Welcome to transition day! This is Kevin's last day in the Washington office
of the Benton Foundation. For the next two weeks at least, Betsy Puckett
will delivering you your daily Headlines. In therapy, Kevin will return to
Headlines when he is settled in Chicago in early May.
Telephone Regulation
NYT: Phone Carrier Fraud Brings Big U.S. Fine
WSJ: FCC Fines Virginia Firm $5.6 Million, Revokes License for Phone
"Slamming"
WP: FCC Pulls Licenses of Slamming "King"
Internet
NYT: ISPs and Copyright Producers Reach Content Agreement
Campaigns
NYT: Connecticut Considers Banning Officials From Broadcast Ads
NYT: Campaign Reform Countdown
Jobs/Education
NYT: Schools Train Students to Staff Computer Help Desks
Antitrust
WSJ: Microsoft Injunction Comes Under Fire
WP: Microsoft, Justice Argue Software Issue in Court
International
WSJ: Leave It to Vishnu: Gods of Indian TV Are Hindu Deities
Lifestyles
NYT: Web Site Dishes Dirt on Major Polluters
** Telephone Regulation **
Title: Phone Carrier Fraud Brings Big U.S. Fine
Source: New York Times (D1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/fcc-phone-slamming.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: FCC Regulation
Description: The Federal Communications Commission yesterday levied its
largest fine ever for slamming against a small long-distance operator called
Fletcher Cos. The $5.7 million fine was issued for the illegal practice of
slamming, a telecommunications-industry term for switching a customer's
long-distance provider without "explicit" permission. "At the FCC, consumers
come first," said FCC Chairman William Kennard in a statement. "We will not
tolerate slammers."
Title: FCC Fines Virginia Firm $5.6 Million, Revokes License for Phone
"Slamming"
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B7)
Author: John Simmons
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: Last year, the Federal Communications Commission received
20,000 consumer complaints about "slamming," the practice of some companies
to switch a household's long distance provider without their permission.
Yesterday, the FCC took its strongest action ever against slamming by fining
Fletcher Cos. $5.6 million and revoked its operating license. However, the
FCC is unlikely to collect the fine anytime soon. The company is already out
of business and investigators have been unable to locate the company's
principal, Daniel Fletcher. [See also Telecom AM: "FCC REVOKES SLAMMER'S
OPERATING AUTHORITY, FINES IT $5.7 MILLION" and "KENNARD TO CIRCULATE
'BROAD' ANTISLAMMING RULES"]
Title: FCC Pulls Licenses of Slamming 'King'
Source: Washington Post (C11,C14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/22/026l-042298-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: FCC Regulation
Description: The Federal Communications Commission yesterday revoked the
operating licenses of a long-distance carrier and levied a $5.7 million fine
against the company's owner for unauthorized switching of consumers'
long-distance service. The Feds are now looking for the mysterious owner,
Daniel Fletcher, who they are calling the "king of the slammers." Officials
say that Fletcher hasn't been heard of since he left a message at the FCC
two years ago and he has refused to respond to repeated agency inquiries
sent to post office addresses in DC, Northern VA, and Texas. "This is a
truly bad actor," said FCC Chairman William Kennard. "He is a fellow who
clearly had intent to violate the FCC's rules and we're hitting him hard."
** Internet **
Title: ISPs and Copyright Producers Reach Content Agreement
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/22copyright.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: As of this week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will
consider an agreement with Internet service providers where the providers
would not have to police their networks for subscribers transmitting stolen
goods, such as software, video, or music, but if the Internet companies
learn of the abuse, they must stop it. The compromise breaks a two-year
industry stalemate and marks a "potentially pivotal" break with traditional
copyright law and efforts to update the rules for Cyberspace.
** Campaigns **
Title: Connecticut Considers Banning Officials From Broadcast Ads
Source: New York Times (A27)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/ct-ad-ban.html
Author: Jonathan Rabinovitz
Issue: Campaigns
Description: In the Connecticut State House of Representatives today,
politicians are debating a bill that would "bar state and city officials who
are candidates for election from appearing in publicly financed broadcast
advertisements." The spotlight of the debate is Gov. John G. Rowland (R) and
his administration who has spent about $1.6 million on a television and
radio campaign where Rowland appears with his wife Patricia "bantering over
the delights" of Connecticut. If the measure passes before the session ends
next month, Connecticut would be the first state to "restrict" officials who
are running for office from "appearing in commercials that are paid for by
taxpayers."
Title: Campaign Reform Countdown
Source: New York Times (A30)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/22wed3.html
Author: NYTimes Editorial Staff
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: The campaign finance reform petition is only 16 votes short of
bringing reform legislation to the floor. House minority leader Richard
Gephardt has proven to be successful in getting almost all members to sign
the reform petition. But some important exceptions remain. "Today we urge
voters to press other holdouts of both parties in New York and
elsewhere...Victory is within reach."
** Jobs/Education **
Title: Schools Train Students to Staff Computer Help Desks
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/education/22education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Jobs/Education
Description: The Massachusetts Dept. of Education, headquartered in Malden,
is getting ready to launch a program that will use "specially-trained" high
school students as "in-house" computer technicians. "We are committed to
relying increasingly on trained students to provide technical support to the
Malden facility," said Gregory G. Nadeau, chief technology officer for the
Mass. Dept. of Education. Through making this commitment, the department is
joining a growing number of institutions around the country that are
training students in computer skills and then using them to help reduce the
labor costs associated with running school computer systems. This trend
highlights a problem being faced by school districts that have decided to
offer "cutting-edge" computer systems and courses in an effort to satisfy
everyone from parents to the White House. These school districts, like
corporations, are finding they increasingly need technical support to help
solve computer glitches and problems. But unlike corporations, they do not
have the money to pay for an information systems department. "So, enter the
student trainees."
** Antitrust **
Title: Microsoft Injunction Comes Under Fire
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A3)
Author: John Wilke
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Microsoft case moved to a three-judge appeals panel
yesterday. Many of the judges questions seemed to indicate that they agree
with the software giant that a lower court ruling exceeded the court's
authority. The preliminary injunction forced Microsoft to make available a
version of its desktop software without its Internet browser product.
Title: Microsoft, Justice Argue Software Issue in Court
Source: Washington Post (C11,C13)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/22/025l-042298-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Lawyers for the Justice Dept. and Microsoft Corp. met yesterday
in a federal appeals court over the distribution of Internet software.
Microsoft argued that "U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson
overstepped his authority in December when he sided with the Justice Dept.
in issuing an injunction forcing the company to offer a version of its
Windows 95 operating system without a 'browser,' or software that gives
access to the Internet." Other lawyers at the Justice Dept. continue to
investigate Microsoft for a possible broad antitrust case that informed
sources say could be filed within the next two weeks.
** International **
Title: Leave It to Vishnu: Gods of Indian TV Are Hindu Deities
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A1)
Author: Jonathan Karp & Michael Williams
Issue: International/TV
Description: Approximately half of all Indians with access to a TV set tune
into "Shri Krishna," by far the most popular television show there. The
weekly program chronicles the "adventures of Krishna, a warrior god whose
discourse on the meaning of life is one of Hinduism's most sacred texts."
The show is popular, but also controversial. "I've brought back faith in
God," says Ramanand Sagar who created the show. But in a nation of Muslim and
other minorities, the country's founders have tried to forge a secular
national identity which some think this program and others like it undermine.
** Lifestyles **
Title: Web Site Dishes Dirt on Major Polluters
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/22earth.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Lifestyles
Description: In honor of Earth Day Wednesday, one of the "most ambitious"
environmental sites on the Web is the week-old "Chemical Scorecard" created
by the Environmental Defense Fund. The site ranks the ZIP codes, counties
and states with the heaviest emissions, can tell you which local companies
are releasing hazardous chemicals, what the chemicals are and what they may
be doing to your health, and you can search their database to find out all
you never wanted to know about what thousands of "itrates" and "ides" are
capable of inflicting. However, what the site can't tell you is whether a
nearby chemical plant or company is ACTUALLY hazardous to your health.
"What's on everybody's mind is, 'Am I safe or not?' No database can tell you
that," said David Roe, senior counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund.
"We can tell you how much is going out of the smoke stack, but not how much
is going into your nose." You can access this site at:
http://www.scorecard.org/
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