STOPPING SIGNALS FROM SATELLITE TV PROVES DIFFICULT Issue: Television/Journalism Last week, at the urging of the White House, the major television and cable networks agreed not to run raw footage of Al Qaeda statements as they are broadcast by the Al Jazeera network from Qatar, which appears to be Mr. bin Laden's preferred conduit for communicating with the world. But because of the privatization and deregulation of the international satellite business in recent years, control of the nation's television signals is by no means limited to the coterie of United States companies that the White House turned to last week. In fact, the great majority of homes in the United States have the option of receiving Al Jazeera directly using a satellite dish antenna not much bigger than a pizza pan. For about four years, the EchoStar Dish Network operation has been carrying Al Jazeera, in Arabic, as a part of a premium tier of international channels. If any terrorists are in the country waiting for televised word from Mr. bin Laden - with or without hidden messages - last week's steps by the White House did next to nothing to thwart them. [SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel] http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/15/business/media/15SAT.html