FCC--General and Regulation
Telecom AM: Preparing For Checkmate: FCC Nominees Represent
Strategic Moves
Internet Content
NYT: Anti-Defamation League Warns of Web Hate Sites
Internet: General Info
NYT: Costa Rica to Try Online Elections
Legal Issues
WSJ: Is Antitrust Relevant In This Digital Age?
WSJ: Microsoft Is Subject Of Antitrust Probe By European Union
WSJ: Why Software and Antitrust Law Make an Uneasy Mix
NYT: Gates Is Defensive on U.S. Antitrust Action
WP: At Justice, A Sense of Web Urgency
WP: At Microsoft, Reno Barely Stirs A Ripple
Local Loop Competition
Telecom AM: Cable Modems Will Win Battle For Broadband Residential
Access
Merger
Telecom AM: GTE Claims It's A Better Fit For MCI Than Worldcom
**FCC--General**
Title: Preparing For Checkmate: FCC Nominees Represent Strategic Moves
Source: Telecom A.M.---Oct. 22, 1997 http://www.tpgweb( at )cappubs.com/
Author:
Issue: FCC
Description: The four new commissioners of the FCC each have their own
unique backgrounds and experiences, but none of them are well-versed in all
issues facing the FCC. There is uncertainty, except for two things about
their tenure: it won't be uneventful and it will involve a lot of time in
court. The new chairman, William Kennard, is, in fact, the most qualified.
He spent the past 3 years as the commission's general counsel, but his
expertise will be tested by new lawsuits that sprout up virtually every day.
Michael Powell, an anti-trust lawyer, will have to deal with several
mergers, including a possible MCI/Worldcom or MCI/GTE mega-merger. Gloria
Tristani's perspective will be needed to soothe the tattered relationship
between the FCC and the states. Finally, there's the economist Harold
Furchtgott-Roth, who will be able to explain the ramifications of decisions
from an economic standpoint to his fellow commissioners.
**Internet Content**
Title: Anti-Defamation League Warns of Web Hate Sites
Source: New York Times (A24)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/hate-websites.html
Author: Michael Janofsky
Issue: Internet Content
Description: The Anti-Defamation League presented their latest report
"High-Tech Hate: Extremist Use of the internet" at a news conference
yesterday. They stated that in recent years the number of web sites that
celebrate issues such as white supremacy, anti-Semitism, anti-Government
fervor, the denial of the Holocaust, and dozens of others, has doubled to
more than 250. League officials acknowledged that monitoring these sites
and speaking out against their content is relatively easy. What they are
more concerned with is what to do about the sites themselves. Abraham H.
Foxman, national director of the league, said that ideally they would like
to have a software program developed that is similar to the program that
parents can use to block their children's access to sex and violence on
television. But due to concern that a single-blocking program would not be
that effective, league officials have begun discussions with America Online
to set up a warning system that would alert customers to "hate-sites" that
they might find objectionable. "There needs to be a way for adults to be
alerted, whether it's ringing bells or something else, to let people know
they are entering a hate zone," Mr. Foxman said. "How do you do that? It
has to be developed." William W. Burrington, America Online's director of
law and public policy agreed, adding, "There's no silver bullet, the best
thing we can do is educate our subscribers."
**Internet: General Info**
Title: Costa Rica to Try Online Elections
Source: New York Times, CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/102297costarica.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet
Description: "The government of Costa Rica is experimenting with holding
elections on the Internet to increase electoral participation and efficiency
while reducing the cost of national elections. On February 1, Villanova
University Law School students will be on hand in Costa Rica to help the
government launch what is believed to be the first test of a national
election online. If all goes well, plans call for getting rid of paper
ballots and holding the 2002 elections entirely on the Internet."
**Legal Issues**
Title: Is Antitrust Relevant In This Digital Age?
Source: Wall Street Journal (A1)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke & Bryan Gruley
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: The Microsoft case, where the Justice Dept. alleges that
they have violated the 1994 decree, could be the first big test of antitrust
law in an economy where dominance of software and cyberspace could be as
important as the lock a few monopolists held on the railroads in the last
century. On-line commerce, experts say, demands new ways of thinking about
where markets begin and end, and what is fair competition. "If the
government prevails," industry analyst Scott Winkler said, "the case could
set new rules of competition in the information age and hinder Microsoft's
strategy of swallowing more and more of the software industry into its
ubiquitous Windows PC operating system." But, if feds can't make the charges
stick, it gives Microsoft "a free hand to move even more aggressively."
Title: Why Software and Antitrust Law Make an Uneasy Mix
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: David bank
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: The Justice Dept.'s landmark legal strike at Microsoft's
strategy of continuously adding new features to its Windows operating system
promises to be a harder fight than other classic antitrust efforts to bust
up "bundled" products. The Dept. basically opposes the allegedly illegal
tying of two separate products: the browser and the operating system, by a
monopoly--Microsoft. "This is called capitalism, " said Microsoft Chairman
Bill Gates yesterday. "We create a product called Windows. Who decides
what's in Windows? It's the customers who buy Windows." One paradox of
applying antitrust law to software is that many computer users desperately
need a single standard for operating systems. "Microsoft is operating in a
different economy than traditional antitrust law," says Mtichell Kurtzman,
chief exec officer of Sybase Inc. "They are able to lower prices and still
increase profit margins."
Title: Microsoft Is Subject Of Antitrust Probe By European Union
Source: Wall Street Journal (B8)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author:
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: The European Union antitrust authorities are investigating
Microsoft contracts with Internet service providers due to competition
concerns. This inquiry is one of many currently under way at the EC. The
commission is looking at whether Microsoft's terms for licensing its
operating systems to Internet service providers run counter to a 1994
antitrust settlement. "We believe we are operating in full compliance with
the consent decree and competition laws," said John Frank, director for law
and corporate affairs at Microsoft Europe in Paris.
Title: Gates Is Defensive on U.S. Antitrust Action
Source: New York Times (D2)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/102297microsoft.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: William H. Gates, chairman of the Microsoft corporation, was on
the defensive yesterday as he spoke before a computer industry audience in
Arizona. He insisted that the legal issues between Microsoft and the
Justice Department were narrow, adding that the issue at hand hinged on a
single sentence in the 1995 decree. Bill Gates said that under the terms of
the 1995 consent decree, he believed his company had the right to improve
and add innovations to the basic features of their Windows operating
program. When asked about the fine of $1 million a day, Mr. Gates said
that the amount had been overdramatized and he did not think the case would
ever reach that stage. "What the judge says to do we'll do," he said.
"That's the way things work in this country."
Title: At Justice, A Sense of Web Urgency
Source: Washington Post (C9)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: It appears that the Justice Department's move to challenge
Microsoft this week may be motivated by a fear that time is running out to
mute Microsoft's expansion into cyberspace. Early next year, Microsoft is
planning to release a Windows 98 software package that will include
technology to browse the Internet. Critics fear that this new package will
quickly dominate the software market because Windows is already used on more
than 85 percent of the world's personal computers. "This is when the
Internet is being defined, the digital marketplace is taking shape," said
Jeffrey A. Eisenach, a former economist at the Federal Trade Commission who
now heads the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a conservative think-tank in
Washington. "If Justice wants to stop Microsoft, this is the time to act."
Title: At Microsoft, Reno Barely Stirs A Ripple
Source: Washington Post (C9)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-10/22/033l-102297-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: When the news was released on Monday that the Justice
Department was taking action against Microsoft, most of the software giant's
employees reacted with indifference. "No one in my group had heard
anything," said one project manager, who asked not to be named. John
Neilson, who manages Microsoft's interactive services media division said,"I
was here [in Redmond, WA, where Microsoft is based] doing product reviews...
We spent a couple of minutes at the beginning of each meeting talking about
it and then went on." When asked about the government investigations,
Neilson added, "It feels a little like unfair persecution. We know what
we're doing is right and fair. We're creating better products, increasing
competition and lowering prices. We're doing everything that's right in the
market, I don't get it."
**Local Loop Competition**
Title: Cable Modems Will Win Battle For Broadband Residential Access, Says
New Report
Source: Telecom A.M.---Oct. 22, 1997
http://www.tpgweb( at )cappubs.com
Author:
Issue: Local Loop Competition
Description: The battle for high-speed broadband data services to both
home and business is being played out as a conflict between the phone
companies and the cable operators. According to a study entitled "Broadband
in the Local Loop: Cable Modem Madness vs. xDSL Dementia," cable modem will
win the lion's share of the N. American residential access market. The
demand for increased bandwidth is insatiable, but the cost is a major
concern for residential users. The study forecasts that the worldwide
residential broadband access installed base will approach 20 million users
by 2002.
**Merger**
Title: GTE Claims It's A Better Fit For MCI Than Worldcom
Source: Telecom AM---Oct. 22, 1997 http://tpgweb( at )cappubs.com
Author:
Issue: Merger
Description: GTE Executive Vice President and Gen. Counsel William Barr
touted its proposed takeover as a pro-competitive measure. He also said that
even though the merger would exploit vertical markets, it still would have
the synergies of a horizontal combination. Barr cited 5 areas where a
GTE/MCI deal would spark competition: in the local markets, where the combo
would be a threat to the Bell companies' hold, the long-distance market,
where they would compete with AT&T and the Bells, the Telecommunications Act
of 1996's objective of "breaking down barriers" so they can provide bundled
or unbundled service, they would also have the finances to build additional
infrastructure, thus creating jobs, and GTE and MCI would have the potential
to serve all customers.
*********