INTERNET POLICY
Bush, Gore Offer Few Net Ideas (USA)
Straitjacket on the Internet (WP)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Political Ads Shock Public Radio Fans (WP)
EDTECH
Hold the Arts & Crafts: After-School Programs Go Digital (NYT)
JOBS
Study Ordered By Congress Confirms Need For Tech Visas (SJM)
TELEPHONY
AT&T Board Approves New Plan To Split Company's Core Businesses
(WSJ)
MERGER
AOL and Time Warner Spend $3.8 Million On Federal Lobbying for
Proposed Merger (WSJ)
INTERNET POLICY
STRAITJACKET ON THE INTERNET
Issue: Internet
[Op-Ed] Sebastian Mallaby [op-ed, Oct. 15] writes that Disney bought a
broadcaster rather than a cable company, and now wants regulators to correct
that mistake by guaranteeing it access to Time Warner's cable.
The debate surrounding AOL's merger with Time Warner is not about Disney or
AOL. This debate is about the environment within which the next generation
of the Internet will develop. Two models of network design have governed
telecommunications: Under the model that produced the Internet, control is
decentralized; the network owner cannot control the content nor applications
that run on the network; and users have reasonable choice of content. Under
the model that produced cable, the network owner does control the content.
"But now cable wants to serve something new on its wires--broadband
Internet. And the question for regulators is: Under what model? Should the
cable company have the power to control Internet content just as it controls
TV content? Should it be allowed to discriminate against content it doesn't
like, or content that doesn't pay? Should it be allowed to demand a tithe
from Amazon for books ordered across its wires? Or from Disney for cartoons
streamed from Disney's channel?" AOL and Time Warner's promise to limit
control by keeping 10 percent of their bandwidth open to outside competition
leaves 90 percent under the cable TV model. Cable TV has bought the right to
control traditional dumb TV. What reason is there to permit it to extend
that control to the Internet? Allowing the model of the Internet to govern
more of cable would mean more innovation and diversity. This is the
principle at stake in this dispute. [SOURCE: Washington Post (A31), AUTHOR:
Lawrence Lessig (law professor at Stanford University)]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7949-2000Oct24.html)
BUSH, GORE OFFER FEW NET IDEAS
Issue: Internet
[Editorial] While there are countless Internet-related issues to be
addressed by the next White House, neither candidate has been very
forthright with their positions on many tough Web topics. Much of America
wants to know about how the President will address privacy, taxes,
censorship and intellectual property on the Internet. But in all three of
the presidential debates and the one vice presidential debate, not a single
question was asked about Internet-policy issues. According to Doug Isenber
"...our government created the Internet and, in great respects, will shape
its future. Perhaps in the last few days of the most important campaign of
the new economy we'll hear at least a little about how our next president
would shape it."
[SOURCE: USAToday (27A), AUTHOR: Doug Isenber (Attorney and founder
ofGigaLaw.com, an Internet legal resource)]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001025/2778169s.htm)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
POLITICAL ADS SHOCK PUBLIC RADIO FANS
Issue: Political Discourse
A rarely used federal law requiring public radio and television station to
give free, uncensored airtime to any federal candidate who wants it, is
having an effect on Maryland Public Radio listeners. More than a few
listeners were disturbed that their normally commercial-free public radio
station aired advertisements for political candidates. "They're supposed to
be nonpolitical, so I was really shocked to hear them running a political
ad," said Minde, an Army National Guard major who last week gave the
station, WAMU, a $150 donation and is now tempted to pull it. "I just felt
outraged." WAMU, it seems, had little say in accepting the ad from the
campaign for Terry Lierman, a Maryland Democrat in a tough battle for the
House seat held by Rep. Constance A. Morella (R). Just as the FM station
also had to accept an ad from Marc Rossi, an independent seeking to unseat
Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R) in Northern Virginia's 10th Congressional District.
Lierman may be the first major-party candidate to use the law, according to
a federal communications official. But even more troubling to the station
manager is the possibility that all the candidates seeking federal office in
the WAMU listening area may want their turn on the radio in the remaining
days before the Nov. 7 election. "I could end up with 10 announcements an
hour," Martin said glumly. "I'm waiting for Connie Morella's office to call
right now." P.J. Hogan, Morella's campaign manager, said the campaign would
deliver its own ad to WAMU in short order.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (B01), AUTHOR: Montgomery and Becker]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7130-2000Oct24.html)
EDTECH
HOLD THE ARTS & CRAFTS: AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS GO DIGITAL
Issue: Digital Divide
America Online Foundation's PowerUp and Intel's Computer Clubhouse are in
the process of expanding high-tech after-school programs. PowerUp programs
take a more traditional approach, encouraging students to use computers to
work on homework, while Intel's Computer Clubhouse programs envision
themselves as "invention workshops" that aim to be wholly different from
daily school work. The PowerUP centers share access to AOL( at )School and the
group's dedicated online activities through PowerUP Online. PowerUp CEO Rae
Grad said she expects the program to expand to 250 communities by the end of
the year. "We encourage some local footprint so a site in San Jose will be
different from a site in Virginia," she said. "The template we use is the
same. The emphasis is on positive youth development." PowerUp sites work
with local community groups and urge them to develop links with local
educators. Depending on the arrangement, PowerUp sites are sometimes located
within a school or off campus at a local community center. However, Computer
Clubhouses work in conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Media Lab and the Computer Clubhouse program at Boston's Museum
of Science. Intel plans to fund 100 Computer Clubhouses across the country
by 2005. The centers are provided with professional photo, animation and
audio software, allowing students to create multimedia projects ranging from
movies to video games. Meanwhile, other educators have chosen to incorporate
elements of the two programs into existing initiatives. In New York City,
for instance, The After School Corporation is working on its own to beef up
technology offerings in its after-school centers, which are located in about
100 elementary, middle and high schools throughout the city
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Rebecca S. Weiner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/24/technology/25EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)
JOBS
STUDY ORDERED BY CONGRESS CONFIRMS NEED FOR TECH VISAS
Issue: Jobs
The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences
that advises Congress on science and technology issues, released a report
Tuesday that confirms what the high-tech industry has long contended, that
foreign workers are needed to help companies fill vacant technical jobs.
Earlier this month, Congress voted to nearly double the number of visas for
foreign high-tech workers to meet Silicon Valley's demand for skilled
computer programmers and engineers. The report supported the idea of
increasing the number of so-called H-1B visas but said this approach solved
only part of the problem. Herb Lin, study director, said that changes are
needed to make it easier for foreign workers to stay in the United States
permanently, and to improve U.S. education to better prepare students for
high-tech jobs. Aware of the need for better training for domestic high-tech
workers, Congress also voted this month to increase funding for scholarships
and
worker training by about $200 million over the next three years. High-tech
companies applying for H-1B visas will foot the bill through a $1,000 fee,
double the previous amount.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Heather Fleming Phillips]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/study102500.htm)
TELEPHONY
AT&T BOARD APPROVES NEW PLAN TO SPLIT COMPANY'S CORE BUSINESSES
Issue: Telephony
AT&T's board of directors has approved a plan to keep together AT&T's core
businesses -- consumer long distance and business services -- while
eventually creating new companies for cable and wireless, a plan that will
lead to the breakup of one of the country's oldest and best-known companies.
Breaking up the telecommunication giant would amount to a complete reversal
of earlier strategy, which was to acquire cable and wireless companies in
the hope of creating a broadband behemoth that could deliver voice, video
and data services. But the company was outrun by steep price competition in
the long-distance industry and unable to expand the new businesses fast
enough to make up the difference. The rapidly declining price of
long-distance service has affected both its consumer and business-services
divisions, and may have prompted the decision reached by the board. The
purpose of breaking up the company and creating the spinoffs and tracking
stocks is to attract new investors into the disparate parts of AT&T's
business.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Nikhil Deogun And Deborah
Solomon]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972418137457135799.htm)
(Requires subscription)
See Also:
AT&T, NEXTEL END TALKS
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7642-2000Oct24.html)
MERGER
AOL AND TIME WARNER SPEND $3.8 MILLION ON FEDERAL LOBBYING FOR PROPOSED
MERGER
Issue: Merger
Congressional lobbying reports show that America Online and Time Warner
spent a combined $3.8 million lobbying Congress and the executive branch on
their proposed combination and other issues in the first half. The total
doesn't include expenses for two teams of outside lobbyists working the deal
at the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission,
agencies that must sign off on the deal. It is impossible to determine from
the lobbying reports how much the companies spent on lobbying for the
planned acquisition and how much went toward a wide range of legislation
they listed. The two companies have also been among the most generous donors
in their industries to federal election campaigns. AOL, its political action
committee and its employees contributed a total of $1.3 million to federal
candidates and political parties, according to an analysis by the Center for
Responsive Politics, a nonprofit group that analyzes campaign-finance data.
That was the second largest amount by a company in the computer
services-Internet category, behind Microsoft. Time Warner, its PAC and
employees donated the second-largest amount among television, movie and
music companies, nearly $1.3 million.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Dow Jones Newswires]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB972432863629514530.htm)
(Requires subscription)
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