Television
B&C: What public service! What public service?
WSJ: Dual Threatens To Delay Debut of Digital TV
B&C: Tauzin: Must-see HDTV
FCC: TV Translator and Low Power TV Applications
NYT: Critics Assail PBS Over Plan For Toys Aimed at Toddlers
WSJ: US West Is Set to Offer TV Programming And Internet
Access Over Phone Lines
Jobs
B&C: Court KO's EEO
NYT: Use of Work Visas by Technology Companies Is Under Fire
Competition
FCC: Competitor's Access to Networks
Disabilities
FCC: Access to Telecommunications Services and Equipment by
Persons with Disabilities
Education
NYT: Undergraduate Education is Lacking, Report Finds
NYT: Corporate Sponsorship of Educational Technology Program
Raises Concerns
Microsoft
WP: Gates to Unveil Windows 98, Awaits Legal Showdown
America Online
WP: Behind the AOL Health Insurance Partnership
** Television **
Title: What public service! What public service?
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.22)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Television
Description: At last week's meeting of the Gore Commission, competing sides
took shots at each other's research on public service. "What I want to
know," the Media Access Project's Gigi Sohn asked, "is why good broadcasters
cover up for bad broadcasters." She pointed to joint MAP and Benton
Foundation research that found that 70% of commercial stations in five US
markets aired no local public affairs programming during a two-week period.
The MAP/Benton study drew criticism because it only covered two weeks while
a NAB study covered an entire year. Ms. Sohn also offered a new proposal for
public interest obligations for digital broadcasters. The plan would require
that stations devote 20% of their digital capacity or programming time to
public interest programming. Broadcasters could be relieved of public
interest obligations by paying 3% that would go to support noncommercial
programming on public stations. [See What's Local About Local Broadcasting
at http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV
Title: Dual Threatens To Delay Debut of Digital TV
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B1)
Author: Kyle Pope & Leslie Cauley
Issue: Digital TV
Description: "Are cable companies required to carry whatever digital signals
broadcasters send them?" Broadcasters say, Yes; cable operators say, No. The
fight may need to settled in court. The largest cable industry trade group
will begin briefing the press on the issue tomorrow. Broadcasters claim that
if cable operators do not carry digital TV signals, the result will be a
domino effect: digital TV sets will not sell, producers will not make
digital TV programs, and the new digital TV world will never get off the
ground. "As a national policy, we would not want 70% of the public deprived
of the best digital TV," says National Association of Broadcasters President
Eddie Fritts. "If digital TV is the national policy, it seems to me it ought
to apply to cable." The president of the National Cable Television
Association said, "I'd love to have the government and broadcasters explain
to 99.9% of our customers why they have four blank channels so 400 rich
people...can watch two hours of programming a week on their $7,000
television sets."
Title: Tauzin: Must-see HDTV
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.26)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: On April 23, House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman
Billy Tauzin (R-LA) will hold a hearing to ask cable executives what their
plans and abilities are to deliver broadcasters' digital signals. "If cable
cannot offer a digital carry-through, then we're in a world of trouble,"
said a spokesperson for Rep Tauzin. A preliminary witness list for the
hearing includes: TCI's Leo Hindery, CBS's Michael Jordan, ABC's Preston
Padden, FOX's Chase Carey, and Consumer Electronics Manufacturers
Associations's Gary Shapiro.
Title: TV Translator and Low Power TV Applications
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/LPTV_Notices/pnmm8057.
html
Issue: Digital TV
Description: "By this Public Notice, the Commission today grants the request
of the National Translator Association (NTA) to postpone from April 20,
1998, until June 1, 1998, the first day for filing "DTV displacement relief"
applications by licensees and permittees of low power television (LPTV) and
TV translator stations. On March 24, 1998, the NTA filed its "Ex Parte
Request for Stay of Effective Date of Eligibility for Filing DTV Related
Displacement Applications," seeking this delay."
Title: Critics Assail PBS Over Plan For Toys Aimed at Toddlers
Source: New York Times (A1,A17)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/teletubbies-marketing.html
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Public TV
Description: The merchandizing schemes that Public Broadcasting Service has
begun to attach to Britain's Teletubbies, a show designed for 1- and
2-year-olds, is causing concern among some children's advocates. The concern
is two-fold. One worry revolves around the nurturing of "a consumer
mentality in children not yet able to speak properly." "A child that young
doesn't say, 'Buy me that,' but in the store she will grab for something,"
said Dr. Kathryn Montgomery, president of the Center for Media Education and
a respected researcher on children and media. "And parents want to please
their children. Marketing like this helps encourage that first, 'Buy me
that' exchanges between a parent and a child before the kid even knows how
to say 'Buy me that.'" The other concern is that PBS programmers might be
influenced in their choosing of programs by the consideration of how much
money PBS could make from toys and other products tied to the program.
Critics warn that with PBS's chronic financial need, such "windfalls could
be tempting enough to sway judgements about a program's suitability," a
notion that PBS rejects.
Title: US West Is Set to Offer TV Programming And Internet Access
Over Phone Lines
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B2)
Author: Stephanie Mehta
Issue: Convergence
Description: Using variable digital subscriber lines (VDSL), US West plans
to offer 120 television channels, 40 digital music channels and Internet
access over traditional cooper wire telephone lines. Starting in Phoenix,
the service will be priced at rates "comparable" to the monthly fees charged
by Cox Communications, the primary cable operator in the area. The cable
industry is expected to install some 300,000 high-speed modems for Internet
access. "If you're a phone company, you're going to roll out a package of
services that will blunt the attack from the cable companies, which are
trying to take away phone customers," said an industry analyst from
International Data.
** Jobs **
Title: Court KO's EEO
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Minorities/Jobs
Description: The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing options now
that a 27-year-old program aimed at diversifying the work force in
broadcasting has been struck down by a Washington, DC court. "Even assuming
that the commission's interests were compelling, its EEO regulations are
quite obviously not narrowly tailored," wrote Judge Laurence Silberman.
Commerce Department Assistant Secretary Larry Irving said, "If it stands, it
could have a devastating effect. Rules aren't in place for good actors.
There are some broadcasters who will slide backwards."
Title: Use of Work Visas by Technology Companies Is Under Fire
Source: New York Times (D1,D10)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/biztech/articles/20visa.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Jobs
Description: The Immigration and Naturalization Service recently gave
immigration figures to Congress showing that the 10 companies using the most
visas last year all provide contract labor and services. These include jobs
like computer software installation and maintenance -- positions which
critics maintain do not necessarily require college-level science and math
degrees and Americans could be easily trained to perform. "This is not brain
surgery," Representative Ron Klink (D-PA), said of the positions being
filled by foreign workers. "These jobs do require some skill and intellect.
But American workers can be trained to take these jobs." Harris Miller,
president of the Information Technology Association of America, points out
that the American information technology industry has 346,000 job openings
-- more than enough for foreign workers and Americans alike. Many technology
companies hire the majority of their foreign employees via H1-B visas (the
type for highly skilled employees) and most of these workers hold master's
degrees or doctorates.
** Competition **
Title: Competitor's Access to Networks
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8032.html
Issue: Competition
Description: "The Commission has proposed a set of model rules by which to
gauge whether new providers of local telephone service are able to access
certain services and functions of incumbent local telephone companies in a
manner consistent with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The proposed
model rules are designed to help pave the way to more robust competition in
the local telephone market while reducing the need for regulatory oversight.
By proposing to adopt model rules in the first instance, rather than legally
binding federal rules, the Commission seeks to assist states in the
technical area of performance measurements without hampering current state
efforts to develop such measurements."
** Disabilities **
Title: Access to Telecommunications Services and Equipment by
Persons with Disabilities
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
Issue: Disabilities
Description: FCC set forth proposals to implement and enforce the
requirement of Section 255 that telecommunications offerings be accessible
to the extent readily achievable to the 54 million Americans with
disabilities; sought comment on these proposals. Comments due June 30;
replies August 14. Dkt No.:WT- 96-198. Action by the Commission. Adopted:
April 2, 1998. by NPRM. (FCC No. 98-55).
** Education **
Title: Undergraduate Education is Lacking, Report Finds
Source: New York Times (A12)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/undergrads-report.html
Author: Karen W. Arenson
Issue: Education
Description: According to 'an unusually candid' report from the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the acclaimed research
universities of the United States are "shortchanging" their undergraduate
students, particularly freshman. The report, by a 11-member commission whose
members included officials of research universities, said that more
university undergraduate classes are being taught by graduate assistants and
universities failed to provide students with "a coherent body of knowledge"
by the time they graduated. The report says that there is a "longstanding
division between research and teaching that should be ended and that
universities should involve undergraduates in research beginning in the
freshman year." "What we need to do is create a culture of inquirers, rather
than a culture of receivers,' said Shirley Strum Kenny, the president of the
State univ. of New York at Stony Brook and chairwoman of the commission that
wrote the report. The report titled, "Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A
Blueprint for America's Research Universities," is scheduled to be released
today.
Title: Corporate Sponsorship of Educational Technology Program Raises Concerns
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/19teacher.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Education
Description: Integrate 98 is a national pilot project designed to train
teachers in how to access the Internet and how to use it to enhance a
typical lesson plan. The project is being offered free of charge and is a
joint effort of three major computer-related companies, Microsoft Corp.,
Compac Computer Corp., and Computer Curriculum Corp., an educational
software developer and a unit of Viacom Inc., and the Council of the Great
City Schools, a not-for-profit based in Washington D.C., which represents
about 50 large urban public school systems. Mark A. Root,
manager of technology and information services for the Council of the Great
City Schools, said, "The districts have gotten to a certain comfort level
with the technology. Now they realize they have to train people how to use
it. Also, teachers are starting to ask for training. The districts need to
answer that request." But the program has at least one educational expert
concerned. Douglas M. Sloan, a professor of history and education at the
Teachers College of Columbia Univ. in New York, opposes the rush to wire the
classroom and points out the value of wide-spread computer use in the
classroom has yet to be backed by research. He believes that many school
districts that are under pressure to solve serious education problems are
turning to technology as the cure-all solution. "They are afraid that if
they don't buy into it, they will get blamed for not being up to date," he
said. "It's going to take some courage to ask some basic questions about
when technology is appropriate and when it is not." Sloan also is wary of
the projects sponsorship by companies that have an economic interest in
developing the school market for computer-related products.
** Microsoft **
Title: Gates to Unveil Windows 98, Awaits Legal Showdown
Source: Washington Post (A12)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/20/070l-042098-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Microsoft Corp. is planning to make its Windows 98
operating system available to consumers starting on June 25, that is if
everything goes according to plan. Microsoft may face objections from not
only competitors, but from government antitrust officials as well. The
Justice Department and lawyers for the software company are scheduled to
meet at the U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday to discuss whether a federal
judge overstepped his authority when he issued a temporary injunction
requiring that Microsoft offer computer makers a version of its current
software, Windows 95, without its Internet Explorer 4.0 browsing software.
"Analysts and legal experts believe that the confrontation is likely to be
just a prelude to a more complex battle, namely whether Microsoft has taken
unfair advantage of its market clout and is squelching competition in
several software areas." Legal experts said that if federal and state
lawyers, that are cooperating with one another in the investigations, find
cause for a complaint, federal and state antitrust enforcers might launch
their suits together. If this happens, it will likely take place before the
company ships its final version of Windows 98.
** America Online **
Title: Behind the AOL Health Insurance Partnership
Source: Washington Post (Bus7)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/20/022l-042098-idx.html
Author: Jerry Knight
Issue: E-Commerce
Description: America Online Inc. is aiming to jump on the Internet commerce
bandwagon by beginning to offer its subscribers a variety of services. One
of its latest "forays" is the offering of health insurance to its members,
with the sales process to be entirely conducted over the Web. At first
glance it sounds like a good way for AOL to make its service more useful to
its members. But the vendor AOL chose for this venture, Provident American
Corp., based in Norristown, PA, is "in the midst of serious financial
difficulties, which are being examined by the Nasdaq Stock Market and could
cause Provident American's stock to be delisted." Experts in the insurance
industry also have doubts as to whether any insurance company can succeed at
selling health insurance online. But there's more, in an effort to "return
to profitability," Provident said it will impose "an increase in premium
rates, more stringent front-end underwriting standards and greater penalties
for out-of-network usage and administrative changes."
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