UNIVERSAL SERVICE
New House Bill Would Use Entire Excise Tax to Pay for
E-Rate (TelecomAM)
HEALTH
Medicine at the Click of a Mouse: Utility vs. Privacy (NYT)
LOCAL TELEPHONE/ LABOR
Bell Atlantic, Union Reach Agreement (WP)
Bell Atlantic in Settlement with CWA (WSJ)
Bell Atlantic Reaches Pact with Union (NYT)
ED TECH
Schools Accused of Software Piracy (CyberTimes)
CABLE
Comcast to Buy Control Now of Cable Firm (WSJ)
SPECTRUM/PUBLIC SAFETY
Tristani Says New Spectrum Will Ease Public Safety Concerns
(TelecomAM & FCC)
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UNIVERSAL SERVICE
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NEW HOUSE BILL WOULD USE ENTIRE EXCISE TAX TO PAY FOR E-RATE
Issue: Universal Service/Legislation
Rep. Ron Klink (D-PA) and seven cosponsors introduced legislation last week
(HR-4474) to use the 3 percent phone excise tax to finance the e-rate and
associated programs. The bill would create the Telecommunications Trust
Fund, with rules to be drawn up by the Federal Communications Commission,
and funds to be appropriated for the next six years by Congress. Rep Klink
said that the legislation will "provide honesty to phone bills" because the
financing plan will provide a means "more explicit and stable" than the
current method. House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns (R-MT) have
introduced bills to use half of that tax to finance the e-rate. Other
telecommunications bill introduced as Congress began the August recess: 1)
HR-4427 by Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bill McCollum (R-FL) to ban Internet
gambling, 2) HR-4493 by Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ) requiring itemized billing
by wireless carriers, and 3) HR-4461 by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA), with
Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga), providing for a Web site with information on
technology-related assistance for individuals with disabilities.
[SOURCE: Telecom AM]
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
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HEALTH
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MEDICINE AT THE CLICK OF A MOUSE: UTILITY VS. PRIVACY
Issue: Health
Pushed forward by a growing popularity of the Internet and shifting
economics in health care, the medical industry in "rapidly" going online.
The Internet is already a popular place to search for information about
medicine and treatments, but now increasing number of doctors and insurers
are using the Internet to provide patients and members with personal medical
information, ranging from lab results to payment records. "A potential
revolution" is brewing in "how the consumer interacts with the health plan
and, down the road in a different way, with the providers of care," said Jim
Hudak, a managing partner with Anderson Consulting. This move has the
potential to benefit all parties involved, with reductions in mountains of
paperwork and long waits on clogged phone lines. But it also raises the
issue of privacy of such personal information, and this issue hits the head
on the nail in the broader debate about privacy and security on the
Internet. There are varying views on this issue, but where managed care
companies are concerned, they are working to safeguard members' privacy and
say that their systems can protect electronic information. A number of
experts on privacy issues warn that a determined hacker could probably
obtain access into protected records. But several specialists point out that
most interlopers would have little interest in medical insurance claims. The
economic payoff from breaking into health care records is "a lot less than
for banks," said Paul Clayton, chairman of the dept. dealing with
computerized medical information at Columbia.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1,D8), AUTHOR: Milt Freudenheim]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/biztech/articles/12healthcare-int
ernet.html
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LOCAL TELEPHONE/ LABOR
======================
BELL ATLANTIC, UNION REACH AGREEMENT(WP)
BELL ATLANTIC IN SETTLEMENT WITH CWA (WSJ)
BELL ATLANTIC REACHES PACT WITH UNION (NYT)
Issue: Local Telephone/ Labor
The two-day-old strike against Bell Atlantic came to an end Tuesday when a
tentative agreement was reached between the company and the Communication
Workers of America (CWA). This was not a traditional battle over wages or
benefits. Instead, the strike centered on the future of CWA members in
high-tech and other job growth areas of the company. As part of the
settlement, Bell Atlantic has agreed to give the CWA the opportunity
unionize current and future non-union subsidies. The proposed contract also
ensures that installation, maintenance and repair of data networking
and Internet services goes to CWA members. Larry Mancino, a vice president
of District One of the CWA views this as "a major victory" for the union.
"There is no contract in this industry that has those kind of protections."
Bell Atlantic vice president for human relations, Don Sacco, also seemed
satisfied with the settlement; "The contract gives Bell Atlantic the
flexibility to manage its business in an increasingly competitive market."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1, A10), AUTHOR: Frank Swoboda]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-08/12/091l-081298-idx.html
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A2), AUTHOR: Stephanie Mehta]
http://wsj.com/
[SOURCE: New York Times (T), AUTHOR: Terry Pristin ]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/phone-strike.html
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ED TECH
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SCHOOLS ACCUSED OF SOFTWARE PIRACY
Issue: EdTech
The Los Angeles Unified School District possibly faces paying almost $5
million to settle accusations of software piracy brought by the Business
Software Alliance (BSA), a coalition of software publishers based in
Washington D.C. Los Angeles's difficulties began two years ago, when the
coalition, acting on a tip to their anti-piracy phone line, found 1,400
copies of unlicensed software in use. BSA is asking that the school district
pay $300,000 -- the approximate value of the software copies -- to the
group's anti-piracy fund, replace any unlicensed software with licensed
copies, and that the district establish a group to train staff members in
copyright regulations -- efforts that the LA school district say would cost
about $4.5 million. David N. Tukofsky, one of the seven members of the
district school board, says he is unhappy with the way BSA has handled the
situation. He said with the millions of dollars software companies spend on
promoting the educational value of their products, he felt they could afford
to help a poor urban school district like Los Angeles train staff members in
copyright do's and don'ts. "They could have said, 'We don't want the
$300,000,'" Tukofsky said, and instead given "an offer of training,
reconciliation and understanding." Robert M. Kruger, vice president of BSA,
rebutted the criticism saying that callers are not rewarded for offering
tips to the phone line and that software makers often help school districts
by offering them software at reduced costs. Furthermore, he said, the
proposed solution is less an attempt to collect money than it is an effort
to encourage the school district "to eliminate reliance on pirated software."
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/cyber/education/12education.html
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MERGER
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COMCAST TO BUY CONTROL NOW OF CABLE FIRM
Issue: Merger
Comcast Corp. is expected to announce as early as today plans to buy a
controlling stake in Denver-based Jones Interable Inc. "The speeded-up
purchase by the nation's fourth-largest cable company would signal the end
of Glenn Jones's reign as chairman of Jones Intercable, a company he founded
more than 30 years ago. Selling all of its Jones Intercable stake will be
BCI Telecom Holding Inc. of Canada."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
http://wsj.com/
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SPECTRUM/PUBLIC SAFETY
======================
TRISTANI SAYS NEW SPECTRUM WILL EASE PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERNS
Issue: Spectrum
The Federal Communications Commission's recent decision to auction an
additional 24 MHz of public safety spectrum will improve wireless
communications among police, fire fighters,
paramedics and other public safety officials, FCC Commissioner Gloria
Tristani said August 10. Speaking at an annual meeting of public safety
communications officials, Commissioner Tristani said the "safety of life and
property often cling to a thin thread" of a consistent, accurate and
reliable communications system. "Such a system must be built from the
building blocks of adequate resources and of standardized tools and
procedures." Commissioner Tristani said the new spectrum will allow public
safety officials to meet their three main concerns: 1) inadequate amounts of
frequencies, 2) interoperability, and 3) flexibility to update with new
technology. [See the entire speech at
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Tristani/spgt810.html and a press release at
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1998/nrmc8049.html]
[SOURCE: Telecom AM]
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
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