POLITICS & THE INTERNET
Candidate on the Stump Is Surely on the Web (NYT)
The Internet Begins to Click as a Political Money Web (WSJ)
INTERNET
Capital Dispatch: U.S. Shut Out in First Round of
Internet Board Elections (CyberTimes)
Microsoft Joins Telmex to Build an Internet Portal for Hispanics (WSJ)
ECOMMERCE
Capital Dispatch: Fight Over Electronic Contracts Heads
to House (CyberTimes)
Chamber Plans A For-Profit Web Venture (WP)
PUBLIC BROADCASTING
Now a Word From Our Spon ... uh, um ... Our Friend (NYT)
TELEPHONY
N.Y. Regulators Seen Backing Bell Atlantic's Bid (SJM)
Speech: Competition and Deregulation: Striking the
Right Balance (FCC)
France Telecom Seeks Stake In German Wireless Carrier (WSJ)
Norway, Sweden Sign $47 Bln Telecoms Merger (SJM)
ANTITRUST
Hardball and Windows (WP)
POLITICS & THE INTERNET
CANDIDATE ON THE STUMP IS SURELY ON THE WEB
Issue: Political Discourse
"It used to be said the candidate had to have a good message, a good ground
game and enough money to wage a good air game on TV," said Rick Segal, the
Internet strategy adviser to Presidential hopeful Steve Forbes. "This is the
first cycle that it can be proven that a candidate needs to have a good
online game as well." In the 2000 election, it is not good enough to just
have an electronic version of your campaign brochure up on the Web. By
posting everything from their baby pictures (as George W. Bush has done) to
their favorite Bible stories (an offering from Elizabeth Dole), candidates
are using the Internet as a fireside chat room, to portray themselves as
just plain folks, Kelley writes. Four years ago, in the last election cycle,
7.5 million Americans were online -- now 67 million are: the Internet has
become a new variable in campaign calculus. Sen John McCain's (R-AZ) press
secretary, Howard Opinsky, says it is "almost the 51st state." In many
respects, the partnership between established candidates and the wild, wild
Web is uneasy as they plumb the possibilities of this new technology.
"Campaigns are a tight, disciplined, focused message delivered in a focused
way, reducing chance, variables and conflict to a minimum," said Phil Noble,
president of PoliticsOnline of Charleston (SC), a company offering Internet
expertise. "The Internet is about millions of voices colliding, all at the
same time, about all kinds of things in a near-chaotic pattern."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Tina Kelley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/10/biztech/articles/19site.html)
THE INTERNET BEGINS TO CLICK AS A POLITICAL MONEY WEB
Issue: Politics
Millions of Americans will be bombarded with pitches from political
candidates seeking money via the Web. Online political fund raising is
growing faster than anticipated. The Mellman Group, a survey firm,
highlighted the Internet's challenge to traditional direct mail last month
in a study. Mellman noted that the potential for traditional direct-mail is
about 12 million donors. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of those donors are age
60 or older. The potential Internet market dwarfs that finite and aging
class. As the Mellman Group reported, "the number of Americans with Internet
access who report giving time or money to social causes represents 25% of
the adult population, or approximately 50 million people." Even if the
number is limited to the current 16% of Internet-wired Americans who say
they are willing to give to charity or to public-interests groups over the
Web, that still works out to 16 million people. In addition to demographics,
cost factors heavily favor the Internet. According to campaign consultant
John Aristotle Phillips, a traditional direct-mail pitch costs 30 cents to
40 cents per address and yields a response rate of 1% to 1.5%. Internet
pitches via targeted banner ads have a similar yield, but cost a dime or
less. E-mail solicitations run 50 cents to a dollar per address, but have a
response rate of 10% to 12%. The new medium also has the potential for
vastly increased effectiveness because reaching potential donors
electronically allows messages to be tailored to individuals. Theoretically,
a politician will have the capability, through in-depth survey research, to
appeal to an individual right down to sending the message in the person's
favorite color.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, (A28) AUTHOR: Glenn R. Simpson]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB940285433425429727.htm)
INTERNET
CAPITAL DISPATCH: U.S. SHUT OUT IN FIRST ROUND OF INTERNET BOARD ELECTIONS
Issue: Internet
According to people close to the election process for the business
constituency of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), the vote for the last of its three seats is between a Canadian, a
New Zealander and a Ghanaian. ICANN's Domain Name Supporting Organization,
the business constituency, is the first group holding elections. Its
19-member Names Council plans to finish voting Wednesday. Last week it
elected Alejandro Pisanty, a Mexican computer scientist, and Amadeu Abril i
Abril, a Spanish law professor, to fill the other two seats. The finalists
for its last seat are Jonathan Cohen, a trademark lawyer from Canada, Peter
Dengate Thrush, a trademark lawyer from New Zealand, and Nii Quaynor, a
computer scientist from Ghana, according to people involved in the process.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing (jeri( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/10/cyber/capital/19capital.html)
MICROSOFT JOINS TELMEX TO BUILD AN INTERNET PORTAL FOR HISPANICS
Issue: Internet Content
Yesterday, Microsoft announced it is launching a joint venture with the
Latin American communications company Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex), to
develop the hemisphere's largest Spanish-language Internet portal, with a
joint investment of about $100 million. "Telmex is providing the expertise
in the access business and Microsoft is providing the portal technology like
Hotmail, Passport, Messenger and all the technology related with
e-commerce," Mauricio Santillan, Microsoft's vice president for Latin
America, said. "Telmex will try to expand its access business in Latin
America, which we estimate will be an additional 30 million Internet users
in the next three to four years." Microsoft will offer all traditional
services available on the Internet to subscribers in the U.S. The
Microsoft-Telmex portal will go head-to-head against a proliferating number
of providers targeting the Latin American market.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Joel Millman]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB940283032998196140.htm)
ECOMMERCE
CAPITAL DISPATCH: FIGHT OVER ELECTRONIC CONTRACTS HEADS TO HOUSE
Issue: Ecommerce
Legislation that would give equal weight to electronic signatures as their
traditional paper counterparts may move to the House floor this week. The
House is scheduled to take up digital signature legislation as early as
Tuesday, But Republicans and Democrats in the House are still battling over
how far the legislation should go. The White House and Democrats want to
enact legislation make digital signatures legal only in those states that
don't already have laws recognizing the validity of electronic contracts.
Republican leaders are pushing for more sweeping legislation that would not
only pre-empt state digital signature laws but would also eliminate some of
the paper-record keeping and notification requirements that some states
impose on financial institutions and insurance companies.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing (jeri( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/10/cyber/capital/19capital.html)
CHAMBER PLANS A FOR PROFIT WEB VENTURE
Issue: E-Commerce
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will unveil its first for-profit venture, an
Internet portal called ChamberBiz, to link small businesses around the
country and provide them with relevant news and information. The portal
will be found at (www.chamberbiz.com), and be officially launched in
December. The new portal plans to make money by selling advertising and
making joint marketing deals and will exist as a separate entity from the
rest of the chamber, so it can potentially be spun off as a public company
at a future point. The market for business-to-business Web commerce is
predicted to grow from $109 billion in 1999 to $1.3 trillion in 2003,
according to Forrester Research. ChamberBiz is funded by Rajendra Singh, a
Washington area telecommunications investor. Through Telcom Ventures -- his
venture-capital firm -- Singh will invest $24 million in ChamberBiz. Under
the terms of the deal, Telcom Ventures of Alexandria will own two-thirds of
ChamberBiz and the Chamber of Commerce -- a nonprofit association of
businesses and business groups -- will own the remaining third.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Shannon Henry]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/a12325-1999oct19.htm)
PUBLIC BROADCASTING
NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPON ... UH, UM ... OUR FRIEND
Issue: Public Broadcasting
The Newshour on PBS gained two new news correspondents recently -- Gwen
Ifill, late of NBC, and Ray Suarez, the former host of NPR's Talk of the
Nation. These high-profile reporters must demand high salaries -- how can
PBS afford them? Alas, the answer in part must be the commercials that have
grown like sores on this purportedly noncommercial endeavor, Goodman writes.
Advertising runs smack against the ideal of public broadcasting as a haven
from marketing. To the degree that programs even as distinguished as the
"Newshour" have to succumb to market imperatives, it puts the nation on
notice that public broadcasting in the United States is fated never to be
able to make it in an unadulterated form.
[SOURCE: New York Times (B2), AUTHOR: Walter Goodman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/newshour-tv-notebook.html)
TELEPHONY
N.Y. REGULATORS SEEN BACKING BELL ATLANTIC'S BID
Issue: Long Distance
Today, New York State regulators are expected to support Bell Atlantic's
efforts to become the first Baby Bell to break into the $90 billion
long-distance telephone market. Bell Atlantic, the dominant local phone
company in 13 states from Maine to Virginia, last month submitted its
application to the Federal Communications Commission to offer long distance
phone service in New York State. The New York Public Service Commission is
expected to outline its support of that application today, meeting the
20-day recommendation deadline for the review process. The Department of
Justice is expected to weigh in by November 1st. The FCC will weigh the
comments from the PSC and the DOJ before they make its decision, which is
expected by late December. Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Baby Bell
companies created in the 1984 break-up of AT&T cannot offer long-distance
service within their home regions until they open their local markets to
competition. Over the past two years, Bell Atlantic has worked closely with
state regulators, the FCC and the DOJ to develop what it hopes is a
successful application. Since Bell Atlantic and New York regulators have
been working so closely together, analysts said they'd be surprised if the
PSC raised any new complaints. Other long distance carriers and local
start-ups have said Bell Atlantic has not yet opened its local markets to
competition. The PSC declined to comment on the nature of its comments.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/976135l.htm)
SPEECH: COMPETITION AND DEREGULATION: STRIKING THE RIGHT BALANCE
Issue: Competition
Chairman Kennard's October 18th Remarks at the USTA Annual Convention. "So
what does competition mean? ... Most agree that competition means the
elimination of all entry barriers, so that anyone who wants to provide a
telecommunications service to the consumer can do so. And to make this
possible, everybody agrees that we need collocation and cost-based
interconnection of networks to allow the seamless and efficient handoff of
customers and services; and, once competition arrives, a significantly
deregulated environment." " Most of the controversies that I deal with as
chairman do not tend to focus on what our ultimate objectives should be, but
rather on how to achieve them and when. And today at the FCC, much of the
debate surrounds the question of when there is enough competition in the
marketplace to warrant more deregulation: striking the right balance between
competition and deregulation."
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek936.txt)
FRANCE TELECOM SEEKS STAKE IN GERMAN WIRELESS CARRIER
Issue: Merger
France Telecom plans to buy a majority stake in German wireless carrier
E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbHs. France Telecom plans to expand
internationally in partnership with Deutsche Telekom AG were shattered last
spring when the German carrier launched a doomed solo bid to acquire
Telecom Italia SpA without France Telecom. The new merger will give
France Telecom a powerful foothold in Deutsche Telekom's home market.
France Telecom's proposed 7.4 billion euro ($8.06 billion) purchase of RWE
AG and Veba AG's combined 60.25% share in E-Plus, in addition to its
standing agreement to buy Vodafone AirTouch PLC's 17.24% stake in the
company, will enable the French carrier to begin a serious attack on the
German market, Europe's largest. E-Plus's 3.1 million subscribers make it
the No. 3 wireless operator in the country, where E-Plus also holds a
fixed-line license. The deal still has to be approved by regulators. U.S.
local carrier BellSouth Corp., which holds a 22.51% E-Plus stake, has the
right of first refusal on the shares that France Telecom is seeking to
purchase.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, (A20) AUTHOR: Kevin J. Delaney]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB940287782100649514.htm)
NORWAY, SWEDEN SIGN $47 BLN TELECOMS MERGER
Issue: Merger
Earlier today, the Swedish and Norwegian governments signed an agreement to
merge state-owned telecoms operators Telia and Telenor. The agreement was
signed by Sweden's Industry Minister Bjorn Rosengren and Norway's Transport
and Communications Minister Dag Jostein Fjaervoll and will create Europe's
sixth largest telecom group. The deal has been problematic since the outset
and brought to the surface underlying, historic national rivalry that exists
between the neighbors. But after the merger received approval from the
European Union competition authorities last week on condition Telia and
Telenor sell certain overlapping units, it seemed all differences were
settled. It went into intense negotiations in the end with those intense
rivalries, but the deal has now been signed.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Belinda Goldsmith]
(http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/976300l.htm)
ANTITRUST
HARDBALL AND WINDOWS
[Op-Ed] Last month Microsoft began lobbying Congress to cut
$9 million from the Clinton administration's proposed budget for the
Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. Furthermore, nonprofit
groups which have received gifts from CEO
Bill Gates -- such as Citizens for a Sound Economy, the National Taxpayers
Union and Americans for Tax Reform -- sent a letter urging the House to stick
with its $105 million spending plan for the antitrust division which is $7
million less than the Senate has proposed and $9 million below the
administration's request. This letter was sent two days after
representatives of these organizations returned from a round of briefings
at Microsoft headquarters. "This is a sorry attempt to use political
pressure to influence a judicial process -- and a sign that Microsoft's
critics may have been right when they warned that the company has grown so
powerful through the monopoly of its "Windows" operating system that it
poses a threat to its industry and the public," Ignatius writes. If Microsoft
feels it has been unfairly accused of violating antitrust laws, it has
legal recourse subsequent to Judge Jackson's decision: it can appeal to the
D.C. circuit court, and from there to the Supreme Court. This would be a
"fair fight."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David Ignatius]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-10/19/010l-101999-idx.html)
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