INTERNET
State Lawmakers Ready Scores of Internet Bills (CyberTimes)
College Freshmen's Internet Use A Way Of Life, But
Disparities Emerge (NYT)
TELEPHONE
Telephone Service for Indians on Reservations (FCC)
PUBLISHING
Cross-Media Deals Mean Bonanzas for Publishers (NYT)
OWNERSHIP
Newspapers Acquire Online Classifieds Network (CyberTimes)
BUDGET ISSUES
Gore Announces Information Technology Initiative (WP)
PRIVACY
Privacy Groups to Announce Boycott of Intel (WP)
INTERNATIONAL
In China, A Telecom Free-for-All (WP)
Satellite-Radio Battle Looms as Firms Attract Financing for
2000 Launch (WSJ)
WRC-2000 Advisory Committee Schedules Sixth Meeting (FCC)
FOUNDATIONS
Ex-mayor eyes post at Packard Foundation (SJ Merc)
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INTERNET
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STATE LAWMAKERS READY SCORES OF INTERNeT BILLS
Issue: Internet Regulation
49 of the 50 state legislatures will meet this year and many are expected to
address Internet concerns: protecting children from the evils of cyberspace,
controlling unwanted commercial e-mail and protecting consumer privacy
online. Some 1,200 to 1,500 proposals dealing with the Internet are expected
to be filed, according to Paul Rusinoff, state policy counsel for the
Internet Alliance http://www.internetalliance.org, the largest high-tech
and Internet trade association in the country. "It's interesting if you look
at this context," Mr. Rusinoff said. "We saw some of the first state bills
dealing with the Internet in 1995. There were three of them. Last year, the
association looked at over 700 in each and every state that referred to the
Internet in one form or another. They were not all bills that we had trouble
with, but there was just a lot of legislation. There's no question that this
is a very hot topic. And I think as more and more legislators go online
themselves, and start hearing from constituents, the issues are going to
multiply."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: ] 1/24/99
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/articles/24states.html
COLLEGE FRESHMEN'S INTERNET USE A WAY OF LIFE, BUT DISPARITIES EMERGE
Issue: Internet/Education
A new study reports that the Internet has become an integral educational
tool for most college freshman. Over 82% of students surveyed say they use
the Internet in doing schoolwork. The survey, however, found a disturbing
disparity in computer use between types of institutions. While 80.1% of
students at elite private colleges report using computers regularly, only
41.1% of students attending traditionally black public institutions said the
same. "The disparity came as a kind of shock," said Alexander W. Astin,
founding director of the annual freshman poll . "Clearly, the survey shows
an inequity that will exacerbate other inequities." Craig E. Runde, director
of the International Center for Computer Enhanced Learning at Wake Forest
University, spoke of the importance of Internet use; "if you don't have
access to it, your work will suffer in comparison with those who do. It's
like not having a telephone. You can get along by using the telephone booth
on the street corner, but not very well."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A11), AUTHOR: William Honan]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/biztech/articles/25frosh.html
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TELEPHONE
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TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR INDIANS ON RESERVATIONS
Issue: Minorities/Telephone
From the Public Notice: The Federal Communications Commission plans to hold
several public hearings entitled: "Overcoming Obstacles to Telephone Service
for Indians on Reservations". The first hearing will be held Friday, January
29, 1999 at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center at 2401 12th Street, N.W.,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The FCC is
responding to concerns that Indians on reservations, in comparison to other
Americans, have less access even to basic telephone service. At these
hearings, the FCC seeks to learn the reasons for this lack of telephone
service and to determine what specific actions the FCC might take to improve
access to telephone service on Indian reservations.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OCBO/da990201.html
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PUBLISHING
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CROSS-MEDIA DEALS MEAN BONANZAS FOR PUBLISHERS
Issue: Publishing
These days it seems that book publishers are relying on all sorts of media
alliances for help in peddling their books. On the nightly news one might
see either Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw address one of the themes central to
the best selling books they have authored. Perhaps most unexpected is a
joint campaign involving Coca-Cola, in which excerpts of HaperCollins novels
will be given away in packages of Diet Coke. "Everybody is doing it right
now," Terry Newell, of Time Life's custom publishing, "The margins in
publishing are tight and the returns are affecting everybody's business.
Everyone is looking for alternative ways to increase their revenues and
decrease their risk."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Doreen Carvajal]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/book-publicity-media.html
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OWNERSHIP
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NEWSPAPERS ACQUIRE ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS NETWORK
Issue: Ownership
Classifieds are an $18 billion dollar business. As they move on, two groups
battle for dominance: traditional newspapers who want to maintain their hold
and new Internet players who want to capture the market by creating new
ways to advertise cars, jobs and real estate. It is expected that later
today AdOne, which runs an online classified advertising network called
Classified Warehouse, will announce that it has been acquired by a group of
investors that includes Media News, Advance, Scripps-Howard, Hearst and
Donrey Communications. Together, these companies represent 350 newspapers
around the country. The online ads will be available on Lycos which is a
part-owner of AdOne."It's a classic case of real genuine synergy that a
Hearst or an Advance or a Media News group could not get on its own without
spending millions and millions of dollars," said Brendan Burns, chief
executive of AdOne. Napoli reports: What the groups do is something the
individual papers can't easily accomplish on their own -- build the
technology to turn information from print classifieds into searchable
databases online. The consortia also strike deals to place the merged
classifieds in various places online to get them more visibility, and sell
the power of those databases collectively in categories like cars, jobs, or
real estate.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Lisa Napoli napoli( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/articles/25classifieds.html
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BUDGET ISSUES
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GORE ANNOUNCES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE
Issue: Budget Issues
Calling it "IT squared," Vice President Al Gore Sunday announced a proposal
to increase government investment in information technology by $366 million.
The plan, which is to be included in President Clinton's fiscal year 2000
budget proposals, will beef up computer and engineering capabilities and
study the effects that information technology has on the economy. The
funding will go to several agencies with the Department of Defense receiving
$100 million and the Department of Energy receiving $70 million. Vice
President Gore said the expenditures will help American's keep up with the
current explosion in human knowledge. "At a time when 60 percent of the new
jobs being created require advanced skills, only 15 percent of our people
have those skills," he said. "We must renew education, and we must make the
investments that enable people to keep learning for a lifetime."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Maggie Fox (Reuters)]
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PRIVACY
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PRIVACY GROUPS TO ANNOUNCE BOYCOTT OF INTEL
Issue: Privacy
Junkbusters Inc. and the Electronic Privacy Information Center are
announcing a boycott today of Intel Corporation. Their complaint is the new
technology in the upcoming line of Pentium III computer chips that helps
identify consumers across the Internet. The groups are asking the technology
be disabled on privacy grounds. An Intel spokesman said Sunday the company has
been in talks about its technology for several weeks with Junkbusters and
previously had meetings planned this week with the boycott organizers. Intel
announced last week that its new Pentium III chip will by default transmit
its unique serial number internally and across the Internet to help verify
the identity of users. Consumers can turn the feature off, but it turns
itself back on each time the computer is restarted. Intel says its
technology is needed to encourage trust in Internet sales and also can be
used to avoid piracy by preventing a single copy of a software program from
being installed on several machines. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) urged
Intel on Friday to reconsider its plans, "to better balance both commercial
and privacy objectives."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Ted Bridis (Associated Press)]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/washtech/intel012599.htm
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INTERNATIONAL
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IN CHINA, A TELECOM FREE-FOR-ALL
Issue: Censorship
Local Chinese police arrested two men about a year ago and accused them of
"endangering national security" and committing "a new type of crime." The
electronics store of brothers Chen Zhui and Chen Yan also lost its computer
and $6000 in the police raid. Their crime: two years ago as a promotion they
began allowing free telephone calls to the United States via the Internet.
China's telephone monopoly, China Telecom, asked the police to take action.
Chen Zhui is now suing the police, arguing that his actions were not
criminal because there was no law banning Internet phone service. (A law has
since been passed.) Last week Chen won the first round. The case is being
widely watched because it could suggest what will become of state control of
communications, Internet growth, the flow of information and the development
of a nationwide cable network now being installed by a governmental body
that could become a competitor to China Telecom. Meanwhile Chen Zhui is
planning to move to the U.S. where his wife and child already reside. He
says, "I call them every day - on my personal Internet phone."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: John Pomfret]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-01/25/101l-012599-idx.html
SATELLITE-RADIO BATTLE LOOMS AS FIRMS ATTRACT FINANCING FOR 2000 LAUNCH
Issue: Radio/Technology
Few consumers know they exist but two companies are preparing to bring radio
to the United States via satellite in 2000. Wall Street knows and is giving
the projects high-profile financing. The companies intend to transmit 100
digital "channels," offering everything from folk rock to political chat to
free-form programming. Truck drivers, long-haul commuters and avid car users
are primary targets. Besides CD Radio and XM Satellite Radio, a third firm,
WCS Radio, has tentative plans to begin service in 2001 or 2002. The fight
for recognition does not appear easy. "We are going to have to go through an
education process," says Hugh Panero, XM's chief executive. "We're going to
have to create some excitement." XM and CD Radio each plan to spend $100
million in promotional spending. Matt Feinberg, an industry observer, says
the new broadcasters must challenge norms. "We're used to radio in our cars
- and local stations." He suggests the services be aimed at younger
listeners and that the service be given away on a trial basis or the special
radios be installed on new cars before they are sold.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B9D), AUTHOR: Brian Steinberg]
http://wsj.com/
WRC-2000 ADVISORY COMMITTEE SCHEDULES SIXTH MEETING
Issue: International
The sixth meeting of the WRC-2000 Advisory Committee will be held on Friday,
February 19, 1999, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, in the Commission Meeting
Room, Room TW- C305, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC. A draft agenda
of the meeting is attached. At this meeting, the Advisory Committee will
consider status reports from its informal working groups and any consensus
views or proposals. This meeting is open to the public. The Commission's
WRC-2000 world wide web site (http://www.fcc.gov/wrc-99) contains the latest
updated information and agendas on all scheduled meetings and Advisory
Committee matters. WRCs, under the auspices of the United Nations, are
where the world comes together to decide issues that effect the development
of telecommunications provided by using radio spectrum. For further
information on this meeting schedule, contact Nancy Wiley of the
International Bureau's Planning and Negotiation Division (telephone:
202-418-2213).
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/Public_Notices/1999/pnin9009.html
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FOUNDATIONS
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EX-MAYOR EYES POST AT PACKARD FOUNDATION
Issue: Foundations
Former San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer is trying to land the job as the
executive director of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Packard has
~$9 billion in assets. "The Packard Foundation can get anybody it wants,"
said a non-profit executive. "When you get to be where they are, people pay
attention."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Chris Nolan]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/business/top/079294.htm
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