This Week In Tech: Radio, TV, IP & More
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers will join House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., for a Tuesday briefing on legislation they introduced to end a longstanding copyright royalty exemption granted to AM and FM radio stations. The rally organized by the MusicFirst Coalition will feature appearances by artists and musicians from across genres and decades.
The House and Senate Judiciary committees will put executives from Live Nation and Ticketmaster on the hot seat this week as they examine the pair's $2.5 billion merger plan, now under Justice Department review. Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., will chair a Tuesday hearing and the House Judiciary Courts and Competition Policy Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., will follow up Thursday. Read a CongressDaily preview story here (subscription required).
The Property Rights Alliance will unveil its 2009 International Property Rights Index at the National Press Club on Tuesday. The event will be followed with a discussion by a panel of experts on what the rankings means for property rights in the 111th Congress and around the globe. The alliance's annual study measures the significance of physical and intellectual property rights and their protection for economic well-being. The index includes data for 115 countries, representing 96 percent of world GDP.
The Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday will consider perspectives on the forthcoming reauthorization of a law that permits satellite carriers to transmit local TV broadcast signals into local markets. Witnesses include DISH Network CEO Charles Ergen, Barrington Broadcasting Group CEO K. James Yager and CBS Executive Vice President Martin Franks. Satellite providers want statutory changes that will let them offer signals from TV stations in adjacent markets -- a proposal that would heighten competition for and draw opposition from over-the-air broadcasters.
The reauthorization is also a priority for House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., who is in favor of amending the law to ensure that all satellite customers have the option of purchasing access to local stations serving their cities. Boucher has scheduled a Tuesday hearing on reauthorizing the satellite act before his panel. The Satellite Home Viewer Act expires Dec. 31.
On Thursday, the Catholic University of America holds a daylong symposium on wireless communications policy, featuring a keynote by Meredith Baker, former head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Other speakers will include Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, and Thomas Hazlett, professor of law and economics at George Mason University.
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