RACE/GENDER
The FCC Cuts Paperwork, Adds Race/ Gender Reporting (B&C)
The Whitemaling of The Network News (B&C)
Editors Delay Goal on Diversity And Add a Concern for Women (NYT)
CAMPAIGNS
This Year, Voters Can Track Last-Minute Contributions Online
(CyberTimes)
New Deal, New Venues (B&C)
INTERNATIONAL
European Law Aims to Protect Privacy of Data (NYT)
British Telecom Plugs In (WP)
Hong Kong Confronts Foreign Phone Giants (NYT)
TELVSION
TV Sports Lose Some of Their Power to Reach America's Men (NYT)
The Dawn of HDTV, Ready or Not (NYT)
EchoStar takes Big 4 to Court (B&C)
INTERNET
Higher-Speed Internet Standard Is Approved (NYT)
Making Tomorrow's Internet a Good Place for Children (NYT)
From Online to On the Line (WP)
TELEPHONY
Determining Universal Service Support for High Cost Areas (FCC)
CALEA (FCC)
Bringing Competition to the Local Telephone Markets (NTIA)
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft, in Push to Extend Windows, To Unveil Smart-Card Operating
System (WSJ)
ANTITRUST
U.S. Antitrust Case Against Microsoft Is Closely Watched by Europe's
Officials (WSJ)
Microsoft's Refrain: Where's the Harm? (NYT)
============
RACE/GENDER
============
FCC CUTS PAPERWORK, ADD RACE/GENDER REPORTING
Issues: Minorities/Ownership
In presenting a new plan to streamline the applications and reports stations
file with the FCC, Chairman William Kennard announced that the agency will
now require TV and radio stations to identify the race and gender of their
owners. The new information gathering is part of the FCC's attempt to
promote opportunities for women and minorities. "Any effort to determine the
extent of minority and female ownership is a step in the right direction,"
said Gigi Sohn of the Media Access Project. "Until you identify the problem
you can't think of ways to solve it." The new electronic filing system has
caused some concern for commissioners Susan Ness and Gloria Tristani, who
worry that the public will no longer have the tools to interpret the
stations' data.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable (P16), AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
THE WHITEMAILING OF NETWORK NEWS
Issue: Journalism/Race/Gender
An overwhelming amount of the "expert" SoundBits shown of the network
evening news come from white men. According to the "Who Speaks for America"
study -- sponsored by Freedom Forum's Free Press/Fair Press project -- 87
percent of TV experts are male and 92 percent are white, while women only
accounted for 13 percent and minorities just 6 percent. "There is no
justification" for the lack of diversity among quoted experts in network
newscasts, says Andrew Tyndall, director of the study. Tyndall concludes
that the networks are more likely just lazy than biased in their selection
of experts. He suggests that the extra effort to diversify the group of
experts might help pull in the younger, larger audiences that networks
crave.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable (P30), AUTHOR: Steve McClellan]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
EDITORS DELAY GOAL ON DIVERSITY AND ADD A CONCERN FOR WOMEN
Issue: Journalism
The governing board of the American Society of Newspaper Editors agreed last
week that "the nation's newsrooms must reflect the racial diversity of
American society by 2025 or sooner." The board also agreed to add women to
its annual census of newsrooms -- an attempt to find evidence of a "glass
ceiling" that prevents women from rising to the highest positions in
newsrooms. The group's original goal for newsroom diversity was 15% by the
year 2000. Minorities comprise 26% of the US population.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Felicity Barringer]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/newspaper-women.html
==========
CAMPAIGNS
==========
NEW DEAL, NEW VENUES
Issues: Politics/Journalism
While the major broadcast networks will provide more coverage of this year's
mid-term election campaigns than ever, you will not be able to see most of
it on TV The major television networks will be distributing a majority of
their election coverage on cable and the Internet. Both CBS and ABC are
reducing their election night on-air coverage compared to the 1994 off-year
elections. "No matter how compelling the story, people out there don't seem
to be watching it as much as they used to," say Lane Vernardos, executive
producer of special events for CBS News. Network officials privately explain
that reduced election coverage also allows for fewer preemptions of the more
profitable entertainment shows.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable (P6), AUTHOR: Steve McClellan]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
THIS YEAR, VOTERS CAN TRACK LAST-MINUTE CONTRIBUTIONS ONLINE
Issue: Campaign Finance
Last minute campaign contributions are usually significant and overlooked,
but the Federal Election Commission and the California Secretary of State
are giving voters their first chance this year to review the flood of
last-minute campaign contributions on the Web. The California Voter
Foundation, a non-partisan group that champions online disclosure, estimates
that in California races, 25 percent of all contributions in the six months
before Election Day are made in the last two weeks. "This will be really the
first time we've had true disclosure," said Robert M. Stern, co-director of
the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, a non-profit research
group that examines campaign finance. "I think this is the forerunner of a
massive amount of information for the voters in two years." FEC
http://www.fec.gov. California Secretary of State http://www.ss.ca.gov
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Rebecca Fairley Raney
rfr( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/articles/26donate.html
==============
INTERNATIONAL
==============
EUROPEAN LAW AIMS TO PROTECT PRIVACY OF DATA
Issue: Privacy/Electronic Commerce
The new European Union law protecting personal data went into effect October
25. Some fear the law may interrupt electronic commerce with the US because
it prohibits American-style buying and selling of personal data, Andrews
reports. The law is intended to block companies from using the data for uses
that consumers did not intend -- like selling it to other companies for use
in marketing. The risk in the US is that the law prohibits any company doing
business in the European Union from transmitting personal data to any
country that does not guarantee comparable privacy protection.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Edmund Andrews]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/biztech/articles/26privacy.html
BRITISH TELECOM PLUGS IN
Issue: International
After attempting to buy MCI Communications Corp. last year, British
Telecommunications PLC created a new effort for international business in
July by opening a North American satellite broadcast operations center in
Washington, D.C. BT is hoping its new Washington "teleport" facility will
help it expand its less than 10% share of the U.S. market for satellite and
fiber-optics transmission of video signals. BT has worldwide revenue of $30
million a year for moving video signals for commercial clients, a figure
that makes them one of the top three in the field. In addition to an
increasing number of teleconferences for smaller businesses, the BT
operation has included recent transmissions of the Academy Awards program,
the World Series, ABC's Monday Night Football and will handle John Glenn's
return to space on Thursday.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (F5), AUTHOR: Mike Mills]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/digest/wtech002.htm
HOGN KONG CONFRONTS FOREIGN PHONE GIANTS
Issue: International/Competition
MCI Worldcom is warning Hong Kong that it may be left out of the information
age if it does not soon open its local telephone market to competition.
"Hong Kong is teetering on the edge," asserted Steve Liddell, president of
the MCI Worldcom Asia Pacific unit. "It will either embrace the brave new
age of telecommunications or return to an age of protectionism." Hong Kong
maybe is not buying this line: "It is not our policy goal to be the most
liberal telecommunications hub in Asia; that's a rather empty thing," said
Geoffrey Woodhead, a senior adviser to K.C. Kwong, the secretary for
information technology and broadcasting. In the next few weeks, the local
government will decide if it will allow additional competitors in the market
of 6.8 million people. In the last three years, Hong Kong has licensed three
local companies to provide service in addition to Hong Kong Telecom, the old
monopoly provider.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Mark Landler]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/hongkong-telecom.html
==========
TELEVISION
==========
TV SPORTS LOSE SOME OF THEIR POWER TO REACH AMERICA'S MEN
Issue: Television Economics
"Sports as an advertising and marketing vehicle is going through a midlife
crisis," said David Verklin, chief executive at Carat North America in New
York, a unit of Aegis Group PLC that buys time and space for marketers. "Ad
people have so fallen in love with sports that they assume no matter what
you buy, it will be fantastic," Verklin added. "But sports does not have
unlimited viewer loyalty, unlimited program capacity or unlimited price
elasticity." Sports used to deliver dependable large audiences, but ratings
for this month's World Series were the worst ever and football ratings are
down this year. Media outlets may lose millions if they have to lower their
advertising rates for programming they have spent so much on. "Sports was
once impervious, but some of its cachet may have disappeared," said Igiel,
who is executive vice president and director for U.S. broadcast at the Media
Edge unit of Y&R in New York. "Sports has held up better than most
programming," he added, "but it's now suffering some of the same erosion of
viewership that everything else on television has."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Stuart Elliott]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/tvsports-ad-column.html
THE DAWN OF HDTV, READY OR NOT
Issue: Digital TV
Starting on or near November 1, more than three dozen television stations
will begin digital broadcasts. ABC plans to offer the first high-definition
program on Sunday -- the 1996 remake of Disney's 101 Dalmatians. After
buying digital TVs, viewers will be able to receive sharper, clearer
television images. But digital television receivers also hold the potential
to enrich the medium with user interaction of the sort now available on
computers, Brinkley writes. Although eventually all broadcats will be
digital, "I think we will be able to count our viewers on our fingers and
toes," said Martin Franks, a senior vice president for CBS. "It's fairly
clear that there are more transmitters than receivers at this point."
Digital sets are expensive -- around $7,000 each. Early programming is
expected to duplicate current, 'analog' shows.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/biztech/articles/26hdtv.html
ECHOSTAR TAKES BIG FOUR TO COURT
Issue: Satellite
As part of the continuing battle between broadcasters and satellite TV
distributors over which households can legally receive imported network
signals, EchoStar filed a suit last week against the Big Four broadcast
Networks. EchoStar wants the courts to discard the old method of determining
customer eligibility for imported signals for a more liberal model. A recent
ruling in Florida determined that satellite companies were illegally
importing network signals to nearly a million viewers.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable (P19), AUTHOR: Paige Albiniak]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
========
INTERNET
========
HIGER-SPEED INTERNET STANDARD IS APPROVED
Issue: Bandwidth
The International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations Group, has
approved a technical standard for digital subscriber line service (DSL) put
forth by Microsoft, Intel and large, local phone companies. The version of
DSL promises to deliver data to the home at a speed of 1.5 million bits per
second. Phone companies will use DSL technology to compete with cable
modems. DSL modems should be available in stores by mid-1999 and priced
around $150.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2)]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/26digi.html
MAKING TOMORROW'S INTERNET A GOOD PLACE FOR CHILDREN
Issue: Internet
Advocates for children, professors, software producers and others gathered
in Washington to ask how the Internet can avoid Newt Minow's famous
description of television as a "vast wasteland.". What can be done, they
wanted to know, to insure that the Internet and other technologies become
something edifying rather than stultifying for children? "We need to have
this debate and discussion now at the outset, while this medium is at this
fluid stage, so we can figure out how to do it right this time, as opposed
to television," said Kathryn C. Montgomery, president of the non-profit
Center for Media Education. A conference in Washington, DC last week focused
not on online pornography or pedophiles. Instead, participants tried to
figure out what is known and unknown about the effects of the emerging media
on children, and to begin to set a national agenda for insuring that
technology fulfills its promise, that it becomes more than a glitzy
extension of the popular commercial culture.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels
mendels( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/articles/25children.html
FROM ONLINE TO ON THE LINE
Issue: Long Distance
AT&T is presenting a new way to chat on the Internet. They want people to
forego the keyboard and use the phone! The new Chat 'N Talk service,
available through Lycos and other Internet services, allows people chatting
on the Web to quickly and anonymously shift their conversation to the
telephone. For those agreeing to move offline to use the phone system some
information, including a telephone number and a credit card number from the
initiator and a telephone number from the second party must be entered. By
using a password system AT&T promises privacy. Neither party sees the
other's telephone number. The person who initiates the call pays 15 cents
per minute.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (F22), AUTHOR: Robert O'Harrow Jr.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-10/26/029l-102698-idx.html
==========
TELEPHONY
==========
DETERMINIONG UNIVERSAL SERVICE SUPPORT FOR HIGH COST AREAS
Issue: Universal Service
1) The Commission adopted the framework for estimating the costs incurred by
certain telephone companies for providing services to consumers in rural,
insular, and other high cost areas. Combined with specific variables, or
"inputs," that will be determined later, this framework will provide cost
information that can be used as part of the calculation of the amount of
universal service support that non-rural carriers may receive for serving
high cost areas. (Yeah, we know, time to make calculations like this would
be our dream job as well) 2) A Memorandum Opinion and Order and Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing four issues: A) interim guidelines
for wireless providers for reporting their percentage of interstate wireless
telecommunications revenues; B) the Commission asked for comment on
establishing rules to deal with those situations in which universal service
contributors cannot derive the amounts of their intrastate and interstate
end-user telecommunications revenues readily from their books of account; C)
the Commission asked for comment on the extent to which its universal
service rules facilitate the provision of supported services by service
providers, such as wireless telecommunications providers and cable
operators, that historically have not provided services eligible for federal
universal service support; and D) the Commission asked for comment on how
much, if any, local usage eligible telecommunications carriers should be
required to provide to customers as part of a "basic service" package.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8074.html
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8073.html
CALEA
Issue: Wireless/Privacy
No, not the cartoon lion, that was Kimba. The Communications Assistance for
Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) "generally requires a telecommunications carrier
to ensure that its equipment, facilities, or services are capable of: 1)
expeditiously isolating, and enabling the government, pursuant to a court
order or other lawful authorization, to intercept all wire and electronic
communications; 2) providing access to call-identifying information that is
reasonably available to the carrier; 3) delivering intercepted
communications and call-identifying information to a Law Enforcement Agency
(LEA) in an acceptable form and at a remote location; and 4) protecting the
privacy and security of communications and call-identifying information not
authorized to be intercepted." The FCC has adopted a Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking addressing technical requirements for wireline,
cellular, and broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS) carriers to
comply with the assistance capability requirements of the Act.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/1998/nret80
14.html
BRINGING COMPETITION TO THE LOCAL TELEPHONE MARKETS
Issue: Competition
"Now that we are nearly 1,000 days into the 1996 Telecommunications Act, I
can think of no better time than this conference to assess how far we have
come in promoting competition in telecommunications. I'd like to take this
opportunity to evaluate what has worked, what hasn't, and what we should do
from here. The good news is that we are now seeing increasing choice and
services in the local telephone market. After much anticipation, cable
companies are now beginning to offer telephone service. Cox, for example, is
offering service in Phoenix, Omaha, and Orange County. MediaOne is now
offering cable telephony service in Atlantia, Los Angeles, and certain areas
of Massachusetts, promising rates up to 47 percent lower than the
competition. And AT&T, of course, is banking on the success of cable
telephony in merging with TCI...."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/comptel98.htm
======================
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
======================
MICROSOFT, IN PUSH TO EXTEND WINDOWS, TO UNVEIL SMART-CARD OPERATING SYSTEM
Issue: Computer Technology
Microsoft Corporation is poised to announce Tuesday a new operating system
for smart cards. Smart cards are credit-card sized cards that store
information, can identify card users and run small programs. Use of smart
cards is more popular in Europe where the cards are used for mobile phone
information, access to public transportation, and banking functions. Their
use is expected to expand in the U.S. as electronic commerce grows.
Microsoft's entry into the market with a Windows-based system is expected to
give a boost to the adoption of smart-card technology. Several operating
systems already exist. For Microsoft the effort may be a defensive effort
to stem the growth of Sun Microsystems' Java system.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Kimberley A. Strassel & David Bank]
http://www.wsj.com/
=========
ANTITRUST
=========
U.S. ANTITRUST CASE AGAINST MICROSOFT IS CLOSELY WATCHED BY EUROPE'S
OFFICIALS (WSJ)
MICROSOFT REFRAIN: WHERE'S THE HARM? (NYT)
Issue: Antitrust
Days before the opening of the Microsoft Corporation's antitrust trial here
in the U.S., a similar antitrust complaint was filed in Italy. While the
Italian antitrust authority has not ruled on whether it will consider the
complaint, a growing number of European authorities are taking interest in
the Microsoft trial which begins its second week today. Two groups within
the European Commission, competition authorities and electronic commerce
officials, have expressed concerns about Microsoft's dominance and could
create additional confrontations with Microsoft after the U.S. trial. One
EC official said, "Once you have universal platforms, openness should rule."
A Microsoft lawyer calls the Italian suit, "the whole hodgepodge of old
allegations."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Brandon Mitchener]
http://www.wsj.com/
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/26soft.html
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