FCC Comr. Abernathy called on the Commission to act on AT&T’s petition for exemption from paying access charges for calls that are routed primarily on Internet backbone “sooner rather than later.” In an interview with reporters after her speech at a conference on digital issues sponsored by the FCC and the Catholic U. Law School Thurs. in Washington, she said: “I have thought that maybe we can deal with that in a bigger proceeding, but the problem is… the present uncertainty may be distorting competition and the flow of capital… So, we should try to resolve that tension and provide at least some immediate clarity.”
The idea of compulsory licenses to compensate copyright holders for file downloads appears to be losing steam. On a panel hosted by the National Journal Fri., Public Knowledge Pres. Gigi Sohn said she now opposed the idea: “I used to be a fan of compulsory licenses, but now I'm worried about getting the government involved… Who would pay these fees?” CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro said the idea was a “nonstarter.” Sohn said similar efforts were failing as levies on digital media in Europe hadn’t worked and had doubled prices.
The idea of compulsory licenses to compensate copyright holders for file downloads appears to be losing steam. On a panel hosted Fri. by the National Journal, Public Knowledge Pres. Gigi Sohn said she now opposed the idea: “I used to be a fan of compulsory licenses, but now I'm worried about getting the government involved… Who would pay these fees?” CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro said the idea was a “nonstarter.” Sohn said similar efforts were failing as levies on digital media in Europe hadn’t worked and had doubled prices.
Leon Jackler promoted to legal adviser to the chief of the FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau… Cristin Flynn, ex-MCI, named BellSouth dir.-national security emergency preparedness… Edward Glotzbach, ex-SBC, joins Visual Networks board… John Landgraf, ex-Jersey TV, named FX pres.-entertainment… Emmis promoted Vanessa Oubre to vp- gen. mgr., WALA-TV Mobile, and WBPG-TV Pensacola.
Circuit City, which has seen its CE sales suffer from Wal- Mart’s emergence as a force in the category, will occupy one of its former locations. Circuit, along with 2 other unnamed national retailers, signed agreements to take over a former Wal- Mart building in Southlake, Tex., John Maggiore, dir. of retail development with Archon Group in Irving, Tex. told the Star- Telegram. The project, the start of which awaits the departure of Wal-Mart this month, is to be completed by fall. Wal-Mart, which still is removing fixtures from the building, moved to Grapevine, Tex., from Southlake in Oct. Circuit has embarked on a program to relocate many of its stores including more than 25 the past year.
The FCC is nearing release of a rulemaking to examine network outage reporting requirements across the board for wireline, wireless and cable providers, sources said. Now only wireline providers face mandatory reporting. Industry observers said they were watching closely how the proposal would address issues such as measuring outages across different kinds of networks. On developing metrics for different services, an industry source said: “It’s going to be very complicated.”
A viable national agreement on management of electronics waste (e-waste) emerging at the final meeting of the National Product Stewardship Institute (NEPSI) Feb. 10 appeared to hinge on that group accommodating demands of Hewlett-Packard and Dell. As stakeholders prepare for the meeting in Portland, Ore., the 2 leading computer manufacturers have made clear that an alternative to the “hybrid” financing model that most players have agreed on was key to their endorsing any agreement that might emerge. The “hybrid” model envisages a national system for collection of used computers, TVs and other CE products that would start with an advanced recovery fee (ARF) set on the purchase price of the product and then transition at some point to a cost internalization system.
Executives of 5 of the largest U.S. CE retail chains told a CES “supersession” panel all indications were that 2004 would be strong. Most cited flat-panel TVs as a category that fared extremely well for them in 2003 and should only perform better this year.
Daewoo Electronics, long the supplier of all things commoditized, is seeking to recast its image in the digital era. As fellow S. Korean manufacturers Samsung and LG Electronics have moved swiftly to introduce an array of flat-panel, DLP- and LCD- based rear-projection TVs, DVD recorders and hard drive products, Daewoo is trying to catch up.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a press release announcing education and enforcement plans for its new trucking hours-of-service rule. According to the press release, starting January 4, 2004, when the rule was implemented, state and federal officials expect to spend the first 60 days waging an aggressive educational campaign and enforcing egregious violations. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/04/03 news, 03120410, for BP reminder on the enforcement of the hours-of-service rule, with links to previous BP summaries.) (FMCSA press release, dated 12/30/03, www.fmcsa.dot.gov/contactus/press/2003/123003.htm.)