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The United States and the direct broadcast satellite: The politics of international broadcasting in space
Book Reviews
83
change. New attitudes toward telecommunications have been described in later chapters. For example, the education system in Texas is criticized in chapter 14 for not integrating computer technology into instruction in basic subjects. On the whole the book deals with diverse aspects of information-related policies in the state of Texas but sheds little light on how the information society should be measured. It endorses the view that the information age has brought significant institutional and corporate contributions to the economy of Texas, and identifies the role of the state government in enhancing the competitive strength of information-intensive industries mostly located in Austin. The work will be of interest to non-economists and policy makers who are interested in the rise and decline of the Texas economy but do not look for methods of ‘measuring’ the information society. Meheroo Jussawalla East-West Center Communications Institute Honolulu, HI
Safa Fletcher Luther, The United States and the Direct Broadcast Satellite: The Politics of International Broadcasting in Space (Oxford University Press, New York, 1988) pp. vii + 230.
Because the readership of IEP includes relatively few lawyers, sociologists, and political scientists, Dr. Luther’s study will be of little interest to most readers. Nonetheless, among scholars who are interested in DBS policy, the book may perform a useful service, for it is essentially a literature review of items that deal with the history and institutional arrangements of transborder communications and their regulation. The conceptual basis for the analysis in the book is the Marxist version of mass communications theory. In essence, this point of view interprets most of the major events in the history of communications policy in terms of the quest for profits by established capitalistic interests, usually at the expense of citizens in their own country or nations that are poor and/or non-capitalist. Fortunately, Luther’s book is far more than this; relatively little text is devoted to the author’s own observations of the causes and effects of past policies and current proposals. The vast majority of the text consists of summaries, varying from a few sentences to two or three pages, of a wide variety of articles, books, court decisions, government studies, and assorted other material that deals with transborder information flow, beginning with the invention of the telegraph. With very few exceptions, none of this material deals with economics, and relatively little deals with technology in a comprehensive way. Instead, the material focuses on official documents and the research publications of scholars in sociology, law, social psychology, political science, and mass communications. For the most part, it is a descriptive history of position taking and international negotiations and agreements dealing with radio and television in the twentieth century. In this regard, scholars who seek brief summaries of the
84
Book Reviews
major issues of each historical period, or a reader’s guide to the related academic literature of a nontechnical nature, will find the book useful. The one topic that is not treated comprehensively - and that is of substantial current interest-is policy regarding the rapid growth of home satellite receivers in the United States during the 1980s. The author expresses extreme skepticism that DBS will be ecomonically important, and perhaps this has caused her to allocate relatively little space to the home satellite receiver business in the U.S. - and to the policy debates that have recently raged around it. Some of these issues are international (e.g. rules regarding foreign sales of satellite receivers for home use); others are domestic with international implications (e.g. standards for the encryption system that is intended to inhibit unauthorized reception). In any case, to overlook how the distribution of broadcast signals to local television stations and to cable television systems has led to a significant home satellite reception market, and what problems this has caused for international agreements regarding transborder broadcasting, is a major limitation of the book. Having said this, however, I found much of the material to be quite interesting. Where else can one find comparisons of Soviet and American judicial opinions on the proper role of the state in controlling unauthorized broadcasts?
Stanford
S.S. Wildman and S.E. Siwek, Programs (Ballinger, Cambridge,
International MA, 1988)
Trade
University,
in Films
Roger Stanford,
No11 CA
and Television
This book is part of a series of studies of the international competitiveness of American service industries that is being published under the auspices of the American Enterprise Institute. The goals of these studies are, first, to analyze international competition in each of seven industries, with particular emphasis on barriers to trade, and, second, to formulate and assess policies for removing any such barriers. The book consists of three basic parts. First, Wildman and Siwek (henceforth W-S) present a potpourri of data on the international market for motion pictures and television programs. Second, the authors develop a model that is designed to explain the international flows of programs and films, with particular emphasis on explaining why American films and programs are so successful internationally. Finally, they provide a number of recommendations for removing barriers to trade, especially those that make it difficult for American producers to compete even more successfully in these markets. W-S present a wide variety of data to demonstrate that a relatively small number of countries dominate world trade in films and television programs and that the United States is by far the most important of these countries. The authors convincingly document the significance of international markets to
83
change. New attitudes toward telecommunications have been described in later chapters. For example, the education system in Texas is criticized in chapter 14 for not integrating computer technology into instruction in basic subjects. On the whole the book deals with diverse aspects of information-related policies in the state of Texas but sheds little light on how the information society should be measured. It endorses the view that the information age has brought significant institutional and corporate contributions to the economy of Texas, and identifies the role of the state government in enhancing the competitive strength of information-intensive industries mostly located in Austin. The work will be of interest to non-economists and policy makers who are interested in the rise and decline of the Texas economy but do not look for methods of ‘measuring’ the information society. Meheroo Jussawalla East-West Center Communications Institute Honolulu, HI
Safa Fletcher Luther, The United States and the Direct Broadcast Satellite: The Politics of International Broadcasting in Space (Oxford University Press, New York, 1988) pp. vii + 230.
Because the readership of IEP includes relatively few lawyers, sociologists, and political scientists, Dr. Luther’s study will be of little interest to most readers. Nonetheless, among scholars who are interested in DBS policy, the book may perform a useful service, for it is essentially a literature review of items that deal with the history and institutional arrangements of transborder communications and their regulation. The conceptual basis for the analysis in the book is the Marxist version of mass communications theory. In essence, this point of view interprets most of the major events in the history of communications policy in terms of the quest for profits by established capitalistic interests, usually at the expense of citizens in their own country or nations that are poor and/or non-capitalist. Fortunately, Luther’s book is far more than this; relatively little text is devoted to the author’s own observations of the causes and effects of past policies and current proposals. The vast majority of the text consists of summaries, varying from a few sentences to two or three pages, of a wide variety of articles, books, court decisions, government studies, and assorted other material that deals with transborder information flow, beginning with the invention of the telegraph. With very few exceptions, none of this material deals with economics, and relatively little deals with technology in a comprehensive way. Instead, the material focuses on official documents and the research publications of scholars in sociology, law, social psychology, political science, and mass communications. For the most part, it is a descriptive history of position taking and international negotiations and agreements dealing with radio and television in the twentieth century. In this regard, scholars who seek brief summaries of the
84
Book Reviews
major issues of each historical period, or a reader’s guide to the related academic literature of a nontechnical nature, will find the book useful. The one topic that is not treated comprehensively - and that is of substantial current interest-is policy regarding the rapid growth of home satellite receivers in the United States during the 1980s. The author expresses extreme skepticism that DBS will be ecomonically important, and perhaps this has caused her to allocate relatively little space to the home satellite receiver business in the U.S. - and to the policy debates that have recently raged around it. Some of these issues are international (e.g. rules regarding foreign sales of satellite receivers for home use); others are domestic with international implications (e.g. standards for the encryption system that is intended to inhibit unauthorized reception). In any case, to overlook how the distribution of broadcast signals to local television stations and to cable television systems has led to a significant home satellite reception market, and what problems this has caused for international agreements regarding transborder broadcasting, is a major limitation of the book. Having said this, however, I found much of the material to be quite interesting. Where else can one find comparisons of Soviet and American judicial opinions on the proper role of the state in controlling unauthorized broadcasts?
Stanford
S.S. Wildman and S.E. Siwek, Programs (Ballinger, Cambridge,
International MA, 1988)
Trade
University,
in Films
Roger Stanford,
No11 CA
and Television
This book is part of a series of studies of the international competitiveness of American service industries that is being published under the auspices of the American Enterprise Institute. The goals of these studies are, first, to analyze international competition in each of seven industries, with particular emphasis on barriers to trade, and, second, to formulate and assess policies for removing any such barriers. The book consists of three basic parts. First, Wildman and Siwek (henceforth W-S) present a potpourri of data on the international market for motion pictures and television programs. Second, the authors develop a model that is designed to explain the international flows of programs and films, with particular emphasis on explaining why American films and programs are so successful internationally. Finally, they provide a number of recommendations for removing barriers to trade, especially those that make it difficult for American producers to compete even more successfully in these markets. W-S present a wide variety of data to demonstrate that a relatively small number of countries dominate world trade in films and television programs and that the United States is by far the most important of these countries. The authors convincingly document the significance of international markets to