Universal Service
In on-line access, a great divide (ChiTrib)
FCC Must "Redo" Universal Service Funding Plan,
Says Senate Aide (TelecomAM)
Media & Politics
Consultants Blame Media For Problems of Politicians (NYT)
Straight From the Gift-Horse's Mouth (B&C)
Electronic Commerce
Even on the Net, the Boundary Lines Are Being Drawn (WP)
Legal Changes Threaten Online Sales (NYT)
Code Breaker Cracks Smart Cards' Digital Safe (NYT)
Journalism
Time Orders Investigation On Accuracy Of CNN Report (NYT)
Columnist's Ouster Pushes Editors to Look Inwards (NYT)
Asking Questions About a Closed Case (NYT)
Privacy
Conference Takes On Internet Privacy Again (NYT)
On-Line Groups Are Offering Up Privacy Plans (WSJ)
Web Vendors' Allure Bewitches Kids (WP)
Satellites
House Committee Votes to Delay Satellite Fees (B&C)
Iridium Hopes Satellite Phone Will Hook Professionals (WSJ)
** Universal Service **
Title: In on-line access, a great divide
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1)
http://chicago.tribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,1051,SAV-9806220
001,00.html
Author: Andrew Zajac
Issue: Universal Service
Description: President Clinton is equating the development of the Internet
with the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Industrial Revolution
as defining American moments. The Internet, declared the president, has
"absolutely staggering possibilities" and already is "the fastest-growing
social and economic community in history." Online commerce was zero in 1992
and is expected to zoom to $300 billion by 2002. But fewer than half of
American homes have a computer and only half of those -- or 23% of all US
homes -- have Internet access. [How do they get by without Headlines?] If
the Internet is important enough so everyone should have access and many
people don't, does the government have a role in extending access? In
President's Clinton speech, he called for more access, but didn't offer much
detail on how. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress approved
discounted access for schools and libraries. The Federal Communications
Commission, however, had to cut back on that program under pressure from
Congress earlier this month. That's because long distance giants AT&T and
MCI threatened to raise rates to pay for the program -- making it feel too
much like a tax for the Republican Congress. Rand researcher Tara Bikson
says of the Internet, "It's a societal infrastructure that brings commerce
and social and educational opportunity to people." Rand is conducting a
cost-benefit analysis of electronic commerce to see "whether there's a good
business case for making e-mail available, even to those who can't afford
it, because there will be a payoff in the end."
Title: FCC Must "Redo" Universal Service Funding Plan, Says Senate Aide
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Lauren Belvin, senior counsel for the Senate Commerce
Committee, said "Congress is waiting to see what the FCC does" about
universal service funding. She suggested that the FCC has until January --
when the next Congress convenes -- to "fundamentally restructure" universal
service funding and "premise [the subsidies] on need." Belvin said the big
problem is: "How big can you make the e-rate program without impinging on
the high-cost fund" for rural telephony.
** Media & Politics **
Title: Consultants Blame Media For Problems of Politicians
Source: New York Times (A13)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/political-consultants.html
Author: Richard Berke
Issue: Media & Politics
Description: Political consultants, the people who make ads and buy
advertising time to air them, have identified the true bad guy to fault
public despair about the system -- the news media. The Pew Research Center
for the People and the Press and the Center for Congressional and
Presidential Studies at American University have released the results of a
survey of over 200 political consultants. "They know something's wrong,"
said James A. Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and
Presidential Studies. "And they have to point their finger at some
institution. So instead of pointing at themselves, they point at the media,
the candidates and the electorate....They're in the business of electing
people -- and not in the business of trying to improve governance." Among
other interesting findings the study reports that the four major factors in
winning a political contest are (in this order): 1) quality of the message,
2) amount of money available, 3) the partisan makeup of the state or House
district, and then 4) the candidate's campaign ability. See Don't Blame Us:
The Views Of Political Consultants http://www.people-press.org/con98rpt.htm.
Title: Straight From the Gift-Horse's Mouth
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.20)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Campaigns/Free Airtime
Description: Paul Taylor, an advocate for free airtime for political
candidates, wants to find out if candidates would take five minutes per week
of free airtime from broadcasters if it was offered. This fall, from Labor
Day to election day, Taylor's organization, Alliance for Better Campaigns,
is running a pilot program in 10 states that will feature five-minute
mini-debates on Sunday nights. "The Alliance is promoting a series of
practical innovations designed to help rescue political campaigns from the
downward spiral of more ads, less coverage and fewer voters," says Taylor.
"We're also asking everyone else who's frustrated by political campaigns to
help figure out how to make them better." The participating states include:
Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota,
Oregon and Texas.
** Electronic Commerce **
Title: Even on the Net, the Boundary Lines Are Being Drawn
Source: Washington Post (Bus-20)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/22/017l-062298-idx.html
Author: Victoria Shannon VShannon( at )aol.com
Issue: E-Commerce
Description: The European Union and the
United States want to keep the Internet free from special taxes on the sales
of electronically purchased goods. But many other countries want to retain
the right to place and collect such taxes. "So, should the Internet be
exempt from a government's sovereign right to taxation?" A couple of weeks
ago the World Trade Organization (WTO) decided to delay a decision on this
question for another year. A duty-free Internet is a competitive one. And in
effect, the WTO's choice should help the Internet from dissolving into
another trade war battlefield. With this and other questions facing the
Internet today, maybe there should be a global plan to regulate this and
other issues or even a "United Nations of the Internet."
Title: Legal Changes Threaten Online Sales
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/digicom/22digicom.html
Author: Denise Caruso
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: Monitored by the American Law Institute http://www.ali.org,
the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
http://www.nccusl.org is attempting revise the Uniform Commercial Code for
cyberspace. Article 2B would legislate on the sale of digital data, text,
images, sounds, computer programs, and databases. Critics contend that
Article 2B is too complex and threatens to bury electronic commerce in
legalese. For example, Geoffrey Hazard, the director of the American Law
Institute and a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania said during
an interview: "What does the text say? It is difficult to follow in many
respects. When I'm talking to you on the telephone, for example, we're
exchanging information -- we're even doing it electronically. Is that
governed by this law? They say no, but I say why not? It's not clear."
Title: Code Breaker Cracks Smart Cards' Digital Safe
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/22card.html
Author: Peter Wayner
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: Smart cards are credit card-sized devices with a tiny computer
chip that can be used for storing "digital cash." Banking and credit card
companies are hoping the cards will cut costs and improve customer
convenience by replacing conventional magnetic-stripe cards. Smart cards
could be used like a credit card, an ATM card, or as legal tender wherever
merchants have decoder terminals. Of course, this will only happen if
consumers are comfortable using the cards and they are confident their funds
are secure. Paul Kocher of Cryptography Research in San Francisco has
cracked the digital code of smart cards using PCs and garden-variety
electronics equipment. The industry has been trying to downplay Mr. Kocher's
work, but he believes that as the expertise becomes more widely available,
threats to security will become more serious.
** Journalism **
Title: Time Orders Investigation On Accuracy Of CNN Report
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/time-cnn-media.html
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Journalism
Description: After Time published a story written by Cable News Network
(CNN) journalists and reported on the cable channel the day before, the
magazine has assigned its own journalists to follow up on evidence in the
story that some are saying is inaccurate. "I trust CNN's journalistic
standards," said Walter Isaacson, Times managing editor, in an interview on
Friday. "They did a story for us that was based on a lot of evidence. If
some of that evidence is now suspect, that is something we plan to report to
our readers, once we get to the bottom of it." The report was broadcast on
the debut edition of a new CNN program called "Newsstand: CNN and Time," a
collaboration between the two news organizations, which are both owned by
Time Warner Inc.
Title: Columnist's Ouster Pushes Editors to Look Inwards
Source: New York Times (C7)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Robin Pogrebin
Issue: Journalism
Description: Editors around the country are reacting to the Patricia
Smith/Boston Globe case. "It makes us rethink for sure," said George
Langford, the public editor at The Chicago Tribune, who acts as the
newspaper's ombudsman. "It certainly sharpens your antennae. I suppose
that's about the only good thing I can see coming out of it, because it
certainly is very damaging to all of us." Fact-checking departments are a
tradition at magazines, but the volume of news that moves through a
newspaper makes these publications rely on reporters -- and trust -- for
accuracy.
Title: Asking Questions About a Closed Case
Source: New York Times (C7)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/reporter-craig-media.html
Author: Jane Gross
Issue: Journalism
Description: Thanks to the work of Gary Craig, reporter at The Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle, a woman wrongly convicted of a murder 25 years ago
has been set free. Craig's investigation into the practices of a police
investigator convicted of fabricating evidence led to the overturned murder
conviction. "This has solidified in my mind the sort of work we should be
doing," Craig said. "But I worry we're doing less of it than we used to."
** Privacy **
Title: Conference Takes On Internet Privacy Again
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/22briefs.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Privacy
Description: "Industry says, 'This is what we're doing to protect privacy;
we say, 'It's not enough,'" Mark Rotenberg, the director of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center in Washington, said in an interview. "It's kind
of a nightmare actually." The Department of Commerce is conducting
conference calls to bring together industry, civil liberties groups, and
government officials to discuss topics such as children's privacy, and
legislative alternatives to self-regulation. The Department of Commerce is
to make a report to the President evaluating online privacy by July 1. "Do I
expect that on the first of July we'll be able to say effective
self-regulation is in place; no, absolutely not," said Becky Burr, the
Assistant Secretary of Commerce. "But somebody told me U.S. businesses often
rally in the last few minutes of the game."
Title: On-Line Groups Are Offering Up Privacy Plans
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1,B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Privacy
Description: Two privacy industry organizations are planning to announce
today proposals offering the "most comprehensive steps to date" to address
the concerns of privacy online. The two groups announcing the plan are the
Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. and the Alliance for Privacy, a
group of about 50 companies and trade groups, including America Online Inc.,
International Business Machines Corp. and Time Warner Inc. These proposals
could prove to be the industry's last chance to regulate itself and solve
the privacy problem online before the federal government steps in.
Title: Web Vendors' Allure Bewitches Kids
Source: Washington Post (Bus-19,21)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-06/22/014l-062298-idx.html
Author: Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Issue: Privacy
Description: In exchange for personal data, such as names and email
addresses, some Web sites are offering kids prizes, the honor of becoming
special group members, promotional offers, etc. Many sites claim they don't
sell the information they collect from their young visitors. But with an
increasing number of child-oriented sites and some of the site operators
making no promises to guard collected information, many privacy-advocates
are becoming concerned. Following a study on privacy on the Internet, the
Federal Trade Commission concluded this month that 89 percent of the 212
child-oriented Web sites it surveyed collected personal data from kids. Of
those, only 54 percent disclosed their practices and less than one in ten
sought parental approval. In response, the FTC has recommended legislation
that would require Web sites to obtain permission from a parent before data
could be collected.
** Satellites **
Title: House Committee Votes to Delay Satellite Fees
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.19)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Satellites
Description: A bill that was unanimously passed last week by the House
Telecommunications Subcommittee, and is awaiting review by the FCC, would
delay an increase in copyright fees paid by satellite TV companies. Last
summer, the U.S. Copyright Office increased copyright fees that satellite TV
carriers pay for imported network signals and superstations to 27 cents per
subscriber per month. These carriers previously paid 6 cents for imported
signals and 14 to 17.5 cents for superstations. The bill now goes to the
full Commerce Committee for a vote.
Title: Iridium Hopes Satellite Phone Will Hook Professionals
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Sally Beatty
Issue: Satellites
Description: This week Iridium is launching an ad campaign that they hope
will turn a "funny-looking new global phone with a hefty price tag' into an
indispensable, must-have status symbol. Iridium's marketing team has
developed a series of ads to play on the "aspirations and insecurities" of
the world's "globe-trotting" professionals. Coupled with "romantic,
sepia-toned images of desolate foreign lands, portraying the mundane hassles
of the harried business traveler as heroic," the ads carry taglines like:
"It will impress people. Assuming there's anyone around to impress," and "No
place on earth can bring relaxation unless you know there's peace at the
office." The campaign is running in over 45 countries and being translated
into 13 languages.
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