PRIVACY
White House And Agency Split On Internet Privacy (NYT)
BROADCASTING/CABLE
Restraints On TV Sex Struck Down (WP)
Dot-Coming Soon: Reality Future Fox Web Site Will Bring 'Too Hot' TV
To PCs (USA)
INTERNET
Global Shift Threatens U.S. Internet Dominance (SJM)
French Court Says Yahoo Broke Racial Law (NYT)
Schools Turning to No-Fuss Fundraising Online (WP)
Parties Squabble Over Digital Signatures Bill (NYT)
MERGERS/ALLIANCES
EU Reviews WorldCom Deal (WP)
AT&T Corp. Pays $60 Million for Stake In Provider of Web Data to
Phone Users (WSJ)
ANTITRUST
Microsoft Unexpectedly Files Another Brief (NYT)
PRIVACY
WHITE HOUSE AND AGENCY SPLIT ON INTERNET PRIVACY
Issue: Internet/Privacy
Citing that the industry should be given the opportunity to police itself
before imposing more legislation, Commerce Secretary William M. Daley
rejected the Federal Trade Commission's new legislative proposal that would
increase consumer privacy on the Internet. But Robert Pitofsky, chairman of
the Federal Trade Commission, contends that a failure to instigate new
privacy standards could have a negative effect upon consumer confidence and
could impede the growth of e-commerce. "Consumers should not have to forfeit
their privacy online in exchange for the rich benefits of e-commerce," Mr.
Pitofsky said. "A well-crafted approach, in fact, will benefit the growth of
e-commerce and provide important protections to consumers." The commission
is attempting to set standards regarding the use of personal data, the
ability of consumers to review their personal data and measures to prevent
unauthorized disclosure of their personal data. Republican members of
Congress and industry leaders are opposed to the commission's proposal. But
the commission finds that "self-regulatory initiatives to date fall far
short of broad-based implementation of self-regulatory programs. . .such
efforts alone cannot ensure that the online marketplace as a whole will
follow the standards adopted by industry leaders."
[Source: New York Times (C1), Author: Stephen Labaton]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/23privacy.html)
BROADCASTING/CABLE
RESTRAINTS ON TV SEX STRUCK DOWN
Issue: Cable
The Supreme Court struck down a provision of the 1996 Telecommunications Act
which required cable providers to "fully scramble" cable signals or
otherwise schedule sexually explicit material at times when it would be less
accessible to children. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy writes, "[The law]
silences the protected speech for two-thirds of the day in every home in a
cable service area, regardless of the presence or likely presence of
children or of the wishes of the viewers. . . . To prohibit this much speech
is a significant restriction of communication between speakers and willing
adult listeners, communication which enjoys First Amendment protection... If
a less restrictive means is available for the government to achieve its
goals, the government must use it." The Court found that another section of
the Act, which requires cable operators to block any cable channel at the
request of a subscriber, was deemed to be a "less restrictive" means to
achieve the same goal. The decision was seen as a victory for civil
libertarians, the Playboy TV Network and Spice Network. But conservative
groups were dismayed. Janet LaRue, senior director of legal studies at the
Family Research Council, said "it's a sad day when the protection of
children and unconsenting adults takes a back seat to the profit of cable
pornographers."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A01), Author: Edward Walsh and Amy Goldstein]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52014-2000May22.html)
See Also:
CABLE SHOWS AND FREE SPEECH
[SOURCE: New York Times (A30), AUTHOR: New York Times Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/23tue3.html)
DOT-COMING SOON: REALITY FUTURE FOX WEB SITE WILL BRING 'TOO HOT' TV TO PCS
Issue: Internet
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has devised a new plan to cash in on Fox's
controversial real-life videos of violent pets, prison riots, police chases,
tornadoes and other outrageous clips, including segments "too hot" to be
shown on broadcast TV. Nearly 10 years' worth of reality videos will shown
on a Web site being launched this fall called TooHotForFox.com. "Consumers
will soon be able to access what network standards-and-practices boards have
denied them," says News Digital Media President Jon Richmond. While the site
will post parental warnings similar to the advisories on TV shows that are
inappropriate for children, Richmond admits that "there's no good way to
screen kids," and it will be up to parents to monitor their childrens' Web
activities. Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Media
Education, says that the plan "shows that there's an anything goes mentality
on the part of a lot of these media owners. It's unfortunate that they want
to cater to the lowest common denominator. It's not just about making a
quick buck. Fox attracts a lot of young people, and this isn't the kind of
stuff that builds healthy, active citizens."
[SOURCE: USAToday (3B), AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000523/2287308s.htm)
INTERNET
WORLD TESTS U.S. NET DOMINANCE INTERNET EXPLOSION ABROAD POURS ON THE
PRESSURE
Issue: Internet/International
Internet companies are beginning to discover that their biggest competition
is not coming from Silicon Valley, or even Silicon Alley, but from places
oceans away. According to a report released Monday by International Data
Corp., American companies have been slow to recognize the Internet's global
proportion. The study reports that portals are faring better than e-commerce
sites, but even they haven't done enough to prepare for the shift away from
a U.S.-centric, English-speaking Web. In three years, the majority of the
people on the Internet will be outside of the United States, according to
IDC, which conducted the study on behalf of San Francisco-based eTranslate
Inc., a global translation and consulting service. IDC analyst Barry Parr
says that U.S. companies stand to lose their dominant position because they
lack an effective global strategy. "Right now, we're still surprised at the
lack of enthusiasm we're finding on the part of Internet companies," he
said. "They're not doing nearly enough to be international." In addition to
language and cultural barriers, traditional impediments to world trade like
tariffs, quotas and protectionist trade regulations also hamper dot.com's
ability to truly go global.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Kristi Heim and Elise Ackerman]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/global052300.htm)
See Also:
GLOBAL SHIFT THREATENS U.S. INTERNET DOMINANCE
[SOURCE: USAToday (3B), AUTHOR: David J. Lynch]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000523/2287308s.htm)
SCHOOLS TURNING TO NO-FUSS FUNDRAISING ONLINE
Issue: Internet
Sites such as schoolpop.com are providing alternative and easier ways to
raise funds for schools. Though not as fun as the weekend car wash, these
sites are tying people's charitable instincts and school affinities to their
shopping habits. Schoolpop.com, SchoolCash.com and ShopforSchool.com promise
cash rebates to participating schools, which encourage their boosters to
visit those sites and link to online retailers such as J.Crew, Lands' End
and Priceline. "We have to have a way to make money, and if you can do it in
a way that is easy, it's a no-brainer why we decided to try it," said Mairim
Bartholomew, vice president of fundraising at William Halley Elementary
School in Fairfax Station, Va. Bartholomew has found online fundraising less
stressful than the annual candy bar sales. Some educators, however, are
worried about the creep of the commercial into the classroom. "It's turning
the parents and students into sales agents for a particular company or set
of companies," said Walter McIntire, director of the Center for Research and
Evaluation at the University of Maine. Others fear that those without the
Internet -individuals and schools- are being left out.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A01), Author: Nancy Trejos]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52062-2000May22.html)
PARTIES SQUABBLE OVER DIGITAL SIGNATURES BILL
Issue: Internet
Republicans and Democrats are attempting to resolve their lingering disputes
over a bill that would give digital signatures the same legal standing as
their traditional ink-and-paper counterparts. The bill was originally
designed to give the same legal status to contracts that are signed online
using new technologies like fingerprint scans and encryption as paper
documents. While both parties agree that a law on digital signatures is
necessary for the future of electronic commerce, they have been at odds over
how far the law should go in superseding state laws that require financial
institutions to give consumers paper copies of loan agreements and other
records and to have crucial documents, like foreclosure notices, mailed to
them. Republicans would like the bill to eliminate some of these traditional
paper record-keeping and notification requirements. Democrats, the Clinton
administration and consumer groups, on the other hand, want to make sure the
bill keeps customers safe from unwittingly signing away their right to get
paper records or notifications.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/cyber/capital/23capital.html)
FRENCH COURT SAYS YAHOO BROKE RACIAL LAW
Issue: Internet
A French judge has ruled that Yahoo broke a French law and committed "an
offense to the collective memory" of the country by allowing online auctions
of neo-Nazi objects in cyberspace. Yahoo was brought to court last week by
the Jewish group and the International League Against Racism and
Anti-Semitism, which had asked the court to shut down the company's
Yahoo.com Auctions site and to impose a fine of $91,000 for each day it did
not comply with French law, which prohibits the sale or display of anything
that incites racism. Judge Jean-Jacques G