Television
WSJ: GM's DirecTV Unit Sets Accord on Probe Of Client Complaints
Current: Digest pulls back from TV strategy
NTIA: PIAC Meeting Transcript
Telephony
WSJ: AT&T's Armstrong Is Expected To Cut as Much as 15% of Staff
TelecomAM: McCain Says He Will Introduce Bill To 'Break The Stalemate'
TelecomAM: US West Chairman-CEO Says 'All Bets Are Off' With Telecom Act
TelecomAM: Texas PUC To Hear Appeals Feb. 5 Of Arbitration ruling That ISP
Calls Not Local
FCC: Statistics of Communications Common Carriers
FCC: New Telephone Subscribership Report
Internet/Online Services
WSJ: Free Mail May Be a Good Deal, Even if It Has a Hidden Price
WSJ: AOL Says It Shouldn't Have Identified Sailor
NYT: AOL Admits Error in Sailor's Case
WP: AOL Admits Violating Its Own Disclosure Policy
WSJ: Prodigy Will Stop Creating Content For Internet and
Will Link to Excite
Technology
NYT: Basic Geometry May Explain Segregation's Intractability
Microsoft
NYT: Microsoft Eases Browser Requirement in Europe
Lifestyles!
NYT: Computer Chairs Suitable for Liftoff
Current: Sex survey finds PTV viewers do it more often
** Television **
Title: GM's DirecTV Unit Sets Accord on Probe Of Client Complaints
Source: Wall Street Journal (B13)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Satellites
Description: GM's DirecTV unit said it reached an agreement with a group of
state attorneys general, settling an investigation into allegations that the
satellite-dish service misled customers. The investigation was launched last
year after customers complained that L.A.-based DirecTV removed channels
from a pre-sold package, then later sold the channels in a higher-priced
package. Under the agreement, customers affected by the changes are eligible
for a credit that can be used to pay for movie channels for a limited number
of months. Florida officials who helped lead the probe estimate that DirecTV
might have to provide as much as $12 million in credits, plus about $800,000
in expenses to the states. A DirecTV spokesman said, "The agreement will
have no material impact on DirecTV's finances or operational procedures."
Title: Digest pulls back from TV strategy
Source: Current: The Public Telecommunications Newspaper
http://www.current.org/ (p.1) 1.19.98
Author: Karen Everhart Bedford
Issue: Public Television
Description: Reader's Digest Association (RDA) is backing away from a recent
venture with public television as the company changes direction under new
management. While the partnership lasted it produced "The Living Edens" and
"America in the Forties," shows that will air as planned. RDA had hoped to
recoup investments in PBS with mail-order sales of videocassettes and
related books. PBS planned to boost National Program Service income by 50%
between 1997 and 2001 and much of that relied on a $15 million per year
investment from RDA -- although a PBS executive said that figure was never
set in stone.
Title: PIAC Meeting Transcript
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/janmtg/transcript.htm
Issue: Digital Television
Description: The transcript of the third meeting of the Advisory Committee
on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters has
been posted. The transcript is ~250 pages. For a 14-page summary see
http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/meeting3.html.
** Telephony **
Title: AT&T's Armstrong Is Expected To Cut as Much as 15% of Staff
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John J. Keller
Issue: Corporate Retrenchment
Description: People close to AT&T are saying that Chairman C. Michael
Armstrong is planning to cut as much as 15% of the workforce and reassign
much of AT&T's senior management team. Such a cut could be the biggest to
hit AT&T in a decade. AT&T has long operated under the most expensive cost
structure in the industry, in part because it tried to market its service as
the Tiffany of phone carriers. Today, it's struggling to remain relevant in
a new communications era of local phone competition, the burgeoning Internet
and fast packet data networks where lean trendsetters like Worldcom and
Qwest Comm. are setting the agenda. It has been a humbling decade for what
was once the biggest company on earth.
Title: McCain Says He Will Introduce Bill To 'Break The Stalemate'
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 22, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain will introduce a
bill when Congress returns next week to "break the stalemate" between long
distance and local phone companies and increase competition. McCain will
also introduce bills to improve wireless access to 911 service, fight
slamming and refine the new universal service Internet subsidies for schools.
Title: U S West Chairman-CEO Says 'All Bets Are Off' With Telecom Act
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 22, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telecom Act of '96
Description: Richard McCormick, U S West's Chairman-CEO, justified his
company's decision to join SBC's suit against legislation it originally
supported by slamming the FCC's interpretation of the Telecom Act. Because
the Commission has veered from Congress's intent, he said, "all bets are
off... Our only choice is to tear it up." He said he supports FCC
Commissioner Michael Powell's plan for dialogue with Bell companies before
they file Section 271 applications to offer long distance service. "I would
love to sit down with them," McCormick said. He accused the previous
Commission of insisting "that we [Bell companies] need to be financially
harmed for there to be competition."
Title: Texas PUC To Hear Appeals Feb. 5 Of Arbitration ruling That ISP
Calls Not Local
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 22, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: The Texas Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to hear
appeals of a recent precedent-breaking PUC arbitrator's decision declaring
that local calls to ISPs are interstate calls and not subject to local
reciprocal compensation agreements between incumbent telcos and competitive
local exchange carriers. Two CLECS, Time Warner Comm. and Waller Creek
Comm., took their disputes with Southwestern Bell Telephone over reciprocal
compensation to PUC arbitration, expecting the arbitrator would follow the
precedent set in 13 other states by declaring ISP calls to be local and
subject to compensation payments. Instead, he ruled that a call to an ISP is
a call to all states simultaneously via the Internet, and therefore the call
is interstate access and not local traffic.
Title: Statistics of Communications Common Carriers
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8004.html
Issue: Telephone
Description: Each year since 1939, the FCC has published Statistics of
Communications Common Carriers. This publication includes a wealth of data
on telecommunications costs, revenues, prices, and usage. The 1996/1997
edition is now available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. In
addition, the entire publication is available electronically at
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/FCC-State_Link/socc.html
. The publication sells for $28.00 (stock number 004-000-00505-8) and may be
purchased from The Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954, by calling the Order and
Inquiry Desk (202) 512-1800, or by faxing the order to (202) 512-2250.
Title: New Telephone Subscribership Report
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8003.html
Issue: Telephone
Description: The FCC today released its latest report on telephone
subscribership levels in the United States. The report presents
subscribership statistics based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau
in November 1997. Statistics from that survey estimated that 93.8% of all
households in the United States had telephone service. This is down 0.1%
from the last report, for July 1997, and also down 0.1% from November 1996.
These decreases are not statistically significant. The report also shows
different subscribership levels by state, income level, race, age, household
size, and employment status. This report is updated three times a year and
is available in the Common Carrier Bureau's public reference room, 2000 M
Street, NW, Room 575, Washington, DC. Copies may be purchased by calling
International Transcription Service at (202) 857-3800. This report can also
be downloaded [file name: SUBS1197.ZIP or SUBS1197.PDF] from the FCC-State
Link internet site, which can be reached at http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats
on the World Wide Web. The report can also be downloaded from the FCC-State
Link computer bulletin board system at (202) 418-0241.
** Internet/Online Services **
Title: Free Mail May Be a Good Deal, Even if It Has a Hidden Price
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: E-Mail
Description: FREE E-MAIL. Enticing -- but is it really a good deal? Even
though you won't pay for these accounts in cash, you'll still pay. The price
tag for free e-mail: viewing ads on-screen as you sift through your
messages. Other drawbacks could go from privacy questions to reliability
concerns. But the concept appears to be taking hold, and is even attracting
some big names like Microsoft who recently paid an estimated $300 million to
$400 million in stock to acquire Hotmail Corp.
Title: AOL Says It Shouldn't Have Identified Sailor
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Privacy
Description: AOL conceded that it shouldn't have revealed the identity of a
Navy sailor who described himself as gay in an online profile. But the
online service placed a lot of blame for the incident on the Navy. The
company said an internal investigation revealed that an AOL employee
confirmed information about the sailor when questioned by a Navy
investigator. The sailor now faces possible expulsion from the Navy after a
decorated 17-year career. AOL also admitted that its employee had violated
the company's "terms of service" agreement with its members when it told the
Navy that the sailor, Timothy McVeigh (no relation), owned the account.
AOL's chief lawyer, George Vradenburg, said, "This was a case of human error
under very unusual circumstances."
Title: AOL Admits Error in Sailor's Case
Source: New York Times (A26)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012198navy.html
Author: Lisa Napoli
Issue: Privacy
Description: America Online accused the Navy of deception after an internal
investigation showed that the online service had violated its own private
policy rules by disclosing confidential information. The information the AOL
representative released identified a 36-year-old Naval officer as
homosexual. Now Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. McVeigh is facing
dismissal from the Navy for homosexuality. AOL said the information was
disclosed to a Navy investigator who "did not identify himself properly and
did not reveal the true purpose of his call." A statement released by the
Navy said, "There were no intentional violations of any Federal laws or
regulation by Department of Navy personnel." David L. Sobel, of the
Electronic Privacy Information center, a privacy rights group, said the case
"cuts to the heart of the issue of online privacy -- so much of the allure
of the Internet has been based on the option to exercise anonymity."
Title: AOL Admits Violating Its Own Disclosure Policy
Source: Washington Post (A15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/22/093l-012298-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Privacy
Description: America Online admitted yesterday that it had violated its
private policy by disclosing the identity of subscriber Senior Chief Petty
Officer Timothy R. McVeigh. But AOL accused the Navy of flouting a federal
law in its efforts to obtain information on McVeigh. "Our member services
representative did confirm information presented to him by the Navy. This
clearly should not have happened and we regret it," AOL said in a one-page
statement issued yesterday.
Title: Prodigy Will Stop Creating Content For Internet and Will Link to Excite
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: Online Services
Description: Prodigy said it will give up creating its own content for its
Internet users and has agreed to link its users to the content of Excite
Inc., a Web directory that already provides such information at no charge to
anyone with Internet access. The decision marks yet another retrenchment for
Prodigy, who enjoyed a brief stint in the early 1990s as one of the largest
and best-known players in the online industry until AOL came along.
Prodigy's decision also underscores the growing role played by Web directories.
** Technology **
Title: Basic Geometry May Explain Segregation's Intractability
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012298segregate.html
Author: Peter Wayner
Issue: Technology Use
Description: Today and tomorrow, the Brookings Institute, located in
Washington DC, is holding a colloquium aimed at examining the limits of what
computer models of societies can reveal about human behavior and debate what
can be learned from these programs in and about the future. In essence, the
researchers are building computer simulations that house "people" with
predictable societal behavior. They then start the computers running and
watch what happens as the "people" interact with each other. Ideally, the
patterns that are created will offer insight into how human beings behave.
The implications of this research may be wide-ranging as some of the results
run counter to ideas and goals held by many government programs.
** Microsoft **
Title: Microsoft Eases Browser Requirement in Europe
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012298microsoft-side.html
Author: Andrew Ross Sorkin
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft appears to have possibly settled at least one
antitrust inquiry by the European Commission. The software company announced
that they will revise contracts with at least two dozen European Internet
service providers to drop a requirement that they offer their customers
Microsoft's Web browser in return for being listed in the Windows 95
operating system. Karel van Miert, the commissioner for the Directorate
General on Competition, the office in charge of antitrust enforcement, said
that he expects this move will persuade the Directorate to drop its
investigation of that issue. However, Mr. van Miert added, "There are still
a few other cases being looked into by our services."
** Lifestyles! **
Title: Computer Chairs Suitable for Liftoff
Source: New York Times (C14)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/012298chair.html
Author: Marianne Rohrlich
Issue: Lifestyle
Description: It was bound to come, a chair for all your physical needs, a
chair that promises to be a "relaxing, back-friendly seat for people who
work (and play) at home." The rockin' new computer stand and
reclining-desk-chair combination, called Net-surfer, was created by
Valvomo-Design of Helsinki, Finland. The chair comes in three models, the
Netsurfer Classic, Max and Light, ranging in price from $4,995. to $3,125.
The Classic is described as "the Harley-Davidson of chairs," by Ahti
Anitkainen, sales manager of Valvomo. "One sits semireclined on this model
with, the promotional material says, 'the computer between the legs like the
gas tank of a motorcycle.' This seat has an adjustable tilt, foot rests,
neck and lumbar cushions and lift-up computer shelf and arm rests. If only
the human body were equally adjustable. The Classic seems best for bikers,
astronauts or agile teenagers. Women in skirts should not try this chair in
a skirt." Anitkainen acknowledges that "not everyone is comfortable on a
Harley." The Light, and least expensive of the three, seems to be the
easiest to maneuver, having two separate, comfortable units, chair and
computer stand, both on wheels.
Title: Sex survey finds PTV viewers do it more often
Source: Current: The Public Telecommunications Newspaper
http://www.current.org/ (p.4) 1.19.98
Issue: Lifestyles!
Description: A study in the latest American Demographics brings new meaning
to the phrase "If PBS doesn't do it, who will?" The study finds that PBS
viewers have more sex than people who watch the networks. The researchers
commented: "Who would have thought that National Geographic specials or Ken
Burns' history of baseball could get people in the mood?" The study is
available at
http://www.demographics.com/publications/ad/98_ad/9802_ad/nosexplease.htm.
[Yeah, like we could have made this one up]
*********
Oh great. Fodder for another attack for the religious right...