INFOTECH/INNOVATION
Home Smart Home (ChiTrib)
Speech: Capitalizing on the Power and Promise of
Technological Innovations (NTIA)
REGULATION
No Consumer Per Minute Charges To Access ISP's (FCC)
Illinois Regulators to Meet with Ohio's About Phone Deal (ChiTrib)
INTERNET & TV
US West Combines Phone, TV (SJ Merc)
In Hopes Nothing Succeeds Like Access (WP)
JOURNALISM
Web Publications Break Away From Print (NYT)
Journalism's Greatest Hits: Two Lists of a Century's Top Stories
JOBS
Jackson Says Silicon Valley Companies Discriminate
PRIVACY
Exploiting and Protecting Personal Information (NYT)
ANTITRUST
Issue of Harm to Consumers a Key Question (WP)
Does the Microsoft Trial Verdict Really Matter? (NYT)
INFOTECH/INNOVATION
HOME SMART HOME
Issue: InfoTech
One word sums up the future, Benjamin: ubiq. No, those Headliners haven't
let a typo get past them again -- it's shorthand for ubiquitous computing:
computer chips embedded and interconnected to appliances and intelligent
devices -- each designed to perform a different task as part of a master
network. Already on the market are gadgets (sorry, that's gizmo in
layperon's terminology) that turn your home electrical system into a local
area network (LAN), Rio -- the device that replaces a CD by allowing you to
download songs directly from the Internet, and a 4-ounce Palm Pilot that
shares information with computers via the Internet. Ubiq offers, some argue,
the fundamental changes to people's lives that computer consumers have
always wanted. "We're in the middle of a digital explosion, and a growing
number of Americans are discovering the convenience and safety of home
systems," said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics
Manufacturers Association (CEMA). "Home-security system sales are projected
to be $1.65 billion in 1999, a 49 percent increase over the past five years.
Other home-system products are showing even stronger sales growth." "Home
networking means a lot of different things," argued David Coursey, an
Internet journalist and columnist for Upside magazine, as he sat in his
Digital Living Room Exhibit. "To Compaq, home networking is sharing an
Internet connection among
three or four computers, all of which are just plugged into the phone
line--and they're not using the dial tone to do it. For the home-automation
environment, it means having your security system come on, turning on the
lights when you're away, having your energy automatically monitored. "The
home-automation equipment is just one component of a home network, which
also might include computers, printers, your cable box and your DBS
(satellite television) system. As bandwidth increases, and as the power of
computing increases, it is going to show up in people's homes."
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 4, p.1), AUTHOR: James Coates & Gary Dretzka]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-24054,00.html
SPEECH: CAPITALIZING ON THE POWER AND PROMISE OF
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
Issue: Arts & Tech
Larry Irving's speech delivered at the Rocky Mountain Arts & Technology
Conference: At NTIA, we track new developments in the technology field, and
there is no doubt that new technologies are having an impact on most people
and professions. The role that new technologies can play in the arts is --
in my mind -- one of the most exciting outgrowths of this technological
revolution....The impact of technology on the arts is particularly exciting
and significant because it is opening new opportunities for artists, and for
those who love the arts. Artists are able to use new technologies to expose
their work to the world, often at just the click of a key. New technologies
are also enabling artists to market directly to galleries or buyers -- not
only in remote communities in America, but in Milan, Morocco, or Mauritius.
And finally, and perhaps most importantly, artists are using new
technologies to engage with people and communities that have not previously
had exposure to, or involvement with, the arts. New technologies are
allowing children to view the Da Vinci's works (other than the Mona Lisa!)
for their first time, and are
enabling tribal communities in the Southwest to preserve and promote their
own native crafts. As a result, arts are now more accessible and more
central to the lives of Americans.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/rockymtn.htm
REGULATION
NO CONSUMER PER MINUTE CHARGES TO ACCESS ISP'S
Issue: Internet Access/Regulation
A new fact sheet from the FCC: "provides information in response to
erroneous reports that the FCC is planning to impose per-minute usage
charges on consumer access to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). It also
discusses the FCC's February 25, 1999 decision
[http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/1999/fcc99038.txt]
relating to dial-up traffic bound for ISPs. The bottom line is that the FCC
has no intention of assessing per-minute charges on Internet traffic or
changing the way consumers obtain and pay for access to the Internet."
Also see these links: Comments from Chairman Kennard
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Factsheets/faq_recp.html and the
News Release and Comments on the order
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1999/nrcc9014.html
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Factsheets/nominute.html
ILLINOIS REGULATORS TO MEET WITH OHIO'S ABOUT PHONE DEAL
Issue: Mergers
Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman Richard Mathias wants to learn more
about the deal struck in Ohio that won the state's public utilities staff's
approval of the proposed SBC-Ameritech merger. He will invite Ohio
regulators to spend a day at the ICC to discuss the deal. "We want to
understand the substance of the proposed stipulated order (in Ohio) for
information purposes only," Chairman Mathias said. "The meeting won't be
part of the official record or part of our official decisional process in
Illinois." Some at the ICC think the meeting is a waste of time -- two of
five commissioners voted against extending the invitation to Ohio
regulators. Chairman Mathias is hoping to arrange an open session with the
Ohio Commission sometime in mid-March.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 4, p.3), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9903010020,00.html
INTERNET & TV
U S WEST COMBINES PHONE, TV
Issue: Telephony
US West is putting their own spin on convergence, one that may have people
talking to their television sets. One of the planned features in the
mid-year rollout of their own interactive-TV experiments in selected markets
is linking the phone's caller ID feature to the TV so it is displayed giving
couch potatoes the option of deciding to take the call or continue watching
"Ally McBeal." In general the package of services will allow people to use
their TV sets to display phone and Internet activity. The services will be
delivered through a set-top box equipped with a speakerphone, wireless
keyboard and software for integrating the Internet into TV programs. The US
West set-top box will connect to the Internet through a dial-up modem or
dedicated high-speed phone line connection. Analyst Meredith Rosenburg
concluded that US West is going after homes without personal computers, the
same audience that WebTV has been winning over. Prices for the services and
the set-top box have not been set.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jon Healey]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/uswest030199.htm
IN HOPES NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE ACCESS
Issue: Internet
Two-and-a-half year old Road Runner provides 200,000 subscribers in more
than two dozen markets speedy Internet access through cable TV wires. It
also provides glitz multimedia content that other online users can't easily
retrieve, all for $50 to $60 a month. Trying to establish itself as a
leading national player in the emerging market for high-speed Internet
access, Road Runner is a joint venture owned principally by two bickering
cable owners, Time Warner and MediaOne Group. Seeking to double growth in
1999, the company faces a lot of competition. Groups such as ( at )Home Network,
which offers a similar service, and Bell Atlantic Corp., which is beginning
to install ultra-fast digital subscriber line technology, are effective
rivals. Presently Road Runner's bottom-of-the-line fees are $40 per month.
Company officials are counting on the adoption of open technical standards
for cable modems to make high-speed data a cheaper, more popular service.
Stephen Van Beaver, senior VP of money-losing Road Runner, said, " We spent
1998 kind of setting up things. Now it's a matter of executing."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (WB10), AUTHOR: Alan Breznick]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/march99/roadrunner01...
JOURNALISM
WEB PUBLICATIONS BREAK AWAY FROM PRINT
Issue: Journalism/Publications
The fifth annual Media in Cyberspace Study focused on two key credibility
issues in the relationship between print and electronic media: the status of
Web publications as full partners in relation to print counterparts and the
willingness of journalists to use Web and e-mail information in reporting. The
survey completed by 192 newspaper editors and 170 magazine editors, found that
the percent of websites for these publications grew from 25% in 1995 to 58% in
1998. Don Middlebury, chief executive of Middleburg & Associates, the marketing
agency who conducted the study, says that original content on the web has
increased too. Instead of websites replacing print delivery, they are being
used as a new medium close to a third of respondents said their sites integrate
multimedia material into Web articles. The majority of editors say journalists
are using the Internet for contact information, but still prefer to see a face
or hear a voice in evaluating trustworthiness of sources. After the initial
contact, e-mail is the preferred method of contact over phone calls or face to
face meetings.
[SOURCE: New York Times (13), AUTHOR: Matthew J. Rosenberg]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/biztech/articles/01talk.html
JOURNALISM'S GREATEST HITS: TWO LISTS OF A CENTURY'S TOP STORIES
Issue: Journalism
Last week, some journalist voiced their opinions about the best stories and
writers of the 20th Century. The Freedom Forum came out with a list of the
top 100 new events of the past century, which was followed by the release of
New York University's Journalism Department rankings of the best
journalistic endeavors of the past one hundred years. The atomic bomb topped
both lists, with the Freedom Forum choosing the dropping of the bomb on
Hiroshima as the story of the century, and John Hersey's "Hiroshima"
appearing at the top of NYU's list. Mitchell Stephens, chairman of NYU's
Journalism department, says the value of such lists lie in their ability to
help people recognize journalism's role in shaping our perceptions of
ourselves. "You can seen the 20th century understanding itself though its
journalism," he said.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Felicity Barringer]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/journalisms-best.html
See also:
AMERICAN JOURNALISM'S TOP 100
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1)]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/journalisms-best-list.html
JOBS
JACKSON SAYS SILICON VALLEY COMPANIES DISCRIMINATE
Issue: Jobs
In a visit to Silicon Valley this weekend, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for
a greater representation of women and minorities in decision-making
positions in high-tech firms. Rev. Jackson also said that investment capital
needs to be more accessible to historically underrepresented groups. To this
end Jackson founded the Wall Street Project, a program aimed at improving
the availability of capital for women and minorities. The Wall Street
Project also plans to purchase stock in 50 Silicon Valley companies to
encourage those firms to change discriminatory practices by engaging in
shareholder activism.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Matt Ritchel]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/cyber/articles/01jackson.html
PRIVACY
EXPLOITING AND PROTECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION
Issue: E-commerce
Caruso outlines the current debate on privacy on the Internet from multiple
perspectives: the consumer, privacy advocates, companies, and lawmakers. The
crux
of the two decade-old debate: companies want to use and distribute people's
information as they please -- yet a 1997 Georgia Tech survey found that 87% of
people online want "complete control" of their information. Consumers have won
in recent cases, to a limited degree. For example, privacy advocates couldn't
get Intel, who's Pentium III chips contain electronic serial numbers that could
track a person's movement on the Internet, from removing this function. They
did succeed in getting Intel to provide software that would hide this ability,
however. Still, cashing in on people's information continues and Rich Le Fugy,
chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau, said that advertisers haven't even
begun to tap into the Internet's potential. He says advertisers are stuck in a
hard place between their clients and consumers with very different interests.
Le Furgy says, "It would be a beautiful thing for consumers to control their
personal data especially it if meant avoiding legislation and regulation. The
California Legislature is considering over a dozen privacy laws,
dealing with restriction of information over the Internet. Le Furg would like
companies to take on this regulation as "infomediaries" and allow consumers to
get paid for giving up their information. "Infomediaries keep a percentage for
themselves for providing the security mechanisms by which consumers can control
exactly who buys their personal data and for what purpose," Caruso reports.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Denise Caruso]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/biztech/articles/01digi.html
ANTITRUST
ISSUE OF HARM TO CONSUMERS A KEY QUESTION
Issue: Antitrust
Did Microsoft actually harm consumers? That important question continues to
underpin the government's antitrust case against computer giant Microsoft
Corp. In two months of defense testimony that ended Friday, Microsoft
argued strongly that however rough the company's tactics against rival
Netscape Communications Corp. might seem, they resulted in both companies
give away millions of browsers, the Internet navigation programs that are at
the heart of the case. Was consumer welfare hurt in the form of higher
prices, less choice or poorer service? William E. Kovacic, a George
Washington University professor, said, "The government has not introduced
that much evidence to demonstrate that consumers are suffering grievous harm
today at the hands of Microsoft." People familiar with the government case
say the government may argue in formal "Conclusions of Law" that will be
submitted to the judge this spring that some of Microsoft's actions are per
se violations of antitrust law that do not require a showing of consumer
harm. The trial now goes into a six week recess that will allow both sides
to prepare their rebuttal arguments.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A8), AUTHOR: Rajiv Chandrasekaran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
DOES THE MICROSOFT TRIAL VERDICT REALLY MATTER?
Issue: Antitrust
[Op-ed] As both sides finish presenting their cases in the US Government's
antitrust suit against the world's most valuable company, one essential
question lingers: what to do with Microsoft? The government has not clearly
articulated its goals for Microsoft. Mr. Norris predicts that the software
giant's monopoly will eventually end, but not due to any government action.
Like all other dominant companies in American history, Microsoft will
eventually be beaten by competition.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A24), AUTHOR: Floyd Norris]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/01mon3.html
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We're marching in like a lion.