Web Site Offers Details On Taxes' Destination
New Jersey Telephone Plan Neglects the Poor, Critics Say
Bell Atlantic Says Approval Near for Merger With Nynex
For WNET, A New Fund And New Security
Major Newspapers Try to Adapt Personas To New Web Format
Bell Atlantic, Nynex Brace for Rejection
Seeking Online Privacy For a Nine-Digit Number
D.C. Library's Miscues Have a Net Effect
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Title: Web Site Offers Details On Taxes' Destination
Source: New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/) (A30)
Author: David W. Chen
Issue: Access to Government Information
Description: The New York City Independent Budget Office has opened a new
website called Tax Receipt which lets users input their tax information and
see "how much they contribute to city, state, and federal programs." The
site uses the motto "No taxation without explanation." People who don't
live in NYC can use the program to calculate their state and federal
contributions. The site is at www.ibo.nyc.ny.us
Title: New Jersey Telephone Plan Neglects the Poor, Critics Say
Source: New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/) (A31)
Author: Melody Petersen
Issue: Universal Service/Low-Income
Description: New Jersey's ratepayer advocate filed a complaint with the
state utility board that Bell Atlantic, which promised to wire every home
and business with fiber optic cable, has so far only done the suburban
areas and has bypassed the poorer urban enterprise zones. Bell Atlantic
says it is wiring the areas with the most demand first and that the whole
state will be done by 2010. "While the poor are assured access to low
rates for basic phone service through a Federal policy known as universal
access, so far there is not a clear policy to help low-income people into
the Information Age."
Title: Bell Atlantic Says Approval Near for Merger With Nynex
Source: New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/) (D1)
Author: Mark Landler
Issue: Phone Regulation/Media Mergers
Description: The federal Justice Department yesterday told Bell Atlantic
that it is unlikely to block Bell Atlantic's $22 billion merger with Nynex.
The government could always decide to sue later if it felt that the merger
stifled competition.
Title: For WNET, A New Fund And New Security
Source: New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/) (B1)
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Public Television
Description: New York's WNET's capital campaign has raised more than $70
million, "far more than has ever been raised by a public television station
before, with nearly two-thirds of it going into the station's first
endowment." The money will primarily be spent on development for Internet
educational services and programming and research.
Title: Major Newspapers Try to Adapt Personas To New Web Format
Source: Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com/) (B1)
Author: Walter S. Mossberg
Issue: Journalism/Old vs New Media
Description: How are three of the biggest papers doing on the web? The
Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times are
performing an online balancing act: "They must offer all of their
high-impact print content in a design that somehow conveys the authority of
their famous personas, while still finding a way to offer extra features
and benefits on the Web, with some of the design flair possible on a
computer." The article has a nice compare and contrast of the three
papers' sites.
Title: Bell Atlantic, Nynex Brace for Rejection
Source: Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com/) (B8)
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: Phone Regulation/Media Mergers
Description: Bell Atlantic and Nynex are gearing up to have their merger
rejected by the Justice Department's anti-trust division. "Some observers
believe, in fact, there is a better than 50% chance that anti-trust
enforcers will sue to block the transaction." A decision is expected within
a week. To stop the merger, the Justice Dept. must have proof that the
merger stifles competition. Proof, in other words, that Bell Atlantic was
planning to compete with Nynex in New York, but now will not because of the
merger.
Title: Seeking Online Privacy For a Nine-Digit Number
Source: Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) (A21)
Author: Barbara J. Saffir
Issue: Privacy/Access to Government Information
Description: Senators Feinstein (D-Calif) and Grassley (R-Iowa) have
introduced legislation which would make it illegal "for credit bureaus to
disseminate Social Security numbers, unlisted telephone numbers, birth
dates, mothers' maiden names," and game fowl in fruit trees. The proposal
would also make it illegal to use social security numbers commercially.
Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski has proposed legislation to "ban Social Security or
Internal Revenue Service records from being posted on the Internet without
an individual's written permission."
Title: D.C. Library's Miscues Have a Net Effect
Source: Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) (D1)
Author: Steve Twomey
Issue: Libraries
Description: In his column Twomey describes the saga on the DC public
library's financial crisis. Yesterday was National Library Log-On Day, but
visitors to the DC Public Library site were greeted with the message "This
Web Site has been taken off-line due to non-payment." Apparently, this
unpaid bill is just the tip of the iceberg, and the library is plagued with
missing accounts.
At the FCC
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