INTERNET
Bell Companies Blamed for D.S.L.'s Woes (NYT)
Ruling Could Hurt Net Radio (USA Today)
Venture Funds Bet on Bridging 'Last Mile' (Wired)
POLICY
Senate Confirms Controversial New Head Of Federal Telecommunications
Agency (WSJ)
INTERNATIONAL
South Africa plans hardline Internet snooping legislation (The
Register)
INTERNET
BELL COMPANIES BLAMED FOR D.S.L.'S WOES RULING COULD HURT NET RADIO
Issue: Broadband
According to a paper released last month by the School of Information
Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley, the
regional Bell operating companies control 90 percent of the residential
D.S.L. market nationwide. The paper concludes that the nation's Bell
companies have maintained "unreasonable delays" in providing D.S.L.
connections to Internet service providers while charging wholesale prices
that are "unjustifiably high." According to Bruce L. Claflin, President and
CEO of 3Com, which used to sell consumer D.S.L. modems, the phone companies
have been reluctant to make a big push into D.S.L., because the profit
margins have not looked attractive enough. At the same time, he said, the
phone companies have little incentive to make it easy for others to build
D.S.L. businesses.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katie Hafner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/06/technology/06DSL.html)
RULING COULD HURT NET RADIO
Issue: Copyright
A federal court has thrown out a challenge from the broadcasting industry
against the U.S. Copyright Office, which ruled late last year that radio
stations must pay extra royalties to broadcast over the Internet. The ruling
was a major defeat for operators of radio stations, many of whom also
operate Web sites that carry the content of their broadcasts live. If the
court's ruling stands, they will have to pay licensing fees to songwriters,
music publishers and record companies. Currently, stations do not pay fees
to record companies for songs played only on radio broadcasts.
[SOURCE: USA TODAY, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/cyber1.htm)
VENTURE FUNDS BET ON BRIDGING 'LAST MILE'
Issue: Deployment
Venture capitalists are investing more in a technology breakthrough that is
valuable to help deploy Internet infrastructure to the "last-mile" of
metropolitan-area Internet networks. Investors are funding research to
improve semiconductors that can make Internet fiber optic cable more
efficient and less expensive to operate. According to Jeff Yu, a principal
with Crescendo Ventures, "Components have really been the enablers. For
people looking forward, components again will enable the next wave of
innovation...." Yu suggested it's not a question of whether optics will be
around, rather "It's a question of how to get optics to penetrate deeper and
get closer to end-users." Gary Smith, CEO of CIENA, maker of products for
fiber-optics, said that pent-up demand needs to be tapped by telecom
companies. In the short term, "We should not lose sight of the fact that the
end-user demand is still there," Smith said.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Jim Christie (Reuters)]
(http://www.wired.com/news/reuters/story?story_id=20010805RTTECH-TECH-VENTUR
E-OPTICS-DC.htmlt)
POLICY
SENATE CONFIRMS CONTROVERSIAL NEW HEAD OF FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AGENCY
Issue: Policy
Nancy J. Victory was confirmed as director of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration. The Senate voted the Bush
appointee into office at NTIA which governs whether and how to sell bands of
government-owned radio spectrum to the private sector despite concerns of
potential conflicts with her professional and financial interests. The Bush
administration is planning to nominate a candidate to handle issues from
which Victory recuses herself.
[SOURCE: WALL STREET JOURNAL, AUTHOR: Staff Reporter]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB997047431425249010.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
SOUTH AFRICA PLANS HARDLINE INTERNET SNOOPING LEGISLATION
Issue: International
Opposition is mounting against new legislation in South Africa designed to
allow security services to monitor for terrorist and criminal activity
online, and to support banning forms of communications that can't be bugged.
The Interception and Monitoring Bill is reflective of the UK's Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act, although more restrictive and critics say the law
sanctions "draconian" government spying. "The South African government wants
to implement a draconian Internet censorship law that will allow officials
to censor, curtail, eavesdrop on, monitor, intercept and in fact completely
regulate all the country's Internet and postal communications," reads a Web
site protesting the legislation.
[SOURCE: The Register, AUTHOR: John Leyden]
(http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/20828.html)
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