Communications-related Headlines for 4/3/2000

BROADCASTING
Statement on Low Power Radio (FCC)
Class A Television Service (FCC)

PRIVACY
Officials Worried Over A Sharp Rise In Identity Theft (NYT)

INTERNET/ONLINE SERVICES
Internet Tax (Senate)
AOL's Lyre? Two Words: Cash and Customers (WP)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Columbia in Web Venture To Share Learning For Profit (NYT)

PHILANTHROPY
Internet Millionaires Take a New Approach to Charity (NYT)

MERGERS
AT&T Group to Buy Net2Phone Stake In a Turning Point for
Web Telephony (WP)
Merger Approvals (FCC)

ANTITRUST
Analysts See Risk For Microsoft, But Gates Hopes To Win Appeal (NYT)

RELIGION
Wailing Wall Vs Firewalls As Rabbis Ban Web (SJM)

BROADCASTING

STATEMENT ON LOW POWER RADIO
Issue: Radio
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Communications-related Headlines is a free daily online news
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COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for APRIL 3, 2000

BROADCASTING
Statement on Low Power Radio (FCC)
Class A Television Service (FCC)

PRIVACY
Officials Worried Over A Sharp Rise In Identity Theft (NYT)

INTERNET/ONLINE SERVICES
Internet Tax (Senate)
AOL's Lyre? Two Words: Cash and Customers (WP)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Columbia in Web Venture To Share Learning For Profit (NYT)

PHILANTHROPY
Internet Millionaires Take a New Approach to Charity (NYT)

MERGERS
AT&T Group to Buy Net2Phone Stake In a Turning Point for
Web Telephony (WP)
Merger Approvals (FCC)

ANTITRUST
Analysts See Risk For Microsoft, But Gates Hopes To Win Appeal (NYT)

RELIGION
Wailing Wall Vs Firewalls As Rabbis Ban Web (SJM)

BROADCASTING

COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for APRIL 3, 2000

BROADCASTING
Statement on Low Power Radio (FCC)
Class A Television Service (FCC)

PRIVACY
Officials Worried Over A Sharp Rise In Identity Theft (NYT)

INTERNET/ONLINE SERVICES
Internet Tax (Senate)
AOL's Lyre? Two Words: Cash and Customers (WP)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Columbia in Web Venture To Share Learning For Profit (NYT)

PHILANTHROPY
Internet Millionaires Take a New Approach to Charity (NYT)

MERGERS
AT&T Group to Buy Net2Phone Stake In a Turning Point for
Web Telephony (WP)
Merger Approvals (FCC)

ANTITRUST
Analysts See Risk For Microsoft, But Gates Hopes To Win Appeal (NYT)

RELIGION
Wailing Wall Vs Firewalls As Rabbis Ban Web (SJM)

BROADCASTING

STATEMENT ON LOW POWER RADIO
Issue: Radio
Today's action by the House Commerce Committee would eliminate 75% of the
opportunities for schools, churches, transit authorities, local governments,
volunteer fire departments and other community and civic groups to have
access to the public's airwaves. Those who want to silence Low Power FM
radio are ignoring a strong, substantive, methodically-developed, two-year
public record replete with solid engineering analysis. As someone who began
my career in college radio, I would never authorize or approve a new radio
service that causes harmful interference to existing broadcasters. The only
real interference to Low Power FM radio is from high priced Washington
lobbyists.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/2000/stwek025.html)
See Also:
SUPPORT OF LOW POWER RADIO
Issue: Radio
The National Association of Broadcasters has been making misguided and
misleading claims about interference that low power radio will cause.
Congress is currently considering legislation that would end the FCC's new
low power radio service. This bill, entitled the "Radio Preservation Act of
1999," would reverse the FCC's decision to establish a low power radio
service and prevent the FCC from considering the issue again in the future.
A mark-up of this legislation is scheduled in the House Commerce Committee
on Tuesday, March 28. Find out more at the URL below.
[SOURCE: Media Access Project]
(http://www.mediaaccess.org/programs/lpfm/urgactn.html)

CLASS A TELEVISION SERVICE
Issue: Television
From Press Release: The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules
establishing a Class A television service. Class A licenses will be
available to qualifying low- power television ("LPTV") licensees. Class A
licensees will, in many respects, have "primary" status as television
broadcasters, thereby gaining a measure of protection from full-service
television stations. The Report and Order implements the Community
Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999 ("CBPA"), which was signed into law
November 29, 1999. The CBPA requires the Commission, within 120 days after
the date of enactment, to prescribe regulations establishing a Class A
television service available to licensees of qualifying low-power television
("LPTV") stations. The CBPA directs that Class A licensees be subject to the
same license terms and renewal standards as full-power television licensees,
and that Class A licensees be accorded primary status as television
broadcasters as long as they continue to meet the requirements set forth in
the statute for qualifying low-power stations. In addition to other matters,
the CBPA sets out certain certification and application procedures for
low-power television licensees seeking to obtain Class A status, prescribes
the criteria low-power stations must meet to be eligible for a Class A
license, and outlines the interference protection Class A applicants must
provide to full power analog (or "NTSC") and digital television stations
("DTV"), LPTV, and TV translator stations.
Mass Media Bureau Contacts: Kim Matthews - Service Rules (202) 418-2210
Keith Larson - Engineering (202) 418-2600
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2000/nrmm0006.html)

PRIVACY

OFFICIALS WORRIED OVER A SHARP RISE IN IDENTITY THEFT
Issue: Privacy
Law enforcement officials and consumer advocates are warning that the
Internet and Web sites that sell personal information are making it easier
for thieves to acquire credit, make purchases and even secure residences in
someone else's name. They are calling identity theft the signature crime of
the digital age. The Social Security Administration received 30,000
complaints about misuse of Social Security numbers last year -- up from
11,000 in 1998 and just 7,868 in 1997. "The Internet allows these criminals
to work anonymously and from all over the world," aid Gregory Regan, head of
the Secret Service's financial crimes division. "We don't think that people
should be afraid of using the Internet, but all of this enthusiasm should be
tempered with a little bit of caution."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Timpthy O'Brien (we think)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/03theft.html)
See Also:
WEB PRIVACY GROUP TO OFFER A SEAL OF APPROVAL
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Laurie Flynn]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/03priv.html)
E-WORLD: NET'S TOUGH QUESTION: COULD YOU SHOW ME SOME ID, PLEASE?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Thomas E. Weber]
(http://www.wsj.com)
WEB'S DESIGN HINDERS GOALS OF USER PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: David P. Hamilton]
(http://www.wsj.com)

INTERNET/ONLINE SERVICES

INTERNET TAX
Issue: Legislation
Full Senate Commerce Committee hearing set for Wednesday, April 12, at 9:30
a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Senator McCain will
preside. Members will examine S.2255, a bill to extend the Internet tax
moratorium for five years. Witnesses will be announced at a later time.
[SOURCE: US Senate]
(http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/press/106-149.html)

AOL'S LURE? TWO WORDS: CASH AND CUSTOMERS
Issue: Ecommerce
Why are fledgling companies so keen to hitch their wagons to AOL? Well,
because not only because AOL has a customer base of 22 million people,
it is also more than willing to make deals with startups that it see as
promising. AOL will trade venture funds and space in their universe for
equity in the startups. Currently the value of AOL's investments is more
than $2 billion. If a start up is willing to give AOL equity in its company,
the startup is rewarded with a lower promotional fee. This practice is not
without its critics. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) recently asked the chairs
of both AOL and its potential partner, media giant Time Warner, if the
equity-for-promotion deal doesn't violate a 1992 law preventing cable
companies for requiring that channels give the operator equity as a
condition of appearing on their networks. Steve Case, AOL's chairman,
responded that the two situations are not analogous, because while space on
a cable network is finite, the Internet is not. While AOL promotes its
partners to its subscribers, it does not block those who choose not to
partner with it.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12), AUTHOR: Nick Wingfield]
(http://www.wsj.com)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

COLUMBIA IN WEB VENTURE TO SHARE LEARNING FOR PROFIT
Issue: Intellectual Property
Columbia University, the New York Public Library, the British Library, the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, the London
School of Economics and Political Science and Cambridge University Press are
set to announce a for-profit venture (Fathom.com) to provide knowledge in
its broadest forms -- classes taught by prominent academics, reference
books, interviews and documents -- using new media technologies. "We want to
make sure that our core intellectual capital is not picked off by outside
for-profit vendors," said George E. Rupp, Columbia's president. "But for
that, we have to be able to say to our faculty that we will devise ways they
can communicate with a wider audience, which many of them would like." "The
idea of bringing together universities, libraries and museums -- the
cultural repositories of the world -- and making them available through the
Internet is important," said Gene DeRose, chairman of Jupiter
Communications, an Internet research company based in New York. "I have not
seen anything like it."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A22), AUTHOR: Karen Arenson]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/03web.html)

PHILANTHROPY

INTERNET MILLIONAIRES TAKE A NEW APPROACH TO CHARITY
Issue: Philanthropy
Until recently, charities have found it much harder to raise money from the
new millionaires of Silicon Valley than from more traditional sources of
wealth. But there are signs that the high tech elite is beginning to reach
into its pockets more freely, including the $100 million gift by James
Barksdale, former chief executive of Netscape Communications, to improve
reading in his native Mississippi. And just this year, Bill Gates added more
than $5 billion dollars to his charitable foundation. Additionally,
contributions to the San Francisco Foundation, a major Bay Area charity, are
up 300 percent from a year ago. High tech philanthropists, however, have a
new approach to charity. They want to incorporate their business ideas into
their giving. For some contributors this means bringing
Internet access to public schools and poor neighborhoods. For others, it is
spreading the gospel of entrepreneurship as a force for social change. One
example is Flatiron, a venture firm, founded by Fred Wilson and Jerry
Colonna in 1996. The firm will invest in for-profit businesses with socially
redeeming goals, such as ventures that expand access to capital for women,
minorities and others who have not traditionally had access to capital.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Saul Hansell]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/03neco.html)

MERGERS

AT&T GROUP TO BUY NET2PHONE STAKE IN A TURNING POINT FOR WEB TELEPHONY
Issue: Merger
AT&T together with two other companies will buy a 39 percent stake in
Net2Phone, the fast growing Intertnet telephone company. AT&T beat out such
companies as America Online for control. AOL had considered expanding its 5
percent stake into a majority portion. The deal hints that Internet
telephone technology is coming of age after being derided by traditional
telephone companies for providing scratchy and spotty service. Commenting on
the deal, C. Michael Armstrong, AT&T's chairman, said "we acknowledge that
this technology is going to be pervasive on the Internet." Adding, "You
could say that we wanted to participate in the leadership of this technology
rather than chase it."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12), AUTHOR: Rebecca Blumenstein]
(http://www.wsj.com)

MERGER APPROVALS
Issue: Mergers
From Press Release: The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless
Telecommunications and International Bureaus have granted approval for Bell
Atlantic Corporation (Bell Atlantic) and Vodafone AirTouch, Plc (Vodafone),
a U.K. corporation, to transfer control of or their U.S. wireless licenses
and authorizations to Cellco Partnership (Cellco). The bureaus also have
approved the transfer of control of licenses and authorizations from Aerial
Communications, Inc.(Aerial) to VoiceStream Wireless Corporation
(VoiceStream). The bureaus concluded that these transactions do not present
competitive concerns. Rather, the creation of two new national wireless
competitors likely will result in a various number of public interest
benefits.
Cellco will be the vehicle for Bell Atlantic and Vodafone to form a
domestic, nationwide wireless business that will combine their cellular,
PCS, paging, and other wireless properties in the United States. According
to the applicants, the combination of their domestic wireless operations
will result in Cellco having the capability of serving more than 90 percent
of the U.S., 49 of the top 50 wireless markets, and 209 million people,
making Cellco one of the largest wireless providers in the country. The
companies also state that they intend to initiate "national-one-rate"
service to compete with current national service providers.
The combination of VoiceStream and Aerial, according to the applicants, will
bring together two major providers of GSM services in the U.S., creating one
of the largest wireless carriers in the country by population covered and
one of the largest entities in the world employing GSM technology. Last
month, the Commission approved the applications involved in VoiceStream's
acquisition of Omnipoint, another major GSM carrier in the United States.
VoiceStream's acquisition of Aerial will further enable international
roaming throughout the 133 countries that have adopted a GSM standard. The
combination of VoiceStream, Omnipoint, and Aerial creates a combined company
that will hold licenses for areas covering more than 200 million people in
the U.S., which the applicants state will facilitate creation of a seamless
national network capable of competing with other established nationwide
competitors.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/News_Releases/2000/nrwl0011.html)

ANTITRUST

ANALYSTS SEE RISK FOR MICROSOFT, BUT GATES HOPES TO WIN APPEAL
Issue: Antitrust
Settlement talks in the Microsoft case have collapsed and that's probably
not good news for the software giant. "Microsoft is now back in the legal
quagmire, and nothing good is going to happen to the company anytime soon,"
said David Readerman, a managing director at Thomas Weisel Partners, a
technology investment firm. But Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates believes
the company will ultimately prevail in the case. In part, Microsoft's future
may hinge on the Presidential race: Gov George W. Bush (R-TX) has said he
believes antitrust enforcement should be confined mainly to combating price
fixing.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr & John Markoff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/03soft.html)
See Also:
ANTITRUST ALLIANCE NOT QUITE SOLID
[SOURCE: New York Times (A18), AUTHOR: Joel "What About Digital TV?"
Brinkley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/03trus.html)
MICROSOFT ALLIES URGED GATES TO STRIKE A DEAL
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: James V. Grimaldi]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63493-2000Apr2.html)

RELIGION

WAILING WALL VS FIREWALLS AS RABBIS BAN WEB
Issue: Religion
An Ultra-Orthodox rabbinic court has ruled that surfing the Web is a
dangerous pratice and is thus forbidden. The Institute of Science and
Halacha (Jewish law), which is devoted to determining how Jewish Law fits
into modern society by ruling on such issues as how to properly pray on the
moon, and what it takes to make a submarine Sabbath-compliant.
Unfortunately, the ban has been enacted because the Institute has been
unable to come up with a filter sensitive enough to keep out all
objectionable content. "We have seen what we are liable to get to by surfing
the Web," Rabbi Levy Yitzkak Halperin head of the Institue said. "To my
great regret and heartache the world is truly licentious today. There are no
limits. Anything goes." Ban or not, some of the pious will keep on surfing.
Arnie Sleutelberg, a Detroit-area rabbi is against the ban. "The Internet
is an incredible tool and has the potential to reveal great things,
including making religious materials...available to many," Sleutelberg said.
"Of course, like just about anything in our world, it can be used and
abused, so we have to careful that it doesn't become a tool for negative
things, or to bring darkness into the world. It has the potential to bring a
lot of light."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: BRADLEY BURSTON (REUTERS)]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/382849l.htm

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The Benton Foundation's Communications Policy and Practice (CPP)
(www.benton.org/cpphome.html) Communications-related Headline
Service is posted Monday through Friday. The Headlines are highlights
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describe articles of interest to the work of the Foundation -- primarily
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While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone does
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Communications-related Headlines for 4/3/2000