EDTECH
Shift for Education Technology Policy (NYT)
MERGERS
FCC Is Very Close to Approval Of AOL-Time Warner Merger (WSJ)
Court Voids Condition on SBC-Ameritech Deal (WP)
TELEVISION
Vision Of TV's Future Still Coming Into Focus (SJM)
EDTECH
SHIFT FOR EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Issue: EdTech
In mid-December, the Department of Education's Office of Educational
Technology released "e-Learning: Putting a World-Class Education at the
Fingertips of All Children," an update of the first national educational
technology plan released in 1996. "The biggest difference in our new
national plan is that the old plan was very much focused on getting the
infrastructure in place," said Linda Roberts, director of the Office of
Educational Technology. "The new plan is much more focused on using this
technology to transform teaching and learning." The report also serves as a
summary of what has been accomplished since the release of the 1996 plan.
Citing figures collected by the National Center for Education Statistics,
the report notes that 95 percent of schools and 63 percent of classrooms had
Internet access. Even so, the report acknowledges there are still many
challenges ahead, such as increasing the number of computers in schools that
can simultaneously connect to the Internet, upgrading Internet connections
to broadband, addressing disparities in access to technology in poor vs.
wealthy communities and improving teacher training.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Susan Stellin]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/10/technology/10EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)
MERGER
FCC IS VERY CLOSE TO APPROVAL OF AOL-TIME WARNER MERGER
Issue: Mergers
Sources say the FCC is nearing approval of AOL's merger with Time Warner
without the tougher restrictions currently being debated. The WSJ reports
that the vote, which is the merger's final regulatory hurdle, could come as
early as today. To date the vote has been delayed by disagreement among the
five-member commission's three Democrats over the issue of instant
messaging. The agency is expected to require AOL to begin opening
instant-messaging services to rivals as it rolls out advanced services such
as video over instant-messaging channels, a key condition of the deal.
Gloria Tristani, one of the Democratic Commissioners, had been holding out
for tougher conditions to be imposed on the emerging instant-messaging
market.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jill Carroll]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB979097718112529073.htm)
[Subscription Required]
See Also:
AOL, TIME WARNER HIT SNAG
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010110/2976753s.htm)
AOL DEAL GAINS 2ND VOTE AS FCC MULLS CONDITIONS
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Alec Klein]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39733-2001Jan9.html)
COURT VOIDS CONDITION ON SBC-AMERITECH DEAL
Issue: Mergers
A federal appeals court yesterday struck down a condition imposed by the FCC
on the merger of SBC Communications and Ameritech. Technically, the court's
decision also set aside the FCC approval of the merger of the two regional
telephone companies that together control a third of the nation's phone
lines. FCC officials said they cannot imagine that the merger will be
undone, however. When the FCC approved the merger in 1999, it forced the
resulting enterprise to establish a separate subsidiary for the sales
high-speed Internet service. The court yesterday ruled that the FCC erred in
ordering the creation of that subsidiary without extending rules that compel
regional telephone companies to sell, at wholesale rates, their retail
telecommunications services to companies that resell those services.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E03), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39696-2001Jan9.html)
See Also:
APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS KEY CONDITION OF SBC MERGER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR:Mark Wigfield ]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB979090075412290952.htm)
(requires subscription)
TELEVISION
VISION OF TV'S FUTURE STILL COMING INTO FOCUS
Issue: Television
The future of TV was on display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in
Las Vegas this weekend. Popular feature were the hard-disk video recorders,
which can record 15 hours of programming -- giving viewers a taste of the
future of video-on-demand. These players enable viewers to record all of
their favorite programs to watch at their convenience and then hyperspeed
through any commercials. According to columnist Dan Gilmore, this new video
technology raises an important question of control. "As the hardware
industry comes up with more clever gadgets, the purveyors of entertainment
and other data will do their best to thwart consumers' ability to use the
information as they choose," says Gilmore. He fears that in an all-digital
environment, the media industry will be more tempted than ever to offer
everything through a pay-per-view model.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dan Gillmor]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/columns/front/docs/dg011001.htm)
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