ANTITRUST
States Weigh Going It Alone in Legal Battle With Microsoft (NYT)
Settling the Microsoft Case (NYT)
BROADBAND
Whither the Broadband Revolution? (Wired)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Laptops: To Have and Have Not (Wired)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Some I.B.M. Software Tools to Be Put in Public Domain (NYT)
Networks See Threat in New Video Recorder (NYT)
ANTITRUST
SETTLING THE MICROSOFT CASE
Issue: Microsoft Settlement
[Editorial] Although a sensible settlement, the terms of the agreement are
likely to leave many disappointed. Specifically, as outlined, the terms will
modify Microsoft's future behavior to a lesser extent than its competitors
would have wanted. Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, 1)
Microsoft would be barred from "entering into restrictive contracts and
pricing deals aimed at using its Windows monopoly to unfairly undercut
competitors"; 2) Computer makers would be given more flexibility in how they
configure windows and competing third-party software; 3) Microsoft would be
forced to disclose more of its technical data, including actual code, that
would enable other competing software, and 4) and independent team of
monitors would work to assure Microsoft's compliance. However, the Times
notes that "Microsoft has a poor track record when it comes to reforming
itself, and some of the states involved in the litigation have been dubious
about the Bush administration's determination to pursue this case. So they
were right to ask for a few more days, until tomorrow, to carefully review
the terms of the deal hammered out before Friday's deadline by the software
giant and Justice officials." In summary, "...the settlement strives to
balance the convenience that consumers derive from not having to shop
separately for each software application against the need to keep Microsoft
- gatekeeper to the computer desktop and by extension the Internet - from
fencing out innovation by others." If the agreement works as envisioned.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: New York Times Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/05/opinion/05MON2.html)
STATES WEIGH GOING IT ALONE IN LEGAL BATTLE WITH MICROSOFT
Issue: Antitrust
Attorneys general from 18 states are under deadline to inform Judge Colleen
Kollar-Kotelly of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia of
their decisions on the acceptance of the Microsoft settlement by Tuesday
morning. Weighing on the attorneys general is a substantially weakened
settlement bartered by the federal Justice Department and the complaints of
many in the computer industry over the weekend. "Does anyone think this
settlement is going to change Microsoft's behavior?" said Scott G. McNealy,
the chairman of Sun Microsystems (news/quote), reflecting the widespread
dissatisfaction that he and other industry leaders expressed to the
attorneys general. "These guys are unfettered." But the Justice Department
and Microsoft are unwilling to change the agreement at this point, leaving
the state attorneys general to decide whether they should forego their own
cases and support a decree that is drawing fire, or use their own limited
finances to challenge a decree authored by the federal government and an
industry behemoth. "They are trying to decide whether this proposal is in
the public interest," said James E. Tierney, a former attorney general of
Maine who has been consulting with the state prosecutors in the case. "Will
it be a strong deterrent to illegal behavior for a defendant who has not
even acknowledged any liability? They are extraordinarily concerned about
these issues."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton and Steve Lohr]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/05/technology/05SOFT.html)
BROADBAND
WHITHER THE BROADBAND REVOLUTION
Issue: Broadband
The slowdown in consumer broadband and rollback of existing services could
mark the end of several new subscription services that depend on consumers'
access to high-speed Internet connections. The FCC has noted that consumer
uptake of broadband services is leveling off. In the past month, several
large phone companies announced they would begin rolling back their DSL
service expansion plans in the face of an untenable economy. These setbacks
come just as movie studios, record companies, and other Internet media
interests were hoping to launch subscription-based online entertainment
ventures. "Current slowdowns in broadband proliferation have likely forced
anyone who'd planned to build a business on streaming video to drastically
scale back growth projections," said Ric Dube, senior analyst with Webnoize,
an Internet research firm. "Nobody will ever pay for streaming video content
at speeds below broadband."
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR Brad King]
(http://wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,47968,00.html)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
LAPTOPS: TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT
Issue: Digital Divide
A Palo Alto middle school's laptop proposal has met with resistance from
frustrated parents. The Palo Alto Unified School District recently sent a
letter to parents announcing that Jordan Middle School planned to buy 45 new
Apple iBooks to share among 300 sixth-grade students. Parents could choose
to purchase a laptop for their own student if they wanted. Parents
criticized the plan, pointing out that it would divide students into two
group: those who had their own laptop, and those who don't. The school will
still buy the 45 iBooks, but the parent portion of the plan, predictably,
won't be put in place.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Katie Dean]
(http://wired.com/news/school/0,1383,48106,00.html)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
SOME I.B.M. SOFTWARE TOOLS TO BE PUT IN PUBLIC DOMAIN
Issue: Open Source
I.B.M. plans to announce today that it is placing $40 million of its
software tools in the public domain as the first step toward founding an
open-source organization for developers. The move is the latest step in
International Business Machines embrace of the open-source software model,
in which programmers around the world share software code for joint
development and debugging. The new open-source organization, called Eclipse,
will focus on the programming tools used to build applications and other
software. More than 150 software companies, from Linux distributors like Red
Hat and SuSE to applications developers like Rational and Bow Street, are
lined up to join the Eclipse community. I.B.M. considers it a worthwhile
investment to place in the public domain software tools that it spent $40
million to develop, seeing the move as one that further undermines the
leading operating system suppliers, like Microsoft.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/05/technology/05OPEN.html)
(requires registration)
NETWORKS SEE THREAT IN NEW VIDEO RECORDER
Issue: Television
Three years ago, television executives watched as so-called personal video
recorders allowed viewers, for the first time, to pause and replay
programming even as it was being broadcast. The new recorders can even tape
one program while the viewer is watching another. But last week, one company
appeared to have crossed the networks' line in the sand - by making it
easier to skip commercials. ABC, CBS and NBC filed a lawsuit against
SonicBlue, maker of the ReplayTV personal video recorder, arguing that the
latest version of the ReplayTV device would deprive them of revenue and
reduce their incentive to create programming. The three big networks are
hoping to block sales of the device, which also lets viewers send stored
programs to other users over the Internet, a feature the three networks says
infringes their copyrights.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Laurie J. Flynn]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/05/technology/05TIVO.html)
(requires registration)
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