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What the Press is Reporting and Why (<a href="http://www.mediaunspun.com">www.mediaunspun.com</a>)
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<font face="verdana,arial" size="2"><br><FONT face=Arial size=4><STRONG>Top Spins...</STRONG></FONT></font>
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October 18 - 20, 2002: Camden, Maine<br>
the collision of technology and culture<br>
Register now at: <A HREF="http://www.poptech.org">http://www.poptech.org</A> <br>
<P>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. </P><P>
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
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."</P><P>
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. </P><P>
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</P><P>
President Acts To Halt Port Lockout for 80 Days (Seattle Times)<br>
Bush Expected To Act on Ports Crisis <br>
President Moves Toward Forcing the Reopening of West Coast Ports<br>
Bush Takes Step Toward Halting Lockout After West Coast Port Talks Break Off (AP)<br>
White House Intervenes on Docks Dispute (Financial Times)<br>
Cooling-off Period Likely in Port Fight (SF Chronicle)<br>
Bush Moves Toward Halting Port Shutdown<br>
Charges of Politics Have Dogged Taft-Hartley Act<br>
Taft-Hartley Act No Quick-Fix For Port Dispute (Reuters)<br>
<P>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. <br>
<P>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.</P><P>
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?</P><P>
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.</P><P>
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.</P><P>
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."</P><P>
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</P><P>
EchoStar and Hughes Propose Concessions in Bid to Save Deal<br>
Regulators Set to Block EchoStar's Hughes Purchase<br>
'Last-ditch effort' (Rocky Mountain News)<br>
EchoStar, Hughes See a Glimmer of Hope<br>
F.C.C. Asked to Put Off Merger Ruling<br>
EchoStar, Hughes ask FCC to defer decision<br>
EchoStar, Hughes offer merger changes (Reuters) <br>
Delay in satellite-TV merger OK requested (AP)<br>
EchoStar, Hughes Seek to Delay Ruling<br>
EchoStar pleads to FCC on merger (Denver Post)<br>
<P>SEC Probes AOL-Oxygen Pact For Double-Booking of Revenue<br>
Tivo Raises $25 Million in Stock Offering (AP)<br>
WorldCom Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud<br>
Two Magazines Are Shut and a Third Revamps<br>
Regulators Say They Have CSFB 'Smoking Gun'<br>
Expected Cold Winter Could Increase Natural Gas Prices <br>
New Northwest System for Internet Bookings<br>
Silicon Valley Is Yearning For User-Friendly Microsoft<br>
Do you want to reach the Net's savviest audience?<BR>
Contact Erik Vanderkolk for details at <a href="mailto:erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com">erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com</A> today.
Written by Deborah Asbrand (<a href="mailto:dasbrand@world.std.com">dasbrand@world.std.com</a>), Keith Dawson (<a href="mailto:dawson@world.std.com">dawson@world.std.com</a>), Jen Muehlbauer (<a href="mailto:jen@englishmajor.com">jen@englishmajor.com</a>), and Lori Patel (<a href="mailto:loripatel@hotmail.com">loripatel@hotmail.com</a>).
Copyedited by Jim Duffy (<a href="mailto:jimduffy86@yahoo.com">jimduffy86@yahoo.com</a>).
Advertising: Erik Vanderkolk (<a href="mailto:erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com">erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com)</a>.
Editor and publisher: Jimmy Guterman (<a href="mailto:guterman@vineyard.com">guterman@vineyard.com</a>).
Media Unspun is produced by <a href="http://guterman.com">The Vineyard Group Inc.</a>
<BR>Copyright 2002 Media Unspun, Inc., and The Vineyard Group, Inc.
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