INTERNET
Access Fees and the Internet (NYT)
Barnes & Noble Unit Go Public (NYT)
Barnes & Noble Books an IPO For Web Unit (WSJ)
JOURNALISM
Report Questions Barnicle Column (ChiTrib)
Truth and Lies and Journalism (ChiTrib)
RADIO
Getting Kids to Listen (ChiTrib)
ANTITRUST
Judge Delays Microsoft Trial 2 Weeks (NYT)
PRIVACY
Free-Mail? Online Services (and Advertisements) At No Extra Charge
(Except personal Data)! (WP)
Banks Told To Boost Data Safeguards (WP)
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INTERNET
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ACCESS FEES AND THE INTERNET
Issue: Telephone Regulation
This week a Federal appeals court upheld a FCC decision to exempt Internet
service providers from interstate access charges paid to local phone
companies. The ruling "should benefit Internet users and the fast-growing
electronic information industry by holding down connection costs." The
telecommunications industry raised the issue in a lawsuit challenging
Federal regulations intended to deregulate the industry. But the U.S. Court
of Appeals decision allows the agency to continue with that task without
"dampening" growth in the electronic information sector. Local phone
companies argued that Internet services should be required to pay the same
access fees required by long-distance companies for using local phone lines.
But the FCC contends that Internet services are not equivalent to
long-distance carriers and thus do not use the local systems in the same
way. If access fees were imposed, online services would have most likely
raised their rates and perhaps abandoned the "flat-fee structure that has
attracted millions of customers to on-line services."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A26), AUTHOR: NYT Editorial Writers]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/21fri3.html
BARNES & NOBLE WEB UNIT GO PUBLIC (NYT)
BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS AN IPO FOR WEB UNIT (WSJ)
Issue: Competition
Barnes & Noble, the nation's largest bookstore chain, announced yesterday
plans to sell shares to the public of its money-losing online unit,
barnesandnoble.com. The bookseller intends to sell 20 percent of its
Internet venture, which generated $14 million in sales last year in
comparison to Amazon.com's $147.8 million. "They're using the I.P.O. to
televise that they have online capability, and secondly to enrich the value
of Barnes & Noble stock, which is going to retain 80 percent." Competition
among online bookstores is expected to increase with the entry of
Bertelsmann A.G., the German media conglomerate, which is expected to open
its online store this fall. Borders Group Inc. started its online venture
earlier this year.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C3), AUTHOR: Doreen Carvajal]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/biztech/articles/21barnes-nobl...
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1,B4), AUTHOR: Dunstan Prial]
http://wsj.com/
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JOURNALISM
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REPORT QUESTIONS BARNICLE COLUMN
TRUTH AND LIES AND JOURNALISM
Issue: Journalism
Mike Barnicle resigned from the Boston Globe Wednesday and Thursday the
Boston Phoenix published a story accusing the columnist plagiarized media
critic AJ Liebling for a 1986 column. A Northeastern University professor
claims he alerted the Globe about the matter when the article was written,
but Robert Kierstead, the paper's ombudsman at the time, claims he never saw
the letter. In an editorial, the Chicago Tribune writes: "Tell the truth. It
really is that simple. The complicated task for journalists is to convince
our readers and viewers that they can
trust us to do just that." The editorial staff uses the Barnicle case and
recent episodes as a backdrop.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3), AUTHOR: Tim Jones]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9808210169,00.html
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9808210014,00.html
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RADIO
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GETTING KIDS TO LISTEN
Issue: Radio
In an industry that is becoming increasingly segmented, Disney is targeting
children 2-12 years old. Market research shows that 12 and under kids
influence the spending of $500 billion annually. 64 % of kids 6-11 listen to
music on the radio for one hour or more each day and 73% of them own their
own listening devices. "I don't think there are a lot of advertisers that
really understand the importance of children's marketing today," said Leslie
Rocketir, sales manager for KDIS. "There really hasn't been a successful
radio station for kids. So, in order for us to bring advertisers to Radio
Disney--as opposed to Nickelodeon or a TV station for kids--we first have to
explain why it's important to market to children and what our philosophy is."
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Gary Dretzka]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9808210378,00.html
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9808210375,00.html
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ANTITRUST
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JUDGE DELAYS MICROSOFT TRIAL 2 WEEKS
Issue: Antitrust
Federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson yesterday agreed to push back the
starting date of Microsoft Corp.'s antitrust trial by two weeks, to Sept.
26. Judge Jackson also ordered the two sides to resume taking depositions as
soon as possible, while the Justice Dept. and Microsoft lawyers bickered
over where and how pretrial questioning of Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates,
would take place.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C3), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/biztech/articles/21microsoft.html
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PRIVACY
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FREE-EMAIL? ONLINE SERVICES (AND ADVERTISEMENTS) AT NO EXTRA CHARGE (EXCEPT
PERSONAL DATA)!
Issue: Internet/Privacy
There are a growing number of online companies that offer services like
email and web pages at no charge to the consumer - that is, no monetary
charge. It is customers' privacy that often pays the price for access to
these free Internet services. Most companies require that extensive personal
information, including age, income, and education be disclosed when
registering with them. One such provider, GeoCities, reached a settlement with
the Federal Trade Commission last week after being accused of lying to it's
customers when it told them that their personal data would not be resold.
Most subscribers, though, seem non-phased by the potential risks to privacy
as the number of active e-mail accounts reaches 200 million worldwide - 10
percent of which are from no-charge providers.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (G1, G3), AUTHOR: Beth Berselli]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-08/21/084l-082198-idx.html
BANKS TOLD TO BOOST DATA SAFEGUARDS
Issue: Privacy
Yesterday, banks received a warning by the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency to better protect the privacy of customers. There is much concern
over the growing numbers of information brokers, who sell personal financial
data on the Internet. To protect consumers' privacy regulators have
recommended that banks give out better passwords and routinely test the
security of customer data by hiring outsiders to try and obtain confidential
information.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (G1), AUTHOR: Robert O'Harrow Jr.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-08/21/098l-082198-idx.html
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