Airwaves Auctions May Hurt Military, GAO Report Says
FCC Is Turned Back in Plan to Reimburse Pay-Phone Operators
Clinton Minimize Internet Regulation, Seeks Free-Trade Zone Status for the Web
Clinton Calls A Summit on Internet Smut
As Reelections Curtain Time Nears, Senator From New York Changes Tune on NEA
Area Commuters Take Traffic Information Service for a Spin
Telecommunications Reform
Library calls police about man viewing nude boys on Internet
FCC fouls pitches for DQ, Advil
*********************************************
Title: Airwaves Auctions May Hurt Military, GAO Report Says
Source: Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/ (A7)
Author: Bryan Gruley and Thomas E. Ricks
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Congressional auditors and the National Security Council
have decided that allowing certain airwaves to be used commercially could be
problematic for military operations because the auctioned radio spectrum
could interfere with military spectrum. As the military moves to a more
"information intensive style of war-fighting," as a special assistant to the
President put it, more demands will be put on radio spectrum.
Title: FCC Is Turned Back in Plan to Reimburse Pay-Phone Operators
Source: Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/ (B2)
Author: WSJ Staff Reporter
Issue: Phone Regulation
Description: According to a decision by a U.S. appeals court, the FCC
needs to redesign its rule that long-distance companies have got to
reimburse pay-phone operators more for access-code calls or toll-free calls.
The court approved other sections of the FCC's new rules for local pay-phone
rates.
Title: Clinton Minimize Internet Regulation, Seeks Free-Trade Zone Status
for the Web
Source: Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/ (B5)
Author: Chana R. Schoenberger
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: At the release of a new administration report on Internet
commerce, President Clinton announced that "he will ask the World Trade
Organization to turn the Internet into a 'free-trade zone.'" Clinton does
not plan to tax Internet commerce. The Administration does plan to remain
active in a regulatory kind of way in the areas of "intellectual property
protection, domain names and privacy concerns, with special emphasis on the
safety of children who use the Internet." Many tech companies are still
concerned about the Administration's stance on exporting encryption codes.
Title: Clinton Calls A Summit on Internet Smut
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (A6)
Author: Peter Baker and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Internet Content
Description: President Clinton plans to bring together educators,
industry leaders, and parent representatives to develop "a voluntary plan
for denying children access to inappropriate material." This announcement
comes a few days after the Administration's decision to use a relatively
hands-off policy on Internet commerce. To protect children, "Clinton hopes
to use the stature of his office to accomplish what federal law could not,
putting pressure on the industry to police itself in the absence of any
direct government intervention. The strategy mimics the formula Clinton
used last year to persuade television executives to adopt a ratings system
after years of resistance."
Title: As Reelections Curtain Time Nears, Senator From New York Changes
Tune on NEA
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (A11)
Author: Blaine Harden
Issue: Arts and Culture
Description: In 1989, Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) along with Senator
Jesse Helms (RRRRR-NC) tore up a catalog from the National Endowment of the
Arts and made clear that he did not agree with using federal money to
support certain artists. Yesterday, D'Amato was singing a different tune
to earn points with New York liberal voters. New York is the largest
recipient of grants from the NEA. The senator poo-pooed the Republican
effort to cut NEA's budget and said "the health and vitality of the arts
community must be nurtured, must be strengthened, and now is not the time to
turn our backs on it."
Title: Area Commuters Take Traffic Information Service for a Spin
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (B1)
Author: Alice Reid and Sewell Chan
Issue: Info Tech
Description: SmarTraveler (202-863-1313 or http://www.smartraveler.com) is
a new
phone and Internet service to give District of Columbia commuters
information on traffic flow.
SmarTraveler is a $12.5 million project supported by 12 private companies
and 25 public agencies.
Title: Telecommunications Reform
Source: Slate http://www.slate.com/Gist/97-06-28/Gist.asp
Author: David Franklin
Issue: Competition
Description: A look at the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the potential of
convergence and the promise of competition in telephony and video delivery.
[Shameless plug alert! Story contains link to Benton site at
http://www.benton.org/Policy/96act/]
Title: Library calls police about man viewing nude boys on Internet
Source: Beacon Journal Online http://www.ohio.com/bj/news/docs/010019.htm
Author: Keith McKnight
Issue: Libraries/Internet Content
Description: An Ohio man was arrested after viewing and downloading child
pornography at a public library computer terminal. The library staff called
the police. "Traditionally, librarians have protected their records of
lending activity to the point of being subpoenaed or going to jail," says
Chris Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Ohio. But now, "librarians are scrutinizing what it is you look at and
reporting you to the police."
Title: FCC fouls pitches for DQ, Advil
Source: Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/
Author: R.G. Ratcliffe
Issue: Free Air Time for Candidates
Description: Former major league pitcher Nolan Ryan is considering running
for agriculture commissioner of Texas. But Ryan has lucrative television
commercial deals with Dairy Queen and Advil and would like to continue those
deals during an election. But the Federal Communications Commission and the
National Association of Broadcasters say that's a no-no. Since Ryan would
not be paying to air the ads, they could be seen as illegal campaign
contributions by the companies and rival candidates could request equal
time. A senior FCC official said that TV stations refused to run Ronald
Reagan ads while he was running for President because they would have had to
give opponents equal time.
*********