TELEVISION
Digital TV Is Set to Transform Industry (WSJ)
BROADBAND
AOL Raises Static With Cable Deal (WP)
America Online Braces for Rivals in Cable Industry (WSJ)
MERGER
Time Warner, AT&T Discuss Phone Venture (WSJ)
AT&T Says TCI Deal is Proceeding, But Some Report
Unresolved Issues (WSJ)
FCC to Question Telecom Executives About Industry's Recent Merger
Wave (WSJ)
INTERNET
New Method for Web Ads Stirs Attention (WSJ)
Web-Based Art That's Not So Straight (CyberTimes)
EDTECH
Computer Haves and Have-Nots in the Schools (NYT)
TELEPHONY
Affordability of Telecommunications Services and Consumer-Education
Issues (FCC)
Truth in Billing (FCC)
ANTITRUST
Microsoft Uses E-Mail From Netscape to Contest Antitrust Case (NYT)
Microsoft points to Netscape e-mail (ChiTrib)
Full Speed Ahead in Microsoft Trial (WP)
Netscape Secretly Offered Microsoft a Stake (WSJ)
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TELEVISION
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DIGITAL TV IS SET TO TRANSFORM INDUSTRY
Issue: Digital Television
November 1 marks the official beginning of U.S. digital television
broadcasting. Around 45 large-market television stations will begin digital
broadcasting while continuing their traditional analog telecasts. Most
viewers do not yet have digital TV receivers, although sales this year are
expected to be around 20,000 for the $7,000 to $11,000 sets. The onset of
mass viewership is not expected until well into the next decade with other
digital services expected to emerge. "Over time, digital transmissions will
rearrange the broadcasting landscape, changing equipment, programming,
channel numbering and televisions themselves." Most digital TV's are wider
and will be sold as components, with the receiver sold separately from the
screen. While Gunther Meisse of WMFD-TV in Mansfield, Ohio is operating in
a smaller market, he is already planning to have his digital transmitter
going by December after an outlay of about $1 million. Despite not having
any viewers immediately, he sees the upsides as an improved channel location
for his digital signals and enough signal capacity to send out three or four
kinds of programming. Also he and other small market stations are hoping
national advertisers will choose them for their digital capability. [Look
for a Headlines Extra on DTV later today]
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Evan Ramstad]
http://www.wsj.com/
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BROADBAND
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AOL RAISES STATIC WITH CABLE DEAL (WP)
AMERICA ONLINE BRACES FOR RIVALS IN CABLE INDUSTRY (WSJ)
Issue: Broadband/Online Services
America Online is beginning an aggressive campaign to prepare for the coming
of high-speed online service to homes using cable television connections.
The service will provide 24-hour connectivity and much faster Internet
access than the modems used in most homes today. Earlier this year AOL
purchased NetChannel, an online-service-via-TV and recently hired Mario
Vecchi, an experienced broadband veteran to lead their effort. They have
begun discussing relationships with cable providers such as Time Warner.
But their biggest step may come in a looming request to the FCC demanding
that all Internet service providers get equal access to cable TV lines that
offer high-speed Web access subjecting cable operators to the same
open-access requirements that telephone companies have. AOL's request will
present a roadblock to the merger of AT&T and TCI because AT&T would be
getting access to TCI's cable modem service called At Home.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C1), AUTHOR: Mike Mills]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-10/22/255l-102298-idx.html
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Thomas E. Weber]
http://www.wsj.com/
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MERGERS
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TIME WARNER, AT&T DISCUSS PHONE VENTURE
AT&T SAYS TCI DEAL IS PROCEEDING, BUT SOME REPORT UNRESOLVED ISSUES
Issue: Merger
AT&T, in the middle of ironing out an acquisition of Tele-Communications,
Inc., is talking seriously with Time Warner about a deal. If AT&T were to
pull off both mergers, it would be able to move on its ambitious plan to go
up against the Bell operating companies which dominate local telephone
business. Time Warner's 12 million subscribers would double the number of
consumers that AT&T could pitch a bundle of phone services, including local
service (to go with AT&T's long distance) and Internet access. Some experts
suggest an announcement of an AT&T and Time Warner agreement may be a few
weeks away. Gerald Levin of Time Warner recently said, "We can see a
transaction emerging in the near term." The high-speed capability of cable
connections make local phone service and Internet connectivity attractive.
Meanwhile some industry executives say many issues remain unresolved in the
AT&T and TCI merger. The emerging structure creates two distinct units, one
involved in business markets and the other handling consumers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Eben Shapiro]
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Rebecca Blumenstein & Leslie Cauley]
http://www.wsj.com/
FCC TO QUESTION TELECOM EXECUTIVES ABOUT INDUSTRY'S RECENT MERGER WAVE
Issue: Merger
In a FCC hearing today representatives of the firms in three planned mergers
will be asked to justify them. The mergers in question are SBC
Communications with Ameritech, AT&T with TCI, and Bell Atlantic with GTE.
All three mergers are under review from both the Justice Department and the
FCC. FCC Chairman William Kennard says, "The proponents are challenged to
demonstrate how these are consistent with the pro-competitive components of
the [telecommunications] act." Ameritech CEO Richard Notebaert says that
consolidations are "a natural outcome of competing in a world market." The
role of the FCC is to determine whether the mergers are in the public
interest. The FCC has never blocked a merger. A second hearing will be
held later in the year to hear the views of consumer groups and others on
the proposed mergers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: John Simons]
http://www.wsj.com/
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INTERNET
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NEW METHOD FOR WEB ADS STIRS ATTENTION
Issue: Electronic Commerce
"Live" banners are a new kind of advertisement on Internet websites.
Traditional banner ads were designed to attract Web users to click on the ad
and go to the site of that company. However, industry estimates are that
only about 1% of users "click-through" to see the advertiser's site. The
new banners will allow additional information to be displayed without taking
the Internet user away from the site in use. Some companies, including
Procter & Gamble and Barnes & Noble, have begun use of the ads. The
downsides of the new banners are that they are more expensive to develop and
they load slowly using current modem speeds.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: William M. Bulkeley]
http://www.wsj.com/
WEB-BASED ART THAT'S NOT SO STRAIGHT
Issue: Arts
Today, the two year-old Queer Arts Resource (QAR) online gallery is
launching its first exhibition of Web-based art. Barry Harrison, director of
QAR, founded the not-for-profit site as "an alternative to all the
sex-oriented sites and chat rooms that often pretend to be about gay art or
queer art, and are not." In fact, one of the works in the Net Selections
show, "Women with Beards", is a parody of X-rated Internet sites. This
exhibit, like the nearly two dozen previous QAR shows, was commissioned by a
committee, a subset of QAR's 10-member board, and assembled by a freelance
curator.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Matthew Mirapaul
mirapaul( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/artsatlarge/22artsatlarg...
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EDTECH
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COMPUTER HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS IN SCHOOLS
Issue: EDUCATION
Increasingly, teachers around the country are facing the challenge of
teaching students with varying levels of computer literacy. While many
pupils now have a computer in the home - a recent study found that 58
percent of households with children have computers -- there are still others
who's only access to technology is in schools and libraries. These students
are the ones who tend to lag behind in basic computing skills. "I think
there is an issue here -- the issue of the haves and have-nots," said David
Tremblay, senior industry analyst for ZD Market Intelligence, a market
research company. "Lower-income households are much less likely to have
personal computers. You can't assume everyone has a computer." Karen
Marsall, a New Jersey mother of four and ex-computer aid in the classroom
noticed the gap between those with access and those without. "If these
issues aren't addressed in education, the gap could widen between the kids
who have the knowledge and the kids who don't."
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Debra Nussbaum]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/circuits/articles/22have.html
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TELEPHONY
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AFFORDABILITY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AND CONSUMER-EDUCATION ISSUES (FCC)
Issue: Universal Service
Next week, the FCC has planned an open meeting to discuss whether the goal
of affordable telephone service is being met and whether there are policies
that the Joint Board should consider recommending to continue to meet the
goal of affordable service.
In its Universal Service Order, the Commission concluded that both the
states and the federal government have a role in ensuring that all Americans
benefit from affordable telecommunications service, consistent with the
statutory mandate embodied in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. At the
hearing, panelists representing a broad range of interests and perspectives
will address this question and also discuss whether federal and state
regulators are adequately informing consumers of the issues surrounding the
new competitive marketplace and the new federal universal service support
mechanisms [SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1998/da982112.html
TRUTH IN BILLING
Issue: Telephone Regulation
The FCC will host a public forum to discuss how to make telephone bills more
readable and understandable on Friday, October 23 at 8:30 AM at the
Commission Meeting Room at 1919 M Street in Washington. The forum is part
of a FCC proceeding on the provision of information in telephone bills to
consumers. The Commission initiated this proceeding with its Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking regarding Truth-in-Billing and Billing Format.
Participants will include industry and consumer groups and other state and
federal governmental bodies.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1998/da982055.html
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ANTITRUST
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MICROSOFT USES E-MAIL FROM NETSCAPE TO CONTEST ANTITRUST CASE (NTY)
MICROSOFT POINTS TO NETSCAPE E-MAIL (ChiTrib)
FULL SPEED AHEAD IN MICROSOFT TRIAL (WP)
NETSCAPE SECRETLY OFFERED MICROSOFT A STAKE (WSJ)
Issue: Antitrust
The Microsoft antitrust case heats up in third day of testimony.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/biztech/articles/22microsoft-anti
trust.html
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Andrew Zajac]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-17101,00.html
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A19), AUTHOR: David Segal]
http://http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/...
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: John Wilke]
http://www.wsj.com/
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Who had Scott Brosius as their "Pick to Click"?