TELEPHONE
FCC to Adopt Rules on Slamming (WP)
1998 Common Carrier Scorecard Annual Report (FCC)
INFOTECH
Virtual Assistants, With Personality (NYT)
INTERNET
Prime Time on the Web (WP)
CABLE
Discovery Communications to Spend $300 Million to Launch Health
Network (WSJ)
ANTITRUST
For Microsoft, Growing Sense Of Isolation On Browsers (NYT)
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TELEPHONE
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FCC TO ADOPT RULES ON SLAMMING
Issue: Telephony
Today, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on the adoption of
new rules intended to curb the growing practice of "slamming", which is when
a customers' long distance carrier is changed with out their permission. The
new regulations would absolve consumers from paying for the first month's
bill from a company to which they had been illegally changed. The commission
also plans to require long distance companies to use more stringent
verification procedures when switching customers to their plan. The number
of slamming complaints to the FCC have risen over 50% in one year alone,
resulting in pressure from both congress and consumer groups to adopt
measures to discourage the practice. "This is the first time that the
consumer is treated as a victim and that's good news," said Sam Simon,
chairman of the nonprofit Telecommunications Research and Action Center.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (B7), AUTHOR: Carloline Mayer]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-12/17/178l-121798-idx.html
1998 COMMON CARRIER SCORECARD ANNUAL REPORT
Issue: Telephone
"The Common Carrier Bureau's Enforcement and Industry Analysis Divisions are
proud to make the November 1998 edition of the Scorecard available to the
public via the FCC World Wide Web site on the Internet." A related report --
The December 1998 FCC Telephone Consumer Complaint Scorecard -- is also
available at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/tccsc98.zip
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/score_card_98.html
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INFOTECH
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VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS, WITH PERSONALITY
Issue: InfoTech
A look at the efficiency and frustrations of using the computer-generated
administrative assistants offered by Portico, Wildfire and Webley. Using
speech recognition, these services manage telephone, e-mail and fax
communications for busy people. But since the systems only recognize preset
phrases, they can be maddeningly literal and impenetrable. And as two
professors who helped create Portico point out, humans do not distinguish
between communicating with a live person or an electronic creation which
means their reactions to th computer may be even worse than their dealing
with a underachieving live assistant.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Circuits/D1), AUTHOR: Deborah Claymon]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/circuits/articles/17voic.html
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INTERNET
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PRIME TIME ON THE WEB
Issue: Internet
Will "portals" be to the Internet what networks are to television? Some
people say that they already are. Internet portals - such as Yahoo, Lycos,
and America Online - all provide "programming", and fight for both
advertisers and audiences. These online networks are rapidly buying
independent sites and services, and linking them together so that people
will never need to leave one they have entered through the portal's front
doors. More and more, it appears that the Internet's market power is being
consolidated into the hands of a few powerful players. Perhaps, though, the
Internet is more like cable than television - meaning there is room for more
than just three big winners.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (B1), AUTHOR: Leslie Walker]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-12/17/186l-121798-idx.html
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CABLE
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DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS TO SPEND $300 MILLION TO LAUNCH HEALTH NETWORK
Issue: Cable/Health
The cable giant, Discovery Communications, has plans to create a new cable
network devoted to health and fitness. Discovery, which is owned in part by
TCI, is hoping to take advantage of the growing market for consumer medical
information by launching a channel dedicated to topics of health and
well-being. The new network will also include interactive Internet tie-ins.
TCI will carry the new channel on its analog tier, but it might be more
difficult to gain carriage on other crowded cable operating systems. Many of
which are relegating new networks to their digital tiers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
http://www.wsj.com/
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ANTITRUST
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FOR MICROSOFT, GROWING SENSE OF ISOLATION ON BROWSERS
Issue: Antitrust
Testimony in the ongoing (and going and going) Microsoft trial revealed that
companies that develop operating systems are including Internet software,
but only Microsoft tied the two together in a way that prevents them from
being separated. "Everyone who testified said consumers want to be able to
choose which Web browser they use, or maybe to have no Web browser at all,"
said David Boies, the Government's lead trial lawyer. Microsoft did not
dispute the fact that no one else integrated a Web browser with an operating
system. "But from a legal standpoint, that's irrelevant," said a spokesman,
Mark Murray. "The Government does not have the right to dictate how we
design our products." The trial will soon break for the holidays.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/biztech/articles/17soft.html
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