ONLINE JOURNALISM
Online News Sites Face An Event-Access Crunch (WSJ)
INTERNET
Gutenberg Vs. the Net (WP)
Court Lets Fees for Net Domain Names Remain (USA)
TELEVISION
TV Antidrug Messages Are No Scandal (WSJ)
Test of Faith (WSJ)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Don't Rush Into Online Voting, California
Panel Says (CyberTimes)
Bradley Concentrates on the Internet to
Teach Voters About Iowa Caucus (WSJ)
McCurry Joins the Board Of New Political Web Site (WSJ)
EDTECH
Study on Online Education Sees Optimism,
With Caution (CyberTimes)
Speech: E-Rate: A Success Story (FCC)
ZapMe Is Targeted Over Data It Collected on the Internet (WSJ)
COMPETITION/MERGERS
As Telecoms Merge And Cut Costs, Customer Service Is
Often a Casualty (WSJ)
Competition in Video Markets (FCC)
Developments in International Telecommunications Markets (FCC)
Big Firms Rush to Dominate The Latin Broadband Market (WSJ)
ANTITRUST
Microsoft Challenges Antitrust Arguments (WP)
ONLINE JOURNALISM
ONLINE NEWS SITES FACE AN EVENT-ACCESS CRUNCH
Issue: Online Journalism
As the number of online news outlets grows, some independent news sites are
finding it difficult to gain access to certain big events. There is a
growing trend for movie studios and event sponsors to grant exclusive deals
with particular news sites to cover events. ABC.com and Dick Clark
Productions, producer of the American Music Awards, both units of Walt
Disney, entered into an agreement that barred all other online reporters
from interviewing winners of the American Music Awards after the show. "This
is like being told you can't even interview the athletes and can only sit in
the stands and eat hotdogs," said Alex Ben Block, editor in chief of
eStar.com. "It makes it hard for Internet journalists who are trying to form
credible news organizations." While technology helped make journalism
accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection, it has not
guaranteed smaller outlets access to the news they want to cover.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: Matthew Rose and Joe Flint]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948236759376677501.htm)
INTERNET
GUTENBERG VS. THE NET
Issue: Internet
[Op-Ed] While Steve Case of AOL calls the new century "the Internet Century"
and some claim that the Internet rivals the invention of the printing press,
Robert Samuel claims that we are all suffering from "historical amnesia."
Disputing the claim that no major innovation has spread as quickly as the
Internet, which went from only a handful of homes being connected in 1990 to
38 percent of households being connected in 1999, Samuelson points out that
the adoption of the Internet roughly matches the adoption of the radio
(which went from zero to about 46 percent of households in the 1920s) and
lags behind the adoption of the TV (which went from 9 percent of households
in 1950 to 87 percent in 1960). And while the printing press gained its
historical significance by leading to mass literacy and enabling the
scientific revolution, the Internet is currently just a platform for e-mail
or marketing. To be in league with the printing press, the Internet needs to
become something more.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A23), AUTHOR: Robert J. Samuelson]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-01/19/013l-011900-idx.html
)
COURT LETS FEES FOR NET DOMAIN NAMES REMAIN
Issue: Internet
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal yesterday, allowing Network Solutions
to continue to charge domain name registration fees that critics say are
exorbitant. A group of web site owners originally filed the lawsuit against
Network Solutions, charging that Network Solutions' fees were excessive and
amounted to an unauthorized federal tax. The system for registering Internet
names has been run by Network Solutions under an agreement with the National
Science Foundation. Network Solutions is no longer the sole registrar of
Internet Domain names.
[SOURCE: USA Today (4A), AUTHOR: Richard Willing]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000119/1856315s.htm)
TELEVISION
TV ANTIDRUG MESSAGES ARE NO SCANDAL
Issue: Television
[Op-Ed] The news of broadcast television networks working with the Office of
National Drug Control Policy to coordinate antidrug messages in their shows
was met with extreme outrage and indignation. Yesterday's New York Times
suggested that the "deeply unhealthy" practice "should disturb anyone who
believes in the need for all media. . . to remain free from government
meddling." John Podhoretz, however, believes that the concern may be
excessive. "Big Brother isn't programming prime-time," he says. The Drug
Control Policy office, explains Podhoretz, "offered an incentive to private
businesses with whom it had an airtight contractual arrangement to do
something of redeeming social value that cost the taxpayers nothing and
fulfilled Congress's intention to get antidrug messages on the air." Because
the networks were in no way compelled to agree to this arrangement, the
government cannot be accused of media manipulation. "The only real
'miscommunication' here," says Podhoretz, "is that the networks kept the
arrangement secret from the people who make the programs."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A22), AUTHOR: John Podhoretz (columnist for
the New York Post)]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948236690458667620.htm)
TEST OF FAITH
Issue: Television/FCC
[Editorial] There has been a lot of press surrounding a three-way Pittsburgh
TV license swap among WQED, Cornerstone TV and Paxson Communications,
because of request from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) -- a large recipient of
Paxson contributions -- that the FCC give a speedy resolution to the
application. The real issue in the case is not McCain's request, but the
FCC's ruling which declared that programming "primarily devoted to religious
exhortation, proselytizing, or statements of personally held religious views
and beliefs" would not be regarded as educational. The FCC went on to say in
a footnote that "church services generally will not qualify as 'general
education' programming under our rules." The authors claim that PBS
affiliates, which operate under educational licenses, engage in just that
kind of programming in question when they air shows such as "It's
Elementary," a video on teaching schoolchildren about homosexuality and
tolerance. They conclude: "any honest look at such programming has to lead
any honest examiner to ask just who is doing the proselytizing here." It is
not the government's role to "distinguish between the educational value of a
Pat Robertson sermon and a Bill Moyers PBS special," and "what does it mean
for the First Amendment to have an FCC that forbids one and subsidizes the
other?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A22), AUTHOR: Wall Street Journal Editorial
Staff]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948233845793021149.htm)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
DON'T RUSH INTO ONLINE VOTING, CALIFORNIA PANEL SAYS
Issue: Political Discourse
In a 54-page report released yesterday, the California Internet Voting Task
Force (www.ss.ca.gov/executive/ivote/) said that security risks were
too significant to allow voters to cast ballots from home or office over the
Internet. The task force -- composed of 34 technologists, political
scientists and civic leaders -- is the first state-level body to examine the
issue. The electoral system could be undermined by virus attacks and online
fraud, the group concluded. At this time," the report reads, "it would not
be legally, practically or fiscally feasible to develop a comprehensive
remote Internet voting system." For the commission, the chief technological
concern was that even if votes were transmitted securely, computer viruses
could potentially take over citizens' computers and submit votes. The report
also recommended that individuals never be allowed to register to vote
online because such a system would be "an invitation to automated,
large-scale voter fraud." The commission concluded that the use of digital
signatures on initiative, referendum and recall petitions should be
prohibited because of the lack of a standard method of digital
identification. "I think eventually Internet voting is going to happen,"
said Mark Rhoads, vice president of the United States Internet Council, a
nonprofit educational group in Washington that is financed by technology
companies. "There's nothing inherently more mischievous about Internet
voting than paper ballots," said Rhoads, a former state senator in Illinois
who also was chairman of the state's election law study commission. "It
doesn't surprise me that they wouldn't want to jump into it this year, being
a presidential election year."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Rebecca Fairley Raney (rfr( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/cyber/articles/19vote.html)
BRADLEY CONCENTRATES ON THE INTERNET TO TEACH VOTERS ABOUT IOWA CAUCUS
Issue: Political Discourse
Since there hasn't been a competitive Democratic caucus in Iowa since 1988
[Tom Harkin in '92],
educating voters may be especially important this year. Bill Bradley's camp
has launched a tutorial about how to participate in the Iowa caucuses
(www.caucusforbradley.com), complete with five video clips. The site is one
way for the Democratic candidate to get around having to rely volunteers to
help voters with Iowa's caucusing process. Iowa's caucuses are eccentric
affairs for both parties. While Republicans submit a secret ballot,
Democrats must literally stand to be counted for their candidate.
Additionally, the voter has to be prepared to withstand heckling and other
forms of pressure to defect to a competitor. Even the process of "reaching
out" - literally reaching over and joining hands to bring a voter over to
another candidate is covered by one of the five videos. "I think it's the
right way to use the Web," said Michael Cornfield, a professor of political
management at George Washington University who specializes in Internet
campaigns. "There's never been a communications medium before where you
could walk people through" something so complex as the Iowa caucuses, he
said.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Robert Cwiklik]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948236219140176813.htm)
MCCURRY JOINS THE BOARD OF NEW POLITICAL WEB SITE
Issue: Political Discourse
"In the starkest way, the 30-second television commercial as a principal
means of communication is about to expire and will be replaced with more
interactive exchanges," said former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry
who has now joined the board of Grassroots.com. The enormous political
marketing industry is moving online at a rapid pace, spawning over a dozen
for-profit political dot-coms. They range from former Clinton adviser Dick
Morris's vote.com (www.vote.com) to Netivation.com, a publicly traded
political Web site (www.netivation.com) that raised $22 million in its
initial public offering last June. All are vying to be "the" political
portal; none is showing a profit yet. Kim Alexander, who runs a non-profit
Web site for the California Voter Foundation, agrees. "I find encouraging
that the financial community finds it worthwhile to back political Web
sites. On the other hand, it's really important that voters pay attention to
the editorial policy of a for-profit site." Many for-profit sites sell
personal information on their visitors, she says. "Some voters may not be
comfortable with that; it's one of the for-profit driving incentives."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Ann Grimes
(ann.grimes( at )wsj.com)]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948238105668101502.htm)
EDTECH
STUDY ON ONLINE EDUCATION SEES OPTIMISM, WITH CAUTION
Issue: EdTech
John R. Regalbuto, a chemical engineering professor at the University of
Illinois in Chicago, started a year-long effort to examine what works and
what doesn't work when classes take place online. In a report
(www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/tid/report/) released last week, Prof.
Regalbuto and 15 other UofI tenured professors conclude that an online class
can be a worthy and in some cases a great educational experience. But to
work effectively, online class sizes should be limited. And Internet
learning may be inappropriate for certain academic endeavors, most notably,
the completion of an entire undergraduate degree program. "The good news is
that online teaching can be done with high quality," said Prof. Regalbuto.
"But the bad news is that it is inherently more difficult to create and
maintain the bond a professor needs to have with his or her class for good
teaching to occur. The costs will be higher, and that will disappoint
administrators eager to make a lot of money."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels (mendels( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/cyber/education/19education.html)
SPEECH: E-RATE: A SUCCESS STORY
Issue: EdTech
Chairman Kennard's 1/14 address to the Educational Technology Leadership
Conference - 2000. In his speech, Chairman Kennard commended all those that
helped make the E-Rate a success. He noted that the E-Rate has committed
$3.65 billion to over 50,000 schools and libraries and has also helped
reduce the "digital divide" with 70% of the Year Two funding having gone to
schools from the lowest income areas. Kennard asked for continued support
for the E-Rate. "I believe the E-Rate program is one of the most significant
programs of modern government, and when the history of the program is
written, the contributions of your profession will be in the early
paragraphs," Kennard said.
Summary courtesy of NECA.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/2000/spwek002.html)
ZAPME IS TARGETED OVER DATA IT COLLECTED ON THE INTERNET
Issue: Privacy
A diverse coalition of advocacy groups charges that ZapMe, a company that
brings online advertising into schools, is helping advertisers collect the
names and addresses of minors without parental consent. The group is calling
for new state laws that mandate parental approval, because Federal law only
requires parental consent for the online gathering of identifying
information about children under 13. ZapMe offers over 1,000 schools Web
access and free high-tech equipment in return for schools' agreement that
the computers will be used at least four hours a day and that schools
provide the ages, genders and zip codes of student users. ZapMe Chief
Executive Rick Inatome said the company only provides broad demographic
information to advertisers, and not data on individual students.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Daniel Golden]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948251421669359386.htm)
COMPETITION/MERGERS
AS TELECOMS MERGE AND CUT COSTS, CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OFTEN A CASUALTY
Issue: Mergers
What's the cost of telecom mergers? Well, it seems to be customer service.
During the past three years, mergers and acquisitions valued at more than
$500 billion have rearranged the telecommunications landscape. Phone
companies say the corporate customers ultimately benefit: The mergers bring
them the latest technology and provide one-stop shopping at the lowest
possible prices. But as companies squeeze costs out of their newly acquired
business, they usually layoff workers. Customer-service centers, often seen
as overlapping, are among the first operations to be pared. "The morale at
the company that is being acquired immediately goes down. Everyone starts
throwing their resume around," says Casey Letizia, communications manager
for one business customer, Credit Guard of America in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"At that point, we are orphans." "These telecom companies are killing us,"
says another business customer. "One domino falls and everything falls
apart." In slashing costs, telecommunications is doing what practically
every other business is doing. But in some other businesses -- say, a retail
store or bank -- the customers can manage by themselves if there are fewer
people around to help. In the technical world of telecom, a customer without
good customer service is helpless.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A1), AUTHOR: Rebecca Blumenstein & Stephanie
Mehta]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948244601326275848.htm)
COMPETITION IN VIDEO MARKETS
Issue: Competition
The FCC adopted its sixth annual report on competition in markets for the
delivery of video programming. This report will be submitted to Congress in
accordance with Section 628(g) of the Communications Act. The report
provides updated information on the status of competition in markets for the
delivery of video programming, discusses changes that have occurred in the
competitive environment over the last year, and describes barriers to
competition that continue to exist. The report finds that competitive
alternatives and consumer choices continue to develop but cable television
still is the dominant technology for the delivery of video programming to
consumers. As of June 1999, 82 percent of all subscribers to multichannel
video program distributor (MVPD) services received their programming from a
local franchised cable operator, compared to 85 percent a year earlier.
The link below includes major findings, links to Commissioners' statements
and a link to the actual report.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/News_Releases/2000/nrcb0003.html)
DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKETS
Issue: International
As part of its ongoing effort to promote competition and liberalization in
the international telecommunications services market, the Commission today
issued its Report on International Telecommunications Markets for 1999
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/Reports/tmreport.pdf). The report,
which tracks several trends in international telecommunications markets
since the signing of the historic World Trade Organization Agreement on
Basic Telecommunications (WTO Agreement), is prepared annually at the
request of Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC). The first such report was
issued on December 7, 1998.
Some of the developments highlighted in the report include: 1) Rates paid by
U.S. consumers for international service to most foreign destinations have
declined significantly since the WTO Agreement came into effect. 2) With the
surge in competition since the WTO, non-incumbent multinational carriers are
making inroads into the global telecom marketplace. 3) the top ten markets
measured by the number of telephone lines, the number of new entrants
increased from 1998 to 1999 in all ten markets except for one, which
remained unchanged. 4) The satellite services sector of the
telecommunications market is growing rapidly and continues to diversify its
service offerings.
Much more at the URL below. International Bureau Contact: Justin Connor at
(202) 418-1476.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/News_Releases/2000/nrin0001.html)
BIG FIRMS RUSH TO DOMINATE THE LATIN BROADBAND MARKET
Issue: Broadband
A dozen telecommunications firms, including such giants as AT&T and Spain's
Telefonica SA, are racing to build or buy broadband line that will carry
data to and throughout Latin America. From former state monopolies such as
Telefonos de Mexico SA to US-based start-ups, companies are racing to lay
fiber-optic cables and build wireless transmission towers in pursuit of
corporate clients eager to bypass local land-line networks. "Providing
Internet infrastructure will allow users to obtain the products and services
that they know about now but haven't yet been able to get," says David
Rutchik, head of corporate development for Diginet Americas, a private
broadband company. While the big incumbent have a natural advantage, some
new entrants have gained ground buying the operating rights for high-speed
lines.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A16), AUTHOR: Pamela Druckerman]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB948236838661699250.htm)
ANTITRUST
MICROSOFT CHALLENGES ANTITRUST ARGUMENTS
Issue: Antitrust
Microsoft Corp. argued yesterday that the antitrust case against it is
fatally undermined by both legal precedent and the realities of the
ever-shifting technology market. In a 70-page brief, Microsoft took issue
with Judge Jackson's findings of fact, claiming that contrary to enjoying
monopoly power, Microsoft actually faces serious threats from such rivals as
Apple Computer and the Unix and Linux operating systems. Microsoft also
stated that the Justice Department's case was bereft of compelling evidence
and riddled with flimsy logic. In its brief, Microsoft lifted favorable
sentiments from Jackson's findings such as, "Microsoft did not actually
prevent users from obtaining and using" the Netscape browser, while leaving
out the unfavorable next few words, "although they tried to do as much in
1995." The Justice Department said that Microsoft's filing, "ignores the
court's findings of fact and distorts key legal precedents."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: David Segal]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/A61722-2000Jan18.html)
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