Antitrust/Microsoft
WSJ: Bork Calls for Sherman Antitrust Case Against
Microsoft, Will Advise Netscape
NYT: Small Browser Concession From Microsoft
WP: Opponents of Microsoft Open Drive for Wider Antitrust Case
WP: Windows 98 Goes Buggy on Bill at Trade Show
Ownership
TelecomAM: Kennard Says FCC May Promote Minority Ownership
Competition
TelecomAM: Report Says Bells Still Haven't Opened Local Market
FCC: Means for Incumbent Local Phone Companies to Measure, Report on
Competitor's Access to Networks
Digital TV
FCC: Digital Television Fact Sheet and FAQs
Campaign Finance Reform
NYT: Closing In on Campaign Reform
Radio
WP: FCC Weighs Licenses for 'Micro' Stations
FCC
FCC: 63rd FCC Annual Report
** Antitrust **
Title: Bork Calls for Sherman Antitrust Case Against Microsoft, Will Advise
Netscape
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B10)
Author: John Wilke & David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Conservative legal scholar and former judge Robert Bork is
calling for a new Sherman antitrust case against software giant Microsoft.
Mr. Bork has been retained by Netscape Communications Corp to advise on
legal strategy. "Microsoft has assembled overwhelming market share and
imposes conditions to exclude rivals," Bork said. "This is not a challenge
to Microsoft's size, but to predatory practices." A Washington antitrust
lawyer said Bork "chooses his cases carefully and would not take on a client
like this" unless he felt there are significant policy issues at stake:
"He's not a hired gun." Bork helped redefine antitrust enforcement with such
works as the 1978 book, "The Antitrust Paradox."
Title: Small Browser Concession From Microsoft
Source: New York Times (D2)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/21microsoft.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Microsoft Corp. announced yesterday that it would give
personal computer makers an option on the first screen users would see when
they turn on their computers. In the past the display on the first screen
has been a collection of "entertainment and commerce Web sites hand-picked"
by Microsoft. This concession marks the third time in the last two months
Microsoft has bowed to industry pressure to "fine-tune" business contracts.
Title: Opponents of Microsoft Open Drive for Wider Antitrust Case
Source: Washington Post (C2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/21/043l-042198-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Several trade associations and companies that are critical of
Microsoft Corp.'s business practices announced yesterday that they have
joined together to launch an "aggressive" lobbying campaign against the
software company. The group, called the Project to Promote Competition and
Innovation in the Digital Age (ProComp) will "encourage federal and
state regulators to pursue a broader antitrust case against Microsoft."
Former Senate majority leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) and former federal
appellate judge Robert Bork announced the group's formation. Dole has been
hired as a strategic advisor to ProComp. and Bork has been retained by one
of the group's members, Netscape Communications Corp. to present legal
arguments to the Justice Dept. ProComp includes several firms who have been
vocal in their criticism of Microsoft for sometime, like Oracle Corp. and
Sun Microsystems.
Title: Windows 98 Goes Buggy on Bill at Trade Show
Source: Washington Post (C2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/21/035l-042198-idx.html
Author: News Service
Issue: Technology
Description: Microsoft Corp.'s "'perfect tuneup' for its widely used
operating system needed a tuneup itself yesterday: Windows 98 crashed" as
company employee standing with Chairman Bill Gates attempted to plug in a
scanner to demonstrate how easily new hardware could be added to a computer.
When the employee picked up the scanner to show how small it was, the huge
expo screens mirroring the computer's screen "filled with a message all too
familiar to Windows 95 users: 'Fatal Exception Error.'" Bill Gates ruefully
noted to the large crowd at the Comdex computer expo in Chicago, "I guess we
still have some bugs to work out. That must be why we're not shipping
Windows 98 yet." Gates was forced to switch over to another computer to
finish his demonstration.
** Ownership **
Title: Kennard Says FCC May Promote Minority Ownership
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Ownership
Description: FCC Chairman Bill Kennard, speaking to the National Black
Chamber of Commerce, said the FCC will complete a proceeding that is aimed
at promoting minority ownership in broadcast and other telecommunications
industries. Chairman Kennard said the proceeding will "explore new
incentives" to promote minority ownership.
** Competition **
Title: Report Says Bells Still Haven't Opened Local Market
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: Consumer Group Americans for Competitive Telecommunications has
released a report that finds minimal movement toward competition in the
local phone market. In the 14 states where Bells have applied to offer long
distance service, "There is virtually no residential competition, only
limited competition for business customers and critical steps" outlined by
the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to open markets have not been taken.
Title: Means for Incumbent Local Phone Companies to Measure, Report on
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." See notice of proposed rulemaking at
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Notices/1998/fcc98072.html.
Comment Date: June 1, 1998 Reply Date: June 22, 1998
** Digital TV **
Title: Digital Television Fact Sheet and FAQs
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/1998/nrmm8012.html
Issue: Digital TV
Description: "A fact sheet on Digital Television (DTV) tower siting issues
and a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about various issues
concerning DTV and DTV implementation is now available on the FCC's Mass
Media Bureau's homepage with direct links to other FCC websites.
(http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/prd/dtv/). The fact sheet and FAQs provide
background on DTV generally as well as details on DTV implementation and
issues raised in the siting of the towers needed to provide this service.
They were prepared by FCC staff to help inform consumers, broadcasters, and
local communities and officials generally about the new technology of DTV
and its implementation. The fact sheet and FAQ cover questions about the
nature of DTV, how it affects the public, what kinds of changes in services
and products it will provide, the schedule to transition to digital
television, the facilities necessitated by the transition to DTV and the
regulation and safety issues raised by new facilities necessary to provide
the service."
** Campaign Finance Reform **
Title: Closing In on Campaign Reform
Source: New York Times (A26)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/21tue1.html
Author: NYTimes Editorial Staff
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: As members of Congress return to work today following their
Easter recess, five more Republicans in the House of Representatives are
prepared to sign a petition to release campaign finance reform legislation
from committee and bring it to the floor for a vote. The petition now holds
201 supporting signatures, only 18 short of the number needed. Although 90
percent of the Democrats support the cause, there are still 17 "holdouts."
About 40 Republicans who have endorsed the bill in the past have not been
willing to sign the petition. "Many of the holdouts say they are refusing to
sign the petition out of respect for the committee system and Mr. Gingrich's
leadership. But the Speaker has forfeited any such deference, and in any
case, many of these members have signed petitions to overrider committees in
the past. Still other members are nervous because anti-abortion groups
charge that the legislation would restrict their right to run campaign
commercials. That assertion is false. The bill would simply apply
longstanding curbs on financing to all campaign ads, including theirs. After
nearly two years of disclosures about the worst fund-raising excesses in a
generation, voters do not want excuses. They want reform."
** Radio **
Title: FCC Weighs Licenses for 'Micro' Stations
Source: Washington Post (C1,C4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/21/041l-042198-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: Radio
Description: Nickolaus Leggett, a technical writer from Reston, VA, has
proposed small radio stations, with no more than one watt of power each, to
help bring about "a revolution in community communications, as civic groups,
small businesses and talkative individuals" "pump out" their messages. These
stations would have just enough power to broadcast a signal in about a one
mile radius, but not enough to overlap with each other. Leggett has proposed
licensing micro-broadcasters for free and setting minimal Federal
Communication Commission technical requirements so that stations could
operate on equipment costing as little as $500. FCC Chairman, William
Kennard, "who is eager to boost minority ownership of broadcast stations,"
has "championed" Leggett's idea within the FCC and is starting to put the
proposal out for public comment. When the comment period, the first step in
the FCC's lengthy approval process, expires next month, the commission could
move to formally adopt the proposal. Since 1996 when Congress enacted a law
eliminating restrictions on the number of radio stations a company can own
nationwide, the buying frenzy that has taken place has driven the prices of
stations up so high that it has become extremely difficult for small
entrepreneurs to get into the business. To counter criticism, the
National Association of Broadcasters released a survey last week
showing that radio stations have increased
their air time for public service campaigns by donating $574 million last
year, an increase of 6 percent from 1996. But according to the Benton
Foundation and the Media Access Project (MAP) "these public service ads often
fail to address issues of local interest." Community-based mini stations
would be "a logical response to the demand for more and better local public
service programming," said MAP's Andrew Jay Schwartzman. "We ought to change
the regulations and let 10,000 flowers transmit."
** FCC **
Title: 63rd FCC Annual Report
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/annual_report_97.html
Issue: FCC
Description: The 63rd Annual Report of the Federal Communications
Commission, covering the period October 1, 1996, through September 30, 1997,
(fiscal year 1997), is now available on- line.
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