Things looked up for Sirius Satellite Radio -- dogged by its runner-up status to rival XM Satellite Radio -- when Ford Motors said Mon. it would expand the roster of vehicles with factory-installed Sirius receivers the next 2 model years and immediately increase availability of Sirius front-ends as a dealer-installed option. The support from Detroit was a coup for Sirius, which recently signed Howard Stern to a lineup that includes hiphopper Eminem and lad-mag Maxim, as well as the NFL and strike- bound NHL. Separately, in terrestrial digital radio, HD Radio proponent iBiquity said 10 more Detroit stations were broadcasting in its format, bringing the HD population in Motown to 13.
AirCell and Boeing told the FCC they had adopted a joint approach on air-to-ground (ATG) communications, we learned Thurs. The companies revealed their agreement in a closed-door presentation late Wed. to staff of the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering & Technology. The FCC had suggested strongly that the companies -- which favor allowing carriers to share ATG spectrum -- work together. With the proposal, AirCell and Boeing stand in direct conflict with Verizon’s AirFone, which favors the awarding of 2 exclusive licenses at most.
The House passed the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) Wed. with no objections. Passing on unanimous voice-vote, the combined House Judiciary and Commerce Committee versions of the bill (HR-4518) kept most major provisions approved in markups by the 2 committees, but it let DBS providers negotiate directly with copyright holders to determine copyright rates.
On October 5, 2004, a House and Senate Conference Committee approved HR 4520, the Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) bill. Among other things, the JOBS bill would repeal the Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income Act (FSC/ETI) in order to end a trade dispute with the European Union (EU). The EU has imposed additional duties on certain U.S.-origin products as a result of the U.S.' failure to repeal the WTO-illegal FSC/ETI. As the conferees have approved this bill, it is now ready for full Congressional action. (See ITT's Online Archives or 07/07/04 news, 04070715, for BP summary of the House-passed version of 4520.) (HR 4520 Bill Summary available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery)
The House passed the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) Wed. with no objections. Passing on unanimous voice-vote, the combined House Judiciary and Commerce Committee versions of the bill (HR-4518) kept most major provisions approved in markups by the 2 committees, but it let DBS providers negotiate directly with copyright holders to determine copyright rates.
Attaching such sweeping importance to the development that it labeled it “the most important deal in radio history,” Sirius confirmed speculation Wed. that Howard Stern would move to its satellite radio service after his contract with Infinity runs out in 2005.
If presidential candidate John Kerry (D) wins Nov. 2, the FTC would shift its approach to antitrust enforcement, many sources said. Most sources agreed Kerry would continue the Commission’s stance on spam and Internet fraud enforcement because it’s important and politically popular. “Any changes that come will come on the margins,” said Janet McDavid, a former FTC advisor and someone whose name has come up as a potential Kerry-appointee to the Commission. “Look at any given vote -- it’s 5-0” for FTC enforcement actions over the last few years, said a Commission spokeswoman, pointing to the bipartisan unity that has become the norm recently.
ALTS Pres. John Windhausen stepped down Tues., saying the decision to leave was mutual and “amicable.” The departure came a week after a private ALTS document containing lobbying strategy landed on the FCC’s website as an ex parte filing (CD Oct 4 p3). The filing was an “honest mistake” by an attorney representing ALTS, Windhausen said, but he acknowledged in answer to a question that the mistake figured into his leaving. With the many issues “confronting the industry, we can’t afford any distractions,” he said, adding that the outing of Windhausen’s strategy “could have been a hindrance.” Windhausen said he wants to take some time off and has “lots of ideas of new activities.” “When you're in politics, these things happen.” Julia Strow, Cbeyond vp for regulatory and legislative affairs, will be acting president while the ALTS executive committee searches for a new president. Windhausen came to ALTS in Jan. 1999 after 3 years at the former Competition Policy Institute. Before that he worked for Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.) as senior Democratic counsel for the Senate Commerce Committee.
New and Upcoming Games: Majesco said a PS2 version of its game Psychonauts, already announced for PC and Xbox, was also being developed by Budcat Creations, “with guidance from” Double Fine Productions, the game’s creator. Majesco Pres. Jesse Sutton said all 3 versions of the game will ship “simultaneously… to create a more impactful launch event.” But it wasn’t clear at our deadline when the title will ship… THQ Wireless announced that 2 new SpongeBob SquarePants games were being made available for mobile devices in the U.S.: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Game and SpongeBob SquarePants Bowling. It said the Movie Game will be available this fall to coincide with the theatrical release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. The bowling title already launched for Brew and Java-compatible handsets. THQ Wireless said its already-available SpongeBob SquarePants Darts “will be available on a number of additional handsets for wider release this fall”… Electronic Arts (EA) and Krome Studios said Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue went gold for Game Boy Advance (GBA), GameCube, PS2 and Xbox and will ship in N. America Tues. (Oct. 12), Europe Oct. 29 and Australia Nov. 8 under an EA-Krome co-publishing deal. The companies said “more than one million units” of the first Ty game were sold to date since fall 2003. In one of the more unusual pricing moves, the GBA version will cost more than the console versions: The standard GBA price of $29.99 vs. the bargain console price of $19.99… Legacy Interactive said Law & Order: Justice is Served shipped for PC at $29.95 in the U.S. The 3rd entry in Legacy’s series of games based on the long-running NBC TV show is being distributed by Vivendi Universal Games in the U.S… Nintendo of America shipped Mario Pinball Land for GBA SP at $34.99… Matrix Games and Koios Works said the computer game Tin Soldiers: Alexander the Great went gold and was on track to ship this month in the U.K… Movie Gallery kicked off a contest in conjunction with the recent release of the game ESPN NFL 2K5 from Sega and Take-Two Interactive. Customers can automatically enter the contest by renting or buying the game -- or a similar football game -- at a Movie Gallery location through Nov. 14. The grand prize is a trip for 2 to the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii… Konami provided an update on its holiday game release schedule. It said Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for PS2 will ship in Nov at $49.99, Rumble Roses for PS2 will ship in Nov. at $39.99, King Arthur will ship in Nov. at $39.99 for GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, and Silent Hill 4: The Room shipped already for PC, PS2 and Xbox at $39.99… Bungie said it was finished developing Halo 2 for Xbox and the game was finally on track to ship from Microsoft Nov. 9. The developer said the game was at the Release to Certification stage where it will be transferred from “8 digital tapes onto a DVD and go through some final testing” before its release. The sequel to the best- selling Xbox title to date was originally expected to ship in time for last holiday season.
AirCell and Boeing, at the behest of the FCC, are working together to develop a common proposal for competition in the air-to-ground (ATG) market. The companies had previously held meetings since both are proposing that multiple carriers could share frequencies without interference, putting them in direct conflict with Verizon’s AirFone. Sources said a number of the 8th-floor offices would be sympathetic to the procompetitive arguments, as long as AirCell and Boeing can demonstrate interference isn’t a concern.