SPECTRUM
FCC Adopts Auction Procedures for Commercial Broadcast Licenses (FCC)
LOCAL TELEPHONE/LABOR
Appeals Court Sides With FCC in Case of Bells' Networks (WSJ)
End to Bell Atlantic Strike Near, Both Sides Say (WP)
Effects of Bell Atlantic Strike Ripple From Maine to Virginia (NYT)
Bell Atlantic, Union Keep Talking As Walkout Enters a Second Day (WSJ)
CABLE
News Corp., TCI Affiliate Are in Talks Seeking to Acquire Primestar
Majority (WSJ)
SECURITY
Fix for Some Email Security Problems is Reported (NYT)
PERSONAL COMPUTING
The Melding of Mind With Machine May Be the Next Phase of Evolution
(NYT)
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SPECTRUM
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FCC ADOPTS AUCTION PROCEDURES FOR COMMERCIAL BROADCAST LICENSES
Issue: Spectrum
"The FCC has adopted rules to implement its authority to auction commercial
analog broadcast licenses. In general, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997
requires the Commission to use auctions to award commercial broadcast
licenses when there are mutually exclusive applications. One exception to
this requirement is for mutually exclusive applications for full service
stations filed before July 1, 1997. The FCC said there are only about 130
such pending cases involving commercial broadcast applicants in which the
Commission could use either comparative hearings or auctions to award the
license. These pending cases were frozen after the DC Circuit invalidated
the FCC's central criterion for deciding initial licensing cases in Bechtel
v. FCC. The Commission decided that auctions would be fairer and more
efficient than comparative hearings for the pending cases."
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/1998/nrmm8025.html
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LOCAL TELEPHONE/LABOR
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APPEALS COURT SIDES WITH FCC IN CASE OF BELLS' NETWORKS
Issue: Competition
The U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis dealt a blow to the Baby Bells by
upholding a Federal Communications Commission decision forcing the Bells to
allow would-be-rivals access to their networks' full features, functions and
capabilities. This decision would allow rivals to enjoy the large networks'
economies of scale. "The Bells were troubled by the judgement." An Ameritech
spokesman said the company "is strongly considering asking the court to
reconsider."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: WSJ Staff Reporter]
http://wsj.com/
END TO BELL ATLANTIC STRIKE NEAR, BOTH SIDES SAY (WP)
EFFECTS OF BELL ATLANTIC STRIKE RIPPLE FROM MAIN TO VIRGINIA (NYT)
BELL ATLANTIC, UNION KEEP TALKING AS WALKOUT ENTERS A SECOND DAY (WSJ)
Issue: Local Telephone/ Labor
Representatives from both the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and
Bell Atlantic Corp. say that they are close to an agreement that would put
an end to the two day telephone strike. While the walkout has not had a
great effect on most customers, there are delays in services such as
directory assistance, phone repairs and new installations. Over 73,000 CWA
union members decided to strike due to disputes over job-security and the
future of labor at Bell Atlantic. The union is concerned about the
increasing number of non-union jobs at Bell Atlantic's newer subsidiaries.
The majority of the negotiations reportedly center on the ability to
unionize these new operations.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (D1), AUTHOR: Frank Swoboda and Stephanie Stoughton]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-08/11/115l-081198-idx.html
[SOURCE: New York Times (A19), AUTHOR: Terry Pristin]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/bell-strike.html
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Stephanie N. Mehta]
http://wsj.com/
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CABLE
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NEWS CORP., TCI AFFILIATE ARE IN TALKS SEEKING TO ACQUIRE PRIMESTAR MAJORITY
Issue: DBS
News Corp. and a Tele-Communications Inc. affiliate are in preliminary talks
aimed at acquiring a majority of Primestar Partners LP. People familiar with
the matter say the move would reduce the stake held by cable companies to a
minority of the direct-broadcast satellite service.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B5), AUTHOR: John Lippman & Leslie Cauley]
http://wsj.com/
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SECURITY
========
FIX FOR SOME EMAIL SECURITY PROBLEMS IS REPORTED
Issue: Security
Officials at Sendmail, the company that makes the software that manages the
majority of mail systems, plans to announce today that it has developed a
simple and free fix for a security vulnerability discovered in email
programs made by Microsoft Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp. Eric
Allman, a founder of Sendmail, said yesterday that the developed fix would
automatically trap email messages carrying dangerous files that could
exploit the vulnerability.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D5), AUTHOR: John Markoff]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/biztech/articles/11bug.html
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PERSONAL COMPUTING
==================
THE MELDING OF MIND WITH MACHINE MAY BE THE NEXT PHASE OF EVOLUTION
Issue: Lifestyles
As we continue to work towards accelerating our own evolution, some
scientists are looking at how to meld machines with living cells. For
example, researchers at British Telecommunications P.L.C. have been working
on a project, somewhat ominously dubbed "Soul Catcher," that seeks to
develop a computer that can be implanted in the brain to complement human
memory and computational skills. In addition, the "Soul Catcher' would also
enable the gathering of extrasensory information -- in this case, data
transmitted by wireless networking. While this field may seem a little far
fetched, it is really just an extension of devices like pace makers,
neurostimulators, which send electric charges through nerves to alleviate
certain types of pain, and implants that simulate hearing for the deaf.
Peter Cochrane, the head of research at British Telecom, a futurist and a
specialist in "human-computer interfaces," believes that this type of
research is merely an extension of the evolutionary process. He says, in
fact, the future of the human species depends on our continuing and
expanding ability to process information. If not, he wrote in a 1996 column
for the Daily Telegraph in Britain, "systems more efficient at information
processing may supplant us." So, in some ways, the increasing interest in
the Internet already suggests that humans are on the threshold of a major
evolutionary step as information-processing organisms. Who knows, "if these
endeavors ever realize their goals, the personal computing will become very
personal indeed."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C6), AUTHOR: Rob Fixmer]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/cyber/compcol/11compcol-fixmer...
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