Note: We'd like to thank guest editor, Pat Aufderheide,
for contributing her skills to today's CRH. Kevin Taglang
will return next week; in the meantime, enjoy this last
three-day weekend of the summer.
In today's headlines:
Telephone / Cable:
WSJ: U S West Takes Over a Huge Cable Firm, Then Angers Its Brass
WSJ: AT&T's Zeglis Leads Race for CEO Post
Movies / Entertainment:
WSJ: Cut the Cute Stuff: Kids Flock to Adult Flicks
Internet Industry:
WSJ: Four Makers of Telecom Equipment Join to Invest in
Project to Speed Up Internet
Internet Content:
WSJ: Will Threat of Libel Suits Chill Cyberspace Chatter?
Wash. Post: Online News Providers Resist Ratings
Wash. Post: Two Facing Libel Suit over E-Mail
Television:
NYT: 3 Networks, Set Makers In Standoff Over HDTV
******************* TELEPHONE / CABLE *********************
Title: U S West Takes Over a Huge Cable Firm, Then Angers Its Brass
Source: Wall Street Journal (A1) http://www.wsj.com/
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: Cable/Telco
Alone among Baby Bells, U S West continues to purchase and upgrade cable
businesses, although decision to move the headquarters of newly
purchased Continental has created turmoil within the company and shaken
investor confidence. U S West, the Baby Bell with the most sprawling
territory, has pursued cable and "opportunities of electronic commerce"
in an era of convergence since divestiture in 1984. It also owns cable
systems in Atlanta and 25 percent of HBO and other cable-related
elements of Time Warner. But it's not clear when U S West could start
declaring profits. Telephone service over cable lines still appears
stalled by technical problems, and regulatory structures around cable
and telephone are still different even after the Telecommunications Act
of 1996. U S West may even consider spinning off the cable side. So much
for synergy.
Title: AT&T's Zeglis Leads Race for CEO Post
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
Author: John J. Keller
Issue: Telephone Business
Candidates for the new AT&T CEO are narrowing, as the board of directors
continues to search after a month. Front runner is AT&T Vice Chairman
John D. Zeglis. But as an insider would he be tarnished by AT&T's recent
troubled market behavior? He also has no experience as CEO. Luring in
outsiders would be costly, and any leading executives of telecom firms
would bring with them conflict-of-interest prospects in a time of
mergers.
******************* Movies / Entertainment **********************
Title: Cut the Cute Stuff: Kids Flock to Adult Flicks
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
Author: Bruce Orwall
Issue: Movies, children
Young children are increasingly going to films aimed at an older market,
such as "Men in Black" and even "My Best Friend's Wedding," hurting the
box office for films aimed at them, such as "Free Willy 3: The Rescue."
Parents and business analysts think TV is training kids to watch more
mature material. Although News Corp., Time Warner and DreamWorks SKG are
all launching animation units, they may be aiming at a video, not a
theatrical market.
********************** Internet Industry ************************
Title: Four Makers of Telecom Equipment Join to Invest in
Project to Speed Up Internet
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10) http://www.wsj.com/
Author: G. Christian Hill
Issue: Telecommunications industry, Internet
Description: Four of the world's five largest telecom-equipment makers are
putting aside their rivalries to invest in a Silicon Valley start-up that is
building a device to speed up Internet communications. The startup,
Juniper Networks Inc., is receiving $40 million from Telefon AB LM Ericsson,
Northern Telecom Ltd, 3Com Corp. and Worldcom Inc's UUNet Technologies. The
technology is considered essential to ending bottlenecks on the Internet.
Cisco Systems says it's already in field trials with a similar device.
Juniper's CEO claims their product will ship within the next year.
Title: After the Degree...a Disconnection
Source: Washington Post (K1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/29/214l-082997-idx.html
Author: Beth Berselli
Issue: Internet
Description: College grads are suffering cyber-withdrawal. Accustomed to
free e-mail and Internet access -- often higher quality and faster than
commercial services -- at school, now they discover they have to pay for
it. Prodigy and EarthLink have targeted alumni as a prime market, and
analysts like their plans.
*********************** Internet Content ************************
Title: Will Threat of Libel Suits Chill Cyberspace Chatter?
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Internet content / Libel
White House Advisor Sidney Blumenthal's defamation lawsuit against Matt
Drudge, who had claimed on his AOL rumor-mill Website that Blumenthal had
a history of spousal abuse, tests the definition of on-line services as
a medium of expression and providers' responsibilities. Libel lawyers
agree that once a third party has access to the material, libel laws
apply. Current law has two opposite precedents for providers'
responsibilities. One decision says CompuServe had no responsibility
because it had no editorial control, another says Prodigy acted as an
editor.
Title: Online News Providers Resist Ratings
Source: Washington Post (K3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/29/208l-082997-idx.html
Author: David E. Kalish
Issue: Internet content
Description: About 25 news organizations announced that they would not
assign "ratings" to the material they provide over the Internet, despite
Clinton administration efforts to encourage the online industry to
establish ratings or other labels to flag controversial content. The news
organizations expressed concern that since they routinely report stories
that include violence and sexual situations, these ratings would limit
access to legitimate news sites. The situation mirrors the ratings scheme
for TV, which exempts TV news organizations from rating their shows.
Title: Two Facing Libel Suit over E-mail
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http:/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/29/150l-082997-idx.html
Author: Marylou Tousignant
Issue: Internet Content
Description:After a 23-year-old Virginia man posted a complaint about police
brutality toward his mother on a website, the police officer he named
filed a defamation suit. According to U of Virginia law professor Robert
M. O'Neil, people often believe that communication in cyberspace does
not have the weight of printed matter, which is not true. The trial is
set for March 23 in Fairfax, VA.
*********************** Television ****************************
Title: 3 Networks, Set Makers In Standoff Over HDTV
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/082997hdtv.html
Author: Joel Brinkley
Issue: HDTV
Description: Broadcasters are waiting to see what kinds of sets TV
manufacturers are going to be producing, and the manufacturers are
waiting for the broadcasters to reveal exactly how they are going to use
the digital spectrum before finalizing their plans for HDTV sets in the
latest incarnation of the question, "Which came first, the chicken or
the egg?" Neither side wants to make a move until the other has
committed to HDTV. The only channel that has committed to
high-definition programming is HBO, which will begin HDTV broadcasting
next summer. Although it is understandable why corporations on both
sides would not want to tip their hats to their competitors, many feel
that it would serve everyone's best interest to have a meeting between
leaders of both industries to set the standards for the introduction of
HDTV. With major networks losing viewers to cable and direct-satellite
broadcasting, and TV manufacturers losing money because of consumers
anticipating the arrival of HDTV, a solution to this "problem" probably
isn't too far away.
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