LIBRARIES
Books to Bytes: The Electronic Archive (NYT)
COMPETITION/TELEPHONY
$5 Question: When Does Not Calling Not Add Up? (ChiTrib)
FCC Chairman Kennard Reminds Consumers to Shop Around (FCC)
Phone Merger Partners Offer to Talk (ChiTrib)
INTERNET
Rivals Cede Throne to AOL (WP)
AT&T To Cede Some Control Of At Home (WSJ)
Salon To Buy The Well (WP)
Serbs Take Offensive In The First Cyberwar, Bombing America (WSJ)
E-COMMERCE
On-line Music Store in Works (ChiTrib)
TELEVISION ECONOMICS
Fox Proposes A Plan That Could Cut Ad Revenues Of Its
Affiliates Sizably (WSJ)
FILM
Miramax Co-Chiefs To Buy Film That Parent Disney Won't Release (WSJ)
PRIVACY
Lawmaker Plans Bill to Protect Consumer Privacy Online (CyberTimes)
INTERNATIONAL
China Telecom Broken Up Into 4 Companies (WP)
Telecom Bidding Duel in Japan Suggests Arrival of
Western-Style Takeover Feuds (WSJ)
LIBRARIES
BOOKS TO BYTES: THE ELECTRONIC ARCHIVE
Issue: Libraries
As digital collections are quickly becoming central to many research
libraries, librarians have to consider how to archive these electronic
works. There are several issues that make digital preservation a difficult
and complicated endeavor. One problem is that both computer hardware and
software is much less durable than printed material. The current methods of
transferring data from older formats to new ones are both costly and time
consuming. Another barrier to preservation is the question of ownership.
Much digital data is accessed by libraries through subscriptions and is
housed on a central computer elsewhere. "The ownership versus non-ownership
takes you into one of the hearts of the archiving problem," said Ann
Okerson, associate university librarian at Yale University. "I don't know
how you can preserve something you don't own." While there are no clear
answers now for how the libraries of today can best build the archives of
the future, new preservations tools will emerge as digital materials become
more common.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: Katie Hafner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/circuits/articles/08arch.html)
COMPETITION/TELEPHONY
$5 QUESTION: WHEN DOES NOT CALLING NOT ADD UP?
Issue: Long Distance
Like a credit card company that charges you for paying off your balance
every month or a cable company that charges you or channels you do not
watch, now phone companies charge you for *not* making phone calls. AT&T
will charge low-volume long distance customers $5/month -- a $3 minimum,
flat monthly fees of $1.78 plus taxes. "When phone service was a monopoly
and prices were higher, they could afford to have people connected to the
network who seldom used it," said Joel Goldhar, a business professor at the
Illinois Institute of Technology. "But now that competition is driving down
prices for high-volume users, the phone companies are no longer able to
subsidize those who don't use it much," he said. The good news for
consumers, Goldhar said, is that "people who don't like it, don't have to
pay it. There are lots of alternatives." But even shopping around isn't as
easy as it used to be. Phone bills and billing practices are fiendishly
complicated. "Scientists understand more about the origin of the universe
than most people understand about their phone bill," said Martin Cohen,
executive director of the Chicago-based Citizens Utilities Board. "Even
though your phone bill looks more and more like a phone book, if you don't
study it every month, you're likely to be ripped off," said Cohen, whose
group has prepared a 20-page booklet to help Illinois customers understand
the monthly bills they get from Ameritech Corp. "What they're saying to
customers who use the service infrequently or not at all is 'We don't want
your business,"' said Terry Barnich, president of Chicago-based New Paradigm
Resources Group consultancy. "They're saying 'We cannot afford to subsidize
people.' It goes against their marketing efforts, but it's a case where
economics trumps marketing. "It's a wonderful opportunity for competitors,
and I'll bet one thing is certain: Once Ameritech is allowed into long
distance, AT&T will roll back this charge in a heartbeat."
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (p.1), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
(http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-26673,00.html)
FCC CHAIRMAN KENNARD REMINDS CONSUMERS TO SHOP AROUND
Issue: Competition/Long Distance
[Full Text] The rates of long distance companies are largely unregulated.
Companies may charge different rates for the same service. Competition
however, has resulted in some very attractive plans. "If you don't like your
long distance service, shop around," Kennard said. The Chairman went on to
say that consumers who want to switch long distance carriers should analyze
their calling needs, number of long distance calls per month, length of the
calls and the time of day those calls are made. Consumers should ask their
long distance company about rates per minute or per month, as well as
monthly fees or minimum spending limits. Consumers who are unsure about how
to select a long distance company may wish to contact a consumer
organization for more information. In addition, Telecommunications Research
and Action Center (TRAC) compares long distance services on its web site
which is located at (www.trac.org). Finally, some long distance companies
already post their rates on their company web sites and the FCC recently
required all long distance carriers to do so within the next few months.
Consumers who want to do their own comparison shopping will be able to go to
each long distance company web site to determine the best calling plan for
their needs.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1999/nrmc9017.html)
PHONE MERGER PARTNERS OFFER TO TALK
Issue: Merger
Executives from SBC and Chicago-based Ameritech said they are willing to
explore the
possibility of placing conditions on their planned merger. Last week,
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard raised "serious
concerns" about whether their merger would benefit consumers. [OK, it was a
*very* short article]
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.2), AUTHOR: Staff/Wire Reports]
(http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9904080091,00.html)
INTERNET
RIVALS CEDE THRONE TO AOL
Issue: Online Services
"There's no law that says AOL has to be king. Its competitors should stop
acting like there is." In online services, the battle is for number two since
America Online has 16 million subscribers and the next largest service has
about 2 million. The gulf between first and second is huge and growing. The
imbalance could harm the development of electronic commerce. For now
companies trying to do business on the Web feel they have to buy a presence
on AOL to get the exposure they need. That leaves the other services behind.
AOL feared the coming of the Microsoft Network, but Microsoft is focusing
more on commerce and Internet software than on signing up new patrons. AT&T
has the financial backing to make a run at AOL but it is going in the
opposite direction. In December, AT&T raised its price for unlimited Internet
use from $19.95 to $21.95 a month, making it equal to AOL's rate.
Compuserve can't be considered a rival for AOL because AOL bought it
last year. Prodigy has lost half the subscribers since 1995, but it has
turned its fortunes around by scuttling all its original content and
becoming a pure access provider. Because it is partially owned by Mexico's
largest telephone company, some of its future growth may be dependent on the
success in providing Spanish-language access to the 8 million Hispanic
households in the US. Earthlink Network and Mindspring Enterprises, both
scrappy Internet companies, have aggressive advertising campaigns aimed at
raiding AOL's membership rolls and could be candidates for the runner-up
spot in the online business.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Leslie Walker]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/biztop923570181762.htm)
AT&T TO CEDE SOME CONTROL OF AT HOME
Issue: Cable/Internet
AT&T is to release some of its control of AT Home because its cable-TV unit,
the former TCI, failed to sign up enough customers for Internet service. TCI
had originally promised to sign up a specified number of customers and conceded
that it failed to do so and as part of the agreement would be subject to
penalties, including opening up AT Home to other cable companies -- Comcast and
Cox. AT&T has agreed to provide new benchmark numbers for signing up customers
and will pay Cox financial penalties, in the form of giving them more AT Home
stock. AT&T will also give greater control in the deal to Comcast and Cox. The
failure to sign up customers can be traced to a TCI decision made years ago to
cut back on upgrades necessary to transmit AT Home Internet service. Leo
Hindery, TCI's former president and now head of AT&T's cable unit, reversed
this decision, but hasn't been able to catch up fast enough.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley and Kara Swisher]
(http://wsj.com/)
SALON TO BUY THE WELL
Issue: Merger
The feisty online magazine Salon will acquire the Well, an online community
that offers discussions on thousands of topics. The acquisition gives Salon
further claims to community status and probably increases its value. Salon
has been long rumored to be preparing an initial public offering. Salon
publishes investigative journalism, technology news, and entertainment and
includes a free online discussion area. The Well is a 14-year-old
"conferencing system," which has been called by Wired magazine "the world's
most influential online community" despite its relatively tiny base of 7,000
customers who pay up to $15 monthly. The purchase price was not disclosed.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E8), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/biztop923570204432.htm)
SERBS TAKE OFFENSIVE IN THE FIRST CYBERWAR, BOMBING AMERICA
Issue: International/Internet
Over the last several days at least 10,000 Internet users, mostly in the US
have been hit with "Yugospam"-- email from Serbia decrying the bombing attacks.
One organization signing their name to the spam is the Belgrade Academic
Association for Equal Rights in the World that has 6,500 names on its mailing
list. The tone of the mail is polemical and persuasive. One reads: "In the last
nine days, NATO barbarians have bombed our schools, hospitals, bridges, killed
our people but that was not enough for them now they have started to destroy
our culture monuments which represents the core of existence of our nation."
Many recipients and commentators are framing the "Yugospam" as a cyberwarfare.
A member of a foreign policy think-tank who wouldn't be named said: "This is
the first war of the information age, so I don't know if any other cyberwar
victims can sit around and tell stories about life in the cybertrenches."
Exasperating the spam are people who hit reply-to-all causing a boomerang
effect of many more emails. For Yugoslavs, many say this is their only
weapon. A software development consultant who lives near NATO bombing sites
writes: "This is the last place I can run now is my basement and I'm not going
there. I'm staying here with my computer"
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A1), AUTHOR: Ellen Joan Pollock and Andrea
Petersen]
(http://wsj.com/)
E-COMMERCE
ON-LINE MUSIC STORE IN WORKS
Issue: E-Commerce
Universal Music, a division od Canadian entertainment and beverage giant
Seagram, and BMG Music, a unit of German media empire Bertelsmann AG,
unveiled plans for a joint, online music store. Through Web site
www.getmusic.com, the venture will sell compact disks, tapes, and exclusive
products like interviews, backstage passes, webcasts of music videos, and
rare concert footage. "We believe our venture will expand the audience for
music," Strauss Zelnick, BMG Entertainment chief executive, said, noting
that BMG and Universal can offer consumers information and products not
available to the site's competitors. "It's not about pricing," Larry
Kenswil, president of global electronic commerce at Universal Music, said,
adding that getmusic.com will not sell CDs at discounted prices, or get them
on the market before retail outlets. "Pricing isn't going to make us win.
The way we win is taking our products together and driving consumers to
buy," he said. The alliance also announced plans for creating fan clubs with
online discussion and mail message boards; BMG's Peeps.com -- with links to
300+ music artists -- has become one of the most visited music sites on the
Internet.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9904080098,00.html)
See also:
SEAGRAM TO LAUNCH WEB MUSIC VENTURE WITH BERTELSMANN
Issue: E-commerce
Seagram's Universal Music Groups and BMG, two of the world's largest music
companies, have agreed to work together to sell records online. Record
executives say it marks a shift in attitude and an offensive move to sell
online -- a change from years defensiveness and fear of piracy. The joint
venture will be called GetMusic and the e-commerce site is called getmusic.com.
BMG's current genre sites (i.e.: country, rock, etc.) will be expanded in order
to link fans with their favorite singers and allow them to buy more easily.
Getmusic.com will carry 250,000 albums from all record companies. Chats with
bands and Web casts are also in the pipe.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Eben Shapiro]
(http://wsj.com/)
TELEVISION ECONOMICS
FOX PROPOSES A PLAN THAT COULD CUT AD REVENUES OF ITS AFFILIATES SIZABLY
Issue: Broadcasting
Fox has proposed a plan that may cut prime-time ad revenues of its affiliates
by more than 20%. Under pressure of high program costs, Fox sent a memo to
affiliates late Tuesday that explained a plan to provide less commercials to
local stations (a drop from 90 per week to 70) which could cut revenues by 22%.
"I'm in shock. I'm speechless," said Kevin O'Brien, general manager of the San
Francisco Fox affiliate: "The manner and delivery of the proposition is
disheartening," he said. Larry Jacobson, president of Fox Television Network,
wrote in the memo: "Although this inventory adjustment will have an impact on
your current profit picture, we ask that you recognize the necessity for this
investment. It is necessary element to ensure our competitive position for the
future." The proposed changes come after affiliates agreed a year ago to give
profits from the Fox Children's Network to help pay for the Fox's $4 billion
football deal.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Kyle Pope
(http://wsj.com/)
See also:
FOX MOVES TO RECLAIM COMMERCIAL TIME FROM ITS AFFILIATES
Issue: Television/Advertising
Effective July 1 the Fox television network is reclaiming from its affiliates
20 of the 90 prime time 30-second commercial availabilities. In an
April 6 letter the network, owned by the News Corp., informed station owners
of the change. The letter cites a clause in the Fox affiliate agreement that
allows the network to change the ratio of network and local commercials. Fox
would allow stations to buy back the commercial time at a price less than
top market price. Dennis Fitzsimmons, the president of Tribune Broadcsting,
which owns six Fox affiliates, said: "At first glance this is surely not in
our economic interest. It's something we're going to have to evaluate to
decide what our options are. We are not particularly happy about it." The
Fox move is the boldest in a series of recent moves by the television
networks to try to change their traditional relationship with affiliates.
Most of the broadcast networks have struggled in recent years to make any
profit at all as program costs have escalated and audiences have continued
to shift to cable television. At the same time, local television stations
are enjoying profit margins of as much as 50%. Three networks (CBS, NBC and
ABC) still pay affiliates an annual fee to carry their programs, but they
have been asking their affiliates for reductions or other support. Last week
a new effort by ABC to work out a new affiliate deal failed.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/tv-fox.html)
FILM
MIRAMAX CO-CHIEFS TO BUY FILM THAT PARENT DISNEY WON'T RELEASE
Issue: Censorship
Miramax films, the production company owned by Disney, is attempting to find a
distributor for a film that Disney wants nothing to do with. "Dogma," a
religious satire directed by Kevin Smith ("Chasing Amy," and "Clerks"), focuses
on Catholicism and features Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and Angels, Alanis
Morisette as God, and comedian Chris Rock as a "13th Apostle." Disney cannot
mandate that Miramax drop the film unless it is rated NC-17, which is unlikely.
Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob, co-chairs of Miramax, say they will pay
$12 million to buy out Disney's stake in the film as respect for their parent
company. Meanwhile challengers of the film are making themselves heard. The
Catholic League issued a press release this week condemning the film: "If
[Disney Chairman and Chief Executive] Michael Eisner is worried about how the
Catholic League will react, he ought to be...If the movie is anything like it is
shaping up to be, Mr. Eisner will surely regret not having engaged the Catholic
league in dialogue. And if some other producer is dumb enough to pick, we'll
deal with it." Disney has used its NC-17 rule to block distribution of "Kids,"
the 1995 film about an HIV positive teenage boy having sex with teenage girls.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Bruce Orwall]
(http://wsj.com/)
PRIVACY
LAWMAKER PLANS BILL TO PROTECT CONSUMER PRIVACY ONLINE
Issue: Privacy
Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) has announced that he is drafting
legislation to protect consumers from information misuse in the digital age.
While Rep. Markey commended industry efforts to police itself in the
collection and use of personal data, he said that individuals need to have
legal recourse for any information abuses. Rep Markey's proposal, which he
shared at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference, calls for three
basic consumer protections: the right of individuals to know what
information is being collected about them online, the right to know how that
information is being used, and the right to take legal action if it is
misused. The Clinton Administration, supportive of self-regulation by
online-marketers, has delayed calling for privacy legislation. However, the
Administration might change it's mind if companies do not demonstrate the
ability to insure consumer protections on their own.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/cyber/articles/08privacy.html)
INTERNATIONAL
CHINA TELECOM BROKEN UP INTO 4 COMPANIES
Issue: International
China Telecom is being dismembered into four specialized companies in
China's first step toward dismantling the national telecommunications
monopoly. The move could help China's bid to join the World Trade
Organization and could help foreign competitors enter the $28 billion
Chinese market. Premier Zhu Rongji said recently China will allow foreigners
to take up to 30% stakes in telecommunications companies. The US is pushing
China to permit 50% equity. The four new operational companies in China will
be a traditional phone company, a mobile communications company, a paging
company, and a satellite communications company. China Telecom presently
controls 95% of the Chinese market. Its sole current competitor is China
Unicom with 5% of the market and assets of $15.7 million compared to China
Telecom's $68 billion.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Charles Hutzler (Associated Press)]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/april99/chinatel7.htm)
TELECOM BIDDING DUEL IN JAPAN SUGGESTS ARRIVAL OF WESTERN-STYLE TAKEOVER FEUDS
Issue: Merger
International Digital Communications, a Tokyo-based international carrier,
is caught in a Western-style bidding war. While competition is growing in
Japan, it is still unusual for companies to fight directly and publicly.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone has offered to purchase the company.
Britain's Cable and Wireless, which holds 17.7% of IDC, earlier made an
offer to buy the whole company. While bid amounts were not announced
Japanese news accounts have put the Cable and Wireless bid at $514 million.
Analysts said NTT probably bid slightly more. The once tightly regulated
Japanese market is opening to foreign players. NTT is to split into three
parts on July 1. Since it will then be allowed in the international phone
business, NTT sees IDC as being its way of getting into the international
market. Cable and Wireless, meanwhile, claims it has preemptive rights on
any buyout deal because of its present ownership stake in IDC.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A14), AUTHOR: Peter Landers]
(http://wsj.com/)
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