TELEVISION
Public Access Feeds Democracy in Raw,Televised Form (ChiTrib)
A Sweeping Look at Local News 'Specials' During the
All-Important Ratings Period (ChiTrib)
UNIVERSAL SERVICE/TELEPHONE
Statement of Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth on Recommendation
of Schools and Libraries Committee of USAC (FCC)
Chairman Kennard's Statement on Funding of Rural Schools
and Libraries (FCC)
A Pro-Consumer, Pro-Competition Agenda (FCC)
Bells, GTE Ask Court To Further Delay FCC Price Rules (SJ Merc)
INTERNET
Proposal on Internet Names Favors Corporate Interests (CyberTimes)
Upgrade Begins on National Network (LA Times)
Junk E-Mail Filters Spawn a Suit Against Microsoft (CyberTimes)
Excite Pulls Adult Ads From Kid-Safe Site (SJ Merc)
PRIVACY
After Intel Chip's Debut, Critics Step Up Attack (CyberTimes)
ANTITRUST
Compaq Discloses It Feared Microsoft Retaliation (WSJ)
Linux Gaining Serious Momentum (SJ Merc)
TELEVISION
PUBLIC ACCESS FEEDS DEMOCRACY IN RAW,TELEVISED FORM
Issue: Public Access
With an annual budget of $1.9 million -- approximately the cost of a
30-second ad during the Super Bowl -- Chicago Access Network Television (CAN
TV) has delivered 60 hours -- in just this month -- of coverage of the
upcoming City of Chicago election. CAN TV is a nonprofit organization which
reaches 36% of the homes in Chicago and is supported by cable franchise
fees. It operates five channels and helps 270 nonprofit groups get their
message out to the community. "We are a conduit for all sorts of diverse
viewpoints. Too many people are being shut out, stereotyped and otherwise
minimalized. Commercial television just does not do people justice," said
Barbara Popovic, executive director of Chicago Access Corp., the non-profit
group that runs CAN TV channels and services. "This is about education, not
packaging products. This is not the purview of an elite, trained corps."
Bunnie Riedel, executive director of the Alliance for Community Media, the
Washington-based group representing some 2,000 similar operations around the
country, said public access channels are paying attention to what is no
longer economically viable for most commercial stations. "We're not about
bells and whistles. We're about content, and we don't have to worry about
ratings," Riedel said. "They (commercial TV) give us the World Wrestling
Federation and the 5,000th rerun of `Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,' but they
forget to tell us what goes on in our own community."
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (p.1), AUTHOR: Tim Jones]
http://chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/article/0,1051,SAV-9902190136,0
0.html
A SWEEPING LOOK AT LOCAL NEWS 'SPECIALS' DURING THE ALL-IMPORTANT RATINGS PERIOD
Issue: Television/Journalism
The "On Television" column looks at the special reports of local news
outfits during sweeps weeks. Johnson finds that newscasts are pandering to
an audience -- " not at the louts who foam at the mouth over any image of a
woman in her skivvies, but rather at women themselves." So here we've news
special segments on skin moisturizers, diapers, and the use of public
transit when school buses are not available.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec5, p.1), AUTHOR: Steve Johnson]
http://chicagotribune.com/leisure/tempo/printedition/article/0,1051,SAV-990
2190122,00.html
UNIVERSAL SERVICE/TELEPHONE
STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER HAROLD FURCHTGOTT-ROTH ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF
SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES COMMITTEE OF USAC
Issue: Universal Service
I have received word from Cheryl Parrino, the President of the Universal Service
Administrative Company (USAC), that the Schools and Libraries Committee of
the USAC Board
has recommended changes to internal procedures to enable USAC to provide
sufficient funds to
cover all of the requests for schools with discounts of between 70% and 76%.
I am relieved that
these schools, which were not included in recent distributions, but should
have been, will now
receive funding as well and commend the Schools and Libraries Committee for
making this
change. The inclusion of these schools in the 70%-76% range --
particularly those rural schools
at the 70% discount level -- is what the Commission had envisioned.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Furchtgott_Roth/Statements/sthfr907.txt
CHAIRMAN KENNARD'S STATEMENT ON FUNDING OF RURAL SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES
Issue: Universal Service
Statement in full: Discounts to support services to schools and libraries
are an important part of the universal service mandate in the Communications
Act -- the discounts that connect classrooms to the Internet today will
produce jobs and opportunities in the economy of our future. The Universal
Service Administrative Company (USAC) has done an excellent job implementing
all of the universal service provisions of the Telecommunications Act of
1996. The Schools and Libraries Division of USAC has sent out tens of
thousands of letters committing funds to eligible schools and libraries. To
date, $1.08 billion in funding for internet access, telecommunications
services, and internal connections has been committed. Letters committing an
additional $250 - $300 million will be issued on February 20. USAC hopes to
send out all commitment letters by February 28. Although not all schools and
libraries will receive all of the funding they requested, all applications
for telecommunications services and Internet access from eligible schools
and libraries will be funded. In addition, funds are available to support
internal connections for all the schools and libraries qualifying for 70%
discounts. USAC has asked the Common Carrier Bureau staff for authorization
to take the steps necessary to fund these internal connections. I have
directed the Bureau to respond quickly so that funding will not be delayed.
All of these funds have been and will continue to be distributed consistent
with our rules which ensure that support for internal connections goes to
the schools and libraries that have the most need for support.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/stwek912.html
A PRO-CONSUMER, PRO-COMPETITION AGENDA
Issue: Regulation/Competition/Universal Service
Commissioner Ness' Speech before the Florida Communications Policy
Symposium: At the threshold of the 21st century, the FCC is committed to:
promote competition, deregulate as competition develops, protect consumers,
ensure broad access to communications services, foster innovation, and
advance competitive goals worldwide. These goals -- pillars of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 -- are not mutually exclusive....We are in
the midst of an extraordinary transition between monopoly and competitive
provision of telecom and video services. The velocity of change is stunning.
Convergence has blurred the regulatory definitions and jurisdictional
boundaries that for so long have structured the marketplace. And
technological innovations are creating new headaches and solutions at the
same time. It's the regulatory equivalent of Hurricane Georges!
Established companies are expanding their offerings and adapting to a new
environment. New entrants are sprouting up to serve real or perceived
"niches." New business alliances are being announced every day. Policymakers
need to keep pace. We, too, need to change. We need to be prepared to act
swiftly, whether the action needed is a surgical intervention or a retreat
from a regulation that is no longer needed. We need to bury the
jurisdictional hatchets that have
split us in the past. At all times, our focus must be on the consumer.
Whether we be legislators or regulators, whether we serve at the state or
federal level, we need to work together to ensure that the inclusive,
pro-competitive, deregulatory vision of the Telecommunications Act is
realized for all Americans.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/spsn905.html
BELLS, GTE ASK COURT TO FURTHER DELAY FCC PRICE RULES
Issue: Telephony
Four regional Bell operating companies and GTE Corp. asked a St. Louis
Appeals Court to continue to prevent Federal Communications Commission rules
intended to open the local telephone market from taking effect. They said
they intend to press other parts of their lawsuit. The Supreme Court last
month rejected most of the group's earlier challenges to the rules which had
been written by the FCC to carry out the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The
Supreme Court held that the FCC had authority to issue the pricing rules.
SBC Communications Corp., Ameritech Corp., Bell Atlantic Corp., US West and
GTE said Thursday they intend to challenge the pricing rules as an
unreasonable action by the FCC and asked that the rules of state authorities
remain in effect until their latest challenge is decided. AT&T and MCI
WorldCom representatives said their companies would oppose the request to
further delay the FCC rules.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/161201l.htm
INTERNET
PROPOSAL ON INTERNET NAMES FAVORS CORPORATE INTERESTS
Issue: Internet
New rules being drafted by the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) http://www.wipo.org, an arm of the United Nations, for the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) http://www.icann.org
would favor trademark holder's in disputes over Internet domain names. Some
fear that the proposal would ultimately stifle free expression on the
Internet and give governments and corporate interests the power to
intimidate everyday Internet users into relinquishing addresses to which
they have already laid rightful claim. [Damn those governments and corporate
interests!] The proposal, WIPO said, "does not suggest the creation of new
intellectual property rights, but, rather, recommends ways in which
existing, multilaterally agreed standards for intellectual property
protection can be given expression in cyberspace." A. Michael Froomkin
http://www.law.tm/, a law professor at the University of Miami, said WIPO
had overstepped its charge and tried to "solve every imagined intellectual
property problem related to domain names, instead of concentrating on the
trademark-related issues that most urgently need solution....There are no
safe harbors," Froomkin writes. "A person might register his own name, only
to find that someone in another country who has a trademark on the same word
believes he should be entitled to claim the domain. In the U.S., trademark
infringement requires commercial use, and ordinarily requires a risk of
customer confusion as well. But under WIPO's plan, one cannot rely on the
protection of national law, because the WIPO rules tell the arbitrator to
pick and choose 'principles' from among the legal systems of the world. If
the complainant wins, the registrant may have to pay the complainant
thousands of dollars in expenses. My fear is that only the most wealthy
would undertake the risk of arbitration on these conditions, and that many
ordinary people with perfectly legitimate domain name registrations will
feel compelled to surrender without a fight." See also
http://www.law.miami.edu/~amf, Froomkin's critique of WIPO's proposal.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing jeri( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/02/cyber/articles/19wipo.html
UPGRADE BEGINS ON NATIONAL NETWORK
Issue: Infrastructure
MCI WorldCom has begun a major upgrade of the National Science Foundation's
nationwide network for testing next-generation Internet technologies. The
vBNS circuit (very-high-speed Backbone Network Service), which is operated
by MCI WorldCom under a five year contract, will quadruple the network's
data-carrying capacity from its present speed of 2.5 gigabits of data per
second. The circuits are used mainly by government and academic researchers
and will allow more precise modeling. Officials say the upgrade will be
completed without laying any new fiber-optic lines.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times (Online), AUTHOR: Karen Kaplan]
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/t000015524.1.html
JUNK E-MAIL FILTERS SPAWN A SUIT AGAINST MICROSOFT
Issue: E-Commerce/Spam
Can Microsoft get into anymore trouble? Filtering software created by the
company has been found to block the email of legitimate businesses -- like
Blue Mountain Arts http://www.bluemountain.com/ greeting cards. The result
is a lawsuit that is pitting the rights of a software company to innovate
freely against the rights of a company that says its business was disrupted
because its notices were labeled as junk e-mail, Kaplan writes. You probably
didn't expect this, but one wrinkle to the case is allegations that
Microsoft engaged in illegal tactics to protect its own virtual greeting
card business http://insider.msn.com/greetings/ECards-010699/default.asp.
"This is an early lawsuit in what will become a classic grievance," said
Blake Bell, a lawyer who specializes in Internet issues at the New York
office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. "Filters of all kinds will
increasingly have a substantial impact on a company's ability to conduct
e-commerce, and the [blocked] company will have a desire to assert legal
claims in order to secure an unfettered ability to compete." Also see Blue
Mountain's litigation page
http://www2.bluemountain.com/home/ImportantNotice.html?020399 and
Microsoft's litigation page http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/bluemt/ --
could take awhile to load this one.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan kaplanc( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/tech/indexcyber.html
EXCITE PULLS ADULT ADS FROM KID-SAFE SITE
Issue: Internet/Advertising
Green meant go for The Register, a British publication that found porn ads
showing up on a kid-safe search engine. An Excite feature called "Green Light"
is supposed to display search results that excludes adult-oriented content.
But, on Wednesday, The Register, a British publication reported raunchy banner
ads were popping up over search results. An Excite spokesperson said Thursday
that running the ads were an "oversight." This slip happened in the midst of
legal
troubles -- Playboy and Este Lauder are targeting Excite for illegally selling
advertisements that show up after these names are entered as key-word searches.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Matthew Broersma]
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2212112,00.html
PRIVACY
AFTER INTEL CHIP'S DEBUT, CRITICS STEP UP ATTACK
Issue: Privacy
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has stepped up efforts to
oppose the Pentium III chip and its controversial identification system.
Junkbusters Inc. and Privacy International have convinced the Center for
Media Education and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse to sign letters they
are preparing to send to computer manufacturers and to the Federal Trade
Commission. The letters to computer manufacturers will ask for information
on whether the companies plan to ship the new chips, and if so, how and if
they will disable the identification function. "The organizers are
considering extending the boycott to major PC manufacturers who ship Pentium
III systems in a configuration that would significantly damage consumer
privacy," the draft letter states. "We request your assistance in providing
us with information on your company's intentions, so that we can determine
our organization's boycott policy regarding your company and any individual
consumer products" that contain such a processor serial number. In the
letter to the FTC, the groups "ask the Commission to consider what action it
might take to reduce the harms to consumer privacy and e-commerce identified
here, including any means to compel the company to disable the feature and
order a recall, whether directly or through PC manufacturers." Here are some
URL's to help you follow the action: Intel http://www.intel.com, EPIC
http://www.epic.org, Junkbusters Inc. http://www.junkbusters.com,
Privacy International http://www.privacyinternational.org/, Center for
Media Education http://www.cme.org, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
http://www.privacyrights.org, FTC http://www.ftc.gov.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing jeri( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/02/cyber/articles/19intel.html
ANTITRUST
COMPAQ DISCLOSES IT FEARED MICROSOFT RETALIATION
Issue: Antitrust
"How retaliatory could they get?" -- a Compaq slide presentation made prior to a
1993 meeting with Microsoft lists 12 ways Microsoft could hurt Compaq if they
didn't use their software -- was disclosed in the Microsoft antitrust trial. The
presentation was made before Compaq signed a five-year agreement to get
Microsoft software at a price better than any other PC maker. John Rose, Compaq
senior vice president testified that although Compaq has an exclusive contract
with Microsoft and its Internet browser and it is the first thing that shows up
on the screen, "Netscape's browser can also be used at the click of a mouse."
Being that Rose's testimony conflicted with earlier testimony by other Compaq
officers, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson questioned Rose's authority to speak
for the company. Rose replied, "I as an officer of the company speak for the
company."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: John R. Wilke and Keith Perine ]
http://wsj.com/
See also:
Judge Sharply Questions Microsoft
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E3), AUTHOR: Rajiv Chandrasekaran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
LINUX GAINING SERIOUS MOMENTUM
Issue: Antitrust
Linux is no cartoon character. The fast-growing operating system will sell
1,300 computers to Burlington coat factory, beating out Microsoft.
International Business Machines Corp. announced Thursday they plan to sell
computers pre-loaded with Linux. The company, created by a Finnish student in
the early 90's, Linus Torvalds, made up 17 percent of the software shipped for
running business machines last year. Users praise its resistance to crashing
and its price. It can be downloaded free from the Internet or bought from
distributors for about $50. Unlike Microsoft, it shares its code with the Web
so programmers can easily make improvements. While many corporate managers
remain loyal to Microsoft, this spark of competition is welcome news to
Microsoft in light of the antitrust trial. A Microsoft spokesperson said, "We
are happy to compete head-to-head with Linux on the merits of the technology
and the business model."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: AP]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/078261.htm
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
...and we are outta here. Have a great weekend. Hey, did anyone notice that
Clemens deal? The rich just get richer.