INTERNET
New Internet Board Makes First Policy Decisions (CyberTimes)
Raytheon Suit Raises Internet Privacy Questions (SJM)
FREE SPEECH
Professor Argues for Free Speech in Computer Tongues (CyberTimes)
MERGER
AT&T Chief: No Interest in Buying AOL (WP)
Metro Net Deal To Aid AT&T In Canada (WSJ)
Bell Atlantic, GTE Seek To Keep Internet Unit (WP)
ANTITRUST
On Breaking Up Microsoft Into 'Baby Bills' (NYT)
ADVERTISING
Philip Morris Taps Old Miller Lite Formula (WSJ)
INTERNET
NEW INTERNET BOARD MAKES FIRST POLICY DECISIONS
Issue: Internet Regulation
On Thursday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
http://www.icann.org adopted criteria for businesses wanting to compete in
the domain name registration business. "We made some major progress today
towards creating a truly competitive environment in the '.com,' '.net' and
'.org' domain naming system," said Esther Dyson, interim chairman of ICANN's
Initial Board of Directors. "We also showed the consensus process in
operation by changing our initial proposals to reflect the community's
feedback." Details of the changes are not expected to be available for a
few days, but ICANN in a statement said: " The policy approved today
reflects a number of changes reflecting public comment, including
adjustments to make the requirements clearer and less burdensome, reduce
uncertainty for registrars and registrants, strengthen data escrow
provisions, and clarify the legal liabilities of registrants that license
names to anonymous third parties." The initial accreditation guidelines
called for prospective registrars to have $100,000 in liquid capital,
$500,000 in liability insurance, a proven computer infrastructure and five
employees. Dyson said that in relaxing the guidelines the board would allow
exceptions to some of the standards.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing jeri( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/cyber/articles/05domain.html
RAYTHEON SUIT RAISES INTERNET PRIVACY QUESTIONS
Issue: Privacy
The defense giant Raytheon is suing 21 online chatters who it suspects are
employees that have disclosed company secrets. Message regarding manpower
and finical issues for the company were discovered on a Yahoo run chat
group. Yahoo says it will not reveal the identity of the offending chatters
unless it is subpoenaed to do so. "You may not approve of what Raytheon is
doing, but from a legal perspective they have a right to do it,'' said labor
lawyer Scott Charnas. Raytheon is attempting to secure an injunction against
the chatters, to prevent further disclosure of company secrets. Many of the
messages in question, however, were either speculative, inaccurate, or
already public.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/076957.htm
FREE SPEECH
PROFESSOR ARGUES FOR FREE SPEECH IN COMPUTER TONGUES
Issue: Free Speech/Encryption
0011001 001 110 000 and I'm not going to take it anymore! In a widely
watched case before a federal court, Prof Peter D. Junger
http://samsara.law.cwru.edu/, who teaches a course in computers and the
law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (OH), is arguing that
the instructions written by computer programmers are a form of expression as
fully entitled to free-speech protection as a published article or the notes
in a musical score. Junger is challenging US export restrictions on strong
encryption software, which scrambles data to keep it private. Federal
officials argue that the export regulations are necessary for national
security, to prevent terrorists and criminals from hiding their
communications. "Source code is a uniquely tailored language that speaks
with tremendous precision to methodological discussion," said Raymond
Vasvari, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio
Foundation http://www.acluohio.org/, which is representing Junger. Stewart
A. Baker, a Washington-based lawyer and former general counsel at the
National Security Agency, said "I think in the end, the First Amendment
argument is not a winner. I think the government is right, that source code
is probably better understood as a thing that changes machine behavior." Mr.
Baker contends that source code exists largely to allow for communication
between people and computers, but the First Amendment exists to protect
communication among people. The issue will ultimately be decided by the
Supreme Court, many believe.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels mendels( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/cyber/cyberlaw/05law.html
MERGER
AT&T CHIEF: NO INTEREST IN BUYING AOL
Issue: Merger
Rumors of a pending union between AT&T and America Online are unfounded,
AT&T CEO Michael Armstrong said yesterday. "We are absolutely not interested
in nor are we pursuing acquiring America Online," he stated in a speech in
Washington. His statement follows a report in Business Week magazine that
Wall Street was speculating over a merger. AT&T had considered a purchase of
AOL prior to their purchase of Tele-Communications Inc. Armstrong also
knocked down reports of a potential pact in which AT&T would pay to market
its telephone services to subscribers of AOL.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/march99/aol_att0304.htm
METRO NET DEAL TO AID AT&T IN CANADA
Issue: Telephony
AT&T has reached a pact with MetroNet, Canada's largest provider of local phone
service. The new company will be called AT&T Canada. Speaking of the MetroNet
deal and AT&T's recent joint venture agreement with British Telecommunications,
Dan Somers, Chairman of AT&T Canada had this to say: "We can now leverage all
of these assets to serve major corporations in Canada with the finest product
set." AT&T officials hope the deal will bolster AT&T's dominance in North
America. Deregulation in Canada is sparking much US interest there, Blumenstein
and De Santis report. Bell Canada, the biggest telecom company in Canada
announced earlier this week to work with MCI WorldCom to sell the US's
company's services in Canada. Meanwhile, Ian Grant, a consultant with Yankee
Group in Canada, says that the AT&T/MetroNet deal puts AT&T Canada ahead of
other major Canadian companies that don't have national and long-distance
services in place.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Blumenstein and De Santis ]
http://wsj.com/
BELL ATLANTIC, GTE SEEK TO KEEP INTERNET UNIT
Issue: Merger
Bell Atlantic and GTE asked the Federal Communications Commission this week
to be allowed to keep GTE's fast-growing Internet division while they drop
some long distance service. Under their suggestion, they would drop consumer
long distance operations in any state where Bell Atlantic did not have
permission to offer that service. In the letter, the companies asked the
agency to grant a temporary exemption to a law prohibiting Bell Atlantic
from offering long distance and some Internet service and said the "limited,
interim relief" they were seeking would serve the public interest. The
companies contend the Internet service would keep competition in the
Internet backbone market. Bell Atlantic has not filed any applications with
the FCC to provide long distance in its local service area but is expected
to file in a few months for long distance operations in New York and other
states.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/march99/bellat0304.htm
ANTITRUST
ON BREAKING UP MICROSOFT INTO 'BABY BILLS'
Issue: Antitrust
The Software and Information Industry Administration http://www.siia.net/
presented the Justice Department last week a recommendation on how to break
up Microsoft into three stand alone companies: one would get the operating
system business, one would handle software applications like Word, Excel and
PowerPoint, and the third would get the Internet media and commerce
business. The breakup is attractive to the industry because it would change
Microsoft's relationship with other companies: Even though a software firm
may compete with Microsoft, it also needs the cooperation of MS so that its
software can interact with Windows. Microsoft has objected to the report
claiming it was written mainly by its rivals.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/biztech/articles/05structure.html
...and just one more for the weekend...
ADVERTISING
PHILIP MORRIS TAPS OLD MILLER LITE FORMULA
Issue: Advertising
"I want to like Rebecca, I really do, but she thinks Miller Lite tastes great
because it's smooth," says Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated writer. Rebecca
Romijn-Stamos, swimsuit model retorts: "And Rick thinks it's because of the
choice of hops." Miller Lite is bringing back it's 24-year-old campaign, but
instead of talking about great taste and less filling, they're getting a bit
more articulate about the beer drinking experience. The new ads will talk about
hops, flavor and texture. President of marketing for Miller Lite, Jack Rooney,
says it's an attempt to distance the company from a two-year, unsuccessful
marketing experiment that used "adolescent humor," and to head off rising sales
of rival beers Bud Light and Coors Light. The original campaign was dropped in
1991 when sales were down. Rooney says the new approach to the old ad formula
will work because it will stay in the beer-drinker's habitat--the bar, and they
will talk about what really matters to beer drinkers--taste and ingredients.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B9), AUTHOR: Sally Beatty]
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...and we're outta here. We'll be back on the same bat channel next week.
See you at the Big Ten tournament: Go Cats!