How Digital TV Will Affect You
Jon Kyl
During the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, there were massive breakdowns in the communication networks of our first responders. The communications equipment used by first responders had to compete with the same analog airwaves used by broadcast television. Subsequently, as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Congress mandated that free local broadcast television stations turn off their analog channels by February 17, 2009, and transition all broadcasts into digital television, also known as DTV.

Six Companies to Build High-Speed Cable Under Pacific Ocean
A group of six international companies has announced plans to build an ultra-high speed, undersea, fiber-optic cable under the Pacific Ocean, between Japan and the United States. The project is meant to improve Internet and other telecommunication traffic between the U.S. and Asia, and comes as several other companies have begun similar ventures.

Microsoft Makes $44.6 Billion Offer for Yahoo
Microsoft has offered to pay nearly $45 billion to buy Yahoo, the Internet search engine. The software giant's bid is a challenge to Google, which dominates the online advertising market. Microsoft made a surprise offer of $31 a share for Yahoo stock late Thursday, and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said during a conference call with reporters Friday the potential alliance would help web users, advertisers, and the owners of online websites.

Foreign Reporters in China Face Official Interference
Foreign journalists in China say they continue to face official interference, despite new rules relaxing media restrictions ahead of the Summer Olympics. The Beijing-based Foreign Correspondents Club of China Tuesday said it had recorded more than 180 incidents of interference, including beatings and intimidation, in 2007.

Yahoo Executives Apologize to Families of Jailed Chinese Dissidents
Executives of Yahoo, the American Internet company, faced tough questions from lawmakers in a congressional hearing about the firm's role in providing information to Chinese authorities that led to the arrest and jailing of a dissident. Yahoo officials apologized to family members of jailed dissidents.

Mass Communication or Mass Misinformation
Jack L. Key
I watched President Bush’s news conference recently where he discussed the Children’s Health Care Fund bill then before Congress and which he subsequently vetoed. I also watched portions of the networks’ Evening News reports and the ongoing CNN reporting on the subject, as well as noting the president’s remarks at his news conference and several comments and remarks he made later.

The Unknowables: Facts That Can’t Possibly Be
Daniel Clark
Ronald Reagan used to say that the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so. If you doubt him, consider some of the "facts" that the media pass on to us from liberal activists and think tanks. Not only do they tend to be nonfactual, but many of them are impossible to know.

Israeli Army Demands France 2 Video Of Al-Dura Shooting
The IDF has apparently reopened its probe of a highly controversial incident that helped fuel the second Intifada in its earliest days seven years ago, as the Israeli military has requested that the France 2 television network hand over its unedited video of the shooting of 12-year old Mohammed al-Dura in Gaza.

Swedish Artist Threatened With Death for Mohammad Cartoon
Swedish police have ordered artist Lars Vilks out of his own home telling him it is no longer safe for him to live there. The head of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, says he will pay as much as $150,000 to anyone who can kill Vilks because of what he calls offensive pictures of the Muslim Prophet Momammad.

European Court Upholds Key Antitrust Ruling Against Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation suffered a major legal setback Monday when a European Union court rejected the software giant's appeal of a 2004 anti trust ruling. The court also upheld a record fine of more than $600 million which Microsoft has now been ordered to pay. Microsoft has not yet decided whether to appeal the new ruling.

Media Lawsuit Case in Indonesia Raises Alarm
Former Indonesian President Suharto's victory in his lawsuit against TIME magazine is raising questions about Indonesia's Supreme Court. Its decision to order TIME to pay a huge damage award is causing some to criticize the country's judicial system and level of press freedom. Indonesia's highest court has ordered TIME to pay $106 million to Mr. Suharto for defaming him in a 1999 article.

Wide Stance and a Tap Dance
J. Matt Barber
Heard the one about the U.S. Senator who walked into the toilet with an undercover cop on perversion patrol? Of course you have. Everyone’s heard it, but unfortunately, it’s not just a bad bar room joke. Still, liberals in Congress and their friends in the press are laughing themselves cross-eyed.

Russia: Media Clampdown Sees Blogs Flourish
Russians frustrated at television reports they see as having a pro-Kremlin bias are turning to blogs and Internet forums to debate political issues. In the run-up to a parliamentary election in December, the Internet is providing a forum for free discussion that has become a rarity on the main television networks.