Digital TV
TelecomAM: DTV Group Begins Task of Determining Public Interest Obligations
Internet/Online Services
NYT: Senate Panel Votes to Block Access to Gambling Sites
NYT: Webmaster Removes AOL From School Library's Computers
Arts
WSJ: More Mush From the NEA
Universal Service/Health
FCC: Universal Service: Encouraging the Growth of Telehealth in
Rural Areas
Competition
TelecomAM: USTA's Neel Irritated With The Big Three And
Their Business Strategies
Mergers
WP: MCI Reports 3rd-Quarter Loss, Cites One-Time Special Charge
** Digital TV **
Title: DTV Group Begins Task of Determining Public Interest Obligations
Source: Telecom AM http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/ (10/23/97)
Issue: Digital TV
Description: The Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of
Digital Television Broadcasters met for the first time this week. While
protecting the public's interest seems like a task everyone should be for,
broadcasters already are balking at the notion that they may have to step up
their efforts. "Broadcasters welcome the opportunity to cooperate with the
Gore Commission, but we will be vigilant in our resistance to government
mandates that threaten the ability of local stations to determine how best
to serve their communities," said Edward Fritts, president and CEO of the
National Broadcasters Association. "Any objective examination of our
industry will reveal that local stations, when left alone, serve their
communities with unparalleled spirit and generosity."
** Internet/Online Services **
Title: Senate Panel Votes to Block Access to Gambling Sites
Source: New York Times, CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/102497gambling.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill yesterday that
would ban all domestic gambling on the Internet. What was not discussed
during the debate was the impact this bill would have on U.S.-based Internet
service providers. "Current wire and telephone gambling statutes already
effectively bar Internet gambling in the U.S., and most of the 50 estimated
sites already in operation are based overseas, outside the reach of federal
authorities to shut them down. But the bill would give U.S. authorities the
power to go to court to force Internet service providers to block U.S.
customer access to gambling sites." This raises the questions of what
liability the service providers would have in keeping those sites blocked in
the long term, how much of a burden that would be and if a court order was
used to shut down a site would the ISP be held in contempt if the gambling
company moved to a new Internet address. "This places an undue if not an
impossible burden on ISPs to monitor their content to shut down sites," said
Kevin A. Mercuri, manager of counsels for the Interactive Services
Association. "At the very best it's a logistical nightmare for an ISP
because the technology is just not there. The fear, which is not that
unreasonable, is that any official could shut down any site they don't like
on the web." The bills sponsor, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) compared the ISPs to
phone companies, saying they would just be asked to "flip a switch." He
added that FBI experts and the state attorneys general told him that
technologically this could be done. The bill is opposed by a long list of
groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Internet
service providers.
Title: Webmaster Removes AOL From School Library's Computers
Source: New York Times, CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/101997aol.html
Author: Lisa Napoli
Issue: Censorship
Description: Murry Bergtrum High School, located in New York, no longer has
America Online on their library computers. It was removed by their
webmaster, Ted Nellen, an English teacher, who said, "It's not the Internet
I'm after -- it's AOL. AOL is a playground without a fence. It's a field
day for predators. I will put it back on when they clean up their act, but
until they show some humanity, I'll keep it off." Nellen was primarily
referring to the recent wake of scandals in which children who met adults in
AOL chatrooms were later abused. Tricia Primrose, a spokesperson for AOL,
said that AOL tries to keep their service safe but they can't control what
happens to people in real time. Nellen, who describes himself as a free
speech advocate, said his decision to remove the service "was painful."
"It's not the Internet I want to have regulated," he said. "It's the
providers."
** Arts **
Title: More Mush From the NEA
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A22)
Author: Camille Paglia, University of the Arts, Philadelphia
Issue: Arts
Description: Ms. Paglia's editorial attacks "American Canvas," the recent
report from the National Endowment for the Arts. "The real problem facing
the arts in America is not simply the dominance of mass media...but the
degeneration of standards in our Playskool model of primary education, in
which everyone is an artist, without the discipline of technical mastery."
No self-respecting avant-garde artist should be on the government dole,
Paglia writes, and Hollywood liberals should finance private art
foundations. She has suggestions for what the NEA should be funding:
educational radio stations devoted to classical music and jazz; college
scholarships for aspiring artists; "grand tours" of Europe and elsewhere for
disadvantaged students; museums devoted to American Indian culture; and
revitalization of local libraries.
** Universal Service **
Title: Universal Service: Encouraging the Growth of Telehealth in Rural Areas
Source: FCC
http://www.HITN.com/fcc_info.html
Issue: Universal Service/Health
Description: The Healthcare Informatics Telecom Network will present a
Teleconference via satellite on "Universal Service: Encouraging the Growth
of Telehealth" in Rural Areas on November 19, 1997, 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM
eastern time.
** Competition **
Title: USTA's Neel Irritated With The Big Three And Their Business Strategies
Source: Telecom A.M.---Oct. 23, 1997
http://www.tpg( at )cappubs.com
Issue: Local Loop Competition
Description: Roy Neel, president of the United States Telephone Assoc.,
expressed anger at what he's dubbed a double standard: the long distance
companies
are employing local business strategies that aggressively exclude
residential customers while these same companies complain that there's no
competition in the local market. Neel said, "The local companies have lost
almost one million local customers, which represents revenues lost. It
should represent progress towards competition for those looking for real
facts." As evidence to the long distance carriers' cherry-picking of business
customers, Neel pointed out the fine print of recent MCI ads that target
medium- to large-sized businesses, as well as multipurpose buildings in
Atlanta that have fiber bypassing residential customers to offer local
service to the businesses within them. One solution, according to Neel, is
for he FCC to take notice of this. "We want to see the Act implemented as
Congress intended."
** Mergers **
Title: MCI Reports 3rd-Quarter Loss, Cites One-Time Special Charge
Source: Washington Post (G1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-10/24/0691-102497-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Mergers
Description: MCI Corp. reported a net loss of $182 million for its 3rd
quarter, which it attributed to a one-time charge. These numbers come at a
time when two companies making rival bids said that their proposals were
likely to trigger regulatory problems. Analysts say these results reflect
the cost of MCI's struggle to enter the local phone market and to counter
slow growth in its long-distance business by focusing more on the
highest-paying customers. The results, while in line with Wall Street
estimates, are of heightened interest because of the bidding battle.
*********
We are outta here. Have a great weekend and we'll be back Monday.