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Sat-ND, 23.9.96

Sat-ND 96-09-23 - Satellite and Media News

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"(c) Copyright 1996 by Sat-ND, http://www.sat-net.com/pck/"
Please send money, news releases, contributions and comments regarding
Sat-ND to
Peter C. Klanowski, Fax +49-451-5820055, pck@LyNet.De

This issue is sponsored by TELE-satellite, Europe's Satellite Magazine 
Have a look at their homepage! >> http://www.TELE-satellit.com/ <<

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VLSI announces single-chip set-top box
VLSI Technology,  Inc. today announced VISTA (VLSI Integrated Set-Top
Architecture,) a suite of digital video devices, application program
interface (API) software and reference platforms, providing the full
range of components necessary to build a complete digital set-top box. 
According to a VLSI press release, the VISTA architecture will enable
the implementation of the industry's long-awaited, super-integrated,
single-chip set-top box. 
"VLSI is the market leader in demodulation, forward error correction,
and MPEG 2 demultiplexer digital set-top ICs, all currently shipping in
high volume.  Expanding upon this digital vour new MPEG 2 audio/video
decoder and NTSC/PAL video encoder, also introduced today, VISTA offers
a complete, set-top solution of hardware, software, evaluation tools and
technical support for the digital video system designer," said Paul
Vroomen, vice president and general manager of VLSI Technology's
Consumer Digital Entertainment Group. 
http://www.vlsi.com/

UPI via satellite
News agency United Press International has completed setting up a global
satellite-based system for rapid delivery of news and photos to clients
and news bureaus anywhere in the world. UPI's acting chief executive
officer John R. Hayes announced the company now had "a global footprint,
one which immediately extends our reach to clients in all corners of the
world.
"We are now able to deliver news and photos directly into a client's
high-speed computer system. We can do it anywhere, we can do it in
seconds and we can do it at less cost to the client and to UPI," Hayes
added.
All a UPI client needs to receive news and photos transmitted by
satellite from UPI bureaus is a relatively inexpensive dish and
receiver, Hayes said. For its network, UPI uses four satellites operated
by Intelsat, PanAmSat, and Hughes Communications. It is also expected to
help UPI build its business in regions where it previously had poor or
no tranmission capability.

New ADR channels
There are two new ADR stations on ASTRA (19.2°E) this week:
- 10.788 GHz v on subcarrier 7.56 A (ZEE TV) Granada FM -- This seems to
be a simultaneous feed to that on NBC on Hot Bird 1 (13°E.)
- 11.141 GHz h on subcarrier 8.46 A/B (Bayerischer Rundfunk) -- Test
signal, likely from the German 'Institut für Rundfunktechnik' (IRT)
[today, I received just a blank carrier. The IRT is an research and
development institute set up by public broadcasters. -- Ed.]
Neither station carries any ID or service information. I have not seen
any mention of these so hope this is of use for the column.
paul_duggan@qmgate.corp.apple.com (Paul Duggan)

Yes, definitely! Thank you very much for this observation. I have to
admit that I'm out of the transponder or even satellite watching
business, so I depend on readers' contributions in that area. Besides,
so far I didn't even mention that two stations from Bremen and Saarland
are also pretty new to DMX. Just press whatever button on your remote
control that updates your ADR channel setup. 
By the way: It's Monday! DMX has changed CDs again. Channel 17
(Alternative Rock) is much better now that the week before.

Re: Sat-ND, 19.9.96 [BSkyB subscriptions]
I was very surprised to see your comment about Sky cards. If you are
serious (It is sometimes difficult to tell), we have been supplying
genuine Sky card subscriptions to European countries for over two years.
Our price for a one year subscription is 115.000 pesetas or the
equivalent.
We can also be contacted by phone or fax on +3428 845308 or mobile no.
+3408 241038.
Brian Haskell <100530.720@CompuServe.COM>

Okay, this was a shameless plug which I'll be ashamed of for the rest of
my short life. Do I get one for free now? Or at least for half the
price? Or are you going to sponsor Sat-ND? What's the weather like in
Spain?


Rupert Watch
By Dr Sarmaz <DrSarmaz@aol.com>

The difference between News Corp. and News Ltd.
Lachlan Murdoch, the elder son of Rupert Murdoch, today was appointed
managing director of the News Corp's Australian operation. "I don't
believe that anybody who has had close contact with  Lachlan since he
joined the Australian group could fail to be  impressed by his
application, intelligence and refreshing  leadership qualities," said
News Ltd. chairman and chief executive Ken Cowley. He added, however,
that he himself "will remain intimately in the business as executive
chairman of News Ltd as well as continuing to hold a range of
directorships." To make it perfectly clear, he said that "Lachlan will
concentrate on managing the News group operations and will report to
me."


Zeroes and ones
By Grandpa "Pornographer" Zheng

Her Majesty's government wants to clean up the Internet
Governments all over the World don't seem to understand the nature of
the Internet. The British government today said it had set up a watchdog
body, according to Reuters in order "to try to get pornography off the
Internet." 
Of course, no government in the World has the right to get _anything_
off the Internet. It may try to shield its citizens from accessing
certain material although that was a futile effort.
Even Singapore takes a pragmatic position. The country's efforts to
promote the use of the Internet has resulted in some 150,000 of its
750,000 households being online already. It aims to connect the entire
population of three million people by 1999.
All three of Singapore's domestic Internet access providers now have
their proxy servers up and running. Proxies usually serve other purposes
such as caching Web pages, but the may also be used to filter requests
for Internet sites banned -- in this case by the Singapore Broadcasting
Authority (SBA.) So far, the SBA has blocked access to just a dozen Web
sites, all of an adult nature.
The government seems to be well aware of the fact that Internet
censorship is impossible: "If you are just an individual accessing
certain Web sites in the privacy of your own study, we don't really
care. I mean, that's your life," minister George Yeo said in an
interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. "If we try to blank out
too many sites, we will impede the Internet for legitimate users, which
is not our intention at all," Yeo said. "We are only interested in the
few dozen Web sites which have mass impact like television."
Too bad that Singapore will not clean up the Internet for the rest of
the World, but the UK government seems to be poised to do so. "As this
is an international network, we have to do something to try to eliminate
illegal use of it -- the abuse of the Internet by a few perverts,"
science and technology minister Ian Taylor said. And Home Office
Minister Tom Sackville stated "We made it clear to the Internet
providers some time ago that action was needed to deal with obscene
material on the Internet."
Good heavens. As this is an international network, you've first of all
got to keep your fingers out of it! (Not even the German government has
announced it will clean up the Internet on behalf of the rest of the
World, although this may be just because the German government hasn't
ever heard of the Internet.) 
Let's just face the facts: A kitchen knife can be used for criminal
purposes -- just stab somebody with it. The very Royal Mail may be used
to send kiddie porn or explosive letters to anybody in the UK -- what
are you going to do about that? Telephone lines may be used for
blackmail or sexual harassment  -- what are you going to do about that?
Just try to screen your citizens from everything you consider illegal
although it may be legal in other parts of the World. It won't work,
anyway. Your so-called "Safety-Net" will publish a "legality indicator"
for each Usenet newsgroup, indicating whether the group normally
contains illegal or pornographic material? Good! Not only perverts are
looking forward to such a comprehensive guide to adult material. To
access it, it just takes a credit card. There are a few uncensored news
servers around the World, i.e. outside the UK, that will happily offer
access to every newsgroup you can think of.
That Safety-Net, which by the way is being financed by the industry,
will have a hotline to which callers can report suspected illegal
material and will contact police if necessary? No objections, but
anybody who feels offended by anything could have called the police (or
complained to the respective postmaster, webmaster, access provider,
etc.) at any time in the past.
What about protecting minors from adult material? Even this is not an
Internet-specific problem. Anybody who wants to read (printed, legal)
porn magazines, to watch hard-core videos or satellite channels, should
have the right to do so. At least, that's how most modern societies
handle the issue. It's up to the parents, not to the government, to hide
magazines, videos or viewing cards from minors. Can anybody tell me why
the same rule shouldn't apply to the Internet?


=========================================================
Copyright 1996 by Peter C. Klanowski, pck@LyNet.De. All rights reserved.

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