Television
FCC: DTV Decision
Access to Government Information
NYT: US Effort on Computers Criticized
Internet/Online Services
WSJ: U.S. Plans to Ask WTO Members Today To Declare Internet
a Duty-Free Area
NYT: States Keep Up Efforts On Internet Restrictions
WSJ: Web Watcher's Formula: Spicy Opinions, Few Models
WSJ: Hawaiian Firm Offers Paradise for Internet Service
NYT: Online Auctions: Like '100,000 Flea Markets in One Place'
Telephony
WSJ: Bells Seek Advanced Data Networks, As Entry Into Long-Distance
Business
WSJ: AT&T Wireless Reaches Pact
TelecomAM: Southwestern Bell Begins Long Distance Bid In Kansas
Radio
WP: Chancellor Buys 2 more DC Stations
Spectrum
TelecomAM: Court Denies Request For Delay of Feb. 18 Spectrum Auction
TelecomAM: Bliley says Virginia Tech Case Shows Flaw In LMDS Discount System
** Television **
Title: DTV Decision
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
Issue: Digital TV
Description: FCC Adopts Final DTV Allotment Table, Policies and Rules
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/1998/nret80
02.html and Commission Affirms Service Rules
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/1998/nrmm8003.html
Providing for Rapid Conversion of Over-the-Air Broadcasting to Digital
Television (DTV), with Chairman Kennard
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/stwek808.html and
Commissioners Ness http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/States/stsn805.html
and Furchtgott-Roth
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Furchtgott_Roth/Statements/sthfr804.html
issuing separate statements. Digital Television Channel Allotment Table
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/1998/et8002
a1.txt, Television Station Coordinates
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/1998/et8002
a2.txt. The FCC reaffirmed its service rules for the conversion by all U.S.
broadcasters to digital broadcasting services (DTV), including build-out
construction schedules, NTSC and DTV channel simulcasting, and the return of
analog channels to the government by 2006.
** Access to Government Information **
Title: US Effort on Computers Criticized
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021998government.html
Author: Associated Press
Issue: Access to Government Information
Description: A 233-page report released by the government's General
Accounting Office this week said that "despite the promise that technology
would enable agencies to re-engineer their business processes or deliver
better service at lower cost, the government's results have been
disappointing." The report said that major computer modernization projects
at the Internal Revenue Service, the Defense Dept, the Federal Aviation
Administration air traffic control system, and the National Weather Service
are not meeting cost and performance goals. Other programs also face major
management difficulties, including a similar lack of performance standards,
inadequate oversight over investment decisions, and cost overruns. "Failure
of any one of these efforts would represent a double loss: first, a loss of
investment capital spent in developing the system; and second, an
opportunity cost by not achieving the desired improvement in operational
efficiency or mission capability," the report said. House Majority Leader
Dick Armey (R-TX) said that "the management delinquencies cataloged by GAO
hold serious
consequences for the taxpayers if they aren't addressed."
** Internet/Online Services **
Title: U.S. Plans to Ask WTO Members Today To Declare Internet a Duty-Free
Area
Source: Wall Street Journal (B22)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Bhushan Bahree
Issue: Internet/Electronic Commerce
Description: The U.S. today will ask members of the World Trade Organization
to declare the Internet a duty-free area. Rita Hayes, deputy U.S. trade
representative and head of the trade mission here, will propose to the WTO's
policy-making General Council that member countries work together to codify
the current practice of not placing any customs, or border duties on
electronic transmissions sent over the Internet. The proposal is intended to
start WTO members thinking about formally committing themselves to forgoing
customs levies on electronic transmissions, U.S. officials said. They noted
that no WTO member currently levies such duties.
Title: States Keep Up Efforts On Internet Restrictions
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021998state.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: Following the Supreme Court's landmark decision last summer to
strike down the Communications Decency Act, many believed that the Internet
would be free from censorship. Unfortunately, the ruling hasn't slowed down
state attempts to regulate speech and content on the world wide network.
Since last July, four states have introduced their own versions of CDA-type
laws, joining the 13 states which already have such statutes on their books.
"These state Legislatures don't seem very interested in reading Supreme
Court opinions," said Ann Beeson, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties
Union. "Unfortunately, that is often true...In other words, state
Legislatures are constantly passing laws that are clearly unconstitutional."
This year, there are four new state bills that are "particularly troublesome
to the ACLU," Beeson said. Those are in Tennessee, Rhode island, Illinois
and New Mexico.
Title: Web Watcher's Formula: Spicy Opinions, Few Models
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jon G. Auerbach
Issue: Internet: Economics
Description: Mary Modahl is a 35-year old former model turned marquee
analyst at Forrester Research who has a devoted following among the nation's
digital elite. Forrester Research is at the hot center of the industry that
profits from interpreting, dissecting, and handicapping technology for those
who sell and use it. And, unlike the legions of analysts at rival outfits,
Ms. Modahl dishes out spicy opinions and insights that rely little on
financial models. Some dismiss her brand of analysis as strong on style,
weak on substance. But subscribers pay $20,000 and upwards per year for
periodical reports from Forrester. And, though she is principally a Web
guru, Ms. Modahl's opinion carries weight throughout new media, and
companies are happy to pay her to separate the wheat from the chaff because,
as Bill Helman, a partner with venture capital firm Graylock, said, "When
Ms. Modahl pegs a company as an up-and-comer it's like the Good Housekeeping
seal of approval."
Title: Hawaiian Firm Offers Paradise for Internet Service
Source: Wall Street Journal (B20)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Don Clark
Issue: Internet Service Providers
Description: The island of Oahu is a hub for transoceanic-communications
lines, and Ron Higgin's startup, Digital Island, is exploiting the location
to help sidestep Internet traffic jams. Digital Island offers a detour by
leasing circuits on the long-distance cables that converge in Hawaii,
linking them to major Internet services in 15 countries. That creates a more
direct connection for Web users, replacing the need to pass messages among a
host of separate Internet carriers. The startup's customers store their data
on Digital Island server computers in a former bank building in Honolulu.
Pete Solvik, chief information officer of Cisco Systems Inc., said, "They
are able to offer the highest reliability and highest performance for
mission-critical work."
Title: Online Auctions: Like '100,000 Flea Markets in One Place'
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021998auction.html
Author: Kevin Jones
Issue: Lifestyle/Electronic Commerce
Description: Virtual auctions are rapidly becoming one of the fastest
growing phenomena in online retail. The auctions bring together people from
around the world to bid on everything from "used computers to signed
original Betty Boop cartoons." The largest consumer-focused auction site on
the Web, eBay Inc., auctioned off more than $25 million, almost all in
collectibles, in January alone. According to Forrester Research analyst,
Maria laTour Kadison, there are two clear reasons why consumers are flocking
to Web auctions. One, "you can often get things cheaper at an auction," and
two, "for collectibles, you can find one-of-a kind things online that you
can't find locally. It's like finding 100,000 flea markets in one place but
with more sophistication." (So cruise on over to your favorite browser and
jump on the virtual blue line special, it is time to get your obsessions (I
mean collections) in order and step up to the auction block. Any good deals
on well-aged tofu or star-wars action figures?)
** Telephony **
Title: Bells Seek Advanced Data Networks, As Entry Into Long-Distance Business
Source: Wall Street Journal (B22)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Long Distance/Infrastructure/Competition
Description: The Baby Bells are trying a new route into the long distance
business they have long coveted: advanced data networks. Some Bells are
planning sophisticated data networks based on Internet Protocol, technology
that would haul computer data over long distances. And some of the giant
regional phone companies have asked the FCC for special permission to
transmit the long-distance data traffic in their vast home regions. These
new data networks could give them a back door into the long-distance business.
Title: AT&T Wireless Reaches Pact
Source: Wall Street Journal (B22)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Merger/Wireless
Description: Hughes Network Systems and AT&T Wireless Services reached a
strategic marketing agreement to offer a new wireless service to businesses.
Terms weren't disclosed. Under the agreement, companies will be able to
integrate an internal wireless phone system with external wireless services.
AT&T will provide wireless airtime and service, while Hughes will supply
hardware, software and a performance-management platform through its new
AIReach Office system.
Title: Southwestern Bell Begins Long Distance Bid In Kansas
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 19, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: Southwestern Bell asked state regulators in Kansas to endorse
the company's bid to enter the long distance market there. In an application
filed with the Kansas Corporation Commission, the company said it has "done
what the law requires and fully opened our markets to all competitors." The
company said it has signed interconnection agreements with more than 30 of
its 40 certified competitors. The commission has 120 days to review the
request.
** Radio **
Title: Chancellor Buys 2 more DC Stations
Source: Washington Post (E1,E5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/19/087l-021998-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi and Marc Fisher
Issue: Merger
Description: Yesterday, the Texas based Chancellor Media Corp., one of the
nation's biggest radio station operators, purchased Capitol Broadcasting
Co., one of the DC area's last major family-owned station operators, in a
$72 million deal. Chancellor's acquisition of Capitol, which owns rock
station WWDC-FM, known as DC-101, and big band station WWDC-AM, will make
the company the largest owner of stations in the DC market. While the deal
is subject to approval, it is considered likely since antitrust officials
with the Justice Department have only intervened to stop mergers when a
company ends up with more than 40 percent of the ad dollars in a market.
Radio stations across the nation have been swept up in a frenzy since the
passing of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which lifted federal limits on
the number of stations a company can own.
** Spectrum **
Title: Court Denies Request For Delay of Feb. 18 Spectrum Auction
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 19, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Spectrum
Description: The FCC began its auction of local multipoint distribution
service spectrum as scheduled Feb. 18 after the U.S. Appeals court denied a
final-hour request to delay the auction. WebCel, a small wireless company,
asked the court for a stay, saying that it was unable to win the financing
to participate because the FCC did not release the final auction rules until
Feb. 11. But the court denied the motion, saying in a brief decision
released last night that WebCel's request failed to satisfy the "stringent
standards necessary" for a stay.
Title: Bliley says Virginia Tech Case Shows Flaw In LMDS Discount System
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 19, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Spectrum
Description: House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley criticized the
FCC's policy of awarding discounts in its local multipoint distribution
systems auction solely by revenues. He said the case of Virginia Tech, which
was denied the 45% discount due to endowment and tuition revenues, "goes
against the FCC's self-proclaimed goal" of bringing technology to schools.
Bliley said it is "unclear" why the FCC switched from its previous use of
both assets and revenues, and said "it may be time to review the matter."
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