DIGITAL DIVIDE
Mineta Wants to Narrow Digital Divide (USA)
SPECTRUM
The Battle of the Bandwidths (NYT)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
Republicans Seeking Parity In TV Convention Coverage (NYT)
Moguls Rattled by Gore's Choice of Critic of
Entertainment Industry (NYT)
JOBS
A Key Issue In Phone Strike Is Said Resolved (NYT)
MERGERS
Amazon Toys R Us Plan Web Venture (WP)
INTERNATIONAL
Ambivalence in China On Expanding Net Access (NYT)
US is Said to be Near Deal For NTT Unit to Buy Verio (NYT)
French Nazi Memorabilia Case Presents Jurisdiction Dilemma (CyberTimes)
PRIVACY
FBI to Have Carnivore Tool Reviewed by Outside Experts (WSJ)
Kaiser E-Mail Glitch Highlights Pitfalls Of Placing
Personal-Health Data Online (WSJ)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
MINETA WANTS TO NARROW DIGITAL DIVIDE
Issue: Digital Divide
New Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta, the first Asian-American cabinet
officer, is making Internet access for the poor and minorities a top
priority. Sec Mineta will lead a September tour of up to a dozen U.S. cities
and towns to promote electronic commerce and "digital inclusion." "If the
technological advances being made are leaving minority, low-income
Americans, rural areas and inner cities behind, then it seems to me we've
got to be doing something to make sure they aren't left behind," he said.
Sec Mineta is point man for the Clinton administration's effort to narrow
the digital divide by using federal grants and pro-competition policies to
bring PCs and Internet service to areas where access lags.
[Source: USA Today (8B), James Cox]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000811/2542549s.htm)
SPECTRUM
THE BATTLE OF THE BANDWIDTHS
Issue: Spectrum/Wireless
"The big story is that our spectrum policy in the United States is totally
messed up," said Reed Hundt, a former chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission. "And right now the FCC is really holding a handful of hot
coals." In a tight market for spectrum, broadcasters were given a valuable
chunk of the airwaves to make the transition to digital television. But that
transition has stalled and broadcasters are now demanding concessions from
the Federal Communications Commission. FCC Chairman William Kennard has said
that broadcasters have made unreasonable demands on his agency (re: "must
carry" rights on cable systems and compatibility with those systems), trying
to use their leverage as holders of valuable spectrum licenses. "The law put
the broadcasters completely in the driver's seat," he said. "The
broadcasters made a deal with the United States Congress. They promised a
lot of key people in Congress that if you give us this spectrum, we will
give the public high-definition television. But nobody really said that the
American public wanted it or what the business plan was. There were a lot of
promises made, but none has been fulfilled." Cell phones, hand-held personal
digital assistants, laptop computers and other wireless devices need
spectrum space to function. Mr Hundt estimates that at the current growth
rate, the government must triple the amount of spectrum available for
wireless Internet in the next five years.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/biztech/articles/11spectrum.html)
See Also
PAXSON NETWORK COULD REAP BILLIONS IN TALKS WITH PHONE COMPANIES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Nicole Harris And Jill
Carroll]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965949004594290062.htm)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
REPUBLICANS SEEKING PARITY IN TV CONVENTION COVERAGE
Issue: Political Discourse
Jim Nicholson, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, in letters
to the presidents of the news divisions of ABC, CBS and NBC, wrote that he
was concerned about reports "that you now plan to expand and augment your
coverage in Los Angeles next week." He added the hope that "based on your
commitment to fair and unbiased reporting, you will devote the same amount
of time to the Democrats' convention as you did to ours." Republicans are
upset that a speech by President Clinton on Monday night will get more
coverage than the speech delivered by former-Gen Colin Powell during the GOP
convention. Officials at ABC, NBC and CBS say they plan to devote the same
amount of coverage to the Democrats as to the Republicans, but they'll not
have Republicans tell them what is news and what is not. Clifford May,
director of communications for the Republican committee, said the treatment
of the convention by the broadcast networks, which command the bulk of the
television audience, is a major factor in the campaign. "These are the
parties' featured events every four years," he said, "and how much air time
they're given we think does really have an influence and an impact." And
because commercial television time is so expensive, Mr. May added, "If you
give one party more time than the other, then in effect you're making a
campaign contribution to that party."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A13), AUTHOR: Peter Marks]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/081100wh-media-repubs.html)
MOGULS RATTLED BY GORE'S CHOICE OF CRITIC OF ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
Issue: Media & Society
If the entertainment industry "continues to market death and degradation to
our children and continues to pay no heed to the genuine bloodshed staining
our communities, then one way or the other the government will act."
Although that may sound like a Republican sound bite, its a quote from Sen
Joseph Lieberman (D-CT). As Hollywood prepares to open its coffers (and
homes) for Democrats next week, Democrats are trying to play down, if not
ignore Sen Lieberman's positions. Jeffrey Katzenberg, an owner of
Dreamworks, said: "Yes, Lieberman has been critical, and held us in
Hollywood to a very high standard. It's not something we have often agreed
upon in terms of the solution. But to have someone as direct and honest and
doesn't pull punches is what leadership is all about." But other Democrats
may not be so forgiving. Jim Wiatt, a top talent agent who is president and
chief executive of the William Morris agency, said, "It's intolerable to
think of the government regulating our business and content, and Sen
Lieberman has been vocal to the point where he needs to tone down his
rhetoric and not make this industry the whipping boy for the decline of
Western civilization." Vice President Gore leads his opponents in Hollywood
fundraising and Sen Lieberman will probably not hurt the ticket financially.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A15), AUTHOR: Bernard Weinraub]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/081100wh-hollywood.html)
JOBS
A KEY ISSUE IN PHONE STRIKE IS SAID RESOLVED
Issue: Jobs
"I think we're at a situation where the rest of the issues could come
together pretty quickly," said Eric Rabe, a spokesman for Verizon. People
close to the talks says the company, the largest telecommunications
employer, and the striking unions have come to an agreement that will make
it easier for the unions to organize non unionized workers in Verizon
Wireless, the nation's largest wireless operator. "It's not a slam dunk,"
said Paul Osterman, professor of management at M.I.T. "The unions will have
to articulate very well what they can offer to the wireless people." Only 50
of Verizon Wireless's 32,000 employees are union members. The agreement may
only cover another 8,000 employees in the region covered by contract
negotiations.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Romero & Barnes]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/081100verizon-talks.html)
See Also:
ADVERTISING: BRANDING EFFORT SHOWCASING WORKERS FACES ISSUES WHEN THEY STRIKE
[SOURCE: New York Times (), AUTHOR: ]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/columns/081100adcol-verizon.html)
VERIZON STRIKE MOVES CLOSER TO ENDING, BUT ISSUES REMAIN
[Source: USA Today (8B), Author: Shawn Young]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000811/2542550s.htm)
MERGERS
AMAZON TOYS R US PLAN WEB VENTURE
Issue: Mergers
Amazon.com, which dominates online retailing, changed business strategy
somewhat yesterday by entering into a long-term relationship with competitor
Toys R Us. The deal marks the first time Amazon has entered into a deal
with an offline retailer. Together the two companies will develop an online
toy and video-game store. Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos and
Toys R Us chief executive John Eyler presented the store as a win-win
proposition. "These are two companies that are different but have extremely
compatible skill sets," said Eyler, noting that his company would be
responsible for buying and managing the inventory. Those are the trickiest
tasks in the toy business, and ones that Amazon acknowledges fumbling last
year. But Toys R Us has had its own e-commerce problems. Because of its name
recognition, the online store had trouble filling the tremendous amount of
holiday orders last season. Result: in the new deal, all of the new store's
customer service and order fulfillment will be handled by Amazon, which will
run the Web site as well. Toys R Us will handle the merchandising required
to sell the toys. The Toysrus.com Web site will become a shell leading
consumers straight to Amazon.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: David Streitfeld]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7995-2000Aug10.html)
See Also:
TWO BIG ONLINE TOY SELLERS TO MERGE UNITS
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Saul Hansell]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/biztech/articles/11toys.html)
AMAZON.COM, TOYS 'R' US AGREE TO COMBINE ONLINE TOY STORES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B2), AUTHOR: Nick Wingfield & William Bulkeley]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965911483856584829.htm)
AMAZON, TOYS R US TEAM FOR ONLINE TOY STORE
[Source: USA Today (3B), Author: Deborah Kong]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000811/2542606s.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
AMBIVALENCE IN CHINA ON EXPANDING NET ACCESS
Issue: International/Internet
Even as China embraces the Internet and its ability to modernize the Chinese
economy, the Chinese government frets about the Web spreading beyond its
control. The progress by the Chinese government in the Internet has been
swift and sure: progress is being made both in making e-commerce a function
of government agencies and in improving the Internet's reach through
cellular phones. At the same time, the Chinese government is remaining
vigilant of the threats the Internet poses to its stability and control.
"Enemy forces at home and abroad are sparing no effort to use this
battlefront to infiltrate us," said an editorial this week in the Communist
Party's national newspaper, The People's Daily. The ambivalence about the
Internet has the potential to distort China's new E-commerce models along
the same lines other economies have been distorted in the planned economy,
favoring inefficient government-owned ventures over more creative private
ones. Already private Web ventures that rely on foreign investment have
been hampered by the government's wariness: regulations make much of the
foreign investment needed by startup technically illegal; the inability of
Internet companies to list their shares on China's domestic stock market are
scaring off venture capitalists; and now many of the tiny Internet companies
started in the last year are now running out of cash and closing.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C3), AUTHOR: Craig Smith]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/biztech/articles/11net.html)
US IS SAID TO BE NEAR DEAL FOR NTT UNIT TO BUY VERIO
Issue: International/Ownership
Clinton administration officials are close to resolving the remaining
national security concerns around the NTT Communications of Japan purchase
of Verio, a United States Internet service provider. The $5.5 billion deal
has become a test case of the FBI's power to police the Internet and guard
against espionage when a company controlled by a foreign government buys an
American Internet gateway. NTT Communications is a subsidiary of the Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, which is 53 percent owned by the
Japanese government. Facing a Monday deadline, NTT ended a standoff by
offering to FBI terms that would set up a separate American-controlled
office within the Japanese-American company that could execute court-ordered
wiretaps without oversight of the Japanese parent company. American
officials also want legally binding commitments that give the government
recourse if the combined company fails to cooperate with investigators or
compromises the secrecy of law enforcement actions. While it is common for
the U.S. to call for safeguards when a foreign interest buys into
telecommunications and military concerns, this is the first time national
security considerations have been raised in the case of a cross-border
Internet company acquisition. Brett Lambert, a security expert with DFI
International who has followed the NTT Communications-Verio proceedings,
said the merger, if completed successfully, could become the standard for
foreign purchases of Internet service providers. "I think everyone will
breathe a sigh of relief because they want this to be a model," Mr. Lambert
said. "NTT basically has had to carry water for other Internet deals down
the road."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Joseph Kahn]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/biztech/articles/11secure.html)
See Also
FBI, NTT REACH TENTATIVE DEAL ON $5.5 BILLION VERIO ACQUISITION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Neil King Jr. And David S.
Cloud]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965952625894025409.htm)
FRENCH NAZI MEMORABILIA CASE PRESENTS JURISDICTION DILEMMA
Issue: International/Internet
French authorities are attempting to force Yahoo ! to
restrict French citizens from gaining access to Nazi artifacts that appear
on its English-language auction site. "The Yahoo case points up a dilemma in
the law of jurisdiction," said Henry H. Perritt Jr., dean of the
Chicago-Kent College of Law and an expert in Internet law. "If a Web site is
accessible to all, and is subject to jurisdiction by every nation on earth,
then the laws of the lowest common denominator nation" will govern the
Internet, he said. "On the other hand, if we say that the only important law
is the one where the content provider resides, then local values of foreign
nations will not be enforced. We also run the risk of creating havens for
shyster practices." Michael Traynor, a lawyer in San Francisco who is acting
as special counsel to Yahoo said, "What the government of France is trying
to do is apply its laws outside its borders. If anybody in France feels that
they don't want to view Nazi artifacts, they don't have to look at anything
they object to. It's a voluntary act to look at information." Perritt said,
"For French authorities to go after Yahoo.com nevertheless is an exorbitant
exercise of jurisdiction that is inconsistent with emerging best practices."
Thomas P. Vartanian, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer who heads a committee
on cyberspace law for the American Bar Association, said that he expects to
see similar cases in the coming years "unless the world can agree on what
the standards for jurisdiction should be."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/cyber/cyberlaw/11law.html)
See Also.
YAHOO! RETURNS TO FRENCH COURT TO ADDRESS NAZI PARAPHERNALIA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Kevin J. Delaney]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965934304130038319.htm)
PRIVACY
FBI TO HAVE CARNIVORE TOOL REVIEWED BY OUTSIDE EXPERTS
Issue: Privacy
The FBI has finally succumbed to pressure from privacy advocates and
lawmakers that have complained that the U.S. government's new high-tech
snooping tool called Carnivore is too intrusive. The FBI will soon have the
software reviewed by a team of academics. Attorney General Janet Reno said
the Justice Department has asked the FBI to cooperate fully with a team of
university technical engineers, who will have total access to any
information they need to conduct their review. Following the academic
review, the analysis will be made available for public comment and a joint
Justice Department and FBI team will finalize the report for the Attorney
General's review. A full report is to be ready by December. "I think this
will be an effective way to proceed in this issue," said Ms. Reno.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Jerry Guidera]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965930039361069185.htm)
See Also:
CARNIVORE GOING TO REVIEW U.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A23), AUTHOR: David A. Vise]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7949-2000Aug10.html)
KAISER E-MAIL GLITCH HIGHLIGHTS PITFALLS OF PLACING PERSONAL-HEALTH DATA
ONLINE
Issue:Privacy
Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest health insurers, sent
sensitive medical information into the wrong hands, highlighting the
potential pitfalls of placing personal-health data online. Kaiser said it
accidentally sent private e-mail messages that were meant for 858 of its
members to 17 other members instead, which included sensitive medical
questions and included patient addresses and telephone numbers. Although
Kaiser says it has made necessary changes to prevent a recurrence, the event
serves as a striking example of the potential dangers of trafficking in
online medical information. It also shows how the security of such data can
be vulnerable to plain mistakes, not just more deliberate breaches for
marketing and other purposes that are the worry of regulators.
This is a wake-up call," says Thaddeus Grimes-Gruczka, vice president of
health practice at Cyber Dialogue, a New York customer-relationship
consultant, and adds that consumers are already thinking twice about how
they share their medical histories online. He said similar mistakes are
inevitable.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Barbara Martinez]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965952852813278860.htm)
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