallel compiling." (Parallel compilers are software
programs that translate programmers' language-oriented instructions into
numeric codes that control computer operation.)
The software technology he developed has served as the foundation for
successive generations of scientists and engineers who developed advanced
simulations, including weather and climate prediction and the model of
automobile collisions. Moreover, the fruits of his technology are now
rapidly reaching broad consumer audiences both through the latest
generations of personal computers and through videogame players, which now
come equipped with parallel processors.
The significance of the programming advances Mr. Kennedy made with a group
of graduate students at Rice also translated directly into a new set of
industrial tools that led to the emergence of the commercial supercomputing
industry in the 1980s, said Steven Wallach, a computer designer, who was a
co-founder of Convex Computers, an early supercomputer company.
"This changed the entire landscape for high performance computing," he
said. "Supercomputing could now be used by the masses."
In 2003, when the Association of Computing Machinery's Special Interest
Group on Programming Languages selected the 50 most influential research
papers from 1979 to 1999, five papers by Mr. Kennedy were on the list. No
other scientist had more than three.
A significant part of Mr. Kennedy's influence came through the 38 Ph.D.
students he advised. Many of those students have gone on to play important
roles in computer science.
At the time of his death Mr. Kennedy was the John and Ann Doerr professor
in computational engineering at Rice, where he was known for his devotion
to graduate student training. After graduating from Rice summa cum laude
with a degree in mathematics in 1967, he attended the Courant Institute at
New York University, where he received his doctorate in computer science,
studying under Jack Schwartz, a pioneer in the field of high performance
computing, and John Cocke, a legendary I.B.M. computer designer.
Mr. Kennedy founded Rice's computer science department in 1984, and three
years later he established a cross-disciplinary research center there, the
Computer and Information Technology Institute.
In 1988, Mr. Kennedy was instrumental in forming an alliance of computer
scientists from seven research institutions that led to the establishment
of the Center for Research in Parallel Computation, financed by the
National Science Foundation and based at Rice. It is now called HiPerSoft.
Recently his research interests focused on grid computing, an advanced form
of parallel computing that distributes problems over networks of computers
that are sometimes separated by great distances and connected by optical
fiber links.
================================
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: 7
Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:57:41 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Cartoon Network chief resigns over Boston scare
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
Network exec resigns over Boston scare
Cartoon Network chief out after marketing stunt paralyzed city
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:00 p.m. CT Feb 9, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17070830/
ATLANTA - The head of the Cartoon Network resigned Friday following a
marketing stunt that caused a security scare in Boston.
The announcement about Jim Samples resigning was made in an internal memo
sent to Cartoon Network staffers.
In a statement to employees, Samples said he regrets the stir that the
stunt caused.
?It?s my hope that my decision allows us to put this chapter behind us and
get back to our mission of delivering unrivaled original animated
entertainment for consumers of all ages,? Samples said.
The Cartoon Network is a division of Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting,
whose parent is media giant Time Warner Inc.
On Monday, Turner Broadcasting and an advertising agency agreed to pay $2
million in compensation for planting blinking electronic devices around the
Boston area in a publicity stunt that set off a terrorism scare.
The agreement between Turner, Interference Inc. and several state and local
agencies resolves any potential civil or criminal claims against the two
companies.
Bomb squads were called in and bridges and highways were shut down last
Wednesday when authorities found more than three dozen electronic boards
depicting a boxy cartoon character giving the finger.
The devices ? planted in a subway station, on bridges and other spots ?
turned out to be part of a publicity campaign for the Cartoon Network?s
?Aqua Teen Hunger Force.?
The campaign also had been staged in nine other big U.S. cities in recent
weeks without drawing as much attention.
Turner and Interference, a New York City-based marketing company, have
accepted full responsibility and apologized.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17070830/
================================
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: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:00:40 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Appeals Court Examines FCC Effort To Charge USF
Fees For VoIP
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Appeals Court Examines FCC Effort To Charge Fees to Internet-Phone Firms
By COREY BOLES
Wall Street Journal
February 9, 2007 1:47 p.m.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117104398542303869.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission was given tough
treatment by the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday as the agency
defended its decision to force Internet phone companies to start paying
into its Universal Service Fund.
The hearing is important as it will establish a precedent for how much
voice-over-Internet-protocol companies, whose customer bases are rapidly
growing, must pay into the fund in the future.
The fund was established to subsidize the cost of providing and maintaining
telephone, and increasingly broadband, service to rural and disadvantaged
parts of the U.S. Until now, VOIP companies, unlike traditional telephone
and wireless providers, have not paid into it.
While making oral arguments before the court, FCC attorney James Carr was
twice challenged by Judge Harry T. Edwards, who told him at one point,
"what you're saying is nonsense."
Mr. Carr admitted that his job would have been much easier had the FCC's
ruling on the matter been more specific.
Also on the receiving end of harsh questioning from the judges was Glenn B.
Manishin, representing the Computer and Communications Industry
Association, a lobbying group.
Mr. Manishin was arguing the FCC's decision that VOIP providers contribute
to the Universal Service Fund should be struck down as they are not
traditional telecommunications companies.
Mr. Manishin said the decision "contravenes the plain meaning" of the 1996
Telecommunications Act, and said it flies in the face of 35 years of precedent.
But Judge Edwards disputed this, telling Mr. Manishin that "at first blush,
that is crippling language for you... It's the worst way it could read for
you," in reference to the act.
Chris Wright, representing VOIP provider Vonage Holdings Corp., wasn't
questioned nearly as harshly.
Unlike the CCIA, Vonage is not disputing that it should pay into the
Universal Service Fund, but instead is challenging the basis upon which the
FCC calculates the company's contributions.
Mr. Wright rejected the FCC's ruling that VOIP providers are akin to
companies that only provide long-distance telephone service and pay a
higher proportion of their revenue into the fund.
Contributions are based on international and intrastate service, while
interstate service is exempt.
Vonage has been ordered to consider that 64.9% of its revenues are derived
from international or interstate business, considerably higher than the
37.1% of revenues wireless companies are allowed to base their USF
contributions on.
The company also disputes the move by the FCC to prohibit VOIP providers
from relying on traffic studies determining the breakdown for their
revenues, until the agency approves those studies. Wireless companies are
permitted to base their contribution rates on their traffic studies without
those studies being approved by the agency.
And it is contesting the decision by the FCC to make it pay double the
contributions to the fund for six months due to the fact that it has not
paid into the fund in the past.
Mr. Wright said the only reason for this is the fund is running out of
money and the FCC has decided it should collect more from VOIP providers to
boost it.
The FCC argues that from 2003 to the end of 2005, the VOIP market grew
exponentially, with the customer base increasing from 150,000 to 2.4
million in that time. No contributions were required from VOIP providers
during that time.
================================
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, 09 Feb 2007 15:02:35 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Playboy Archives Go Digital
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Playboy Archives Go Digital; That Means Its Articles, Too
By SARAH ELLISON
Wall Street Journal
February 9, 2007; Page B1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117098783205303226.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs
In 1953, Hugh Hefner bought a nude picture of Marilyn Monroe from a local
Chicago calendar company and published the first issue of Playboy. The
magazine took erotica out of the back alleys and placed it in a stylized
package, helping to usher in the sexual revolution -- which quickly left
the publication behind.
Today, Playboy, in an attempt to get back in step with the present, is
unveiling plans to make its entire text and photo archive available digitally.
The new venture will allow consumers to peruse Playboy's articles and
photos on DVD. All 636 issues of the monthly will be rendered page-by-page
on six discs -- one for each decade. The first two discs will hit stores in
October. Each disc will retail for $100, is meant to be viewed on a
computer screen and will be accompanied by a 200-page book.
In an age when consumers are accustomed to quick Google-like searches on
the Web, the scanned pages of old Playboys are likely to seem more like a
quaint time capsule than a technological breakthrough. Magazines that
feature nudity have given way to an Internet where all manner of raciness
is a button-push away.
But Mr. Hefner, in an interview, seems untroubled by the ups and downs of
the Playboy legacy and the challenges posed by the Web. The 80-year-old
founder of the magazine has been trying to reinvent the Playboy ethos since
the late 1960s, when the counterculture and the feminist movement gave it
an anachronistic feel almost overnight. Circulation is less than half of
what it was at its early-1970s peak.
"The Seventies was the pinnacle of the magazine business, and we had huge
issues with a breadth of talent," says Lee Froehlich, Playboy's executive
editor. During this era, the magazine's signature interviews featured such
luminaries as Tennessee Williams, Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Carter who
famously said in a 1976 article, "I've looked on a lot of women with lust.
I've committed adultery in my heart many times. ... God forgives me for it."
The magazine has also featured nude pictorials of a number of women who
were either famous at the time or went on to become so, including Sharon
Stone, Jane Fonda and Anna Nicole Smith, who died yesterday, jamming some
of Playboy's email system with requests for reprints of her image.
"Part of the great charm of revisiting the magazine," says Mr. Hefner, "is
the combination of the words, the pictures and the advertising, the entire
sense of the pop culture of any particular era. People remember these
issues at a particular point in time; it's like a part of coming of age."
Playboy is hoping consumers will see the DVD as a collectible.
Playboy has a Web site but almost no archive to speak of, says Mr.
Froehlich. "Like most places this old, it was really an ad hoc setup," he
says. Old copies of the magazine were kept in bound volumes, but until
1965, editors seeking an old article had to riffle through annual print
indexes that kept track of hand-written cards outlining the content of
various issues.
For the DVD project, Playboy Enterprises Inc. is working with the same
company that created The Complete New Yorker, a digital version of the New
Yorker magazine's archives released in the fall of 2005. Some critics found
fault with The New Yorker DVDs' search functions. Users couldn't search for
keywords within the text of articles, only within titles and abstracts,
among other difficulties. The New Yorker has come out with a revised
digital archive on a hard drive that it says vastly improves the technology
and solves these issues.
This time, Playboy and partner Bondi Digital Publishing promise better
search functions. "I'll be able to type in Norman Mailer and see every
reference to him since the start of the magazine," says Mr. Froehlich.
Converting the magazine requires painstakingly scanning 115,880 pages of
Playboy magazines and then doing a "text-conversion process," which
involves manually typing all the text on the page. Bondi is using two
typists per page to copy the text into a database to improve accuracy.
Then, Bondi will break each page down into its elements: cartoons,
editorial content, advertising, photos and captions.
Playboy feels that by duplicating the magazine exactly as it existed,
complete with ads and in the same format as they appeared on the pages of
the magazine, that they don't need to seek additional rights from writers
or artists featured in its pages. It's a loophole the New Yorker exploited
as well for its project.
The tactic has drawn scrutiny from some writers' groups. "In this case, I'd
have to take a very hard look to see where this goes in the context of
commercial advantage," says Gerard Colby, president of the National Writers
Union, the nation's only trade union dedicated to freelance writers. "Even
if this does fall within the Supreme Court's parameters of allowed
reproduction, we'd still want to take a look at this whole issue of
remuneration for writers if the publisher is taking commercial advantage."
The images from the DVDs will be printable, but can't be passed from one
computer to another. "We did a lot of thought about security issues, and
there was a lot of debate about it," says Mr. Froehlich. In the end, the
system will be used not only to sell the DVD packages but also will be used
to create a Web-based system within Playboy that editors can use to search
the magazine's archives.
Today, even as so-called lad mags such as Emap PLC's FHM closes down and
Penthouse emerges from bankruptcy, Playboy maintains a circulation of about
three million -- with a median age of 33 -- down from around circulation of
seven million in 1972. The circulation has held fairly steady since 1990.
More recently, Mr. Hefner says the magazine has benefited from the
resurgence in cocktail culture and Rat-Pack nostalgia. The TV show "The
Girls Next Door" on E! is gearing up for its third season in March. The
reality TV series stars three female companions who live with Mr. Hefner in
the Playboy Mansion.
"Something remarkable has happened to the Playboy brand in the past few
years," says Mr. Hefner. "It is hot again. We have a hit TV show; we just
opened up the Playboy Club casino in Vegas, and the brand is very hot in
clothing." He adds, "It all connects to the future, and the retro-cool
phenomenon."
But Playboy, like other magazine publishers, is fighting lower advertising
and newsstand revenue as more readers migrate to the Internet and other
media. The Chicago-based company has taken several steps to improve its
performance, including extensive licensing of its famous "Bunny" logo on
clothing and accessories.
Playboy's third-quarter net income fell to $1.1 million from $3.2 million
in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 2% to $82.3 million. The
company is expected to report fourth-quarter results next week. The company
is also hoping to expand its Playboy clubs, following the opening in
October of a club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The company
hopes to open similar venues in London and Macau. But the debut of
Playboy's Indonesian edition sparked protests from Islamic groups after it
launched in April 2006.
================================
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: 10
Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:08:37 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Nielsen's New College Numbers
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
Nielsen's New College Numbers
By Carl Bialik
Wall Street Journal
February 9, 2007
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117086602361201062.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs
Nielsen TV ratings are finally going to college.
For the first time, the research company is including the roughly 2.l
million college students who live in dorms in its national estimates of TV
viewing habits. Nielsen Co. has long excluded such people from its national
ratings, and adding them has a dramatic impact on some shows: Nielsen said
an additional 163,000 men aged 18 to 24, on average, watched the racy
animated show "Drawn Together" on Comedy Central over one period it
examined. That translated to a 60% increase in ratings for the show in that
demographic, which is a key one for advertisers.
In another example, Nielsen said the new monitoring meant ratings for
"Grey's Anatomy" jumped by 636,000 among women in that same age group -- an
increase of more than 50%.
But to calculate these estimates, Nielsen is extrapolating from the viewing
habits of just 130 students around the country who have agreed to have
electronic monitors installed in their dorm rooms. That means the decisions
of a handful of those students can lead to a huge swing in ratings -- that
163,000 jump for "Drawn Together" was based on 12 people in Nielsen's
survey group who tuned in to the show.
For the broadcasters and advertisers who rely on Nielsen, the recruitment
of the college students is, essentially, a better-than-nothing addition to
what has been criticized as a flawed, antiquated ratings system. "This is a
major step forward, if only because it eliminated the false assumption that
students residing on campus were viewing zero television," David Poltrack,
chief research officer of CBS Corp., told me.
The use of just 130 college students to project the viewing preferences of
millions (and the prior omission of that group from a measurement that is
the currency for billions of dollars in TV advertising) highlights a
significant challenge for Nielsen. It is measuring the audience for
hundreds of national and local stations using a relatively small panel of
volunteers ? Nielsen's national panel includes 10,000 households -- in a
system designed for a time when three national networks monopolized the
ratings. "The Nielsen system was really designed the way TV was, and the
way it was viewed, 30 years ago," Alan Wurtzel, president of research for
NBC Universal, told me, adding, "As the TV audience atomizes [among
hundreds of networks], it becomes a challenge from a statistical standpoint
to break out a niche demographic."
Yet that's just what advertisers want Nielsen to do, so that they can
direct their ad dollars to shows that appear to be particularly popular
with a relatively narrow demographic group.
Nielsen has drawn criticism for being slow to change -- until 1987, all
Nielsen families had to keep track of their viewing habits in paper
diaries, though the company has since installed electronic devices in
viewers' homes. Each time a member of the household enters the room and
starts watching, he or she is supposed to log in by pressing a button on
the box or using a remote control. The data are zapped to Nielsen, broken
down by demographic group and extrapolated into scientific-seeming
estimates of audience size, down to the nearest thousand.
For the latest effort, Nielsen asked the households if they had any college
students living away from home, with a TV set. For those who said yes,
Nielsen asked the students if they'd be willing to be monitored, and about
one-third agreed. (Nielsen previously counted college-age TV viewers only
if they lived somewhere other than a dorm, such as at home or in their own
apartment.)
"Is the sample size ideal for college students? No, probably not," James
Webster, professor of communication studies at Northwestern University,
told me.
Nielsen spokesman Gary Holmes told me that "130 is an adequate sample size
for a narrowly focused demographic like this." He said the new measurement
project began five years ago, "when we were approached by some of the
networks who thought that our sample wasn't as complete as it could be
because we weren't including college kids once they went to school."
Statisticians I've spoken with told me national surveys typically include
at least 500 people, to limit the margin of error. (An ongoing Princeton
University survey of college students, examining minority students'
academic progress, tracked about 4,000 students.) Political pollsters often
survey just 1,000 or so people to determine broad national trends, but
sampling error is less of a problem when respondents are choosing among two
presidential candidates. It's a different matter when asking someone which
of 100 or more channels they are watching. Mr. Holmes said Nielsen isn't
calculating a margin of error for the college group.
News reports and promotional press releases usually don't make it clear how
small samples can influence ratings. They sometimes crown networks, shows
and personalities as winners based on differences of just 0.1 rating point
(representing about 110,000 households). "The ratings just aren't accurate
to that point," said Lynne S. Gross, professor of radio, TV and film at
California State University, Fullerton. Nielsen's Mr. Holmes said the
company supplies information to clients that would allow them to calculate
an overall margin of error that they could publicize.
The new ratings went live last week, and this week several shows popular in
college dorms -- including CW's "Gilmore Girls" and NBC's "The Office" --
saw jumps in viewing of at least 50% among people aged 18 to 24, according
to Nielsen (that demographic included more than 27 million people in 2000,
according to the Census). CBS's Mr. Poltrack told me that for the men's
college basketball tournament in March, he expects a jump of at least 40%
in male viewers aged 18 to 24, compared with a year earlier.
Nielsen remains distant from its goal of something called Anytime Anywhere
Media Measurement, and broadcasters have complained about the lack of
measurement outside traditional home settings. The company doesn't track
viewership among the nearly six million Americans who, according to the
Census Bureau, live in group quarters like military barracks, hospitals,
nursing homes and prisons. Nor does it track viewing in sports bars, at
work or in hotel rooms. CBS's Mr. Poltrack said, "The bigger missing
element right now is people who view at home but who do more and more of
their viewing out of the home."
Nielsen is taking steps to change this. It is developing portable meters
that would detect audio signals in radio and television programs. Such
"passive" measurement would represent a major improvement on today's system
relying on people to actively log their viewing, CBS's Mr. Poltrack said.
He said some people don't join Nielsen's panels at all because of the
burden, and others do join and try to comply, "but just from human nature,
they don't always remember."
NBC's Mr. Wurtzel said the diligence required in being a Nielsen panel
member could hurt the efforts to monitor dorm dwellers. "You can't get your
teenager to clean a room, much less push a button every time" they watch
TV, he said.
Nielsen's Mr. Holmes said portable, passive meters are "probably a couple
of years away." He added that the company is planning a major study to
validate its results. It will include checks, such as calling Nielsen
households to ask what they're watching at a particular moment, and
comparing it with the data viewers are submitting on the electronic meters.
================================
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: 11
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 20:37:28 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] EPIC Alert 14.03
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
========================================================================
E P I C A l e r t
========================================================================
Volume 14.03 February 9, 2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by the
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Washington, D.C.
http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_14.03.html
========================================================================
Table of Contents
========================================================================
[1] Personal Data Privacy and Security Act Of 2007 Introduced
[2] Homeland Security Budget Request Includes Eight Percent Increase
[3] Maine Rejects Real ID, Other States to Follow
[4] White House to Release Documents Detailing Secret Spy Program
[5] Florida Governor Proposes and End to Paperless Touch Screen Voting
[6] News in Brief
[7] EPIC Bookstore: "Proskauer on Privacy"
[8] Upcoming Conferences and Events
...
http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_14.03.html
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 178, Issue 1
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