Universal Service
Senate Adopts Internet Legislation to Appropriations Bill
(TelecomAM)
Western Wireless Asks FCC to Change Kansas Universal Service Fund
(TelecomAM)
Internet
2 Bills Target Minors' Internet Access (WP)
Senate Adds Internet Proposals to Spending Bill (CyberTimes)
Bulk E-Mail Become Politicians Tools (CyberTimes)
Internet Companies Move to Safeguard Computer Users' Privacy (WP)
Education
Home Computer Study Leaves Questions (CyberTimes)
Radio
FCC might legitimize radio 'pirates' it now punishes (ChiTrib)
Arts
In Election Year House Authorizes Financing of Arts (NYT)
Telephone/Ownership
Puerto Rico Accepts GTE Group's Bid To Buy Control of Telephone
Company (WSJ)
Advertising
House GOP Plans Major Ad Campaign (WP)
Lifestyles/Internet Use
Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda...E-Mail Quickly, Yadda, Yadda (WSJ)
** Universal Service **
Title: Senate Adopts Internet Legislation to Appropriations Bill
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Internet Regulation/Universal Service
Description: The Senate July 21 adopted without debate two Internet
content-related amendments to an appropriations bill for the Commerce
Department, TelecomAM reports. S-1482, introduced by Senator Dan Coats
(R-IN), would restrict access to Internet content "harmful to minors."
S-1619, introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ),
would require the use of Internet blocking and filtering software by schools
and libraries that receive universal service discounts know as the erate.
Title: Western Wireless Asks FCC to Change Kansas Universal Service Fund
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Western Wireless has petitioned the Federal Communications
Commission to preempt Kansas laws and regulatory rules that prevent wireless
carriers from using the state's universal service fund to serve rural and
high-cost consumers. Western Wireless contends that Kansas law and
regulation violate the Telecom Act of 1996 because it is not competitively
neutral and is not based on the actual cost of providing service. On a
statewide basis, only incumbent phone companies can receive universal
service support -- competitors are only eligible to receive support while
serving selected areas of the state. State courts upheld the law setting up
the fund, and related litigation is pending before a U.S. District Court in
Kansas.
** Internet **
Title: 2 Bills Target Minors' Internet Access
Source: Washington Post (A5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/22/097l-072298-idx.html
Author: Juliet Eilperin, John Schwartz, Helen Dewar
Issue: Internet Regulation/Universal Service
Description: Yesterday, the Senate passed two bills that will restrict
minors access to adult materials on the Internet. One measure would make the
granting of "E-Rate" subsidies to public schools and libraries contingent
on the installation of software that blocks minors access to indecent WWW
sites. The second bill is a revised version of the 1996 Communications
Decency Act (CDA) that would make companies responsible for preventing
children from accessing sites that contain material "harmful to minors."
Title: Senate Adds Internet Proposals to Spending Bill
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/cyber/articles/22filter.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: On Tuesday, the Senate added two proposals for controlling
children's access to the Internet to a spending bill, "approving without
debate a measure that would make it illegal for commercial Web sites to
distribute adult material to minors and another that would require software
filters on computers in libraries that receive federal Internet subsidies."
The measures, which had been introduced as separate bills by Senator John
McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Dan Coats (R-IN), were added on voice votes to the
appropriations bill for the Commerce, Justice and State dept.s in a
"controversial but common tactic for pushing through legislation on
contentious issues." Civil liberties groups were upset with the action, but
not surprised. A similar filtering proposal has been added to a House
appropriations bill.
Title: Bulk E-Mail Become Politicians Tools
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/cyber/articles/22politics.html
Author: Rebecca Fairly Raney
Issue: Political Campaigns
Description: A new campaign concept is becoming commonplace among
Net-literate political candidates and officeholders this year. "Mass email
lists -- once the exclusive domain of techno-activists -- have hit the
mainstream of politics." Campaigns across the nation this summer are using
these lists to contact reporters, stir up supporters and send updates to
contributors. "Mass emailing to a limited but extremely interested audience
makes everyone feel a part of the family," said Andy Brack, an Internet
political consultant and president of Brack Network Strategies in Charlston,
S.C. "If you don't do it, you're not using the medium properly...People get
addicted to good email like they get addicted to good chocolate," he said.
This trend shows more than a change in the way campaigns are run, it also
offers a chance to return to grass-roots campaigning. Kim Alexander,
president of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Calif. Voter Foundation, points out
that campaigns in Calif. have come to rely on television advertising, but
that inexpensive organization by email may change the current equation.
"Maybe we are seeing a return to a different style of campaigning that uses
technology to engage people instead of turning them off," she said. "The
public has a role again in these campaigns. I think that's incredibly
healthy for the process."
Title: Internet Companies Move to Safeguard Computer Users' Privacy
Source: Washington Post (A13)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/22/088l-072298-idx.html
Author: Robert O'Harrow
Issue: Privacy
Description: In response to yesterday's Federal Trade Commission
recommendation that Congress should pass privacy legislation if online
companies fail to implement self-regulation by the end of the year, the
Online Privacy Alliance, a coalition of Internet merchants, announced that
it would use an electronic stamp of approval to assure consumers of
information safety. Both the Council of Better Business Bureaus and a
nonprofit group called TRUSTe have developed privacy seal systems. Marc
Rotenburg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center questions the
effectiveness of the seal programs, "There's no assurance that the privacy
policy is any good." First, he argues, "You need a baseline standard."
** Education **
Title: Home Computer Study Leaves Questions
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/cyber/education/22education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Education
Description: Eight years ago, a group of researchers in New York City set
out to see if equipping low-income homes with computers that had online
access would influence the chance of academic success for poor, minority
sixth graders that were at risk for dropping out of school. A group of
children who fit the requirements received computers and modems. As these
children were finishing the eighth grade, they were showing modest but
noticeable gains in reading over a comparison group. Given these results,
the researchers decided to continue the project, known as Project TELL,
which stands for Telecommunications for Learning. Last year, as the test
group approached the end of high school, 46 percent of the students who had
remained in the project were able to graduate on time, in comparison to 41
percent of minority students overall in New York City. To the researchers,
who published their findings earlier this year and are issuing another
report for a UNESCO publication to be released this fall, the results
indicate that technology at home can help under-privileged children learn.
"Our work shows that to some extent, you can expand the school day by
putting that learning window in the home," said William Kornblum, principal
investigator of Project TELL. But the project raises another question: What
really helped these children? Was it the computers of the extra attention of
caring adults? Edward Miller, an education research and policy analyst
working on a book about schools and computers, notes that it is a common
occurrence in education studies for children that are being examined to show
an improvement simply because they are receiving special attention. Kornblum
does not dismiss the "spotlight effect," but he points out that those kids
that showed the most marked improvement in test scores where also those that
spent the most time on their computers. Kornblum also said that computers
alone are not necessarily solely responsible for the impressive high school
graduation rates. The participants, that had previously received no formal
outside help with academics, in addition to the benefits of being online,
received face-to-face tutoring and the promise of scholarships if they met
college entrance requirements. While the Project TELL study is definitely
notable as one of the few long-term looks at the effects computers can have
on kids when placed in the home. There were so many possible influences on
the student's performance that there was no way for researchers to examine
the effects of the computers alone on student achievement.
** Radio **
Title: FCC might legitimize radio 'pirates' it now punishes
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 1, p.1)
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-12198,00.html
Author: Frank James
Issue: Radio
Description: The Federal Communications Commission is considering legalizing
low-power radio stations around the country. The relatively inexpensive
radio outlets could revive local programming while giving just about anyone
the chance to be a broadcaster. Opponents include the powerful lobbying arm
of the broadcast industry -- the National Association of Broadcasters. The
NAB, in official comments filed at the FCC, argues that the airwaves are
already too cluttered and the introduction of microradio could interfere with
plans for broadcasters to switch to digital systems.
** Arts **
Title: In Election Year House Authorizes Financing of Arts
Source: New York Times (A1,A14)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/congress-arts.html
Author: Katharine Q. Seelye
Issue: Arts
Description: Yesterday, the House overwhelmingly approved money for the
National Endowment for the Arts. The vote of 253-173 basically guarantees
that the arts agency, in one way or another, will receive $98 million, the
same amount it received this fiscal year. The Senate and President Clinton
also have indicated support for the approved amount. "The old debate over
the existence of the NEA finally has given way to a more thoughtful dialogue
about the appropriate level of federal arts funding in America," William
Ivey, the new chairman of the endowment, said in a statement.
Title: Funding for arts agency survives House vote
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 1, p.3)
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9807220096,00.html
Author: Michael Kilian
Issue: Arts
Description: In a 253-172 vote, the House voted to approve $98 million in
funding for the National Endowment for the Arts despite a last minute fight
by conservatives. The funding victory may be a farewell tribute to the NEA's
main sponsor, Rep Sidney Yates (D-IL) of Chicago. Rep Yates, 88, is retiring
after this term.
** Telephone/Ownership **
Title: Puerto Rico Accepts GTE Group's Bid To Buy Control of Telephone Company
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Telephone/Ownership
Description: "State officials in Puerto Rico yesterday accepted an enhanced
offer by a GTE Corp.-led group to acquire a controlling stake in the
government-owned telephone company amid protests over the privatizations
effort. In addition to its $444 million cash offer, GTE and its partner,
Popular Inc. a bank holding company, outlined a set of concessions aimed at
appeasing employees of Puerto Rico Telephone Co. Workers, who walked off the
job over a month ago in protest of the sale. "We certainly are more than
willing to understand the concerns of the union leaders and be responsive to
those concerns," said Michael T. Masin, GTE's vice chairman, in an interview
yesterday.
** Advertising **
Title: House GOP Plans Major Ad Campaign
Source: Washington Post (A5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/22/097l-072298-idx.html
Author: Juliet Eilperin, John Schwartz, Helen Dewar
Issue: Advertising
Description: House Republican Leadership has disclosed plans to launch a $37
million media campaign in support of GOP congressional candidates. Party
leaders plan to raise up to $16 million in soft money for the "issue
advertisements" that will air in contested districts.
** Lifestyles/Internet Use **
Title: Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda...E-Mail Quickly, Yadda, Yadda
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jane Costello
Issue: Lifestyles/Internet Use
Description: Summer camp sure isn't what it used to be, at least not at the
second annual CyberCamp, an indoor/outdoors experience funded by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. The camp is coordinated by Trudy Dunham for the
University of Minnesota. This year, the camp is expecting more than 500
campers, between the ages of 8 and 12, to sign up for the two-week session
beginning on August 10. This summer's curriculum will focus on the
environment of lakes and streams. Daily activities include everything from
being responsible for a virtual fish "with a life span equivalent to the
camp session," to creating on-line arts and crafts or logging on for a hike
in the woods. While campers can sleep soundly in their own beds at the end
of the day, programmers continue to work on future CyberCamp offerings.
"We're working on food fight graphics right now," says Dunham. "Ideally,
we'd like to get a huge tomato to splash all over the screen."
**************************