Universal Service -- E-Rate
Keep Internet Funding for Schools (NYT)
FCC Clarifies What Services Are Eligible For
E-Rate Discounts (TelecomAM)
Tauzin Gathers Support for Using Excise Tax to
Fund E-Rate (TelecomAM)
Long Distance
FCC Sets Procedure to Review Long Distance Marketing
Alliances (TelecomAM)
FCC Releases Report on Long Distance Market (TelecomAM)
Internet
Web Lovers Love TV, Often Watch Both (WSJ)
Investigating Grand Juries on the Web (CyberTimes)
Instant Messaging; A New Source of Spam, but Not as
Widespread(CyberTimes)
Mergers
Cable & Wireless Sues to Force MCI Internet Sale (TelecomAM)
MCI May Be Selling More Assets; Cable & Wireless Sues (WP)
MCI Offers to Sell Assets to Speed Deal (WSJ)
Television
Murdoch, Malone to Put TV Guide on Cable (WSJ)
Murdoch Sells TV Guide to an Affiliate of TCI (WP)
Murdoch Sets TV Guide Sale For $2 Billion (NYT)
Consumers Can Buy Cable Boxes in Stores In 2000,
FCC Decides (WSJ)
"Navigation Devices" Rules Create Consumer Market
for Set Top Boxes (FCC)
Spectrum
Spectrum Auctions Conference (FCC)
Privacy
Sailor Victorious in Gay Case on On-Line Privacy (NYT)
Journalism
Magazine Inquiry on a Writer Finds Fabricated Work (NYT)
** Universal Service -- E-Rate **
Title: Keep Internet Funding for Schools
Source: New York Times (A22)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/12fri3.html
Author: NYT Editorial Staff
Issue: Universal Service
Description: At a time when the Internet is becoming increasing important
for commerce and education, the government should be redoubling efforts to
connect disadvantaged communities. Instead, some in Congress would rather
kill the e-rate program. More than 30,000 schools nd libraries have applied
for $2.02 billion in telecommunications discounts; only $625 million has
been collected to support th program. "The e-rate program is a public
obligation that the carriers agreed to and are required to finance under the
1996 law because they stand to reap enormous financial benefits from
deregulation. Access charges that long-distance companies pay to local phone
companies have been cut significantly as a direct result of the 1996 act.
Should the F.C.C. decide to trim the program, it will be capitulating to
company greed at the expense of communities all over the country."
Title: FCC Clarifies What Services Are Eligible For E-Rate Discounts
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: As opponents claim that e-rate funds may be used for unintended
purposes, the FCC has clarified what services are eligible for support.
Schools and libraries may receive discounts on telecom services, Internet
access or internal connections. Personal
computers, fax machines and modems, for example, are not eligible for
discounts. The Commission also "emphasize[d] that no universal service
support will be provided for asbestos removal, teacher training, telephone
handsets, the costs of tearing down walls to install wiring, repairing
carpets, or repainting." Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth asked "If there
were not widespread questions and confusion on the part of Congressional
leaders, school applicants and the public, then why would such a
clarification or reiteration be necessary?" He asked that the program be put
on temporary hold. Congressional support has come from Senate Democratic
Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), 34 Democratic senators who co-signed a letter
from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Bob Kerrey (D-NE), the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus, and others.
Title: Tauzin Gathers Support for Using Excise Tax to Fund E-Rate
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) is
asking fellow Members of Congress to support a bill that would cut the $4.5
billion phone excise tax in half and use the funds to support the e-rate
program. Rep Tauzin had co-sponsored a bill (HR-3848) that would have
eliminated the tax entirely.
** Long Distance **
Title: FCC Sets Procedure to Review Long Distance Marketing Alliances
FCC Releases Report on Long Distance Market
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: US West and Ameritech have entered long distance marketing
agreements with Qwest Communications. Other long distance carriers and new
local phone entrants argue that the arrangements violate the Telecom Act's
restrictions on the Bell companies entry into the long distance market. The
FCC announced how it will handle a review of the matter June 10. After
opponents file complaints with the FCC, US West and Ameritech will have 10
days to respond. Opponents then will have three days to rebut. Also, a new
report from the FCC says that AT&T's share of long distance revenues dropped
to 44 percent last year from 47.9 percent in 1996 and 90 percent in 1984.
MCI has a 19% share, Sprint 10%, and WorldCom 7%. TelecomAM writes, "The FCC
did not break out the percentages for other carriers, but the next largest
long distance companies based on revenue were Excel, Frontier, LCI and Cable
& Wireless, all with revenues exceeding $1 billion."
** Internet **
Title: Web Lovers Love TV, Often Watch Both
Source: Wall Street Journal (B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Eben Shapiro
Issue: Old vs New Media
Description: As television executives fret over the whether the Internet
will steal away a generation of young viewers, internal research conducted
at ABC over the past several months suggests that the networks' concern
should not necessarily rest with the World Wide Web. It seems that viewers
are turning into "headbobbers," glancing back and forth between their
computers and TV sets. "Our first reaction was, 'Wait -- this can't be
right,'" says Steve Burke, who recently resigned as president of ABC
Broadcasting to take a job at Comcast, one of the nation's largest cable
companies. "At this point, the Internet is not, in fact, cannibalizing
network viewership," he says. Cable networks remain the main culprits in
declining network viewership." It appears that cable companies are reaching
similar conclusions. A study conducted by Viacom's MTV Networks of 25,000
viewers found that young people are spending more time on PCs but no less
time watching television.
Title: Investigating Grand Juries on the Web
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/cyberlaw/12law.html
Author: Carl S. Kaplan
Issue: Internet Content
Description: At a time when grand juries have been increasingly in the news,
a new site on the Web called Federal Grand Jury has been created to help the
general public better understand what grand juries are and what they do. The
site was put up last October by Susan W. Brenner, a professor at the Univ.
of Dayton School of Law and an expert on grand juries and criminal
procedure, and Gregory G. Lockhart, a federal prosecutor who teaches part
time at the law school. To learn more, you can access the site at:
http://www.udayton.edu/~grandjur/
Title: Instant Messaging; A New Source of Spam, but Not as Widespread
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/cyber/articles/12spam.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Online Communication
Description: A new form of online communication, called instant messaging is
beginning to rapidly spread. Instant messaging is more immediate than email,
using technology that allows users to send messages to someone else online
that pop up immediately on the recipient's screen. As it gains in
popularity, it is bound to increase the amount of unsolicited messages, or
spam, received by subscribers to this type of online communication.
** Mergers **
Title: Cable & Wireless Sues to Force MCI Internet Sale
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: In a surprising action, Cable & Wireless has filed a suit "to
require MCI to
comply with its agreement to sell its Internet backbone service" to the
British company. MCI agreed to sell its Internet backbone services to Cable
& Wireless for $625 million in a
move intended to ease antitrust approval for its merger with WorldCom. Cable
& Wireless spokesman Tom Smellie said the suit is not intended to force MCI
to sell its Internet business regardless of whether the merger is completed.
Title: MCI May Be Selling More Assets; Cable & Wireless Sues
Source: Washington Post (F3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/12/081l-061298-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Mergers
Description: In late May, MCI Communications agreed to sell its Internet
"backbone" facilities to Cable & Wireless. Now, in response to statements
made by European Commission officials and other critics, MCI is considering
selling its Internet service business, including a huge list of customers,
to a company besides London-based Cable & Wireless. If MCI does so, it could
upset its deal with Cable and Wireless, as the company had been counting on
MCI customers leasing the Internet facilities that it would be buying. On
Wednesday Cable & Wireless filed suit in federal court in Washington DC,
contending that MCI is violating a "no shopping" clause in their deal by
"seeking other buyers for those Internet assets and other parts of MCI's
Internet business." If MCI does sell its Internet facilities and customers
to a new buyer, it would have to pay Cable & Wireless a $25 million breakup fee.
Title: MCI Offers to Sell Assets to Speed Deal
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3,A4)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jared Sandberg & John R. Wilke
Issue: Mergers
Description: MCI Communications met with Joel Klein, Justice Dept. antitrust
chief, and offered to sell additional MCI Internet assets in a continued
effort to accelerate U.S. approval of Worldcom's $37 billion purchase of
MCI. According to lawyers close to the talks, senior Justice Dept. officials
told MCI Chairman, Bert C. Roberts, that they would probably approve the
merger if both companies agreed to sell either WorldCom's or MCI's entire
Internet businesses.
** Television **
Title: Murdoch, Malone to Put TV Guide on Cable
Source: Washington Post (F2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/12/090l-061298-idx.html
Author: Steven Ginsberg
Issue: Television/Media
Description: Television executives John C. Malone and Rupert Murdoch "joined
forces" yesterday to offer TV Guide magazine to viewers on-screen and
on-line. Malone's Prevue Channel will be "rebranded" as a TV Guide channel
and will offer extensive scrolling listings for programs on broadcast, cable
and satellite systems, and large amounts of advertising. Murdoch's News
Corp., the current owner, will sell the magazine to United Video Satellite
Group, owned by Malone's Tele-Communications Inc. for $2 billion, 40 percent
of United Video and half the votes on its board. "What we're really doing,"
said Peter Boylan, president of United Video, "is trying to create a new
media company that marries the TV Guide print expertise with United Video's
interactive expertise. It will create a ubiquitous product to help TV
viewers navigate an increasingly cluttered screen...The theory is to create
a new media company that has never been seen before. We'll have the ability
to sell an ad around the world to different cultures and in different
languages." Once the deal is complete, TV Guide will be "splashed across"
five different entities -- TV Guide magazine, TV Guide channel, TV Guide
International, TV Guide online, and TV Guide interactive.
Title: Murdoch Sells TV Guide to an Affiliate of TCI
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1,B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Eben Shapiro & John Lippman
Issue: Television/Media
Description: United Video Satellite Group Inc., owner of the Prevue Channel
and controlled by John Malone's Tele-Communications Inc., agreed to purchase
TV Guide from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for $2 billion in cash and stock.
The new owner plans to make TV Guide's program information available to
consumers via the television and the Internet. "This marks the point that TV
Guide is no longer just a magazine but a multiplatform juggernaut," said
Anthea Disney, chief executive of News America Publishing Group, a News
Corp. unit. The deal "underscores the complex relationship between three
chief executives at the top of the converging world's of media and
technology. Mr. Murdoch, TCI's John Malone and Microsoft Corp.'s Bill Gates.
Mr. Gates has also identified electronic listings as a crucial service to
provide consumers in the converging age of television and computers."
Title: Murdoch Sets TV Guide Sale For $2 Billion
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/united-tv-guide.html
Author: Geraldine Fabrikant
Issue: Television/Publishing
Description: News Corp will sell TV Guide to United Video Satellite Group
for $2 billion in cash and stock. The deal will end News Corp's ten-year
control of TV Guide. Many had thought that Rupert Murdoch had paid too much
for TV Guide and other magazines in a buying frenzy ten years ago -- he
acknowledged as much years later. Mr. Murdoch's American magazine empire has
now dwindled to The Weekly Standard, a conservative opinion publication with
a circulation of 55,000. At one time, News Corp controlled New York
magazine, European Travel & Life, Mirabella, and a half stake in Elle.
United Video Satellite Group is owned by two companies that are controlled
by TCI, the nation's largest cable operation.
Title: Consumers Can Buy Cable Boxes in Stores In 2000, FCC Decides
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: The Associated Press
Issue: Cable
Description: The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules yesterday
that will make it possible for consumers to purchase cable-TV boxes that
will work on any cable system beginning in July 2000. Cable customers will
still be able to rent boxes from cable TV systems under the new rules.
Title: "Navigation Devices" Rules Create Consumer Market for Set Top Boxes
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/News_Releases/1998/nrcb8013.html
Issue: Cable/Set-top Boxes
Description: The FCC adopted rules providing for the commercial availability
of set top boxes and other consumer equipment used to receive video signals
and other services. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress directed
the FCC to create rules that would allow consumers to obtain "navigation
devices" -- meaning the set top boxes, remote control units and other
equipment -- from commercial sources other than the service provider. This
order will benefit consumers and further the Commission's goal of providing
competition in the telecommunications marketplace by creating a major market
for consumers to own equipment used to access video programming and other
services in their homes.
** Spectrum **
Title: Spectrum Auctions Conference
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/Public_Notices/1998/pnmc8035.html
Issue: Spectrum/Auctions
Description: The FCC's Office of Communications Business Opportunities
(OCBO), and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) will host a free
conference titled "Auctions '98" on Wednesday, June 24, 1998, from 8:30 a.m.
until 5:30 p.m., at the International Trade Center in the new Ronald Reagan
Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington DC. This one-day
conference is designed to inform potential participants and investors about
services proposed for auction by the FCC in the coming year. Topics to be
discussed include 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio (lower 80 and general
category channels), 220 MHz, Paging, 39 GHz, Location Monitoring Services,
Public Coast Stations, broadcast opportunities, and the reauction of
FCC-held licenses from prior auctions. There will also be panels on
financing and contracting.
** Privacy **
Title: Sailor Victorious in Gay Case on On-Line Privacy
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/cyber/articles/12navy.html
Author: Philip Shenon
Issue: Privacy
Description: Master Chief Petty Officer Timothy McVeigh (no, not the OK
bomber) will retire from the Navy with full benefits with damages paid by
America Online. AOL had cooperated with Navy investigators to identify "Tim"
with the email address "Boysrch" as Mr. McVeigh. The Navy will also pay Mr.
McVeigh's legal fees. In an online post, Mr. McVeigh has identified his
marital status as "gay." AOL also announced new privacy policies. [Gay case?
Who writes this stuff?]
** Journalism **
Title: Magazine Inquiry on a Writer Finds Fabricated Work
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/magazine-fabrication.html
Author: Robin Pogren
Issue: Journalism
Description: An internal investigation at The New Republic has found that
writer Stephen Glass made up part or all of more than half of the 41
articles wrote for the magazine. Details of the falsifications will be
available in an editor's note due on newstands today. [See also NYT (A18),
"Magazines Split on Need for Fact-Checkers on Articles" by Doreen Carvajal
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/magazine-checkers.html]
*********
...and we are outta here. We'll be back with a full week of Headlines on Monday.