June 1998

Communications-related Headlines for 6/30/98

Universal Service
Ameritech to cut fees to carriers (ChiTrib)
Town Hall Meeting on Universal Service and the E-Rate (NTIA)

Telephone Regulation
ICC probing telephone number use (ChiTrib)

Ownership
News Corp to Sell Shares In New Unit (NYT)

Technology
New Media Helps Visually Impaired (CyberTimes)
Treasury Department to Inaugurate Internet-Payment Plan Called
'Echeck' (WSJ)

Television
TV Sins: Sex, Violence and Now, Unbelted Driving (WSJ)

** Universal Service **

Title: Ameritech to cut fees to carriers
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3)
http://chicago.tribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9806300337,00....
Author: Jon Van
Issue: Long Distance/Universal Service
Description: Ameritech will lower the amount it charges long distance
companies to complete calls by $225 million starting Wednesday. Although
this should amount to a savings of $11/year per phone line, long distance
companies have recently announced price increases by the same amount.
Spokespeople from AT&T and MCI claim that they *are* passing savings to
consumers in their calling plans or MCI's $0.05 Sundays. They also contend
that at the same time the Federal Communications Commission is lowering
access fees, the Commission is imposing new universal service fees.

Title: Town Hall Meeting on Universal Service and the E-Rate
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/ala62698.htm
Author: Assistant Secretary Larry Irving
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Welcoming remarks by Larry Irving to the June 26 Town Hall
Meeting on Universal Service and the E-Rate sponsored by NTIA and the
American Library Association. "This town hall meeting on universal service
and e-rate comes at an opportune time. As you know, the e-rate program has
been besieged on many fronts: by some members of Congress and the long
distance carriers, to name a few. This meeting comes at a point when those
of us supporting e-rate must regroup to ensure that it remains an effective,
viable program. The Clinton Administration is fully committed to connecting
America's classrooms by year 2000 and to maintaining the e-rate program. Two
weeks ago, when the FCC was considering the program's funding,
Vice-President Gore repeatedly stressed the need for the program's
continuation and pledged that he "would fight any effort by Congress to end
the e-rate."

** Telephone Regulation **

Title: ICC probing telephone number use
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 2, p.6)
http://chicago.tribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9806300153,00....
Author: Cornelia Grumman
Issue: Telephone Regulation/Competition
Description: Ameritech, the Midwest distributor of telephone numbers, plans
to start publicizing a new overlay area code for Chicago's north and
northwest suburbs. The new area code will bring 11-digit dialing for local
calls in the area. The Illinois Commerce Commission has decided to
investigate how well telephone companies are complying with new rules
requiring them to conserve numbers. The Citizens Utility Board estimates
that only 58% of the 8 million numbers in the area code have been assigned
to customers.

** Ownership **

Title: News Corp to Sell Shares In New Unit
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/fox-marketplace.html
Author: Geraldine Fabrikant
Issue: Corporate Retrenchment
Description: Media giants like Time Warner, Viacom, and Walt Disney trade at
roughly 12 times their cash flow. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has
lagged behind, however, at eight times cash flow. To bolster the stock, News
Corp has announced that as much as 20% of the company's American film,
television, and sports businesses -- including 20th Century Fox, Fox
Television, and (speaking of lagging) the LA Dodgers. The sale will allow
the company to pay off some $8 billion of debt. The new company, Fox Group,
accounted for nearly $7 billion of News Corps' $11.2 billion in US revenue
last year.

** Technology **

Title: New Media Helps Visually Impaired
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/30audio.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Disabilities
Description: David Erdody is using RealAudio technology on his Assistive
Media Web site to make magazine articles available in audio form so that
people with visual impairments can have access to a wider range of media.
Though his operation is still relatively small and operates almost entirely
off of volunteer assistance, it is getting "rave reviews" from around the
world. "A valuable and exciting tool to read articles which I would not
normally come across," Richard Zapata, a blind massage therapist from
Phoenix, wrote in an email to Erdody. "I very much thank you for the effort
expelled in putting this site together." "I really hope that this is only
the first of many sites of its kind on the Net," Zapata said in an email
interview. "I await the day when most, if not all, magazines and newspapers
are placed on the Internet." David Erdody's father has diabetes and faces
the possibility of someday losing his sight. So when Erdody was in college
studying education technology he started paying attention to what was and
wasn't available on cassette. "Let's just say we sighted people have a much
larger choice," he said. "I was told by one library administrator that only
3 percent of the published works in the U.S. are made into an alternative
format for the handicapped. So began a venture into what would become
Assistive Media." Assertive Media also is a text-based site which is
friendly to the technology used by people with visual impairments to read
Web pages. You can access the Assistive Media site at:
http://www.assistivemedia.org

Title: Treasury Department to Inaugurate Internet-Payment Plan Called 'Echeck'
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Email
Description: The U.S. Treasury Dept. will inaugurate a new system for making
payments over the Internet called "echeck," by emailing a $32,000 check to
GTE Corp. for work on an Air Force contract. The echeck program, first
announced in 1995, is a cooperative effort backed by the Financial Services
Technology Consortium, which includes Sun Microsystems Inc., IBM Corp.,
BankBoston Corp., NationsBank Corp. and BankAmerica Corp. The consortium
hopes that echecks will become a widely accepted form of payment, especially
for business transactions. "We think this addresses a big void in the
business-to-business space," said Mark Greene vice president of Internet
payments at IBM. The echeck program will be tested among the Treasury and
about 50 government contractors for about a year before being made more
widely available.

** Television **

Title: TV Sins: Sex, Violence and Now, Unbelted Driving
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: WSJ Staff Reporter
Issue: Television
Description: A Michigan State Univ. survey has brought to light yet another
negative being portrayed on television programs. The survey reports that
only one in four drivers on prime-time TV wears a seat belt. "I don't think
it's reasonable to expect bank robbers to jump in their getaway car and
buckle up," says Phil Haseltine, president of the American Coalition for
Traffic Safety, which financed the study. But it is reasonable to expect
more of lawmen, Haseltine says. Indeed, crime and cop shows did use their
seat-belts 31 percent of the time, topping all other types of programs.
Following police shows were situation comedies at 26 percent, family dramas
at 21 percent and action-adventure
show at 16 percent. The survey spanned a two-week period, looking at
programming from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC networks and on
cable TV's Family Channel, Lifetime, TNT and USA.
*********
Buckle up! Its our law.

Communications-related Headlines for 6/29/98

Education/Minorities
Racial College-Degree Gap Is Still Wide (WSJ)
Women, Blacks Gain in Educational Levels (WP)

Internet
We, the People of the Internet (NYT)
Group Weighs Need for Rules For Internet (WSJ)
Privacy From Whom? (WP)
Ideas Whose Time Has Come for Free Access (WP)

Radio/Television
Kennard Concerned About Rep Remarks (B&C)
Low Marks for Kids TV (B&C)
Prime Time for Documentaries (B&C)

Mergers
Media Convergence (NYT)

** Education/Minorities **

Title: Racial College-Degree Gap Is Still Wide
Source: Wall Street Journal (A2)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Christina Duff
Issue: Education/Minorities
Description: New data released by the Census Bureau shows that the gap
between the numbers of African Americans and whites who earn college
degrees, though narrowing, remains relatively wide. In 1987, census data
reported that about 23 percent of white adults aged 25 to 29 earned at least
a bachelors degree, compared with 11 percent of African Americans. Now ten
years later, more people in both groups are earning their college degrees,
but the gap still remains. Data from 1997 shows that 29 percent of whites
had obtained college degrees compared with 14 percent of African Americans.
At the same time, among young adults aged 25 to 29 who have earned high
school diplomas, the gap has disappeared. As of 1997, over 85 percent of
young adults from each race had graduated from high school. Analysts say
that this difference between high school and college graduation has a lot to
do with money. The rising cost of college is "a huge barrier" for black
students, says Jennifer day, chief of the Census Bureau's educational and
social stratification branch. The fact that African Americans have not fared
as well as whites on the college level has "everything to do with access,"
says economist Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute. "We've done
a great deal to promote access to high school education. Not only have we
not done enough to promote access to college education, but in fact policy
seems to be going the other way." Minorities can only go so far in this
economy," said Bernstein, "without access to higher education."

Title: Women, Blacks Gain in Educational Levels
Source: Washington Post (A7)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/29/058l-062998-idx.html
Author: The Associated Press
Issue: Education/Minorities
Description: A report released yesterday by the Census Bureau says that the
proportion of women completing college has "topped" that of men and that the
lead is continuing to grow. In comparing men and women in the same age
group, 29.3 percent of women completed four years or more of college as of
1997, compared to 26.3 percent of men. In addition, the report titled
"Educational Attainment in the United States, March 1997" states the
percentage of young African Americans graduating from high school have
almost caught up with whites. "The educational attainment of young African
Americans indicated a dramatic improvement by groups who historically have
been less educated," said Census population expert Jennifer Day.

** Internet **

Title: We, the People of the Internet
Source: New York Times (D1,D10)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/29net.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: A variety of groups will be meeting at different times this
summer to discuss serious issues about the Internet, who will run it and
how. Jon Postel, a Univ. of Southern Calif. researcher who has recently been
anointed a founding father of the Internet's "nascent" political structure,
offers several examples of the questions being asked: "How do we form a
representative board? How do we make it international? How do we find enough
agreement to move forward?" etc. Postal and others are trying to reach some
sort of conclusions about the Internet before the deadline for the U.S.
government to hand over control of a key portion of the Internet to an,
as-of-yet, unformed nonprofit international group takes place on Sept. 30.

Title: Group Weighs Need for Rules For Internet
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7B)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jennifer L. Schenker
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: Leaders in the high-technology industry will meet in Brussels
today to put forth their wishes on regulating the Internet. The meeting is
being organized by European Commissioner Martin Bangemann as part of his
ongoing effort to strengthen international coordination on governing the
Internet. A possible outcome of the meeting will be the creation of an
industry-led group called the Global Business Dialogue. U.S. officials and
the European Union Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce say they
don't see the need for an international charter or another industry group
working to settle Internet governance issues. But Paul Verhoef, the member
of Bangemann's cabinet responsible for information issues, points out that
it currently takes the commission two to five years to pass legislation, a
pace far over-taken by technological developments.

Title: Privacy From Whom?
Source: Washington Post (A14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: WP Editorial Staff
Issue: Privacy
Description: Last week, Vice President Al Gore issued warnings to companies
doing business on the Internet in regards to privacy practices and spoke of
the administration's preference for "self-regulation." The administration's
interest in "self-regulation" focuses mainly on the types of information
gathered in electronic commerce. But electronic commerce is only a small
piece of the pie in the larger privacy problem in an increasingly electronic
world. "It is trivial next to the threats of intrusion on people's medical,
financial and employment data." But the "foot-dragging" of private companies
on the matter of self-regulation is a symptom of the difficulty of
protecting privacy on these other issues. "The trouble with urging companies
to self-regulate is that the real incentives all lie in the other direction.
The administration needs to recognize that and stop issuing ineffectual
warnings."

Title: Ideas Whose Time Has Come for Free Access
Source: Washington Post (Bus-20)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/29/031l-062998-idx.html
Author: John Schwartz
Issue: Technology Online
Description: In August, technicians will begin to connect one of the single
largest databases ever offered on the World Wide Web, the official record of
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). How big of a deal is this? Well,
as Bruce A. Lehman, commissioner of patents and trademarks puts it: "This
database in the record of technology at this moment in time." I something
unimaginable were to blast the U.S., Lehman said, the survivors could pull
the PTO's backup tapes out of the salt mine in Pennsylvania where they are
stored and "entirely reproduce all of the technology of the 20th century."
And now, he continued, "we are putting the entire library of the technology
of our time on the Web, available with a few keystrokes." You can
access the U.S. Patent and Trademark Web site at: www.uspto.gov

** Radio/Television **

Title: Kennard Concerned About Rep Remarks
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p22)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnel
Issue: Minorities
Description: Both FCC Chairman William Kennard and FCC Commissioner Gloria
Tristani said that the commission could be taking a closer look at the
advertising industry's impact on minority-owned stations. An internal memo
from the Amcast unit of Chancellor Media-owned Katz Radio Group said, sales
representatives were encouraged to advertise to "nonethnic" consumers and to
steer clear of urban stations. Another portion of the memo read: "When it
comes to delivering prospects, not suspects, the Urbans deliver the largest
amount of listeners who turn out to be the least likely to purchase." In
response, Commissioner Tristani said: "We need to find out what is going on
in the advertising world and how attitudes like these affect minority
ownership." At the same forum where this issue was discussed, the media's
portrayal of minorities was also brought up. Chairman Kennard pointed out
that children are bombarded with media images and added, "Not all those
images have to be positive, but they have to be fair." Kennard and Tristani
cited a recent study on media stereotypes by Children Now. "White actors are
more often seen as having money, being well-educated and being leaders,
while characters of color are often criminals, lazy and 'act goofy',"
Tristani said. "These stereotypes have an impact, especially on children."

Title: Low Marks for Kids TV
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p26)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Children's TV
Description: In its annual assessment of children's programming, the
Annenberg Public Policy Center found that the percentage of network-aired,
"highly educational" programs dropped from 43 percent to 29 percent. At the
same time it found the percentage of "minimally educational" programs
increased from 22 percent to 26 percent. The study also found that many of
shows containing fantasy violence are omitting the "TV-FV" label from
children's programming. "A full 75 percent of programs containing 'a lot' of
violence had no such rating," the report says. "We feel this is something
that needs to be addressed in the coming seasons," adds Amy Jordan,
Annenberg senior research investigator.

Title: Prime Time for Documentaries
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p34)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Kim McAvoy
Issue: Television (Trends?)
Description: Documentary programming is becoming increasingly popular on
cable television. The genre is becoming so popular that some cable networks
are discussing putting documentary series on their new digital channels.
"We'll air 50 to 60 documentaries a year on HBO, Cinemas, Signature and Zone
-- as opposed to the 12 or 13 hours we were doing five years ago," says
Sheila Nevins, HBO senior vice president, original programming. "Cable has
become a home for documentary programming," says Pat Mitchell, president of
Time Inc.-CNN productions. Mitchell believes that TV documentary is in a
golden age. "Documentaries are no longer a highbrow thing to watch.
[Viewers] now see that documentaries are for them," says Geoffrey Darby,
president of CBS Eye on People. (Farewell Springer - Hello Discovery!)

** Mergers **

Title: Media Convergence
Source: New York Times (A1,A11)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/29phone.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Mergers
Description: AT&T's announced merger with TCI last week is the latest in the
rising trend of corporate deals sweeping up telecommunications, cable
television and media companies as these industries become increasingly
dependent of digital technology. The "business logic" behind these trends is
that these companies have a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to become early
leaders in the new markets of the information age. Whether any of these
deals pay off will largely depend on people who are technologically affluent
and whether they will turn to one company for one-stop shopping.
*********

Communications-related Headlines for 6/26/98

Internet Regulation
Committee Adds Filtering Amendment to Budget Bill (CyberTimes)

Television
Report Links Baltimore Crime Fears, TV News (WP)

Arts/First Amendment
Justices Uphold Decency Test in Awarding Arts Grants, Backing
Subjective Subjects (NYT)
'Decency' Can Be Weighed In Art Agency's Funding (WP)
Ruling on Indecency Prompts Fears of a Chilling Effect (NYT)
Groups Shiver at 'Chilling Effect' (WP)

Politics
In Surprise Rebuff to G.O.P., House Panel Backs Money for Arts
Endowment (NYT)
GOP Moderates, Democrats In House Back NEA Funds (WP)
Line-Item Veto Struck Down (WP)
Justices, 6-3, Bar Veto of Line Items In Bills (NYT)
Supreme Court Invalidates the Line-Item Veto (WSJ)

Mergers
Local Bells See a Bright Side in the AT&T Deal (NYT)

** Internet Regulation **

Title: Committee Adds Filtering Amendment to Budget Bill
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/26filter.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Regulation/Censorship
Description: This week an Oklahoma lawmaker won preliminary support for
legislation that would require schools and libraries to install filters on
their computers. The proposed mandate was attached to an $81.9 billion
labor, education, health and human services budget bill pending in the House
Appropriations Committee. This move gives the legislation a much greater
opportunity of passage than if it were a separate bill. "The appropriations
bill is a must-pass bill so it is very dangerous that the provisions has
been added to that bill," said Ron Weich, a legislative consultant to the
American Civil Liberties Union. "It really is a significant threat," said
Weich. "Obviously there will be members who express their opposition to it.
But this is the kind of legislation that has a lot of visual appeal for
members because it involves children and pornography."

** Television **

Title: Report Links Baltimore Crime Fears, TV News
Source: Washington Post (C3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/26/099l-062698-idx.html
Author: Lisa Frazier
Issue: Television
Description: A report released yesterday by the Project on Media Ownership,
a New York-based media research center, found that excessive television
coverage of crime has heightened fears of life in Baltimore residents and
contributed to a "mass exodus" to the suburbs. Mark Crispin Miller, director
of the project said that although the study focused on Baltimore, he
believes that the findings apply to most major cities across the nation. The
study, conducted in April, was based on a three-week content analysis of
television news reports. The study found that a "disproportionate" amount of
time was devoted to crime stories in the typical news broadcast. And a
telephone poll conducted from Feb. 25 to Mar. 2 of 500 city and Baltimore
County residents, also showed that those who watched TV on a daily basis
tended to be more likely to avoid the city and more afraid of crime than
those who don't. "It seems to us that the highly repetitive and highly
charges reports must influence the way people see their world," said Miller.
Public Agenda, a New york-based research organization that conducted the
poll for Miller's group, said that the report distorted the poll results
because more than half of those polled either had been or knew someone who
had been a victim of a crime. "People are...basing their attitudes on
real-life experience," said Margaret Dunning, a spokeswoman for Public
Agenda. "That doesn't mean television hasn't had some impact. But...to say
everything is media-driven is an oversimplification."

** Arts/First Amendment **

Title: Justices Uphold Decency Test in Awarding Arts Grants, Backing
Subjective Subjects
Source: New York Times (A17)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/scotus-rdp.html
Author: Linda Greenhouse
Title: 'Decency' Can Be Weighed In Art Agency's Funding
Source: Washington Post (A1,A18)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/26/143l-062698-idx.html
Author: Joan Biskupic
Issue: Arts/First Amendment
Description: A ruling came yesterday in a case originally brought against
the National Endowment for the Arts by the performance artist Karen Finley
and three other non-mainstream artists. The Supreme Court ruled that the
federal government can consider general standards of decency and the "values
of the American public" when deciding which projects should receive funding.
In an 8 to 1 ruling the court upheld the disputed provision, saying that it
saw no evidence that the decency standard suppressed expression. But Justice
David H. Souter said in the "lone dissent" that the NEA standard would harm
any artist whose artwork is outside the mainstream or shows disrespect for
traditional American values. Justice Sandra Day O'Conner said: "We do not
perceive a realistic danger" that the law will "compromise First Amendment
values." But she added, "If the NEA were to leverage its power to award
subsidies on the bases of subjective criteria into a penalty on disfavored
viewpoints, then we would confront a different case."

Title: Ruling on Indecency Prompts Fears of a Chilling Effect
Source: New York Times (A17)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/scotus-finlay-art.html
Author: Mel Gussow
Title: Groups Shiver at 'Chilling Effect'
Source: Washington Post (A18)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/26/092l-062698-idx.html
Author: Jacqueline Trescott
Issue: Arts/First Amendment
Description: Representatives of different art groups around the country said
they were deeply disturbed by the Supreme Court's decision yesterday and its
failure to understand "the chilling effect" of congressional "wrangling"
over public funding for the arts and artistic freedom. "We have already seen
a significant impact of artists and organization in what they can go to the
endowment for. Indirectly it has had a negative impact on the range of work
that is coming from living artists," said Philip Blither, curator of
performing arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In 1996, Congress
ordered that the NEA can no longer make grants to individual artists except
for jazz and folk artists and literature fellows. Performance artist Karen
Finley said that the impact of the decision will be felt in other areas of
the arts and predicted that foundations and museums will be more reluctant
to offer support to artists whose work illustrate unpopular views. Tim
Miller, another performance artist who filed the initial lawsuit in 1990,
said that the ruling will not only affect established artists like himself
and Finley, but will also limit opportunities for emerging artists. He
expressed concern about the effect the decision on other institutions such
as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science
Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution and the academic world itself.
William J. Ivey, chairman of the NEA, said, "We are please with the Supreme
Court ruling. Today's decision is an endorsement of the endowment's mission
to nurture the excellence, vitality and diversity of the arts and a
reaffirmation of the agency's discretion in funding the highest quality of
art in America."

** Politics **

Title: In Surprise Rebuff to G.O.P., House Panel Backs Money for Arts Endowment
Source: New York Times (A17)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/congress-arts-endow.html
Author: Katharine Q. Seeyle
Title: GOP Moderates, Democrats In House Back NEA Funds
Source: Washington Post (A25)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/26/113l-062698-idx.html
Author: Eric Pianin
Issue: Arts/Politics
Description: In a 31-27 vote Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee
reversed an earlier subcommittee vote to deny money to the NEA. In
yesterday's actions, five moderate Republicans sided with Democrats to fully
fund the embattled agency for another year. "I thing it suggests we're in
strong shape," an NEA official said after the vote. "They [House
Republicans] fell on their swords last time and voted against us, and in the
end we got funded. Some of them may not have thought it was worth it this
time. A vote against the arts for some of these members gives them problems
back home."

Title: Line-Item Veto Struck Down
Source: Washington Post (A1,A19)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/26/154l-062698-idx.html
Author: Helen Dewar & Joan Biskupic
Title: Justices, 6-3, Bar Veto of Line Items In Bills
Source: New York Times (A1,A16)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/scotus-veto.html
Author: Robert Pear
Title: Supreme Court Invalidates the Line-Item Veto
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Edward Felsenthal
Issue: Politics
Description: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Constitution
prohibited the president from having the authority to rewrite legislation by
canceling specific items in spending or tax bills approved by Congress. The
Supreme Courts 6 to 3 decision dealt a potentially fatal blow to more than a
century of struggle for a presidential line-item veto. Unlike earlier laws
giving the president discretionary spending authority, "this act gives the
president the unilateral power to change the text of duly enacted statutes,"
wrote Justice John Paul Stevens for the majority. Such line-item vetoes are
"the functional equivalent of partial repeals of acts of Congress," he said.
But "there is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes the president
to enact, to amend, or to repeal statutes," he added.

** Mergers **

Title: Local Bells See a Bright Side in the AT&T Deal
Source: New York Times (C1,C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/26phone.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Mergers
Description: After AT&T announced its decision to acquire TCI on Wednesday
the thinking went that AT&T had lessened its need to use the Bells' networks
to reach local customers. By using TCI's extensive cable television system,
AT&T could link consumers and reduce the amount it pays to the Bells to
begin and end long-distance phone calls. One would think this would bother
the regional Bell companies, but instead their reaction has been: good
riddance. "I don't know who had the bigger celebration -- them or us," said
James Ellis, general counsel of SBC Communications Inc., which groups
Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis. The Bells think that AT&T and TCI's
merger will ultimately help them reach "their pot of gold at the end of the
optical fiber: the $80 billion long-distance market."
*********
...and we're outta here. Enjoy your weekend!

Communications-related Headlines for 6/25/98

Merger-Merger-Mergers
AT&T-TCI Merge in $68-Billion Deal for Local
Entry Using Cable (TelecomAM)
With Cable Deal, AT&T Makes Move to Regain Empire (NYT)
Breakthrough for AT&T Came at Secret Meeting (WP)
AT&T Buys TCI, Looks to One-Stop Future (WP)
A High Tech Vision Faces Big Hurdles (WSJ)
AT&T to Acquire TCI for $37.3 Billion (WSJ)
Connected: The AT&T-TCI Linkup (WSJ)
Telecom World Is Wondering 'Who's Next?' (WSJ)
Hooking Up The Nation (NYT)
Phone Strike in Puerto Rico Nearly Doubles (NYT)

Campaign Finance Reform
Parties to Corruption (WP)

Minorities
Black America on the Air (NYT)

Lifestyle
Panel Urges Americans to Turn Off TV, Get Involved

Antitrust
Microsoft Rushes On (NYT)
A Mistaken Microsoft Ruling (NYT)

Infrastructure
Kennard Offers Deal to Encourage Advanced Networks (TelecomAM)

Arts
Guggenheim to Add Digital Art to Its Collection (CyberTimes)

Internet
Judge Issues Injunction Against State Internet Porn Law (CyberTimes)

Telephony
Phone Giants Team Up to Challenge Microsoft (WSJ)

Lifestyles II
Talk About Fresh Vegetables! These Made Film Raters Blush

** Merger-Merger-Mergers **

Title: AT&T-TCI Merge in $68-Billion Deal for Local Entry Using Cable
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Title: With Cable Deal, AT&T Makes Move to Regain Empire
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/25merger.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Title: Breakthrough for AT&T Came at Secret Meeting
Source: Washington Post (A8)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/25/138l-062598-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Description: AT&T will pay $68 billion to merge will TCI; $48 billion for
TCI's shares plus an additional $20 billion for TCI's Liberty Media Corp.
The new company AT&T Consumer Services (ACS) will offer video, Internet and
telephony over a single connection. The Baby Bell companies replied by
issued a joint statement calling on the FCC to step up the process of
approving in-region long distance entry. [See reaction from FCC Chairman
Kennard http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/stwek850.html]

Title: AT&T Buys TCI, Looks to One-Stop Future
Source: Washington Post (A1,A14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/25/168l-062598-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi
Title: A High Tech Vision Faces Big Hurdles
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1,B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jared Sandberg & Thomas E. Weber
Issue: Mergers
Description: Following AT&T's announcement of its $48 billion takeover of
Tele-Communications Inc. yesterday, AT&T vowed to become the one-stop
provider of a variety of telecommunications services to households across
the U.S. Both TCI's chairman, John C. Malone, and AT&T chairman, C. Michael
Armstrong, promised on Wednesday that millions of residential customers
would ultimately benefit from the companies' merger. AT&T said by coupling
its long-distance lines with TCI's cable connections it will be able to
offer the first major competition to the regional Bell phone companies,
which now own a "near-monopoly" on local phone service. AT&T also envisions
a time when customers will be able to pay for all major telecommunications
services via a single monthly bill.

Title: AT&T to Acquire TCI for $37.3 Billion
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3,A16)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Leslie Cauley
Title: Connected: The AT&T-TCI Linkup
Source: Wall Street Journal (A16)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Stephanie Mehta, David Bank
Issue: Mergers
Description: AT&T, signed an agreement yesterday to acquire most of TCI's
cable and digital assets, including its stake in At Home Corp., the
cable-backed Internet service. "This will combine the best brand in the
industry with the best broadband company in the industry," said C. Michael
Armstrong, AT&T's chairman.

Title: Telecom World Is Wondering 'Who's Next?'
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1,B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Kyle Pope
Issue: Mergers
Description: More mergers? Analysts not only expect more mergers between
phone and cable companies but a buying frenzy within the cable industry.
"One way or another, these companies are going to be affiliated with phone
companies," said Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Jessica Reif Cohen. "There's
going to be consolidation in this industry." They also predict that the
combination of cable and phone services is a precursor to the marketing of
bundled cable services.

Title: Hooking Up The Nation
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/25merger-assess.
html
Author: Saul Hansell
Issue: Mergers
Description: Hey, does all this sound familiar. Phone giant buys cable giant
TCI and changes the communications landscape. Five years ago, it was Bell
Atlantic that was hot for TCI in the "mother of all anti-mergers." What's
different now? The Internet. While the TCI-Bell Atlantic deal promised 500
video channels to the home -- a service no one knew if consumers wanted --
the deal with AT&T is actually a scramble for the two companies to keep pace
and provide Internet access over phone and cable networks. The competitors
are Time Warner and other cable companies and companies that weren't on the
map five years ago like WorldCom-MCI and America Online. "Though few would
have predicted it back in 1993, the Internet and its multimedia World Wide
Web have become that vaunted information highway -- and the main vehicle for
driving it is not a television set but an increasingly TV-like computer,"
Hansell writes.

Title: Phone Strike in Puerto Rico Nearly Doubles
Source: New York Times (A15)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Issue: Mergers
Description: The last government-owned telephone company in the US, Puerto
Rico Telephone, is being sold to a consortium led by GTE. The $1.875 billion
deal has hit a bit of a snag as workers strike in protest of the sale.
Twenty percent of the companies subscribers are without service due to the
strike. The strike is growing from telephone workers to other industries as
well.

** Campaign Finance Reform **

Title: Parties to Corruption
Source: Washington Post (A23)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/25/102l-062598-idx.html
Author: Philip B. Heyman and Donald J. Simon
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: While Congress is considering legislation to completely ban
soft money, two political parties have filed parallel lawsuits asking a
federal court to find that the First Amendment requires that they be allowed
to "radically" expand their use of soft money. They hope that the
"mind-boggling" complexity of the campaign finance system will keep people
from noticing what they are doing. If the parties win, the whole effort to
combat the corruption in the U.S. campaign finance system by limiting money
in politics will crumble.

** Minorities **

Title: Black America on the Air
Source: New York Times (A22)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/ny-bedford.html
Author: Jim Yardley
Issue: Minorities/Television
Description: At a time when blacks were largely only seen on TV in newscasts
about riots, protests, or crime, Charles Hobson produced "Inside
Bedford-Stuyvesant." "This was a way for blacks to hear their voices," said
Hobson. "Here's a community of about 400,000 people at that time, with all
of their culture and churches, and no coverage." Mr. Hobson has edited
excerpts of the 1968-70 show [were you trying to guess the year?] into a
55-minute film. The show had a 52-program run on WNEW in New York. It ended
when sponsorship money dwindled.

** Lifestyle **

Title: Panel Urges Americans to Turn Off TV, Get Involved
Source: Washington Post (A6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/25/143l-062598-idx.html
Author: David S. Broder
Issue: Lifestlyes
Description: The bipartisan National Commission on Civic Renewal released an
18-month study yesterday, titled "A Nation of Spectators." The study reports
that community and civic life are on the wane and recommends that the remedy
lies in turning off the television set and getting more involved with
family, school, neighborhood and church. The private commission said the
concern and cynicism that many Americans voiced cannot be placed entirely on
poor leadership but involves the indifference of those who spend more time
watching TV than working with their neighbors. The 20-member commission has
made several suggestions for solving this problem, most of which are likely
to be considered controversial.

** Antitrust **

Title: Microsoft Rushes On
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/25rush.html
Author: Douglas Rushkoff, author
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Rushkoff proposes that antitrust regulators are fighting a
"phantom battle" with Microsoft. "[W]hat happens when there is no such thing
as software? Thanks to rivals like Netscape, which were threatening to
expand their programs into entire operating systems, Microsoft got the
bright idea of expanding its operating system into programs. In the Windows
future, users will no longer open a separate program for word processing,
spreadsheet calculations or Internet browsing. The same system window will
do all those things. Only the menu bar might change. In other words, the
operating system will not be the platform from which a computer user
launches software; it will be the software. Instead of buying new programs,
people will simply add functionality to the system, much in the way they now
download plug-ins like video players." Rushkoff suggests we take cable
regulation of the '70's [everyone's favorite regulatory model] and apply it
to Microsoft and Intel: "If they want to become the architects of our
information infrastructure, then they will have to demonstrate their
willingness to promote the public interest. For cable television, that meant
public access programming and reasonable rates for basic services. For
systems architects, it could mean on-line libraries, educational provisions
or open coding standards. What will serve the public interest is not
greater competition between information architects, but greater cooperation
and greater accountability."

Title: A Mistaken Microsoft Ruling
Source: New York Times (A26)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/25thu2.html
Author: NYT Editorial Staff
Issue: Antitrust
Description: "One month after the Justice Department filed its sweeping
antitrust suit against Microsoft, a Federal appeals court has issued a
deeply flawed ruling that may weaken the Government's case. The three-judge
panel seemed to adopt Microsoft's arrogant claim that it has the right to
incorporate its browser, or any other software, into its Windows operating
system as long as doing so offers certain advantages to consumers. But if
the thinking behind this decision prevails, it could permit Microsoft to use
its monopoly power to crush competitors throughout the Internet. The Justice
Department thus needs to mount a vigorous counterattack invoking the full
force of antitrust laws."

** Infrastructure **

Title: Kennard Offers Deal to Encourage Advanced Networks
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: Several of the Baby Bell companies have petitioned the FCC to
apply "regulatory forbearance" to their development of broadband networks.
The companies cite Section 706 of the Telecom Act that requires the FCC
encourage broadband development. The Bell companies
say regulations such as the ones requiring them to share the networks with
competitors are disincentives to building new networks. In a speech June 24,
FCC Chairman Bill Kennard is offering a deal: the FCC would waive some
discount resale or unbundling regulations if Bells, 1) give competitors use
of local loops, operations support systems (OSS) and space in central
offices to collocate equipment; 2) provide access to facilities under the
same terms and conditions that they give to themselves and "with the same
information about network technology and interfaces;" and 3) provide
interconnection to competing network providers so customers can talk to each
other. [See speech http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek819.html]

** Arts **

Title: Guggenheim to Add Digital Art to Its Collection
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/artsatlarge/25artsatlarg...
Author: Matthew Mirapaul
Issue: Arts
Description: "In the most ambitious effort of its kind by a major American
cultural institution, the Guggenheim Museum is launching a $1 million
project to commission, acquire and display works of digital art. It marks
the first time that a top-rank U.S. museum has made a substantive commitment
to interactive, computer-based works of art, a genre already taken seriously
in Europe and Japan but one yet to be legitimized by the U.S. art
establishment. 'Everybody looks at the Guggenheim in the late 20th century
as redefining in global terms what the museum is, that it's not one site but
multiple sites,' said John G. Hanhardt, the museum's senior curator of film
and media arts. 'The Virtual Museum will not simply be a point of
transmission; it will become a location for innovation and a laboratory for
further transforming our thinking about what the museum is.'"

** Internet **

Title: Judge Issues Injunction Against State Internet Porn Law
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/25censor.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: U.S. District Judge C. LeRoy Hansen, in New Mexico, issued a
preliminary injunction earlier this week to bar a state law scheduled to
take effect in July that would have made it a crime to electronically
transmit sexual images or content to minors. Judge Hansen indicated that the
law could possible violate First Amendment rights on free speech and
constitutional protections on interstate trade.

** Telephony **

Title: Phone Giants Team Up to Challenge Microsoft
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Matthew Rose, Amlar Latour & Quentin Hardy
Issue: Telephony
Description: In a challenge to Microsoft Corp., three mobile phone
companies, Nokia Corp, Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson and Motorola Inc., formed a
venture with Psion PLC, a British hand-held computer company, to build
software that could become "the brains" behind the next generation of mobile
phones. The four companies said they would produce an operating system
through a new company, Symbian Ltd., using Psion's technology. The
announcement marks a "milestone" in the growing market for "smart phones" -
combined with personal computers and mobile phones

** Lifestyles II **

Title: Talk About Fresh Vegetables! These Made Film Raters Blush
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Ernest Beck
Issue: Food Style
Description: (Yes, this was really in the paper!) Britain's Vegetarian
Society launched an ad campaign last week in 250 cinemas across Britain. "We
want to dispel the lingering myth that vegetarians don't enjoy themselves,"
says Chris Dessent, spokesman for the society. The ad, titled "Hot Dinner,"
conveys its message that vegetarians have better sex lives so vividly that
it has been slapped with an "over-15" rating. The film board says while the
ad is "clearly comical," the board opted for caution because younger viewers
might be embarrassed by the resemblance the vegetables and other foods have
to male and female genitalia. "The ad is a jolly good idea, but it isn't
just about the innocence of vegetables," argues Mike Bor, the board's
principal examiner. In the ad, "the camera zooms in on an asparagus tip
languidly dripping melted butter, then bread being kneaded vigorously, a pea
being fondled in its pod and a female hand firmly holding a bunch of raw
spaghetti. With sensual, classical-sounding music playing in the background,
the advertisement closes with the tagline: 'Become a real food lover.'" This
time, the Meat and Livestock Commission said they won't be dragged into a
debate over which group has better love lives. "They do their thing, and we
do ours," quips meat spokesman Jon Bullock. "We try to be more subtle."
*********

Communications-related Headlines for 6/24/98

Universal Service
Chairman Kennard Tells Mayors U.S. Faces Third Great
Education Challenge (FCC)

Mergers
AT&T Agrees to Buy TCI in $48 Billion Deal (NYT)
AT&T Trying to Buy TCI (WP)
Ma Cable? AT&T Appears Close to a Deal to
Acquire TCI for $30 Billion (WSJ)
Euro Commission, MCI, WorldCom Strike Merger Deal (WSJ)
Mergers and Consolidation in the Telecommunications Industry (FCC)

Antitrust
Microsoft Winner In Appeal To Keep Software Intact (NYT)
U.S. loses round to Microsoft (ChiTrib)
Microsoft Scores a Court Victory in Fight With Justice (WP)
Microsoft Wins a Battle in Antitrust War (WSJ)

Internet Regulation
House Passes Bill to Ban Taxes on Internet Sales (WSJ)
On-line pornography invades public libraries (ChiTrib)
Spam Attack (WP)

Telephone Regulation
House Telecom Subcommittee Debates Slamming Bills (TelecomAM)

Privacy
Don't Sacrifice Freedom for 'Privacy' (WSJ)

Journalism
"Liberal Media?" Not By These Numbers (ChiTrib)

Media & Politics
Candidates, media sought for trial run in campaign reform
(ChiTrib)

Philanthropy
Soros to Give $6 Million to New York Schools (NYT)

Advertising
Advertising: Rosy and Getting Rosier (NYT)

Some Sweet News
Sweet Homecoming: Bakery Cuts Deal to Reunite
Ring Dings and Ding Dongs

** Universal Service **

Title: Chairman Kennard Tells Mayors U.S. Faces Third Great Education
Challenge
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek818.html
Author: Chairman Kennard
Issue: Universal Service
Description: "FCC Chairman William Kennard said yesterday that our country's
education system faces its third great challenge in the last 150 years -
whether to make the benefits of technology available to ALL children or to
let our nation develop a "digital divide" of information "haves" and
"have-nots.""

** Mergers **

Title: AT&T Agrees to Buy TCI in $48 Billion Deal
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/late/
Title: AT&T Trying to Buy TCI
Source: Washington Post (A1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/24/059l-062498-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi and Mike Mills
Issue: Mergers
Description: AT&T will but Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) for $32 billion in
stock and $16 in debt. TCI has 14 million cable customers across the United
States.

Title: Ma Cable? AT&T Appears Close to a Deal to Acquire TCI for $30 Billion
Source: Wall Street Journal, A1, A8
http://www.wsj.com/http://www.wsj.com
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: AT&T is buying the nation's largest cable-TV operator,
TeleCommunications Inc, giving AT&T instant access to TCI's 22 million
cable-ready homes in dozens of states and offering AT&T a digital platform for
selling both long distance and local phone service, not to mention the cable
Internet capabilities already in place. The purchase offers AT&T a "nifty
detour" [that's what they wrote] around the "last mile" -- the phone wiring
into millions of homes and businesses that until now have been the complete
domain of local phone companies. And the purchase also includes assets such as
some of America's most popular cable networks (Discovery, Black Entertainment
Television).

Title: Euro Commission, MCI, WorldCom Strike Merger Deal
Source: Wall Street Journal, B6
http://www.wsj.com/http://www.wsj.com
Author: Julie Wolf & Jennifer Schenker
Issue: Mergers
Description: The European Commission has reached an agreement with WorldCom
and MCI that will allow the $37 billion merger to move forward. While details
weren't forthcoming, the two companies have apparently met the commission's
key demand that they eliminate any overlap in their Internet activities.

Title: Mergers and Consolidation in the Telecommunications Industry
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/States/stsn820.html
Author: Commissioner Ness
Issue: Mergers
Description: Commissioner Ness's Statement on Mergers and Consolidation in
the Telecommunications Industry before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary.

** Antitrust **

Title: Microsoft Winner In Appeal To Keep Software Intact
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/24microsoft.html
Author: Joel Brinkley
Title: U.S. loses round to Microsoft
Source: Chicago Tribune (p.1)
http://chicago.tribune.com
Author: Naftali Bendavid
Title: Microsoft Scores a Court Victory in Fight With Justice
Source: Washington Post (C9)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/24/084l-062498-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Title: Microsoft Wins a Battle in Antitrust War
Source: Wall Street Journal, A3, A10
http://www.wsj.com/http://www.wsj.com
Author: John R. Wilke & David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia has ruled that Federal District Judge Thomas
Penfield Jackson "erred procedurally" by issuing a preliminary injunction
without giving Microsoft a chance to present its case, and "substantively"
by misinterpreting the intent of antitrust law. The court ruled that
Microsoft had a right to determine which bugs...um...features and functions
to include in its operating software as long as the combination "offers
advantages unavailable" if a consumer were to purchase separate software
products and combine them to achieve similar capabilities. "Antitrust
scholars have long recognized the undesirability of having courts oversee
product design, and any dampening of technological innovation would be at
cross-purposes with antitrust law," said the text of Tuesday's decision.

** Internet Regulation **

Title: House Passes Bill to Ban Taxes on Internet Sales
Source: Wall Street Journal, B5
http://www.wsj.com/http://www.wsj.com
Author: WSJ Staff Reporter
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: The House yesterday passed, unanimously, a bill to ban taxes on
Internet sales and services for three years. The Act would also create a
temporary commission to study electronic commerce tax issues.

Title: On-line pornography invades public libraries
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 1, p.15)
http://chicago.tribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/article/0,1051,SAV-98062
40247,00.html
Author: Kathleen Parker
Issue: Libraries
Description: What are your kids doing at the library, Parker asks.
Downloading porn off the Internet. At least they can because of our national
infatuation with Internet access for all. Parker supports the mother suing
the Livermore Public Library because her son gained access to porn.

Title: Spam Attack
Source: Washington Post (A16)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/24/015l-062498-idx.html
Author: WP Editorial Staff
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: "Is "spam," as junk e-mail is known, just a price you pay for
using the Internet, or is it an environmental hazard demanding government
action?" The Senate has passed legislation introduced by Sens. Frank
Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Robert Torricelli (D-NJ). The arguments for
regulating unsolicited, bulk commercial email are 1) the recipient pays, it
raises overall costs of the Internet, and it slows the computer network
down. "If that can be fixed, though, taking a small, cautious step such as
this one is probably the right way to go."

** Telephone Regulation **

Title: House Telecom Subcommittee Debates Slamming Bills
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: On June 23, House Telecom Subcommittee debated two versions of
an anti-slamming bill (S-1618) passed in the Senate in May. Subcommittee
Chairman Billy Tauzin's (R-LA) anti-slamming bill (HR-3888) includes
restrictions on the sending of unsolicited
e-mail, popularly known as spamming. The bill gives the FCC new powers to
combat slamming, but does not arm the agency with the large fines that the
Senate bill does. John Dingell (D-MI), the Ranking Member of the Commerce
Committee, is backing a bill (HR-3050) that has three main differences: 1)
slamming enforcement would move from the FCC to the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC); 2) slammers would be required to reimburse customers for calls made
for three months after they were slammed; and 3) the bill contains no
anti-spamming provisions. TelecomAM reports, "many in Congress hope to have
a law on the President's desk in time to take the popular
consumer-protection issue home for next Fall's elections."

** Privacy **

Title: Don't Sacrifice Freedom for 'Privacy'
Source: Wall Street Journal, A18
http://www.wsj.com/http://www.wsj.com
Author: Solveig Singleton (editorial)
Issue: Privacy
Description: Expressing concern about the European Union's recent efforts to
urge U.S. lawmakers to enact Europe-style privacy regulations [which have
strong consumer/citizen protections], Singleton claims that "danger to privacy
and other rights is best restricted by limiting the power and scope of
government, not by limiting the freedom of businesses to trade information."
And this: "It makes no more sense to let you prevent [a store] from giving out
your name and address in a list of hedge-trimmer buyers than it would to give
the store the right to forbid you from telling Consumer Reports what you think
of the trimmer [you purchased]." Singleton is director of information studies
at the Cato Institute.

** Journalism **

Title: "Liberal Media?" Not By These Numbers
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 1, p.15)
http://chicago.tribune.com
Author: Clarence Page
Issue: Journalism
Description: Page examines the recent FAIR poll that reports that Washington
DC-based journalists are more conservative than the general public. Page
does not take much such stock in such polls, however, because a good
journalist does not let his or her personal views get in the way of their
work. The right and the left are complaining out the media, so journalists
must be doing something right. The only bias journalists should show is for
a good story.

** Campaign Finance Reform **

Title: Candidates, media sought for trial run in campaign reform
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 2, p.8)
http://chicago.tribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,1051,SAV-9806240174
,00.html
Author: Bob Kemper
Issue: Media&Politics
Description: Paul Taylor's Alliance for Better Campaigns is working with
Paul Simon's Illinois Campaign for Political Reform to persuade television
stations and candidates to alter the way campaigns are covered this fall. If
successful their efforts will produce five minute mini-debates between the
gubnortorial candidates on nightly newscasts. Candidates would also agree to
appear in their own ads which would discourage negative attack ads. The
media would step up analysis of candidates' ads. But it may be an uphill
battle for the groups to see changes in campaign coverage. The major-party
candidates, Republican George Ryan and Democrat Glenn Poshard, are
considering the groups' proposals, but have not committed to them. The
Illinois Broadcasters Association plans to discuss the proposals today at a
meeting in Peoria. A spokesperson for the group said many stations already
do what the groups are asking for. [Illinois Broadcasters Association 1125
South Fifth Street Springfield, IL 62703 Phone#: 217-753-2636 E-Mail:
info( at )ilba.org]

** Philanthropy **

Title: Soros to Give $6 Million to New York Schools
Source: New York Times (A24)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Issue: Philanthropy
Description: The Open Society Institute announced that George Soros will
give $6.4 million to expand after-school programs in 25 New York city public
schools. The Board of Education will match $4 million and NY's City Council
will make another $5 million available. The funds will allow the schools'
after-school programs to accommodate all of their students -- presently the
schools have small programs. The programs are aimed to provide academic
enrichment as well as athletic and arts activities from 3-6pm on weekdays.
The after-school sessions will be run by nonprofit organizations such as the
Dance Theater of Harlem, project Reach Youth, and the YMCA.

** Advertising **

Title: Advertising: Rosy and Getting Rosier
Source: New York Times (C8)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/forecast-ad-column.html
Author: Stuart Elliot
Issue: Advertising
Description: Predictions for total advertising spending in 1998 keep going
up. McCann-Erickson USA is estimating a record $200.3 billion -- up 6.8%
from last year. Ad spending is closely watched because it is deemed a
reliable indicator of the health of the economy.

** Some Sweet News **

Title: Sweet Homecoming: Bakery Cuts Deal to Reunite Ring Dings and Ding Dongs
Source: Wall Street Journal, B12
http://www.wsj.com/http://www.wsj.com
Author: Richard Gibson
Issue: Sweet Tooth
Description: After breaking up more than a decade ago, the two snack-cake
brands will soon be under the same corporate ownership, Interstate Bakeries
Corp. "This is a fun deal," said Interstate's chairman and CEO. The
snack-cakes business has recently benefited from the "Ring Around the Rosie"
phenomenon: Popular daytime TV talk show hostess [cupcake] Rosie O'Donnell has
frequently promoted Drake cakes, even eating them on the air. [I kid you not;
this was in the Wall Street Journal.]
*********
Thanks to guest contributor Jillaine Smith!

Communications-related Headlines for 6/23/98

Universal Service
Kennard Attacks Arguments Against E-Rate (TelecomAM)

Broadcasting
Kid-Tested Quality Programming: The News on the
New Programs (FCC)
Personal Attack and Political Editorial Rules (FCC)

Internet
Corporations urge privacy policy to protect
children using Internet (ChiTrib)
Filter Used by Courts Blocks Innocuous Sites (CyberTimes)

Online Services
Justices agree AOL isn't liable for messages posted on service
(ChiTrib)
AOL Held Not Liable For False Posting (WP)

Telecommunications Legislation
Curry Seeking to Tax Telecommunications (WP)

Mergers
EU Says MCI-Worldcom Deal Likely (NYT)

** Universal Service **

Title: Kennard Attacks Arguments Against E-Rate
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: In a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Reno, FCC
Chairman William Kennard defended the e-rate program. Chairman Kennard said
1) phone rates will continue to fall, 2) the corporation that administers
the e-rate is legal and becoming more efficient, 3) administrative salaries
have been capped, and 4) use of the program's funds to network individual
classrooms is allowed explicitly by the Telecom Act. The Chairman's remarks
come at a time when Congressional opponents plan to try to cut all funding
from the program during separate Senate and House appropriations mark-ups
this week.

** Broadcasting **

Title: Kid-Tested Quality Programming: The News on the New Programs
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/spsn813.html
Author: Commissioner Susan Ness
Issue: Children's Programming
Description: A preliminary assessment and a look at the challenges ahead for
children's television programming. Commissioner Ness said "I believe that
the vast majority of commercial broadcasters have accepted the need to
provide at least three hours of educational programming and are making a
good-faith effort to comply with the letter and spirit of the rules."

Title: Personal Attack and Political Editorial Rules
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/fcc98126.html
Issue: Broadcast Regulation
Description: "Pursuant to a May 22, 1998 order of the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Case Number 97-1528, by
recorded vote on June 18, 1998, the Commission voted two to two, with
Chairman Kennard not participating, on whether to grant or deny the Joint
Petition for Expedited Rulemaking Action and for Clarification, filed August
25, 1987 in Gen. Docket No. 83-484 by the Radio Television News Directors
Association, the National Association of Broadcasters, et al., seeking
repeal of the personal attack and political editorial rules. Commissioners
Ness and Tristani voted to deny the petition and Commissioners Powell and
Furchtgott-Roth voted to grant it." Joint Statement of Commissioner Susan
Ness and Commissioner Gloria Tristani
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Tristani/Statements/stgt816.wp. Joint Separate
Statement of Commissioners Powell and Furchtgott-Roth
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/Statements/stmkp817.wp.

** Internet **

Title: Corporations urge privacy policy to protect children using Internet
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 1, p.4)
http://chicago.tribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,1051,ART-10874,00....
Author: Frank James
Issue: Privacy
Description: With the threat of regulation looming, a group of major
corporations announced they will get parental permission before soliciting
personal information online from children under 13. The Online Privacy
Alliance http://www.privacyalliance.org/ -- which includes Microsoft, IBM,
and America Online -- said this is but one measure that members will be
asked to obey. But the Clinton Administration expressed disappointment
because the group did not detail how it would enforce its policies. "When
you are a company that is targeting children under 13, you may not, must
not, engage in the collection of data from kids without their parents' prior
consent," said Christine Varney, an adviser to the corporate alliance and a
former commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission. "That's a big step
forward from what had been the emerging practice in some quarters of the
Net." [See also "Companies Form Internet Trade Group"
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-Internet-Privacy.html]

Title: Filter Used by Courts Blocks Innocuous Sites
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/23filter.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: WebSENSE software is a computer program used by some of
country's top court systems to block access to questionable material on the
Internet. In addition to denying access to pornographic sites, the software
program also denies access to many other less graphic sites, like a home
page for a New Jersey grocer and the Liza Minnelli Web site. In a study to
be released today by the Censorware Project, an Internet watchdog
organization, it claims that the software makers also mislabeled as sexually
explicit several advocacy and free speech sites. One Censorware Project
official said that the study looks closely at the limitations of filtering
software. "Judges and court employees don't need to be protected against
themselves or their baser instincts with public money," said Jonathan
Wallace, a New York attorney who helped compile the study. The makers of
WebSENSE said that the filter only mislabels sites in a small percentage of
cases.

** Online Services **

Title: Justices agree AOL isn't liable for messages posted on service
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3)
http://chicago.tribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,1051,SAV-9806230
322,00.html
Author: Reuters News Service
Issue: Online Services
Description: The Supreme Court has let stand a ruling by federal appeals
court that a section of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 "gives
on-line firms immunity from liability for information that originates with
third parties," Reuters reports. The ruling is a victory for America Online
which could have been held liable for defamatory material posted on its system.

Title: AOL Held Not Liable For False Posting
Source: Washington Post (C3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/23/053l-062398-idx.html
Author: Reuters
Issue: Online Regulation
Description: Yesterday the Supreme Court handed America Online Inc. a
victory by allowing a ruling to stand that computer service providers may
not be held liable for defamatory material posted on their systems. The high
court denied an appeal by Kenneth Zeran, who had sued AOL for defamation.

** Telecommunications Legislation **

Title: Curry Seeking to Tax Telecommunications
Source: Washington Post (D3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/23/082l-062398-idx.html
Author: Emily Bazelon
Issue: Legislation
Description: Prince George, MD's County Council will meet today to discuss
whether to charge companies to build transmission towers and lay down
fiber-optic cable. "Under the proposed legislation, the county would collect
5 percent of gross revenue generated by companies that dig cables under
roads or string wire across public airspace. In lieu of the annual rental
fee, companies could negotiate to provide in-kind services such as Internet
and high-speed phone lines to government offices and schools."

** Mergers **

Title: EU Says MCI-Worldcom Deal Likely
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-MCI-Worldcom.html
Author: AP
Issue: Mergers
Description: The European Union seems prepared to approve the MCI-WorldCom
merger. "We're still talking, but as it stands now, we probably have a
deal," said Stefan Rating, spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Karel
Van Miert. "I can confirm that substantial progress has been made on this
case." The EU has set July 15 as the deadline for a decision on the merger;
it will probably consider it on July 8.
*********

Communications-related Headlines for 6/22/98

Universal Service
In on-line access, a great divide (ChiTrib)
FCC Must "Redo" Universal Service Funding Plan,
Says Senate Aide (TelecomAM)

Media & Politics
Consultants Blame Media For Problems of Politicians (NYT)
Straight From the Gift-Horse's Mouth (B&C)

Electronic Commerce
Even on the Net, the Boundary Lines Are Being Drawn (WP)
Legal Changes Threaten Online Sales (NYT)
Code Breaker Cracks Smart Cards' Digital Safe (NYT)

Journalism
Time Orders Investigation On Accuracy Of CNN Report (NYT)
Columnist's Ouster Pushes Editors to Look Inwards (NYT)
Asking Questions About a Closed Case (NYT)

Privacy
Conference Takes On Internet Privacy Again (NYT)
On-Line Groups Are Offering Up Privacy Plans (WSJ)
Web Vendors' Allure Bewitches Kids (WP)

Satellites
House Committee Votes to Delay Satellite Fees (B&C)
Iridium Hopes Satellite Phone Will Hook Professionals (WSJ)

** Universal Service **

Title: In on-line access, a great divide
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1)
http://chicago.tribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,1051,SAV-9806220
001,00.html
Author: Andrew Zajac
Issue: Universal Service
Description: President Clinton is equating the development of the Internet
with the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Industrial Revolution
as defining American moments. The Internet, declared the president, has
"absolutely staggering possibilities" and already is "the fastest-growing
social and economic community in history." Online commerce was zero in 1992
and is expected to zoom to $300 billion by 2002. But fewer than half of
American homes have a computer and only half of those -- or 23% of all US
homes -- have Internet access. [How do they get by without Headlines?] If
the Internet is important enough so everyone should have access and many
people don't, does the government have a role in extending access? In
President's Clinton speech, he called for more access, but didn't offer much
detail on how. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress approved
discounted access for schools and libraries. The Federal Communications
Commission, however, had to cut back on that program under pressure from
Congress earlier this month. That's because long distance giants AT&T and
MCI threatened to raise rates to pay for the program -- making it feel too
much like a tax for the Republican Congress. Rand researcher Tara Bikson
says of the Internet, "It's a societal infrastructure that brings commerce
and social and educational opportunity to people." Rand is conducting a
cost-benefit analysis of electronic commerce to see "whether there's a good
business case for making e-mail available, even to those who can't afford
it, because there will be a payoff in the end."

Title: FCC Must "Redo" Universal Service Funding Plan, Says Senate Aide
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Lauren Belvin, senior counsel for the Senate Commerce
Committee, said "Congress is waiting to see what the FCC does" about
universal service funding. She suggested that the FCC has until January --
when the next Congress convenes -- to "fundamentally restructure" universal
service funding and "premise [the subsidies] on need." Belvin said the big
problem is: "How big can you make the e-rate program without impinging on
the high-cost fund" for rural telephony.

** Media & Politics **

Title: Consultants Blame Media For Problems of Politicians
Source: New York Times (A13)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/political-consultants.html
Author: Richard Berke
Issue: Media & Politics
Description: Political consultants, the people who make ads and buy
advertising time to air them, have identified the true bad guy to fault
public despair about the system -- the news media. The Pew Research Center
for the People and the Press and the Center for Congressional and
Presidential Studies at American University have released the results of a
survey of over 200 political consultants. "They know something's wrong,"
said James A. Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and
Presidential Studies. "And they have to point their finger at some
institution. So instead of pointing at themselves, they point at the media,
the candidates and the electorate....They're in the business of electing
people -- and not in the business of trying to improve governance." Among
other interesting findings the study reports that the four major factors in
winning a political contest are (in this order): 1) quality of the message,
2) amount of money available, 3) the partisan makeup of the state or House
district, and then 4) the candidate's campaign ability. See Don't Blame Us:
The Views Of Political Consultants http://www.people-press.org/con98rpt.htm.

Title: Straight From the Gift-Horse's Mouth
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.20)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Campaigns/Free Airtime
Description: Paul Taylor, an advocate for free airtime for political
candidates, wants to find out if candidates would take five minutes per week
of free airtime from broadcasters if it was offered. This fall, from Labor
Day to election day, Taylor's organization, Alliance for Better Campaigns,
is running a pilot program in 10 states that will feature five-minute
mini-debates on Sunday nights. "The Alliance is promoting a series of
practical innovations designed to help rescue political campaigns from the
downward spiral of more ads, less coverage and fewer voters," says Taylor.
"We're also asking everyone else who's frustrated by political campaigns to
help figure out how to make them better." The participating states include:
Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota,
Oregon and Texas.

** Electronic Commerce **

Title: Even on the Net, the Boundary Lines Are Being Drawn
Source: Washington Post (Bus-20)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/22/017l-062298-idx.html
Author: Victoria Shannon VShannon( at )aol.com
Issue: E-Commerce
Description: The European Union and the
United States want to keep the Internet free from special taxes on the sales
of electronically purchased goods. But many other countries want to retain
the right to place and collect such taxes. "So, should the Internet be
exempt from a government's sovereign right to taxation?" A couple of weeks
ago the World Trade Organization (WTO) decided to delay a decision on this
question for another year. A duty-free Internet is a competitive one. And in
effect, the WTO's choice should help the Internet from dissolving into
another trade war battlefield. With this and other questions facing the
Internet today, maybe there should be a global plan to regulate this and
other issues or even a "United Nations of the Internet."

Title: Legal Changes Threaten Online Sales
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/digicom/22digicom.html
Author: Denise Caruso
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: Monitored by the American Law Institute http://www.ali.org,
the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
http://www.nccusl.org is attempting revise the Uniform Commercial Code for
cyberspace. Article 2B would legislate on the sale of digital data, text,
images, sounds, computer programs, and databases. Critics contend that
Article 2B is too complex and threatens to bury electronic commerce in
legalese. For example, Geoffrey Hazard, the director of the American Law
Institute and a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania said during
an interview: "What does the text say? It is difficult to follow in many
respects. When I'm talking to you on the telephone, for example, we're
exchanging information -- we're even doing it electronically. Is that
governed by this law? They say no, but I say why not? It's not clear."

Title: Code Breaker Cracks Smart Cards' Digital Safe
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/22card.html
Author: Peter Wayner
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: Smart cards are credit card-sized devices with a tiny computer
chip that can be used for storing "digital cash." Banking and credit card
companies are hoping the cards will cut costs and improve customer
convenience by replacing conventional magnetic-stripe cards. Smart cards
could be used like a credit card, an ATM card, or as legal tender wherever
merchants have decoder terminals. Of course, this will only happen if
consumers are comfortable using the cards and they are confident their funds
are secure. Paul Kocher of Cryptography Research in San Francisco has
cracked the digital code of smart cards using PCs and garden-variety
electronics equipment. The industry has been trying to downplay Mr. Kocher's
work, but he believes that as the expertise becomes more widely available,
threats to security will become more serious.

** Journalism **

Title: Time Orders Investigation On Accuracy Of CNN Report
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/time-cnn-media.html
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Journalism
Description: After Time published a story written by Cable News Network
(CNN) journalists and reported on the cable channel the day before, the
magazine has assigned its own journalists to follow up on evidence in the
story that some are saying is inaccurate. "I trust CNN's journalistic
standards," said Walter Isaacson, Times managing editor, in an interview on
Friday. "They did a story for us that was based on a lot of evidence. If
some of that evidence is now suspect, that is something we plan to report to
our readers, once we get to the bottom of it." The report was broadcast on
the debut edition of a new CNN program called "Newsstand: CNN and Time," a
collaboration between the two news organizations, which are both owned by
Time Warner Inc.

Title: Columnist's Ouster Pushes Editors to Look Inwards
Source: New York Times (C7)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Robin Pogrebin
Issue: Journalism
Description: Editors around the country are reacting to the Patricia
Smith/Boston Globe case. "It makes us rethink for sure," said George
Langford, the public editor at The Chicago Tribune, who acts as the
newspaper's ombudsman. "It certainly sharpens your antennae. I suppose
that's about the only good thing I can see coming out of it, because it
certainly is very damaging to all of us." Fact-checking departments are a
tradition at magazines, but the volume of news that moves through a
newspaper makes these publications rely on reporters -- and trust -- for
accuracy.

Title: Asking Questions About a Closed Case
Source: New York Times (C7)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/reporter-craig-media.html
Author: Jane Gross
Issue: Journalism
Description: Thanks to the work of Gary Craig, reporter at The Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle, a woman wrongly convicted of a murder 25 years ago
has been set free. Craig's investigation into the practices of a police
investigator convicted of fabricating evidence led to the overturned murder
conviction. "This has solidified in my mind the sort of work we should be
doing," Craig said. "But I worry we're doing less of it than we used to."

** Privacy **

Title: Conference Takes On Internet Privacy Again
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/22briefs.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Privacy
Description: "Industry says, 'This is what we're doing to protect privacy;
we say, 'It's not enough,'" Mark Rotenberg, the director of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center in Washington, said in an interview. "It's kind
of a nightmare actually." The Department of Commerce is conducting
conference calls to bring together industry, civil liberties groups, and
government officials to discuss topics such as children's privacy, and
legislative alternatives to self-regulation. The Department of Commerce is
to make a report to the President evaluating online privacy by July 1. "Do I
expect that on the first of July we'll be able to say effective
self-regulation is in place; no, absolutely not," said Becky Burr, the
Assistant Secretary of Commerce. "But somebody told me U.S. businesses often
rally in the last few minutes of the game."

Title: On-Line Groups Are Offering Up Privacy Plans
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1,B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Privacy
Description: Two privacy industry organizations are planning to announce
today proposals offering the "most comprehensive steps to date" to address
the concerns of privacy online. The two groups announcing the plan are the
Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. and the Alliance for Privacy, a
group of about 50 companies and trade groups, including America Online Inc.,
International Business Machines Corp. and Time Warner Inc. These proposals
could prove to be the industry's last chance to regulate itself and solve
the privacy problem online before the federal government steps in.

Title: Web Vendors' Allure Bewitches Kids
Source: Washington Post (Bus-19,21)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/22/014l-062298-idx.html
Author: Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Issue: Privacy
Description: In exchange for personal data, such as names and email
addresses, some Web sites are offering kids prizes, the honor of becoming
special group members, promotional offers, etc. Many sites claim they don't
sell the information they collect from their young visitors. But with an
increasing number of child-oriented sites and some of the site operators
making no promises to guard collected information, many privacy-advocates
are becoming concerned. Following a study on privacy on the Internet, the
Federal Trade Commission concluded this month that 89 percent of the 212
child-oriented Web sites it surveyed collected personal data from kids. Of
those, only 54 percent disclosed their practices and less than one in ten
sought parental approval. In response, the FTC has recommended legislation
that would require Web sites to obtain permission from a parent before data
could be collected.

** Satellites **

Title: House Committee Votes to Delay Satellite Fees
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.19)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Satellites
Description: A bill that was unanimously passed last week by the House
Telecommunications Subcommittee, and is awaiting review by the FCC, would
delay an increase in copyright fees paid by satellite TV companies. Last
summer, the U.S. Copyright Office increased copyright fees that satellite TV
carriers pay for imported network signals and superstations to 27 cents per
subscriber per month. These carriers previously paid 6 cents for imported
signals and 14 to 17.5 cents for superstations. The bill now goes to the
full Commerce Committee for a vote.

Title: Iridium Hopes Satellite Phone Will Hook Professionals
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Sally Beatty
Issue: Satellites
Description: This week Iridium is launching an ad campaign that they hope
will turn a "funny-looking new global phone with a hefty price tag' into an
indispensable, must-have status symbol. Iridium's marketing team has
developed a series of ads to play on the "aspirations and insecurities" of
the world's "globe-trotting" professionals. Coupled with "romantic,
sepia-toned images of desolate foreign lands, portraying the mundane hassles
of the harried business traveler as heroic," the ads carry taglines like:
"It will impress people. Assuming there's anyone around to impress," and "No
place on earth can bring relaxation unless you know there's peace at the
office." The campaign is running in over 45 countries and being translated
into 13 languages.
*********

Communications-related Headlines for 6/19/98

Telephone Regulation
AT&T Switches Residential Surcharge to Flat Rate (Telecom AM)
AT&T to Charge Flat Fee to Cover Universal Service (WSJ)
Local Phone Companies To Cut Access Charges $600 Million (TelecomAM)
AT&T Asks FCC to Halt Bell Company Long-Distance Alliances (Telecom AM)
FCC Warns Regional Bell Companies (WP)
7 come 11 -- It's No Dice, It's New Long-Distance Access (ChiTrib)

Internet
US Court Upholds Texas Ruling That Calls to ISPs Are Local (Telecom AM)
IBM to Join Challenge To Microsoft (WP)

Mergers
Disney Will Invest in a Web Gateway (NYT)
Disney Acts to Widen Role on the Internet (WP)
Plan to Sell Puerto Rico Phone Company Leads to Strike (NYT)
Cable & Wireless Drops Suit Against MCI Internet Sale (Telecom AM)
Cable & Wireless Drops Lawsuit Over Deal With MCI (WSJ)

Arts
House Panel Votes to Kill Endowment For the Arts (NYT)
For NEA Another 'No' Vote (WP)

Journalism
Prize-Winning Boston Columnist Losing Job Over Faked Articles (NYT)

Lifestyle
Computers Everyone Was Talking About - and To - at PC Expo

** Telephone Regulation **

Title: AT&T Switches Residential Surcharge to Flat Rate
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Starting in July, AT&T will charge residential long distance
customers $0.93/month to fund the company's universal service obligation.
The long distance giant has also reduced the percentage surcharge on
business bills from 4.9 percent to 4.1 percent. The reductions reflect the
$1 billion cut backs in the erate program.

Title: AT&T to Charge Flat Fee to Cover Universal Service
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Dow Jones Newswire
Issue: Universal Service
Description: AT&T announced that a new $.93 cent flat fee will begin to show
up on callers' phone bills next month. The fee will be used to pay for the
carriers $1.3 billion annual universal-service contribution.

Title: Local Phone Companies To Cut Access Charges $600 Million
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: The United States Telephone Association (USTA) announced that
the large local phone companies will reduce access charges -- the fees
charged to long distance callers to complete calls -- by a total of $600
million in July. Bell Atlantic will reduce fees by $174 million; SBC, $70
million; BellSouth, $150 million.

Title: AT&T Asks FCC to Halt Bell Company Long-Distance Alliances
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: AT&T has filed a complaint against Bell companies marketing
another carrier's long distance service to local customers in their regions.
AT&T also asked the FCC to halt the Ameritech and Qwest Communications
agreement. Qwest Communications said AT&T's efforts to halt the alliances
are "limiting competition and wrongly denying Qwest significant profits."

Title: FCC Warns Regional Bell Companies
Source: Washington Post (6/18/98-E2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: News Service Writers
Issue: Telephony/Regulation
Description:Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kennard warned
regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) on Wednesday not to proceed with
plans to build advanced data networks without the FCC's approval. Bell
Atlantic, U S West, and Ameritech have asked the agency for exemption
from some provisions of the 1996 Telecom Act that prevents them from
building high-speed networks similar to those underlying the Internet.
However, the RBOC's petitions "raised a lot of questions of first impression
that need to be resolved," said Kennard.

Title: 7 come 11 -- It's No Dice, It's New Long-Distance Access
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec3 p.1)
http://http://chicago.tribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,1051,ART-
10701,00.html
Author: Jon Van
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: The FCC is ordering all long distance access codes to be seven
digits instead of five. So, to dial a long distance number using an access
code, you'll have to dial 18 numbers. No, speed dialing might not work --
most speed dial systems are set up to handle 16, not 18 numbers. "This isn't
something we asked for," said Brad Burns, a spokesman for MCI Communications
Corp., "but with the explosion of competition, the number supply is being
depleted. We have no choice."

** Internet **

Title: US Court Upholds Texas Ruling That Calls to ISPs Are Local
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: Judge Lucius Bunton of the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Texas has upheld the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC)
ruling that local calls ending at Internet service provider (ISP) numbers
are local traffic under PUC jurisdiction and subject to local reciprocal
terminating compensation payments. SBC had contended that the calls are
interstate and the PUC has no authority to approve reciprocal compensation
on such connections.

Title: IBM to Join Challenge To Microsoft
Source: Washington Post (F10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/19/064l-061998-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Internet Servers
Description: International Business Machines Corp. confirmed yesterday that
it plans to "throw its weight behind the world's most popular software for
the 'server' computers that run sites on the World Wide Web." On Monday, IBM
plans to announce that it will become part of a coalition of programmers
from around the world developing and supporting "Apache," a Web server
program that is available free via the Internet. To date, most market
research show that Apache is used by about half of those running Web sites.
IBM plans to include Apache with other developing Web products.

** Mergers **

Title: Disney Will Invest in a Web Gateway
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/19disney.html
Author: Saul Hansell
Issue: Mergers
Description: The Walt Disney Company will purchase 43% of Infoseek
http://www.infoseek.com, an Internet portal. The deal is valued at $900
million. Portals are gateways to the Internet and are the starting point for
users looking for news, entertainment, and other content. These sites have
more visitors than any others and are the most attractive to advertisers.
"The search engines have become to the Internet what Windows is to the
computer desktop," said Alec Ellison, a managing director of Broadview
Associates, a technology investment banking firm. The NYT reports, "as
television, telephones and computers all converge into one integrated
network of communications and entertainment, companies of all sorts see
portals as a possible keystone to their future strategy. The power to funnel
users to certain advertisers and content sites is worth millions of dollars
in revenue."

Title: Disney Acts to Widen Role on the Internet
Source: Washington Post (F1,F2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/19/065l-061998-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: Mergers
Description: Disney yesterday agreed to buy 43 percent of Infoseek Corp., a
company that operates one of the Internet's most popular search engines.
Like NBC's purchase of Cnet Inc.'s Snap online directory earlier this month,
Disney's move further signals a new interest by "large, established" media
companies in acquiring Internet entry points. Analysts say that such
transactions spring from similar motivation: to use the popularity of
outposts on the Internet, or "portals" such as search engines, to "lure"
users to related sites. In turn companies hope to use these sites to
"cross-promote" the companies' other media ventures.

Title: Plan to Sell Puerto Rico Phone Company Leads to Strike
Source: New York Times (A16)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/puerto-phone-strike.html
Author: Mireya Navarro
Issue: Mergers
Description: A consortium led by GTE is trying to buy the government-owned
Puerto Rico Telephone Company and 6,000 workers telephone workers are
striking to prevent it. The Puerto Rico Senate approved the $1.8 billion
deal and the House is expected to do so by Saturday. Workers fear for their
jobs, but there is also public opposition to the sale because the company is
viewed with nationalistic pride -- it is a profitable public asset that
could compete in the world market. If approved, GTE would own a majority
share and pay $375 million. The FCC will have to approve the deal.

Title: Cable & Wireless Drops Suit Against MCI Internet Sale
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: Cable & Wireless has dropped its suit to prevent MCI from
selling the remainder of its Internet assets to a company other than Cable &
Wireless. MCI is trying to sell its Internet assets to win regulatory
approval of its merger with WorldCom.

Title: Cable & Wireless Drops Lawsuit Over Deal With MCI
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: Cable & Wireless announced that it dropped its lawsuit against
MCI Communications Corp. that claimed MCI was about to renege on its
agreement to sell some of its Internet assets to C&W and instead "shop" the
entire MCI business to other carriers. C&W's move clears an obstacle in
WorldCom's bid to win regulatory approval of its $37 billion takeover of MCI.

** Arts **

Title: House Panel Votes to Kill Endowment For the Arts
Source: New York Times (A17)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/nea-spend.html
Author: Katharine Seelye
Issue: Arts
Description: Here we go again. The House Appropriations Subcommittee voted to
kill the National Endowment for the Arts in what is becoming a annual
ritual. Republican members of the subcommittee were silent as Democrats
"branded them as sheep following their leaders' election-year efforts to
satisfy conservatives." Last year, the House voted to zero out the NEA's
funding; in the end it received $98 million. The issue will be debated on
the House floor later this summer.

Title: For NEA Another 'No' Vote
Source: Washington Post (B2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/19/108l-061998-idx.html
Author: Jacqueline Trescott
Issue: Arts
Description: Adding more fuel to the belief that culture really doesn't
matter to many in the U.S., the House Appropriations subcommittee once again
put the National Endowment for the Arts on the road to termination. Rep.
Sidney Yates (D-Il), a fierce protector of the NEA since its creation 33
years ago, reminded everyone of the House Republican leadership's renewed
goal to eliminate the NEA, Yates said: "By taking this position you are
carrying out their wishes." Rep. Yates' efforts to get the panel to vote on
$110 million for the NEA failed by a voice vote. "He wistfully looked around
at the empty Democratic seats, which had been filled before floor votes and
appointments broke into the rhythm of the session," saying quietly: "Look at
all the votes we lost."

** Journalism **

Title: Prize-Winning Boston Columnist Losing Job Over Faked Articles
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/globe-columnist.html
Author: Robin Pogrebin
Issue: Journalism
Description: A week after The New Republic published the results of an
internal investigation that Stephen Glass fabricated 27 of 41 stories, The
Boston Globe has asked for the resignation of respected columnist Patricia
Smith. The paper has found that she fabricated people and quotes in four
columns this year. In the late 1980's Ms. Smith wrote a review of a concert
she did not attend for the Chicago Sun-Times.

** Lifestyle **

Title: Computers Everyone Was Talking About - and To - at PC Expo
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/19expo.html
Author: Matt Lake
Issue: Computers
Description: If the 16th annual PC Expo in New York City this week is any
indicator, computers will soon be undergoing a transformation. No longer to
be stuck staring a boring grey boxes, we will be talking to our computers,
putting them into shirt pockets and hooking up two or more flat screens to
each box. Voice dictation programs are up to the speed of a New York minute
-- 140 spoken words in a 60 second time frame. And if you slur a few here or
there you can go back and orally correct any speech errors that might have
slipped in. Speech recognition is also breaking through with hand-held voice
recorders that will convert voice memos into text on a PC. You also can
never be too small or too thin (and no we aren't talking about the fashion
industry) when it comes to pocket computers. Advanced versions of models
already on the market now offer keyboards and VGA ports so you can connect
the device to a regular computer monitor. And for those out there that
prefer a full-sized keyboard, a new class of extremely thin notebook PC's
are emerging - some no thicker than a thumb, whose thumb I don't know. It
also seems that the flat screens monitors will soon be offered for less than
$1,000.
*********
...and we are outta here... Mulder! Scully!

Communications-related Headlines for 6/18/98

AT&T and AOL: The Merger That Didn't Happen
AT&T Seeks Broad Marketing, Technology Alliance With AOL
(WSJ)
America Online Announces It Will Remain Independent (NYT)
AOL Shares Soar on Report (WP)
AT&T-America Online Merger Rumor Pushes AOL Stock Up 5 Percent
(TelecomAM)

Electronic Commerce
House Committee Endorses Internet Tax Moratorium (CyberTimes)
House Judiciary Committee Ready to Pass Internet
Tax Freedom Act (TelecomAM)

Internet Demographics
The Web Reflects A Wider World (NYT)
Study Pokes Holes in Theory Of How Women Use the Net (NYT)
In Sex-Role Tangle, a Woman's Search (NYT)

Internet Content
A Web Site to Fight Censorship (NYT)
At Heart of a Cyberstudy, the Human Essence (NYT)
Personal Polls Help the Nosy Sate Curiosity (NYT)

Ed Tech
Virtual-Classes Trend Alarms Professors (NYT)

Long Distance
Qwest Is Seeking to Support Bells in Two Lawsuits (WSJ)

Advertising
Reshaping Perceptions of Advertising (NYT)

Spectrum
FCC Says Many Wireless Bidders, Short of Cash,
to Return Licenses (WSJ)
FCC Radio Licensing Authority (FCC)

Arts
Omnizone Tries to Map the Unmappable (NYT)

** AT&T and AOL: The Merger That Didn't Happen **

Title: AT&T Seeks Broad Marketing, Technology Alliance With AOL
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Mergers
Description: AT&T has contacted America Online Inc. about entering into a
"broad-based" marketing and technology alliance, according to people close
to the situation. The giant telecommunications company has also considered
making an offer to buy AOL, but no formal offer has been made. AOL sent an
email to all employees yesterday stating that the company plans to stay
independent. AOL Chairman Steve Cast and Chief Executive Bob Pittman noted
that AOL is "eager to establish alliances with a wide range of
telecommunications, media and technology companies."

Title: America Online Announces It Will Remain Independent
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/18aol.html
Author: Laura Holson & Seth Schiesel
Issue: Mergers
Description: America Online has announced that it will remain independent --
cooling merger talks with the largest long distance company, AT&T. "We are
committed to remaining an independent company, as that is the best course
for our customers, shareholders and employees," Stephen Case, the company's
chairman,and Robert Pittman, its president, said in an e-mail message to
employees. "We continue to be eager to establish alliances with a wide range
of telecommunications, media and technology companies." For AT&T, the talks
show how the company wants to make a big impact in the Internet. AOL's
market value is ~$20.3 billion.

Title: AOL Shares Soar on Report
Source: Washington Post (E1,E5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/18/219l-061898-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills & Mark Leibovich
Issue: Mergers
Description: Following a report that America Online Inc. rejected a buyout
bid by AT&T Corp., shares of AOL gained 5 percent. Shares of other
Internet-related companies also rose on the speculation that they too may be
facing possible takeover bids. Neither AOL or AT&T would comment on the
report. But AOL Chief Executive Steve Case and President Bob Pittman
addressed the report in a memo addressed to employees yesterday. "Ever since
AOL went public six years ago, we have been the target of various takeover
rumors, the memo said. "Our strategy has also been consistent; we are
committed to remaining an independent company."

Title: AT&T-America Online Merger Rumor Pushes AOL Stock Up 5 Percent
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: The Financial Times reported that AT&T Chairman and CEO Michael
Armstrong approached America Online several weeks ago with a takeover offer.
AOL CEO Steve Case and COO Robert Pittman rejected the offer several days
ago, according to the Financial Times. In heavy trading, AOL's stock rose
nearly $5 to $93.31; AT&T's stock rose 62.5 cents to $62.56.

** Electronic Commerce **

Title: House Committee Endorses Internet Tax Moratorium
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/18tax.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The House Judiciary Committee endorsed legislation yesterday
that would place a moratorium on new taxes that specifically target the
Internet. Their decision moves the Internet Tax Freedom Act toward a full
House vote. Negotiations continue however over whether or not Congress
should outlaw current state Internet taxes.

Title: House Judiciary Committee Ready to Pass Internet Tax Freedom Act
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: The House Judiciary Committee appears ready to pass legislation
(HR-3529 and HR-3849) that will put a three year moratorium on some Internet
taxes. One version of the legislation was introduced to the Committee by
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and the other is a Commerce Committee version. The
Judiciary Committee seemed poised to pass both; the two bills would then be
combined and put before the entire House. TelecomAM reports, "Hill aides
said they hope to have the bill before the full House next week on a
suspension calendar, which is generally reserved for popular bills to be
debated with no amendments."

** Internet Demographics **

Title: The Web Reflects A Wider World
Source: New York Times (D1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/circuits/articles/18engl.html
Author: Michel Marriott
Issue: Internet Demographics
Description: More and more non-English speakers are getting on the World
Wide Web [hence the name] and adding content in their native tongues.
Non-English speakers are the fastest-growing group of new Internet users. By
the end of this year, the number of users outside the US should start to
outnumber the users inside the US. Currently there are ~107 million people
online [OK, not this very moment]. "The increase in the number of people
preferring to use languages other than English on line could have profound
implications for how the Internet is used and developed, some analysts say.
If the Internet in the next century becomes more of a global mass medium,
the way commerce, news, research and entertainment are presented on the
Internet will have to be rethought."

Title: Study Pokes Holes in Theory Of How Women Use the Net
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/circuits/articles/18geek.html
Author: Katie Hafner
Issue: Internet Demographics
Description: There are several widespread beliefs about women and online
services: "women go on the Net seeking relationships; women are
uncomfortable with technology; women love to shop and are drawn to the Web
by cosmetics and clothing, and women don't use on-line financial services or
products." [Hey, I don't write this stuff, I just report it] A new study,
"Conventional Wisdoms about Women and Internet Use: Refuting Traditional
Perceptions," from Vanderbilt's Project 2000
http://www2000.ogsm.vanderbilt.edu finds little data to support these
stereotypes. "Although there has been some corroborating research that
indicates that women are interested in relationship aspects of the on-line
experience," the authors wrote, "there is little in existing studies to
suggest that relationships are as important as popular belief holds." The
biggest draw for women to the Net may be the 24-hour convenience.

Title: In Sex-Role Tangle, a Woman's Search
Source: New York Times (Circuits-D11)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/circuits/computing/18comp.html
Author: Michelle Slatalla
Issue: Gender/Internet
Description: LookSmart, a Web search site, has attracted a higher percentage
of women than the other top search sites during the first five months of
1998. These statistics were compiled by Craig Ruskin, a research analyst
with Relevant Knowledge, which measures Web traffic. The site was designed
by Evan Thornley and Tracey Ellery three years ago, who say they were not
trying to specifically target women. "We started out to target progessional
families, busy people, a highly educated group of folks," said Ellery. "Our
vision was to reach a mainstream audience on the Web. It turned out that a
large proportion of that audience is women." Thornly believes that one of
the reasons LookSmart appeals more to women than other search engines is
because women investigate in a more browsing context where men tend to
search for a specific item. "It's important not to overstate the
generalizations," Thornley cautioned. "But what we appear to see is that on
average, women are more disposed toward a category approach to searches."
LookSmart offers more of this approach while most search engines rely on
software to sort sites automatically. You can access LookSmart's site at:
http://www.looksmart.com

** Internet Content **

Title: A Web Site to Fight Censorship
Source: New York Times (Circuits-D13)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/circuits/articles/18turk.html
Author: Michael Pollak
Issue: Censorship
Description: Banned Books Online offers links to the texts of 30 different
books and plays that have been -- or are currently -- banned in the United
States. The site was created by John Mark Ockerbloom, who recently received
a doctorate in computer science at Carnegie Mellon Univ.in Pittsburgh. The
Banned Books site also is linked to a variety of other anti-censorship
resources. Censorship endangers democracy, said Dr. Ockerbloom. "It really
narrows the range of discussion in the interest of whoever's in power," he
said. In regards to his own work, he said, "what I'm hoping the effect will
be is a lot more kids will go out and read 'Huckleberry Finn.'" You can
access Banned Books Online at:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/banned-books.html

Title: At Heart of a Cyberstudy, the Human Essence
Source: New York Times (Circuits-D9)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/circuits/articles/18turk.html
Author: Katie Hafner
Issue: Identity
Description: Sherry Turkle, a professor of the sociology of science at MIT
and a licensed clinical psychologist, has been studying the interaction of
humans with computers since the late 1970's. Dr. Turkle is particularly
known for her specialty of interviewing people about their experiences with
computers and the Internet. Her first book, "The Second Self: Computers and
the Human Spirit," was published in 1984. Her second book on the topic,
"Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet," was published by
Simon & Schuster in 1995. It was the product of years of interviews with
people who spend a great deal of time on the Internet. Dr. Turkle was an
early proponent of the idea that "identity of the Internet is fluid."

Title: Personal Polls Help the Nosy Sate Curiosity
Source: New York Times (D8)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/circuits/articles/18poll.html
Author: Pamela LiCalzi O'Connell
Issue: Internet Content
Description: Survey Central http://www.apocalyse.org/~bill/survey allows
users to create online polls on any subject they like.The site handles
coding and tabulation and breaks down answers by sex and age group. "People
are tired of being part of a mass-media audience, mere fish in the Nielsen
and Arbitron oceans, of seeing public opinion represented in national polls
in which they're never asked to participate," said James Beniger, a
professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of
Southern California and past president of the American Association for
Public Opinion Research. "With the technological capabilities inherent in
the Internet to monitor, store, tabulate and calculate, the idea of every
man as his own pollster could hardly come as a surprise. There's an
empowerment aspect." See also Open Debate www.opendebate.com and Internet
Voice www.virtua.com.

** Ed Tech **

Title: Virtual-Classes Trend Alarms Professors
Source: New York Times (D8)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/circuits/articles/18wash.html
Author: Tina Kelley
Issue: Ed Tech
Description: 850 professors at the University of Washington have signed an
open letter to Gov Gary Locke expressing their fear about his enthusiasm for
instruction via CD-ROM's and the Internet. The professors are responding to
findings from a roundtable of university presidents and professors brought
together by a financial services company last July: "instructional software
could easily substitute for campus-based instruction or at least be a
substantial part of the delivery system" and the creation of only 25 online
courses could serve about 80 percent of the undergraduate enrollment in core
courses. A Gov Locke policy advisor recently said about adults returning to
school: "Technology is likely to be the much more common method of
delivering the learning they need, at home or in the workplace for them,
simply because they're place-bound." Earlier this year, Gov Locke created
the 2020 Commission "to rethink and re-invent higher education from the
ground up." The recommendations are due in September.

** Long Distance **

Title: Qwest Is Seeking to Support Bells in Two Lawsuits
Source: Wall Street Journal (B2)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Long-Distance
Description: Qwest Communications International has filed motions to
intervene in two lawsuits that are seeking to block marketing agreements it
forged with Baby Bell telephone companies. The lawsuits filed by AT&T, MCI
and others, argue that US West and Ameritech Corp. "violated
telecommunications law by attempting to market Qwest's long-distance
services." Qwest has not been named in either lawsuit.

** Advertising **

Title: Advertising: Reshaping Perceptions of Advertising
Source: New York Times (C6)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Advertising
Description: The American Advertising Federation will announce a multi-year
push to promote and demonstrate the importance of advertising to consumers
and marketers. "Advertising: A Brand New Business" will have three phases:
"a survey assessing attitudes about advertising, a campaign aimed at
corporate executives and even a speakers' bureau to place advertising topics
on the agendas of business conferences," the NYT reports. The effort comes
at a time when ad agencies are fending off management consulting companies
for brand and marketing strategy services.

** Spectrum **

Title: FCC Says Many Wireless Bidders, Short of Cash, to Return Licenses
Source: Wall Street Journal (B12)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Scott Ritter
Issue: Auctions/Spectrum
Description: A large portion of the wireless-communications licenses awarded
in a government auction will remain unused at least until 1999 because
"cash-strapped" bidders have returned hundreds of permits to the Federal
Communications Commission.

Title: FCC Radio Licensing Authority
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Compliance/News_Releases/1998/nrci8011.html
Issue: Spectrum/Radio
Description: "The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
California yesterday issued a permanent injunction against unlicensed
broadcaster Stephen Dunifer ("Free Radio Berkeley"). The 18-page decision
reaffirms the FCC's authority to require a license before any person can
broadcast on the public airwaves....The Court's opinion also upheld the
constitutionality of the FCC's broadcast licensing procedures. It said, 'The
Court finds that the regulatory scheme here withstands constitutional
scrutiny because it specifies procedures which the FCC must follow and it
provides for judicial review of any improper FCC ruling. Thus, Mr. Dunifer's
claims that the regulations are unconstitutional in every conceivable
application and that they are overbroad must fail.'"

** Arts **

Title: Omnizone Tries to Map the Unmappable
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/artsatlarge/18artsatlarg...
Author: Matthew Mirapaul
Issue: Art
Description: Omnizone is a collection of essays and digital art from two
dozen or so contributors whose mission is to map the terrain of cyberspace.
But instead of approaching this task from a hierarchial or linear structure,
the site is concerned with delinearing the contours of digital culture.
"What this process reveals is the impossibility of mapping digital culture,"
says Stephen Pusey, an artist and writer who is organizing this project with
Yu Yeon Kim, an independent curator. Pusey asserts that as the project
evolves it will yield its own type of creative outcome: "a profile of the
organic composition of cyberspace by artists, critics, programmers and
scientists." He explained: "The Internet is very much the fractal edge of
human consciousness, an area which is never defined and never structured. To
me, [the Internet] represents the ultimate portrait of humanity and the
hopes of man. We're trying to convey a sense of the dynamics of digital
culture -- and by not setting a very direct course through it." You can
access Omnizone at: http://www.plexus.org/omnizone/
*********

Communications-related Headlines for 6/17/98

Universal Service
To Have and Have Not: Advanced Telecommunications Technologies
(FCC)
Schools, Libraries Cope With Cut in Funding of Internet Plan
(CyberTimes)

Campaign Finance Reform
Mines on the Road to Reform (NYT)

Television
Networks Cheered by Sales Of 1998-99 Commercial Time (NYT)
$5 Billion Windfall for Public Broadcasting? (B&C)
Tauzin Launches Public Broadcasting Remake (B&C)
Study Finds Cable Pay Inequity (B&C)

FCC
McCain Vows to Overhaul FCC (B&C)

Wireless
New Opportunities for Small Wireless Operators (NTIA)

Mergers
Senate Panel Ponders Long-Term Effect of Mergers (NYT)
Bill Would Limit Phone Mergers (NYT)
MCI, WorldCom Think EU Will Allow Merger (WP)
Odds Rise for Telecom Italia - AT&T Deal (WSJ)

Jobs
Debate Over Visas for Foreign Workers Focuses on Layoffs (CyberTimes)

** Universal Service **

Title: To Have and Have Not: Advanced Telecommunications Technologies
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/spsn812.html
Author: Commissioner Susan Ness
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Commissioner Ness's Remarks "To Have and Have Not: Advanced
Telecommunications Technologies" before the Computer and Communications
Industry Association's 1998 Washington Caucus in Washington, DC.

Title: Schools, Libraries Cope With Cut in Funding of Internet Plan
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/education/17education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: E-Rate
Description: Now that the Federal Communications Commission has decided to
reduce the e-rate program's budget by 42 percent, school technology
administrators across the country are having to figure out how to make do
with less federal funding for classroom Internet connections. These
administrators aren't the only ones in the dark, officials at the Schools
and Libraries Corp. (SLC), the group established to administer the e-rate
program, are now trying to figure out what the new budget will mean for
those schools and libraries that applied for the federal funding. "Over the
next couple of days and weeks we will be putting together very specific
details on what impact all this will have" on applicants and funding, said
Mickey Revenaugh, vice president for outreach and education at SLC.

** Campaign Finance Reform **

Title: Mines on the Road to Reform
Source: New York Times (A30)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/17wed1.html
Author: NYT Editorial Staff
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: Campaign finance reform become the central issue in the House
starting today. " Newt Gingrich and other foes of change have lined the road
with mines and booby traps, but if reformers counterattack with discipline
and force they can quickly gain the upper hand." The reform bill offered by
Representatives Christopher Shays of Connecticut and Martin Meehan of
Massachusetts would ban unlimited "soft money" and impose "other sensible
fund-raising limits. The Shays-Meehan bill is near gaining a majority. "We
urge Republicans and Democrats who have spent the last two years championing
reform in principle to seize the moment. They need to submerge their
partisan instincts and reject [delaying] amendments no matter how tempting
it may be to go along with them. Once it becomes clear that there are enough
votes to thwart the obstructionists, it will be harder and harder to carry
out the amendment charade."

** Television **

Title: Networks Cheered by Sales Of 1998-99 Commercial Time
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/tv-networks-ad-column.html
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Television Economics
Description: Top television network executives are pleased with advanced
sales of commercial time for the 1998-99 prime time season. The Big Four --
ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC -- have sold an estimated $6.05-$6.1 billion in up
front sales for the next season -- $6.0-$6.05 billion was sold ahead of the
1997-98 season. Two start-up networks -- UPN and WP -- raised the total to
$6.4-$6.5 billion. In many industries, flat sales would be reason for
concern, But with so many viewers tuning into cable channels -- and reading
important email messages like this one -- the networks are seeing stability
as growth.

Title: $5 Billion Windfall for Public Broadcasting?
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p30)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Public Broadcasting
Description: The Gore commission, established to recommend public interest
obligations for digital broadcasters, has "come to the consensus" that
public broadcasting should be the beneficiary of a trust fund and should
have a fully funded second channel designated for educational programming. A
public broadcasting coalition, including the Association for Public
Television Stations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public
Broadcasting Service, proposed to the Gore commission last week that
Congress authorize the creation of a fund of at least $5 billion. The
funding could come from "analog spectrum auctions; compensation from
commercial broadcasters to fulfill their public interest obligations; fees
from commercial broadcasters' digital subscription services or transfer fees
from the sale of commercial licenses."

Title: Tauzin Launches Public Broadcasting Remake
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p8)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Public Broadcasting
Description: Last week, House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Billy
Tauzin (R-LA) unveiled legislation intended to start public broadcasting
down the road to reform. The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA),
would create a nine-member bipartisan congressional commission that would
recommend a variety of ways to reform public broadcasting. "Our goal is to
preserve and protect PBS's distinct identity in the next millennium while
providing a new source of long-term funding," said Rep. Tauzin.

Title: Study Finds Cable Pay Inequity
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p57)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Elizabeth Rathbun
Issue: Minorities/Jobs
Description: A study released last Tuesday by the Women in Cable &
Telecommunications Foundation (WICT) reports that women in cable programming
earned an average of 18.2 percent less than their male counterparts last
year. WICT says that the "average reported base salary in 1997 for women in
cable programming was $59,531, compared with $72,808 for men." If 1996
bonuses are taken into account, the gap grows to 25 percent. The disparities
exist even if the women and men are of similar age, education and job
tenure. WICT was "shocked by the results," says Ann Carlsen, foundation
spokeswoman and president of executive search firm Carlsen Resources Inc.
"We all went into this thing expecting parity, and much to our chagrin,
here's a gap of 18 percent and higher."

** FCC **

Title: McCain Vows to Overhaul FCC
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p32)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: FCC
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) announced
that he wants to "revamp" the Federal Communications Commission during the
next session of Congress. Addressing all five commissioners, McCain
"blasted" the FCC's performance on a variety of fronts at a Communications
Subcommittee hearing last week, and said that the commission "needs to have
its priorities adjusted, its excess tonnage trimmed and its functions
realigned." McCain added; "To paraphrase Winston Churchill -- as things
stand now, never have so many worked so hard to produce so little for so few."

** Wireless **

Title: New Opportunities for Small Wireless Operators
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/amta615.htm
Author: Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Irving
Issue: Wireless
Description: Remarks by Larry Irving at the American Mobile
Telecommunications Association 1998 Leadership Conference, June 15, 1998

** Mergers **

Title: Senate Panel Ponders Long-Term Effect of Mergers
Bill Would Limit Phone Mergers (C2)
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/mergers-congress.html
Author: Richard Stevenson
Issue: Mergers
Description: The Senate Judiciary Committee debated yesterday if the mergers
reshaping many industries including communications are going too far and
putting workers, consumers and the economy's long-term health at risk. "I
would feel very uncomfortable if we inhibited various different types of
mergers or acquisitions on the basis of some presumed projection as to how
markets would evolve, how technology would evolve, because history is strewn
with people making projections which have turned out to be grossly
inaccurate," said Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve Board chairman. Robert
Pitofsky, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, voiced a different
opinion: "The problem is that if you challenge the merger before it happens,
it's not very expensive to remedy it. After the merger, after the assets are
scrambled, the employees have been fired, the management has gone elsewhere,
the factories have been sold for junk in some other country, then putting
the company back in business is enormously expensive." Sen Patrick Leahy
(D-VT) will introduce legislation to prevent and of the Baby Bells or GTE
from merging before local competition exists. "Before all the pieces of Ma
Bell are put together again, Congress should revisit the Telecommunications
Act," Sen Leahy said. "Consolidation is taking precedence over competition."
[See also Chicago Trib Sec 3 p.1, "To experts, new wave of mergers is no big
deal" by William Neikirk
http://chicago.tribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,1051,SAV-9806170
305,00.html

Title: MCI, WorldCom Think EU Will Allow Merger
Source: Washington Post (C14,C18)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/17/048l-061798-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Mergers
Description: Top executives at MCI Communications Corp. and WorldCom Inc.
said yesterday that they were optimistic that European regulators would
recommended approval of their merger as early as Friday. "We now feel quite
confident we're at a point where we'll get on with business," said WorldCom
chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers. "We would expect that the recommendation
that is made Friday, if there is one made at the European Commission, would
be one in support of the transaction."

Title: Odds Rise for Telecom Italia-AT&T Deal
Source: Wall Street Journal (A13)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Maureen Kline
Issue: Mergers/International
Description: Telecom Italia SpA'd chairman, Gian Mario Rossignolo, announced
that a deal with Unisource NV was back on track. Unisource is a joint
venture of dominant carriers in Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and
shares business customers with AT&T Corp of the U.S. Thus if Telecom Italia
establishes a traffic-sharing agreement with AT&T and Unisource they would
have to "ditch" a similar deal with Cable & Wireless PLC. "They can't have
an alliance with both," said Deborah McCutcheon, a telecommunications
analyst at Robert Fleming Securities in London, "unless they simply act as a
distributor for both partners' services. If the Unisource deal goes through,
stage two of the Cable & Wireless alliance [to share traffic] is probably
not going to happen."

** Jobs **

Title: Debate Over Visas for Foreign Workers Focuses on Layoffs
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/17visa.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Jobs
Description: Figures compiled by the Chicago-based employment firm
Challenger, Grey and Christmas
show that prominent high-tech companies dismissed 121,800 workers from
December, 1997 to June, 1998. U.S. Representative Lamar Smith pointed out
yesterday that these numbers indicate that these well-known companies have
laid off more American workers in the past six months than the number of
temporary foreign workers that information technology companies are lobbying
to bring in over the next three years. Rep. Smith, who is sponsoring a bill
that would increase the number of H1-B visas for skilled temporary foreign
workers, is now finding himself at odds with the high-tech industry over
provisions in his bill that would require companies using the H1-B visas to
certify that U.S. workers are not being laid off in exchange for cheaper
foreign labor.
*********
We would like to extend a special thanks to the Media Access Project for
letting us use their copy of B&C this week (for a few hours only as they
became misty-eyed watching the magazine leave their office -- it holds such
a special place in all of our hearts). We suspect our usual Monday copy was
snatched up by aliens eager to figure us out.

Benton

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June 1998

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