CPP welcomes Philip Henry to the Headlines team. We're now 50% bigger than
ever before -- and we ain't talking girth, baby.
Funding
NTIA: Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure
Assistance Program
Mergers
WSJ: WorldCom Nears Acquisition of Brooks Fiber
WSJ: AOL Is Sued by News Corp's Kesmai In Attempt to
Block CompuServe Deal
FCC: MCI/British Telecommunications Merger
Web Browsers
WP: A New Battle in the Browser Tug of War
WSJ: New Web Browsers Play Down TV-Channel Approach
Internet/InfoTech
WSJ: Ticketmaster Signs Accord With Intel For
"Point of View" On-Line Ticketing
Publishing
WP: Read It and Weep: Online Publishing Actually Boosts Sales
WSJ: Publishers Often Pad Circulation Figures
Advertising
NYT: Limiting Speech on Subways
Electronic Commerce
NYT: Cashless Society Put to Test in Ontario Town
Education Technology
WP: In Fairfax Schools, Hard Questions on Software Program
Computer Literacy/Jobs
WP: U.S. Shortage of High-Tech Workers
Content and Children
NYT: Helping or Confusing, TV Labels Are Widening
NYT: Dilemma for Kids' Web Sites: Separating Fun Stuff From Ads
NYT: New York Cracks Down on Child Pornography
Universal Service
FCC: Universal Service & Rural Health Care Providers
Long Distance
WSJ: Bell South Plans to Seek FCC Approval To Offer South Carolina
Long Distance
Regulation
FCC: You Say You Want A Revolution: Law vs. Progress
Campaign Finance Reform
NYT: Threat Is Seen to Campaign-Finance Bill
International
WP: TV Licenses Spark Feud in Hungary
Arts
NYT: Roy Lichtenstein, Pop Master, Dies at 73
*********************************************
* Funding *
*********************************************
Title: Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program
(TIIAP)
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/97tiiap.htm
Issue: Funding
Description: Vice President Al Gore and Commerce Secretary William Daley
announced the award of $20.9 million in federal matching grants by NTIA's
Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program
(TIIAP). The grants help bring the benefits of the Information Age to all
Americans, particularly those living in rural and underserved inner city
areas. Fifty-five public institutions in 38 states and the District of
Columbia have been selected to receive the grants.
*********************************************
* Mergers *
*********************************************
Title: WorldCom Nears Acquisition of Brooks Fiber
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A4)
Author: Steven Lipin
Issue: Mergers
Description: The nation's fourth largest long distance provider, WorldCom,
is back in the headlines with a reported deal to purchase Brooks Fiber, a
fast growing local telephone service provider. Brooks has 44 networks in
operation or under construction. WorldCom recently acquired CompuServe Corp
for its high-speed networking division and swapped the online service
providers individual customer's for America Online's networking division,
ANS Communications.
Title: AOL Is Sued by News Corp's Kesmai In Attempt to Block CompuServe Deal
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B10)
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Online Services/Mergers
Description: Kesmai Corp, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, is suing
America Online, claiming aintitrust violations and seeking to block the
acquisition of CompuServe's member base. Kesmai makes online computer games
which it offers to AOL and other online services. AOL recently changed its
game area, adding games it produces. Usage of Kesmai games dropped by as
much as 92%. In its suit, Kesmai is saying that AOL is trying to conduct an
"illegal merger," is "engaged in a course of conduct designed to defraud and
destroy Kesmai," and is abusing its "monopoly power."
Title: MCI/British Telecommunications Merger
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/Orders/1997/fcc97302.html
Issue: Mergers
Description: FCC Releases Memorandum Opinion and Order ( FCC 97-302,
GN-96-245 ) Granting Merger of MCI Communications Corporation and British
Telecommunications plc
*********************************************
* Web Browsers *
*********************************************
Title: A New Battle in the Browser Tug of War
Source: Washington Post (C1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Internet Service Providers
Description: Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., will be unveiling
Internet Explorer 4.0, Microsoft's latest software for browsing the
World Wide Web. "IE 4.0" looks to be Microsoft's most potent campaign to grab
the rest of the browser market, 64% of which is now controlled by Netscape
Communications Corp. Microsoft plans to initially give away the program if
downloaded from the Web, which can overhaul the look of a PC by
weaving in the World Wide Web. Microsoft plans to sell IE 4.0 in October, but
no price has been announced. Some say that this tactic is unfair. Jamie
Love, who directs the Consumer Project on Technology, wants the
government to take antitrust action against Microsoft. The company has
packed the program with amazing features which involve "channels" that are
being sponsored by about 500 companies like Walt Disney, Time Warner, and
the Wall Street Journal. "It's probably one of the best bargains in
software history," said Yusef Medhi, the director of marketing for the
Internet software division at Microsoft. For now, Microsoft doesn't mind not
making money on what some analysts call a "big, monster program". "The
important thing for us is that it drives the sales of everything else."
Title: New Web Browsers Play Down TV-Channel Approach
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B1)
Author: David Bank
Issue: Info Tech
Description: Less than a year ago, "push" technology was all the rage for
Internet browsers. The technology allows publishers to automatically deliver
features such as stock quotes, news and advertising to individual PCs. But
now that "push" is here, many people don't seem to want it and Microsoft and
Netscape are distancing themselves from the hype. Many corporate technology
managers are concerned that the steady stream of downloaded data could slow
down internal networks.
*********************************************
* Internet/InfoTech *
*********************************************
Title: Ticketmaster Signs Accord With Intel For "Point of View" On-Line
Ticketing
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B10)
Author: Bruce Orwall
Issue: Info Tech
Description: Ticketmaster has signed an agreement with computer chip maker
Intel to develop technology that would allow online ticket buyers to see the
view of the stage or field from the seats they are purchasing. The
technology is to be in place starting this spring for the 100 biggest venues
that Ticketmaster serves. The technology will also allow buyers to
pre-purchase food that could then be deliver to their seats during the game
or concert.
*********************************************
* Publishing *
*********************************************
Title: Read It and Weep: Online Publishing Actually Boosts Sales
Source: Washington Post (C1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Author: Beth Berselli
Issue: Internet Sales and Services (Books)
Description: A Washington publisher, Nat'l Academy Press, posted 1,700 of
its current titles on the Internet, letting everyone read for free. The
result was a 17% sales increase in sales the following year. NAP found that
whetting a reader's appetite was best done through cyberspace, especially
since reading an entire book online just isn't a pleasureable experience for
the eyes. Once a reader was curious enough, they would then
offer up their credit cards. "Electronic book publishing" is largely an
infant business, with concerns over start-up costs, copyrights, and the
basic belief that freebies will hurt sales. Barbara Kline Pope, director of
NAP, regards online publishing as "the same as a bookstore, with
people...browsing." Despite these concerns, electronic publishing is slowly
gaining acceptance, especially as a marketing tool. But, what is most
important is that the readers will benefit. Scott Lubeck, NAP's former
director, who initiated the project in 1994, said, "They will never have to
worry that a book won't be available."
Title: Publishers Often Pad Circulation Figures
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B10)
Author: Patrick Reilly & Ernest Beck
Issue: Publishing/Advertising
Description: Amid recent reports that an Anglo-Dutch publishing giant
inflated circulation numbers, US marketing veterans are saying that such
numbers are overstated more often than people think. Publishers often
overpromise the circulation they can deliver and then make it up with cash
payments or "make-good" ad space. Circulation numbers are used to set the
price for advertising space.
*********************************************
* Advertising *
*********************************************
Title: Limiting Speech on Subways
Source: New York Times, A34
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/index.map?150,151
Author: Editorial Staff
Issue: Advertising
Description: What? No more Calvin Klein Underwear ads? In a meeting being
held in New York today, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board is
scheduled to vote on changes to the agencies advertising standards. In the
name of protecting transit riders from sexually explicit advertisements,
vague new guidelines are being proposed which could bar many types of legally
permissible ads from being displayed on buses and subways. In reaction to
criticism, the M.T.A. claims that the selling of promotional space is a
commercial venture which justifies their right to reject material that they
think is unfit for certain segments of their transit passengers.
*********************************************
* Electronic Commerce *
*********************************************
Title: Cashless Society Put to Test in Ontario Town
Source: New York Times, D2
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+1
0+0++%28cashless%20society%20put%20to%20test%20in%20ontario%29%20OR%20%28%29
%20OR%20%28%29
Author: Editorial Staff
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: "Smart cards" are being tested for the first time in North
America. Residents of Guelph, Ontario are participating in a community-wide
test where they can use these cards for small cash transactions. While
Mondex, an international British financial company who distributed the cards
in Canada, has been having a difficult time bringing consumers over to the
"smart card" mentality, those who have converted appear to be addicted.
Merchants don't have to count, stack and bundle at the end of the day and
consumers can leave home with only an electronic cash card in their pocket
as opposed to bulky dollar bills and coins. "Unlike credit or debit cards,
which need to connect to a central network, the chip-based Mondex cards
carry all the information needed to make a transaction. Cash value can be
loaded at an automated teller machine, or by using a specially outfitted
telephone." A similar experiment will be coming to New York's Upper West
Side on October 6.
*********************************************
* Education Technology *
*********************************************
Title: In Fairfax Schools, Hard Questions on Software Program
Source: Washington Post (B1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Author: Victoria Benning
Issue: Education Technology
Description: "Successmaker", a software program being used in 15 Fairfax
elementary schools as well as a growing number of schools nationwide, drills
students in all basic subjects. It keeps track of how long it takes for each
child to answer a question and provides individualized homework assignments,
letting students move through the curriculum at different speeds. But, while
educators and parents greatly support this new program, school officials
turned down a proposal to place the program in all 45 of Fairfax's
elementary schools on the county's eastern end. School administrators were
concerned about the cost, about $55,000, and the educational value, claiming
that its drills were a superficial style of teaching. Marianne O'Brien,
Fairfax's technology coordinator, said, "We just aren't sure it makes enough
difference to justify the cost... there are other things we'd rather do with
that money--like give more students access to technology and do more
creative things with it."
*********************************************
* Computer Literacy/Jobs *
*********************************************
Title: U.S. Shortage of High-Tech Workers
Source: Washington Post (C3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Computer Literacy/Jobs
Description: The Commerce Dept. issued its first warning that a growing
shortage of workers with cutting-edge computer skills could hinder the
nation's economic growth. In that warning officials said that the Commerce
and Education departments would work with the technology industry to jointly
propose solutions to the labor shortage through a series of task forces and
a nationwide summit to be held next year. Andrew Pincus, the Commerce
Department's general counsel, said that the shortage "is increasing the cost
of doing business throughout this country and reducing our global
competitiveness and constraining our economic growth." The report the
department released included information gathered by the Information
Technology Association of America (ITAA), which estimated about 190,000
information technology jobs nationwide that are unfilled. Skeptics of the
report's estimates contend that these companies aren't doing enough to
attract and train workers with basic computer skills. Norm Matloff, a
computer science professor at the Univ. of California at Davis, said, "The
report is a tool of special interests...the industry is not willing to train
people or give them a chance to pick up those skills on the job."
*********************************************
* Content and Children *
*********************************************
Title: Helping or Confusing, TV Labels Are Widening
Source::New York Times, B1, B8
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+37
+0++%28tv%20labels%29%20OR%20%28%29%20OR%20%28%29
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: V-Chip
Description: Beginning tomorrow, most television networks across the U.S.
will add new labels to the already existing TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14 and TV-MA.
The new labels will be D, L, S and V, standing for suggestive dialogue,
course language, sex and violence. While there are basic guidelines, there
is no set way for determining what type of material denotes which rating as
each program is open to subjective interpretation. The system has been
designed to work with a computer V-chip which will allow viewers to block
programs with certain ratings. Under Federal law, this chip will be
installed in all newly produced television sets starting in 1998. [There
will be no warnings if tofu will appear in during the program]
Title: Dilemma for Kids' Web Sites: Separating Fun Stuff From Ads
Source: New York Times, CyberTimes
http://search.nytimes.com/books/search/bin/fastweb?getdoc+cyber-lib+cyber-
lib+17461+0++dilemma%20for%20Kids%27%20Web%20Sites
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: WWW
Description: One of the big questions facing companies that focus on the
online children's market is how to attract advertisers while assuring
parents that their kids are not being deceived by ads and promotions. Many
are considering labeling advertisements so their young users will be able to
easily identify promotions from website content. Others are considering
more unusual ways of generating income so they can provide sites that are
virtually ad-free. The main goal for commercial children's Web site
operators is to come up with ways to sustain the company without forfeiting
an online site where kids can learn and have fun.
Title: New York Cracks Down on Child Pornography
Source: The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/093097porn.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The New York state general attorney, Dennis Vacco, announced
on Monday that his office has identified more than 1,500 people worldwide
who are suspected of trafficking in illegal child pornography over the
Internet. The U.S. Customs Service cooperated in the 18-month investigation,
which led to 34 arrests. Subsequently, 90 other people have been referred
for prosecution in Arizona, Michigan, Germany, and Britain, according to
Chris McKenna, Vacco's spokesman. Vacco added a collection of images that he
said, "would be the envy of pedophiles worldwide, with over 200,000 seperate
images." The electronic possession or transmission of child pornography is
illegal under federal law in 18 states, including New York.
*********************************************
* Universal Service *
*********************************************
Title: Universal Service & Rural Health Care Providers
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1997/da972039.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Workshop on Draft Application Form for Rural Health Care
Providers Applying for Universal Service Support to be Held September 30
from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon in the Commission Meeting Room, 1919 M Street,
N.W., Room 856, Washington, D.C. Interested parties may attend the workshop.
The workshop also will be recorded on video, and copies of the videotape
will be available in the Commission's Reference Room, 1919 M Street, N.W.,
Room 239, Washington, D.C. 20554. [Listen on the Internet at
http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/] Draft forms available at
http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html#hc]
*********************************************
* Long Distance *
*********************************************
Title: Bell South Plans to Seek FCC Approval To Offer South Carolina Long
Distance
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B6)
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: Long Distance
Description: BellSouth plans to seek Federal Communications Commission
approval to start offering long distance in one the local service provider's
home markets, South Carolina. Bell South contends that it has opening up
this market for competition, but competitors have failed to enter the
market. South Carolina telephone regulators have approved BellSouth's plan
finding that AT&T and other large carriers have no plans to offer local
service in the primarily rural state.
*********************************************
* Regulation *
*********************************************
Title: You Say You Want A Revolution: Law vs. Progress
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Hundt/spreh757.html
Author: Reed Hundt
Issue: Regulation
Description: "We need you to figure out: how to make democracy possible in a
digital age; how the path of the common good can be taken in a media-induced
and lawyer-created fog of criticism and complexity; how America can export a
wealth-creating, fairness-engendering, happiness-facilitating system of
governance to the world; and how to solve the problems of poverty, disease,
global warming, inequality of opportunity."
*********************************************
* Campaign Finance Reform *
*********************************************
Title: Threat Is Seen to Campaign-Finance Bill
Source: New York Times, A22
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/politics/index.map?66,118
Author: Eric Schmitt
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: Majority leader Sen. Trent Lott proposed an amendment to the
campaign-finance reform legislation yesterday that Democrats claim would
kill the bill. "The provision would prohibit unions from deducting dues
from union and non-union workers for political activity without their
permission. The change would significantly curtail a union's ability to
raise money for political purposes. Because unions endorse Democratic
candidates far more often then they endorse Republicans, most Democrats have
vowed to vote against any campaign-finance bill that includes this
provision. Many Republicans oppose overhauling the country's
election-financing system and would be delighted to see it die on the floor."
*********************************************
* International *
*********************************************
Title: TV Licenses Spark Feud in Hungary
Source: Washington Post (A17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Author: Christine Spolar
Issue: International
Description: There is a court battle going on over the privatization of
Hungary's airwaves. Central European Media Enterprises, or CME, claims that
the Nat'l Radio and Television Commission broke the law by giving broadcast
licenses to two European media groups that offered lower bids. CME did
offer $20 million more than its competitors for the 10-year licenses, but
broadcast commissioners were looking for more than money in creating the
first private stations in Hungary. Mihaly Revesz, the head of the
seven-member commission, said, "This is Eastern Europe, and here people are
always suspecting politics or corruption to explain things...in this case
I'm comfortable with the broadcast landscape." There has been a nearly
2-year old media law in place to regulate how these licenses could be sold
without political influence, yet still spawned speculation about possible
political deals and the integrity of the licensing process.
*********************************************
* Arts *
*********************************************
Title: Roy Lichtenstein, Pop Master, Dies at 73
Source: New York Times, A1, D31
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/obit-lichtenstein.3.jpg.html
Author: Michael Kimmelman
Issue: Arts
Description: Roy Lichtenstein, a major figure in American art since his
debut at the Leo Castelli Gallery in Manhattan in 1962, died yesterday at
the age of 73 due to complications from pneumonia. Lichtenstein's art was
quintessentially pop as he produced works that mimicked the flat colors,
bold lines and dots found in the funny pages. He mixed image and text,
using a strategy of appropriation which helped to pave the way for some of
the techniques used by today's younger artists. Remaining within his own
style he managed to keep up with the times coupling 1990's irony with 1960's
imagery. The painter Larry Rivers described Lichtenstein as a person who
"got the hand out of art, and put the brain in."
*********
