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Stimulus Brings Back TV Converter Coupons

(Newser) - The agency that mails out coupons for digital TV converter boxes expects to eliminate its wait list in 2½ weeks, an official said today. Helped by $650 million from the economic stimulus package, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has started to mail out coupons to the 2.3 million...

Obama's FCC Pick Brings Reformer Label

Tech adviser Genachowski lauded to lead troubled agency

(Newser) - President Obama has officially named Harvard pal and technical adviser Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission, NPR reports. It’s Genachowski’s second tour—he worked at the FCC during the Clinton administration—and he’s being applauded on both sides of the aisle. Most are hoping the...

Bird-Flipping Globes Could Cost NBC With Feds

Wrestler director Aronofsky's on-air gesture may be worst violation

(Newser) - The decency police are on NBC’s tail for Sunday’s obscenity-speckled Golden Globes. The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing the program after receiving 18 complaints, the Los Angeles Times reports. The most flagrant violation was probably when The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky jokingly flipped off actor Mickey Rourke as...

Obama to Name Tech Adviser as FCC Chair

Genachowski choice praised by media reform movement

(Newser) - Barack Obama is expected to announce Julius Genachowski as his FCC chairman, and media reform groups are enthusiastic about the choice, Ars Technica reports. Genachowski served in the FCC during the Clinton administration and in the dot-com industry before becoming Obama’s technology adviser. He helped craft the President-elect’s...

Obama Wants to Delay Digital TV Switch

Too many people unprepared, he tells Congress in letter

(Newser) - The push to delay pulling the plug on analog television gained an important convert today: Barack Obama. The president-elect's transition team sent a letter to Congress urging it to push back the Feb. 17 conversion date to all-digital TV, the Los Angeles Times reports. It cited in particular the Commerce...

Prisons Aim to Change Ban on Phone Jamming

Rampant cell use facilitates crimes committed behind bars

(Newser) - Cell phone use is a growing problem among prison inmates, but the obvious solution—signal jamming—is illegal under a 74-year-old federal law. Prisoners can easily smuggle the increasingly tiny handsets, and for the unrepentant among them, “whatever illegal activities you were doing outside, you can continue that uninterrupted,...

'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case Bound for Supreme Court

Agency encouraged by Fox obscenity case

(Newser) - The FCC is continuing to push the "wardrobe malfunction" case and has turned to the Supreme Court, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The agency is attempting to have its $550,000 fine reinstated against CBS for Janet Jackson’s disrobing during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. A federal...

MSNBC Slaps Tape Delay on Scarborough
MSNBC Slaps Tape Delay on Scarborough
Nov 12, 2008 10:06 AM CST

MSNBC Slaps Tape Delay on Scarborough

Parenting groups applaud response to Morning Joe's F-bomb

(Newser) - MSNBC is putting a 7-second muzzle on Joe Scarborough, after the Morning Joe host accidentally uttered the F-word during Monday’s show. Though cable networks are immune from FCC decency rules, MSNBC confirmed that it was instituting the delay to prevent a repeat incident and noted it had done the...

Scarborough Slips F-Word Into Morning Joe
Scarborough Slips F-Word Into Morning Joe
OPINION
Nov 10, 2008 12:15 PM CST

Scarborough Slips F-Word Into Morning Joe

Host has crusaded against TV profanity

(Newser) - MSNBC host Joe Scarborough dropped what he calls an F-bomb on Morning Joe today, letting the profanity slip when describing Rahm Emanuel's hard-charging style as “flipping people off and screaming F-you at the top of their lungs.” Which might be inconsequential, writes Glenn Greenwald for Salon, except that...

FCC Gives 'White Spaces' to Wireless

Decision to open spectrum a big victory for Google, tech giants

(Newser) - The FCC has voted to open up an unused chunk of TV airwaves for the delivery of wireless broadband services, Bloomberg reports. The ruling is a huge victory for Google and other technology giants, who backed the measure against fierce opposition from broadcasters. The tech firms say the plan will...

Dolly Gives Google Static in Airwaves Feud

FCC to decide today who gets rights to 'white spaces'

(Newser) - Singer Dolly Parton has added her powerful country-music lungs to a battle against Google over an unused chunk of radio spectrum that will be settled by an FCC vote today, the New York Times reports. Tech companies have been pushing for the spectrum to be opened up for public use,...

Supremes Won't Air Dirty Laundry

Court will delay release of tapes of arguments in indecency case

(Newser) - Election Day is likely to inspire swearing in some places and sure to see off-color language in one unlikely locale: the Supreme Court. But the American public will have to wait until next summer to hear tomorrow's oral arguments in a landmark indecency case, FCC vs. Fox, the Justices...

The Boss Will Rock Super Bowl

Springsteen to perform at halftime

(Newser) - Another Super Bowl, another rock superstar at halftime. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform during the Super Bowl halftime show in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 1, reports the AP. Since 2004's debacle, the big game's halftime performers have been oldies but goodies—the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney,...

Google Keeps Up Battle for Open-Access Cells

Phone operators balk at plans to loosen mobile networks

(Newser) - Google renewed its battle for open cell phone networks this week by filing for a new patent, CNET reports. The search giant filed to free smartphones from network-carrier agreements so users can tap into whatever connection is strongest and most affordable. But carriers mostly resist the notion, saying tight networks...

Comcast Caps Internet Use, Says 99% Won't Notice

250 GB-limit intended to improve web quality

(Newser) - Comcast subscribers will soon have their Internet usage capped, Reuters reports. From Oct. 1, the nation’s largest cable operator will limit monthly residential data use to 250 gigabytes to improve the quality of Internet delivery. The company says up to 99% of its subscribers will be unaffected by the...

Comcast to Put Brakes on Bandwidth Hogs

ISP decides to slow down users rather than P2P programs after FCC scolding

(Newser) - Comcast plans to reduce Internet connection speeds for heavy users, Bloomberg reports. The company's "FairShare" system will slow users down for 10 to 20 minutes during peak periods. Comcast was recently scolded by the FCC for improperly blocking file-sharing programs like BitTorrent in an effort to manage Web traffic.

Google Readies for Spectrum Showdown

As TV goes digital, tech giants, broadcasters vie for unused space

(Newser) - Google has launched an aggressive campaign to free up the soon-to-be-emptied "white spaces" of the TV spectrum for Internet devices and broadband access, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The spaces will open up when TV switches entirely to digital in February. Google and other tech giants are hotly...

FCC Member: Leave the Internet Alone
FCC Member: Leave the Internet Alone
Opinion
Jul 28, 2008 3:21 PM CDT

FCC Member: Leave the Internet Alone

Engineers, not politicians, should solve tech problems

(Newser) - The latest crisis for the internet is the gridlock caused by bandwidth-clogging P2P software. But don’t worry, says FCC commissioner Robert McDowell. This has happened before. As far back as 1987, engineers have been solving the net’s bandwidth problems. It’s been a triumph of anti-regulation, and there’...

FCC Approves Satellite Radio Merger
FCC Approves Satellite Radio Merger
Jul 25, 2008 8:21 PM CDT

FCC Approves Satellite Radio Merger

3-2 vote OKs $3.3B Sirius buyout of XM, ends 16-month drama

(Newser) - Federal regulators formally approved the merger of the United States' only two satellite radio operators today, ending a 16-month-long drama closely watched by Washington and Wall Street. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s $3.3 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will mean 18 million-plus subscribers will be...

Court Tosses Super Bowl Fine
 Court Tosses Super Bowl Fine 
Jul 21, 2008 1:27 PM CDT

Court Tosses Super Bowl Fine

Federal panel says FCC acted capriciously with $550K penalty

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today threw out the FCC $550,000 fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s infamous 2004 “wardrobe malfunction.” The decency watchdogs were found to have acted arbitrarily in changing their policy of not punishing fleeting nudity, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The court separately said...

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