ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
White House Unveils E-Commerce Plans (CyberTimes)
Catalogue Companies Slow to Set Up Shop Online (CyberTimes)
EDTECH
Textbooks Shifting From Printed Page to Screen (NYT)
ARTS
Artistic Legacy of AIDS, Online (NYT)
MERGERS
SBC Discloses Merger Strategy For Ameritech Deal
EchoStar to Boost Its TV Satellite Capacity (WP)
Antennae Attract Viewers to Satellite TV (WSJ)
ANTITRUST
Microsoft Defense Strategy Starts to Come Into Focus (NYT)
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ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
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WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS E-COMMERCE PLANS
Issue: Electronic Commerce
The Clinton Administration released on Nov 30 an update to the 1997
Framework for Electronic Commerce. The new report states five goals
including increasing privacy protection for online consumers. The report
stresses self-regulation as the way to reach the goals and emphasizes the
need for keeping the Internet a tax-free, market-driven network. The report
calls on the Commerce Department and the United States Trade Representative
to work with the Federal Communications Commission to pursue policies that
will increase private sector investment in high-speed network.
"We have the honor of designing the architecture for a global economic
marketplace with stable laws, strong protections for consumers, serious
incentives for competition -- a marketplace to include all people and all
nations,'' Clinton said in the White House ceremony. With the departure of
Internet adviser Ira C. Magaziner later this week, a new team will head the
continuing project; David Beier, a senior adviser to Vice President Al Gore,
will be in charge of carrying out the Administration's updated electronic
commerce agenda. Mr. Beier will be aided by Sally Katzen, deputy director of
the president's National Economic Council and Elliot Maxwell, a lawyer with
a strong telecommunications background who recently moved from the FCC to
handle Internet issues at the Commerce Department. .
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing jeri( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/cyber/articles/01magaziner.html
CLINTON LENDS SUPPORT TO E-COMMERCE
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3), AUTHOR: Associated Press]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9812010309,00.html
WEB FIRMS URGED TO SELF REGULATE
[SOURCE: Washington Post (D3), AUTHOR: Leslie Walker & Robert O'Harrow]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-12/01/081l-120198-idx.html
CATALOGUE COMPANIES SLOW TO SET UP SHOP ONLINE
Issue: Electronic Commerce
W.A. Dean & Associates, a catalogue industry consulting company based in San
Francisco, estimates that only 50% of catalogue companies have electronic
commerce websites. Some think that estimate is too high. Instead of being at
the forefront of the electronic commerce movement, catalogue companies seem
to be hanging back. "One of the reasons is a somewhat self-absorbed naivete
about doing business on the Web, and a real strong belief that it wouldn't
work," said Deborah Lee Marlow, founder of Catalog Finder, a Web site that
aggregates and provides links to roughly 15,000 catalogues online. Most of
the sites, she said, "are not e-commerce enabled." These companies are used
to planning a next catalogue nine months in advance and are hesitant to jump
on the Web because of the speed of its changes. Others are intimidated by
the costs -- estimated at $200k-$500k to set up and $40k/month to maintain.
"Catalogues really do risk losing share to Internet retailers if they wait,"
said Jill Frankle, Internet commerce analyst for International Data Corp., a
market research company based in Framingham, Mass. "Instead of fearing it,
they should look to it because of the enormous value added in the long run."
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi
tedeschi( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/cyber/commerce/01commerce.html
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EDTECH
======
TEXTBOOKS SHIFTING FROM PRINTED PAGE TO SCREEN
Issue: Books
One day you'll be "telling your grandchildren about this thing you once had
called a book, "says Ira Fuchs, vice president for computing and information
technology at Princeton University. Some university students are already
using textbooks that only appear online. Online texts have the advantage of
being easier and less expensive to update. There are even schools and
colleges that are experimenting with electronic books, on which texts can be
downloaded from the Internet. One can expect these devises to become more
common as they improve in quality and drop in price.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Ethan Bronner]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/biztech/articles/01school-etex...
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ARTS
====
ARTISTIC LEGACY OF AIDS, ONLINE
Issue: Art
Today marks the premiere of the Virtual Collection www.artistswithaids.org,
an online collection of works by artists who are infected with HIV or have
AIDS. The opening of the Virtual Collection coincides with World AIDS Day
and will be commemorated by ceremonies in five museums across the country,
including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Creators of the exhibit say that
it is intended serve as a historical record of the AIDS epidemic. The
virtual gallery also gives artists an opportunity to reach a much larger
audience that they could otherwise. "This gives incredible access to these
works," said Barbara Hunt, the director of Visual AIDS, an advocacy group in
Manhattan "It brings together archives from around the country."
[SOURCE: New York Times (B1), AUTHOR: Edward Lewine]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/biztech/articles/01aids-web.html
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MERGERS
=======
SBC DISCLOSES MERGER STRATEGY FOR AMERITECH DEAL
Issue: Telephone
SBC Communications Inc. describes a purpose of its proposed $56 billion
merger with Ameritech Corp. as providing an opportunity to pursue a
"national-local" strategy. SBC is planning local telephone service in 30
markets outside the regions the two companies currently serve. The company
says it
needs Ameritech to help deploy the human resources (workers and managers)
needed for such an expansion. A spokesman for Chicago-based Ameritech said,
"Neither SBC nor Ameritech could undertake the strategy." The merger will
also allow financial risk to be spread over a larger base of shareholders.
The staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission has recommended against the
merger based on the size of the new company that would be created. The new
company would be spread over 13 states and would control about 1/3 of the
nation's local access lines.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: Stephanie H. Mehta]
http://www.wsj.com/
ECHOSTAR TO BOOST ITS TV SATELLITE CAPACITY
Issue: Satellite TV
In a stock deal News Corporation and MCI WorldCom have agreed to sell their
satellite TV assets to Echostar Communications Corp., one of four U.S.
Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) companies. The joint venture between News
Corp. and MCI was created to put them into the satellite TV business in the
United States. Their American Sky Broadcasting purchased a prime satellite
slot for $682.5 million but was never able to use it. The deal announced
Monday is valued at more than $1 billion and will give News Corporation a
30% stake and MCI WorldCom a 7% stake in Echostar. News Corp. tried to make
a deal with Echostar once before but it fell apart and ended with Echostar
suing News Corp. News Corp. tried to make a deal with another DBS company
but the Justice Department blocked it. Echostar has agreed to drop the suit
upon the completion of the deal. As part of the deal Echostar will receive
two satellites which are still on the ground and a satellite uplink center
in Arizona.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (D1), AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/washtech/daily/dec98/echostar120198...
ECHOSTAR TO BUY SATELLITE-TV ASSETS OF NEWS CORP., MCI
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
http://www.wsj.com/
NEWS CORPORATION PLANS TO SELL 2 SATELLITES TO UNLIKELY BUYER
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/echostar-newscorp.html
ANTENNAE ATTRACT VIEWERS TO SATELLITE TV
Issue: Satellite TV
Congress seemingly closed the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) companies
from carrying local TV signals by requiring them under most circumstances to
carry all local signals nationally if they were going to carry any. The
inability to carry local signals has slowed DBS incursion into the
television industry since both over-the-air and cable sources carry local
channels. One of the new marketing efforts of the DBS companies is adding a
separate advanced antenna to their satellite package with easy switching
between the antenna and the satellite receiver. (The stainless steel
antennas are shaped like arrows and are about half the length of a
yardstick, much smaller than traditional antennae.) Bell Atlantic, GTE and
other regional phone companies have been enlisted by two of the DBS
companies to sell their services. These marketing efforts are working. The
combined subscriber base of the four DBS companies will jump this year by
30% to about nine million households. Similar gains are expected next year.
Users suggest their price packages are equal to or less than the price of
cable.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley & Frederic M. Biddle]
http://www.wsj.com/
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ANTITRUST
=========
MICROSOFT DEFENSE STRATEGY STARTS TO COME INTO FOCUS
Issue: Antitrust
In the fourth day of questioning for economist Frederick Warren-Boulton,
Microsoft's lawyers continued their vigilant attempt to poke holes in the
government's case. Warren-Boulton would not back down from his assertion
that Microsoft had exercised monopoly power in the software market. In
responding to one question he said, "Microsoft cannot point a gun to
people's heads, but they can make them an offer they can't refuse."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr and Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/biztech/articles/01soft.html
See also:
BACK TO BATTLE STATIONS AT THE MICROSOFT TRIAL
[SOURCE: Washington Post (D2), AUTHOR: Rajiv Chandrasekaran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-12/01/079l-120198-idx.html
MICROSOFT TO FACE TOUGH CLAIMS OF UNFAIR TACTICS AGAINST JAVA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: John Wilke and David Bank]
http://www.wsj.com/
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