LEGISLATION
Controversial Internet Proposal Is Attached to Budget Bill (CyberTimes)
Tech Field Is King of the Hill (WP)
Firms Carry Fight Against Bells' Merger to FCC (WP)
New High-Tech Laws Please Industry (WP)
GII
Five Challenges to Build a Global Information Infrastructure (NTIA)
DIGITAL AUDIO
New Digital Music Player Prompts Lawsuit (CyberTimes)
Music Industry Wrestles With Digital Reality (CyberTimes)
Radio Stations Are Cautious About Audio Online (CyberTimes)
PRIVACY
Sin In The Global Village (Time)
MERGERS
Firms Carry Fight Against Bells' Mergers To FCC (WP)
Hughes's DirecTV Has Held Early Talks To Buy PrimeStar Assets,
Subscribers (NYT)
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LEGISLATION
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Controversial Internet Proposal Is Attached to Budget Bill
Issue: Legislation
If you were part of the fight against the Communications Decency Act (CDA),
get ready for CDA II or COPA -- the Child Online Protection Act. The
legislation is expected to be approved and attached to the budget bill being
sent to the President. Also attached will be the Internet Tax Freedom Act,
the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and the Government Paperwork
Reduction Act which establishes a national standard for digital signatures.
The President's top Internet adviser, Ira C. Magaziner, said those bills --
along with digital copyright protections that passed earlier this week --
are crucial for stimulating the growth of electronic commerce. "I think
we've gotten our major priorities," Mr. Magaziner said. "We are feeling
pretty good right now." [See more details below]
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing jeri( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/articles/16congress.html
TECH FIELD IS KING OF THE HILL
NEW HIGH-TECH LAWS PLEASE INDUSTRY
GIVE-AND-TAKE IN THE BOWELS OF THE BUDGET
Issue: Legislation
Several key high-tech industry benefits were included in the U.S. government
budget agreement reached Thursday by Congress and the White House. Other
key decisions were announced by the White House or were passed as separate
bills during the past several days. Here are some key decisions.
IMMIGRATION: More foreign computer programmers will be welcomed during the
next three years. The current 65,000 annual cap will be raised to 115, 000
in 1999 and 2000 and 107,500 in 2001. INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY: With the Child
Online Protection Act commercial sites on the Internet would be required to
block access by children to material deemed "harmful to minors." The
penalty would be up to $50,000 in fines and six months in jail. The
constitutionality of the bill will be challenged. Y2K: Congress "passed a
bill that will allow companies to share information about how to fix the
Year 2000 computer glitch, without fear of lawsuits." INTERNET COPYRIGHT:
The bill creates stronger copyright protection for software, music, and
other written material on the Internet. INTERNET TAXATION: The Internet Tax
Freedom Act offers a reprieve of three years on sales taxes on the Internet.
During that time a commission will develop a uniform e-commerce tax
structure. OTHER: The White House agreed to relax limits on the export of
powerful data encryption technology. The Administration promised to crack
down on software piracy at federal agencies. Legislation will create
uniform national standards for shareholder lawsuits.
[Tech SOURCE: Washington Post (F1), AUTHOR: Mark Leibovich]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/washtech/wtech001.htm
[New SOURCE: Washington Post (Website), AUTHOR: Ted Bridis (Associated Press)]
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19981016/V000194-101698-idx...
[Give SOURCE: Washington Post (A16), AUTHOR: William Branigan, Amy
Goldstein, Bradley Graham, Judith Havermann, Roberto Suro & Joby Warrick]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/budget/stories/impact
101698.htm
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GII
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FIVE CHALLENGES TO BUILD A GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Issue: Infrastructure
From a White House Press Release: In a speech today before the United
Nations' chief telecommunications organization, Vice President Gore
challenged delegates
representing over 180 nations to use our newest technologies to preserve our
oldest values. "Four years ago, I asked you to helped create a global
information superhighway," Vice President Gore said."Today, I thank you for
what you have done to bring about the most stunning revolution the world has
known, and I challenge you to build on this unprecedented opportunity by
putting these new global networks to work helping people. Today, we can
build on our progress and use these powerful new forces of technology to
advance our oldest and most cherished values: to extend knowledge and
prosperity to the most isolated inner cities at home, and the most remote
rural villages around the world; to bring 21st century learning and
communication to places that don't even have phone service today; to share
specialized medical technology that can save and improve lives; to deepen
the meaning of democracy and freedom in this Internet age." The Vice
President proposed five new challenges, which he characterized as a
"Declaration of Interdependence."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/veep101398.htm
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DIGITAL AUDIO
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NEW DIGITAL MUSIC PLAYER PROMPTS LAWSUIT
MUSIC INDUSTRY WRESTLES WITH DIGITAL REALITY
Issue: Copyright
"The music business is going from bottled water to running water," said Marc
Geiger, co-founder of ARTISTdirect, a digitally focused entertainment
company based in Los Angeles. In related CyberTimes articles, a look at how
the music industry is changing as downloading and storing music from the
Internet becomes easier and easier. Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. has
developed a portable device -- available as early as next month -- about the
size of a cigarette pack, that stores music in digital form and plays it
back through headphones. But the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) wants to stop the product, called the Rio, from reaching the market.
They fear that the under-$200 gizmo will further encourage an online market
in pirated music. Mr. Geiger says the traditionally minded executives who
dominate the upper ranks of his industry "are scared that there is an
alternative delivery system that they don't control, and it is free, and
they are terrified." But, he added, "there is a whole host of new ways to
make money, whether it's selling different types of products, advertising,
database mining and marketing."
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan
kaplanc( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/cyberlaw/16law.html
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Lisa Napoli]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/articles/16ascap.html
RADIO STATIONS ARE CAUTIOUS ABOUT AUDIO ONLINE
Issue: Radio/Internet
1,708 stations around the world offer audio programs on the Internet, up
from 763 a year ago, according to BRS Media, an Internet radio consulting
agency. But another 4,300 have Websites that don't offer audio. What's the
deal? "From everything I've heard, you can get about 200 listeners at a
time," said Craig Hahn, director of Internet services for WSOC and six other
CBS-owned stations in the Charlotte area, noting that it would cost $80,000
for the station to get up and running with streaming audio. "The power of
the Internet is not to have another speaker," he added. "That places the
focus in the wrong area." Use of the Internet is a hot topic at the annual
National Association of Broadcasters Radio Show. Stations want to figure out
how to turn the Websites into something more than glorified marketing tools.
Arbitron NewMedia is expected to release a report today that indicates radio
stations may lose their audience to other Internet attractions if they do
not try to stake ground in this new territory. "Internet users are spending
less time with radio," said Greg Verdino, general manager for Internet
information services at Arbitron NewMedia. "Internet-based audio might offer
some appealing alternatives."
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: ]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/articles/16radio.html
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PRIVACY
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SIN IN THE GLOBAL VILLAGE
Issue: Privacy
With the recent presidential scandal, there has been much talk about the "death
of privacy." People have many fears about the increased ability to monitor
human activity in electronic age. It is more difficult than ever to hide
your mistakes. And when anyone with a modem can publish a web page, it has
also become astonishingly easy to disseminate any information about the
missteps of others. "Terrifying," said author Robert Wright. "But who ever
said that privacy was a God-given right - or, for that matter, a wholly good
thing." [Um, actually, the European Union did, Mr. Wright] There is no doubt
that the increased anonymity of the modern age
made it more feasible to transgress society's mores. With less fear of
community retribution, people may have found it easier to indulge in certain
peccadilloes. Now, technology has thrown us back to fearing a "greater
power" that might record our sins. While Wright does not go as far as to
suggest that electronic surveillance might function the same as "village
visibility" or a watchful God, he does leave us with a provocative
question about morality and technology. "As we spend more time plugged in
and less time in public view, and as many people take fire and brimstone
less and less literally, where will the surrogates for time-honored restraints
come from?"
[SOURCE:Time (p.130), AUTHOR: Robert Wright]
http://www.time.com
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MERGERS
========
FIRMS CARRY FIGHT AGAINST BELLS' MERGER TO FCC
Issue: Merger/Local Telephone
In an effort to block what would be one of the biggest of mergers of
regional Bell companies ever, AT&T Corp., MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp.
have filed briefs with the Federal Communications Commission claiming that
SBC's proposed purchase of Ameritech would hurt competition and impair the
long distance companies' efforts to enter the local telephone market. Both
the FCC and the Justice Department have given quick approval to all of the
Bell mergers since 1996. While it is doubtful that either agency will block
the deal, the FCC has broader authority to stop the purchase because of its
mandate that mergers serve the "public interest". FCC Chairman William
Kennard has said the agency will look at whether the merger will do anything
to enhance competition, not just what it could do to harm it.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (F3), AUTHOR: Mike Mills]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/washtech/wtech002.htm
HUGHES'S DIRECTV HAS HELD EARLY TALKS TO BUY PRIMESTAR ASSETS, SUBSCRIBERS
Issue: Merger
DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite television provider with four million
subscribers, has begun talks with PrimeStar, a competitor with about four
million subscribers, about purchasing both the assets and subscriber lists
of PrimeStar. Because of the change in satellite television market
concentration, an agreement would have to pass antitrust scrutiny.
PrimeStar, owned by a group of large cable companies, ended plans for merger
with News Corp. earlier this week after the Justice Department took that
merger to court. Both PrimeStar and DirecTV, which is owned by Hughes
Electronics Corp., have been expanding their subscriber base.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B14), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
http://www.wsj.com/
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...and we are outta here. Have a great weekend. Anyone betting against the
Yanks?