Communications-related Headlines for 1/16/01
INTRNET
The Old-Fangled Search Engine (WP)
Chairman Tauzin Calls for Hearings on ICANN (House)
FCC
Chairman Kennard Announces Resignation (FCC)
MERGERS
While AOL Reaps Benefits, Shareholders Of Time Warner May Face a
Third Setback (WP)
Forstmann Buyout Firm Likely to Buy Citadel, Radio Broadcaster (NYT)
JOBS
Motorola Ends U.S. Cell-Phone Production (WP)
Entertainment Writers Weigh Strike (NYT)
SECURITY
Major Technology Firms Form Alliance to Share Data on Hackers (WSJ)
INTERNET
THE OLD-FANGLED SEARCH ENGINE
Issue: Digital Divide
Finding ourselves in the middle of the information age, with nearly 3
billion Internet sites teeming with readily accessible information, one
might wonder whether we still need libraries. For an informed opinion it
would be worth asking a librarian. This week, in Washington, nearly 10,000
librarians are meeting for the American Library Association's midwinter
meeting. Nancy Kranich, chief librarian at New York University, and
president of the ALA, volunteers an answer. "Yes," says Kranich, "we need
libraries more than ever," Kranich says, "to bridge the digital divide."
Only about 41 percent of Americans have access to the Internet at home, she
explains. The rest do not. For them, "the library is the number one point of
access." Some 95 percent of public libraries provide Internet services to
patrons. But libraries also offer answers to questions, foreign language
classes, literacy courses, after-school activities, and guidance for
expectant mothers. But why libraries when the Internet is so available?
Kranich answers, "Librarians", Kranich says. Librarians, "are a great source
for giving people just the information they need to make good decisions."
Living Yahoos in a sense, human search engines. "We have always been
cataloguers," she says. "Librarians are selective." They are critical and
choosy in ways that computers never will be.
[SOURCE: Washington Post 1/13, (C01), AUTHOR: Linton Weeks]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55132-2001Jan12.html)
CHAIRMAN TAUZIN CALLS FOR HEARINGS ON ICANN
Issue: Internet
Last week, Congressman Billy Tauzin (R-LA), Chairman of the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, called for further hearings to examine the issue of
domain name system privatization. Rep. Tauzin sent a letter to Michael M.
Roberts, President and Chief Executive Officer Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, requested a meeting in preparation of a
Subcommittee on Telecommunications hearing in February to examine the
process by which ICANN selects Internet domain name suffixes. The committee
has questions about the way in which ICANN arrived at its decision in
November to approve seven suffixes: .aero, .coop, .info, .museum,
.name,.pro, and .biz.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://www.house.gov/commerce/news107/01122001.htm)
FCC
CHAIRMAN KENNARD ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION
Issue: FCC
On January 11, FCC Chairman William E. Kennard announced his resignation
from the Federal Communications Commission, effective January 19, 2001.
During his three-year tenure, Chairman Kennard felt especially proud of his
role in promoting competition and consumer choice in the telecommunications
marketplace and expanding access to technology for all Americans. For the
next few months, Chairman Kennard will serve as a Senior Fellow of the Aspen
Institute Communications and Society Program in Washington, D.C.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/2001/stwek102.html)
MERGERS
WHILE AOL REAPS BENEFITS, SHAREHOLDERS OF TIME WARNER MAY FACE A THIRD
SETBACK
Issue: Mergers
Business historians are sure to look back at the merger of AOL and Time
Warner and ask, "What were they thinking?" This merger was fueled by two
things: 1) a fleeting frenzy for Internet stocks and 2) the incredibly
prescience of the AOL people. "Absent this deal," the author writes, "[AOL
stock} would probably be trading at roughly the level of whale droppings."
Not only did the Time Warner shareholders take a hit in their original Time
Warner and newly acquired AOL stock, the company cultures are decidedly
different. Finally, regarding journalism: "No matter what anyone at the new
company says, journalism -- going out and looking for the truth, then
presenting it to people -- at AOL Time Warner will be less important than it
was at Time Warner. Where, in turn, journalism was further down the food
chain than it had been at the old Time Inc."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E03), AUTHOR: Allan Sloan]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63477-2001Jan15.html)
FORSTMANN BUYOUT FIRM LIKELY TO BUY CITADEL, RADIO BROADCASTER
Issue: Radio
Forstmann Little & Company, is expected to announce today that it has agreed
to acquire Citadel Communications, one of the nation's largest radio
broadcasters in midsize markets, for about $1 billion in cash. The board of
Citadel, which owns 143 FM stations and 66 AM stations in 44 markets
nationwide, approved the sale late last night. The transaction is still
subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission and
shareholders. Forestmann Little will face enormous challenges with buying
into an industry that is dependent on a strong advertising market just as
the economy is beginning to sour and companies begin to trim their
advertising budgets.
[SOURCE: New York Times (B1), AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/16/business/16DEAL.html)
(requires registration)
JOBS
ENTERTAINMENT WRITERS WEIGH STRIKE
Issue: Jobs/Television
Hollywood writers, upset by increasingly poor treatment in the industry, are
threatening to strike on May 1 if they cannot come to an agreement with the
studios and networks. The writers, represented by the Writers Guild of
America, are most concerned about nonmonetary issues, such as the use of the
possessory credit - the credit that directors take that reads "A film by . .
." They want to limit the use of such credits, and they want to be employed
while a film is in production so that they can make changes in the script.
"There's a culture in Hollywood that devalues the contribution of the writer
to a film," Daniel M. Petrie Jr., a former president of the Writers Guild on
the West Coast. "In some ways, it's more dysfunctional today than it's ever
been." Besides the writers' threatened strike, the Screen Actors Guild and
the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, representing
135,000 actors, are scheduled to walk out on June 30
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Bernard Weinraub]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/16/business/16STRI.html)
(requires registration)
MOTOROLA ENDS U.S. CELL-PHONE PRODUCTION
Issue: Wireless
Motorola announced this week it will shut down its only U.S. cell-phone
manufacturing operation, laying off about 2,500 workers in an effort to
improve sagging profits. Motorola said it plans are part of a long-term
strategy to improve supply-chain efficiencies and cell-phone profitability,
while consolidating manufacturing. Getting new phones quickly to market has
been a consistent problem for Motorola, which was overtaken by Nokia in 1999
as the world's No. 1 cell-phone manufacturer.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, (E01) AUTHOR: Dave Carpenter]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63488-2001Jan15.html)
SECURITY
MAJOR TECHNOLOGY FIRMS FORM ALLIANCE TO SHARE DATA ON
HACKERS
Issue: Security
Some of the biggest names in technology, including bitter rivals Microsoft
and Oracle, are forming a private alliance, the Information Technology
Information Sharing and Analysis Center, to share sensitive information
about cyber-attacks and vulnerabilities in their software and hardware
products. Nineteen companies have contributed a total of $750,000 to launch
the nonprofit center, known as IT-ISAC. New members will be able to join
the alliance for $5,000 a year. President Clinton had urged the industry to
create this members-only organization after hackers last year shut down
traffic to some of the Internet's biggest e-commerce sites. "We've known
that each of us have a little bit of the
picture. ... By sharing the information, we can be that much smarter," said
Guy Copeland of Computer Sciences Corp.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB97959775829133953.htm)
(requires subscription)
See also:
CYBERCRIME REPORTING NETWORK LAUNCHED
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Brian Krebs]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/nb/nb3.htm)
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