|
|  |
|
Television
FCC's Martin Calls Anew For Per-Channel TV Pricing
by Andrew Noyes
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin made another plug for per-channel cable-television pricing on Tuesday, saying the concept known as a la carte, which cable companies abhor, would help parents control what their children see on the small screen.
During an Aspen Institute keynote, Martin said "parents must have meaningful choices, and choices must have meaningful consequences." Currently, there is no incentive for the marketplace to respond if subscribers pay for channels they do not want, he said.
He told the conference on media and society that the issue is "more immediate and pressing" than finding filtering and monitoring technologies for online content. "I believe no consumer should have to pay for content they do not want to receive," he said.
An a la carte scheme would lead to "lower prices across the board," Martin said. Cable providers have raised prices and ignored the fact that "most households are watching very few of the new channels that have been added," he said at the forum, which was webcast.
Martin said he prefers marketplace-driven changes over federal regulation, "but that doesn't mean that government doesn't have an important role to play." He cited media-ownership caps and mandatory children's programming requirements as examples of important steps by the FCC.
Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said participants at the summit were there to discuss ways to reinforce parental empowerment with the help of technology, but Martin "once again proposed that the government micromanage the distribution of content." He said, "As every credible study has shown, a la carte means consumers pay more and get less."
On another front, Martin said some may argue that government "can't or shouldn't be involved" in placing limits on indecent and objectionable content due to First Amendment concerns. But he envisions "a more limited role when trying to distinguish what's objectionable" across various media platforms.
European Union telecommunications chief Viviane Reding shared the stage with Martin and told the conference about her plans to overhaul the region's rules for the industry in the months to come. Under her proposal, the union would assume some of the regulatory power held by governments that comprise the group.
Reding has recommended eliminating about 50 percent of existing regulations in the telecom field. "We don't need those," she said. "Only when there are bottlenecks will there be rules," and when problems are solved, the rules would be scrapped, she said.
Much of Reding's focus in the past few years has been "getting rid of the artificial barriers" that exist among EU nations. "We have 27 sets of heavy, often conflicting rules and regulations" that can either be eliminated or enhanced, she said.
Change already has been widespread in the media sector to ensure a "free flow of information," she said. The conduit has been a "country of origin" principle that lets content providers broadcast into EU national other than their own as long as they meet their own national standards.
"That means you regulate once. You give a license once," Reding said.
Her most recent action was tearing down national barriers to video-on-demand service. In the next five years, she expects the market to grow by 400 percent.
| |
|
Television
Agency To Name Contractor For DTV Coupon Effort
by David Hatch
The Commerce Department this week will unveil its selection of a contractor to implement a $1.5 billion coupon program designed to spur the nation's transition from analog to digital television signals. The announcement will come from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a division of the department.
The vouchers will reduce the cost of converter boxes that will enable older television sets relying on over-the-air reception to function after the Feb. 17, 2009, transition. The $40 vouchers will be available online, via the mail and through a toll-free number, lowering the cost of each unit from about $60 to $20. NTIA is spending between $100 million and $160 million to administer the effort but did not disclose the size of the vendor contract.
The announcement will be made amid a growing drumbeat of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and regulators, as well as watchdogs, that the transition could be a "train wreck" if consumer outreach is not expanded. NTIA spokesman Todd Sedmak responded that considerable planning is underway behind the scenes and that the switchover is still 18 months away.
The agency will spend $5 million to reach populations most at risk of having their TV signals halted: the disabled, elderly, low-income citizens, minorities and rural Americans. To do so, it is partnering with associations such as the seniors' group AARP, the American Library Association and the food-stamp program on educational efforts.
The FCC has requested an additional $1.5 million to assist with consumer outreach.
But NTIA is relying solely on networks and local stations to run TV and radio ads about the transition and the coupons.
On Thursday, Senate Commerce Committee member Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., sent letters to the FCC and the NTIA expressing concern about the apparent lack of public education and awareness. She also sought feedback on how well the boxes function and on their anticipated availability in stores.
The federal government will take several steps this fall to get the transition back on track. NTIA will hold a public DTV meeting and expo on Sept. 25 featuring the CEOs of the major broadcast, cable and electronics associations, among other participants. On Sept. 26, the FCC will hold a daylong consumer education workshop to explore the challenges associated with the changeover.
And Hawaii Democrat Daniel Inouye, the Senate Commerce chairman, has pledged to hold another DTV oversight hearing this fall.
On Aug. 2, David Rehr, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, sent a letter to senators informing them of steps that his association is taking to ensure a smooth transition. He also revealed that industry-sponsored public-service messages will be available for airing beginning in December.
| |
|
Health
Debate Ensues Over Privatizing Health IT Advisory
by Aliya Sternstein
A debate is stirring over a proposal by the Health and Human Services Department to privatize the government's existing advisory body on health information technology.
The American Health Information Community, chartered in 2005, currently counsels HHS on hastening the adoption of health IT. Now HHS is forming a successor entity, as required under the charter. The agency's proposition calls for an independent and sustainable public-private partnership.
HHS is accepting public comments through Sept. 10.
Several labor and consumer advocacy groups and the seniors' group AARP have submitted comments opposing privatization over concerns that the proposed spin-off would lack accountability and transparency.
"While we believe AHIC needs the active and committed participation of private-sector health industry representatives, the federal government needs to retain an active role in governance and oversight to ensure that priorities and policy recommendations reflect the national interest," stated a letter sent by the AFL-CIO, Consumers Union, the National Consumers League, National Partnership for Women and Families, and Service Employees International Union.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., proposed legislation in May that would establish a private, nonprofit corporation to develop a secure health IT system. The entity would operate similar to organizations like the financial provider Fannie Mae.
Whitehouse said in a statement on Tuesday that he supports HHS' notion that advancing national health IT requires a body that can draw on private-sector resources and expertise. But he added that the organization must be subject to public oversight, incorporate consumer input, prioritize privacy and security, and have a stable revenue source.
Whitehouse's bill, a somewhat different approach, would address all four issues. "I hope [HHS] will widen its thinking on the privatization of AHIC to include alternate policy solutions like the one I've proposed, and to ensure that Congress and the public have a substantive role in this process," he said.
But AARP disagrees, positing that AHIC's current structure should be maintained and strengthened to address privacy and security in a clear and public process.
Deven McGraw, the chief operating officer of the National Partnership for Women and Families, said she is unclear on the motivation for a private entity to concentrate on privacy and security. "The need to maintain business operations might trump public interest," she said.
If safeguards for security and privacy were in place, along with protections for consumer input, her organization would be more comfortable with a private entity, McGraw added.
Douglas Henley, executive vice president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and an AHIC member, said he wants to see a public-private partnership with a stable funding source and a direct tie to HHS, the HHS secretary and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "It does need to be a public-private entity, not just a private entity," he said.
The analogy he uses is the National Quality Forum, a public-private nonprofit chartered to implement a strategy for healthcare quality measurement and reporting. The forum's members include consumers, public and private purchasers, employers, healthcare professionals, provider associations, insurers, accrediting bodies, labor unions and supporting organizations. Membership dues are its key source of funding.
| |
|
Health
Broadband Is Critical To E-Health Work, Study Finds
by Heather Greenfield
A trade association that promotes high-speed Internet deployment released a study Tuesday that recommends ways to encourage the development of e-health initiatives.
U.S. Internet Industry Association President Dave McClure said e-health initiatives would reduce healthcare costs, but most prescriptions are still written by hand and medical records are kept in files in primary care offices. "Document retrieval and storage is really critical and broadband is going to play a role there," McClure said.
Among USIIA's recommendations to ready cyberspace for the spread of e-health is a rejection of any network neutrality laws that would make it illegal to alter the Internet's current content-neutral status for traffic.
Net neutrality is predicated on the belief that broadband providers might create a tiered system on the Internet and charge select content providers more to speed their traffic. The controversial issue has been widely debated on Capitol Hill and at the FCC.
Privately, those lobbying for the concept, like Internet users and the online retailer Amazon.com, or against the concept, like the big telecommunications and cable companies, admit middle ground is a likely outcome on net neutrality rules. Medical information or emergency telephone service are seen as strong arguments by both sides to prioritize at least some Web traffic.
USIIA recommended a rejection of any net neutrality protections, saying critical medical monitoring and health care should not be "on the same footing as music and video downloads or non-critical communications."
McClure said he would rather not see "carve-outs" to just boost the speed of 911 or medical traffic ahead of video downloads because the exceptions list could grow too long.
The USIIA study also noted that another obstacle to the spread of e-health is a large, bureaucratic medical industry.
"They don't see a lot of incentives to move to new technology even though the benefits are well-documented," McClure said. He said there needs to be ways to "incentivize" them to switch.
McClure said the federal government has a role to play that should go beyond the "piecemeal" approach of some state legislatures. Ideas include overhauling the Rural Utilities Service loan program, incentives for healthcare providers to adopt administrative and clinical solutions, more public-private broadband deployment partnerships, and a federal role in setting technical standards to ensure that systems can work together.
"Those systems have to be able to talk to each other," McClure said. "Our belief is the medical industry now is not equipped to take on that role in an effective manner."
McClure said the FCC, FTC and Health and Human Services Department all have processes to set standards and allow industry and consumers to comment.
One issue not listed in the study as an obstacle to e-health is privacy concerns. Asked about it later, McClure said more laws are not needed to safeguard privacy, but more should be done to implement the existing privacy rules.
| |
|
Civil Liberties
Justice, Civil Liberties Groups Battle Over Spy Tactics
by Andrew Noyes
Privacy and civil liberties advocates met with Justice Department officials on Monday for what was characterized by some as a contentious conversation about the impact of a recently passed law that enhances the executive branch's authority to spy on U.S. citizens.
The anti-terrorism mandate, which expires in six months unless Congress makes it permanent, was one of the last orders of business before lawmakers adjourned for August. The expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act lets the national intelligence director and the attorney general authorize spying without getting warrants from a special court.
Justice did not provide details about the meeting but said the discussion was held at the behest of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. A spokesman said the agency appreciated the visitors' input and looked forward "to continued dialogue with them as further legislation is debated."
Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said department officials asked him and representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, Heritage Foundation and other groups for advice about implementing the new FISA guidelines.
That was tricky because the directives are classified, the FISA court opinion that produced the amendments to the law is classified, and "most of the relevant documents that the civil liberties groups and the oversight committees have sought have been withheld," Rotenberg said.
Lisa Graves, deputy director of the Center for National Security Studies, said the civil libertarians "candidly" shared their concerns, but the administration's "penchant for unnecessary secrecy" continued, including refusing to disclose the interpretation of the definition of "electronic surveillance" under the new powers.
Several participants noted that the selective leaking of intelligence "seems like a particularly bad way to make policy in this area," Rotenberg said. Most recently, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, disclosed secret FISA court information during an interview with Fox News.
ACLU staffers who attended learned "virtually nothing new," the group's executive director, Anthony Romero, said in a same-day letter to Gonzales. It is unclear what the agency's plans are for using the power to intercept e-mails and telephone calls when one party is on American soil, he said.
"Every question we had, they dodged and weaved, and we got no information out of that meeting that we couldn't have taken out of a press release," added Caroline Fredrickson, the ACLU's top lobbyist. "It was a ridiculous round-and-round conversation."
Brian Walsh, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said he is "worried the administration has gone too far in allowing privacy activists to hinder presidential authority to gather information about al Qaeda and related groups." Many of the demands being made at the meeting were "unreasonable," he said.
"I don't want to see any administration yield up its inherent authority in order to satisfy the current political climate," Walsh said.
The department agreed to host the group again but would not commit to a topic. Graves wanted the follow-up to focus on citizens' Internet privacy.
"Hopefully at the next meeting, there will be responsive answers and key documents that have been requested for months, if not years," she said.
| |
|
Today's Feature:
People Column
High-profile White House adviser Karl Rove isn't the only top staffer leaving the Bush administration in a few weeks. William Jeffrey, director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology since the summer of 2005, has announced that he will leave at the end of August, too.
Every Tuesday, read the People Column by Heather Greenfield.
|
|
|
|
E-briefs
Intellectual Property: The Qualcomm telecommunications equipment maker will seek to rebound from a string of legal setbacks Tuesday when a federal judge in Santa Ana, Calif., considers penalties against the firm for infringing on three Broadcom patents, AP reports. Broadcom is seeking a ban on Qualcomm chips that rely on the mobile technologies. On Monday, U.S. District Judge James Selna ordered Qualcomm to pay $39.3 million for violating the Broadcom patents, doubling damages that a jury awarded in May, according to Broadcom. Tuesday's hearing will help determine if he goes further by ordering a ban. The Bush administration last week upheld a ban on imports of high-end cell phones that contain Qualcomm chips. The U.S. International Trade Commission imposed the ban in June after finding that Qualcomm infringed on a patent that protected Broadcom's technology to conserve phone battery power.
Intelligence: A new science and technology deputy has been named for the national intelligence director's office. Director Mike McConnell named Steve Nixon as his assistant deputy to head science and technology matters. Nixon will have oversight responsibilities in those subject matters for the activities of the 16 agencies in the intelligence community, including the CIA and National Security Agency. He has held the post in an acting capacity since June. Nixon replaces Eric Haseltine, who was the first assistant deputy for science and technology under the 2004 law that created the position. Before this position, he worked on Capitol Hill for 10 years on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
Education: Many U.S. young people are using social-networking forums like online chat rooms, blogs and Facebook to talk about education online, according to a study of online behaviors conducted by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates. Nearly 60 percent discuss school-related issues, while more than 50 percent confer specifically about schoolwork. Yet most school districts bar nearly all forms of online social-networking during the school day, noted the report, which was released Tuesday. Nonconformists -- students who defy online behavior rules and tend to have lower grades -- "are on the cutting edge of social-networking," the study said. They possess an "extraordinary set of traditional and 21st-century skills," including collaboration and leadership. Association Executive Director Anne Bryant added, "There is no doubt that these online teen hangouts are having a huge influence on how kids today are creatively thinking and behaving."
|
|
|
President -- John Fox Sullivan, 202-739-8468
Editor in Chief -- Louis Peck, 202-739-8481
Editor -- K. Daniel Glover (bio)
Assistant Editor -- Theresa Poulson
Senior Writers -- David Hatch (bio), Heather Greenfield (bio), Andrew Noyes (bio) and Aliya Sternstein (bio)
Special Correspondent -- Chris Strohm (bio)
Staff Writer -- Michael Martinez
Senior Business Affairs Manager -- Chris Hamby
Business Affairs Associate -- Anne TeBeest
Advertising Sales -- Alex Treadway
National Journal's Technology Daily is published every weekday, except holidays, by National Journal Group Inc., 600 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20037.
| | ©2006 by National Journal Group Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or transmission in any form of this product by any means—from a retrieval service or any other electronic form or from a photocopy—in whole or part without permission is strictly prohibited.
National Journal Group makes no representations or warranties with respect to and is not responsible for the content of World Wide Web sites linked to by this publication but not controlled by National Journal Group.
Please read the details of our Privacy Policy.
Editorial: 202-266-7197
Fax: 202-266-7094
Subscription
Inquiries: 202-266-7264
Customer Service: 202-266-7230 or 1-800-207-8001
|
|
|
|
