Merger
MCI to Sell Wholesale Internet Unit to Cable and Wireless (NYT)
Connecticut Seeks to Block SBC Acquisition of SNET (WSJ)
Internet
Lawsuit for Determining Whether Framing is Thieving (CyberTimes)
Head of Germany Web Sentenced for Pornography
Antitrust
PC Maker NEC to Block Microsoft Web Browser (WP)
** Mergers **
Title: MCI to Sell Wholesale Internet Unit to Cable and Wireless
Source: New York Times (C4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/biztech/articles/29mci.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Mergers
Description: In an attempt to placate the regulators reviewing the proposed
MCI-WorldCom merger, MCI has announced that it will sell its wholesale
Internet business to Cable and Wireless PLC for $625 million in cash. MCI
executives briefed officials at the Department of Justice on the sale some
time ago, hoping the DOJ would indicate that it would win approval for the
merger. The DOJ said it could not evaluate the effect of the sale without
talking to MCI's competitors, so the company moved ahead with the sale
anyway. MCI is not happy with the way the DOJ is handling the merger approval.
Title: Connecticut Seeks to Block SBC Acquisition of SNET
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7)
http://wsj.com/
Author: WSJ Staff Reporter
Issue: Mergers
Description: Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, has moved
to block SBC Communications from acquiring Southern New England
Telecommunications Corp. Blumenthal asked the state's Dept. of Public
Utility Control to dismiss the companies merger application, claiming that
the companies haven't provided enough information to show how their merger
would reduce telephone rates.
** Internet **
Title: Lawsuit for Determining Whether Framing is Thieving
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/cyber/cyberlaw/29law.html
Author: Carl S. Kaplan
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The owners of The Journal Gazette and The News-Sentinel, two
papers that are both published in Fort Wayne, Ind., filed a lawsuit against
a free community Web site, called Ft-Wayne.Com, its developer and an
Internet service provider earlier this month. They charge that the Web site
in mention improperly linked users to the newspaper's articles. When a
Ft-Wayne.Com user clicked on a link to one of the two paper's articles,
instead of being transferred directly to the newspaper's site, the community
Web site would use frames to alter the display of the newspaper's article by
placing its own site address and ads in the browser window. The Journal
Gazette and The News-Sentinel charge that by the community Web site running
its own URL and ads over the newspaper's articles, its developers were
"looting" the property of the newspapers. Frames are widely used on Web
sites to display two or more pages of information in separate areas of the
same browser window. Framers say that they are offering a one-stop-service
to Web surfers. Owners of the sites being put into the frames assert that
the framers are "parasites" that "rip off and alter" copyrighted material.
Whether the practice of framing is illegal is an issue that has yet to be
resolved by the court system. Kenneth Freeling, a partner at Kaye Scholer
Fierman Hays & Handler law firm in New York who has written about the
problems of framing said: "It's clearly an unsettled are of the law...I have
not heard of any actual decisions in this area." He added that there are
strong arguments on both sides of the issue but the public's interests may
lean towards limiting the practice.
Title: Head of Germany Web Sentenced for Pornography
Source: New York Times (A3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/biztech/articles/29compuserve....
Author: Alan Cowell
Issue: International/Internet Content
Description: A Bavarian judge sentenced the former head of Compuserve
Deutschland for distribution of pornography -- and then suspended the
sentence. The case is the first time in Germany that an Internet access
provider has been held responsible for images reached through the service.
Judge Wilhelm Hubbert said, "Even on the Internet, there can be no lawless
zones." Legislation passed after the manager was indicted "exempts providers
from legal responsibility for materials beyond their control," Cowell writes.
** Antitrust **
Title: PC Maker NEC to Block Microsoft Web Browser
Source: Washington Post (F3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-05/29/082l-052998-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Software/Antitrust
Description: NEC America Inc., a personal computer maker, plans to block
access to Microsoft's Internet browser on a new line of notebook computers
its planning to introduce next week, said a company spokeswoman. NEC's
decision will make it the first major PC maker to take advantage of a legal
settlement between the Justice Dept. and Microsoft Corp. that allows PC
makers to offer Microsoft software without "easy access" the software
giant's browser.
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...and we are outta here. Enjoy your two-day weekend!