Let the Spin Begin: WorldCom/AOL/CompuServe Deal
WSJ: How One Company Is Quietly Buying Up the Internet
NYT: Latest Cyberdeal Seems to Have Room for Two Winners
WP: AOL Shifts Its Strategic Direction
NYT: America Online to maintain 2 Services
WSJ: Some Compuserve Members Fret Over AOL Deal
WP: Next AOL Test: Holding On to Compuserve Loyalists
Internet Sales and Service
WSJ: Start-Ups Are Putting Internet to Work for the Big Guys
Telecommunications Act of 1996
WSJ: The FCC vs. the Constitution
Philanthropy
WSJ: Gift Rift
Access to Government Info
NYT: Now Available: City Hall at Your Fingertips
International
NYT: France to Sell Large Stake In Telcom
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* Let the Spin Begin: WorldCom/AOL/CompuServe Deal *
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Title: How One Company Is Quietly Buying Up the Internet
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B1)
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Mergers
Description: The AT&T of the Internet isn't AT&T -- it's WorldCom which in
the past year has purchased Compuserves high-speed networking division and
UUNet. Like Theodore Vail purchased small telephone networks to form AT&T a
century ago and Craig McCaw bought up small cellular phone carriers in the
past decade to build McCaw Cellular (now AT&T Wireless), Bernard Ebbers and
WorldCom have strung 50 purchases together over the past ten years. UUNet is
the Internet gateway for the Microsoft network and AOL and WorldCom entered
into a five year agreement with yesterday's deal -- so WorldCom now claims
the two largest commercial online services as its customers.
Title: Latest Cyberdeal Seems to Have Room for Two Winners
Source: New York Times (D1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/090997compuserve-marketplace.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Mergers
Description: If you follow the money in yesterday's stories about the
WorldCom, Compuserve, AOL deal, you'll see that the real value lies in the
dull plumbing of cyberspace, not the glamour of new media. WorldCom
purchased Compuserve for ~$1.2 billion, held onto the data networks and sold
the online service for $250 million -- which means Compuserve's plumbing was
worth nearly $1 billion. Shares of WorldCom rose $2.25 yesterday; shares of
AOL closed +$6.125. A Forrester Research analyst says, "The next stage of
the Internet economy is that the media companies will start to make money,
not just the infrastructure suppliers as has been the case until now.
America Online is taking a leading role in that development....You assemble
an audience of more than 10 million subscribers, and madison Avenue has to
pay attention."
Title: AOL Shifts Its Strategic Direction
Source: Washington Post (C1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-09/09/148l-090997-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Mergers/Online Services
Description: America Online announced a strategy changed yesterday: it will
now focus solely on content and let someone else -- WorldCom -- worry about
the infrastructure that delivers that content to computer screens. AOL sold
its national data network -- ANS -- to WorldCom and will now concentrate on
its core business: creating an online community. Critics say that the need
for cash and the zeal for more subscribers lead AOL to sell a major part of
its house just to have to rent it back.
Title: America Online to maintain 2 Services
Source: New York Times (D11)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/090997compuserve.html
Author: Laurie Flynn
Issue: Mergers
Description: America Online executives insist that they will keep AOL
focused on the consumer market and families and keep Compuserve focused on
small business and technical users. AOL's chief executive, Steve Case, said
"The expectation is we will continue to manage Compuserve with its own
technologies and brand forever." Analysts believe that Compuserve has lost
most of its resonance in the market and that AOL will eventually fold the
service into AOL.
Title: Some Compuserve Members Fret Over AOL Deal
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B4)
Author: Thomas Weber
Issue: Mergers
Description: "I use Compuserve because it's fast and purposeful, and AOL is
just the opposite," says one concerned Compuserve subscriber. Included in
subscribers concerns are: 1) will e-mail addresses change? 2) will the price
of Compuserve go up?, and 3) will Compuserve subscribers start getting more
busy signals when trying to connect?
Title: Next AOL Test: Holding On to Compuserve Loyalists
Source: Washington Post (C1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-09/09/020l-090997-idx.html
Author: Beth Berselli
Issue: Mergers
Description: The billion dollar question for America Online: Can it hold on
to Compuserve customers? "I hope the purchase of Compuserve by AOL does not
mean an end to the Compuserve forums, threaded messages, etc., with the
adaptation of AOL's Mickey Mouse mentality," says one subscriber. If this
happens, I will seek another ISP." Many Compuserve subscribers are ex-AOLers
who will refuse to subscribe again to the largest online serve provider.
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* Internet Sales and Service *
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Title: Start-Ups Are Putting Internet to Work for the Big Guys
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B2)
Author: Rodney Ho
Issue: Internet Sales and Services
Description: Small specialized entrepreneurs are beating bigger competitors
in efforts to train large corporations how to profit from the Internet.
Applications include better communications between central offices and
distributors, Websites, and growing demand for broader services. These big
companies appreciate the "small company mentality" that every customer counts.
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* Telecommunications Act of 1996 *
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Title: The FCC vs. the Constitution
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A18)
Author: Laurence Tribe
Harvard Professor and lawyer for SBC Communications
Issue: Telecommunications Act of 1996
Description: The lawyer leading SBC's lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of the telecommunications Act of 1996 outlines his
problems with the legislation [not with the federal Communications
Commission]. Tribe says the Act unfairly targets the Baby Bells and prevents
them from offering long distance service in their home [monopoly] local
markets. [For more on the Telecommunications Act of 1996 see
http://www.benton.org/Policy/96act/]
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* Philanthropy *
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Title: Gift Rift
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A1)
Author: Monica Langley
Issue: Philanthropy
Description: Corporate Giving Watch had named Microsoft Corp. the nation's
top giver last year with contribution of $73.2 million. But Microsoft -- and
Corporate Giving Watch -- based the value of its contributions -- mostly
software -- on the retail prices of the packages. IBM -- which placed #2 in
the ranking -- based its contributions on wholesale prices. If calculated on
retail prices, IBM's contributions were worth $92.7 million. But there are a
number of critics of these valuations of gifts -- values that don't mean
much more than bragging rights for large corporations. "Inflated software
gifts are the junk bonds of the new philanthropy," says Josef Woodman,
founder of Lightworks Technology Foundation
http://arcana.catalogue.com/geninfo/qanda.htm.
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* Access to Government Info *
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Title: Now Available: City Hall at Your Fingertips
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/090997kiosk.html
Author: David Halbfinger
Issue: Access to Government Info
Description: New York City is attempting to make government information more
available by installing 37 ATM-like kiosks in public areas that allow
residents to pay parking tickets and property taxes with credit and banking
cards, check building inspection records, and print out applications for
jobs, permits and licenses. Tourists can tell the machines where they are
from so they can update the old "I Love New York" ad campaign. After
experimenting with the 37 kiosks, the City now plans to expand the system to
hundreds of terminals throughout the five boroughs.
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* International *
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Title: France to Sell Large Stake In Telcom
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/09france.html
Author: Bloomberg News
Issue: International
Description: The French Government will sell 38% of France Telecom S.A. for
76 billion frncs ($12.5 billion). The sale will help the Government meet
financial qualifications for joining the European Union currency. It will
also add France Telecom in international expansion.
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