January 1998

EduTech
TeleAM: Lansing, Mich. May Lease PCS Tower Sites To Raise Funds
For School

Internet
NYT: Congress Faces List of Internet Issues
NYT: Bell Atlantic Opposes Internet Regulation
WSJ: Barnes & Noble, Disney To Unveil Agreement To Sell Books on Web
NTIA: New Frontiers on the Information Superhighway

Privacy
NTIA: Elements of Effective Self-Regulation for Protection of Privacy

Antitrust
NYT: Gates Goes on the Offensive During Silicon Valley Visit
WP: Gates Says Government Would Stifle Innovation
WSJ: Microsoft Isn't 'Defiant' In Justice Case, Gates Says

Campaign Finance Reform
WSJ: FCC Chief to Seek Free Air Time for Candidates

** EduTech **

Title: Lansing, Mich. May Lease PCS Tower Sites To Raise Funds For School
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 28, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: EduTech/Wireless
Description: Local official in Lansing, Mich. are considering offering
wireless telecom companies a package of 15 sites in the city for locating
personal communications service and digital cellular communications towers,
in order to generate revenues for classroom technology programs in the
city's public schools. The Lansing board of Education and Lansing City
Council say they will be meeting to discuss a proposal by the nonprofit
Commission for Lansing School Success to take advantage of the high market
interest in wireless phone services to raise money for badly needed
technology upgrades in the schools.

** Internet **

Title: Congress Faces List of Internet Issues
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012898congress.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: As Congress returns from a long winter break they face a
growing list of complex decisions that will shape the future of Internet
content, commerce and privacy. One of the key unresolved issues from the
fall session is the regulation of encryption technology. "We remain
skeptical as to whether the industry attempt to relax export controls is
truly viable at this point," Dave Banisar of the Electronic Privacy
Information Center (EPIC) said at a privacy briefing last week. "If it comes
down to a bad bill...versus no bill at all, we prefer to have no bill at
this point." Don Haynes, a consultant for the American Civil Liberties Union
and former lobbyist, said the ACLU opposes "any legislation on encryption
right now because we believe the political climate in Congress is such that
it will inevitable serve as a vehicle for anti-privacy controls on domestic
use of encryption." For a brief overview on other bills to regulate the
Internet that Congress will be considering, click on:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012898congress.html and scroll
down to the second half of the article.

Title: Bell Atlantic Opposes Internet Regulation
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012898phone.html
Author: Associated Press
Issue: Telephony/Internet Regulation
Description: Yesterday, Bell Atlantic, the nation's largest regional Bell
telephone company, asked the Federal Communications Commission to bar states
from regulating Internet service. Although the FCC does not have a role in
regulating the price of these high-speed communications services offered by
telephone companies, Bell Atlantic would like the commission to step in to
pre-empt state rules. "As we read the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the FCC
would have the authority to remove high-speed services from regulation
completely," said Tom Tauke, Bell Atlantic senior vice president. "In
essence, the FCC would be pre-empting the states from regulating those
services." Neither state regulators or the FCC had immediate comment on Bell
Atlantic's request.

Title: Barnes & Noble, Disney To Unveil Agreement To Sell Books on Web
Source: Wall Street Journal (B8)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Internet Commerce
Description: Barnes & Noble and Walt Disney are expected to announce an
Internet-marketing pact in which Barnes & Noble becomes the exclusive
bookseller on Disney's popular Web site. The bookseller will also open a
special on-line boutique for Disney titles on its own site. Terms weren't
disclosed, but Barnes & Noble bought advertising and prime promotional space
at Disney.com in return for exclusivity at the site and revenue for the sale
of books. The pact is a part of Barnes and Noble's continuing effort to
become the exclusive bookseller at some of the Internet's most-visited Web
sites as it goes head-to-head with 'Net rival Amazon.com.

Title: New Frontiers on the Information Superhighway
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/feb4ma.htm
Issue: Competition
Description: NTIA will hold its third forum in the New Frontiers on the
Information Superhighway Series on Wednesday February 4, in Washington DC.
NTIA will bring together new entrants, entrepreneurs, consumer groups, and
Wall Street analysts to discuss who is investing, who is entering, and who
is competing in the rapidly changing telecommunications industry.
Participants will share their vision of how to bring greater competition to
telecommunications markets.

** Privacy **

Title: Elements of Effective Self-Regulation for Protection of Privacy
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/privacydraft/198dftprin.htm
Issue: Privacy
Description: NTIA and the Department of Commerce have released a Discussion
Draft, "Elements of Effective Self-Regulation for Protection of Privacy."
The document outlines preliminary views on self-regulation and the actions
that the private sector can take in order to meet an acceptable level of
privacy protection.

** Antitrust **

Title: Gates Goes on the Offensive During Silicon Valley Visit
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012898microsoft.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft's Chairman, William H. Gates, went back on offensive
yesterday during a visit to Silicon Valley. During his speech he repeatedly
said that he would not accept restrictions on his ability to add features to
Microsoft's Window 95 operating system. He insisted that he had no intention
of defying the U.S. Government, but said that Microsoft would stand by its
guiding principles as an innovator in technology. Although Gates did discuss
a variety of topics ranging from his vision for computers in the future to
his commitment to education, throughout the day questions kept returning to
the company's legal dispute with the Department of Justice.

Title: Gates Says Government Would Stifle Innovation
Source: Washington Post (C11)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/28/127l-012898-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Bill Gates addressed several groups yesterday, starting with
several hundred financial analysts at a conference in San Francisco and
ending with a group of students at San Jose University. In a meeting with
reporters, Gates strongly defended Microsoft against federal allegations
that the software giant had violated a 1995 consent decree by requiring
computer makers to use its Internet browsing software as a condition of
licensing its Windows 95 software. Gates said that the Government's tack
suggests that "any software available separately can't get into the
operating system. What features are we allowed to put into the OS?" he
asked, ticking off a list of functions and features that were once
stand-alone products and have since become part of the operating system. "We
put things into the OS that [software] developers and users want." He also
said, "The principle endorsed by the government wouldn't let us build
Windows 95, or Windows NT," and it would similarly inhibit work by companies
such as Oracle Corp. and Netscape communications Corp. on their core
products, gates contended. "We have to stick up for the principle of
innovation."

Title: Microsoft Isn't 'Defiant' In Justice Case, Gates Says
Source: Wall Street Journal (B15)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Bill Gates said the portrayal of his company as "defiant" in
its current dispute with the Justice Dept. is incorrect, but vowed to defend
the company's ability to bundle new products into its Window operating
system. "I am the opposite of defiant," Mr. Gates said in a meeting with
reporters. "I am disappointed. I am humble. I am respectful." Gates said he
won't bend on what he called the principle that Microsoft alone has the
right to determine what features to include in its software.

** Campaign Finance Reform **

Title: FCC Chief to Seek Free Air Time for Candidates
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: FCC Chairman Kennard will launch a new effort to require
broadcasters to give free air time to political candidates -- and he may
have the votes among fellow commission members to get it done. The plan
could face strong opposition from the politically powerful broadcast lobby.
There will also be resistance from the Republicans on Capitol Hill.
According to Kennard, more than 60% of funds go to pay for broadcast time,
making candidates hostages to constant fund-raising. Mr. Kennard is clearly
ready to act if Congress doesn't. "The law gives the FCC authority to define
the public interest obligations of broadcasters," he said in an interview.
"The airwaves belong to the public."
*********

Television
B&C: Moonves: Sweeps stunting backfires
B&C: Let's make a deal -- for CPs
B&C: Tauzin slams NFL deals
B&C: Divided FCC debates ownership

Telephony
WSJ: Telecom Competition Is Coming --- Sooner Than You Think
TelecomAM: Oregon Asks FCC For Waiver of E-Rate Matrix, Says All Schools
Financially Equal
TelecomAM: Court bars FCC From Using Pricing Standard In Section 271 Reviews
TelecomAM: Kennard 'Disappointed' By St. Louis Court's Ruling
TelecomAM: Supreme Court Leaves FCC Eighth Circuit Appeal In Limbo

Internet
WSJ: RealNetworks Plans Technology Pact With Sun in Move Away From
Microsoft
WP: PSINet's Quest for Independence
NYT: Three Giants of PC World Turn Focus to Speed
NYT: Internet Chat Rooms Becoming a Popular Forum for Business
NYT: Internet Group Challenges U.S. Over Web Addresses

Antitrust
NYT: Unlike Microsoft, Intel Opts to Speak Softly on Antitrust Issues

International
NYT: In Africa, Reality of Technology Falls Short

Lifestyles
NYT: Enter Geekdom's Diaper Dandy. Sigmund, Can You Explain This?

** Television **

Title: Moonves: Sweeps stunting backfires
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.34)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Steve McClellan
Issue: Television Economics
Description: Delivering the keynote speech at a convention of television
programming executives last week, CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves
said that if broadcasters want to stop rating erosion, they must start with
scheduling and "stop shooting wads at each other come sweeps time."
"Competitive scheduling moves...may pass the testosterone test, but...they
cheat viewers, who often face viewing decisions that aren't good for them or
us," Mr. Moonves said. He continued by saying that even in the face of
ratings erosion, network television remains the first choice of advertisers
and will remain so for years to come -- especially if cable networks
continues with its current programming philosophy. In November, the top 50
cable shows were 22 theatrical movies not available to advertisers, 12
Nickelodeon kids shows, 16 sports events, wrestling, off-network repeats,
one news special, a music special and a handful of movies: "Hardly examples
of original comedy and drama, and collectively they had an average rating of
2.1," Mr. Moonves said.

Title: Let's make a deal -- for CPs
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Spectrum/Television
Description: "It's the gold rush of the late 90's" says Paxson
Communications chief Bud Paxson. Broadcasters are scrambling to collect
leftover licenses that have been sitting idle at the Federal Communications
Commission. The deadline to make deals for construction permits is Friday,
January 30. "These construction permits aren't worth much without a concept
that will attract viewers," says Julius Genachowski, general counsel for USA
Network's broadcasting division and former policy advisor to ex-FCC Chairman
Reed Hundt. USA and other broadcasters think they have the winning concept.
So far construction permits have been worth millions -- Paxson has
reportedly paid $2.5 million for a license in Texas while the most expensive
ones have gone for $4 million. There are 90 commercial licenses available.
[Gosh, and this when broadcasters are crying about the costly transition to
digital TV -- think they figure to make money off that?]

Title: Tauzin slams NFL deals
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.19)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Harry Jessell
Issue: Television Economics/Cable
Description: Speaking to the Association of Local Television Stations, Rep
Billy Tauzin (R-LA) expressed concern about the recently announced
television deals for National Football League games. Rep Tauzin is
especially concerned with the high price cable network ESPN paid for the
Sunday night package of games. ESPN will reportedly pass its costs on to
cable operators in the form of higher affiliate fees. Cable operators, in
turn, will pass their costs on to subscribers in rate hikes. In the end,
consumers could pay for this programming whether they watch it or not.

Title: Divided FCC debates ownership
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.22)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Ownership
Description: Although it may not be on the Federal Communications Commission
Agenda until April, four FCC commissioners expressed concern over ownership
rules. Commissioners Powell and Furchtgott-Roth support a reevaluation of
ownership rules based on industry changes that have underminded the
rationales for barring companies from owning multiple stations within a
market. Commissioner Powell held up a TV Guide to stress his point that
there is plenty of programming diversity and Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth
said, "The role of the commission is to follow the law, not invent it." But
Commissioners Tristani and Ness stressed the need for diversity: "The
underpinning of democracy is to receive a wide diversity of voices,"
Commissioner Ness said.

** Telephony **

Title: Telecom Competition Is Coming --- Sooner Than You Think
Source: Wall Street Journal (Op-eds, A18)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Competition
Description: In the two years since President Clinton signed the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the prevailing wisdom has held that the
nation's progress toward competition for local telephone service has been
lamentably slow. Some of what the critics say has the ring of truth. True,
the big Bell companies still control more than 98% of the 155 million local
phone lines in the U.S. The big long distance players have not moved as
quickly as some had hoped to enter local markets. A series of mergers and
acquisitions has left the nation with fewer potential local telephone
competitors. And the federal courts have thrown the regulatory environment
into turmoil by tossing aside key portions of the act and the regulations it
spawned. But now a group of smaller companies have started to bring the
benefits of competition to key segments of the local communications market.
The new competitors are accomplishing this by battling in the marketplace
rather than the courts.

Title: Oregon Asks FCC For Waiver of E-Rate Matrix, Says All Schools
Financially Equal
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 26, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: EdTech/Universal Service
Description: Oregon's Dept. of Education has asked the FCC to waive its
sliding scale of subsidized "E-rate" discounts and allow a single statewide
discount for all Oregon schools because the state last year reformed school
financing to eliminate economically disadvantaged schools, ensuring each
student receives the same number of dollars and approximately the same
quality of education regardless of where they live.

Title: New Arizona Bills Would Redefine Telecom Firms' Relations With Local
Governments
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 26, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Role of Local Government
Description: Two bills introduced in the 1998 Arizona legislature would
redefine telecom companies's relations with local governments. The first
would allow local governments to impose a local gross receipts tax of up to
4% on telecom companies, provided the locality repeals all other
telecom-specific fees of taxes such as local franchise fees or right-of-way
privilege taxes. The bill would permit telecom companies to offer in-kind
services at fair market value to offset local gross receipts taxes due. The
second bill would relieve telecom companies from having to seek authority
from local governments to conduct business, and give the companies the legal
right to access public rights-of-way owned by local governments. This bill
would prohibit localities from imposing any non-cost-based fees or taxes on
telecom companies for construction permits or use of public rights-of-way.

Title: Court bars FCC From Using Pricing Standard In Section 271 Reviews
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 26, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance/Competition
Description: The Eighth U.S. Appeals Court ordered the FCC to stop using a
forward-looking pricing standard in reviewing Bell company Section 271
applications to enter long distance. It ordered the FCC to comply with its
ruling last year barring the Commission from setting nationwide pricing. The
Nat'l Assoc. of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, which asked for the order
along with the Bells, said it was "pleased" with the ruling.

Title: Kennard 'Disappointed' By St. Louis Court's Ruling
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 26, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: FCC Chairman Kennard said he was "disappointed" that "yet
another court decision will delay the benefits of competition." He said this
in the wake of the order by the U.S. Appeals Court that the FCC must "cease
and desist" applying pricing standards to Bell companies' long distance
applications. Meanwhile, AT&T said the order is "one more reason" why the
U.S. Supreme Court should hear an appeal of the St. Louis court's original
ruling striking down much of the FCC's interconnection order.

Title: Supreme Court Leaves FCC Eighth Circuit Appeal In Limbo
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 26, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: The Supreme Court left the telecom industry in limbo by ending
a closed-door meeting intended to decide whether it would hear appeals of
two recent rulings saying it would hear the case. At issue is whether the
court will hear several related appeals of the Eighth Court's decisions on
the FCC's interconnection order that competitors say hampered the FCC's
authority to oversee competition in the local phone market. The Court's
Friday list of appeals that it will hear did not include any of the St. Luis
decisions, but the court may add to the list on Monday.

** Internet **

Title: RealNetworks Plans Technology Pact With Sun in Move Away From Microsoft
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Kara Swisher
Issue: Merger
Description: RealNetworks is forging an alliance with Sun Microsystems that
could create tension with one of its major partners and shareholders,
Microsoft. The strategic technology and marketing agreement will essentially
make RealNetworks' products work best with Sun's Solaris line of servers.
The deal with RealNetworks could give Sun an important edge because it is
unlike traditional "bundling" relationships where the software is simply
offered along with hardware without much integration. Instead, said
RealNetworks Chairman and CEO Rob Glaser, Sun and RealNetworks will
"optimize" the latest versions of its software specifically for Sun's line
of servers. "We're aiming for a dramatic improvement in performance and
scalability," said Mr. Glaser.

Title: PSINet's Quest for Independence
Source: Washington Post (Business p6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/26/020l-012698-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Mergers
Description: Over the past year most Internet service providers have agreed
to be acquired by other companies. PSINet Inc., based in Herndon, VA, on the
other hand wants to go it alone. Last week, the company's board rejected an
offer by USinternetworking Inc. to buy at least a 51 percent stake for $10 a
share, which would value the entire company at $400 million. Instead as part
of its independence strategy, PSINet decided to enter a business deal with
IXC Communications Inc., a Texes telecommunications firm. The deal will give
PSINet the right to use 10,000 miles of IXC's high-speed fiber optic cables,
which will boost PSINet's data-carrying capacity. In exchange IXC will
receive nearly a 20 percent stake, or 10 million shares, of PSINet. Alan
Bravemen, an analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, said that
PSINet's current strategy could work just fine. "Looking backward, they've
made some strategic and managerial missteps. But this IXC deal gives them a
great advantage in the market that could make them a winner in the long run."

Title: Three Giants of PC World Turn Focus to Speed
Source: New York Times (D1,D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012698access.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: The new Internet coalition, formed to provide faster links to
the Internet over normal phone lines, will be officially announced today.
Compaq, Intel and Microsoft, the three companies that proposed the
coalition, essentially want computers that will be able to talk faster. By
working with the largest local telephone companies, they aim to control
access to the newest avenue to fast connections to the Internet.

Title: Internet Chat Rooms Becoming a Popular Forum for Business
Source: New York Times (D5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012698chat.html
Author: Gordon Arnaut
Issue: Internet Use
Description: There is a flurry of interest in using online chat rooms, what
many consider to be the underbelly of the Internet, as a business tool.
Companies like Merrill Lynch and IBM are experimenting with chat as a way to
interact with customers on a more personal level. While groups like the
Pristine Real Time Trading Room charge subscribers $525 a month for access
to their timely buy and sell trading instructions and opportunities. Others
see chat as a possible tool for education and training. The software
industry does not expect chat to have a major impact on business anytime in
the near future. Nevertheless, Amy Bruckman, an assistant professor at
Georgia Tech and a former researcher at the MIT's Media Lab predicts that
chat will become almost as popular for business as it is for users of online
services. "I don't think it will ever be as widely used as email. But I
think it already is and will continue to be used in serious business contexts."

Title: Internet Group Challenges U.S. Over Web Addresses
Source: New York Times (D5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012698domain.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Internet Domains
Description: The Council of Registrars, an international group which is led
by many of the engineers who have written the code that makes the domain
system of the Internet work, has pitted itself against the federal
government, who is currently working to release recommendations trying to
balance competing proposals about the Internet's future. It appears that the
Clinton administration is unlikely to endorse a proposal assembled by the
council to start a shared data base to register sites in seven new domains.
After hearing of this, the council resolved to go forward without the
government's involvement. But regardless of what the engineers say, the
federal government still retains nominal control over the root server which
distributes new address information to other root servers worldwide. "As the
Internet grows bigger and more international, it is not appropriate for it
to be an appendage of the U.S. government," said Ira Magaziner, the Clinton
administration's chief Internet advisor. "But we have a prime directive, and
that is to preserve the stability of the Internet. That's why we can't say,
'OK, we're getting out of it next month.'" On the other hand, Don Heath,
president of Internet Society, a nonprofit who draws most of its members
from the technical community, warned, "If the government tries to dictate
without the will of the Internet agreeing, it will not function. The
Internet works by cooperation. When there ceases to be cooperation, there
ceases to be an Internet." A member of the group said yesterday that a
meeting has been scheduled between the council and Ira Magaziner for this week.

** Antitrust **

Title: Unlike Microsoft, Intel Opts to Speak Softly on Antitrust Issues
Source: New York Times (D1,D9)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012698intel.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Intel Corporation controls nearly 85 percent of the market
for the microprocessor chips of PC's, Microsoft has a similar share of the
market with its operating system for software and both companies have been
under investigation by antitrust authorities, the Federal Trade Commission
or the Justice Department, for most of the 1990's. Intel, however, has been
much more successful than Microsoft in keeping its name out of headlines and
the antitrust challenges to its market power out of federal court. Industry
executives and antitrust experts say much of this is due to Intel's cautious
and painstaking approach to the antitrust issue in its internal procedures
and public statements. Intel executives will not comment on the current
Microsoft case. But one person closest to Intel said that the company's top
executives are concerned that Microsoft's handling of the case could result
in a "potential political spillover" with Intel having to share in criticism
aimed at Microsoft. The person said, "Intel would prefer that Microsoft were
doing this in a lower-profile, less combative way."

** International **

Title: In Africa, Reality of Technology Falls Short
Source: New York Times (D1,D10)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012698africa.html
Author: Howard W. French
Issue: International
Description: As new technologies like cellular telephones and the Internet
spread around the world, conventional wisdom in the West held that
predominantly poor countries throughout the continent of Africa would be
able to make great leaps forward by using these tools to over come one of
the most crippling legacies of underdevelopment: unreliable and
prohibitively expensive communications. While in some areas these new
technologies are proving to be indispensable, in most of the continent these
tools are haunted by the same stubborn facts of life as their predecessors,
the automobile and the telephone: with the number of have-nots greatly
out-numbering the haves, many modern innovations are passing millions of
people by. Currently, Manhattan has more telephone lines than exist in more
than three dozen countries of sub-Saharan Africa. In the Ivory Coast,
getting a new telephone line can take two to three months, and 80 percent of
all of the computers purchased there are bought by the government or private
businesses. Alin Ahounou, commercial director of Globe Access, said, "People
are very interested when you explain the Internet to them. But then they
tell you that they are still waiting for a telephone line, or that the
computer they want to buy is too expensive. In the end you realize that what
we really have here is a lack of equipment." "Whether for the equipment of
the services themselves, price stands out as the major inhibiting factor
throughout Africa, and the continent's difficult economic straits present a
cruel barrier to the very technologies that many expected would help create
an economic takeoff."

** Lifestyles **

Title: Enter Geekdom's Diaper Dandy. Sigmund, Can You Explain This?
Source: New York Times (D7)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012698baby.html
Author: David Barboza
Issue: Lifestyles!
Description: Baby Cha Cha, better known as the Dancing Baby recently seen on
the television show "Ally McBeal," is turning into the newest, and youngest,
national pop icon. Some believe that the Dancing Baby offers insight into
the deeper aspects of American culture and the human psyche. When Camille
Paglia, the "enfant terrible of academia" was asked her opinion on this
fascination with the baby, she said, "For people to identify with a dancing
baby indicates some deep deep trauma. Young people want caretaking. They
want someone to make rules, to monitor their sex life; they want dddies. The
Dancing Baby is a self-portrait of American youth." Maryam Razvi, a
professor at the New York School for Psychoanalystic, Psychotherapy and
Psychoanalysis, was asked what Freud would have made of this diapered dynamo
with provocative gyrations. She said, "The baby clicks into something in our
unconscious. A Freudian would see this as a person's wish to exhibit, to
exhibit your freedom and your sexuality." The diapered cyberkid was created
two years ago by animators working for Kinetix, a software publisher in San
Francisco, as a demo for an animation program. Baby Cha Cha, has been
altered into such permutations as Psycho Baby, Rasta Baby, Car Crash Baby,
and Drunken Baby. It makes you wonder, if so much can be speculated about a
Dancing Baby, what do these versions say about the American culture and
human psyche?
*********

Television
WSJ: GM's DirecTV Unit Sets Accord on Probe Of Client Complaints
Current: Digest pulls back from TV strategy
NTIA: PIAC Meeting Transcript

Telephony
WSJ: AT&T's Armstrong Is Expected To Cut as Much as 15% of Staff
TelecomAM: McCain Says He Will Introduce Bill To 'Break The Stalemate'
TelecomAM: US West Chairman-CEO Says 'All Bets Are Off' With Telecom Act
TelecomAM: Texas PUC To Hear Appeals Feb. 5 Of Arbitration ruling That ISP
Calls Not Local
FCC: Statistics of Communications Common Carriers
FCC: New Telephone Subscribership Report

Internet/Online Services
WSJ: Free Mail May Be a Good Deal, Even if It Has a Hidden Price
WSJ: AOL Says It Shouldn't Have Identified Sailor
NYT: AOL Admits Error in Sailor's Case
WP: AOL Admits Violating Its Own Disclosure Policy
WSJ: Prodigy Will Stop Creating Content For Internet and
Will Link to Excite

Technology
NYT: Basic Geometry May Explain Segregation's Intractability

Microsoft
NYT: Microsoft Eases Browser Requirement in Europe

Lifestyles!
NYT: Computer Chairs Suitable for Liftoff
Current: Sex survey finds PTV viewers do it more often

** Television **

Title: GM's DirecTV Unit Sets Accord on Probe Of Client Complaints
Source: Wall Street Journal (B13)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Satellites
Description: GM's DirecTV unit said it reached an agreement with a group of
state attorneys general, settling an investigation into allegations that the
satellite-dish service misled customers. The investigation was launched last
year after customers complained that L.A.-based DirecTV removed channels
from a pre-sold package, then later sold the channels in a higher-priced
package. Under the agreement, customers affected by the changes are eligible
for a credit that can be used to pay for movie channels for a limited number
of months. Florida officials who helped lead the probe estimate that DirecTV
might have to provide as much as $12 million in credits, plus about $800,000
in expenses to the states. A DirecTV spokesman said, "The agreement will
have no material impact on DirecTV's finances or operational procedures."

Title: Digest pulls back from TV strategy
Source: Current: The Public Telecommunications Newspaper
http://www.current.org/ (p.1) 1.19.98
Author: Karen Everhart Bedford
Issue: Public Television
Description: Reader's Digest Association (RDA) is backing away from a recent
venture with public television as the company changes direction under new
management. While the partnership lasted it produced "The Living Edens" and
"America in the Forties," shows that will air as planned. RDA had hoped to
recoup investments in PBS with mail-order sales of videocassettes and
related books. PBS planned to boost National Program Service income by 50%
between 1997 and 2001 and much of that relied on a $15 million per year
investment from RDA -- although a PBS executive said that figure was never
set in stone.

Title: PIAC Meeting Transcript
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/janmtg/transcript.htm
Issue: Digital Television
Description: The transcript of the third meeting of the Advisory Committee
on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters has
been posted. The transcript is ~250 pages. For a 14-page summary see
http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/meeting3.html.

** Telephony **

Title: AT&T's Armstrong Is Expected To Cut as Much as 15% of Staff
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John J. Keller
Issue: Corporate Retrenchment
Description: People close to AT&T are saying that Chairman C. Michael
Armstrong is planning to cut as much as 15% of the workforce and reassign
much of AT&T's senior management team. Such a cut could be the biggest to
hit AT&T in a decade. AT&T has long operated under the most expensive cost
structure in the industry, in part because it tried to market its service as
the Tiffany of phone carriers. Today, it's struggling to remain relevant in
a new communications era of local phone competition, the burgeoning Internet
and fast packet data networks where lean trendsetters like Worldcom and
Qwest Comm. are setting the agenda. It has been a humbling decade for what
was once the biggest company on earth.

Title: McCain Says He Will Introduce Bill To 'Break The Stalemate'
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 22, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain will introduce a
bill when Congress returns next week to "break the stalemate" between long
distance and local phone companies and increase competition. McCain will
also introduce bills to improve wireless access to 911 service, fight
slamming and refine the new universal service Internet subsidies for schools.

Title: U S West Chairman-CEO Says 'All Bets Are Off' With Telecom Act
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 22, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telecom Act of '96
Description: Richard McCormick, U S West's Chairman-CEO, justified his
company's decision to join SBC's suit against legislation it originally
supported by slamming the FCC's interpretation of the Telecom Act. Because
the Commission has veered from Congress's intent, he said, "all bets are
off... Our only choice is to tear it up." He said he supports FCC
Commissioner Michael Powell's plan for dialogue with Bell companies before
they file Section 271 applications to offer long distance service. "I would
love to sit down with them," McCormick said. He accused the previous
Commission of insisting "that we [Bell companies] need to be financially
harmed for there to be competition."

Title: Texas PUC To Hear Appeals Feb. 5 Of Arbitration ruling That ISP
Calls Not Local
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 22, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: The Texas Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to hear
appeals of a recent precedent-breaking PUC arbitrator's decision declaring
that local calls to ISPs are interstate calls and not subject to local
reciprocal compensation agreements between incumbent telcos and competitive
local exchange carriers. Two CLECS, Time Warner Comm. and Waller Creek
Comm., took their disputes with Southwestern Bell Telephone over reciprocal
compensation to PUC arbitration, expecting the arbitrator would follow the
precedent set in 13 other states by declaring ISP calls to be local and
subject to compensation payments. Instead, he ruled that a call to an ISP is
a call to all states simultaneously via the Internet, and therefore the call
is interstate access and not local traffic.

Title: Statistics of Communications Common Carriers
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8004.html
Issue: Telephone
Description: Each year since 1939, the FCC has published Statistics of
Communications Common Carriers. This publication includes a wealth of data
on telecommunications costs, revenues, prices, and usage. The 1996/1997
edition is now available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. In
addition, the entire publication is available electronically at
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/FCC-State_Link/socc.html
. The publication sells for $28.00 (stock number 004-000-00505-8) and may be
purchased from The Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954, by calling the Order and
Inquiry Desk (202) 512-1800, or by faxing the order to (202) 512-2250.

Title: New Telephone Subscribership Report
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8003.html
Issue: Telephone
Description: The FCC today released its latest report on telephone
subscribership levels in the United States. The report presents
subscribership statistics based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau
in November 1997. Statistics from that survey estimated that 93.8% of all
households in the United States had telephone service. This is down 0.1%
from the last report, for July 1997, and also down 0.1% from November 1996.
These decreases are not statistically significant. The report also shows
different subscribership levels by state, income level, race, age, household
size, and employment status. This report is updated three times a year and
is available in the Common Carrier Bureau's public reference room, 2000 M
Street, NW, Room 575, Washington, DC. Copies may be purchased by calling
International Transcription Service at (202) 857-3800. This report can also
be downloaded [file name: SUBS1197.ZIP or SUBS1197.PDF] from the FCC-State
Link internet site, which can be reached at http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats
on the World Wide Web. The report can also be downloaded from the FCC-State
Link computer bulletin board system at (202) 418-0241.

** Internet/Online Services **

Title: Free Mail May Be a Good Deal, Even if It Has a Hidden Price
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: E-Mail
Description: FREE E-MAIL. Enticing -- but is it really a good deal? Even
though you won't pay for these accounts in cash, you'll still pay. The price
tag for free e-mail: viewing ads on-screen as you sift through your
messages. Other drawbacks could go from privacy questions to reliability
concerns. But the concept appears to be taking hold, and is even attracting
some big names like Microsoft who recently paid an estimated $300 million to
$400 million in stock to acquire Hotmail Corp.

Title: AOL Says It Shouldn't Have Identified Sailor
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Privacy
Description: AOL conceded that it shouldn't have revealed the identity of a
Navy sailor who described himself as gay in an online profile. But the
online service placed a lot of blame for the incident on the Navy. The
company said an internal investigation revealed that an AOL employee
confirmed information about the sailor when questioned by a Navy
investigator. The sailor now faces possible expulsion from the Navy after a
decorated 17-year career. AOL also admitted that its employee had violated
the company's "terms of service" agreement with its members when it told the
Navy that the sailor, Timothy McVeigh (no relation), owned the account.
AOL's chief lawyer, George Vradenburg, said, "This was a case of human error
under very unusual circumstances."

Title: AOL Admits Error in Sailor's Case
Source: New York Times (A26)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012198navy.html
Author: Lisa Napoli
Issue: Privacy
Description: America Online accused the Navy of deception after an internal
investigation showed that the online service had violated its own private
policy rules by disclosing confidential information. The information the AOL
representative released identified a 36-year-old Naval officer as
homosexual. Now Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. McVeigh is facing
dismissal from the Navy for homosexuality. AOL said the information was
disclosed to a Navy investigator who "did not identify himself properly and
did not reveal the true purpose of his call." A statement released by the
Navy said, "There were no intentional violations of any Federal laws or
regulation by Department of Navy personnel." David L. Sobel, of the
Electronic Privacy Information center, a privacy rights group, said the case
"cuts to the heart of the issue of online privacy -- so much of the allure
of the Internet has been based on the option to exercise anonymity."

Title: AOL Admits Violating Its Own Disclosure Policy
Source: Washington Post (A15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/22/093l-012298-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Privacy
Description: America Online admitted yesterday that it had violated its
private policy by disclosing the identity of subscriber Senior Chief Petty
Officer Timothy R. McVeigh. But AOL accused the Navy of flouting a federal
law in its efforts to obtain information on McVeigh. "Our member services
representative did confirm information presented to him by the Navy. This
clearly should not have happened and we regret it," AOL said in a one-page
statement issued yesterday.

Title: Prodigy Will Stop Creating Content For Internet and Will Link to Excite
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: Online Services
Description: Prodigy said it will give up creating its own content for its
Internet users and has agreed to link its users to the content of Excite
Inc., a Web directory that already provides such information at no charge to
anyone with Internet access. The decision marks yet another retrenchment for
Prodigy, who enjoyed a brief stint in the early 1990s as one of the largest
and best-known players in the online industry until AOL came along.
Prodigy's decision also underscores the growing role played by Web directories.

** Technology **

Title: Basic Geometry May Explain Segregation's Intractability
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012298segregate.html
Author: Peter Wayner
Issue: Technology Use
Description: Today and tomorrow, the Brookings Institute, located in
Washington DC, is holding a colloquium aimed at examining the limits of what
computer models of societies can reveal about human behavior and debate what
can be learned from these programs in and about the future. In essence, the
researchers are building computer simulations that house "people" with
predictable societal behavior. They then start the computers running and
watch what happens as the "people" interact with each other. Ideally, the
patterns that are created will offer insight into how human beings behave.
The implications of this research may be wide-ranging as some of the results
run counter to ideas and goals held by many government programs.

** Microsoft **

Title: Microsoft Eases Browser Requirement in Europe
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012298microsoft-side.html
Author: Andrew Ross Sorkin
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft appears to have possibly settled at least one
antitrust inquiry by the European Commission. The software company announced
that they will revise contracts with at least two dozen European Internet
service providers to drop a requirement that they offer their customers
Microsoft's Web browser in return for being listed in the Windows 95
operating system. Karel van Miert, the commissioner for the Directorate
General on Competition, the office in charge of antitrust enforcement, said
that he expects this move will persuade the Directorate to drop its
investigation of that issue. However, Mr. van Miert added, "There are still
a few other cases being looked into by our services."

** Lifestyles! **

Title: Computer Chairs Suitable for Liftoff
Source: New York Times (C14)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012298chair.html
Author: Marianne Rohrlich
Issue: Lifestyle
Description: It was bound to come, a chair for all your physical needs, a
chair that promises to be a "relaxing, back-friendly seat for people who
work (and play) at home." The rockin' new computer stand and
reclining-desk-chair combination, called Net-surfer, was created by
Valvomo-Design of Helsinki, Finland. The chair comes in three models, the
Netsurfer Classic, Max and Light, ranging in price from $4,995. to $3,125.
The Classic is described as "the Harley-Davidson of chairs," by Ahti
Anitkainen, sales manager of Valvomo. "One sits semireclined on this model
with, the promotional material says, 'the computer between the legs like the
gas tank of a motorcycle.' This seat has an adjustable tilt, foot rests,
neck and lumbar cushions and lift-up computer shelf and arm rests. If only
the human body were equally adjustable. The Classic seems best for bikers,
astronauts or agile teenagers. Women in skirts should not try this chair in
a skirt." Anitkainen acknowledges that "not everyone is comfortable on a
Harley." The Light, and least expensive of the three, seems to be the
easiest to maneuver, having two separate, comfortable units, chair and
computer stand, both on wheels.

Title: Sex survey finds PTV viewers do it more often
Source: Current: The Public Telecommunications Newspaper
http://www.current.org/ (p.4) 1.19.98
Issue: Lifestyles!
Description: A study in the latest American Demographics brings new meaning
to the phrase "If PBS doesn't do it, who will?" The study finds that PBS
viewers have more sex than people who watch the networks. The researchers
commented: "Who would have thought that National Geographic specials or Ken
Burns' history of baseball could get people in the mood?" The study is
available at
http://www.demographics.com/publications/ad/98_ad/9802_ad/nosexplease.htm.
[Yeah, like we could have made this one up]
*********
Oh great. Fodder for another attack for the religious right...

DigitalTV
PIAC Meeting Summary

Telephony
FCC: MCI/WorldCom Merger
WSJ: The Bells Unleash Their Lawyers
TelecomAM: Jurisdictional Issues Dominate Section 271 Arguments In St. Louis
TelecomAM: Oregon PUC To Appeal Court Decision Striking Down Big U S West
Rate Cut

Internet
NYT: Venture Promises Far Faster Speeds For Internet Data
WP: Intel Unveils Technology That Speeds Web Surfing
NYT: Internet Registrar Plots Its Post-Monopoly Future
NYT: Rules For Filtering Web Content Cause Dispute

Education
NYT: New Toys Try to Make Computer Programming Child Play

Microsoft
WSJ: Microsoft Reiterates How It Has Complied With Judge's Order
WP: Microsoft in Contempt, Justice Repeats

** Digital TV **

Title: PIAC Meeting Summary
Source: Benton
http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/meeting3.html
Issue: Digital Television
Description: A summary of the third meeting of the President's Advisory
Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters
is now available. Friday's agenda included panel discussions on digital
technology and educational programming as well as briefings on access for
people with disabilities and natural disaster information.

** Telephony **

Title: MCI/WorldCom Merger
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Comments/worldcom/
Issue: Mergers
Description: Common Carrier Bureau Establishes Webpage for MCI/WorldCom
Merger. On November 21, 1997, WorldCom, Inc. and MCI Communications
Corporation (MCI) filed an amendment (Amendment) to the Consolidated
Application for Transfer of Control of MCI and Request for Special Temporary
Authority (Applications) that WorldCom originally filed with the Commission
on October 1, 1997. By the Amendment, WorldCom and MCI seek approval for a
single, one-step transfer of control to WorldCom of licenses and
authorizations held by MCI and its subsidiaries. According to the Amendment,
the revision is necessitated by the November 9, 1997 WorldCom and MCI
agreement to merge the two companies, pursuant to which MCI will become a
wholly-owned subsidiary of WorldCom. On November 25, 1997, the Common
Carrier Bureau released a Public Notice that established a pleading cycle
for the Application as amended by the Amendment.(2) Interested parties filed
comments regarding or petitions to deny the Amended Application on or before
January 5, 1998. Oppositions or responses to these comments and petitions
may be filed no later than January 26, 1998.

Title: The Bells Unleash Their Lawyers
Source: Wall Street Journal (Op-eds, A19)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Competition
Description: The gov't.'s antitrust case against the Bell system argued
that AT&T used its local monopolies -- the Bell companies -- to impede
competition in the long-distance and telecommunications-equipment markets.
After a yearlong trial, AT&T accepted the consent decree requiring it to
divest the Bell companies, thereby opening those markets to full competition
under the supervision of the FCC and the presiding judge in the case, Harold
Greene. Two decades of careful enforcement of the Communications Act and the
antitrust laws by the FCC and the courts opened the long-distance and
telecom-equipment market to competition. But the problem of the Bell
monopolies over local service remained. Congress assumed that if the Bells
were offered the ability to enter the long distance business in return for
implementing
a "checklist" of actions to open their local service areas to competition,
they would do so, thereby avoiding possible litigation. The assumption was
wrong. Freed by the Telecom Act of judicial supervision under the AT&T
consent decree, the Bells have unleashed their lawyers -- first to attack
the FCC's efforts to open their markets to competition and the requirement
that they implement the checklist before entering the long distance business.

Title: Jurisdictional Issues Dominate Section 271 Arguments In St. Louis
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 20, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: The FCC and its supporters argued that the U.S. Appeals Court
is the wrong place to settle disputes over Section 271 cases. Opponents
countered that what was wrong was the FCC's use of criteria that the St.
Louis court ruled last summer was beyond the Commission's jurisdiction. AT&T
attorney David Carpenter, supporting the FCC, said the appeal of the
Commission's use of pricing standards in the deciding Section 271 cases
should be decided by the U.S. Appeals Court, which the Telecom Act gives
sole authority to review Section 271 cases. But Iowa Utilities Board
attorney Diane Munns said the FCC's actions violated the St. Louis court's
ruling last year that only states can set local prices. She said the court
made considering local pricing "off limits" for the FCC, even in determining
long distance entry.

Title: Oregon PUC To Appeal Court Decision Striking Down Big U S West Rate Cut
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 20, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: The Oregon Public Utility Commission says it is appealing an
Oregon Circuit Court decision voiding an order to US West for a $97 million
rate cut and $102 million refund, and remanding the case back to the PUC for
further consideration of directory-revenue imputation issues. The PUC said
it's going to the Court of Appeals because the lower court acted contrary to
state law in disregarding the PUC's reasoning for including $60 million of
directory publishing revenues in US West's rate base and reflecting US
West's poor service quality record by setting a rate of return at the lowest
point of the reasonable range.

** Internet **

Title: Venture Promises Far Faster Speeds For Internet Data
Source: New York Times (A1,D7)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012098telephone.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Internet Technology
Description: The Compaq Computer Corporation, the Intel Corporation and the
Microsoft Corporation have joined forces with most of the nation's largest
telephone companies in an effort to enable consumers to access Internet data
via telephone lines at speeds much faster than what is currently available.
The formation of this group is a significant move in what promises to be a
"years-long battle between telephone companies and cable television
companies for control of how consumers get high-speed access to the
Internet." Executives of the three computer corporations said they will
formally announce the venture next week at a communications conference.

Title: Intel Unveils Technology That Speeds Web Surfing
Source: Washington Post (E1,E6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/20/034l-012098-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Internet Technology
Description: The Intel Corporation introduced new technology yesterday that
it said will offer faster access to Internet sites, cutting back on delays
that have become increasingly frustrating to users of the World Wide Web.
The technology works by allowing Internet access firms to make copies of the
more popular sites on the Web and then zap this material to their users in
smaller files that travel faster. It is expected that Internet service
providers will charge users a modest fee for the new technology.

Title: Internet Registrar Plots Its Post-Monopoly Future
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012098domain.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Domains
Description: As many start-up groups anxiously await for the U.S. Government
to say how and when it will open the Internet address business to
competition, Network Solutions Inc., the current, exclusive, registrar of
top-level domains, is preparing for its loss of monopoly through aggressive
marketing to small businesses. Last week, Network Solutions announced
partnership with Dun & Bradstreet and Inc. Online, and launched its new
WorldNIC registration service. These moves are designed to place Network
Solutions away from its current single focus and into broader Internet
service by offering direct registration access through their new small
business server for small companies that are working to build an online
presence. "We see tremendous potential here," said Gabe Battista, chief
executive of Network Solutions. "In five years, the Internet will carry most
business and personal transactions. Yet today Dun & Bradstreet estimates
that 60 percent of small businesses are not using the Internet. With
WorldNIC we are making a compelling case for small businesses to adopt the
Internet and enjoy a level playing field."

Title: Rules For Filtering Web Content Cause Dispute
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes (1/19/98)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/011998filter.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: Members of the World Wide Web Consortium, a group of about 200
computer scientists and engineers, in a private vote by email a few days
before Christmas, endorsed a set of rules that could govern some of the most
fundamental ways that people around the world will obtain -- or will be
prevented from obtaining -- electronic information in upcoming years.
Members of the group say they were just agreeing on a much needed filtering
system for all of the vast information that is available on the Web. They
were building a tool, not a law. Based on that notion, little notice was
taken of their action, which revolved around the technical specifications
and computer code that define the Platform for Internet Content Selection
(PICS). But a growing number of civil libertarians argue that computer code
has the force of law and thus these technologists are acting as some sort of
unelected world government. "This is a technique that is designed to enable
one party to control what another can access," said David Sobel of the
Electronic Privacy Information Center http://www.epic.org. "The most
palatable formulation of
that is parent-child, but the fact is it also allows a government or an
Internet service provider to take on that parental role and decide what
anyone downstream is going to be able to see -- and no steps have been taken
to prevent that." Berners-Lee, who invented the Web at the CERN laboratory
in Geneva, insists that the benefits of the "PICSRules" outweigh its
drawbacks. "I appreciate your concerns," he wrote in response to a statement
from a civil-liberties coalition, the Global Internet Liberty Campaign.
"Whilst I tend personally to share them at the level of principle, I do not
believe that the PICSRules technology presents, on balance, a danger rather
than a boon to society. I can also affirm that the intent of the initiative
is certainly not as a tool for government control, but as a tool for user
control, which will indeed reduce the pressure for government action."
Regardless of the differing opinions, the controversy underscores the large
amounts of influence that technologists wield in formulating the rules that
govern cyberspace and presages increasing tension between the architects of
the Internet and those who use it.

** Education **

Title: New Toys Try to Make Computer Programming Child Play
Source: New York Times (C4)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Karen Freeman
Issue: Education
Description: Researchers at the Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology are working to create a wide range of programmable
toys that children can use for entertainment, investigation and learning.
Many of these toys, some in their early stages of development, some already
commercially available, are based on Lego building blocks, with much of the
research being financed by the Lego Group. An example of these
computer-driven construction tools can be found in the current testing of
the Media Lab's new Crickets. The Crickets are small computers that can be
hooked up to motors and light or touch sensors, to drive dinosaurs and other
creations. They communicate with one another and with desktop computers
through infrared light. Dr. Michael Resnick, who leads the research team,
said that the Media Lab group is looking for ways to encourage kids to build
and develop scientific instruments using Crickets and other tools. "If kids
work on these projects, it gives them a new sense of themselves as learners.
They get an understanding of how to go about the process of design and
inventing."

** Microsoft **

Title: Microsoft Reiterates How It Has Complied With Judge's Order
Source: Wall Street Journal (B18)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft repeated in a court filing how it has complied with a
court order to offer customers its operating system without tying it to the
software firm's Internet browser product. Judge Jackson issued a preliminary
order which said that the threat of Microsoft using its monopoly in Windows
to build another monopoly in Internet software required that Microsoft halt
its tying practice while he reviewed the situation. The gov't. was expected
to reiterate its allegation that Microsoft violated the court order by
offering computer makers a two-year old version of its Windows operating
system or one that didn't work at all after it was ordered to allow them to
remove the Internet software. Microsoft's filing asserts that even the
gov't.'s expert witness couldn't identify a set of files that Microsoft
could have allowed computer manufacturers to remove as a way of complying
with Judge Jackson's ruling.

Title: Microsoft in Contempt, Justice Repeats
Source: Washington Post (E3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/20/049l-012098-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Justice Department repeated their request yesterday to have
the Microsoft Corporation held in contempt of court for flouting a
preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield
Jackson. A legal brief filed by the department last night said, "The court's
order..read as a whole, does not command a response by Microsoft that is
commercially nonviable and senseless." Jackson is scheduled to hear closing
arguments in the case on Thursday.
*********