Television
B&C: FCC wants to link digital fees to revenue
B&C: Mixed feelings over MSTV's DTV plan
B&C: McCain wants FCC review of crossownership
B&C: King of the Hill
Microsoft
WSJ: Judge Tells Justice Agency, Microsoft To Argue Contempt
Request on Jan. 13
WP: Microsoft's Response
Arts
WP: Merit, Money And Art
EdTech
NYT: When Public Needs Meet Private Money
NYT: Private Report Maps Out Growth In Electronic Teaching Aids
NYT: The Virtue of Addictive Games
Internet & Online Services
WSJ: Private WebSites Keep Out Those Who Don't Belong
NYT: Seminars Pitch the Net to a Mature Audience
WP: How to Choose an Internet Provider
Cable
NYT: Silicon Valley Courts Cable TV
B&C: Cable courting consumer firms to make set-tops
B&C: Commission gets tough on access
B&C: FCC threatens action on cable rates
B&C: FCC charts rise in cable rates
B&C: Markey seeks later sunset for cable
B&C: NCTA defends hike with study
FCC: Competition in the Multichannel Video Industry
InfoTech
NYT: Many Have Seen the Hand of God in Technology
NYT: Test Marketers Use Virtual Shopping to Gauge Potential of
Real Products
Radio
WSJ: FCC Is Sharply Rebuked On Radio-Station Ruling
** Digital TV **
Title: FCC wants to link digital fees to revenue
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.12)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: The FCC proposed tying digital TV fees to the revenue that
stations would gather from any subscription services. The Telecom Act
requires the commission to collect fees for any pay services broadcasters
offer over their digital TV spectrum. The law calls for the fees to be based
on the amount that the spectrum would have gotten at an auction. The proposal
included three options for the fee program. 1) Base the fees on a percentage
of gross subscription revenue; 2) base the fees on a percentage of
subscription profits; 3) base the fees on a combination of a flat rate and a
percentage of revenue. Commissioner Susan Ness said of the DTV program, "It
has to be simple to apply and simple to enforce." [For more info see
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/1997/nrmm7021.html]
Title: Mixed feelings over MSTV's DTV plan
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.12)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Last month, the Assoc. for Maximum Service Television (MSTV)
and other broadcasters proposed 357 changes to reduce interference among
digital TV stations, but stations are divided over the changes and even
aspects of the proposal itself. Granite Broadcasting was supportive of the
MSTV plan, saying that the plan "would eliminate interference problems
expected for many individual stations." In a joint filing, CBS and NBC said
only that the FCC "should seriously consider" the proposed revisions.
Title: McCain wants FCC review of crossownership
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.15)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Ownership
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ)
wants the FCC to take another look at its plans for reviewing the
newspaper/broadcast crossownership rule. Earlier this month the commission
told a court it has no plans to modify the restriction against common
ownership of local newspapers and broadcast licenses before March 22. But
they are revisiting its broadcast rules as part of a broad review of all FCC
regulations. Last week, McCain asked FCC Chairman Kennard to explain how the
FCC plans to
proceed with its review of the rule and asked for a response by today.
Title: King of the Hill
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.16)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Lobbying
Description: The National Assoc. of Broadcasters has emerged as one of
the toughest and most successful groups in Washington. Fortune magazine
ranked it 20th out of 120. With an annual operating budget of $31.4 million
for fiscal year 1997-98, the NAB represents the interests of more than 1,000
commercial TV stations and some 5,000 radio stations. It's the heart of a
larger broadcast lobby that includes Washington representatives of the major
networks and station groups as well as other trade associations, namely the
Association for Maximum Service Television and the Assoc. of Local
Television Stations. Sen. John McCain said, "They got between $20 billion
and $70 billion of free spectrum. Then they put a provision in the budget
act that will extend at least by 10 years their requirement to give back the
analog spectrum. Every encounter I have had with them, they have emerged
victorious."
** Microsoft **
Title: Judge Tells Justice Agency, Microsoft To Argue Contempt Request
on Jan. 13
Source: Wall Street Journal (B2)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson told Microsoft that a court
computer technician "took less than 90 seconds" to separate Microsoft's
Windows 95 and Internet products, and asked why that company can't do it as
easily. He also told Microsoft and the DOJ to appear on Jan. 13 to argue the
department's request to find Microsoft in contempt. When the court computer
technician separated the two programs, "from all appearances, Windows 95
functioned flawlessly," the judge said. Microsoft has said it could offer
only a Windows version that didn't work properly or a two-year old version.
The company is also appealing the Dec. 11 ruling, claiming he judge lacked
authority to issue the preliminary injunction and the gov't.'s action
amounts to meddling in a complex and fast-changing industry it doesn't
understand.
Title: Microsoft's Response
Source: Washington Post (A26)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/22/028l-122297-idx.html
Author: WP Editorial Staff
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft's appeal of Judge Jackson's order is OK, but their
compliance with the order in the meantime is questionable. The software
giant is giving computer manufacturers three options: 1) broken software, 2)
obsolete software, or 3) the software Microsoft wants them to install --
"which is to say that they have no real choice at all." The Department of
Justice is asking the judge to hold Microsoft in contempt -- the company
seems to have clearly thwarted the spirit and purpose of the law, if not the
letter.
** Arts **
Title: Merit, Money And Art
Source: Washington Post (A27)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/22/036l-122297-idx.html
Author: Professor David Cole, Georgetown University Law Center
Lawyer for plaintiffs in Finley v. National Endowment for the Arts
Issue: Arts
Description: Responding to Nov. 30 Post editorial which called for the NEA
to make grants by considering "general standards of decency and respect for
the diverse beliefs and values of the American public," Prof. Cole asks if
the postmaster general should consider the same in allocating second-class
mailing privileges to the press. Is there any American paper, Cole asks,
that would not argue that this would be a First Amendment issue? Couldn't
public college professors be fired or denied tenure for criticizing the
government since they are paid with taxpayer dollars? National Public Radio
could be required to air only the news that reflects well on the
Administration because of its public funding.When the NEA was created, Rep.
William Ford explained: if "we have government assistance, but not
intervention; if we have support but not control; if we stimulation but not
participation, then we shall have constructive action in the best interests
of the Nation."
** EdTech **
Title: When Public Needs Meet Private Money
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/122297calstate.html
Author: Laurie Flynn
Issue: Education Technology
Description: The California State University system is caught in a battle
over a proposal to recognize four companies as the exclusive providers of
networking, telecommunications and computer technology on their campuses.
In one of the most ambitious partnerships ever forged between public
education and the private sector, the plan, called the California Education
Technology Initiative or CETI, was proposed three months ago as a way to
provide much needed new technologies to faculty and students. The
consortium, led by GTE, includes Fujitsu, Hughes Electronics and the
Microsoft Corp. The four have offered to invest more than $300 million to
install and maintain computers and communications equipment. Since that
time students and faculty on nearly every campus have debated the plan, with
a growing number attacking the proposal as anti-competitive and a threat to
the principles of higher education. "Much more discussion needs to take
place on the ethical dilemma of a public-private partnership in education,"
said Kenneth B. Peter, chairman of the academic senate at San Jose State
Univ., which voted unanimously to oppose the current plan. "The question is
whether the values of the private sector and public education can work
together," he added. The systems board has decided to delay a vote on the
proposal until after a special hearing by the State Assembly on Jan. 6.
Title: Private Report Maps Out Growth In Electronic Teaching Aids
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/122097education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Education Technology
Description: The government's push to wire schools across the nation could
help to spur sales of educational software, online instructional material
and other electronic teaching aids for primary and secondary schools. This
conclusion is derived from a new report, Electronic Media for the School
Market 1997-98, by the education group of Cowles/Simbia Information, a
division of Cowles Business Media, based in Stamford, Conn. Patrick Quinn,
co-author of the report, said there are several forces that are driving this
projected growth. One being that the school population is growing, meaning
more customers for electronic teaching wares. Also, in a recent backlash to
skeptics questioning the educational value of technology, school officials
and teachers are placing greater demands on publishers of electronic
instructional material, attesting that they are more effective in teaching
than the more traditional classroom aids. Outside of the company making
some of their findings available to the public, the entire report is private
and available for purchase only.
Title: The Virtue of Addictive Games
Source: New York Times (D1,D14)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/122297tetris.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: EdTech
Description: At a time when sales for video and computer games are at a
peak, parents will be happy to hear that a growing number of research
suggests that these games may actually be good for young minds. Researchers
say that these games can help children develop their skills of
concentration, visualization and problem-solving, while also helping to
increase their understanding of technology. "The same skills used in
computer games are basic technology literacy skills," said Patricia M.
Greenfield, a professor of psychology at the Univ. of CA at Los Angeles.
"Those skills are extremely important in the modern world."
** Internet & Online Services **
Title: Private WebSites Keep Out Those Who Don't Belong
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Internet/Privacy
Description: The Internet is supposed to be a place where people from all
backgrounds can come together to form one community based on shared
interests and ideas. But lately, nearly a dozen groups have built private
Web sites that screen visitors, closely monitor chat rooms for offensive
behavior and send bouncers to boot out anyone who doesn't follow the rules.
The response from the 'Net community has been positive. "NetNoir" is a
private Internet community that was started to block out hateful speech. On
the Web, NetNoir can closely control its visitors, giving the boot to those
who offend its sensibilities. The success of these groups is due, in part,
to the fact that millions of people cram the 'Net everyday and this makes it
difficult to find others with similar interests. There is also the need to
block out complainers, critics, and hate-mongers who tend to be more vicious
online than in the real world.
Title: Seminars Pitch the Net to a Mature Audience
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/122197seniors.html
Author: Lisa Napoli
Issue: Seniors Online
Description: Last week, an event called "Lifetime Connections" was offered
to senior citizens in Manhattan who are curious about technology. This
event was put on by the Microsoft Corp. and the American Association for
Retired Persons, in their recently announced alliance. They will be taking
this show on the road to 50,000 people in 30 cities over the next six
months. The two hour presentations are free and advertised to the AARP
membership.
Title: How to Choose an Internet Provider
Source: Washington Post (WashBiz p.5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/22/003l-122297-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Online Services
Description: For all our readers without Internet access...oh, that would be
none of you...um, never mind. A comparison of about a dozen national and
local (DC-area) online services and Internet Service Providers: set-up fees,
monthly fees, hourly fees, and how to sign up. What's on your gift list?
** Cable **
Title: Silicon Valley Courts Cable TV
Source: New York Times (D2)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/122297box.html
Author: Peter H. Lewis
Issue: Cable
Description: This past week, several of the nation's largest cable
television companies announced plans to buy 15 million digital TV set-top
boxes from Nextlevel Systems, Inc. This move could sharply increase the use
of digital services by the TV viewing public. It also has served as the
starting block for many Silicon Valley companies that are gearing up to move
past the world of personal computers and into the land of television. The
computer industry wants to provide cable operators with the processors and
operating systems needed for these new digital boxes. "Silicon Valley will
now play a critical role in the development of what we used to call the
cable industry," predicted Gerald M. Levin, chairman of Time Warner Inc.,
which owns the nation's second-largest cable system. Leo J. Hindery Jr.,
president of Tele-Communications Inc., the nations largest cable operator,
said the industry had now set a course that would quickly intersect with
Silicon Valley. "The era of promising has passed," he said. "The world of
the future is the world of the network PC."
Title: Cable courting consumer firms to make set-tops
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.10)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Price Colman & John M. Higgins
Issue: Set-Top Boxes
Description: Cable operators know that for advanced digital cable to
become a thriving business, they have to eventually shift the cost of the
home equipment from their balance sheets to subscribers' credit cards. And
to do that, they must convince makers of TVs and VCRs to turn digital
set-tops into consumer products. TCI Chairman John Malone acknowledges that
he wants to bring in major consumer electronics players. "We need a
partner with a big, well-recognized name," says Malone who committed to buy
at least 6.5 million units.
Title: Commission gets tough on access
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.13)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Cable
Description: Responding to Ameritech's petition for stronger enforcement
of the rules restricting discriminatory pricing of cable programming, the
FCC invited comment on three suggestions posed by Ameritech New Media, plus
two more offered by the commissioners. They posed the possibility of setting
deadlines for resolving program access complaints; imposing fines and
damages for violations; entitling those filing complaints to a right of
discovery; revisiting the rules on programming purchases by cooperative
buying groups, and extending the rules to cover programming that once was
distributed by satellite but now is distributed via land lines. "We must
have clear rules that we are prepared to enforce without delay," FCC
Chairman Kennard said of the proposal. "Without access...you really can't
compete," Commissioner Susan Ness added.
Title: FCC threatens action on cable rates
Source: Broadcasting&Cable
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Cable Rates
Description: FCC Commissioners appeared to cast about on another option
to use in responding to rate hikes as they discussed the state of cable
competition at a hearing. FCC Chairman Kennard described regulation as a
last resort next
to rate freezing. He said, "Rates appear to be rising too fast...and we need
to find out why." Consumers Union's Gene Kimmelman urged the commissioners
not only to freeze rates but to review the FCC's rules on vertical and
horizontal integration as well: "It is truly an overly concentrated market."
Title: FCC charts rise in cable rates
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.14)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Cable Rates
Description: According to FCC researchers, cable rates are going up
whether the cable systems are facing competition or not. Their report said
that cable rates have jumped 8%-10% during 1996. Despite the report of rate
hikes, industry lobbyists were still quick to cite the higher rate increase
on "competitive" cable systems. Cable lawyer John Seiver says the numbers
demonstrate the programming costs that all cable systems must pay. In its
study, the FCC said both competitive and noncompetitive systems attributed
rate hikes to programming costs as well as to inflation, system upgrades and
channel additions.
Title: Markey seeks later sunset for cable
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.14)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Cable
Description: Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) last week said he will introduce
legislation that would extend cable rate regulation past its March 1999
expiration date. He wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Kennard saying that
"sound public policy should compel us to repeal consumer price protections
only when effective competition provides an alternative for consumers,
making regulator protections unnecessary." The relevant House and Senate
committees don't support Markey's measure, although they're pursuing ways to
increase competition.
Title: NCTA defends hike with study
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.27)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Cable Rates
Description: Deluged by complaints, legislative threats and FCC hearings,
the cable industry is pointing to the rising cost of sports and
entertainment to explain coming cable rate hikes. According to an NCTA
report, this upward cost trend is due in part to the changing economics of a
worldwide entertainment industry where success is measured in the hundreds
of millions of dollars. Cable operators have been blaming rate hikes in
steep programming costs. Lawmakers have questioned this arguments since the
largest cable operators own much of the programming. The NCTA has been
circulating the report at the FCC and on the Hill, to "people who care about
the economics of our business," said NCTA spokeswoman Tori Clarke.
Title: Competition in the Multichannel Video Industry
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/enbanc/121897/eb121897.html
Issue: Cable
Description: The statements of participants in the FCC's en banc hearing on
the status of competition in the multichannel video industry are available
online.
** InfoTech **
Title: Many Have Seen the Hand of God in Technology
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/techcol/122297techcol.html
Author: Edward Rothstein
Issue: Religion
Description: Technology and religion are more similar than the average joe
may think with both having their share of "cults and credos, doomsayers and
utopians, high priests and ritualistic behavior." We may ask ourselves,
hasn't science been religion's arch enemy over the years? But in a new book
by David F. Noble called "The Religion of Technology: The Divinity of Man
and the Spirit of Invention," he argues that the "technological enterprise"
has always been "an essentially religious endeavor." For example, in the
middle ages, monasteries became the center of invention as well as worship.
Monks viewed the mechanical arts not as enemies of religion but as tools to
help bring about a return to "pre-Edenic paradise." Yet after citing a
variety of connections between the two, Mr. Noble points out that under the
mantle of religion, technology has become something that is reserved for the
elect and is aimed more at transcending mortal concerns rather than
improving the condition of mortal life.
Title: Test Marketers Use Virtual Shopping to Gauge Potential of Real Products
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/122297shopping.html
Author: Barnaby J. Feder
Issue: Technology Use
Description: Consumer giants are changing the way that they do market
research. Computer-simulations that imitate shopping trips are placed in
shopping areas where people can register their opinions to different items
by touching a symbol on the screen. These simulations are being used to
study the possible consumer impact of company initiatives like
discount-price promotions or packaging changes. While simulations do not
shed light on every important commercial question, the advantages of this
type of research are the simulations cost less than full-scale tests in
actual markets and testing methods can be easily modified in response to
early results.
** Infrastructure **
Title: Fiber Optics Make a World of Difference
Source: Washington Post (WashTech p.14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/22/003l-122297-idx.html
Author: John Burgess
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: Remember having to "book" an international call days or hours
in advance, the heavy static, and high rates? Now many people may take for
granted the easy access, quality service and low rates for overseas calls
thanks mainly to a 3,000 mile fiber optic cable that runs across the floor
of the Atlantic between the US and Britain. Some countries are better
bargains than others (Britain is $0.12/minute, France and Ireland are $0.35)
not so much because of distance, but because of access fees. The Federal
Communications Commission is trying to strong arm other countries to lower
these fees, but their governments complain about interference in domestic
affairs that would mean the redistribution of a lot of cash.
** Radio **
Title: FCC Is Sharply Rebuked On Radio-Station Ruling
Source: Wall Street Journal (A20)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Radio
Description: A U.S. Appeals court overturned an FCC order to unplug and
Ashville, N.C. radio station, saying the commission "abused its discretion
and acted arbitrarily and capriciously." The FCC said it won't dispute the
decision and was prepared to move to restore and interim operating license
to WZLS-FM and pull the plug on the radio station that had taken WZLS's
spot. This is a victory for station owner Zebulon Lee, who won a new FM
license that was then rendered invalid by a separate appellate decision that
struck down the FCC's rules for awarding contested radio licenses.
*********
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!