The House at our deadline Thurs. was in a position to debate blockage of videogame sales to minors -- if the amendment’s sponsor chose to introduce it. Rep. Baca (D-Cal.) has written an amendment to the House Commerce, State, Justice appropriations bill (HR-4754) based on his own videogame bill, HR-669. That bill would prohibit the rental or sale of a videogame to a minor that depicts nudity, sexual conduct, or other content harmful to minors.
P2P file-sharing is growing rapidly in some European countries, a representative from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) said Thurs. The OECD, which doesn’t involve itself in copyright-vs.-P2P issues, has been looking at how the Internet and broadband affect economies and societies, Sacha Wunsch-Vincent said. P2P downloading has “great ripple effects” beyond the music industry, he said during a panel discussion at the 3rd Annual European Internet Domain Name Summit in Paris.
The Administration’s spectrum management plans, unveiled late Thurs. following a speech by President Bush at the Commerce Dept., received mixed reviews. The Administration made 24 proposals for improving the management of spectrum policy, including a govt. testbed (CD June 25 p5), the proposal getting the most attention. Critics suggested Fri. that the reports are heavy on process, but on their own will do little of significance.
In his most comprehensive remarks so far on broadband and telecom issues, President Bush told a packed auditorium of public officials at the Commerce Dept. he views broadband rollout, including broadband over powerlines (BPL), more efficient use of the spectrum and wireless broadband, as key building blocks of the U.S. economy.
Even though they were told the FTC doesn’t have authority over copyright law, 2 senators told an FTC witness that they were inclined to introduce legislation to empower the agency to crack down on P2P operators. Senate Commerce Competition Subcommittee Chmn. Smith (R-Ore.) and Sen. Boxer (D-Cal.) took issue with the FTC’s contention in a recent letter to the senators that P2P operators were properly disclosing on their sites and in their software the risks that could result from its use, and that they didn’t appear to be in violation of Sec. 5 of the FTC Act regarding “unfair and deceptive practices.”
Members of the House got some of what they wanted and a little of what they didn’t want when the Senate approved a broadcast decency amendment Tues. as part of the Defense Dept. (DoD) Authorization bill (S-2400). The Senate overwhelmingly approved a 9-fold fine increases for indecent broadcasts, but it also approved a stay on the FCC’s media ownership rules -- a provision strenuously opposed by House leadership -- and controversial restrictions on violent broadcasts. Much, but not all, of the contents of Sen. Brownback’s (R-Kan.) S-2052 were approved by a 99-1 vote for the amendment to the DoD bill. NAB said it opposed the amendment.
The RIAA Wed. lifted the veil of secrecy on its plan to seek content protections at the FCC to thwart widespread piracy of music transmitted over the emerging in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio (DAB) services.
The RIAA unveiled its plan to seek content protections at the FCC to thwart widespread piracy of music transmitted over the emerging in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio (DAB) services, in FCC comments.
A House subcommittee Thurs. railed against waste and abuse in the E-rate program and leveled blame on nearly everyone involved, from federal govt. program managers to vendors and school districts. Misuse in the program is “a crime against children,” said Rep. Markey (D-Mass.), an early E-rate proponent who said he still supports the program but “it just makes my blood boil” to think vendors and others may be making money by misusing the program. The program is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) under the supervision of the FCC.
Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.) is still pondering whether to attach fine increases for indecent broadcasts to Defense Dept. authorization legislation (S-2400) that’s being debated on the Senate floor this week. Senate sources said Brownback is concerned that Sen. Dorgan (D-N.D.) would introduce a 2nd- degree amendment that deals with media ownership. By considering attaching media decency provisions to the must- pass DoD bill, Brownback would be able to strip out the more controversial amendments added to S-2052, Brownback’s broadcast decency bill that’s already cleared the Senate Commerce Committee. The most controversial amendment is one that was forwarded by Dorgan, and supported by Sen. Lott (R- Miss.), which would prevent implementation of the FCC media ownership rules until the General Accounting Office (GAO) conduct a study about the correlation between indecent broadcasting and media consolidation. The measure is strongly opposed by several senators, including Sens. Allen (R-Va.), Sununu (R-N.H.) and Ensign (R-Nev.), sources said. One Senate source said Brownback knows he can’t push the measure if it winds up attracting the ownership amendment. A source said that it would be viewed as a win “on a silver platter” for Democrats.