数字电视广播公司的公共利益义务

December 18, 1998 The Vice PresidentThe White HouseWashington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. Vice President: It is with pleasure that we submit to you the Final Report of the Advisory Committee onPublic Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. The Advisory CommitteeísReport represents 15 months of intensive work and embodies the collective efforts of numer-ous individuals in the television industry, public interest community, and the general public. Digital broadcast television is now a reality. In many areas of the country, the first digitalbroadcast signals were transmitted just before the Advisory Committee completed its delibera-tions, and the promise of a new and exciting digital future is here. It is a timely moment,therefore, for you, as well as Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, the telecom-munications industry, and the public to consider how the public interest will be best served aswe experience the implementation of digital television. The enclosed Report has several sections. It includes a history of our Advisory Committee, ahistory of public interest obligations and broadcasting, an account of the genesis of digitaltelevision, the Advisory Committeeís recommendations and supporting material, and indi-vidual views of many of our members. The recommendations reflect a broad consensus ofour Advisory Committee, cutting across all lines and including the overwhelming majority ofour members. We are also pleased to report that the Benton Foundation has offered to serve as a home ofthe Advisory Committee legacy, acting as our institutional memory and tracking the debate onand progress of the Advisory Committeeís report and recommendations. On behalf of the entire Advisory Committee, we want to thank you and the President for theopportunity to serve the public through this Advisory Committee, and for the honor oftransmitting to you the Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obliga-tions of Digital Television Broadcasters, pursuant to Section 2 of Executive Order No. 13038of March 11, 1997. Advisory Committe onPublic Interest Obligations ofDigital Television Broadcasters Jose Luis RuizIndependent Producer Leslie Moonves, Co-ChairPresident and CEOCBS Television Robert W. DecherdChairman of the Board,President and CEOA.H. Belo Corporation Shelby Schuck ScottPresident, American Federation ofTelevision and Radio Artists Norman J. Ornstein, Co-ChairResident ScholarAmerican Enterprise Institute Barry DillerChairman and CEO USA Networks, Inc. Gigi B. SohnExecutive DirectorMedia Access Project Charles BentonChairman & CEO Benton Foundation and PublicMedia, Inc. William F. Duhamel, Ph.D.PresidentDuhamel Broadcasting Enterprises Karen Peltz StraussLegal Counsel for Telecommunications PolicyNational Association for the Deaf Robert D. GlaserChairman and CEORealNetworks, Inc. Frank M. BlytheExecutive DirectorNative American PublicTelecommunications, Inc. Cass R. SunsteinKarl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of JurisprudenceUniversity of Chicago Law School James F. GoodmonPresident and CEOCapitol Broadcasting Company Peggy CharrenVisiting Scholar, Harvard University Graduate School ofEducation; Founder, Action forChildrenís Television Paul A. La CameraPresident and General ManagerWCVB-TV Lois Jean WhitePresidentNational Parents Teacher Association Harold C. CrumpVice PresidentHubbard Broadcasting, Inc. Richard MasurPresidentScreen Actors Guild James YeeExecutive Director Independent Television Service Frank H. CruzVice ChairmanCorporation for PublicBroadcasting Newton N. MinowProfessor, Communications Policyand Law, Northwestern University;Counsel, Sidley & Austin Acknowledgments The work of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations spanned 15 months,covered a broad range of diverse and complicated issues, and required the assistance of manypeople. The Advisory Committee wishes to thank all the individuals and organizations acrossthe country who participated in its work. Without all of you, the Advisory Committee couldnot have discharged its mandate so ably. The Advisory Committee offers special thanks to the Department of Commerceís NationalTelecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Thanks to the generosity andefforts of Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley and Assistant Secretary for Communica-tions and Information Larry Irving, NTIA provided the home, and logistical and staff supportfor the Advisory Committee, under the able and indefatigable leadership of Karen M.Edwards, and with the help of Anne Stauffer, Sandra Laousis, and Sheree Stalling. We wouldnever have been able to discharge our responsibilities without their efforts, which were amodel for public service. Likewise, we offer thanks to David Bollier, who assisted the Advi-sory Committee in drafting, under severe time pressures, some of the materials for our FinalReport, and to Jonathan Cohen, who gave invaluable assistance in the early stage