LIBRARIES
The Too-Much-Information Age (WP)
INTERNET
Speech: A Stable Market, A Dynamic Internet (FCC)
FCC Won't Regulate Internet. Really. (WP)
A TV Titan And A Webmaster Clash Over Lycos (WSJ)
AT&T Scrambles To Meet Demand For Its Worldnet (WSJ)
FTC Targets Internet Scams (WP)
High-Speed Net Service Planned by AOL and SBC (SJ Merc)
MERGERS
Ameritech Already Raising Prices, Report Says (ChiTrib)
PRIVACY
Companies Fight Anonymous Critics With Lawsuits (CyberTimes)
Panel Passes Bill to Halt Limits on Encryption (CyberTimes)
LIBRARIES
THE TOO-MUCH-INFORMATION AGE
Issue: Libraries & the Information Age
The Library of Congress has 113 million items already, and every morning
20,000 more items slam into the loading dock. The amount of information we
are accumulating is staggering. "It's significant that we call it the
Information Age," James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, said. "We
don't talk about the Knowledge Age." The problems are not just how to deal
with storage and cataloging of information, but also how to deal with
preservation. The problem of digital preservation has to be addressed, says
an official at the National Archives, "or memory will be lost for the latter
half of the 20th century." White House correspondence from the Reagen and
Bush administrations is already in danger of being lost forever because the
computer system used is out of date. And then there's the Internet. The
Library of Congress has been putting many of its priceless prints, maps and
documents on a searchable Web site. The dream of many librarians is that
someday the collective knowledge of civilization will be available on the
Web. It takes time and money to move books or other sources into digital
format. A venture called Project Gutenberg has the goal of putting 10,000
texts online by the year 2001, but that is about the equivalent of two weeks
worth of book arrivals at the Library of Congress. James Billington also
worries about broader philosophical matters, such as: Are we truly wiser
with all this information?
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: Joel Achenbach]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-03/12/172l-031299-idx.html
INTERNET
SPEECH: A STABLE MARKET, A DYNAMIC INTERNET
Issue: Internet Regulation
Chairman Kennard's 3/11 Remarks before Legg Mason in Washington (DC): I
believe that two things are most responsible for the explosion of the
Internet, the fastest growing communications tool in the history of the
world. First, this tradition of openness. Second, the fact that the Internet
is unregulated. The Internet grew so fast that regulators hardly had a
chance to regulate it even if they wanted to. And that's a good thing. Now,
two weeks ago, the FCC made a decision that addressed the payment of
reciprocal compensation for Internet-bound traffic. Now, in plain English,
this means that the decision dealt with the way in which different phone
companies pay each other for connecting your call to the Internet. With this
order, it's clear that the FCC, and the FCC alone, has jurisdiction over
Internet traffic. It means that no state can impose long-distance charges.
And the FCC won't either. Let me say this as clearly as I can: as long as I
am chairman of the FCC, we will not regulate the Internet.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek910.html
FCC WON'T REGULATE INTERNET. REALLY.
Issue: FCC
"As long as I'm chairman of the Federal Communications this agency will not
regulate the Internet," FCC Chairman William E. Kennard told a meeting of
telecommunications analysts and Internet analysts Thursday. He was
addressing rumors that have circulated on the Internet for a long time as
well as concerns of some consumer groups. He repeated that the FCC has no
intention of making computer users pay long-distance fees for dial-up access
to the Internet, as people now pay when they make long distance telephone
calls. "Now I know this painfully because every so often when one of these
rumors flares up I get literally, about 600 e-mail messages a day by people
who are telling me to keep my hands off the Internet," Chairman Kennard
added. Separately, Kennard said the FCC is monitoring to ensure cable
companies providing high-speed Internet services are not freezing out
competitors or restricting consumers' options for Internet service.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E3), AUTHOR: Jeannine Aversa (Associated Press)]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-03/12/180l-031299-idx.html
A TV TITAN AND A WEBMASTER CLASH OVER LYCOS
Issue: New Media vs. Old Media
A veteran of television, Barry Diller, chairman of USA Networks, has been
airing views recently that clash with Internet conglomerate CMGI chief
executive David Wetherell. The pending merger between USA Networks and Lycos
is the topic of the debate, but their views are being expressed more broadly as
a conflict between the viability of the "old media" television in the face of
the "new media" the Internet. CMGI's Wetherell, who owns 20% of Lycos shares,
originally supported the merger as a Lycos board member, but is now doubtful
after the drop in Lycos shares since the announcement of the merger and has
quite the board. At an Internet conference last week in New York, Mr. Diller
called "the Internet a 'land rush' and the 'Wild West' and warned that some
day real businesses with real metrics -- sales, margins, profits -- are going
to be built." Wetherell argues that Diller is, "stuck in an old media mind-set
and doesn't see that the Internet is eclipsing television." He also says the
Internet is not overvalued as many have argued, with the audiences expected to
grow to 300 million by 2002, from the 1 million today. He also notes the
decline in television viewing. However, experts say this decline can't be
attributed to the rise of the Internet. Lycos' chief executive continues to be
supportive of the USA Networks/Lycos deal which includes the Home Shopping
Network, TicketMaster, and Ticketmaster Online Citysearch. Wetherell sees it
this way: "the media world needs Lycos a lot more than Lycos needs the media
world."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR:Jon G. Auerbach and Eben Shapiro]
http://wsj.com/
AT&T SCRAMBLES TO MEET DEMAND FOR ITS WORLDNET
Issue: Internet Access
Customers are complaining of busy signals when trying to connect to WorldNet,
AT&T's Internet service. Some analysts say, in general, Internet traffic has
increased since December. AT&T says they had 1.3 million customers in December
and now have 1.5 million, compared to AOL's 16 million. Back in December, AT&T
allowed customers unlimited use for $21.95 per month and attribute this deal to
a surge of 100,000 new subscribers in January. AT&T officials say they are
rushing to add network capacities in 60 new cities and that the complaints are
only coming during peak hours. Blumenstein reports that the demand outweighing
the capacity is an echo of a similar situation with AOL in 1997 when they
offered a flat rate for unlimited use and subscribers soared. This comes at
an "uncertain" time for AT&T and the Internet when it has just
has just assumed ( at )Home from TCI. Analysts say AT&T's interest in the Internet
lies more with ( at )Home than with WorldNet.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (C11), AUTHOR: Rebecca Blumenstein]
FTC TARGETS INTERNET SCAMS
Issue: Electronic Commerce
The Federal Trade Commission announced actions against 67 defendants
promoting what the authorities called "pyramid schemes" on the Internet. The
commission also launched a sweep of the Web to locate other sites that might
be hosting illegal multilevel marketing scams. What distinguishes pyramid
schemes from legitimate multilevel marketing ventures is that they focus on
recruiting new members, not on selling products, Holly Cherico, a spokesman
for the Council of Better Business Bureaus, said. Officials warn that the
Internet makes it easy for fraudulent operations to hide, shut down or move
when someone begins to catch on. Jim Lanford, co-editor of Scambusters, an
online magazine about Internet fraud, said e-mail offers an alternative way
to target consumers, while making the schemes more difficult for law
enforcers to trace.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E3), AUTHOR: Kalpana Srinivasan (Associated Press)]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-03/12/136l-031299-idx.html
HIGH-SPEED NET SERVICE PLANNED BY AOL AND SBC
Issue: Bandwidth
The high price for digital subscriber line service (DSL) in the US may start
to come down with the announcement by America Online of high-speed Internet
service to be offered in the SBC Communications service area, which includes
California and several other western states. The expected price of $42 per
month is lower than any other California provider of high-speed phone line
charges today, including SBC subsidiary Pacific Bell. Based on current deals
with SBC and another carrier, AOL expects to be able to offer high-speed
service to nearly 16 million homes by the end of the year. AOL plans to
carry its market dominance in the dial-up access arena into the new market
for high-speed services. From a competitive standpoint, observers say the
AOL-SBC deal could hurt other providers of Internet access. AOL's massive
size enables it to pay less than its competitors do for high-capacity links
to the Internet.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jon Healey and Stephen Buel]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/dsl031299.htm
MERGERS
AMERITECH ALREADY RAISING PRICES, REPORT SAYS
Issue: Mergers
Ameritech has a monopolist's grip on Illinois customers and is already using
this strength to raise phone rates, the staff of the Illinois Commerce
Commission warns. Since the state opened up the local phone market to
competition, the company has lost less than 6% of market share. In the same
amount of time after the long distance market was opened, AT&T lost 20% of
the market. "Perhaps most disturbing," the report said, "SBC intends to
produce operational cost savings in Ameritech Illinois' service territory."
Citing an SBC expectation to trim $115 million in costs for provisioning and
maintaining telephone operations by applying "best practices," the staff
said that "SBC has apparently already committed to squeezing additional
savings out of the single Ameritech Illinois function most directly
responsible for service quality." The next step in the merger review process
in Illinois is expected to be a meeting with representatives from the Ohio
regulatory commission which reached a compromise between the company and staff.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-24874,00.html
PRIVACY
COMPANIES FIGHT ANONYMOUS CRITICS WITH LAWSUITS
Issue: Internet/Privacy
In the latest of a string of Internet related lawsuits, the Wade Cook
Financial Corp. has sued 10 "John Does" for posting unkind messages about
the company's CEO on one of Yahoo's bulletin boards. Last week, Raytheon
filed a similar suit - also involving information discovered on one of
Yahoo's message boards -- against individuals who allegedly revealed
confidential company information online. According to Blake Bell, a New
York securities lawyer who reports to know of 23 lawsuits involving online
attacks on companies, the problem is out of control. "There is a
long-running tension in the cyber world -- a battle between anonymity and
accountability," notes Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy
Information Center. "One problem is that if we make it too easy to get at
the identity of the anonymous person who engages in libel, we also make it
easy to get at the anonymous whistleblower," Rotenberg said. While Yahoo has
pledged to protect the privacy of it's subscribers, it said that will comply
with court subpoenas.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl Kaplan]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/cyber/cyberlaw/12law.html
PANEL PASSES BILL TO HALT LIMITS ON ENCRYPTION
Issue: Encryption
A bill to remove export restrictions on encryption software unanimously
passed the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property
yesterday. The Clinton Administration currently restricts the export of
powerful encryption software, which they fear could be used by terrorists
and other criminals to conceal information. Critics of the current laws
argue that American software companies are put at a competitive disadvantage
by the export limits. "Dozens of countries around the world have developed
products to meet the global demand for encryption, yet outdated regulations
have not allowed the United States to compete on a level-playing field,"
Robert Holleyman, president of the Business Software Alliance, said in a
statement applauding the subcommittee vote. The administration would like
any easing of export restrictions to be tied to requirements that all
encryption software have key recovery systems that would allow law
enforcement officials unscramble information if needed.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/cyber/articles/12encrypt.html
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
...and we're outta here. Enjoy the March Madness.