October 2000

POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Study: Web's Role Grows in Presidential Campaign (USA)
Classroom TV Brings Election to Students (USA)
For the First Time, Fox Elects to Broadcast the Returns (WP)

INTERNET
Net Animations Nibble at TV's Turf (NYT)

PUBLIC MEDIA
Low-Power Radio May Never Get on Air (SJM)
Activists Extend Reach of New Media (SJM)

EDTECH
A Marriage Made for Education (WP)

MERGER
FCC Moves To Restrict Access To Documents In AOL-Time Warner Merger
(WSJ)

GOVERNMENT & TECHNOLOGY
Top Offices of Uncle Sam Make Do With Early-American Technology
(WSJ)

ANTITRUST
Judge Says He May Step Down From Microsoft Case on Appeal (WSJ)

POLITICAL DISCOURSE

STUDY: WEB'S ROLE GROWS IN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Issue: Political Discourse
The Web is a bigger presence than ever before in this presidential election,
according to AdRelevance, a Jupiter Media Metrix unit that tracks Web ads. A
study by AdRelevance tracking online election advertising also found that
Republicans have mounted a bigger Web marketing presence. Republicans also
used a more "targeted" approach, while Democrats relied on a "broad reach"
effort. The Republicans, for example, ran more than 20 unique banners on 35
sites, while the Democrats have used a single banner ad on yahoo. The study
reported that both parties are guilty of making "little use" of the new
medium, and are depending primarily on TV ads to reach voters.
[SOURCE: USAToday (8B), AUTHOR: Michael McCarthy]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001030/2791338s.htm)

CLASSROOM TV BRINGS ELECTION TO STUDENTS
Issue: Political Discourse
During this election year, politics and government have been featured on
some of the 39 participating cable networks as part of Cable in the
Classroom, an 11-year-old cable TV educational effort that provides
programs, teaching guides and Web sites for school use. Educators hope the
shows can make politics more interesting for their students. After watching
taped presidential debates, "the students are not just talking about
politics, they're actually experiencing it," says seventh-grade teacher Joe
Emerson. Ellen Bollig plays snippets of C-SPAN's presidential debate
coverage to introduce the basics of citizenship to first-graders at Lincoln
Elementary School in Yankton, S.D. The programs also can show examples of
the political process that might otherwise seem abstract, says Meg Steele,
C-SPAN's education relations supervisor.
[SOURCE: USAToday (4D), AUTHOR: Bill Keveney]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001030/2791361s.htm)

FOR THE FIRST TIME, FOX ELECTS TO BROADCAST THE RETURNS
Issue: Political Discourse
The Fox Network has decided to carry election night coverage for the first
time. Fox, like NBC, came under fire for its decision to forego the
presidential debates. The election coverage will be carried with
revenue-generating commercial breaks, unlike the eschewed commercial-free
debates. Fox stations will carry the coverage until 1 am depending on time
zone, pre-empting its popular series, "That 70's Show" and "Dark Angel."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Page C07), AUTHOR: Lisa Moraes]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38903-2000Oct29.html)

INTERNET

NET ANIMATIONS NIBBLE AT TV'S TURF
Issue:
After years of sputtering attempts to prove itself as a medium for mass
entertainment, the Internet is morphing into a more offbeat version of
television. Harper Langston recently discovered the show "Zombie College"
while eating lunch in front of his computer at work. Mr. Langston is part of
a small but increasing audience tuning in to the Internet for short bursts
of entertainment. Web viewers can watch the seven installments of "Zombie
College" at any time, in any order. Encouraged by the growing number of
homes and offices with broadband Internet connections, artists have flooded
the Internet with animated shows and videos that have no other outlet. With
new digital tools, like Flash animation software, and shorter formats, Web
features can be produced quickly and for as little as one-tenth the cost of
a typical television show. The producers of Web entertainment argue that the
extent of the following they have won in so short a time demonstrates the
existence of a market for entertainment beyond what is showing on television
or in the local multiplex. It is no surprise that Web entertainment has more
profanity and nudity than is standard on broadcast television or daytime
cable. "D- Life," on Heavy.com, for instance, is a sort of uncensored
version of MTV's "Real World." Two animations developed for the Web have
been optioned for films, "L'il Pimp" (www.mediatrip.com), by the Revolution
Studio, led by Joe Roth, and "Undercover Brother"
(www.urbanentertainment.com), by John Ridley, a writer for the NBC show
"Third Watch" who also did the screenplay for "Three Kings."
[SOURCE: New York Times (Interactive), AUTHOR: Amy Harmon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/30/technology/30FLAS.html)
(Requires Registration)

PUBLIC MEDIA

LOW-POWER RADIO MAY NEVER GET ON THE AIR
Issue: Low-Power
The future of a Federal Communications Commission program to establish up to
1,000 low-power FM community radio stations hangs in the balance as last
minute political wrangling between Congress and President Clinton continues
this week. Last January, the FCC created the low-power program to give
schools, churches and other non-profit groups a chance to serve their
communities through small local radio stations that would broadcast up to
3.5 miles away. Existing FM stations, however, are worried that the FCC's
plan would cause harmful interference to their signals. Now, the House and
Senate have approved a provision that would essentially stop the FCC's
low-power radio plan in its tracks. The provision has been tucked into a
sweeping government spending bill that Clinton is expected to veto. If the
bill is vetoed, it would open up a new round of negotiations between
Congress and the administration. And it's far from certain whether the
low-power program will survive in the final package after negotiations are
finished. FCC Chairman, William Kennard, has criticized Congress and
broadcasters for addressing the issue through a government spending bill
negotiated behind closed door. "All this is done in back rooms in the dark
of night,'' he said. ``The people who want lower power FM stations --
churches, schools and community groups -- are not at the table."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Heather Fleming Phillips]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/lowpow103000.htm)

ACTIVISTS EXTEND REACH OF NEW MEDIA
Issue: Public Media
Yugoslavia is one of the places that activists are helping to bring modern
journalism, including the newest of new media, to nurture the growth of a
free press where it may not be part of the local tradition. The non-profit
Media Development Loan Fund (www.mdlf.org), and it's affiliated unit called
the Center for Advanced Media-Prague, are providing money, training and
equipment to help improve access to new media in technologically
underdeveloped locations. The loan fund was formed five years ago with money
from financier George Soros. Its managing director is Sasa Vuncinic,
co-founder of Radio B92, an independent station in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The
Center for Advanced Media's successes include a network of more than 150
Internet-connected radio stations in Indonesia. The center also is trying to
help bring multimedia -- audio and video -- to journalism Web sites. It has
worked with several other developing organizations in developing Web-based
editing and production system that allows journalists to post stories and
pictures from within Web browsers, wherever they may be.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dan Gillmor]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/columns/front/docs/dg102900.htm)

EDTECH

A MARRIAGE MADE FOR EDUCATION
Issue: EdTech
Mindsurf, a Baltimore company seeking to deploy Palm-style devices in the
nation's schools plans to announce today that it is acquiring educational
content company, HiFusion. "This accelerates our planned rollout schedule,"
said MindSurf President Bruce Davis. The acquisition is seen as a way for
Mindsurf to build the content and the sales network needed for its plan to
sell the Palm-like wireless devices to students and teachers. MindSurf is
seeing to develop wireless communications devices that will help teachers,
students and parents communicate. Company officials say that HiFusion's
educational content will form a significant portion of the information it
will make available on those devices, which are in pilot testing and are
slated to be more widely available by next summer.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E05), AUTHOR: Neil Irwin]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38911-2000Oct29.html)

MERGER

FCC MOVES TO RESTRICT ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS IN AOL-TIME WARNER MERGER AFTER
LEAK
Issue: Merger
Following a recent leak of confidential information, federal regulators are
tightening access to confidential documents submitted in the proposed
America Online and Time Warner merger. Starting last Thursday, confidential
documents filed in the merger can only be viewed by a company's outside
lawyers. Previously, lawyers from other companies could see the confidential
documents as long as they weren't involved in competitive-business decisions
at their companies and signed a confidentiality agreement. The FCC took the
action after an outside lawyer for Walt Disney, the chief opponent to the
pending merger, e-mailed summaries of confidential documents from the merger
last month to an unauthorized in-house Disney lawyer, who then sent the
summaries to top Disney executives. Walt Disney has opposed the proposed
merger on several grounds. Its most recent complaint is that the two
companies are trying to keep exclusive control of their
interactive-television services.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: WSJ.COM]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972864554942632254.htm)
(Requires subscription)

GOVERNMENT & TECHNOLOGY

TOP OFFICES OF UNCLE SAM MAKE DO WITH EARLY-AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY
Issue: Government & Technology
The technology revolution has bypassed a few backwaters, some of them the
most important offices, agencies and outposts of the U.S. government. While
marching Americans into the next technology revolution, the government has
for years been mired in the Dark Ages. At the State Department's overseas
posts, most diplomats can't surf the Web from their desks. At Andrews Air
Force Base, marine pilots couldn't reliably share electronic documents with
their Navy squadron-mates until illegal copies of Microsoft Office
mysteriously turned up one day on their computers. And at the Federal
Aviation Administration, the 1970s-era software package that coordinates the
nation's commercial air traffic is so old that officials worry they won't be
able to find any programmers who still understand how it works. This past
April, when diplomats with the Commerce Department office in Quito, Ecuador,
moved from the embassy to a new building a scant half-mile away, State
Department employees back at the embassy found themselves cut off from their
colleagues because the two groups used incompatible e-mail systems. The
result: They hired couriers to deliver printouts of messages. How did things
get so bad? The U.S. government owns and still uses some of the earliest
technology because it was among the first to develop it. The U.S.
government's "acquisition process is way behind Internet speed," says Frank
Cilluffo of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, based in
Washington. Upgrading the technology of the sprawling U.S. bureaucracy, with
scores of decades-old computers, is a logistical nightmare. It all makes for
a hacker's dream. Security officials warn that running a mix of old and new
software and hardware increases the risk that a system will be violated.
Meanwhile, scores of federal employees frustrated with poky computers at
work simply use their personal laptops or desktops from home, which often
aren't as safe as they should be.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972864425774996996.htm)
(Requires subscription)

ANTITRUST
JUDGE SAYS HE MAY STEP DOWN FROM MICROSOFT CASE ON APPEAL
Issue: Antitrust
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who ordered Microsoft split in
two for antitrust violations, said he would consider excusing himself if the
appeals court sends parts of the ruling back to him. He acknowledged his
decision was vulnerable on appeal. The judge also defended his public
statements on the landmark case, saying he talked to reporters to "correct
some of the public distortions" of the facts by "one or both of the
parties." Speaking to law students, Justice Department officials, Microsoft
lawyers and reporters on Capitol Hill, Judge Jackson said, "I made no public
statements whatsoever about the case until it was over." Judge Jackson said
he expected to hear complaints about his conversations with reporters and
would let the ethics officers of the court decide whether he violated
federal rules limiting judges from speaking on matters before them.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Dow Jones Newswires]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972864284443944527.htm)
(Requires subscription)

--------------------------------------------------------------

INTERNET POLICY
Bush, Gore Offer Few Net Ideas (USA)
Straitjacket on the Internet (WP)

POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Political Ads Shock Public Radio Fans (WP)

EDTECH
Hold the Arts & Crafts: After-School Programs Go Digital (NYT)

JOBS
Study Ordered By Congress Confirms Need For Tech Visas (SJM)

TELEPHONY
AT&T Board Approves New Plan To Split Company's Core Businesses
(WSJ)

MERGER
AOL and Time Warner Spend $3.8 Million On Federal Lobbying for
Proposed Merger (WSJ)

INTERNET POLICY

STRAITJACKET ON THE INTERNET
Issue: Internet
[Op-Ed] Sebastian Mallaby [op-ed, Oct. 15] writes that Disney bought a
broadcaster rather than a cable company, and now wants regulators to correct
that mistake by guaranteeing it access to Time Warner's cable.
The debate surrounding AOL's merger with Time Warner is not about Disney or
AOL. This debate is about the environment within which the next generation
of the Internet will develop. Two models of network design have governed
telecommunications: Under the model that produced the Internet, control is
decentralized; the network owner cannot control the content nor applications
that run on the network; and users have reasonable choice of content. Under
the model that produced cable, the network owner does control the content.
"But now cable wants to serve something new on its wires--broadband
Internet. And the question for regulators is: Under what model? Should the
cable company have the power to control Internet content just as it controls
TV content? Should it be allowed to discriminate against content it doesn't
like, or content that doesn't pay? Should it be allowed to demand a tithe
from Amazon for books ordered across its wires? Or from Disney for cartoons
streamed from Disney's channel?" AOL and Time Warner's promise to limit
control by keeping 10 percent of their bandwidth open to outside competition
leaves 90 percent under the cable TV model. Cable TV has bought the right to
control traditional dumb TV. What reason is there to permit it to extend
that control to the Internet? Allowing the model of the Internet to govern
more of cable would mean more innovation and diversity. This is the
principle at stake in this dispute. [SOURCE: Washington Post (A31), AUTHOR:
Lawrence Lessig (law professor at Stanford University)]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7949-2000Oct24.html)

BUSH, GORE OFFER FEW NET IDEAS
Issue: Internet
[Editorial] While there are countless Internet-related issues to be
addressed by the next White House, neither candidate has been very
forthright with their positions on many tough Web topics. Much of America
wants to know about how the President will address privacy, taxes,
censorship and intellectual property on the Internet. But in all three of
the presidential debates and the one vice presidential debate, not a single
question was asked about Internet-policy issues. According to Doug Isenber
"...our government created the Internet and, in great respects, will shape
its future. Perhaps in the last few days of the most important campaign of
the new economy we'll hear at least a little about how our next president
would shape it."
[SOURCE: USAToday (27A), AUTHOR: Doug Isenber (Attorney and founder
ofGigaLaw.com, an Internet legal resource)]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001025/2778169s.htm)

POLITICAL DISCOURSE

POLITICAL ADS SHOCK PUBLIC RADIO FANS
Issue: Political Discourse
A rarely used federal law requiring public radio and television station to
give free, uncensored airtime to any federal candidate who wants it, is
having an effect on Maryland Public Radio listeners. More than a few
listeners were disturbed that their normally commercial-free public radio
station aired advertisements for political candidates. "They're supposed to
be nonpolitical, so I was really shocked to hear them running a political
ad," said Minde, an Army National Guard major who last week gave the
station, WAMU, a $150 donation and is now tempted to pull it. "I just felt
outraged." WAMU, it seems, had little say in accepting the ad from the
campaign for Terry Lierman, a Maryland Democrat in a tough battle for the
House seat held by Rep. Constance A. Morella (R). Just as the FM station
also had to accept an ad from Marc Rossi, an independent seeking to unseat
Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R) in Northern Virginia's 10th Congressional District.
Lierman may be the first major-party candidate to use the law, according to
a federal communications official. But even more troubling to the station
manager is the possibility that all the candidates seeking federal office in
the WAMU listening area may want their turn on the radio in the remaining
days before the Nov. 7 election. "I could end up with 10 announcements an
hour," Martin said glumly. "I'm waiting for Connie Morella's office to call
right now." P.J. Hogan, Morella's campaign manager, said the campaign would
deliver its own ad to WAMU in short order.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (B01), AUTHOR: Montgomery and Becker]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7130-2000Oct24.html)

EDTECH

HOLD THE ARTS & CRAFTS: AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS GO DIGITAL
Issue: Digital Divide
America Online Foundation's PowerUp and Intel's Computer Clubhouse are in
the process of expanding high-tech after-school programs. PowerUp programs
take a more traditional approach, encouraging students to use computers to
work on homework, while Intel's Computer Clubhouse programs envision
themselves as "invention workshops" that aim to be wholly different from
daily school work. The PowerUP centers share access to AOL( at )School and the
group's dedicated online activities through PowerUP Online. PowerUp CEO Rae
Grad said she expects the program to expand to 250 communities by the end of
the year. "We encourage some local footprint so a site in San Jose will be
different from a site in Virginia," she said. "The template we use is the
same. The emphasis is on positive youth development." PowerUp sites work
with local community groups and urge them to develop links with local
educators. Depending on the arrangement, PowerUp sites are sometimes located
within a school or off campus at a local community center. However, Computer
Clubhouses work in conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Media Lab and the Computer Clubhouse program at Boston's Museum
of Science. Intel plans to fund 100 Computer Clubhouses across the country
by 2005. The centers are provided with professional photo, animation and
audio software, allowing students to create multimedia projects ranging from
movies to video games. Meanwhile, other educators have chosen to incorporate
elements of the two programs into existing initiatives. In New York City,
for instance, The After School Corporation is working on its own to beef up
technology offerings in its after-school centers, which are located in about
100 elementary, middle and high schools throughout the city
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Rebecca S. Weiner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/24/technology/25EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)

JOBS

STUDY ORDERED BY CONGRESS CONFIRMS NEED FOR TECH VISAS
Issue: Jobs
The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences
that advises Congress on science and technology issues, released a report
Tuesday that confirms what the high-tech industry has long contended, that
foreign workers are needed to help companies fill vacant technical jobs.
Earlier this month, Congress voted to nearly double the number of visas for
foreign high-tech workers to meet Silicon Valley's demand for skilled
computer programmers and engineers. The report supported the idea of
increasing the number of so-called H-1B visas but said this approach solved
only part of the problem. Herb Lin, study director, said that changes are
needed to make it easier for foreign workers to stay in the United States
permanently, and to improve U.S. education to better prepare students for
high-tech jobs. Aware of the need for better training for domestic high-tech
workers, Congress also voted this month to increase funding for scholarships
and
worker training by about $200 million over the next three years. High-tech
companies applying for H-1B visas will foot the bill through a $1,000 fee,
double the previous amount.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Heather Fleming Phillips]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/study102500.htm)

TELEPHONY

AT&T BOARD APPROVES NEW PLAN TO SPLIT COMPANY'S CORE BUSINESSES
Issue: Telephony
AT&T's board of directors has approved a plan to keep together AT&T's core
businesses -- consumer long distance and business services -- while
eventually creating new companies for cable and wireless, a plan that will
lead to the breakup of one of the country's oldest and best-known companies.
Breaking up the telecommunication giant would amount to a complete reversal
of earlier strategy, which was to acquire cable and wireless companies in
the hope of creating a broadband behemoth that could deliver voice, video
and data services. But the company was outrun by steep price competition in
the long-distance industry and unable to expand the new businesses fast
enough to make up the difference. The rapidly declining price of
long-distance service has affected both its consumer and business-services
divisions, and may have prompted the decision reached by the board. The
purpose of breaking up the company and creating the spinoffs and tracking
stocks is to attract new investors into the disparate parts of AT&T's
business.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Nikhil Deogun And Deborah
Solomon]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972418137457135799.htm)
(Requires subscription)
See Also:
AT&T, NEXTEL END TALKS
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7642-2000Oct24.html)

MERGER

AOL AND TIME WARNER SPEND $3.8 MILLION ON FEDERAL LOBBYING FOR PROPOSED
MERGER
Issue: Merger
Congressional lobbying reports show that America Online and Time Warner
spent a combined $3.8 million lobbying Congress and the executive branch on
their proposed combination and other issues in the first half. The total
doesn't include expenses for two teams of outside lobbyists working the deal
at the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission,
agencies that must sign off on the deal. It is impossible to determine from
the lobbying reports how much the companies spent on lobbying for the
planned acquisition and how much went toward a wide range of legislation
they listed. The two companies have also been among the most generous donors
in their industries to federal election campaigns. AOL, its political action
committee and its employees contributed a total of $1.3 million to federal
candidates and political parties, according to an analysis by the Center for
Responsive Politics, a nonprofit group that analyzes campaign-finance data.
That was the second largest amount by a company in the computer
services-Internet category, behind Microsoft. Time Warner, its PAC and
employees donated the second-largest amount among television, movie and
music companies, nearly $1.3 million.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Dow Jones Newswires]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972432863629514530.htm)
(Requires subscription)

--------------------------------------------------------------

MEDIA & SOCIETY
Viewers Seek Fairness In TV Political News (USA)
Technology Sent Wall Street Into Market for Pornography (NYT)
Asia and Latin America Lead PC Sales Surge (NYT)
Faced With Privacy Question, Should You Opt In or Opt Out? (WSJ)
Digital Times, Private Lives Are Breaking Up Party Lines (USA)

CORPORATE RETRENCHMENT
Corporations Push for Tax Breaks Under Guise of Easing
Digital Divide (WSJ)
A Wounded Giant, AT&T to Consider A Split Into 4 Parts (NYT)
Time, AOL and Early Illusions (NYT)
E-Commerce: Public Broadcasting on Sale (NYT)

OWNERSHIP
Patents: Disproving Idea Ownership (NYT)
Media Titan Surveys His Empire at Frankfurt Book Fair (NYT)
Web-Firm Layoffs Increase Steadily and May Accelerate (WSJ)

SPECTRUM
Plan for Third Generation Wireless Services (NTIA)

MEDIA & SOCIETY

VIEWERS SEEK FAIRNESS IN TV POLITICAL NEWS
Issue: Political Discourse
The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) in Washington has devised a
way to test the fairness of television coverage of the presidential
candidates. They track all the statements about the Democratic and
Republican candidates that are made on the evening news by journalists,
voters and "experts" and categorize them as positive or negative. The group
has found that this election year Gore's coverage is 39% positive and 61%
negative; Bush's coverage is 33% positive and 67% negative. MPA President
Robert Lichter concludes that election journalism doesn't reward or reflect
ideology or even previous achievements, but mainly campaigning skill.
[SOURCE: USAToday (14A), AUTHOR: Stephen Hass]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001023/2772012s.htm)

TECHNOLOGY SENT WALL STREET INTO MARKET FOR PORNOGRAPHY
Issue: Media & Society
Spurred by changes in technology that make pornography easier to order into
the home than pizza, and court decisions that offer broad legal protection,
the business of selling sexual desire through images has become a $10
billion annual industry in the United States, according to Forrester
Research and the industry's own Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
And some of the country's most recognizable corporate names are now
involved: 1) the General Motors Corporation, the world's largest company,
now sells more graphic sex films every year than does Larry Flynt, owner of
the Hustler empire 2) EchoStar Communications Corporation, the No. 2
satellite provider, whose chief financial backers include Rupert Murdoch,
makes more money selling graphic adult films through its satellite
subsidiary than Playboy, the oldest and best-known company in the sex
business, does with its magazine, cable and Internet businesses combined 3)
AT&T Corporation, the nation's biggest communications company, offers a
hard- core sex channel called the Hot Network to subscribers to its
broadband cable service. It also owns a company that sells sex videos to
nearly a million hotel rooms. Nearly one in five of AT&T's broadband cable
customers pays an average of $10 a film to see what the distributor calls
"real, live all-American sex -- not simulated by actors." None of the
corporate leaders of AT&T, Time Warner, General Motors, EchoStar, Liberty
Media, Marriott International, Hilton, On Command, LodgeNet Entertainment
or the News Corporation -- all companies that have a big financial stake in
adult films and that are held by millions of shareholders -- are willing to
speak publicly about the sex side of their businesses. "How can we?" said
an official at AT&T. "It's the crazy aunt in the attic. Everyone knows
she's there, but you can't say anything about it."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Timothy Egan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/technology/23PORN.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT COMMISSION
Assistant Secretary Rohde welcomes the final report of the Child Online
Protection Act (COPA) Commission. Assistant Secretary Rohde served as an ex
officio member of the Commission.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2000/copa102000.htm)

ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA LEAD PC SALES SURGE
Issue: Digital Divide
Worldwide, the personal computer industry continued its torrid pace of
growth in the third quarter according to two reports scheduled to be
released today. PC sales growth has slowed in United States, Canada and
Europe, as those markets reach saturation. One of the two reports indicates
that the United States market may have slipped below double-digit
percentage growth for the first time since 1994. Worldwide, International
Data estimated that sales grew 18.3 percent from the comparable period last
year, while Gartner reported 15.2 percent growth.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C10), AUTHOR: Chris Gaither]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/technology/23DATA.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
PEOPLE PC FINDS NICHE IN CORPORATE SALES
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Laurie Flynn]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/technology/23PEOP.html)
(requires registration)

FACED WITH PRIVACY QUESTION, SHOULD YOU OPT IN OR OPT OUT?
Issue: Privacy
When your personal privacy is at stake online, would you prefer to be left
alone except when you grant permission? Or are you comfortable having your
movements tracked unless you specifically object? The debate about Internet
privacy comes down to two very different approaches. In privacy jargon, the
first is known as "opt in." Marketers agree not to collect or use personal
data unless you affirm that you want to participate in their programs. "Opt
out" takes the opposite tack, assuming you want to participate unless the
site hears otherwise. So far, the Net is primarily an opt-out world. When
the Federal Trade Commission examined popular Web sites earlier this year,
it found 75% had opt-out policies. Lately privacy has become such a hot
button issue that legislators are floating proposals that would regulate how
Web sites gather personal data. Should consumers be worried? So far, much of
the privacy firestorm has centered on tracking data from cookies, which
reveal information about which Web pages a consumer visits. But with the
growth of e-commerce, information about purchasing behavior is potentially
more valuable. The real privacy challenges are yet to come. Personal video
recorders like ReplayTV and TiVo and the boom in online music raise the
possibility that marketers will monitor what we watch and listen to.
Continued interest in so-called dynamic pricing suggests that an
individual's penchant for buying Madonna CDs might tempt a Web merchant to
"customize" the price on her next release by an extra buck or two. And
wireless Web services will eventually be able to pinpoint your location in
the real world as well as the virtual one.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Tom Weber]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972257070604027502.htm)
(Requires subscription)

DIGITAL TIMES, PRIVATE LIVES ARE BREAKING UP PARTY LINES
Issue: Telephony
Today, when it not uncommon for homes to have multiple phone lines, it's
hard to imagine multiple homes sharing the same line. But 70 years ago, most
people had party lines. In the Bell System, 36% of residential customers
were on two-party lines, and 27% were on four-party lines. Now, no telephone
company offers new party-line service, and existing party lines are
gradually being converted to single party lines. It is estimated that there
are only about 5,000 partly lines left, out of 167 million access lines in
America. Most party lines can't handle digital signals and don't allow users
to have services such as caller identification, speed dialing and call
waiting.
[SOURCE: USAToday (19A), AUTHOR: Rick Hampson]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001023/2772046s.htm)

CORPORATE RETRENCHMENT

CORPORATIONS PUSH FOR TAX BREAKS UNDER GUISE OF EASING DIGITAL DIVIDE
Issue: Digital Divide
If you thought closing the "digital divide" is supposed to help poorer
people and those in rural areas hop on the Internet, think again. As
Congress wraps up spending bills and prepares to leave town, billions of
dollars in tax breaks for big corporations pitching to help bridge the
digital divide are under serious consideration. Yet many of the bills that
lobbyists are promoting as a way to solve the digital divide aren't focused
exclusively on have-nots. One proposed measure would repeal the 3% federal
excise tax on phone bills. That break, long sought by phone companies, would
cost the government's coffers about $55 billion over 10 years. One
digital divide proposal would grant computer makers a broader tax break for
donating used machines to schools and libraries. But critics say those
machines might be of more use by giving them to needy adults instead. Most
recently, digital divide arguments have been used to lobby for a measure
that would grant big new tax credits to telecommunications companies that
build high-speed connections for Internet access, especially in the rural
areas, whether it's upscale or not. Fiber-optic leader Corning is pushing
the measure, which likely would benefit from increased sales. Privately,
even a few boosters of the broadband credit admit to piggybacking on a
popular idea. Consumer groups say neither credit
would be effective at addressing the real digital divide. The Clinton
administration is raising questions, too. A few analysts say it is even
possible that the bill could encourage a new sort of digital divide. "Down
the line we see a broadband divide" between well-to-do areas on one hand
and urban poor and rural areas on the other, says Kevin Taglang, senior
telecommunications policy analyst for the Benton Foundation.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: John D. Mckinnon]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972255312373686698.htm)
(Requires subscription)

A WOUNDED GIANT, AT&T TO CONSIDER A SPLIT INTO 4 PARTS
Issue: Corporate Retrenchment
The board of AT&T is expected to consider today a plan to split the company
into four parts: wireless, cable, long distance and a core division of
global networking (data communications and business services). It would be
the company's second voluntary revamping since the federal court-ordered
breakup of the Bell system in 1984. In 1996, AT&T spun off its
communications equipment business as Lucent Technologies and shed the
troubled NCR computer unit.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/business/23DEAL.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
AT&T BOARD TO CONSIDER SPINOFF PLAN
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A04), AUTHOR: Jackie Spinner]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59421-2000Oct23.html)
AT&T CONSIDERS FOUR-WAY BREAKUP TO HELP BOOST PROFIT AND SHARE VALUE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Solomon & Deogun]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972249595290559969.htm)
(Requires subscription)

TIME, AOL AND EARLY ILLUSIONS
Issue: Mergers
The long engagement is finally reaching wedding day, so maybe it is time to
ask, Are these two really meant for each other? Maybe Time Warner came tame
that fast lane America Online; maybe AOL can add some zest to TW. One thing
we've learned since this marriage was announced in January -- the Internet
may not be too great a bet. AOL had been making big bucks off of start up
.com companies. The venture capital that funding those companies -- and
their ad campaigns -- has dried up however. And regulators may work against
the plan to bring TW's broadband cable pipes and AOL's Internet content
under one roof. There's also the dowry: this was a stock-based deal and
AOL's stock has dropped from $110.62 to just $69.86/share. The deal is
awaiting approval from the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal
Communications Commission. Approval is expected by the end of the year.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Saul Hansel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/technology/23AOL.html)
(requires registration)
See Also
FIRM DEVELOPS METHOD TO TRACK AOL'S 'CLICKABLE' ADVERTISEMENTS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Jennifer Rewick]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972255465558498009.htm)
(Requires subscription)

WEB-FIRM LAYOFFS INCREASE STEADILY AND MAY ACCELERATE
Issue: Jobs
Layoffs at Internet companies have been increasing steadily since May and
appear likely to accelerate over the next three months, according to a
report to be released Monday by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &
Christmas Inc. John A. Challenger said he noticed the first trickle of
layoffs at dot-com firms in December, when he recorded 301 layoffs. But he
said the rate that dot-com firms were cutting jobs intensified in May, when
investors started putting greater pressure on the dot-com firms to generate
revenue and turn a profit. He also predicted that many Web firms that are
selling services and products directly to consumers will be struggling
through this year's holiday season and heading to failure, as they try to
hit critical mass. He noted that it will take a much longer time than the
dot-com firms expected to convince consumers to change their purchasing
habits and buy everything online. "I think it's very likely that November,
December and January are going to be a heavy period and may very well
define the peak period of layoffs for the dot-coms." Challenger Gray said
it bases its study on notices of layoffs and corporate filings such as 10-Q
documents. It said it also calls the companies to verify the layoffs. [You
mean that "Get Ted" commercial is really about axing poor Ted?]
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Khanh T.L. Tran]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972249682463306053.htm)
(Requires subscription)

E-COMMERCE: PUBLIC BROADCASTING ON SALE
Issue: E-Commerce
Public radio and television stations are starting to establish strong
e-commerce presence on the Internet. As they do, they are looking not only
to generate revenue, but to remain relevant to their audiences in an age
when viewers and listeners have increasing media choices. As public
broadcasters increasing look to generate revenues on the Web, there is some
tension between the networks and their member stations, which also want to
drive viewers to the own Web sites and online stores. "It's one of these
affiliate-versus-national struggles that goes on all the time," said Steve
Behrens, editor of Current magazine, which covers the public broadcasting
industry. "Revenue is part of what's driving this. But more important, they
want the direct relationship with viewers that PBS is getting."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C12), AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/technology/23ECOM.html)
(requires registration)

OWNERSHIP

PATENTS: DISPROVING IDEA OWNERSHIP
Issue: Intellectual Property
BountyQuest.com is a Web site where people and companies can offer rewards
for information that leads to the de-bunking of patents. One of the first
bounties posted came from Tim O'Reilly, a publisher of software books and
online information. And here's the rub: He is offering a $10,000 reward to
anyone with proof that Amazon's one-click patent should be revoked. In the
letter, Mr. O'Reilly called the Amazon patent "one more example of an
`intellectual property' milieu gone mad," and said it was "a land grab, an
attempt to hoodwink a patent system that has not gotten up to speed on the
state of the art in computer science." "I didn't talk to [Amazon founder
Jeff Bezos] directly about it," Mr. O'Reilly said last Wednesday, the day
the Web site went into operation. "But others at BountyQuest did, and Jeff
is very supportive. He's trying to be forthright because he believes he has
a good patent. And if he doesn't, then he'll acknowledge that, too. I
commend him for that approach." The way the BountyQuest system works is
that a company or individual, remaining anonymous to the public, must pay
BountyQuest $2,500 to post a bounty on the site. It is up to the person or
organization that solicits the patent challenges to evaluate the submitted
material and determine its validity. BountyQuest, which is to receive a 40
percent commission on bounties paid, will monitor the process and will be
liable to pay the bounty if the posting group cannot or will not pay it to
a deserving party.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Sabra Chartrand]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/technology/23PATE.html)
(requires registration)

MEDIA TITAN SURVEYS HIS EMPIRE AT FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
Issue: Ownership
Thomas Middelhoff's tour of the Frankfurt Book Fair led him to joke, "You
know, it really is my fair. It is the Bertelsmann Book Fair." The Frankfurt
Book Fair is a relic of the days before FedEx, faxes and email; it is the
heart of a marketplace for trading rights to translate books and sell them
around the world. Germany's Bertelsmann AG is the biggest player in book
publishing these days: Long the largest publisher in Germany, with about 10
percent of the book market, Bertelsmann two years ago became the largest in
the world by acquiring Random House, gaining about 15 percent of the United
States trade book market. In April, its myriad European and Latin American
publishing units will be integrated into a single company, folded in under
the Random House name. And publishing is just one of Bertelsmann's angles
on the book business. Bertelsmann sells to publishers through its printing,
technology and distribution divisions. And Bertelsmann is its own
publishers' best customer, too, through its book clubs and online stores.
Learn more about the state of book publishing and Bertelsmann at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C19), AUTHOR: David Kirkpatrick]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/business/23BOOK.html)
(requires registration)

SPECTRUM

PLAN FOR THIRD GENERATION WIRELESS SYSTEMS
Issue: Wireless
From Media Advisory: In accordance with the President Clinton's October 13
Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and agencies on third
generation wireless systems, Secretary of Commerce Norman Y. Mineta today
released a plan to select spectrum for third generation wireless systems
and to lead a government-industry outreach effort. The plan, developed by
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in
cooperation with the Department of Defense and the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), and other Federal agencies is the first step in the
process that will allow the FCC to identify spectrum for third generation
wireless systems. The plan calls for the identification of spectrum by the
FCC in coordination with NTIA by July 2001.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/threeg/3g_plan14.htm)
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2000/3g102000.htm)

--------------------------------------------------------------

MEDIA & SOCIETY
Panel to Protect Children Online Decides Against Requiring Filters
(WSJ)
Advertising Harms Children, Coalition Tells Candidates (CME)
Information Everywhere, But Not The Time To Think (USA)
New Media Meets Old Media in the Phone Book (NYT)

POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Number of Debate Viewers Rises From the First but Remains Low (NYT)
Debates Leave Instant Analysts Hedging Their Bets (NYT)
Candidates Accept Fox's Offer of Free Time (NYT)

ADVERTISING
Advertising: Rupert Murdoch Lends His Voice (NYT)
Actors Take P&G Product Boycott To Web, E-Mail (USA)

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Geeks, Proud of the Name, Start a Volunteer Corps (NYT)

MERGERS
Time Warner-AOL Merger Nears Regulatory Finish,
Chairman Says (WSJ)

RADIO/MUSIC
Drive-Time Radio On 100 Channels (NYT)
MP3.com Could Be Playing Their Songs After Publishers Agree
to Tentative Deal (WSJ)

INTERNATIONAL
Detariffing International Long Distance (FCC)

MEDIA & SOCIETY

PANEL TO PROTECT CHILDREN ONLINE DECIDES AGAINST REQUIRING FILTERS
Issue: Media & Society
A commission created by Congress to study ways to protect children online
will advise against requiring public schools and libraries to use filtering
software. In a report expected to be released Friday, the 18-member panel,
set up under the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, recommends that
government should encourage the use of filtering technology to protect
children from the Internet's seedier neighborhoods. It also will call on
industry to improve filtering software. But the commission declined to
recommend the mandatory use of antipornography filters, saying no particular
technology yet offers an ideal solution. That puts the panel directly at
odds with a Republican-sponsored amendment to the annual spending bill for
the Department of Education and some other agencies, which would require
schools and libraries to install software filters if they buy technology
with certain types of federal subsidies. "I don't believe they're good
enough," said Donald Telage of software filters. Mr. Telage is chairman of
the commission and an executive at Network Solutions.. "They're hopelessly
outgunned. A legislative, quick solution may not be the right answer." Some
commission members clearly sympathized with the filtering proposal. Donna
Rice Hughes, vice president of Enough Is Enough, said she supports it: "If
you use federal money for the Internet, we want you to take appropriate
steps to make sure that kids are safe when they're online using our money."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive). AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB971914780616708314.htm)
(Requires subscription)

ADVERTISING HARMS CHILDREN, COALITION TELLS CANDIDATES
Issue: Advertising/Political Discourse
From Press Release: Kathryn Montgomery, president of the Center for Media
Education (CME) has joined a prestigious coalition of more than fifty
scholars, educators, health care providers and child advocates that sent a
letter to presidential candidates Al Gore, George W. Bush, Ralph Nader and
Pat Buchanan, urging the next administration to take a leadership role to
drastically reduce the amount of marketing aimed at children. Led by
Harvard Medical School faculty, Susan Linn and Alvin F. Poussaint of the
Media Center of Judge Baker Children's Center, the letter is signed by some
of the nation's foremost scholars and leaders in pediatric health care,
education and child advocacy, including Marian Wright Edelman, founder and
president of the Children's Defense Fund; T. Berry Brazelton, author and
pediatrician; Roald Hoffman, Nobel laureate; Howard Gardner, psychologist,
education innovator and recipient of a MacArthur fellowship; and Peggy
Charren, founder of Action for Children's Television.
[SOURCE: Center For Media Education]
(http://www.cme.org/)

INFORMATION EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT THE TIME TO THINK
Issue: Lifestyles
A study out today from the University of California, Berkeley, confirms what
most of us already know: We're awash in a sea of information, and the tide
is rising. The report, published at www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-much-info,
looks at the amount of data generated worldwide that appears in print, is
sent via radio or television, or is stored optically (such as on CDs and
DVDs) or magnetically (on hard drives and tapes). Interestingly, it is
individuals, and not publishers and other public sources, that are
responsible for most of the data generated each year, in forms such as
office documents, photographs and home videos. "Today, individuals are
creating and distributing huge amounts of information. It's a huge
revolution and a true democratic movement," says Peter Lyman, a professor at
Berkeley's School of Information Management and Systems and co-author of the
study with the school's dean, Hal Varian. While most information used to
come from authoritative sources -- governments, publishing houses,
newspapers and magazines -- now office workers are responsible for writing
more than 80 percent of all original paper documents.
[SOURCE: USAToday (1D), AUTHOR: Elizabeth Weise]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001019/2763342s.htm)

NEW MEDIA MEETS OLD MEDIA IN THE PHONE BOOK
Issue: Email
Phone books to be distributed next year by Verizon Communications will
include individual's e-mail addresses and personal Web page addresses, along
with their home telephone listings, for an annual fee of $36 for each
additional item. The change will be seen first in the New York area. The
idea has been under consideration for several years. "This is the first time
we've finally decided to go with it," said MaryBeth Masterson, product
manager of white pages for Verizon. Other phone companies have offered the
service but with limited response. Verizon's research showed that people
wanted to be located easily. "It's a great way to give people the
opportunity to contact you in ways other than by telephone," Ms. Masterson
said. Dr. James Katz, a communication professor at Rutgers University, notes
the convergence of old and new media: "We are having this jumbling of
communication tools," he said. People can find "old-style information" like
phone numbers online, he said, even as they find e-mail addresses in a
low-tech print directory. "A lot of people are not very Internet-savvy," Dr.
Katz said, "so for them, being able to use a familiar technology to look up
an e-mail address is great." Verizon is promoting the new feature as part of
its "personalized-listing options." Qwest began offering the service in
January 1997 but does not advertise it; fewer than 400 residential customers
have signed up. Bell Canada has offered the service since November 1996.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Joyce Cohen]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/technology/19LIST.html)
(requires registration)

POLITICAL DISCOURSE

NUMBER OF DEBATE VIEWERS RISES FROM THE FIRST BUT REMAINS LOW
Issue: Political Discourse
About 40.8 million watched Tuesday's presidential debate on the major
broadcast networks and cable channels. The audience was slightly bigger
than that for the second debate, but still much smaller than the first
debate's (Oct 3) audience. Fox again decided to air entertainment
programming seen by 13 million people and many NBC viewers saw a baseball
playoff game. But ABC's and CBS's audiences actually grew as the debate
worn on.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A22), AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/politics/19RATI.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
BUOYANT GORE CAMP WANTS TO RERUN DEBATE ON CABLE
Believing the vice president's performance at the last debate has revived
his candidacy, the Gore campaign is looking into buying 90 minutes of cable
network time to rerun the program.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A24), AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/politics/19GORE.html)
(requires registration)

DEBATES LEAVE INSTANT ANALYSTS HEDGING THEIR BETS
Issue: Political Discourse
Why have debates diminished as television events? Perhaps with 24-hour
cable news and candidates popping up on AM news shows, daytime talkshows
and late night TV, their appearances just aren't that big a deal anymore.
Debates are just part of the process now and are accompanied by snap polls
and focus groups, clips and interviews on morning shows the next day and
pundits dissecting each camp's spin for days. One new trend arose, though:
focus groups of undecided viewers replacing "experts" in deciding who won.
The pundits have realized that the way they see a debate may not match the
polls days after.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A23), AUTHOR: Caryn James]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/politics/19CRIT.html)
(requires registration)

CANDIDATES ACCEPT FOX'S OFFER OF FREE TIME
Issue: Political Discourse
Vice President Gore and Gov Bush will each receive a half hour of "free
time" to address Fox's viewing audience in primetime on October 27. Fox
executives will attend the taping of the candidates' addresses which cannot
be edited or enhanced. The political videos will replace the regularly
scheduled "Police Videos."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A23)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/politics/19FOX.html)
(requires registration)

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING: RUPERT MURDOCH LENDS HIS VOICE
Issue: Advertising
After a good run in recent years, the television advertising market is
cooling down. News Corp's Rupert Murdoch recently told shareholders, "There
are signs of weakness in the next couple of months," and he openly
attributed that to a falloff in spending by Internet businesses. Jack
Myers, the chief economist for The Myers Report, an industry newsletter,
noted that, "up to 50 to 70 percent of the money put up by venture
capitalists to start up these new- media companies got passed through in
spending on traditional media." He added, "That's over now." Tom Wolzien, a
media analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein, said any pullback in advertising
commitments would most likely not be felt first at the network level. "This
stuff usually cracks up from the bottom," he said. "I would expect local
stations and small cable networks to be hit first."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/business/19ADCO.html)
(requires registration)

ACTORS TAKE P&G PRODUCT BOYCOTT TO WEB, E-MAIL
Issue: Advertising
As the strike by the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of
Television and Radio Artists against the ad industry has evolved to a fight
over actor compensation on the Web, actors have begun to use the Internet to
gain support for their cause. The Unions have teamed with the AFL-CIO to
mount an Internet and phone blitz with star-studded e-mail, banner ads and
voice messages. Next week they will send e-mail to 2.3 million consumers,
which contain a video of actors such as Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and
Julianna Margulies endorsing the boycott. The goal is to persuade consumers
to boycott Procter & Gamble's Tide, Ivory and Crest products. Talks to
settle the 6-month-old strike resume today.
[SOURCE: USAToday (3B), AUTHOR: Michael McCarthy]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001019/2763491s.htm)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

GEEKS, PROUD OF THE NAME, START A VOLUNTEER CORPS
Issue: Digital Divide
Meet Geekcorps, the high-tech humanitarian aid version of the Peace Corps.
Instead of teaching math, as technologically adept Peace Corps workers often
do, GeekCorps members teach software companies in Ghana, for example, the
Java and Unix programming languages. The Geekcorps idea is the brainchild
Ethan Zuckerman, who started Tripod and Elisa Korentayer, an investment
banker and a poverty relief worker. The idea for Geekcorps came when Mr.
Zuckerman was in Ghana in 1993 on a Fulbright fellowship to study African
music. He spent a lot of time in the library and noticed that it did not
have many books published later than 1957, when Ghana became independent
from Britain. "I thought, If there was just an Internet connection," he
said, "you could more than double this library." While Geekcorps is not
unique, it is indicative of the expanding definition of the "digital divide"
While the term was once used primarily to describe the gulf between Internet
haves and have-nots within Western countries, it now refers more and more
frequently to the huge disparity in access between the world's economic
giants and its fledgling economies. Geekcorps and similar U.N.-sponsored
programs reflect the idea that the Internet can provide medical information,
economic opportunities and online courses that will enable developing
countries to leapfrog ahead. In the future Mr. Zuckerman hopes to persuade
"venture philanthropists" like the Noaber Foundation, which gave Geekcorps a
grant, to provide capital for Geekcorps's Ghanaian clients.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D7), AUTHOR: Shaila Dewan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/technology/19VOLU.html)
(requires registration)

MERGERS

TIME WARNER-AOL MERGER NEARS REGULATORY FINISH, CHAIRMAN SAYS
Issue: Mergers
America Online and Time Warner are in the "homestretch" of the regulatory
process for their merger, Time Warner Chairman Gerald Levin said, adding
that he is "highly confident" of completing the merger this fall, in spite
of recent reports of tense negotiations between the companies and the
government. Mr. Levin called such reports "off-base." Mr. Levin also
insisted that worries about the advertising climate were "spurious,"
responding to concerns that have hit media and Internet stocks in recent
days. In a meeting yesterday, Time Warner executives argued that they
agreed with the Federal Trade Commission's desire to open up Time Warner's
cable systems to rival Internet-service providers, noting it would be good
for business. Terms of the "open access" plan have been among the most hotly
negotiated with the government, however.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12). AUTHOR: Martin Peers]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB971872700334797087.htm)
See Also
AOL TELLS WALL STREET IT'S READY FOR MERGER
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Alec Klein]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35413-2000Oct18.html)

RADIO/MUSIC

DRIVE-TIME RADIO ON 100 CHANNELS
Issue: Radio
Next year, Sirius and XM will start offering satellite radio services --
digital programming that will be available by subscription for car and home
receivers. Unlike local AM and FM channels, these new 100-channel packages
will be able to be heard continuously from one end of the country to the
other, with a CD-quality signal. If the businesses succeed, it could mean a
major shift for radio. Narrow-format digital shows, mostly free of
commercials, will go head to head with the advertiser-laden talk and
pop-music channels on AM and FM radio. And that's just to start. "Cable
started out as a television service, and now, with pay-per-view and
high-speed modems, it's a pipe into the home," said Hugh Panero, president
of XM. "We want digital radio to be that pipe into the car." Sirius and XM
expect their audio services to be only the first step in a plan to offer,
for additional fees, in-car services like e-mail and e-commerce access, and
data delivery.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Eric Taub]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/19/technology/19RADI.html)
(requires registration)

MP3.COM COULD BE PLAYING THEIR SONGS AFTER PUBLISHERS AGREE TO TENTATIVE
DEAL
Issue: Intellectual Property
MP3.com struck a tentative deal with music publishers to settle a copyright
suit and license songs for use in its My.MP3.com service. The three-year
deal, which still must be approved by the group's members, would potentially
restore many major record label tracks to My.MP3.com, which allows users to
listen to songs online if they already own them on compact disks. But
MP3.com still faces considerable legal hurdles, including a judgment that
could amount to as much as $250 million in a separate copyright suit filed
by Seagram Co.'s Universal Music Group. In addition, the company faces other
suits, from Zomba Recording Corp. and from shareholders. My.MP3.com service
was largely shut down in May after a judge found the service infringed
copyrights. The service could start being restored within a few weeks.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B20). AUTHOR: Anna Wilde Mathews]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB971879248663820328.htm)
(Requires subscription)

INTERNATIONAL

DETARIFFING INTERNATIONAL LONG DISTANCE
Issue: International/Long Distance
From Press Release: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took
action to promote further deregulation of international long distance
services. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the Commission adopted
pro-consumer proposals to reduce further, as part of its Biennial
Regulatory Review under Section 11 of the Communications Act, the
regulatory burdens imposed on non-dominant carriers' provision of
international interexchange services.
Comments are due November 17, 2000. Reply comments are due December 4, 2000.
International Bureau Contact: Lisa Choi, (202) 418-1460.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/News_Releases/2000/nrin0017.html)

--------------------------------------------------------------