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Enhanced Digital Television Datacasting in the Public Interest

                       New Announcement E-List

A low volume e-mail announcement list on the development and
use of enhanced Digital Television for dissemination/datacasting of
public service information.

Subscribe to:   [log in to unmask]

This list is a Democracies Online <http://e-democracy.org/do>
service. Review Steven Clift's "Public Internet" concept paper
<http://publicus.net/pi> and "Community Digital Broadcasting"
<http://publicus.net/cis/> on digital broadcasting or "datacasting"
of essential community and public service information.

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Datacasting the "best of" government and community information
may be the number one opportunity to close the essential content
side of the digital divide.  DTV is essentially the one-way Internet.
If your community had one megabyte of shared space on the
typical set-top box/DTV receiver what kinds of public service
information would you want to ensure always updated, 24x7
universal access?   This can be done through a open standards-
based shared system of content aggregation with public interest
access to the datacasting facilities of DTV broadcasters.

The FCC left this an open question.  Who is answering it?
From: http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/
1999/db991221/fcc99390.txt   (Place on one line)

     In addition, section 336(b)(3) simply requires the Commission
     to "apply to any other ancillary and supplementary service such
     of the Commission's regulations as are applicable to the
     offering of analogous services by any other person." The
     Advisory Committee Report recommends that "[b]roadcasters that
     choose to implement datacasting should transmit information on
     behalf of local schools, libraries, community-based
     organizations, governmental bodies, and public safety
     institutions." The Advisory Committee Report suggests that
     "[t]his activity should count toward fulfillment of a digital
     broadcaster's public interest obligations," without indicating
     which regulations are applicable to ancillary and supplementary
     services.  We seek comment on this proposal. How would
     datacasting count toward the DTV broadcasters' public interest
     obligations?  We also seek comment more generally on whether
     the public interest obligations should apply to ancillary and
     supplementary services, and if so, how.

If you know of people taking charge of efforts in this area before
they slip away, please drop me a note <[log in to unmask]>.

Please join the DO-eDTV announcement list if you are interested in
this subject.  I'll pass on infrequent postings on the matter.

Cheers,
Steven Clift
http://www.publicus.net


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  Steven Clift - E: [log in to unmask] T:+1.612.822.8667
Info - http://publicus.net  DO - http://e-democracy.org/do
       Web White & Blue - http://webwhiteblue.org
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