Antitrust
WP: Lessig Won't Disqualify Himself in Microsoft Case
WSJ: Law Expert Gives No Sign of Quitting Microsoft Case
Digital TV
WSJ: HDTV Sets: Too Pricey, Too Late?
Universal Service
FCC: Commission Addresses Universal Service Issues Raised by Petitioners
FCC: Working Group to Prepare Report to Congress on Universal Service
Internet
NYT: More Telephone, Less Computer, Behind New Generation of Internet
Mergers
TelecomAM: Commenters Urge FCC to Delay Worldcom/MCI Merger
Low-Income Communities
FCC: Chairman Kennard Visits "Plugged-In"
Long Distance/Telecom Act of 1996
WP: Ruling Would Let Bells Into Long-Distance
** Antitrust **
Title: Lessig Won't Disqualify Himself in Microsoft Case
Source: Washington Post (D11)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/07/068l-010798-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft has asked Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to remove
Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig as "special master" in the antitrust
case. Microsoft has also directly asked Prof Lessig to step aside, but he
has refused. Microsoft contends that Prof Lessig is biased based on email he
sent to a Netscape lawyer in July 1997 after installing Microsoft's Internet
Explorer browser on his MacIntosh computer. The message begins: "OK, now
this is making me really angry, and Charlie Nesson [another Harvard law
professor] thinks we should file a lawsuit." The Justice Department contends
that Microsoft's assertions are "unfounded and overblown and depend largely
on assumptions and conjecture."
Title: Law Expert Gives No Sign of Quitting Microsoft Case
Source: Wall Street Journal (B9)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig, a court-appointed expert
in the gov't.'s antitrust case with Microsoft, showed no sign that he plans
to step down despite heavy criticism from Microsoft concerning evidence of
the professor's alleged bias against it. Microsoft asked the professor to
disqualify himself because of e-mail correspondence between the him and
Netscape. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed that Mr. Lessig declined to
disqualify himself from the case. "We continue to have serious concerns
about Professor Lessig's lack of objectivity in this matter and about the
special master role itself."
** Digital TV **
Title: HDTV Sets: Too Pricey, Too Late?
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Kyle Pope & Evan Ramstad
Issue: HDTV
Description: For now, HDTV is caught in a classic chicken-and-egg
standoff. Broadcasters haven't decided when to offer high-definition
programs -- which will require special digital transmitters and upgraded
cameras -- because they don't know how many viewers will have the necessary
sets. TV makers, on the other hand, aren't sure when to launch digital TV
sales because of the uncertainty about when programming for them will begin.
Because the first HDTV sets will be expensive, there are doubts about
whether they will have an appeal broad enough to get the market
rolling. Some form of digital TV is coming this year, thanks to
congressional requirements that stations in the nation's 10 biggest cities
begin broadcasting a digital signal by the end of 1998. But despite the
interest of cable companies and broadcasters (as well as the manufacturers
designing set-top boxes that will attach to existing TVs and act as
receivers for digital programs), the outlook for HDTV becoming a living room
staple is somewhat blurry. Set manufacturers will showcase digital TVs at
the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
[For more on the transition to digital television see Picture This: Digital
TV and the Future of Television http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/digital.html]
** Universal Service **
Title: Commission Addresses Universal Service Issues Raised by Petitioners
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/1997/fcc97420.wp
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Commission released an Order addressing various issues
raised in petitions for reconsideration and/or clarification of its May 8,
1997 and July 10, 1997 and July 18, 1997 Orders on universal service.
Reconsideration order addresses: eligible telecommunications carriers, toll
limitation services, and rules for schools and libraries. See press
release/summary at
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1997/nrcc7085.html.
Title: Working Group to Prepare Report to Congress on Universal Service
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1998/da980002.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The 1998 appropriations legislation for the Departments of
Commerce, Justice, and State, H.R. 2267, directs the Commission to undertake
a review of the implementation of the provisions of the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 (1996 Act) relating to universal service, and to submit a report
to Congress no later than April 10, 1998. The Common Carrier Bureau today
released a public notice (DA 98-2) establishing a pleading cycle for
comments on the issues to be addressed in the Commission's report to
Congress. The Federal Communications Commission has designated a Universal
Service Report Working Group, operating under the direction of the Common
Carrier Bureau. The Working Group will conduct the review, will make
recommendations to the Commission, and will prepare the report to Congress.
** Internet **
Title: More Telephone, Less Computer, Behind New Generation of Internet
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/surf/010798mind.html
Author: Ashley Dunn
Issue: Telephony
Description: A small group of companies exploring the arena of consumer
level Internet protocol (IP) telephony have begun to embrace the idea that
"simple is beautiful." Instead of the initial strategy of relying on the
computer as a telephone, they have decided to move voice communications back
to the telephone. Vocaltec, a pioneer in this field, introduced a software
system last year that allows people to use their telephones to dial into
specified gateway servers that will route their calls over the Internet.
Other companies also are beginning to develop similar technology. Depending
on the product or service used, participants will be required to have the
same device or gateway system in order to talk with each other. Consumers
who make a lot of
long distance phone calls could be looking at enormous savings.
** Mergers **
Title: Commenters Urge FCC to Delay Worldcom/MCI Merger
Source: Telecom AM---jan. 6, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Merger
Description: A variety of opponents including labor unions, consumer
groups, Internet competitors and local telcos filed comments that the FCC
shouldn't approve the Worldcom/MCI merger until it holds hearings and places
conditions on acquisition to offset anticompetitive effects. The merger
can't be completed unless FCC approves the transfer of licenses to Worldcom
from MCI. BellSouth said the FCC shouldn't allow the deal to be completed
until Bell companies are providing long distance competition because the
merger could lessen residential long distance service competition since
Worldcom concentrates on business service. BellSouth said, "The current
regulatory bar on BOC entry into the competitive fray permits Worldcom to
exploit the anticompetitive potential of the MCI acquisition to the fullest."
** Low-Income Communities **
Title: Chairman Kennard Visits "Plugged-In"
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1998/nrmc8001.html
Issue: Low-Income Communities
Description: "Without access to information, many young minds will not be
able to meaningfully participate in our future society," FCC Chairman
William Kennard said today in Palo Alto, California. Kennard made his
remarks during a visit to Plugged-In, a non-profit organization dedicated to
helping bring computer and communications technologies to the East Palo
Alto, California community. He toured the facility and then made brief
remarks to the press.
** Long Distance/Telecom Act of 1996 **
Title: Ruling Would Let Bells Into Long-Distance
Source: Washington Post (1/1/98-A1,A17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Long Distance/Telecom Act of 1996
Description: Last Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas struck down key elements
of a major telecommunications law. The U.S. District Judge, Joel Kendall,
made his ruling saying that the law unconstitutionally keeps regional Bell
companies out of the long distance market. The decision marks the largest
setback to date for the 1996 Telecommunications Act. "This is huge," said
industry analyst Scott Cleland of the Legg Mason Precursor Group in
Washington, D.C. "This decision turns the Telecommunications Act on its
head. This judge is saying it's not constitutional to ban one company from a
business when you let another company in that business." The ruling,
unlikely to have any immediate consumer impact, will be appealed by the
federal government. (Okay, we know this story is slightly dated now, but we
felt it was important and wanted to get it out to those of you that are
still playing a bit of catch-up from the holidays) [*Hear* FCC Chairman
Kennard's response at http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/whk271.ram]
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