Microsoft Ruling
WSJ: Microsoft Is Dealt a Blow on Internet Plans
WP: Microsoft Told to Suspend Software Link
NYT: Judge's Ruling Is a Setback For Microsoft
WP: Microsoft's Competitors Cheer Move to a 'Level Playing Field'
Competition
TelecomAM: Kennard Says Local Markets Aren't Open Yet, Will Work With Bells
FCC: Common Sense
Telephone
TelecomAM: MCI Corrects ALA Access Charge Claims
TelecomAM: AT&T Reportedly In Merger Talks With CLEC Titan Teleport
TelecomAM: DOJ Recommends FCC Deny BellSouth's LD Bid In Louisiana
Mass Media
WSJ: TV Networks Rush to Splurge On NFL Deals
WSJ: In Boom, Magazines Vie for Top of Heap
EdTech
NYT: Computer Problems Cancel Graduate Tests
International
WSJ: Murdoch Builds a Beachhead in China
NYT: Israeli Companies Show Up In Force at Internet World
FCC
TelecomAM: US West Says Hatfield's Appointment Is Conflict Of Interest
FCC: Biennial Review Public Forum to be Carried Live on the Internet
** Microsoft Ruling **
Title: Microsoft Is Dealt a Blow on Internet Plans
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke & Don Clark
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered Microsoft to stop
bundling its Internet software with its widely used Windows operating
system. The order bars the software giant from requiring personal computer
makers that license its operating system to also accept its World Wide Web
software. The judge didn't find Microsoft in contempt of a 1995 consent
decree. Gov't officials hailed the decision as a victory for consumers,
nonetheless. Joel Klein, assistant attorney general for antitrust said, "The
important thing is that starting tomorrow, choice will be restored to the
market."
Title: Microsoft Told to Suspend Software Link
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/12/138l-121297-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: A federal judge has told Microsoft that it cannot force
personal computer manufacturers to distribute Microsoft Explorer until a
court-appointed official has fully examined the practice. The ruling is a
temporary victory for the Justice Department which said that if Microsoft
were allowed to use its control over the operating system software market to
gain dominance in the browser software market, the software giant would be
able to control Internet commerce and content. The judge wrote: "The
probability that Microsoft will not continue to reinforce its operating
system monopoly by its licensing practices, but might also acquire yet
another monopoly in the Internet browser market, is simply too great to
tolerate indefinitely until the issue is finally resolved. Those practices
should be abated until it is conclusively established that they are benign."
[Mr. Bill action figures still sold separately -- large supply available]
Title: Judge's Ruling Is a Setback For Microsoft
Source: New York Times (C1,C6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121297microsoft.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Technology Regulation
Description: Yesterday, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of U.S. District
Court in Washington, ruled that the Microsoft Corp. must separate its
Internet browser software from its dominating Windows 95 operating system.
This ruling was issued in response to a suit filed by the Justice Department
in October saying that Microsoft had violated a 1995 antitrust settlement.
Judge Jackson denied the Justice Dept.'s request to fine Microsoft $1
million a day until the company changed its policy, calling the terms of the
initial '95 settlement "ambiguous."
Title: Microsoft's Competitors Cheer Move to a 'Level Playing Field'
Source: Washington Post (G1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/12/061l-121297-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: "We think this will stimulate a new round of competition," says
a marketing executive at Netscape. But the most important reaction will come
from Microsoft after yesterday's ruling in federal court. "The problem," one
computer executive said recently, "is that Microsoft is more powerful than
the government." Officially, Microsoft is saying that the ruling affirms
several of the company's points by calling for several months of legal
discovery and by appointing an expert to oversee the case.
** Competition **
Title: Kennard Says Local Markets Aren't Open Yet, Will Work With Bells
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 12, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: FCC Chairman William Kennard told a conference that there
are "two glaring ways" in which American aren't benefiting from competition
in the telecom industry: 1) in the local residential market and 2) in being
able to choose a Bell company as an in-region long distance provider. Kennard
acknowledged that carriers have rights when it comes to making rules
governing opening local markets, but the FCC must ultimately consider the
rights of the consumer who should have the right to choose from among many
providers for local and long distance service. He also said that customers
should have the right to move from one carrier to another without having to
dial extra numbers, change phone numbers, or pay excessive fees. Carrier
rights derive from consumer rights, he said.
Title: Common Sense
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek702.html
Author: Chairman William Kennard
Issue: Competition
Description: "A couple of weeks ago, in my first speech to the NARUC Annual
Convention, I talked about the three principles I hope will guide me during
my tenure as Chairman of the FCC: competition, community, and common sense.
Today I'd like to expand a bit on the first of these principles --
competition, with a healthy dose of common sense....There have always been
those who have said that you can't have competition and universal service.
That's simply wrong. Quite to the contrary, we can have competition and
universal service. And we will."
** Telephone **
Title: MCI Corrects ALA Access Charge Claims
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 12, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: An MCI spokeswoman said that the American Library Assoc. sent
an inaccurate notice to its members on universal service that said AT&T and
MCI have refused to pass on access charge savings and now plans to add a new
line item to customer bills to cover schools's and libraries' universal
service costs. The spokeswoman said that the association's claim that MCI and
AT&T hadn't reduced consumer rates to reflect lower access fees is wrong.
Title: AT&T Reportedly In Merger Talks With CLEC Titan Teleport
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 12, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Merger
Description: There are industry rumors that AT&T is in merger talks with
the Teleport Communications Group, even though AT&T's interest in the U.S.
local service market is no secret. CNBC speculated that an AT&T/Teleport
merger would be worth about $10 billion.
Title: DOJ Recommends FCC Deny BellSouth's LD Bid In Louisiana
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 11, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: The Justice Dept. recommended that the FCC deny BellSouth's
bid for in-region long distance in Louisiana. The Dept. said the company
failed to correct many problems found in its earlier Section 271 application
for South Carolina. It said BellSouth still is unable to show it provides
competitive pricing, nondiscriminatory access to unbundled network elements,
operations support systems, and adequate wholesale service measuring and
reporting. BellSouth said it was "extremely disappointed" with the
recommendation and criticized DOJ for "continuing to cling to
bureaucratically clouded focus on minutiae."
** Mass Media **
Title: TV Networks Rush to Splurge On NFL Deals
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Stefan Fatsis and Kyle Pope
Issue: Television Economics
Description: The TV networks are scrambling for the rights to the NFL.
The rights are likely to be carved up among the five broadcast and cable
networks, including incumbents ABC, NBC, Fox, Turner, and ESPN. The rights
deal could pull in $7 billion. The reason for this scramble for NFL's rights
is that big-time sports are the last bastion of a guaranteed mass audience,
particularly the young males advertisers want to reach.
Title: In Boom, Magazines Vie for Top of Heap
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Patrick M. Reilly
Issue: Magazines
Description: As magazine publishers toast the best year in more than a
decade, the real celebration is about advertising pages, possibly the most
crucial barometer of magazine health. According to the Magazine Publishers
of America, there will be an even higher full-year tally when ad pages from
weekly magazines are counted along with the 160 monthly mags.
** EdTech **
Title: Computer Problems Cancel Graduate Tests
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121297testing.html
Author: Associated Press
Issue: EdTech
Description: The first major admissions test to be given only by computer
was postponed yesterday due to glitches in the system. The test, for
would-be MBA's, went all-computer on October 11th, with other major tests
expected to go all-computer in the coming years. One benefit of the switch
is that it allows people to schedule graduate admissions test at a variety
of locations three weeks each month instead of taking it at fixed locations
only four times a year. Some critics say the initial foul-up was expected
because test-coaching companies were rushing to get the test out. The
council that experienced yesterday's forced cancellation said they would
expand hours, open Sunday and open additional spaces so test-takers can
quickly re-schedule.
** International **
Title: Murdoch Builds a Beachhead in China
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Fara Warner
Issue: International
Description: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is slowly working its way back
in favor with China through a satellite-TV venture called "Phoenix", which
is partly owned by News Corp. To get back in China's good graces, News Corp.
had to change its rhetoric and adopt an uncharacteristically low profile.
Gary Davey, chief exec of News Corp.'s Hong Kong-based Star TV unit, said,
"There's no use bullying your way into a deal, and that's taken us a long
time to figure out." The centerpiece of News Corp.'s strategy with Phoenix
is a 24-hour satellite-TV channel aimed at China that is 45%-owned by Star.
Title: Israeli Companies Show Up In Force at Internet World
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121297israel.html
Author: Frances Katz
Issue: International
Description: In an effort to display Israel's Internet muscle, 36 Israeli
companies were represented this week at the Fall Internet World conference
in New York. After the United States, Israel is the world's largest
developer of Internet products. The country's Internet developers have
attracted some of the U.S.'s top venture capitalists, including Ronald
Lauder and John Scully, the former Apple executive. "What I found in Israel
were companies poised to look toward the global marketplace," Scully said on
Wednesday at a presentation showcasing four emerging Israeli firms. Elon
Ganor, chief executive of Vocaltec, a successful Israel-based company, said,
"Our goal is to conquer the highest peak - the American market. We want to
fulfill the American Dream in the global village."
** FCC **
Title: US West Says Hatfield's Appointment Is Conflict Of Interest
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 12, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: FCC
Description: U S West said that the appointment of Dale Hatfield as the
FCC's chief technologist in the Office of Plans and Policy is a "serious
conflict of interest." It said that Hatfield has "made a business out of
attacking incumbent local exchange companies" and should excuse himself from
any Commission decision involving his cost-study model for calculating
federal universal support. The model "seriously understates costs and
disadvantages incumbent providers," U S West said.
Title: Biennial Review Public Forum to be Carried Live on the Internet
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1997/nrcc7081.html
Issue: Regulation
Description: Yes, this could be the national shared experience that makes
the Internet "the" mass medium. "The December 17, 1997 public forum
addressing the biennial review of common carrier regulations will be carried
live, from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., on the Internet. Internet users may
listen to the real-time audio feed of the public forum by accessing the FCC
Internet Audio Broadcast Home Page http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/."
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