Microspin
WP: The Milking of Microsoft
WP: Microsoft to Appeal Court's Injunction
WSJ: Microsoft Vows To Appeal To 'Bundling'
Internet & Online Services
WP: Only Microsoft Has Key to AOL's New Mailbox
NYT: FTC Says Many Internet Sites Violate Children's Privacy
NYT: Vietnam Permits
TelecomAM: UK School First To use New European Power-line Carrier To
Access Internet
Telecom Regulation
TelecomAM: Oregon County & Ally Ask FCC to Void PUC Certification
Ruling as Anticompetitive
TelecomAM: Keep America Connected Says Access Reductions would be Premature
TelecomAM: Washington UTC To Seek Disaggregated Federal Universal Service
Support
TelecomAM: Irving Challenges Telecom Industry To Get Beyond Legal Battles
InfoTech
NYT: The Computer Mouse: Where Art and Science Meet
WSJ: Intel, Sun Are Ready to Unveil Alliance Centered on
Coming Merced Microchip
WSJ: TCI Uses Hi-Tech 'Layer Cake' to Ward Off Microsoft
Media & Politics
WP: State-Paid Air Time Gives Political Lift to Glendening
** Microspin **
Title: The Milking of Microsoft
Source: Washington Post (A27)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/16/016l-121697-idx.html
Author: James Glassman
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The problem with Microsoft, Glassman's editorial claims, is
that it hasn't invested enough in wealth protection. The company's market
value is $162 billion, but it only has four people in its Washington
government affairs office. Of the antitrust case Glassman writes: "...merit
isn't really the point, nor is the quality of the software. The point is
that Microsoft has underestimated Washington. And companies that do that can
see tens of billions of dollars disappear into thin air." [Yeah, its tough
to scrounge by on $152 billion these days]
Title: Microsoft to Appeal Court's Injunction
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/16/117l-121697-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft will appeal Judge Jackson's ruling contending he
overstepped his legal authority. During the appeal, the company will comply
with the injunction and offer PC manufacturers two different, stripped-down
versions of Windows 95: one is inoperable and the other lacks functions
offered in current versions of the operating software. The Justice
Department is charging that Microsoft is flouting the order.
Title: Microsoft Vows To Appeal To 'Bundling'
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Don Clark
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft said it would appeal the court order preventing
them from compelling PC makers to install Microsoft's browser software along
with its operating systems. They said they would comply with the injunction
while the appeal is pending, but its plans for giving PC makers a way to
separate the two products drew immediate fire from the Department of
Justice. Microsoft said
it would simply give PC makers a choice of deleting the browser files -- an
act they contend will make the system fail to work properly -- or using the 95
version of the operating system. The DOJ said, "The policy Microsoft has
announced does not comply with the judge's order." The agency is considering
going back to court to force Microsoft to comply.
** Internet & Online Services **
Title: Only Microsoft Has Key to AOL's New Mailbox
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/16/110l-121697-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Online services
Description: "AOL Anywhere," a service that is supposed to allow America
Online subscribers to check their email from anywhere on the Internet, only
works with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. AOL says it will take a
few months to develop a version that works with Netscape's Navigator browser
as well. Users who try to see their email in Netscape will be pointed to a
location to download Explorer for free -- but it takes as long as four hours
over a standard phone line. [Back to you, Mr. Glassman]
Title: FTC Says Many Internet Sites Violate Children's Privacy
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121697children.html
Author: Associated Press
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The Federal Trade Commission conducted a survey of 126 Web
sites this past October titled "Kids Privacy Surf Day." The FTC found that
86 percent of the sites were collecting names, email & postal addresses and
phone numbers, but fewer than 30 percent posted a privacy policy or
confidentiality statement and only 4 percent required parental authorization
before collecting the information. The sites the FTC visited were listed by
"Yahooligans!," a popular directory of child-oriented Internet locations.
While the FTC has not issued any regulations on advertising for children via
the Internet and other online services, it has released an "opinion letter"
stating that "the agencies jurisdiction over deceptive market practices
extends to the international computer network." "Any company that engages
in deceptive or unfair practices involving children violates the FTC Act,"
Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, said
Monday. "The FTC can bring legal action to halt such violations and seek an
order imposing restrictions on future practices to ensure compliance with
the FTC Act."
Title: Vietnam Permits
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121397vietnam.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: International
Description: Starting this month, four government-controlled companies will
be permitted to provide Internet access to citizens of Vietnam. However,
this new freedom comes with restrictions attached. Surfers will only be
allowed to visit culturally acceptable sites -- no pornography,
no anti-government sentiment, no Web pages likely to "incite violence,"
"undermine national unity" or "sow hatred." As many areas of technology are
seen as essential for the promotion of economic growth, Vietnam is facing
the dilemma of how to reconcile political rigidity with economic
flexibility. William Turlety, a specialist in Southeast Asia politics at
Southern Illinois University said that it isn't clear to him how the
Vietnamese government plans to regulate the Internet but speculates that it
is better than the government attempting to ban access altogether.
Government officials said that they will force Internet providers to keep
the Interior Minister informed of what sites individuals access.
Title: UK School First To use New European Power-line Carrier To Access
Internet
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 16, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: EdTech/Infrastructure
Description: An elementary school in Manchester, England, has become the
world's first public user of a new power-line carrier technology for
Internet access developed jointly by Northern Telecom and the Norweb
Communications unit of British electric utility giant United Utilities. The
technology can allow utilities to deliver Internet access at speeds up to 1
megabit per second. The system has drawn interest form 150 electric
utilities around the globe, but major engineering differences between U.S.
and overseas electric utilities make the technology an uneconomic
proposition for the U.S. Developers say they are already working to
adapt their power-line carrier to U.S. electric systems.
** Telecom Regulation **
Title: Oregon County & Ally Ask FCC to Void PUC Certification Ruling as
Anticompetitive
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 16, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition/Role of Local Government
Description: An Oregon coastal county and a regional development group
have asked the FCC to preempt a certification decision of the Oregon Public
Utility Commission that they say has stopped their plan to provide
competitive telecommunications services in order to stimulate general
economic development in the county. In a joint filing, the Lincoln County
gov't and the Lincoln County Alliance for Economic Development have asked
the FCC to declare that the PUC has imposed a telecom certification
requirement that creates a legal barrier to telecom competition. Lincoln
County and the alliance said their project depends on leasing excess dark
fiber capacity on a local electric utility's internal telecom network for
resale to businesses seeking high speed data transmission services.
Title: Keep America Connected Says Access Reductions would be Premature
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 16, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telephone Rates
Description: Calls for new reductions in access charges are premature,
according to "Keep America Connected", because consumers are still waiting
for the benefits of cuts made in July. KAC Director Angela Ledford said
while some long distance companies lowered their basic rates, "these
reductions were offset by changes in calling periods, hikes in calling card
fees, longer daytime, high-cost calling periods, and higher per-minute rates
in the new calling plans introduced."
Title: Washington UTC To Seek Disaggregated Federal Universal Service
Support
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 16, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service/Competition
Description: The Wash. Utilities and Transportation Commission has
designated all 23 incumbent telcos and one cellular company as eligible
telecommunications carriers that qualify to receive federal universal
service support under the new program that takes effect in 1998, and
launched a program it hopes will lead to FCC approval of disaggregated rural
universal service coverage areas to facilitate local exchange competition.
Title: Irving Challenges Telecom Industry To Get Beyond Legal Battles
Source: Telecom AM---Dec. 16, 1997
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telecommunications
Description: NTIA Director Larry Irving said that the U.S. telecom
industry risks losing its global advantage and public confidence if
competitors continue with "picayune" arguments in court. He also said that
he was optimistic that companies will seize opportunities to connect
communities and schools and pursue electronic commerce rather than battling.
Irving said that the NTIA will focus on 3 goals: 1) Moving toward a
pro-competitive market; 2) Establishing a Universal Service Fund that
produces reasonable rates, especially for rural areas; and 3) Adopting
Operational Support Systems that allow companies to interconnect. He said,
"This game is a lot bigger than just a lawyers' game." [See full speech at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/121297pli.htm]
** InfoTech **
Title: The Computer Mouse: Where Art and Science Meet
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121397design.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: InfoTechnology
Description: Steven Johnson, editor and co-founder of the online magazine
Feed and a member of a new generation of cyberphilosophers, contends that
"the metaphors that help us make sense of the zeros and ones behind the
computer screen are becoming 'as complex and vital as the novel or the
cathedral or the cinema.'" He argues that representations of the cyberworld
help to shape the relationship between people and their digital data much in
the same way that metropolitan narratives, like Dickens' "Great
Expectations," interpreted the changing relations of class and geography
during the Industrial Revolution. Specifically, Johnson is referring to
"interface" - the mingling of mind and machine. Those who study
technologies cultural influence have already found that dominant interfaces
like "windows" or the mouse are affecting the social psyche. In the
tradition of Marshall McLuhan, Johnson and others feel that if we "fail to
critique this mushrooming art form, we may miss the chance to shape its
evolution, a process that will in turn shape the way we think and create and
interact within it."
Title: Intel, Sun Are Ready to Unveil Alliance Centered on Coming Merced
Microchip
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Dean Takahashi
Issue: Merger
Description: Intel and Sun Microsystems are expected to announce a broad
technology alliance centered on Intel's forthcoming Merced microprocessor
chip. The agreement includes a patent cross-license that will allow the two
companies to share semiconductor, computer system and software technologies.
Sun is also expected to adapt its version of Unix, called Solaris, to run on
Intel's Merced chip.
Title: TCI Uses Hi-Tech 'Layer Cake' to Ward Off Microsoft
Source: Wall Street Journal (B4)
http://wsj.com/
Author: David Bank
Issue: Set-Top Boxes
Description: TCI has been approaching negotiations with Microsoft as if
it were about to mate with a black widow spider. The cable industry wants
Microsoft's technical prowess, and cash, but is wary of unwittingly ceding
control of the industry's future by giving the software giant too large a
role in setting standards for the "network computer" cable execs want to
deliver a slew of interactive services over cable systems. The goal of the
ongoing negotiations is to create an ultimate set-top box that can
facilitate many
different businesses including additional digital TV, interactive
TV, and high-speed Internet access.
** Media & Politics **
Title: State-Paid Air Time Gives Political Lift to Glendening
Source: Washington Post (C1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/16/081l-121697-idx.html
Author: Charles Babington
Issue: Media & Politics
Description: As a potentially tough campaign approaches for Maryland
Governor Paris Glendening, he is taking advantage of incumbency by leading
his face and voice to state-produced television and radio commercials.
"Glendening aides say the television exposure has nothing to do with
election campaigns. Rather, the governor realizes that it's important for a
chief executive to welcome travelers to a state, reassure consumers about
food safety and encourage parents to read to their children." [Sorry, all
the swampland has already been sold in Maryland]
*********
The Benton Foundation's Headlines team has once again volunteered as back-up
elves at Macy's for the following dates and, therefore, will be unable to
provide you, our dedicated readers, with the headline service from
December 24 to January 2. Headlines will resume on Monday, January 5. We wish
everyone communications-filled holidays!