INTERNET
Internet Tax Commission Ends Meeting in Deadlock (WP)
The Big Online Picture: Daily Web Surfing Now The Norm (USA)
European Cybercourts Seek to Resolve Consumer Issues Via
Online Arbitration (WSJ)
Free Internet in LaGrange (Atlanta)
EDTECH
Offered Old Computers, Some School Officials Decline (NYT)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
Links between Video/Computer Games and School Performance
and Aggression (NIMF)
Creating Accessible Web Sites & CD-ROMs (NCAM)
MERGERS/ALLIANCES/ANTITRUST
FTC Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Plan By Big 3 Car Makers for
Online Venture (WSJ)
Co-Op Offers Airwave Action (SJM)
New Fiber-Optic Network Hopes to Serve Often-Overlooked Cities
in 11 States (WSJ)
TELEPHONY
Telephone Companies' "Calls" Plan Does Not Live Up To Promises (CU)
U.S. Trade Official Blasts Japan's NTT On Telecom Access (WSJ)
INFOTECH
'Left-Handed' Material Said to Reverse Energy (WP)
FCC
Report Card on the New FCC (FCC)
Nomination of Susan Ness to be FCC Commissioner (Senate)
LEGISLATION
Mark-Up Schedule (House)
INTERNET
INTERNET TAX COMMISSION ENDS MEETING IN DEADLOCK
Issue: Ecommerce
"This is the opening act, no matter what, in a play that's going to go on
for a while," said Andrew Pincus, general counsel of the Commerce
Department. At its final meeting, the panel charged with making
recommendations to Congress on Internet taxation broke up without reaching
strong agreement on any of the major points it debated. The commission's
report will now go to Congress which will then consider legislation. "We
have worked through the evening, through the night, through the morning" to
gather enough votes to make official recommendations to Congress, said
Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III, chairman of the commission -- who
nonetheless declared at the end of the meeting that the panel had "gotten
over the goal line successfully." A majority of the commission voted to
extend the three-year moratorium on new and discriminatory Internet taxes,
to do away with a 3 percent federal excise tax on telecommunications
services and to recommend that states simplify their sales tax systems. It
also included numerous tax breaks for companies that sell "digital goods,"
such as music or software that can be downloaded from the Internet. But the
legislation that created the panel required a "supermajority" which the
final vote did not reflect. The most hotly debated item was an attempt to
create a legal standard to determine when a company has a physical presence
in a state.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54708-2000Mar21.html)
See Also:
PANEL ON TAXING INTERNET SALES ENDS ITS MEETINGS IN DISAGREEMENT
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: David Cay Johnston]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/03/biztech/articles/22tax.html)
E-COMMERCE PANEL'S ATTEMPT TO AGREE ON INTERNET SALES TAX POLICY COLLAPSES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B2), AUTHOR: Glenn Simpson]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB953586062592134945.htm)
THE BIG ONLINE PICTURE: DAILY WEB SURFING NOW THE NORM
Issue: Internet
A study released today by the Strategis Group showed that more than 61
percent of home Internet users go online every day, compared to the 46.7
percent in 1997 and the 57.3 percent in 1998. The amount of time the average
home Internet user spends online, 7.2 hours a week, hasn't really changed
from 1998. Users are going online to do things they used to do over the
telephone, like finding show times for a movie. The report also stated that
the number of U.S. Internet users has shot up to 106 million, or 52 percent
of American adults. Men are still the majority of users, at 55 million, but
women are catching up, at 51 million. Black American users are slightly up,
from 8 percent to 9 percent, but are still underrepresented on the Internet.
The only declining statistic was the number of Americans who use the
Internet at work, a drop from 61 million to 58 million.
[SOURCE: USA Today (3D), AUTHOR: Dru Sefton]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000322/2057004s.htm)
EUROPEAN CYBERCOURTS SEEK TO RESOLVE CONSUMER ISSUES VIA ONLINE ARBITRATION
Issue: E-Commerce
In response to a push from European companies to find news ways to settle
cross-border disputes and raise consumer confidence, the European Union has
begun to explore using the Internet to help solve consumer disputes. The
European Commission hopes that "cybercourts" will provide a fast, efficient,
and inexpensive way to settle the growing number of cross border disputes.
Some nascent cybercourts, such as the German Cybercourt.org and the Canadian
Cybertribunal, have run up against difficult challenges. The Cybertribunal
found that more than half of the case the defendants simply refused to
participate in the mediation process.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B13B), AUTHOR: Brandon Mitchener]
(http://wsj.com/)
FREE INTERNET IN LAGRANGE
Issue: Universal Service
The Georgia city of LaGrange is offering free Internet service to its
population. A city to the north of LaGrange, Newnan was the first to Georgia
to build a high-speed broadband backbone. LaGrange, which has already
invested more than $100 million in building fiber-optic transmission lines
and improving basic communications, will be the first in the state to use
their fiber for free Internet service. The new service will have nearly
universal reach in the community, since the plan takes into account both
televisions and computers equipped with modems. The city, which is 60 miles
south of Atlanta along I-85, operates its own Web site at
www.lagrange-ga.org.
[Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Author: Ernest Holsendolph]
(http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/wednesday/atlanta
_tech_838d3687529381e60010.html)
EDTECH
OFFERED OLD COMPUTERS, SOME SCHOOL OFFICIALS DECLINE
Issue: EdTech
Some educational technology organizations are not pleased with the New
Millennium Classrooms Act, a federal bill that would make it more inviting
for companies to give schools their old computer equipment. "The core of our
concern is that businesses will think they are helping schools, when in fact
they are giving away equipment that isn't usable, that, in fact, imposes
costs that are administrative and financial," said Keith R. Krueger,
executive director of the Consortium for School Networking, a nonprofit
Washington group that promotes the use of technology in schools. "The ideal
ratio is one computer to every five students; we are nowhere close to that
percentage in a lot of schools in America," Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI)
co-sponsored the bill he believes is one way to close that gap. Critics are
especially concerned by a feature of the
legislation that would apply to computer equipment that is three years old
or younger, while the currently law only grants tax benefits to companies
that donate compute that are up to two-years old. Supporters of the bill
answer that even a three-year-old computer is likely to able to perform
sophisticated functions useful in classrooms.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/03/cyber/education/22education.html)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
LINKS BETWEEN VIDEO/COMPUTER GAMES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE AND AGGRESSION
Issue: Media & Society
From Press Release: The author of the Annual Video and Computer Game Report
Card testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation on the "impact of interactive violence on children." David
Walsh, Ph.D., president of the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media
and the Family released new data to the committee.
Dr. Walsh highlighted the following findings for the senate committee:
* Many millions of teens are playing games -- 84% overall and 92% of boys
now play.
* They're also spending more time playing games. Boys now average 10 hours a
week.
* At-risk teen boys spend 60% more time playing games and they prefer more
violent games.
* The knowledge gap between youth and parents about games is enormous. Only
15% of the teens surveyed think their parents know about the ESRB ratings.
Only 2% say that their parents routinely check ratings. Only 1% report that
their parents have ever prevented them from buying games because of the
ratings. 18% of boys report that their parents would be upset if they knew
what games they owned.
* The more time spent playing electronic games the lower the school performance.
* Teens who play violent games do worse in school than teens who don't.
* Youth who prefer violent video games are more likely to get into arguments
with their teachers and are more likely to get into physical fights.
The findings are from ongoing research being conducted by the National
Institute on Media and the Family. The data are correlational and should not
be interpreted as cause-effect links. They are based on responses from 137
teens in grades 8-12 in a large suburban school district near a large
midwestern city. Since the study is ongoing, the data are not reported as
definitive but are indicative and underscore the need for more research
about electronic games and youth.
[SOURCE: National Institute on Media and the Family]
(http://www.consumerfed.org/releases.html)
CREATING ACCESSIBLE WEB SITES & CD-ROMS
Issue: Disabilities
From Press Release: Multimedia clips are becoming more popular on Web sites
and CD-ROMs, but most are not accessible to deaf, hard of hearing, blind and
visually impaired users, a population which numbers 34 million. Developers
of Web- and CD-ROM-based multimedia need an authoring application for making
their materials accessible to persons with disabilities.
The CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) has developed such
an application, the Media Access Generator (MAGpie), now available free of
charge on the Web. Using MAGpie, authors can add captions to three popular
multimedia formats: Apple's QuickTime, the World Wide Web Consortium's
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) and Microsoft's
Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) format. MAGpie can also
integrate audio descriptions into SMIL presentations.
According to Geoff Freed, manager of NCAM's Web Access Project, "While
creating accessible multimedia has been possible for a few years, it isn't
exactly easy or intuitive. We developed MAGpie, and are distributing it
free of charge, in order to simplify the authoring process and therefore
encourage the inclusion of captions and audio descriptions in various
multimedia formats."
[SOURCE: WGBH/Media Access Division]
(www.wgbh.org/ncam)
MERGERS/ALLIANCES/ANTITRUST
FTC OPENS ANTITRUST INQUIRY INTO PLAN BY BIG 3 CAR MAKERS FOR ONLINE VENTURE
Issue: Antitrust
The Federal Trade Commission opened an antitrust inquiry to investigate the
plans of Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler to build a massive online
parts bazaar. The venture, which is to become an independent company, would
wield the purchasing power of more than $240 billion a year. The inquiry is
expected to focus on the possibility of unlawful price coordination among
buyers or sellers. If the inquiry proceeds beyond the preliminary stage, it
could delay the start of the venture or force changes intended to protect
competition. GM spokesmen Dan Jankowski said, "We don't expect any
negative repercussions from any investigation." The companies are still
building the new venture and hope to have a permanent organization in place
within 90 days.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A6), AUTHOR: John Wilke]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB953692103295650699.htm)
CO-OP OFFERS AIRWAVE ACTION
Issue: DTV/Broadband
A major group of television stations, calling itself the Broadcaster's
Digital Cooperative, has big plans for its new digital TV channels -- and it
is about more than TV. Broadcaster's Digital Cooperative, following the lead of
rival iBlast Networks, is jumping on to the high-speed Internet bandwagon.
Instigated by Granite Broadcasting, the group plans to offer Web companies a
wireless way to deliver data to customers across the country. Each station
in the co-op will dedicate a portion of its digital channel to the group's
effort, effectively creating a national distribution network. According to
Granite President Stuart Beck, the co-op then will then entertain proposals
from companies that want to use the airwaves for revenue-generating
high-speed data services. The stations' high-speed services wont beable to
match high-speed phone lines or cable modems for Web surfing, because the
data is broadcast, rather than offered through a two-way connection. But
unlike the phone and cable offerings, Beck said, the broadcasters' service
can reach everyone in the community.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jon Healey]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/bcast032200.htm)
NEW FIBER-OPTIC NETWORK HOPES TO SERVE OFTEN-OVERLOOKED CITIES IN 11 STATES
Issue: Infrastructure
Six energy and communications firms are combining 7,000 miles of fiber-optic
networks to create a telecommunications system across 11 states. America's
Fiber Network LLC will provide advanced voice, data and Internet services in
a region bounded by Rochester (NY), Johnson City (TN), New York City and
Chicago. The system will serve mainly smaller cities, providing them their
first high-speed fiber access or the first alternative to the incumbent
local telephone company. The system could have a value of $1.4 billion.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B4), AUTHOR: Rebecca Smith]
(http://wsj.com/)
See Also:
NORTEL PLANS TO ACQUIRE CORE TEK FOR UP TO $1.43 BILLION IN STOCK
Nortel Networks will pay as much as $1.43 billion in stock to acquire Core
Tek Inc, boosting the company' fiber optic capacity.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B4), AUTHOR: Mark Heinzl]
(http://wsj.com/)
TELEPHONY
TELEPHONE COMPANIES' "CALLS" PLAN DOES NOT LIVE UP TO PROMISES
Issue: Telephone Regulation
From Press Release: Gene Kimmelman, co-director of the Washington D.C.
office of Consumers Union, raised new concerns about the so-called "reform"
plan to restructure the system of telephone access fees submitted by the
Coalition for Affordable Local and Long Distance Calls (CALLS) to the
Federal Communications Commission. CALLS is a telephone industry coalition
made up of AT&T, Sprint, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, GTE, and SBC. After
submitting its original plan to change the access fee system in 1999, CALLS
announced to the media on February 25 that it would add provisions to offer
more benefits for consumers. But Kimmelman says the plan falls short. "The
majority of consumers could see virtually no benefits under the CALLS plan,
contrary to statements the coalition made to the press," said Kimmelman.
[SOURCE: Consumers Union]
(http://www.consumersunion.org/telecom/callsdc300.htm)
U.S. TRADE OFFICIAL BLASTS JAPAN'S NTT ON TELECOM ACCESS
Issue: International/Telephony
Richard Fisher, deputy U.S. trade representative, blasted the Nippon
Telegraph & Telephone Corp. over the "outrageously high interconnection
charges" NTT demands from rival carriers that use NTT's network of phone
lines, typically called the "last mile", to homes and offices. He also
blamed NTT's failure to offer a cheap, fixed-rate Internet service to
consumers as, "condemn[ing] Japan to lag behind in the development of
electronic commerce" and he called upon NTT to lower their charges.
Currently, most Japanese citizens must pay for every minute they are online.
But these comments seem to fly in the face of comments recently made by
another U.S. official who responded to NTT's recent reduction in Web access
rates by accusing them of "predatory pricing". The NTT has recently reduced
Internet access charges but has refused to cut interconnection charges as
much as the U.S. demands because, the company says, it will put NTT into the
red. With
Japan's Internet population having grown by 28% last year, the U.S. is
finding it difficult to prove that NTT's rates are hindering Japan's
Internet growth. And Japan is far ahead of the U.S. in accessing the
Internet via mobile phone, through NTT's mobile phone unit's service called
i-mode, the largest mobile-Internet service in the world. Mr. Fisher
dismissed i-mode as "arm candy" and "sugar, not protein".
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A19), AUTHOR: Peter Landers]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB953660713265737085.htm)
INFOTECH
'LEFT-HANDED' MATERIAL SAID TO REVERSE ENERGY
Issue: InfoTech
Two California physicists announced yesterday that they had created a new
class of material that may have application in wireless communications. The
material, never before seen in nature, has the "highly unusual" property of
reversing the behavior of microwave energy, including the Doppler Effect.
The "material" is actually less material and more configuration. By
arranging copper bands and wires in a particular manner, the new material
focuses microwave energies when they would typically spread. The inventors
used the example that if the material operated with optical light, a beam of
light focused on the material would shine through on the other side would
have focused, rather than have spread. The physicists are not quite sure of
the practical applications of the material, though they believe it could
have significant impact on antennas for wireless communications.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A13), AUTHOR: Joel Achenbach]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/22/127l-032200-idx.html
FCC
REPORT CARD ON THE NEW FCC
Issue: FCC
From Press Release: William E. Kennard, chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission, delivered a Report Card on the new FCC to
Congress. "This Report Card shows that the FCC is fast becoming a one-stop,
digital shop for consumers," Chairman Kennard said. "We are promoting
competition in all communications markets, creating opportunities for all
Americans to benefit from the communications revolution and managing the
electromagnetic spectrum more efficiently than ever before."
Chairman Kennard detailed a series of the agency's milestones and talked
about its future needs to complete the draft strategic plan for a new FCC.
In an era where demand for broadband is increasing every day, the Commission
is pumping more spectrum into the marketplace to fuel a greater variety of
wireless devices connecting to the Internet. At the same time, consumers of
local and long-distance phone services are benefiting from increased
competition.
"Most importantly," Chairman Kennard noted, "by successfully funding the
E-rate we are ensuring that the next generation will have the proper tools
to grow up in the Broadband Internet Age."
The FCC Chairman made these remarks today at a hearing before the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary
on the agency's FY 2001 budget.
The Report Card is available on the Internet at
http://www.fcc.gov/21st_century. Paper copies are available from ITS, the
FCC's duplicating contractor, at (202) 857-3800.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/2000/nrmc0014.html)
NOMINATION OF SUSAN NESS TO BE FCC COMMISSIONER
Issue: FCC
Senate Commerce Committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday, March 22, at 9:30
a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Senator Conrad
Burns (R-MT), Chairman of the Communications Subcommittee to preside.
[SOURCE: US Senate]
(http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/press/releases.htm)
LEGISLATION
MARK-UP SCHEDULE
Issue: Legislation
Thursday, March 23, 2000 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building
The Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection will
meet in an open markup, and subsequent days if necessary, to consider H.R.
3615, the Rural Local Broadcast Signal Act; H.R. 3113, the Unsolicited
Electronic Mail Act of 1999; and, H.R. 3439, the Radio Broadcasting
Preservation Act of 1999.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://com-notes.house.gov/schedule.htm)
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