From guterman@mediaunspun.imakenews.net Tue Oct 8 14:39:42 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: zzzz@localhost.spamassassin.taint.org Received: from localhost (jalapeno [127.0.0.1]) by spamassassin.taint.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B88C516F17 for ; Tue, 8 Oct 2002 14:39:13 +0100 (IST) Received: from jalapeno [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for zzzz@localhost (single-drop); Tue, 08 Oct 2002 14:39:13 +0100 (IST) Received: from eng.imakenews.com (mailservice4.imakenews.com [65.214.33.17]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g98DNHK17023 for ; Tue, 8 Oct 2002 14:23:17 +0100 Received: by eng.imakenews.com (PowerMTA(TM) v1.5); Tue, 8 Oct 2002 09:22:59 -0400 (envelope-from ) Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----------=_1034083278-26594-4"; charset="iso-8859-1" Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 09:21:18 -0400 Errors-To: From: "Media Unspun" MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: <26594$1034083278$mediaunspun$5114587@imakenews.net> Precedence: normal Reply-To: "Media Unspun" Sender: "Media Unspun" Subject: Bush Covers the Waterfront To: zzzz-unspun@spamassassin.taint.org X-Imn: mediaunspun,224536,5114587,0 This is a multi-part message in MIME format... ------------=_1034083278-26594-4 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To view this newsletter in full-color: http://newsletter.mediaunspun.com/index000021410.cfm Media Unspun What the Press is Reporting and Why (www.mediaunspun.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- October 8, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------- IN THIS ISSUE ----------------------------------------------------------------- * BUSH COVERS THE WATERFRONT * THE BIGGEST CABLE HOOKUP ----------------------------------------------------------------- EDITOR'S NOTE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Is Media Unspun useful to you? Then pass it on to a colleague. The more readers we have, the more successful we'll be. The more successful we are, the more useful we can be to you. Pass it on! Media Unspun serves business news and analysis, authoritatively and irreverently, every business day. An annual subscription costs $50, less than a dollar a week. If your four-week free trial is coming to an end soon, please visit http://www.mediaunspun.com/subscribe.html and sign up via credit card or check. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ADVERTISEMENT ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pop!Tech 2002 October 18 - 20, 2002: Camden, Maine Join 500 big thinkers to discuss the collision of technology and culture Register now at: http://www.poptech.org ----------------------------------------------------------------- BUSH COVERS THE WATERFRONT ----------------------------------------------------------------- It may seem like all Iraq, all the time in the Oval Office, but the president has at least one other thing on his mind this week: that pesky port lockout. The freight still isn't moving, factories are running out of parts, produce is rotting, and retailers are more freaked about Christmas with every passing day. On Monday, Bush stepped in and appointed a three-member panel to see how badly this shutdown is hosing the economy. (We hope this isn't a difficult question, as the panel's been given all of one day to report back.) When Bush gets the report on Tuesday, the next step might be a court order to reopen the ports under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. That would send employees back to work for 80 days while federal mediators duke it out over the disputed contract and retailers lower their Xanax dosages. Invoking Taft-Hartley requires a threat to national health or safety -- not the economy. But Labor Secretary Elaine Chao covered that base in a statement on Monday, saying the work stoppage threatens the flow of supplies to the military (we knew Iraq would be in here somewhere). "Union officials quickly responded that their members have been unloading military cargo throughout the 10-day shutdown," said the L.A. Times, but an anonymous Bush administration official "said that only a portion of what the Defense Department needs has made it ashore." Politically, this has been a tricky one. Using Taft-Hartley would annoy labor right before congressional elections. On the other hand, "Voter discontent with Bush's handling of the increasingly fragile economic recovery has begun showing up in polls, and such concerns may have outweighed the political danger to the Republican administration," said the San Francisco Chronicle. Also, Bush stepped in on the same day that a poll reported two-thirds of Americans wanted him to focus more on the economy. "Though the administration promised an unbiased examination of the lockout, Bush appeared to have made up his mind that it was hurting national security and the economy, andmerited federal intervention," said the AP. As for Taft-Hartley, it's not exactly famous for solving labor disputes. Often the 80-day cooling-off period ends, and workers simply walk out again (or get locked out again, in this case). One gets the sense, however, that fixing the dockworkers' contract isn't the point of this particular 80 days. It's 78 days until Christmas. The race is on. - Jen Muehlbauer President Acts To Halt Port Lockout for 80 Days (Seattle Times) http://tinyurl.com/1usn Bush Expected To Act on Ports Crisis http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/business/1002/08ports.html President Moves Toward Forcing the Reopening of West Coast Ports http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ports8oct08001439,0,1021983.story Bush Takes Step Toward Halting Lockout After West Coast Port Talks Break Off (AP) http://tinyurl.com/1usk White House Intervenes on Docks Dispute (Financial Times) http://tinyurl.com/1usm Cooling-off Period Likely in Port Fight (SF Chronicle) http://tinyurl.com/1usp Bush Moves Toward Halting Port Shutdown http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/national/08PORT.html Trouble On The Docks http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_0864,00.html (Paid subscription required.) Charges of Politics Have Dogged Taft-Hartley Act http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/90243_hartley08.shtml Taft-Hartley Act No Quick-Fix For Port Dispute (Reuters) http://www.forbes.com/work/newswire/2002/10/02/rtr739458.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- ADVERTISEMENT ----------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL OFFER! Save 24% on a subscription to MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW. Get an inside view into the technologies, deals, and companies emerging from one of the leading research institutes -- MIT. http://www.technologyinsider.com/new/news1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIGGEST CABLE HOOKUP ----------------------------------------------------------------- wo birds want to join forces and the FCC is about to cry "fowl." We mean "foul." The two dominant direct broadcast satellite players want to join forces, the better to compete with Big Cable. Federal regulators, both the FCC and the Justice Department, are concerned that the resulting conglomerate of DirecTV with Dish Network would command roughly 95% of satellite service in the US. The press could not settle on a price tag for the proposed merger between EchoStar Communications and Hughes Electronics -- it was described as being worth anywhere from $15 billion and $25 billion. It was a challenge to keep the players straight, as some outlets talked of a merger between the corporate parents, and others referred to the service monikers. Hughes is DirecTV and EchoStar is Dish. All straight? The two companies sent a letter to the FCC urging them to hold off ruling on (read, rejecting) the merger until the Justice Department has spoken. EchoStar and Hughes offered unspecified "major revisions" to the deal that they want to discuss with Justice in the next weeks. The Wall Street Journal delved deeply into the form those revisions could take -- specifically, selling some frequencies to Cablevision. The Journal reported that Cablevision has wanted to get into the satellite business for 10 years and outlined the cable company's plans and past spending on such a project. TheStreet.com turned in an extensive analysis of the deal for investors in the satellite space. It seems the market for expanded-service television may be nearing saturation. TheStreet.com quoted an analyst's report which concluded, "Consumers should benefit from ... continued rivalry, but shareholders may realize much smaller returns." The New York Times and the Journal both mentioned Rupert Murdoch waiting in the wings. Last year Murdoch's News Corp. bid for DirecTV, but lost out at the last minute to EchoStar. If the current deal falls through, he'll be back. - Keith Dawson EchoStar and Hughes Propose Concessions in Bid to Save Deal http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB103403314258094560,00.html (Paid subscription required) Regulators Set to Block EchoStar's Hughes Purchase http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033939901346228393,00.html (Paid subscription required) 'Last-ditch effort' (Rocky Mountain News) http://tinyurl.com/1upi EchoStar, Hughes See a Glimmer of Hope http://www.thestreet.com/tech/georgemannes/10046366.html F.C.C. Asked to Put Off Merger Ruling http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/media/08BIRD.html EchoStar, Hughes ask FCC to defer decision http://www.nypost.com/business/59145.htm EchoStar, Hughes offer merger changes (Reuters) http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961138.html Delay in satellite-TV merger OK requested (AP) http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/4236430.htm EchoStar, Hughes Seek to Delay Ruling http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-echo8oct08,0,3454976.story EchoStar pleads to FCC on merger (Denver Post) http://tinyurl.com/1ut7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER STORIES ----------------------------------------------------------------- SEC Probes AOL-Oxygen Pact For Double-Booking of Revenue http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033938113684731193,00.html (Paid subscription required.) Tivo Raises $25 Million in Stock Offering (AP) http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4235118.htm WorldCom Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57300-2002Oct7.html Two Magazines Are Shut and a Third Revamps http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/media/08MAG.html Regulators Say They Have CSFB 'Smoking Gun' http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2002-10-06-csfb_x.htm Expected Cold Winter Could Increase Natural Gas Prices http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/business/1002/08gas.html Frozen World Found Beyond Pluto http://www.msnbc.com/news/818195.asp Fool Me Once http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/opinion/08KRUG.html New Northwest System for Internet Bookings http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/08MEMO.html The Fastest-Growing Tech Companies http://www.business2.com/b2100/0,,1-1,00.html Debating the Baby Bells http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/07/business/07PLAC.html (Paid subscription required) Silicon Valley Is Yearning For User-Friendly Microsoft http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1034036651300028760,00.html (Paid subscription required) ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you want to reach the Net's savviest audience? Advertise in Media Unspun. Contact Erik Vanderkolk for details at erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com today. ----------------------------------------------------------------- STAFF ----------------------------------------------------------------- Written by Deborah Asbrand (dasbrand@world.std.com), Keith Dawson (dawson@world.std.com), Jen Muehlbauer (jen@englishmajor.com), and Lori Patel (loripatel@hotmail.com). Copyedited by Jim Duffy (jimduffy86@yahoo.com). Advertising: Erik Vanderkolk (erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com). Editor and publisher: Jimmy Guterman (guterman@vineyard.com). Media Unspun is produced by The Vineyard Group Inc. Copyright 2002 Media Unspun, Inc., and The Vineyard Group, Inc. Subscribe already, willya? http://www.mediaunspun.com Redistribution by email is permitted as long as a link to http://newsletter.mediaunspun.com is included. -|________________ POWERED BY: http://www.imakenews.com To be removed from this list, use this link: http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/remove.cfm?x=mediaunspun%2Czzzz-unspun@spamassassin.taint.org To receive future messages in HTML format, use this link: http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/change.cfm?x=mediaunspun%2Czzzz-unspun@spamassassin.taint.org%2Chtm To change your subscriber information, use this link: http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/update.cfm?x=mediaunspun%2Czzzz-unspun@spamassassin.taint.org ------------=_1034083278-26594-4 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Media Unspun
Media Unspun
 What the Press is Reporting and Why (www.mediaunspun.com)
Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Top Spins...
Bush Covers the Waterfront
The Biggest Cable Hookup
Other Stories

Editor's Note

Is Media Unspun useful to you? Then pass it on to a colleague. The more readers we have, the more successful we'll be. The more successful we are, the more useful we can be to you. Pass it on!

Media Unspun serves business news and analysis, authoritatively and irreverently, every business day. An annual subscription costs $50, less than a dollar a week. If your four-week free trial is coming to an end soon, please visit http://www.mediaunspun.com/subscribe.html and sign up via credit card or check.
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Pop!Tech 2002
October 18 - 20, 2002: Camden, Maine
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Bush Covers the Waterfront

It may seem like all Iraq, all the time in the Oval Office, but the president has at least one other thing on his mind this week: that pesky port lockout. The freight still isn't moving, factories are running out of parts, produce is rotting, and retailers are more freaked about Christmas with every passing day.

On Monday, Bush stepped in and appointed a three-member panel to see how badly this shutdown is hosing the economy. (We hope this isn't a difficult question, as the panel's been given all of one day to report back.) When Bush gets the report on Tuesday, the next step might be a court order to reopen the ports under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. That would send employees back to work for 80 days while federal mediators duke it out over the disputed contract and retailers lower their Xanax dosages.

Invoking Taft-Hartley requires a threat to national health or safety -- not the economy. But Labor Secretary Elaine Chao covered that base in a statement on Monday, saying the work stoppage threatens the flow of supplies to the military (we knew Iraq would be in here somewhere). "Union officials quickly responded that their members have been unloading military cargo throughout the 10-day shutdown," said the L.A. Times, but an anonymous Bush administration official "said that only a portion of what the Defense Department needs has made it ashore."

Politically, this has been a tricky one. Using Taft-Hartley would annoy labor right before congressional elections. On the other hand, "Voter discontent with Bush's handling of the increasingly fragile economic recovery has begun showing up in polls, and such concerns may have outweighed the political danger to the Republican administration," said the San Francisco Chronicle. Also, Bush stepped in on the same day that a poll reported two-thirds of Americans wanted him to focus more on the economy. "Though the administration promised an unbiased examination of the lockout, Bush appeared to have made up his mind that it was hurting national security and the economy, andmerited federal intervention," said the AP.

As for Taft-Hartley, it's not exactly famous for solving labor disputes. Often the 80-day cooling-off period ends, and workers simply walk out again (or get locked out again, in this case). One gets the sense, however, that fixing the dockworkers' contract isn't the point of this particular 80 days. It's 78 days until Christmas. The race is on. - Jen Muehlbauer

President Acts To Halt Port Lockout for 80 Days (Seattle Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1usn

Bush Expected To Act on Ports Crisis
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/business/1002/08ports.html

President Moves Toward Forcing the Reopening of West Coast Ports
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ports8oct08001439,0,1021983.story

Bush Takes Step Toward Halting Lockout After West Coast Port Talks Break Off (AP)
http://tinyurl.com/1usk

White House Intervenes on Docks Dispute (Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1usm

Cooling-off Period Likely in Port Fight (SF Chronicle)
http://tinyurl.com/1usp

Bush Moves Toward Halting Port Shutdown
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/national/08PORT.html

Trouble On The Docks
http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_0864,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

Charges of Politics Have Dogged Taft-Hartley Act
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/90243_hartley08.shtml

Taft-Hartley Act No Quick-Fix For Port Dispute (Reuters)
http://www.forbes.com/work/newswire/2002/10/02/rtr739458.html


Sponsor

SPECIAL OFFER! Save 24% on a subscription to MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW. Get an inside view into the technologies, deals, and companies emerging from one of the leading research institutes -- MIT.
http://www.technologyinsider.com/new/news1


The Biggest Cable Hookup

wo birds want to join forces and the FCC is about to cry "fowl." We mean "foul." The two dominant direct broadcast satellite players want to join forces, the better to compete with Big Cable. Federal regulators, both the FCC and the Justice Department, are concerned that the resulting conglomerate of DirecTV with Dish Network would command roughly 95% of satellite service in the US.

The press could not settle on a price tag for the proposed merger between EchoStar Communications and Hughes Electronics -- it was described as being worth anywhere from $15 billion and $25 billion. It was a challenge to keep the players straight, as some outlets talked of a merger between the corporate parents, and others referred to the service monikers. Hughes is DirecTV and EchoStar is Dish. All straight?

The two companies sent a letter to the FCC urging them to hold off ruling on (read, rejecting) the merger until the Justice Department has spoken. EchoStar and Hughes offered unspecified "major revisions" to the deal that they want to discuss with Justice in the next weeks.

The Wall Street Journal delved deeply into the form those revisions could take -- specifically, selling some frequencies to Cablevision. The Journal reported that Cablevision has wanted to get into the satellite business for 10 years and outlined the cable company's plans and past spending on such a project.

TheStreet.com turned in an extensive analysis of the deal for investors in the satellite space. It seems the market for expanded-service television may be nearing saturation. TheStreet.com quoted an analyst's report which concluded, "Consumers should benefit from ... continued rivalry, but shareholders may realize much smaller returns."

The New York Times and the Journal both mentioned Rupert Murdoch waiting in the wings. Last year Murdoch's News Corp. bid for DirecTV, but lost out at the last minute to EchoStar. If the current deal falls through, he'll be back. - Keith Dawson

EchoStar and Hughes Propose Concessions in Bid to Save Deal
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB103403314258094560,00.html
(Paid subscription required)

Regulators Set to Block EchoStar's Hughes Purchase
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033939901346228393,00.html
(Paid subscription required)

'Last-ditch effort' (Rocky Mountain News)
http://tinyurl.com/1upi

EchoStar, Hughes See a Glimmer of Hope
http://www.thestreet.com/tech/georgemannes/10046366.html

F.C.C. Asked to Put Off Merger Ruling
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/media/08BIRD.html

EchoStar, Hughes ask FCC to defer decision
http://www.nypost.com/business/59145.htm

EchoStar, Hughes offer merger changes (Reuters)
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961138.html

Delay in satellite-TV merger OK requested (AP)
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/4236430.htm

EchoStar, Hughes Seek to Delay Ruling
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-echo8oct08,0,3454976.story

EchoStar pleads to FCC on merger (Denver Post)
http://tinyurl.com/1ut7


Other Stories

SEC Probes AOL-Oxygen Pact For Double-Booking of Revenue
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033938113684731193,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

Tivo Raises $25 Million in Stock Offering (AP)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4235118.htm

WorldCom Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57300-2002Oct7.html

Two Magazines Are Shut and a Third Revamps
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/media/08MAG.html

Regulators Say They Have CSFB 'Smoking Gun'
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2002-10-06-csfb_x.htm

Expected Cold Winter Could Increase Natural Gas Prices
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/business/1002/08gas.html

Frozen World Found Beyond Pluto
http://www.msnbc.com/news/818195.asp

Fool Me Once
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/opinion/08KRUG.html

New Northwest System for Internet Bookings
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/08MEMO.html

The Fastest-Growing Tech Companies
http://www.business2.com/b2100/0,,1-1,00.html

Debating the Baby Bells
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/07/business/07PLAC.html
(Paid subscription required)

Silicon Valley Is Yearning For User-Friendly Microsoft
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1034036651300028760,00.html
(Paid subscription required)
Sponsor
Do you want to reach the Net's savviest audience?
Advertise in Media Unspun.
Contact Erik Vanderkolk for details at erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com today.
Staff
Written by Deborah Asbrand (dasbrand@world.std.com), Keith Dawson (dawson@world.std.com), Jen Muehlbauer (jen@englishmajor.com), and Lori Patel (loripatel@hotmail.com).

Copyedited by Jim Duffy (jimduffy86@yahoo.com).

Advertising: Erik Vanderkolk (erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com).

Editor and publisher: Jimmy Guterman (guterman@vineyard.com).

Media Unspun is produced by The Vineyard Group Inc.
Copyright 2002 Media Unspun, Inc., and The Vineyard Group, Inc.
Subscribe already, willya? http://www.mediaunspun.com

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