ACCESS
Plugged In: Third World Struggles To Get Online (SJM)
'Free' Computer Offers Draw Interest Of The FTC (SJM)
BANDWIDTH
FCC Encourages Court to Stop Portland From Making AT&T Open
Cable Lines (WSJ)
Internet Boom Heralds Future In Bits (SJM)
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
Government Moves To Make Data More Accessible (NYT)
Web-Wired Courtroom Lets World Attend Fla. Trail (USA)
INTERNET
StarMedia Battles Pack of New Rivals for Region's Booming Internet
Market (WSJ)
VNU to Buy Neilsen Media for $2.5 Billion (WSJ)
MCI Outage Could Drive Small Providers Out of Business (NYT)
The Electronic Block Party (NYT)
AT&T Is Free to Use the Phrase 'You Have Mail' (WSJ)
E-COMMERCE
Colorblind Commerce? (USA)
For Many Firms, Web Is Still Something You Catch Flies In (WSJ)
NTIA
It seems Rohde Leads to NTIA (B&C)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
TV to Blame, Hatch Report Says (B&C)
ACCESS
PLUGGED IN: THIRD WORLD STRUGGLES TO GET ONLINE
Issue: Digital Divide/ International
The Internet has been hailed as the ultimate global information network,
but the promise of bringing the world online is far from a reality in 1999
when only 2% of the globe has access to the Internet. Developing nations --
faced with poverty, illiteracy and lack of telecommunications
infrastructure have been slow to stake out their place on the Net. People
in many Third World countries have been forced to be very creative in
forging links to the World Wide Web. "We have to use solar power and
batteries and generators because there is no electricity most of the time,"
explained Patrice Talleyrand, who creates content for the first site to be
entirely written in Haitian Creole. In the town of Goma in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, people must send e-mail using high-frequency radio
modems to an ISP based in neighboring Uganda, because the Congo does not
have any Internet service providers of its own. "You'll find people in
developing countries doing incredible things with their fingernails,
scratching out access," said Raul Zambrano, Information Technology
specialist for the U.N. Development Project. "But while this is wonderful,
the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Nicole Volpe]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/761187l.htm)
'FREE' COMPUTER OFFERS DRAW INTEREST OF THE FTC
Issue: Access
With an increasing number of 'free' computer offers tied to lengthy
Internet service contracts, authorities are begging to question the
consumer benefit of these types of deals. "It's a question of whether
there's adequate information being provided to consumers so they can
evaluate the offers," said Toby Levin, team leader of the FTC's Internet
Advertising Group. Of particular concern is that an Internet service that
appears fast and cheap now may seem slow and overpriced in three years.
"It's quite possible that modem-based communications might become obsolete"
over the next few years as broadband technologies such as cable modems take
hold, said Eric A. Wenger, assistant state attorney general. Consumers who
have taken advantage of these offers may soon be straddled with inefficient
and expensive service. According to Stephen Dukker, president and chief
executive of PC maker e-machines, up to 70% of retail computer sales this
summer are tied to Internet service rebates.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mark Harrington (Newsday)]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/free081799.htm)
BANDWIDTH
FCC ENCOURAGES COURT TO STOP PORTLAND FROM MAKING AT&T OPEN CABLE LINES
Issue: Broadband
The Federal Communications Commission filed a friend-of-the-court brief
Monday, reflecting FCC Chairman William Kennard's belief that federal
regulators -- not local officials -- should decide who controls access to
high-speed cable lines. Chairman Kennard feels that it is too early to
impose Portland-like requirements on AT&T or others that control broadband
Internet access. The broadband issue has assumed national importance since
Portland regulators in December imposed their requirement as a condition
for local approval of AT&T's acquisition of cable giant TCI. AT&T sued to
have the condition thrown out but a federal judge ruled in Portland's
favor, and AT&T appealed. Courts consider the FCC an expert in
telecommunications and its opinion is likely to be taken seriously.
Inconsistent regulation "could undermine the development of intermodal
competition" among cable operators, phone companies, wireless carriers and
satellite carriers, the FCC's brief said. The FCC referred to a recent
report in which its staff found that "different companies are using
different technologies to bring broadband to residential customers," and
"multiple methods" soon will be available. In a statement, AT&T said it was
pleased with the commission's filing and that the FCC agreed with its
position that forced cable-access requirements will slow delivery of new
telecommunications services. The company has committed more than $120
billion to buying cable companies, but says that these investments won't be
worthwhile if it must open its cable lines to competitors. AT&T has vowed
to work with rivals, but has said it doesn't want regulation to force its hand.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, A4, AUTHOR: Bryan Gruley]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB934840539734212734.htm)
INTERNET BOOM HERALDS FUTURE IN BITS
Issue: Broadband
The huge boom in voice and data communications has lead to growing market
in the capacity or bandwidth needed to carry telecommunications traffic.
"We are looking at a world in which bandwidth will become a globally
commoditized product," said Stephen Young, whose company has studied the
bandwidth explosion. Analysts predict that within a few years, bandwidth
futures and options could be trading along with commodities such as gold,
cotton and pork bellies. "You need a long-run secure supply of bandwidth to
ensure that you can carry the traffic you have now and in the future but
you also want to take advantage of the falling price. It is a very
difficult trade-off,'' said Richard Wlliott, director of Brand-X, a
London-based bandwidth exchange.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Nigel Stephenson]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/761185l.htm)
ACCESS TO GOVENMENT INFORMATION
GOVERNMENT MOVES TO MAKE DATA MORE ACCESSIBLE
Issue: Access to Information
In a move to make more government information available for free over the
Internet, the Department of Commerce has proposed shutting down a
controversial agency that sells government documents and reports. The
administration has announced that it plans to close the nearly 50-year-old
National Technical Information Service. Consumer and library groups, that
have been critical of NTIS's exorbitant prices, were pleased by the
announcement. William M. Daley said he would ask Congress to pass
legislation shuttering NTIS completely and transferring its extensive
archives to the Library of Congress. "This way, the American people can
find the documents they want via search engines that currently exist -- and
the more powerful ones being created -- and download them for free," said
the statement from the Commerce Department. "We think this is great news,"
said Ari Schwartz, a policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and
Technology "We think that this shows that the Commerce Department is
really looking at the Internet and realizes what it can mean for public
access to government information."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: ]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/cyber/capital/17capital.html)
WEB-WIRED COURTROOM LETS WORLD ATTEND FLORIDA TRIAL
Issue: Internet
Next Monday in Orlando, Florida, a court is setting a technological
precedent. The of case of Shirley Egan, 68 years old, who is charged with
shooting her daughter after a discussion about putting Egan into a nursing
home, could be the first in the nation to be broadcast by a local court
system over the Internet. The trial, which is expected to take several
days, is being shown in real time with no outside commentary
www.ninja9.org. Greg Flemming of the Pew Research Center for the People &
the Press said, "People like being able to get things directly by going to
the source. You're not being filtered through the traditional news media or
other types of outlets." Media organizations and Court TV's Web site have
aired previous legal proceedings on the World Wide Web -- but experts say
this is the first time a court system itself has broadcast a trial on its
own site. A $190 million, state-of-the-art courthouse that opened last year
helped clear the way for the technological advance. The courtroom is fully
wired for audio and video feeds, with seven digital cameras, fiber-optic
cable and an on-site Internet server that allows for Web broadcasts. Matt
Benefiel, the court administrator in Orange County said his office has been
flooded with calls from other court systems about the technology, and he
gives several tours a week to officials from as far away as Israel. "This
provides open access to the courtroom," Benefiel says. "We look at it as a
way of making a public proceeding even more public."
[SOURCE: USA Today, 3A, AUTHOR: Deborah Sharp]
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/near.htm)
INTERNET
STARMEDIA BATTLES PACK OF NEW RIVALS FOR REGION'S BOOMING INTERNET MARKET
Issue: Internet
Latin Americans are hopping online at a dizzying rate and StarMedia
Network, a Internet startup, is bent on dominating one of the Internet's
fastest-growing markets. StarMedia, founded by a young Uruguayan
entrepreneur, aims to grab them with a Spanish and Portuguese cyberspace
"portal" similar to popular services like Yahoo and AltaVista. Analysts
expect the region's number of Internet users to rise nearly fourfold to 19
million over the next 3 1/2 years. So far, the company leads an
increasingly crowded pack of competitors wooing the region's computer-savvy
residents with native-tongue services. Among its competitors: a joint
venture of AOL and Venezuela's Cisneros Group, an alliance between Prodigy
Communications and the Mexican phone company Telmex and the U.S. portal
Yahoo!, which offers a Spanish-language version. According to StarMedia's
figures, only 2% to 5% of all Web pages are in Spanish. It is that corner
of the Internet that StarMedia users access when they browse the site's
many topical channels -- including news, sports, money, travel and
shopping. Latin America's vast wealth inequalities could be the key
variable affecting the long-term growth of native-language online services.
A snag could be Latin America's dearth of phones lines -- just 10 per 100
people, compared to 64 per 100 in the U.S. Even if more of the region's 500
million people had computers, most would have no way to connect to the
Internet. StarMedia's 32-year-old chief executive, Fernando Espuelas, has
his work cut out for him in attracting the allegiance of "wired" Latin
Americans. Beyond Latin America, the company is counting on picking up
users in Spain and the Latino community in the United States. International
Data Corporation forecasts similar growth rates throughout the region,
predicting somewhat faster increases in Chile, Argentina and Mexico and
slower growth in Brazil. StarMedia isn't alone in the market. But analysts
say StarMedia, with its financial war chest and existing operations in
seven Latin American countries has a strong hand.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB934231431429393891.htm)
VNU TO BUY NEILSEN MEDIA FOR $2.5 BILLION
Issue: Merger
Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeversbedrijven (VNU), a Dutch media company, said
it plans to buy Nielsen Media Research, the television-ratings service, for
$2.5 billion and assumption of $200 million of Neilsen's debt. VNU owns
Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Billboard and Convenience Store News. The Dutch
company also sells consumer data to ad agencies and consumer-products
companies in the U.S. This deal gives VNU one of the most high-profile
names in American media as Nielsen has dominated the business of audience
counting since 1936, when it started its radio research before moving on to
television. Nielsen's ratings data is compiled in part by people who fill
out television-watching diaries in their homes. Those diaries are used by
network executives to decide what gets on the air and by advertising
agencies in determining where to place their commercials. Recently, Nielsen
has moved to expand its ratings expertise to measuring Internet usage.
Important to note is the timing of this deal -- Nielsen recently beat off a
potential television-ratings rival that had threatened its monopoly. That
venture had received initial backing from the networks that are Nielsen's
biggest customer, which have been disappointed in the company's data. Some
analysts felt that Nielsen could have fetched a higher price in this deal,
which is expected to close in the fall.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, A2, AUTHOR: Kyle Pope]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB934790785976203829.htm)
See Also:
DUTCH CONCERN TO BUY NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/vnu-nielsen.html)
AT&T IS FREE TO USE THE PHRASE 'YOU HAVE MAIL'
Issue: Intellectual Property/Internet
Friday, Judge Claude M. Hilton of the Eastern District of Virginia
dismissed a lawsuit by AOL that sought to prevent AT&T from using the
slogan "You have mail", "buddy list" and "IM" (which is an acronym for
instant messaging used by AOL). AOL had argued that it held exclusive
rights to the slogan since its e-mail service had used the greeting for
years and made similar claims against AT&T's use of "Buddy List" and "IM."
Judge Hilton granted AT&T's request for a summary judgment in the case,
ruling that the terms are generic expressions that cannot be owned by AOL.
The judge also canceled an existing trademark AOL held for the term "Buddy
List." AOL had applied for, but hadn't yet received, trademarks for the
other two terms. AOL said they would appeal the decision. "We believe that
the court's decision incorrectly interprets well-established foundations of
trademark law," Paul Cappuccio, AOL's senior vice president and general
counsel, said. "We are confident that the ruling will be reversed."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, B5, AUTHOR: Nick Wingfield]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB934818890775022587.htm)
THE ELECTRONIC BLOCK PARTY
Issue: Communities Online
A look at how one neighborhood (about 75 households) uses email to solve
problems and share news, both good and bad. People get a lot of email, but
they get stuff done and share much more than they did at a once-in-a-year
block party. See Kugel's story at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A19), AUTHOR: Judy Kugel, Harvard University]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/17kuge.html)
MCI OUTAGE COULD DRIVE SMALL PROVIDERS OUT OF BUSINESS
Issue: Infrastructure/Internet
"For our industry, this is a killer -- a company killer," said A. K. Jordan,
president of Intellitech, a Internet service provider in Highland Park,
N.J., with about 500 dial-up customers. Small ISPs may be the big losers in
the 10-day partial shutdown of MCI Worldcom's high-speed data network. Since
many of these smaller firms cannot not afford a contract with a second major
network company, when MCI went down, they went down with it. Now many say
they may go out of business as a result. MCI provides backbone access to
40.9% of national service providers and to 23.6% of small and regional
providers (serving less than 25 area codes).
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Matt Richtel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/biztech/articles/17online.html)
E-COMMERCE
COLORBLIND COMMERCE?
Issue: Minorities/Internet
A look at minorities and access to the billions being invested in
Internet-based companies. Silicon Valley, which remains the heart of the
Internet world, is composed of a close-knit network of venture capitalists,
investment bankers and business people who are still inclined to do business
with people they know. These networks are composed mainly of Whites. The
small number of minority executives makes for a small supply of role models
and mentors. "It's not like people are excluding blacks, but it's including
people (they're) used to," says Fritz Jordan, an African-American and a
founder of Venture Capital Online, an Internet company that helps
entrepreneurs find the money they need to get started. "Good venture
capitalists are colorblind, sex blind and religion blind," says Tim Draper
of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. "We have to be. Successful
entrepreneurs can come from anywhere."
[SOURCE: USA Today, 1B, AUTHOR: Doug Levy]
(http://www.usatoday.com/money/bcovtue.htm)
FOR MANY FIRMS, WEB IS STILL SOMETHING YOU CATCH FLIES IN
Issue: Internet
Even though the number of Web sites for small businesses is growing, the
number of those sites offering e-commerce is not moving with it.
Approximately 54% of small business and 63% of medium sized businesses have
corporate presence on the Web, according to the Yankee Group, a Boston
information technology market research firm. Ninety percent of the small
and medium business sites use their sites to provide company information
and less than 30% of them use it for online customer support. One factor is
cost. Secure e-commerce prices are coming down as compared to previous
years. Michael Lauricella, a Yankee analyst said that despite the hype,
many small to midsize companies are just beginning to warm to the Internet.
They have heard about it and are going out to get it. "But now they are
scratching their heads and deciding what to do with it."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, B2, AUTHOR: Eleena de Lisser]
(http://www.wsj.com)
NTIA
IT SEEMS ROHDE LEADS TO NTIA
Issue:
Gregory Rohde, the aide for the past decade to Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND),
has been nominated to fill the Larry Irving's position at the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). He locked up the
nomination when all the Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Commerce
Committee signed a letter to the Clinton Administration supporting Rohde.
Even if Rohde locks in the position, he will only have a year and a half
before administration changes hands and his best chance to stay is if Al
Gore wins the presidency. "Greg has a really good political antenna. He has
experience and understands the issues. It is a good combination for
effectuating good policy and dealing with an opposition Congress," said Jon
Liebowitz, minority counsel to the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee. One
industry source said, "Greg is not a lightning rod, " He should have a much
better relationship with the Hill than Larry has had."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting &Cable (p18.), AUTHOR: Paige Albiniak]
(http://www.broadcastingcable.com/)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
TV TO BLAME, HATCH REPORT SAYS
Issue: Media & Society
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orin Hatch (R-UT) released a report
titled "Children, Violence and the Media" earlier this month that blames
television for 10% of the youth violence as "one of the principal causes of
youth violence." The report also recommended 14 actions the government
should take to counter effect of media violence on youth. The report says,
"Americans also realize that a variety of factors underlie this tragedy,
including disintegrating nuclear families, child abuse and neglect, drug and
alcohol abuse, a lack of constructive values, a revolving door juvenile
justice system and persuasive media violence." (See
http://www.senate.gov/~hatch/state104.html for more information.)
[SOURCE: Broadcasting &Cable (p19.), AUTHOR: Paige Albiniak and Bill
McConnell]
(http://www.broadcastingcable.com/)
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