April 1998

Education
NYT: Study Shows Students Use Internet Primarily for Research

Campaigns
WP: U.S. Appeals Court Rejects City Campaign Spending Cap
NYT: Limits on Campaign Spending Are Invalid, Appeals Court Says

Computer Technology
NYT: Quantum Computing Is Becoming More Than Just a Good Idea

** Education **

Title: Study Shows Students Use Internet Primarily for Research
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/28education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Internet
Description: According to a study by Quality Education Data, a Denver-based
market research company that studies trends in education, the most popular
use of the Internet in schools is for research. In its third annual survey
of Internet use in schools, QED surveyed about 400 K-12 teachers at public
schools around the nation. The survey, conducted by phone this past
February, found that about "82 percent of schools are connected to the
Internet. Less than half were wired when the study was first conducted in
1996. Increasingly, classrooms -- rather than libraries or computer labs --
are being wired, too, according to Karin K. Hendersin, director of market
research for the company." Of the teachers who responded to the survey: 69
percent said they use the Internet at least once a week as a tool for
research and as a teaching aid; 66 percent use the Internet to get
curriculum material; 46 percent said they use the Internet for professional
development; 44 percent use the Internet for lesson planning; and about 35
percent said they use the Internet as a "presentation tool" to display
material to their students. The complete study is scheduled to be released
in May.

** Campaigns **

Title: U.S. Appeals Court Rejects City Campaign Spending Cap
Source: Washington Post (A5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/28/057l-042898-idx.html
Author: The Associated Press
Issue: Campaign Spending
Description: A Federal appeals court yesterday rejected a Cincinnati
ordinance that was seeking to put spending limits on City Council
candidates, saying that the law violates candidates' right to free-speech.
Monday's decision marks the first time a federal appeals court had ruled on
the issue since "the Supreme Court rejected Congress's attempt to impose
mandatory spending limits on congressional candidates" in 1976. One
appellate judge, Avern Cohn, said that campaign spending laws could be valid
as a way to free office-holders from the pressures of fundraising so they
could spend more time on their elected duties -- but the Cincinnati
ordinance doesn't do that. "This is not the case to change the landscape of
campaign finance," Cohn wrote.

Title: Limits on Campaign Spending Are Invalid, Appeals Court Says
Source: New York Times (A14)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/chicago-campaign-reform.html
Author: Bill Dedman
Issue: Campaign Spending
Description: A ruling on campaign spending by a Federal appeals court in
Cincinnati yesterday, was a blow to those that had hoped to find "a vehicle"
for overturning a 1976 Supreme Court ruling that extended First Amendment
protection to campaign spending. A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down a 1995 Cincinnati ordinance that
would have limited the amount of money a candidate for City Council could
spend to three times the salary of a council member, or about $140,000. "The
suit, Kruse v. City of Cincinnati, was filed by a group led by John Kruse, a
losing candidate in the 1995 election." The case was closely watched by
cities and states around the country, with 33 states filing briefs
supporting Cincinnati's position. "To say it's a stinging rebuke and an end
of the movement is entirely incorrect," said John C. Bonifaz, executive
director of the National Voting Rights Institute, a Boston non-profit group,
hired by the City of Cincinnati to argue the case. "The door has been left
open." But Michael A. Carvin, the lawyer who represented John Kruse and won
the case, said the issue was settled. "Just as it would be blatantly
unconstitutional to say that a candidate can have only five campaign
appearances and make five speeches, so is it unconstitutional to limit
spending," said Carvin.

** Computer Technology **

Title: Quantum Computing Is Becoming More Than Just a Good Idea
Source: New York Times (C4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/042898quantum.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: Earlier this month, researchers at IBM Corp., the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, the Univ. of Calif. at Berkeley and Oxford Univ.
announced they have succeeded for the first time in building the first
working computers based on the principles of quantum mechanics, a branch of
physics that describes the "quirky world" of subatomic particles where both
yes and no can "simultaneously" be true. The scientists were able to fashion
a "novel computer in which the processor consisted of atoms of hydrogen and
chlorine and used it to sort an unordered list of items." Their discovery
has created a wave of excitement throughout the scientific community and is
leading research institutes to "embark on similar experiments heralding the
advent of an era of so-called quantum computers, specialized machines that
may one day prove thousands or even millions times faster than today's most
powerful supercomputers." There are still major hurdles to overcome before
quantum computers can be applies to general problems, said Richard J.
Hughes, a physicist who leads a team working in the field of quantum
information at Los Alamos National Laboratory. However, a number scientists
working in this new field believe that "enough progress has been made to
foresee significant applications." According to Stanley Williams, a Hewlett
Packard physicist who is coordinating his company's quantum computing
research, "This will reshape the face of science."
*********

Digital TV
NYT: Broadcast and Cable Interests Debate Rules for Digital TV

Telephony
NYT: Cellular Phone Groups to Sue Over Wiretapping Regulations
WSJ: GAO Delivers Blistering Report on FCC As Enforcer in Stopping

FCC
FCC: Commissioner Tristani Builds Relationships with Latin American
Regulators
WSJ: FCC to Deregulate a Large Portion of Comsat Business

Antitrust
WSJ: Microsoft Subject of New Antitrust Probe
WSJ: In the Microsoft Endgame, a Puzzle
WSJ: FTC Sets Conditions to Support Digital-Intel Agreement on Chip

Technology
WP: A Computer Made for the "Barney" Crowd
WP: U.S. Chamber Is Leaving TV for Internet

** Digital TV **

Title: Broadcast and Cable Interests Debate Rules for Digital TV
Source: New York Times (C4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/24hdtv.html
Author: Joel Brinkley
Issue: Digital TV
Description: At a congressional hearing yesterday, presidents of the largest
companies in the television industry "sparred" over whether cable companies
will be required to carry the digital TV programs that broadcasters will
begin airing this fall. The cable industry is strongly opposed to the idea,
but broadcasters contend that a "must-carry" rule for digital signals is
essential. "A swift and successful transition to digital TV requires that
cable subscribers have easy access to DTV broadcast signals," Scott Sass,
president of NBC Television Stations, told the House Subcommittee on
Telecommunications. Leo J. Hindery, president of Tele-Communications Inc.,
the nation's largest cable company, asked, if cable companies are forced to
make room for digital signals, "Which services should we drop? Th Family
Channel? Black Entertainment Television? C-Span? I cannot stress how
important this is to us." This issue also is important to the Federal
Communications Commission who loaned every television station in the country
a second channel to be used for digital broadcasts. At the end of the
transition period, one of the channels has to be returned at which time it
will be auctioned off. The income generated from those auctions has already
been counted in the balanced budget plan. This helps to explain why Rep.
W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-LA), chairman of the subcommittee, opened the hearing
by asking, "Will cable take HDTV away from us?"

** Telephony **

Title: Cellular Phone Groups to Sue Over Wiretapping Regulations
Source: New York Times (C2)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/24phone.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Privacy
Description: The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and the
Personal Communications Industry Association plan to file a lawsuit today in
an effort to "narrow" the Government's interpretation of 1994 legislation
intended "to help law enforcement agencies listen in on the phone calls of
suspected criminals." Civil liberties advocates and cellular telephone
industry executives contend that the FBI is requesting regulations under the
1994 law that would give the agency expanded wiretapping powers while
forcing consumers to pay for the broad new surveillance features through an
increase in rates. The lawsuit comes a month after the FBI and the Justice
Dept. discontinued negotiations with industry executives over wiretapping
capabilities and who would pay for the increased modifications that the
Government contends is necessary to effectively fight criminals in this
digital era.

Title: GAO Delivers Blistering Report on FCC As Enforcer in Stopping
'Slamming'
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: Elizabeth Daerr
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: Government auditors said that the FCC isn't moving
aggressively enough to crack down on companies that illegally switch
consumers' long-distance phone service, saying that states have been much
better at enforcing anti-slamming regulations. FCC Chairman William Kennard
said that his agency is working to eliminate economic incentives for
slamming including absolving slammed customers from paying the
long-distance carrier if the consumer catches an unauthorized switch within
a certain time period.

** FCC **

Title: Commissioner Tristani Builds Relationships with Latin American
Regulators
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1998/nrmc8029.html
Issue: International/Universal Service
Description: At the Fourth Annual Latin American Telecommunications Summit,
in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, Commissioner Gloria Tristani
represented the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by "encouraging
regulatory reform in the transition from monopoly service to privatization
and open competition. Tristani led a discussion among four of the region's
regulatory leaders; Carlos Casasus, Chairman of the Mexican Federal
Telecommunications Commission (COFTEL); Roberto Catalan, Chairman of the
Argentine National Communications Commission (CNC); Jorge Kunigami, Chairman
of the Peruvian Supervisory Agency of Investment in Telecommunications
(OSIPTEL); and Rosella Cominetti, Chief of Economic Regulation for the
Chilean Under Secretariat of Telecommunications (SUBTEL)." Tristani said,
"Privatization, liberalization, and competition are the norm and the
expectation. Consumers in our countries are starting to reap the benefits of
this transformation in thought and in action." Discussing regulatory
reform, Tristani "underscored the opportunity and responsibility of
regulators to promote universal service through explicit and market-based
mechanisms. Tristani praised Peru and Chile, observing that their innovative
approaches 'demonstrate that developing countries can promote universal
service and competition hand-in-hand.'"

Title: FCC to Deregulate a Large Portion of Comsat Business
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: John Simons
Issue: FCC Regulation
Description: The FCC is expected to declare Comsat Corp. a "nondominant"
telecommunications carrier in most of its markets, essentially deregulating
a large portion of the satellite company's business. The company
successfully argued that its status as sole satellite middleman didn't
really give it market advantages because many other forms of competition
exist. The FCC will continue to regulate Comsat's activities in those
developing nations where few alternatives to satellite-based communications
exist.

** Antitrust **

Title: Microsoft Subject of New Antitrust Probe
Source: Wall Street Journal (A2)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: John R. Wilke
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The battle between Netscape and Microsoft has reached the
Department of Justice yet again. Netscape is claiming that high level MS
executives attended a May 1995 meeting in an effort to invest in Netscape
or threaten to withhold the necessary information the company would need to
build a Windows-compatible version of its browser. In addition, Netscape
claims Microsoft sought to convince Netscape to market their browser
software only
for non-Windows operating systems. Microsoft claims they were just on a
fact-finding mission. Quotable quotes: "It was like a visit from Don
Corleone; I expected to find a bloody computer monitor in my bed the next
day," Marc Andressen, EVP & Co-Founder, Netscape. "I can categorically say
that we did not at any time suggest dividing up any market, period."

Title: In the Microsoft Endgame, a Puzzle
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The net impact of the Department of Justice's case against
Microsoft for requiring PC makers to include Internet Explorer in operating
systems may indeed be zero unless the federal government decides to get
into price setting, something it wants to avoid. Because Microsoft intends
to charge the same price for its Windows 95 (and upcoming Windows 98)
operating system with or without Internet Explorer, a law suit that doesn't
address the pricing issue wouldn't do much to curtail Microsoft's marketing
power.

Title: FTC Sets Conditions to Support Digital-Intel Agreement on Chip
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: Jon G. Auerbach
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Citing concerns over Intel Corp.'s control of the
microprocessor market, the Federal Trade Commission required Digital
Equipment Corp. to find other partners to make its speedy Alpha chip as a
condition for approving a patent settlement between Intel and Digital.
Digital confirmed it had reached a memorandum of understanding with
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and is in negotiations with IBM. Intel controls
about 90 percent of the processor market. Another wrinkle is Compaq Computer
Corp.'s proposed purchase of Digital. Compaq is the world's largest
personal computer maker, and most of its products run on Intel chips.

** Technology **

Title: A Computer Made for the "Barney" Crowd
Source: Washington Post (F1,F3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/24/077l-042498-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi and Frank Swoboda
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: Toymaker, Little Tikes Co. and International Business Machines
Corp. have teamed up to offer a $2,399 personal computer system made into a
child-sized purple-and-yellow plastic disk. In addition to "age-appropriate
software titles" such as "Millie's Math House," the PC comes with a keyboard
able to withstand apple- and grape-juice spills. The "Young Explorer" is
apparently the first computer created for the "Barney" crowd. It is
introduced at a time, however, when the scientific community is just
beginning to study "the long-term health effects on children who use
keyboards from an early age." There is growing concern about the possible
physical harm to children in using keyboards, specifically repetitive stress
injuries, said Daryl Alexander of the American Federation of Teachers -- to
date, most injury information is "anecdotal." IBM spokeswoman Stacey Pena
points out that the Young Explorer was designed with kids in mind and the
keyboard was developed at a child's level, minimizing arm strain. Michele
Riggs, the IBM executive who dreamed up this idea after watching her son
play with computers at his preschool, said, "We see a real market
opportunity for this anywhere kids go to have fun and play."

Title: U.S. Chamber Is Leaving TV for Internet
Source: Washington Post (F4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/24/073l-042498-idx.html
Author: Beth Berselli
Issue: Internet Use
Description: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday that "it is
leaving broadcasting for cybercasting in an effort to better inform and
rally its members and influence government officials on their behalf." Carl
Grant, a senior vice president of the nation's most powerful lobbying group,
said the Internet will play a key role in their "beefed-up" advocacy effort.
Grant said that the Washington-based group plans to quickly expand its
online programming. For example, next month, the group will offer live
audio-video broadcasts of a global climate conference. Chamber officials
said that money previously used on television programs will now be
redirected to other areas of the organization, where it will be used "to
support the groups primary mission of legislative advocacy for its
approximately 200,000 members."
*********
TV Turnoff Week is April 22-28. This is a national, collective attempt to
save our most precious resource: the sanctity of our own minds. Why not
rebel against internal brain-drain and unplug the box (or boxes) for a week?
To learn more about accessing your imagination and not some media moguls
idea of what that should be, check out TV-Free America's, National TV
Turnoff Week site at: http://www.tvfa.org/turnoff.html

Welcome to transition day! This is Kevin's last day in the Washington office
of the Benton Foundation. For the next two weeks at least, Betsy Puckett
will delivering you your daily Headlines. In therapy, Kevin will return to
Headlines when he is settled in Chicago in early May.

Telephone Regulation
NYT: Phone Carrier Fraud Brings Big U.S. Fine
WSJ: FCC Fines Virginia Firm $5.6 Million, Revokes License for Phone
"Slamming"
WP: FCC Pulls Licenses of Slamming "King"

Internet
NYT: ISPs and Copyright Producers Reach Content Agreement

Campaigns
NYT: Connecticut Considers Banning Officials From Broadcast Ads
NYT: Campaign Reform Countdown

Jobs/Education
NYT: Schools Train Students to Staff Computer Help Desks

Antitrust
WSJ: Microsoft Injunction Comes Under Fire
WP: Microsoft, Justice Argue Software Issue in Court

International
WSJ: Leave It to Vishnu: Gods of Indian TV Are Hindu Deities

Lifestyles
NYT: Web Site Dishes Dirt on Major Polluters

** Telephone Regulation **

Title: Phone Carrier Fraud Brings Big U.S. Fine
Source: New York Times (D1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/fcc-phone-slamming.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: FCC Regulation
Description: The Federal Communications Commission yesterday levied its
largest fine ever for slamming against a small long-distance operator called
Fletcher Cos. The $5.7 million fine was issued for the illegal practice of
slamming, a telecommunications-industry term for switching a customer's
long-distance provider without "explicit" permission. "At the FCC, consumers
come first," said FCC Chairman William Kennard in a statement. "We will not
tolerate slammers."

Title: FCC Fines Virginia Firm $5.6 Million, Revokes License for Phone
"Slamming"
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B7)
Author: John Simmons
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: Last year, the Federal Communications Commission received
20,000 consumer complaints about "slamming," the practice of some companies
to switch a household's long distance provider without their permission.
Yesterday, the FCC took its strongest action ever against slamming by fining
Fletcher Cos. $5.6 million and revoked its operating license. However, the
FCC is unlikely to collect the fine anytime soon. The company is already out
of business and investigators have been unable to locate the company's
principal, Daniel Fletcher. [See also Telecom AM: "FCC REVOKES SLAMMER'S
OPERATING AUTHORITY, FINES IT $5.7 MILLION" and "KENNARD TO CIRCULATE
'BROAD' ANTISLAMMING RULES"]

Title: FCC Pulls Licenses of Slamming 'King'
Source: Washington Post (C11,C14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/22/026l-042298-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: FCC Regulation
Description: The Federal Communications Commission yesterday revoked the
operating licenses of a long-distance carrier and levied a $5.7 million fine
against the company's owner for unauthorized switching of consumers'
long-distance service. The Feds are now looking for the mysterious owner,
Daniel Fletcher, who they are calling the "king of the slammers." Officials
say that Fletcher hasn't been heard of since he left a message at the FCC
two years ago and he has refused to respond to repeated agency inquiries
sent to post office addresses in DC, Northern VA, and Texas. "This is a
truly bad actor," said FCC Chairman William Kennard. "He is a fellow who
clearly had intent to violate the FCC's rules and we're hitting him hard."

** Internet **

Title: ISPs and Copyright Producers Reach Content Agreement
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/22copyright.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: As of this week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will
consider an agreement with Internet service providers where the providers
would not have to police their networks for subscribers transmitting stolen
goods, such as software, video, or music, but if the Internet companies
learn of the abuse, they must stop it. The compromise breaks a two-year
industry stalemate and marks a "potentially pivotal" break with traditional
copyright law and efforts to update the rules for Cyberspace.

** Campaigns **

Title: Connecticut Considers Banning Officials From Broadcast Ads
Source: New York Times (A27)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/ct-ad-ban.html
Author: Jonathan Rabinovitz
Issue: Campaigns
Description: In the Connecticut State House of Representatives today,
politicians are debating a bill that would "bar state and city officials who
are candidates for election from appearing in publicly financed broadcast
advertisements." The spotlight of the debate is Gov. John G. Rowland (R) and
his administration who has spent about $1.6 million on a television and
radio campaign where Rowland appears with his wife Patricia "bantering over
the delights" of Connecticut. If the measure passes before the session ends
next month, Connecticut would be the first state to "restrict" officials who
are running for office from "appearing in commercials that are paid for by
taxpayers."

Title: Campaign Reform Countdown
Source: New York Times (A30)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/22wed3.html
Author: NYTimes Editorial Staff
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: The campaign finance reform petition is only 16 votes short of
bringing reform legislation to the floor. House minority leader Richard
Gephardt has proven to be successful in getting almost all members to sign
the reform petition. But some important exceptions remain. "Today we urge
voters to press other holdouts of both parties in New York and
elsewhere...Victory is within reach."

** Jobs/Education **

Title: Schools Train Students to Staff Computer Help Desks
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/education/22education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Jobs/Education
Description: The Massachusetts Dept. of Education, headquartered in Malden,
is getting ready to launch a program that will use "specially-trained" high
school students as "in-house" computer technicians. "We are committed to
relying increasingly on trained students to provide technical support to the
Malden facility," said Gregory G. Nadeau, chief technology officer for the
Mass. Dept. of Education. Through making this commitment, the department is
joining a growing number of institutions around the country that are
training students in computer skills and then using them to help reduce the
labor costs associated with running school computer systems. This trend
highlights a problem being faced by school districts that have decided to
offer "cutting-edge" computer systems and courses in an effort to satisfy
everyone from parents to the White House. These school districts, like
corporations, are finding they increasingly need technical support to help
solve computer glitches and problems. But unlike corporations, they do not
have the money to pay for an information systems department. "So, enter the
student trainees."

** Antitrust **

Title: Microsoft Injunction Comes Under Fire
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A3)
Author: John Wilke
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Microsoft case moved to a three-judge appeals panel
yesterday. Many of the judges questions seemed to indicate that they agree
with the software giant that a lower court ruling exceeded the court's
authority. The preliminary injunction forced Microsoft to make available a
version of its desktop software without its Internet browser product.

Title: Microsoft, Justice Argue Software Issue in Court
Source: Washington Post (C11,C13)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/22/025l-042298-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Lawyers for the Justice Dept. and Microsoft Corp. met yesterday
in a federal appeals court over the distribution of Internet software.
Microsoft argued that "U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson
overstepped his authority in December when he sided with the Justice Dept.
in issuing an injunction forcing the company to offer a version of its
Windows 95 operating system without a 'browser,' or software that gives
access to the Internet." Other lawyers at the Justice Dept. continue to
investigate Microsoft for a possible broad antitrust case that informed
sources say could be filed within the next two weeks.

** International **

Title: Leave It to Vishnu: Gods of Indian TV Are Hindu Deities
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A1)
Author: Jonathan Karp & Michael Williams
Issue: International/TV
Description: Approximately half of all Indians with access to a TV set tune
into "Shri Krishna," by far the most popular television show there. The
weekly program chronicles the "adventures of Krishna, a warrior god whose
discourse on the meaning of life is one of Hinduism's most sacred texts."
The show is popular, but also controversial. "I've brought back faith in
God," says Ramanand Sagar who created the show. But in a nation of Muslim and
other minorities, the country's founders have tried to forge a secular
national identity which some think this program and others like it undermine.

** Lifestyles **

Title: Web Site Dishes Dirt on Major Polluters
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/22earth.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Lifestyles
Description: In honor of Earth Day Wednesday, one of the "most ambitious"
environmental sites on the Web is the week-old "Chemical Scorecard" created
by the Environmental Defense Fund. The site ranks the ZIP codes, counties
and states with the heaviest emissions, can tell you which local companies
are releasing hazardous chemicals, what the chemicals are and what they may
be doing to your health, and you can search their database to find out all
you never wanted to know about what thousands of "itrates" and "ides" are
capable of inflicting. However, what the site can't tell you is whether a
nearby chemical plant or company is ACTUALLY hazardous to your health.
"What's on everybody's mind is, 'Am I safe or not?' No database can tell you
that," said David Roe, senior counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund.
"We can tell you how much is going out of the smoke stack, but not how much
is going into your nose." You can access this site at:
http://www.scorecard.org/
*********

Television
B&C: What public service! What public service?
WSJ: Dual Threatens To Delay Debut of Digital TV
B&C: Tauzin: Must-see HDTV
FCC: TV Translator and Low Power TV Applications
NYT: Critics Assail PBS Over Plan For Toys Aimed at Toddlers
WSJ: US West Is Set to Offer TV Programming And Internet
Access Over Phone Lines

Jobs
B&C: Court KO's EEO
NYT: Use of Work Visas by Technology Companies Is Under Fire

Competition
FCC: Competitor's Access to Networks

Disabilities
FCC: Access to Telecommunications Services and Equipment by
Persons with Disabilities

Education
NYT: Undergraduate Education is Lacking, Report Finds
NYT: Corporate Sponsorship of Educational Technology Program
Raises Concerns

Microsoft
WP: Gates to Unveil Windows 98, Awaits Legal Showdown

America Online
WP: Behind the AOL Health Insurance Partnership

** Television **

Title: What public service! What public service?
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.22)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Television
Description: At last week's meeting of the Gore Commission, competing sides
took shots at each other's research on public service. "What I want to
know," the Media Access Project's Gigi Sohn asked, "is why good broadcasters
cover up for bad broadcasters." She pointed to joint MAP and Benton
Foundation research that found that 70% of commercial stations in five US
markets aired no local public affairs programming during a two-week period.
The MAP/Benton study drew criticism because it only covered two weeks while
a NAB study covered an entire year. Ms. Sohn also offered a new proposal for
public interest obligations for digital broadcasters. The plan would require
that stations devote 20% of their digital capacity or programming time to
public interest programming. Broadcasters could be relieved of public
interest obligations by paying 3% that would go to support noncommercial
programming on public stations. [See What's Local About Local Broadcasting
at http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV

Title: Dual Threatens To Delay Debut of Digital TV
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B1)
Author: Kyle Pope & Leslie Cauley
Issue: Digital TV
Description: "Are cable companies required to carry whatever digital signals
broadcasters send them?" Broadcasters say, Yes; cable operators say, No. The
fight may need to settled in court. The largest cable industry trade group
will begin briefing the press on the issue tomorrow. Broadcasters claim that
if cable operators do not carry digital TV signals, the result will be a
domino effect: digital TV sets will not sell, producers will not make
digital TV programs, and the new digital TV world will never get off the
ground. "As a national policy, we would not want 70% of the public deprived
of the best digital TV," says National Association of Broadcasters President
Eddie Fritts. "If digital TV is the national policy, it seems to me it ought
to apply to cable." The president of the National Cable Television
Association said, "I'd love to have the government and broadcasters explain
to 99.9% of our customers why they have four blank channels so 400 rich
people...can watch two hours of programming a week on their $7,000
television sets."

Title: Tauzin: Must-see HDTV
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.26)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: On April 23, House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman
Billy Tauzin (R-LA) will hold a hearing to ask cable executives what their
plans and abilities are to deliver broadcasters' digital signals. "If cable
cannot offer a digital carry-through, then we're in a world of trouble,"
said a spokesperson for Rep Tauzin. A preliminary witness list for the
hearing includes: TCI's Leo Hindery, CBS's Michael Jordan, ABC's Preston
Padden, FOX's Chase Carey, and Consumer Electronics Manufacturers
Associations's Gary Shapiro.

Title: TV Translator and Low Power TV Applications
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/LPTV_Notices/pnmm8057.
html
Issue: Digital TV
Description: "By this Public Notice, the Commission today grants the request
of the National Translator Association (NTA) to postpone from April 20,
1998, until June 1, 1998, the first day for filing "DTV displacement relief"
applications by licensees and permittees of low power television (LPTV) and
TV translator stations. On March 24, 1998, the NTA filed its "Ex Parte
Request for Stay of Effective Date of Eligibility for Filing DTV Related
Displacement Applications," seeking this delay."

Title: Critics Assail PBS Over Plan For Toys Aimed at Toddlers
Source: New York Times (A1,A17)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/teletubbies-marketing.html
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Public TV
Description: The merchandizing schemes that Public Broadcasting Service has
begun to attach to Britain's Teletubbies, a show designed for 1- and
2-year-olds, is causing concern among some children's advocates. The concern
is two-fold. One worry revolves around the nurturing of "a consumer
mentality in children not yet able to speak properly." "A child that young
doesn't say, 'Buy me that,' but in the store she will grab for something,"
said Dr. Kathryn Montgomery, president of the Center for Media Education and
a respected researcher on children and media. "And parents want to please
their children. Marketing like this helps encourage that first, 'Buy me
that' exchanges between a parent and a child before the kid even knows how
to say 'Buy me that.'" The other concern is that PBS programmers might be
influenced in their choosing of programs by the consideration of how much
money PBS could make from toys and other products tied to the program.
Critics warn that with PBS's chronic financial need, such "windfalls could
be tempting enough to sway judgements about a program's suitability," a
notion that PBS rejects.

Title: US West Is Set to Offer TV Programming And Internet Access
Over Phone Lines
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B2)
Author: Stephanie Mehta
Issue: Convergence
Description: Using variable digital subscriber lines (VDSL), US West plans
to offer 120 television channels, 40 digital music channels and Internet
access over traditional cooper wire telephone lines. Starting in Phoenix,
the service will be priced at rates "comparable" to the monthly fees charged
by Cox Communications, the primary cable operator in the area. The cable
industry is expected to install some 300,000 high-speed modems for Internet
access. "If you're a phone company, you're going to roll out a package of
services that will blunt the attack from the cable companies, which are
trying to take away phone customers," said an industry analyst from
International Data.

** Jobs **

Title: Court KO's EEO
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Minorities/Jobs
Description: The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing options now
that a 27-year-old program aimed at diversifying the work force in
broadcasting has been struck down by a Washington, DC court. "Even assuming
that the commission's interests were compelling, its EEO regulations are
quite obviously not narrowly tailored," wrote Judge Laurence Silberman.
Commerce Department Assistant Secretary Larry Irving said, "If it stands, it
could have a devastating effect. Rules aren't in place for good actors.
There are some broadcasters who will slide backwards."

Title: Use of Work Visas by Technology Companies Is Under Fire
Source: New York Times (D1,D10)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/biztech/articles/20visa.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Jobs
Description: The Immigration and Naturalization Service recently gave
immigration figures to Congress showing that the 10 companies using the most
visas last year all provide contract labor and services. These include jobs
like computer software installation and maintenance -- positions which
critics maintain do not necessarily require college-level science and math
degrees and Americans could be easily trained to perform. "This is not brain
surgery," Representative Ron Klink (D-PA), said of the positions being
filled by foreign workers. "These jobs do require some skill and intellect.
But American workers can be trained to take these jobs." Harris Miller,
president of the Information Technology Association of America, points out
that the American information technology industry has 346,000 job openings
-- more than enough for foreign workers and Americans alike. Many technology
companies hire the majority of their foreign employees via H1-B visas (the
type for highly skilled employees) and most of these workers hold master's
degrees or doctorates.

** Competition **

Title: Competitor's Access to Networks
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8032.html
Issue: Competition
Description: "The Commission has proposed a set of model rules by which to
gauge whether new providers of local telephone service are able to access
certain services and functions of incumbent local telephone companies in a
manner consistent with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The proposed
model rules are designed to help pave the way to more robust competition in
the local telephone market while reducing the need for regulatory oversight.
By proposing to adopt model rules in the first instance, rather than legally
binding federal rules, the Commission seeks to assist states in the
technical area of performance measurements without hampering current state
efforts to develop such measurements."

** Disabilities **

Title: Access to Telecommunications Services and Equipment by
Persons with Disabilities
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
Issue: Disabilities
Description: FCC set forth proposals to implement and enforce the
requirement of Section 255 that telecommunications offerings be accessible
to the extent readily achievable to the 54 million Americans with
disabilities; sought comment on these proposals. Comments due June 30;
replies August 14. Dkt No.:WT- 96-198. Action by the Commission. Adopted:
April 2, 1998. by NPRM. (FCC No. 98-55).

** Education **

Title: Undergraduate Education is Lacking, Report Finds
Source: New York Times (A12)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/undergrads-report.html
Author: Karen W. Arenson
Issue: Education
Description: According to 'an unusually candid' report from the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the acclaimed research
universities of the United States are "shortchanging" their undergraduate
students, particularly freshman. The report, by a 11-member commission whose
members included officials of research universities, said that more
university undergraduate classes are being taught by graduate assistants and
universities failed to provide students with "a coherent body of knowledge"
by the time they graduated. The report says that there is a "longstanding
division between research and teaching that should be ended and that
universities should involve undergraduates in research beginning in the
freshman year." "What we need to do is create a culture of inquirers, rather
than a culture of receivers,' said Shirley Strum Kenny, the president of the
State univ. of New York at Stony Brook and chairwoman of the commission that
wrote the report. The report titled, "Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A
Blueprint for America's Research Universities," is scheduled to be released
today.

Title: Corporate Sponsorship of Educational Technology Program Raises Concerns
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/19teacher.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Education
Description: Integrate 98 is a national pilot project designed to train
teachers in how to access the Internet and how to use it to enhance a
typical lesson plan. The project is being offered free of charge and is a
joint effort of three major computer-related companies, Microsoft Corp.,
Compac Computer Corp., and Computer Curriculum Corp., an educational
software developer and a unit of Viacom Inc., and the Council of the Great
City Schools, a not-for-profit based in Washington D.C., which represents
about 50 large urban public school systems. Mark A. Root,
manager of technology and information services for the Council of the Great
City Schools, said, "The districts have gotten to a certain comfort level
with the technology. Now they realize they have to train people how to use
it. Also, teachers are starting to ask for training. The districts need to
answer that request." But the program has at least one educational expert
concerned. Douglas M. Sloan, a professor of history and education at the
Teachers College of Columbia Univ. in New York, opposes the rush to wire the
classroom and points out the value of wide-spread computer use in the
classroom has yet to be backed by research. He believes that many school
districts that are under pressure to solve serious education problems are
turning to technology as the cure-all solution. "They are afraid that if
they don't buy into it, they will get blamed for not being up to date," he
said. "It's going to take some courage to ask some basic questions about
when technology is appropriate and when it is not." Sloan also is wary of
the projects sponsorship by companies that have an economic interest in
developing the school market for computer-related products.

** Microsoft **

Title: Gates to Unveil Windows 98, Awaits Legal Showdown
Source: Washington Post (A12)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/20/070l-042098-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Microsoft Corp. is planning to make its Windows 98
operating system available to consumers starting on June 25, that is if
everything goes according to plan. Microsoft may face objections from not
only competitors, but from government antitrust officials as well. The
Justice Department and lawyers for the software company are scheduled to
meet at the U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday to discuss whether a federal
judge overstepped his authority when he issued a temporary injunction
requiring that Microsoft offer computer makers a version of its current
software, Windows 95, without its Internet Explorer 4.0 browsing software.
"Analysts and legal experts believe that the confrontation is likely to be
just a prelude to a more complex battle, namely whether Microsoft has taken
unfair advantage of its market clout and is squelching competition in
several software areas." Legal experts said that if federal and state
lawyers, that are cooperating with one another in the investigations, find
cause for a complaint, federal and state antitrust enforcers might launch
their suits together. If this happens, it will likely take place before the
company ships its final version of Windows 98.

** America Online **

Title: Behind the AOL Health Insurance Partnership
Source: Washington Post (Bus7)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/20/022l-042098-idx.html
Author: Jerry Knight
Issue: E-Commerce
Description: America Online Inc. is aiming to jump on the Internet commerce
bandwagon by beginning to offer its subscribers a variety of services. One
of its latest "forays" is the offering of health insurance to its members,
with the sales process to be entirely conducted over the Web. At first
glance it sounds like a good way for AOL to make its service more useful to
its members. But the vendor AOL chose for this venture, Provident American
Corp., based in Norristown, PA, is "in the midst of serious financial
difficulties, which are being examined by the Nasdaq Stock Market and could
cause Provident American's stock to be delisted." Experts in the insurance
industry also have doubts as to whether any insurance company can succeed at
selling health insurance online. But there's more, in an effort to "return
to profitability," Provident said it will impose "an increase in premium
rates, more stringent front-end underwriting standards and greater penalties
for out-of-network usage and administrative changes."
*********