Universal Service
TelecomAM: Stevens Aide Tells FCC It Made Mistake Exempting ISPs
TelecomAM: Economist Says Internet Wiring Funding Will Cost $2.63 Billion
Telephony
TelecomAM: AT&T, BellSouth Criticize FCC Order On Customer Information
NYT: Technology That Tracks Cell Phone Draws Fire
Internet/Online Services
NTIA: Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses
NYT: Staying With the Pitch
WP: Services Using Web Search Engines Challenge Commercial Databases
WSJ: Computer Industry Races to Conquer the Automobile
WSJ: European Web Sites Are Found Lacking In a Recent Survey
Television
B&C: More channels, power for DTV
NYT: TV Cable Box Software May Blur Digital Signals
B&C: Granite bid makes strange bedfellows
Satellites
B&C: FCC eyes cable/DBS ownership ban
NTIA: Satellite Policy and Industry Web Page
InfoTech
WP: Protecting the Ownership Right to Copyright
WP: The Nemesis of a Slow Computer
NYT: In the Data Storage Race, Disks Are Outpacing Chips
Jobs
NYT: New Quota For Technology Workers
NYT: In The Shadow of Silicon Valley, 'Digital Coast' Appears
FCC: Telecommunications '98
** Universal Service **
Title: Stevens Aide Tells FCC It Made Mistake Exempting ISPs
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 23, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: A former aide to Sen. Ted Stevens said the FCC made a mistake
by exempting Internet Service Providers and other information services from
payments to support universal service. Earl Comstock said the Commission
undermined the universal service program while creating a system of
"regulatory favoritism" because it also exempted Internet companies from
paying access charges.
Title: Economist Says Internet Wiring Funding Will Cost $2.63 Billion
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 23, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The FCC's use of long distance charges to fund its new
universal service programs will cost American consumers $2.63 billion in
economic inefficiency and is a regressive tax scheme, according to economist
Jerry Hausman. He said the FCC should have funded the programs to wire
schools, libraries and rural health care providers to the Internet by
increasing subscriber line charges to $4.50 from $3.50. He said such an
increase would account for inflation over the last 14 years, during
which time SLCs have not gone up.
** Telephony **
Title: AT&T, BellSouth Criticize FCC Order On Customer Information
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 23, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Privacy
Description: Complying with the FCC order on customer's proprietary phone
information will cost the telecom industry "hundreds of millions" of
dollars, said BellSouth VP Randy New. At issue is a recent ruling that
requires phone companies to get approval to sue private information about a
customer's phone service before using that information to offer new
services. "The new restriction imposes new costs on an industry already
cutting costs," he said. AT&T said it was "concerned" about a "major
anti-competitive loophole" in the order that favors Bell companies. AT&T
also said the regulations could allow a Bell company's long distance
affiliate to access private information about a customer's local phone use
if it wins the customer for long distance.
Title: Technology That Tracks Cell Phone Draws Fire
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022398track.html
Author: Peter Wayner
Issue: Privacy
Description: Cellular telephone companies around the world have begun to
install equipment that will allow them, or police, ambulance dispatchers,
worried parents, jealous spouses, etc, to track the location of the callers.
This new technology is being defended as public safety insurance for people
placing 911 or emergency calls. But it also offers the ability for someone
to continuously monitor a caller's position and movement -- even months after
a call was placed -- in detail, which is drawing fire from privacy advocates
and civil liberty groups. "The question is whether the telephone system is
being built for communication or surveillance," said David Banisar, a staff
attorney for an advocacy group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
The Federal Communications Commission will require cell phone companies to
include rough
position information when passing along a 911 call by April of this year,
and within three and a half years, they must be able to identify a caller's
location within 125 meters.
** Internet/Online Services **
Title: Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/new.html
Issue: Internet
Description: "The DNS Management Proposed Rule and Request for Public
Comment http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/domainname130.htm on
Improvement of Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses was
published in the Federal Register
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/022098fedreg.txt on February
20, establishing March 23 as the deadline for public comments in this
proceeding. All comments received are posted on this site
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/130dftmail/."
Title: Staying With the Pitch
Source: New York Times (D1,D5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022398sales.html
Author: Lisa Napoli
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: While a large majority of businesses are racing to begin
selling their wares across the Internet, a group of the traditional
direct-sales businesses are opting to swim against the tide. "The Internet
is an information source, not a sales source," said Lawrie Hall, a
spokeswoman for Tupperware. "We see it as a wonderful way to educate people.
The Internet doesn't provide the kind of service we see as beneficial to the
consumer," she said. Other door-to-door businesses, including Amway, Mary
Kay and Electrolux, also are shunning the notion of selling their wares to
customers online, even though each company has a Web site. Officials from
the Direct Selling Association, an industry group in Washington, say that by
maintaining their traditional approach to selling they can more effectively
educate the consumer about the product by offering first-hand, personal,
service. Proponents of electronic commerce suggest that direct sellers are
holding on to their old way of doing things because the Internet could wreak
havoc with companies that are built on a pyramid of salespeople. Don
Peppers, co-author of "Enterprise 1 to 1: Tools for Competing in the
Interactive Age" said, "If you're in the business of selling
distributorships, you don't want your end users to go around the channels to
obtain that stuff."
Title: Services Using Web Search Engines Challenge Commercial Databases
Source: Washington Post (F23)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-s...te/1998-02/23/0321-022398-idx.html
Author: Margot Williams
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: Commercial databases, and their fees, are moving to the Web in
search of a wider consumer market. Dow Jones and Dialog have made the move.
But can they compete with the speed and power of popular search engines like
Excite and InfoSeek? In the wide-open Web market, new players are
challenging the longtime database vendors by making their own deals with
content providers and providing access through familiar Web search
technology to a similar (and growing) range of information.
Title: Computer Industry Races to Conquer the Automobile
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Joseph B. White & David Bank
Issue: New Internet Technology
Description: This summer, Clarion Corp. is expected to be the first to offer
a personal computer for the car as a replacement for factory-installed
radios. The device -- with a list price of $1,299, not including a wireless
modem -- will use Microsoft's Auto PC software, which includes the company's
Windows CE operating and voice-recognition systems. Using it, a driver will
be able to retrieve e-mail or make a cell phone call without letting go of
the wheel. Drivers can also get digital directions: Auto PC's synthesized
voice will read out left and right turns. The package will include a player
for CDs and CD-ROMs. Ford Motor Co.'s Visteon unit is collaborating with
Microsoft and Intel to develop its own version of a speech-recognizing car
PC, called ICES. [So, car phone aren't distracting enough...]
Title: European Web Sites Are Found Lacking In a Recent Survey
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7B)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Internet/International
Description: Despite newfound corporate enthusiasm for getting online,
European websites are still sorely lacking when it comes to communicating
with their audiences and implementing credible electronic-commerce
strategies. This was the conclusion of a new study, "The Missing Link," that
analyzed the Web sites of 100 multinational companies (least half of
which were European). The survey emphasized that nearly all of the companies
were found to have the same problems: difficult to use pages, little
understanding of what visitors to the sites hope to find, and undeveloped
online selling strategies.
** Television **
Title: More channels, power for DTV
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: The broadcast industry won more spectrum and UHF broadcasters
will be able to use more power according to revised rules released by the
Federal Communications Commission last week. "The real-world problems of
implementation are still with us," said one broadcaster. "The big mystery is
whether any of this is going to work," said another. Broadcasters are still
dealing with concerns around set-top antennas and finding space for
transmitters by November. [In related news, B&C reports that the FCC will
address "must carry" rules for digital broadcasts in March.]
Title: TV Cable Box Software May Blur Digital Signals
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022398cableboxes.html
Author: Joel Brinkley
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Microsoft has gained a small foothold in its efforts to cajole
the nation's television broadcasters into abandoning high-definition TV and
using only lower-resolution transmission formats for digital broadcasts
through the company's agreement to supply the operating system for several
million digital cable boxes being purchased by Tele-Communications Inc. This
move has angered government officials, television set makers, broadcasters
and others. During a broadcaster's convention last month, Gary Shapiro, head
of the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association, complained, "TCI's 14
million customers may never have a chance to see HDTV. This is a huge
tragedy for the American consumer." Leo Hindery Jr., president of
Tele-Communications replied that the associations "information is incorrect,
and it was extremely irresponsible for them to mislead the public." The main
issue in this argument is how the digital cable boxes will handle the
high-definition signals that broadcasters in the nation's 10 largest cities
plan to put on the air in six to eight months.
Title: In Atlanta, Cable TV Bolsters a Newspaper's Circulation
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/ga-paper-media.html
Author: Iver Peterson
Issue: Cable/Newspapers
Description: The Gwinnett Daily Post in Lawrenceville, Ga. is trying to
bypass the slow job of building circulation one sale at a time in favor of a
marriage of convenience with the medium most often blamed for eroding
readership: cable TV. The papers are being paid for by the local cable TV
company for its subscribers. In exchange for increased circulation, the
paper rents a channel on the company's system and produces news and
entertainment programs. The move also shows the competitive challenge faced
by Richard Rae, publisher of The Daily Post, and Thomas Stultz, president of
the publishing div. of Gray Communications Systems. "Everybody in this
industry sits around saying that somebody, sometime, has got to do something
about declining readership or there's not going to be a newspaper industry,"
Stultz said.
Title: Granite bid makes strange bedfellows
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.15)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Ownership
Description: Promising that its application will promote minority ownership
in the broadcast industry, Granite Broadcasting is asking the FCC to let it
own stations in San Francisco and San Jose with overlapping signals.
Broadcasters are eyeing this matter thinking it may open the door to a
relaxed duopoly standard. The FCC has granted common ownership of stations
with overlapping Grade B (45-70 mile) signals. This case would be the first
to allow Grade A (within 45 miles) overlap.
** Satellites **
Title: FCC eyes cable/DBS ownership ban
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.13)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Ownership
Description: The FCC has invited the public to comment on DBC/cable
crossownerhip as part of an effort to streamline technical DBS rules. "It
should be the policy of this commission to promote competition whenever we
can," said Chairman Bill Kennard. [See
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/News_Releases/1998/nrin8004.html
for more info]
Title: Satellite Policy and Industry Web Page
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/new.html
Issue: Satellite/International
Description: "NTIA's Office of International Affairs (OIA) has created a
satellite policy and industry web page
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/oiahome/satellite.htm, containing links to U.S.
and overseas sites. OIA welcome your views on and suggestions for/revisions
to this new page. Also, the page of links to international telecom and
Internet policy sites http://www.ntia.doc.gov/oiahome/dianelist.html has
been expanded, including more Latin American sites."
** InfoTech **
Title: Protecting the Ownership Right to Copyright
Source: Washington Post (F05)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-s..te/1998-02/23/0161-022398-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Copyright
Description: Paul Schneck, VP of MRJ Technology Solutions believes he has
come up with a technique that will enable those who create books, movies,
art and other "content" to protect their copyright in the digital world.
People who have seen Schneck's technology work are impressed. What Schneck
wants to do is turn the box that displays or prints information into the
watchdog that ensures that a consumer is following copyright rules. In his
scheme, owners/publishers would first electronically send a license to view
a work once. A consumer would electronically sign an agreement and return it
to the owner with payment. The consumer's PC, meanwhile, stores a copy of
the license, which is encrypted so that only the consumer's PC can make
sense of it.
Title: The Nemesis of a Slow Computer
Source: Washington Post (F22)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/23/029l-022398-idx.html
Author: John Burgess
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: A 10-person research team at the University of Cambridge in
England, headed by computer scientists, Simon Crosby and Ian Leslie, have
spent the past four years working on an entirely new operating system for
personal computers. Their aim is to make truly reliable machines that can
effectively deliver the video, sound and instant network communications of
the emerging multimedia world. The new system, called Nemisis, has the
division of time at its core, it allows the user to specify "how much of the
computers attention, what percentage of the millions of work cycles it is
racing through each second, will be given over to each of the tasks it's
doing." So rather than obsessing over a job that does not need to be done in
real time, Nemisis will slow down that task so the video, or other
multimedia information, will flow uninterrupted. The researchers say they
are academics that are more than happy to share their work with outside
parties. "Our aim is to show people the right way to do it, and not try to
compete" in the market ourselves, said Crosby.
Title: In the Data Storage Race, Disks Are Outpacing Chips
Source: New York Times (D1,D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022398diskdrive.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: Last year, scientists at IBM's Almaden Research Laboratory
announced they had stored more than 11.6 billion bits of data in one square
inch on the surface of a rotating magnetic disk, and last week, researchers
at Quinta, a division of Seagate Technology Inc., announced a new storage
approach that blends microscopic optical lasers with magnetic technology,
pushing the disk drive's storage capability well beyond what was previously
believed possible. Given these recent storage space accomplishments, disk
drive engineers are now considering the possibility of actually replacing
computer memory chips with tiny disk drives for devices like hand-held
computers and digital cameras. For consumers, this increase in capacity
means continued falling costs for computer data storage.
** Jobs **
Title: New Quota For Technology Workers
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022398workers.html
Author: Robert Pear
Issue: Jobs
Description: The White House is seriously considering increasing the
immigration quota for computer scientists and other information-technology
workers, so that foreigners can fill the thousands of job openings in the
United States.
Title: In The Shadow of Silicon Valley, 'Digital Coast' Appears
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022398coast.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: How to Rival
Description: Last week, Los Angeles Mayor, Richard Riordan, announced that
the city would henceforth be known as "Digital Coast." Riordan said,
"multimedia is our ticket for success into the next century. The future is
in our hands, and we're going to win." The name came about as members of the
high-technology industry in LA formed a committee to put itself on the map.
The name was selected from a list of hundreds of suggestions made over the
past several months. However, Digital Coast is receiving little more than
"snickers and derision from its geographic rivals.' Mark Stahlman, a
co-founder of the New York New Media Association and the man who coined the
name Silicon Alley label to describe the group of Internet companies located
in lower Manhattan, sniffed at the LA's new title, saying that already
people are talking about "Digital Toast."
Title: Telecomunications '98
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/Informal/fsu.html
Issue: Jobs
Description: "Fayetteville State University, Federal Communications
Commission, and the National Association of Broadcasters present,
Telecomunications '98. This conference will provide a perspective on one of
the nation's fastest growing industries and will explore opportunities and
related communications industry issues." For additional information contact:
FSU - Dr. Perry Massey,Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs or
Alfreda Cromartie, Executive Asst: 910-486-1460(v) or 910-486-1782(f)
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