Universal Service
WSJ: Gore Ties Grants To Schools, Libraries To
Internet Protection
TelecomAM: Furchtgott-Roth Attacks Use of State Funds For
Universal Service
Long Distance
TelecomAM: Kennard Says FCC Already Has Provided
Guidance On Section 271
Free Time for Candidates
WP: FEC Rules Against Perot
Mergers
WSJ: Bertelsmann to Buy Random House
NYT: German Media Giant Will Buy Random House for $1.4 Billion
WP: Random House Sold to German Publisher
Internet
WSJ: Group Contests Plan to Dispense Domain Names
WSJ: Williams Cos. Sues WorldCom Alleging Network Deal Broken
Arts
NYT: Moving Beyond Country Music to a Political Stage
Spectrum
WSJ: Pocket and U.S. Agree On Plan to Allow Sale Of Wireless Licenses
WP: Wireless Phone Firm to Return Licenses
Philanthropy
WP: Bankrolling an Activist Agenda
** Universal Service **
Title: Gore Ties Grants To Schools, Libraries To Internet Protection
Source: Wall Street Journal (A24)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The White House wants schools and libraries to develop plans to
protect children from inappropriate material on the Internet before they can
receive federal technology grants. In a speech to the Nat'l P.T.A., Vice
President Gore said that "as we connect every school and classroom to the
Internet, we must protect our children from the red-light districts of
cyberspace." Mr. Gore urged Congress to pass legislation making federal
subsidies for school and library technology contingent on such safeguards.
This spring, schools and libraries nationwide are expected to begin
receiving subsidies that will help pay for connections to the Internet
amounting to $2.25 billion a year.
Title: Furchtgott-Roth Attacks Use of State Funds For Universal Service
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: FCC Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth expanded his attack on the
FCC's role in implementing universal service to include its use of
intrastate revenues. "The legality of this approach to calculating
contributions is highly questionable," he said. In a five-page manifesto
released the day second-quarter universal service contribution factors take
effect, Furchgott-Roth defended state authority over intrastate revenues. He
said the law "makes clear" that the use of such monies "are within the
exclusive province of the states."
** Long Distance **
Title: Kennard Says FCC Already Has Provided Guidance On Section 271
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: There's little left to say on what standards Bell companies
need to meet to enter long distance, FCC Chairman Kennard told the Hill in a
letter Telecom A.M. obtained Mar. 23. Responding to the request of Senate
Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Brownback (R-KS)
that he lay out exactly what Bells must do, Chairman Kennard said the FCC
already has
done so in the course of prior rulemakings. He reiterated his "Golden Rule,"
a rephrasing of the Act's requirement of "nondiscriminatory access": Bell
companies don't need to achieve "perfection" in allowing competitors to sue
their facilities but must "do unto others" as they "would do unto [themselves]."
** Free Time for Candidates **
Title: FEC Rules Against Perot
Source: Washington Post (A17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/054l-032498-idx.html
Author: David S. Broder
Issue: Campaigns
Description: The Federal Election Commission made public yesterday a 5 to 0
decision which overruled a report by FEC general counsel Lawrence M. Noble.
Noble had charged that "the Commission on Presidential Debates and the Dole
and Clinton campaigns had violated the law by their actions in excluding
Perot and the Natural Law party candidate, John Hagelin," in the final
televised debate of the 1996 campaign. No explanation was provided for
yesterday's ruling, but FEC officials said one would be forthcoming.
** Mergers **
Title: Bertelsmann to Buy Random House
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Patrick M. Reilly & Greg Steinmetz
Issue: Mergers
Description: German media giant Bertelsmann AG rocked the publishing world
with plans to buy Random House, Inc. The two companies would combine into a
super-power that would dominate book publishing and wield enormous clout
over retailers, agents, and Hollywood. Bertelsmann and Advanced
Publications, owner of Random House, didn't release terms of the deal. But
Wall Street insiders estimate Bertelsmann is paying between $1.2 billion and
$1.4 billion. The purchase could also help Bertelsmann's chances of becoming
a major force on the Internet. The deal is already prompting some
predictions that Random House's new power will lower the prices authors
receive for their books.
Title: German Media Giant Will Buy Random House for $1.4 Billion
Source: New York Times (A1,D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/random.html
Author: Doreen Carvajal
Issue: Merger
Description: The German media giant, Bertelsmann, struck an estimated 41.4
billion deal yesterday to buy the "shiny crown jewel of American
publishing," Random House. The deal will increase Bertelsmann's share of the
$21 billion total book market in the U.S from nearly 6 percent to 10
percent. "It's as if the New York Yankees were sold," said Paul Aiken, the
executive director of the Authors Guild. "We're losing one of the major
players at a time when there's been a great deal of concern about
consolidation and fear of book contract cancellations. Our fear is that with
this sort of situation they're going to look for efficiencies and some ways
to cut costs." The merger further increases the power of Bertelsmann, which
currently ranks as the world's third-largest media conglomerate, behind
Disney and Time Warner.
Title: Random House Sold to German Publisher
Source: Washington Post (A1,A9)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/071l-032498-idx.html
Author: David Streitfeld and Paul Farhi
Issue: Merger
Description: Bertelsmann, the German media conglomerate, announced yesterday
that it would buy Random House, the "largest and most prominent" American
book publisher, from billionaire S.I. Newhouse. The agreement, estimated to
be worth $1.6 billion, marks another step towards the consolidation of
companies in the publishing industry. Following this deal, only seven major
New York publishing houses will be left -- four owned by foreign conglomerates.
** Internet **
Title: Group Contests Plan to Dispense Domain Names
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Internet
Description: A nonprofit group of Internet experts is challenging a U.S.
gov't. proposal to change the way the addresses are doled out. The Internet
Council of Registrars, known as CORE, has expressed disagreement with the
government proposal in the past, but yesterday it spoke out more defiantly.
"The Internet doesn't need a plan for the U.S. government to get out of
domain name oversight... it just needs the U.S. government to quietly step
aside," said Alan Hanson, chairman of CORE's exec committee. The Clinton
administration's proposal would create a not-for-profit corporation to
oversee domain names. It would also allow the creation of five new top-level
domain names, a move intended to ease a growing shortage of available names.
Title: Williams Cos. Sues WorldCom Alleging Network Deal Broken
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Legal Issues/Infrastructure
Description: Williams Cos. sued WorldCom alleging that the big
telecommunications company reneged on several provisions of an agreement
that allows Williams to use a strand of WorldCom's fiber-optic network.
Williams accused WorldCom of failing to comply with key elements of the
agreement, which the companies signed when Williams sold its WilTel
fiber-optic network to WorldCom in 1995 for $2.5 billion. The suit seeks
unspecified compensatory damages and a declaratory judgement ordering
WorldCom to comply with the agreement. Under the agreement, Williams can't
use the strand to compete with WorldCom in certain businesses, including
retail long-distance. But Williams contends that WorldCom has disputed
Williams' right to use the line for Internet traffic. Williams alleged that
WorldCom did so "for purposes of jeopardizing and thwarting" Williams'
relationships with its Internet customers.
** Arts **
Title: Moving Beyond Country Music to a Political Stage
Source: New York Times (3/23/98-B1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/arts-czar.html
Author: Peter Applebome
Issue: Arts
Description: Bill Ivey, who was nominated last month by President Clinton as
chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts, is described by those who
know him as a man who has "a folklorist's heart, an academic's head and a
politician's gut: all qualities he may need at the arts endowment." "Bill
Ivey's genius is that he has been able to speak a variety of different
languages," said Bruce Feiler, author of "Dreaming Out Loud: Garth Brooks,
Wynona Judd, Wade Hayes and the Changing Face of Nashville." "He speaks
politics, he speaks money, he speaks art, and he speaks academics, and those
are all skills he's going to need in Washington. He's a liberal-minded
intellectual who has managed to thrive in a conservative culture, all of
which makes him an ideal person to come to the NEA today." Ivey has declined
to talk about some of the endowment's more controversial issues, saying that
it is not appropriate to comment on matters that will surely come up at his
confirmation hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. But even if his stand
on issues have yet to be clarified, his stand on a Federal role in the arts
is clear. Ivey says that he is a strong believer in a government role for
the arts and is optimistic that the coming millennium will provide an arena
to increase public awareness of, attention on and interest in the nation's
artistic heritage and future.
** Spectrum **
Title: Pocket and U.S. Agree On Plan to Allow Sale Of Wireless Licenses
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Pocket Communications and the federal gov't. agreed on a
reorganization plan under bankruptcy proceedings that would allow Pocket's
wireless licenses in the Chicago and Dallas markets to be sold. Under the
plan, a yet-to-be-determined company with financial backing from five
communications companies would buy Pocket's 14 wireless-communications
licenses for $359 million. The five companies are Ericsson Inc., Siemens
Telecom Networks, Pacific Eagle Investments, Masa Telecom Inc., and Masa
Telecom Asia Investment. The plan requires bankruptcy-court approval. It
would untangle Pocket's licenses from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and
let the FCC sell the company's spectrum without losing money. Pocket won the
licenses as part of the FCC's so-called C-block auctions of wireless
spectrum two years ago.
Title: Wireless Phone Firm to Return Licenses
Source: Washington Post (C2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/026l-032498-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Pocket Communications Inc., a cellular phone company based in
Washington DC, bid $1.4 billion in 1996 auctions to win 43 wireless
licenses. Due to Pocket's inability to pay for them, Pocket, along with its
license-owning subsidiary DCR PCS Inc., will return many of the licenses
back to the federal government and hand the rest over to a new company.
These steps are part of a bankruptcy settlement announced yesterday by the
Federal Communications Commission. The agreement helps to clear up "the most
embarrassing chapter in the FCC's auction program, the 1996 competition for
so-called C-Block licenses. Bids went sky-high to a total of $10.2 billion,
but afterward many of the winners went back to the commission saying they
could not raise the money necessary to pay for the license and build
businesses."
** Philanthropy **
Title: Bankrolling an Activist Agenda
Source: Washington Post (A17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/105l-032498-idx.html
Author: Judith Havemann
Issue: Philanthropy
Description: Paul C. Light, director of Pew Charitable Trusts, is heading up
one of the most activist philanthropic agendas in the nation. Light was
recruited in 1995 to invest foundation resources in "bold political, news
media and administrative experiments to ameliorate," what Pew Trust
President Rebecca W. Rimel calls, a "democratic crisis" in America. Since
that time, Light has "pushed to improve political campaign consulting,
campaign finance and campaign discourse. He has funded an experiment with
campaign codes of conduct, financed a training program for political
candidates and studied the role of polling as well as the sources of
declining trust in government. He has attempted to assess the results of
civic journalism and to encourage civic engagement." As a professor at the
Univ. of Minnesota, a writer at the Brookings Institute, author of 10 books
and innumerable articles, and now with his position at Pew, Paul Light has
become one of the "best-known" scholars on government. "Paul Light is the
most original thinker in the field of public administration today," said
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). For many years "everybody has been
starting up institutes on policy. But policy doesn't get you very far if you
can't make it work," he said.
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