TELEPHONY
Ties to Phone Company Leave McCain on a Fine Line (WP)
TELEVISION
Television's Risky Relationship (NYT)
INTERNET
Internet Privacy Safeguards Sought (NYT)
Inktomi Promises Improved Searches for Customers After Study of the
Web (WSJ)
Canada Business Leaders Launch Plan To Create 'Cybercourt' for Web
Disputes (WSJ)
Internet Cafes Flourish in Vietnam Presenting a Puzzle About Policy
(WSJ)
TELEPHONY
TIES TO PHONE COMPANY LEAVE MCCAIN ON A FINE LINE
Issue: Telephony
US West, a Baby Bell with a near-monopoly over local phone service in 14
western states, is "widely considered to have the worst quality of service
record of any regional Bell". The company, which is currently under fire for
selling 600 of its rural phone exchanges at the same time it is pressuring
Congress to end the "digital divide", also happens to be the largest
campaign contributor to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain.
Through its employees and political action committee, US West has donated
more than $100,000 to the senator over his legislative career. The
senator's ties to US West offer a prime illustration of the complex
balancing act he faces in his drive for the White House. McCain is
considered a strong supporter of US West and other Baby Bells on Capitol
Hill. He is the author of the Internet Regulatory Freedom Act that would
propel US West and other Baby Bells into the lucrative world of high-speed
data transmissions. McCain, though, is also a high-profile supporter of
campaign reform and has argued that the system taints all members of
Congress, and that appearances of coziness do matter. US West officials
insist that their financial support for McCain has nothing to do with their
business dealings. McCain has shown himself not to be an unflinching
supporter of US West, opposing its interests on several key issues in
Congress and once condemning an Arizona regulatory agency's decision that
protected US West from competition in local phone markets.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A03), AUTHOR: Michael Grunwald]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-01/18/053l-011800-idx.html)
TELEVISION
TELEVISION'S RISKY RELATIONSHIP
Issue: Television
Last week, America discovered that the television networks have been
secretly submitting scripts to the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy in exchange for more than $22 million worth of credit for
required public service advertising. While the networks and the White House
have denied that content was changed in the process, the authors feel that
the government and networks have crossed a dangerous line. "On the far side
of that line," they write, "lies the possibility of censorship and
state-sponsored propaganda."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A26), AUTHOR: New York Times Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/18tue1.html)
INTERNET
NTERNET PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS SOUGHT
Issue: Internet
One of the key questions put forth Monday at the annual RSA Conference on
software security was "How safe is safe?" Adi Shamir, an encryption expert
with Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, said, "Secure systems do not
exist, they will never exist.'' With the Y2K threat behind them, businesses
are shifting their attention to the challenge of securing data transmissions
between everything from computer networks to pagers, cellular phones,
electronic organizers and automobiles. As part of the conference, panels
discussing information security agreed that there has to be greater
cooperation among companies to create standard security platforms and to
decide what to do with the secure information they collect. The RSA
Conference has grown from a gathering of industry insiders to an exchange of
strategies and developments for protecting data and authenticating
identification, particularly as hundreds of new wireless devices come to
market with the aim of providing information easily and on the go.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/biztech/articles/18internet-safeg
uards.html)
INKTOMI PROMISES IMPROVED SEARCHES FOR CUSTOMERS AFTER STUDY OF THE WEB
Issue: Internet
There are more than one billion pages of information, according to a study
by search-engine company Inktomi. The study also suggests that the number of
Web pages has grown about 25% from just last summer. Another company, Fast
Search & Transfer ASA(www.fast.no), has recently claimed to have compiled
the largest searchable index, with a Web repository of over 300 million
documents, compared to about 150 million for Inktomi. Despite the enormous
number of pages indexed by search engine companies, critics still complain
that they omit much useful information. A study last year by NEC researchers
found that no search engine included more than 16% of the Web's total pages.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Don Clark]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948153943798440342.htm)
CANADA BUSINESS LEADERS LAUNCH PLAN TO CREATE 'CYBERCOURT' FOR WEB DISPUTES
Issue: Internet
A coalition of 31 Canadian companies that promote Web retailing in Canada
are planning to draw up global e-commerce standards and create the first
tribunal for Web disputes. Companies that voluntarily participate and meet
the standards would receive a seal of approval on their Web site. An
appointed panel of judges would settle any disputes through binding
arbitration. "This will literally be a small-claims court for e-commerce,"
said David Pecaut, senior vice president of the Boston Consulting Group,
which is part of the coalition. The group has asked the Canadian government
to help fund the project.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B14), AUTHOR: Joel Baglole]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948153117776299844.htm)
INTERNET CAFES FLOURISH IN VIETNAM, PRESENTING A PUZZLE ABOUT POLICY
Issue: Internet/International
In the two years since the Vietnamese government reluctantly began to allow
access to the Internet, cyber-cafes have begun to spring up all over the
country's main cities. While the government blocks an estimated 500 Web
sites of dissident Vietnamese groups, largely in America and France, this
author is surprised by the relative freedom in which citizens are allowed to
access the Internet. Why, he asks, would a government that monitors nearly
every word in the country's newspapers and magazines allow such free
exchange of electronic information? "I think the answer is that pure and
simple greed is outweighing ideological zealotry," writes Sesser. In
Vietnam, he explains, where all five ISPs are owned by the government, the
telecommunications monopolies stand to generate an immense profit in the
growing market for new media.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Stan Sesser]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948137265699680614.htm)
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