FCC
B&C: FCC Caught In Political Crossfire
B&C: FCC in Congress's Sights
TelecomAM: Congressman Criticize FCC On House Floor At Behest Of Bells
Telephony
FCC: Report to Congress on Universal Service
B&C: AT&T Using Cable To Get Into Local Telephony
Internet
WP: The Internet Is Finding A Home on the Hill
WSJ: Cruising Web's Fast Lane via Cable
Television
B&C: DTV Debut May Suffer From FCC Delay
B&C: McCain Backs Local-into-Local
Security/Intellectual Property
WP: Trying to Keep a Lock on Company Secrets
Technology
NYT: New Company Seeks Wider Role for Old Technology
NYT: Next Electronics Breakthrough: Power-Packed Carbon Atoms
NYT: French Company Hopes to Make Its 3-D Tool A Web Standard
** FCC **
Title: FCC Caught In Political Crossfire
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.18)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Free Time for Candidates
Description: The White House wants the FCC to write new rules on free
political airtime. Congressional leaders want the commission to keep its
hands off. And both are forcing the new FCC commissioners to choose sides in
the political fray. Predictably, commissioners so far have divided on the
issue along political lines. Democrats Gloria Tristani and Susan Ness,
joined by William Kennard have voiced support for at least launching a
proposal on free or reduced-cost airtime for candidates. Kennard also
announced plans to propose a political broadcasting requirement the morning
after Pres. Clinton called for such a measure. Republican commissioners
Harold Furchtgott-Roth and Michael Powell have objected on the grounds that
the FCC lacks authority to mandate free time.
Title: FCC in Congress's Sights
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.20)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: FCC
Description: The FCC will start to slim down and speed up this year if the
House and Senate Commerce Committees will have their way. Several members of
Congress plan this year to examine whether the FCC is badly organized,
spends too much money, employs too many people and works too slowly. Last
week, Senate Comm. Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns said he plans
oversight hearings to examine four FCC bureaus -- Common Carrier, Wireless,
Mass Media and Cable. He also plans an oversight hearing on FCC
reauthorization. A Burns spokesman said, "One of the reasons [we are holding
this hearing] is because abuse [by the FCC] of the public interest mandate
is so flagrant that it needs to be addressed."
Title: Congressman Criticize FCC On House Floor At Behest Of Bells
Source: Telecom AM---2.17.98
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition/FCC
Description: At the request of BellSouth and Ameritech, a series of
Members of Congress have begun criticizing the FCC's implementation of the
Telecom
Act. The Members, many of whom do not hold telecom-related committee
posts, have disparaged the Commission's denial of Bell long distance
applications, saying that competitive local companies have refused to
provide residential services and that the FCC has imposed a much more
complicated regulatory framework than that envisioned by Congress. "Where is
the telecommunications competition that Congress promised the American
people two years ago?" Rep. Howard Jones asked. "Did the dog eat it? Is it
in the mail? Or has the FCC frittered it away with detail?"
** Telephony **
Title: Report to Congress on Universal Service
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1998/da980280.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Federal Communications Commission will hold an En Banc on
Thursday, February 19, 1998, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm, in Room 856 at 1919
M. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The En Banc is in connection with the
Report to Congress on Universal Service required by statute. At the En Banc,
the Commission will hear from panels of experts addressing issues regarding
various definitions in the 1996 Act, as well as the payment and receipt of
Universal Service contributions by information service providers and
telecommunications carriers. The En Banc will also be carried live on the
Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/.
Title: AT&T Using Cable To Get Into Local Telephony
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.13)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Price Colman & John Higgins
Issue: Telephony/Competition
Description: AT&T's pending investments in ( at )Home Corp. and
Tele-Communications Inc. will pave the way for the nation's largest
long-distance provider to enter the local telephone markets --- but not in
the conventional way. Instead, AT&T is focusing on Internet Protocol
telephony as a way to tap the growing hunger among residential customers for
second lines. By capitalizing on the IP telephony trend, AT&T hoped to cut
down on the billions of dollars in access charges it pays to local exchange
companies. IP telephony also sidesteps most regulations that accompany local
"powered" telephony, including 911 requirements and network outage parameters.
** Internet **
Title: The Internet Is Finding A Home on the Hill
Source: Washington Post (A13)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/17/070l-021798-idx.html
Author: Bill McAllister
Issue: Media & Politics
Description: One of the conclusions of a recent survey -- conducted by
American's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies -- is that a
growing number of Capitol Hill lawmakers are regularly surfing the Net.
"Republicans are proving to be more computer friendly than Democrats, and
senators are more likely to be found at their video screens than
representatives. More than 90 percent of the 270 offices surveyed reported
they used both the Internet and email message systems." The survey is slated
for release today.
Title: Cruising Web's Fast Lane via Cable
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Steve Stecklow
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: Lately, there has been a lot of press about plans to offer
residential customers high-speed access to the Internet using
existing telephone lines. One new technology, ADSL, promises to offer
"lightning-fast Internet access" at "speeds up to 250 times faster than
standard modems." The telephone service side of US West plans to roll out
ADSL this year. However, at the moment, MediaOne, US West's express
service, doesn't offer remote access. As a result, some customers won't want
to use it for e-mail since they can't access it from their office or on the
road. Also, it doesn't easily let you put up your own Web pages. MediaOne
says both services will be available in the near future.
** Television **
Title: DTV Debut May Suffer From FCC Delay
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.12)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: FCC Commissioners hoped their new digital TV rollout plan would
give viewers in the top markets an early glimpse at high-definition pictures
on Nov. 1. Now officials are seeing those hopes threatened as they haggle
over their plan for matching each TV station with a channel for DTV. Some
broadcasters said last fall that they needed the final table by Jan. 2 to
make the early construction schedule. With the commission six weeks behind
that target, several broadcasters are questioning whether they will be able
to meet the Nov. 1 deadline. "There are problems," says one industry source,
pointing to both the lack of a final allotment table and continuing problems
in securing spots in some markets for a DTV transmitting antenna.
Title: McCain Backs Local-into-Local
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.14)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Satellite
Description: EchoStar Comm. last week gained another ally in its fight to
legally provide all customers -- via satellite -- with their market's local
television stations. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain plans to
introduce legislation that would allow direct broadcast satellite providers
to offer so-called local-into-local service. McCain has broad support for
the measure among members of his panel. Before McCain can go forward in the
satellite arena, he will have to sort out jurisdictional issues with Senate
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch.
** Security/Intellectual Property **
Title: Trying to Keep a Lock on Company Secrets
Source: Washington Post (D1,D4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/17/080l-021798-idx.html
Author: Sharon Walsh and Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Issue: Security/Intellectual Property
Description: As corporations store more vital information on computers, and
as access to computers becomes more universal, there is a growing concern
about such information becoming a prime target for international spies.
Using today's technology, companies can analyze vast amounts of data
obtained from competitor's computers to discern patterns, long-term plans,
and even analytical models of the company itself. The Justice Department has
devoted an entire section to computer crimes, called the Computer Crime and
Intellectual Property section. In addition, the Economic Espionage Act of
1996 is expected to be used to prosecute computer crime originating from
foreign sources. "Computer networks are vital to our economy and our safety,
and their security should be one of law enforcement's and industry's highest
priorities," said Mary Jo White, US attorney for the Southern District of
New York. "Certainly we are seeing more and more of this,' said William
Perez, the FBI's acting section chief for financial crimes. "There's no
doubt that's one of our greatest concerns. The Internet opens the world. You
don't have to be very sophisticated to do it. Nowadays, everything is point
and click."
** Technology **
Title: New Company Seeks Wider Role for Old Technology
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021798wire.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: Andrew Heller, a designer at IBM, said that on Wednesday he
will announce the formation of a new company, Innovative Network
Technologies, Inc. The company, to be based in Austin, TX, that will develop
technology that enables high-speed computer communications over telephone
lines and existing building wiring. Heller said that the technology is based
on 30-year-old research with analog communications that was all but
abandoned in the 1960s. The advancement should offer low-cost, high-speed
alternatives to today's digital networks.
Title: Next Electronics Breakthrough: Power-Packed Carbon Atoms
Source: New York Times (C1,C5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021798molecule.html
Author: Malcolm W. Browne
Issue: New Technology
Description: Scientists predict that an elegantly geometrical molecule
called a single-walled carbon nanotube, is about to ignite a revolution in
electronics, computers, chemistry and new structural elements. Physicists
have proved that it is possible to create relatively large electronic
devices, that are currently incorporated in silicon-based chips, on an
atomic and molecular scale. "A single electron in a single-wall carbon
nanotube could function as a microminiature transistor." Nanotubes, only one
50,000th the thickness of a human hair, were discovered in 1991 by Dr. Sumio
Iijima of NEC Fundamental Research Laboratories in Tsukuba, Japan. Several
reports show that nanotubes can perform the same electronic functions as
vastly larger silicon-based devices. Thus, a computer based on nanotube
devices could be extremely fast, compact and powerful.
Title: French Company Hopes to Make Its 3-D Tool A Web Standard
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/euro/021798euro.html
Author: Bruno Guissani
Issue: Internet Technology/International
Description: Philippe Ulrich, art director and founder of Cyro Interactive,
one of the best-known European video developers, based in Paris, has been
working over the past 18 months developing a new 3-D programming language
called SCOL (Standard Cryo On Line). Ulrich said that SCOL, which was
introduced last week at Milia, a multimedia convention held in Cannes, will
allow even beginners to create 3-D sites "with ease." "The Web is about to
turn into a virtual world. It will soon become a three-dimensional parallel
world. SCOL will now let people create new 3-D online spaces where they can
invite their guests, show and sell their products, or play games," said
Ulrich. SCOL is a hybrid of the multi-platform programming language JAVA and
of Silicon Graphics' VRML, which is considered one of the best ways to
develop 3-D representations but need powerful computers driven by skilled
programmers. SCOL, on the other hand, can allow a user to develop a 3-D Web
site in 30 minutes using a normal desktop PC.
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Did everyone enjoy their weekend?