Network Problem Disrupts Internet
Telecom Firm Begins Testing Internet Calling
Human Errors Block E-Mail, Web Sites in Internet Failure
Senate Hits Computer Games Delete Button
USTA Questions's FCC's Local Competition Task Force Idea
Internet Use By Financial Services Industry "On Verge of Revolution"
Voluntary Or Not, Is It Censorship?
FCC holds forum on promoting standards in Telehealth
FCC Invites Public Comment on its Strategic Plan
Commission Takes Next Step To Allow Non-U.S.-Licensed Satellites To Serve
The United States
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Title: Network Problem Disrupts Internet
Source: New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/(A1)
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Internet
Description: Ignoring automated alarms for the best jelly doughnut he's ever
had, a computer operator at Network Solutions Inc., in Herndon, VA, threw
the Internet into chaos yesterday evening. Network Solutions maintains the
"master telephone directory" of cyberspace. The company's machines
transmitted bad addresses to ten other computers around the world that
handle the Internet's global network address system. Thousands of e-mail
messages were returned "unable to deliver" and many web sites were
inaccessible. But boy, oh boy, what a doughnut.
Title: Telecom Firm Begins Testing Internet Calling
Source: Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/(A9C)
Author: Silvia Ascarelli
Issue: Internet/InfoTech
Description: Deutsche-Telekom AG will launch voice-to-voice Internet
telephony today. Neither party will need a computer to place a call, just a
touchtone phone and an access number. If successful, Internet phone calls
could mean greatly reduced prices for long distance calls.
Title: Human Errors Block E-Mail, Web Sites in Internet Failure
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (A1)
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Internet
Description: Human error was the cause of a partial collapse of the
Internet yesterday. An employee of Network Solutions, the company that
maintains the Internet address registry, allowed two "garbled" computer
files containing well over one million web addresses ending in ".com"
and ".net" to be sent to the company's ten root servers, which are
computers that help direct Internet traffic. The Internet was further
crippled when a backhoe was put through a fiber-optic cable owned and
used by WorldCom Inc. According to a spokeswoman for the company, the
cable "is one of our main routes on the Eastern Seaboard..." The
incident raised cries of "I told you so" from Internet specialists who
have been predicting a catastrophic meltdown of the Web as a result of
traffic overload. It also prompted many to revive the arguments against
the exclusive right of Network Solutions to register Web Addresses,
which is seen as an unfair monopoly by many.
Title: Senate Hits Computer Games Delete Button
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (A10)
Author: Associated Press
Issue: Computer Games
Description: Last night the Senate approved a measure to remove computer
games from all government computers. The measure, which was passed
without objection, also bars the government from purchasing new
computers with games already installed on them. Sen. Lauch Faircloth
sponsored the amendment, commenting that the move will "save millions if
not billions in lost productivity." Games sited as particular problems
were "Solitaire" and "Global Thermo-Nuclear War," the later of which was
responsible for bringing the level of military alert to "Defcon 4"
178,000 times in the last week alone.
Title: USTA Questions's FCC's Local Competition Task Force Idea
Source: Telecom AM http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: Always the first to think about the heavy load of underpaid,
overworked Federal Communications Commission staffers, the United States
Telephone Association, lobbyist for local telephone companies, is
questioning the creation of the Commission's local competition task force:
"We must question whether the best approach for the FCC to take at this time
is to institute yet another layer of process -- made up of FCC staffers who
are already hectically busy," said Roy Neel, USTA's president and CEO. "But
if pursued in an objective manner, their findings will once and for all put
an end to the false and misleading allegations AT&T and MCI keep throwing
out in an effort to keep real competition from coming to the long-distance
industry." [In a related story, Telecom AM quotes Mr Neel saying "the door
is being thrown wide open to competition." Neal says there's no local
competition because long distance companies lack "solid business and
marketing plans."]
Title: Internet Use By Financial Services Industry "On Verge of Revolution"
Source: Telecom AM http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: According to Ernst & Young, many banks will be moving into
Internet transaction processing. Thirty-six percent of banks survey by E&Y
say that Internet banking will be their most important technology investment
by 1999.
Title: Voluntary Or Not, Is It Censorship?
Source: National Journal http://www.nationaljournal.com/index.htm(p.1490)
Author: William Schneider
Issue: V-Chip
Description: In Political Pulse column, Schneider examines the recent accord
on television ratings. "The deal raises an issue that sounds like a
contradiction in terms -- voluntary censorship." Networks "voluntarily"
adopted the new ratings system in return for promises from Members of
Congress that they would not legislate TV programming for three years.
At the FCC http://www.fcc.gov
FCC holds forum on promoting standards in Telehealth.
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/Public_Notices/1997/pnmc7013.html
FCC Invites Public Comment on its Strategic Plan
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/Public_Notices/1997/spintro.html
Commission Takes Next Step To Allow Non-U.S.-Licensed Satellites To Serve
The United States (IB Docket No. 96-111, CC Docket No. 92-23)
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/News_Releases/1997/nrin7026.html
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