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Regulation & Competition
TelecomAM: SBC Says It Had Little Choice But To Challenge Telecom Act
WSJ: America, the Global Telecom Laggard
TelecomAM: Ameritech Joins Two Other Bells In Seeking Exemptions For Data

Long Distance
WSJ: FCC Is Asked for Permission For Long-Distance Service
TelecomAM: Sprint Says It Passed On All Access Charge Reductions To Users
TelecomAM: McCain Calls On Kennard To List Requirements For Meeting 271 List

Internet
NYT: Children's First Amendment Rights Lost in The Filtering Debate

Television
WP: FCC To Back V-Chip
NYT: AT&T Is Seeking Cable-TV Alliance

InfoTech
WP: Intel's Celeron Is A New bag of Chips

Lifestyles!
NYT: Advertising: Bill Gates Is Tiger Woods? Well, He's Doing a
Commercial

** Regulation & Competition **

Title: SBC Says It Had Little Choice But To Challenge Telecom Act
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: TelecomAct/Competition
Description: SBC had little choice but to file its federal suit challenging
the Telecom Act, Senior Executive VP James Ellis told state regulators. At a
Washington meeting of NARUC, he said the company was losing customers to
competitors but unable to get into long distance to improve its competitive
position and uncertain as to why the FCC rejected its application in
Oklahoma. Although SBC also appealed the FCC's denial of its Section 271
application to the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., it decided that wasn't enough
because "the best we could hope for was a remand," which would mean another
year's delay, Ellis said.

Title: America, the Global Telecom Laggard
Source: Wall Street Journal (A14)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Scott Blake Harris & Peter F. Cowhey
Issue: Competition
Description: When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, its
aim was to open all U.S. communications markets to robust competition. U.S.
trade negotiators used that law to persuade the world that global
competition in telecom services was inevitable. They dared the world to join
the U.S. in creating a pro-competitive environment. And the world did: The World
Trade Organization brokered an accord based on the principles of the Telecom
Act that opened markets in 69 countries representing 80% of world telecom
revenues. Now, on the first anniversary of the WTO accord, Europe and Japan
are making significant progress toward opening their telecom markets. By
painful contrast, on the second anniversary of the Telecom Act, the U.S. is
not living up to its own rhetoric, goals or commitments.

Title: Ameritech Joins Two Other Bells In Seeking Exemptions For Data
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Regulation
Description: Ameritech became the third Bell company in recent weeks to ask
the FCC to ease regulation for its high-speed data networks to stimulate
development. Like U S West and Bell Atlantic, it invoked Section 706 of the
Telecom Act, which directs the Commission to promote the roll out of
advanced technology. Each of the companies' petitions asks the FCC to exempt
new broadband networks from two restrictions generally placed on Bell
companies: (1) The ban on crossing LATA boundaries. (2) The requirement to
lease facilities to competitors at cost. Ameritech said its request differs
from the others in that it recommends that if the FCC requires a separate
subsidiary for data services, it should follow the less stringent model used
in 1984 to regulate GTE's then-ownership of Sprint.

** Long Distance **

Title: FCC Is Asked for Permission For Long-Distance Service
Source: Wall Street Journal (B4)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: Ameritech asked the FCC to be allowed to offer long-distance
data services in
its five-state region. The Baby Bell is prohibited from offering
long-distance voice and data service in its home territory until it proves
to the FCC that it has opened up to competition. Ameritech is seeking
permission under a portion of the Telecom Act of 1996 that permits the FCC
to grant regulatory relief to carriers trying to deploy advanced data networks.

Title: Sprint Says It Passed On All Access Charge Reductions To Users
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: Sprint says its rates fell last year by $500 million more than
access
charges came down. Responding to FCC Chairman Kennard's
request for proof that long distance companies passed on to consumers all
access charge reductions, Executive VP-Gen. Counsel Richard Devlin said the
company passed anticipated reductions on to consumers through a variety of
"promotions and new product offerings" throughout last year, rather than
suddenly cutting rates at the beginning of this year.

Title: McCain Calls On Kennard To List Requirements For Meeting 271 List
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: Senate Committee Chairman John McCain said he would ask FCC
Chairman Kennard to disclose within two weeks the "minimum requirements" for
meeting each of the 124 checklist items in Section 271 of the Telecom Act.
He also said he soon would introduce legislation to address the failure of
Section 271 to bring about competition. Sen McCain said he was "profoundly
disappointed" with Kennard's recent statement that his staff cannot find
time to rule on every checklist item while also holding informal sessions
with Bell companies. He said that response to a query by Sen. Sam Brownback
was "unacceptable" and indicates that the Commission's decisions on Bell
company long distance applications "will continue to fail to inform carriers
about the minimum checklist requirements."

** Internet **

Title: Children's First Amendment Rights Lost in The Filtering Debate
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/cyberlaw/06law.html
Author: Carl S. Kaplan
Issue: First Amendment
Description: Behind the controversy over the use software filtering systems
to prevent children from accessing "indecent" material on the Internet in
schools and libraries is the question: "Do children have a First Amendment
right to obtain indecent materials?" Legal experts say that the answer to
this question is incredibly important because the stronger a child's right
to access a wide range of indecent materials, the more difficult it is for
the government to justify the use of filtering software in places where
children gather, like schools and children's computer terminals in libraries.

** Television **

Title: FCC To Back V-Chip
Source: Washington Post (G3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/06/195l-030698-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: V-Chip
Description: At a meeting next Thursday, the Federal Communications
Commission will give its formal approval to V-chip manufacturing standards
and grant official status to the "voluntary" program-rating system that is
currently being used by both broadcast and cable networks. However,
television sets equipped with the V-chip will not be available to consumers
until late 1999 due to long production lead times. Proponents of the chip
say that it will allow parents to control what programs enter their home. On
the other hand, critics maintain that by creating an "electronic babysitter"
the government undermines parents' ability to make specific choices for
their children and removes family opportunities for decision-making and
discussion about television.

Title: AT&T Is Seeking Cable-TV Alliance
Source: New York Times (C5)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Bloomberg News
Issue: Cable
Description: AT&T executives said yesterday that they have been talking with
several cable-television companies about alliances which could help it offer
high speed Internet access and local service to customers using cable wires.

** InfoTech **

Title: Intel's Celeron Is A New bag of Chips
Source: Washington Post (G1,G2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/06/108l-030698-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: InfoTech
Description: On Wednesday, the Intel Corp. announced a new line of low-cost
computer chips, called "Celeron." Intel's upcoming line may denote a turning
point in the way computer manufacturers think about the computer chip --
abandoning the one-size fits all approach for a more customized product
designed to fit consumer's varied wants and needs. "The fundamental PC
served all uses," said Dennis Carter, an Intel vice president and director
of marketing. "Now we're seeing specialized devices. Even the desktop PC
isn't a single, homogeneous product." Intel developed this new brand of chip
in reaction to a slowing demand for PC's and an increase in the sales of
sub-$1,000 computers. Celeron will be the chip for low-cost computers. The
main difference between a Celeron and a Pentium II is that Pentium IIs have
more on-board memory and will be better at displaying 3-D graphics.

** Lifestyles! **

Title: Advertising: Bill Gates Is Tiger Woods? Well, He's Doing a Commercial
Source: New York Times (C5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/biztech/articles/06gates.html
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Microsoft/Lifestyle
Description: "Bill Gates, you've just testified before a Senate committee,
paid tribute to the Wright brothers at the Time magazine 75th anniversary
party, presented the New York Public Library with a $640,000 grant and
visited a sixth-grade classroom. What are you going to do? No, William H.
Gates, the chairman of the Microsoft Corp., is not going to Disney World.
Instead, he is taking another prominent role in the consumer-celebrity
culture: that of pitchman." This weekend, Bill Gates will star in a
television and print campaign to endorse the Big Bertha line of over-sized
golf clubs. In the commercial Gates says: "I started to play golf about five
years ago. It was humbling. I really like it, but it's so frustrating!"
*********

Universal Service
FCC: Universal Service Contribution Factors
FCC: RHCC Selects Price Waterhouse
NTIA: Progress Report: Assessing the Impact of Existing Universal
Service
Policies and Infrastructure Grants in Connecting Americans

Telephony
WP: AT&T Unveils Plans To Cut 'Slamming'
TelecomAM: MCI Tells Kennard It Has Passed On Access Savings and More
WSJ: Wireless Carriers Try New Hook to Win Customers

Regulation
TelecomAM: BellSouth Chairman Calls For 'Regulatory Moratorium' On Data
TelecomAM: Dingell Blasts Kennard On Telecom Act Implementation

Internet
NYT: Online University Set to Open Its (Virtual) Doors
WP: Ads To Target Encryption Curbs

Television
WSJ: For Texas Station, HDTV Means Hospital-Disturbing Television

Antitrust
WP: Competitors, Senators Assail Gates at Hearing
NYT: Gates, on Capitol Hill, Presents Case for an Unfettered Microsoft
WSJ: Microsoft's Chief Concedes Hardball Tactics
WSJ: A Master Programmer Updates His Code

Merger
WP: Wang Says He May Abandon Bid

** Universal Service **

Title: Universal Service Contribution Factors
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1998/da980413.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Common Carrier Bureau Announces Proposed Second Quarter 1998
Universal Service Contribution Factors.

Title: RHCC Selects Price Waterhouse
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1998/rhcc.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Rural Health Care Corporation (RHCC) announced today that
it has chosen Price Waterhouse, LLP to provide support services for the
universal service support program for rural health care providers.
Representatives of RHCC and Price Waterhouse stated that the user support
center which will answer questions and assist users in completing the
applications will be operational by March 15, 1998. The web site will become
operational by the end of March which will coincide with the date
applications can be accepted.

Title: Progress Report: Assessing the Impact of Existing Universal Service
Policies
and Infrastructure Grants in Connecting Americans
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/022598licam.htm
Author: Larry Irving
Issue: Universal Service
Description: "Access to a phone is a critical connection issue in its own
right -- and also links to the issue of access to advanced telecom and
information services. Economic development and personal advancement are
increasingly tied to one's ability to access the tools of the Information
Age. Clearly, information is increasingly impacting American lives, and many
will be favorably affected. However, there is a serious concern about how
others will fare -- the so-called "information poor." The Clinton
Administration has been working hard to close the digital divide between
information "haves" and "have nots." President Clinton and Vice President
Gore have spoken passionately about this, and have put their words into
action, literally pulling wires as part of NetDays as well as endorsing key
policy initiatives, such as the e-rate...."

** Telephony **

Title: AT&T Unveils Plans To Cut 'Slamming'
Source: Washington Post (C12,C22)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/04/030l-030498-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Long-Distance
Description: The AT&T Corp said yesterday that it has taken new measures to
curb unscrupulous marketers who will switch a consumer's long-distance
carrier without first obtaining the consumer's consent and it urged federal
regulators to clamp down even harder on this practice called "slamming." FCC
officials said that they had already planned to take action against this
practice by the end of the month. In response to growing complaints about
slamming, AT&T has pledged to: 1) increase monitoring of long-distance
companies that buy capacity on AT&T's lines and then resell it to consumers
-- and then charge those companies the cost of handling each valid customer
slamming complaint they cause; 2) stop using outside sales agents to sell AT&T
long-distance at public events -- where more than 60 percent of the slamming
complaints originate from; and 3) set up a new hotline to resolve customer
slamming complaints (1-800-538-5345).

Title: MCI Tells Kennard It Has Passed On Access Savings and More
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: MCI has passed along to consumers all access charge savings
resulting from the FCC's May orders and an extra $467 million, Senior VP
Jonathan Sallet said. In a letter to Kennard, who called on long distance
companies to prove they have passed on savings, Sallet said the company has
presented these figures in a "series of meetings" with the Commission, which
"never suggested to us that our numbers or our conclusions were in error."
Because Kennard questioned the long distance companies' compliance publicly,
MCI released financial details "for the first time in the public record."
According to his figures, MCI customers will save $1.22 billion from July
1997 to June 1998 through various price-cutting actions.

Title: Wireless Carriers Try New Hook to Win Customers
Source: Wall Street Journal (B4)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Elizabeth Jensen
Issue: Wireless/Competition
Description: As wireless competition grows with last year's aggressive entry
on PCS carriers into many markets, the scramble for customers has
intensified. With the easy targets -- large businesses and wealthy consumers
-- already picked off in the past decade, wireless companies are trolling
further downstream. To hook customers the carriers are selling prepaid
services, using slick come-ons, sophisticated technology and, in one market,
brightly colored phones aimed at children. Dennis Leibowitz, an analyst with
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, estimated that prepaid customers will make up
25% of all new wireless sign-ups in 1998. Prepaid customers can buy their
own phones or use old ones no longer linked to long-term contracts. To make
calls they purchase blocks of air time, which are activated by calling the
company.

** Regulation **

Title: BellSouth Chairman Calls For 'Regulatory Moratorium' On Data
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Regulation
Description: Telecom companies need a "regulatory moratorium" before
investing fully in broadband networks, BellSouth CEO Duane Ackerman said. He
said that phone companies, Internet companies and computer companies must
work together to convince regulators not to regulate data traffic. Of
BellSouth's $7-billion infrastructure investment this year, $3.4 billion
will be spent on local wireline networks and much less on new broadband
networks, Ackerman said. He said in addition to ceasing to regulate data,
regulators who want to see broadband investment increase should eliminate
rules that restrict carriers' ability to use their networks -- including
long distance data restrictions on Bell companies.

Title: Dingell Blasts Kennard On Telecom Act Implementation
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance/Competition/FCC
Description: The new FCC has wasted an opportunity to "unleash competition"
as it continues denying Bell company application to enter long distance,
Rep. John Dingell said. The House Commerce Committee's ranking Democrat also
slammed the Commission on its "extravagant" program to wire schools and
libraries to the Internet and its continued appeals of orders by the Eighth
U.S. Court of Appeals, St. Louis. He said the Commission "has chosen to not
only perpetuate, but actually increase bureaucracy in virtually every area
the Congress had intended to eliminate it."

** Internet **

Title: Online University Set to Open Its (Virtual) Doors
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/education/04education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Ed Tech
Description: Between 50 and 100 students are expected to enroll at Western
Governors University this spring, a school that has neither faculty or
campus. WGU is one of the boldest out of a number of distance learning
projects. The university will offer individual distance learning courses
prepared by more traditional educational ventures, its administrative
offices will be in Salt Lake City and academic offices in Denver. The people
behind the project are hoping that it will bring college-level course work,
workforce training and degrees to a wider range of people, while saving
state governments future education costs. "One of the major things is to
reach an audience that is generally unable to go to campuses to receive the
learning they seek," said Robert C. Albrecht, chief academic officer for
Western Governors Univ. "It is truly a distance learning project, to serve
those not served otherwise." The project is also raising questions as to
whether online distance learning is a sufficient replacement for the campus
variety. "There is no substitute for the student actually witnessing a mind
at work in a classroom," said Kenneth H. Ashworth, who retired last year as
commissioner of higher education in Texas after 21 years of service. "I have
a hard time seeing how that will occur over email."

Title: Ads To Target Encryption Curbs
Source: Washington Post (C15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/04/049l-030498-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Encryption
Description: An advertising campaign aimed at gathering public support for
easing federal regulations on technology that "curbs eavesdropping on
computer communications" will be announced today by a coalition of
high-technology companies and organizations. The newly formed coalition,
Americans for Computer Privacy, plans to launch print and broadcast ads to
convince people that the technology for locking up data and information,
encryption, is more than a computer industry issue. Sources said that the
Clinton administration hopes to reduce criticism of its current stance --
that is in favor of the restrictions -- by saying that it has no plans to
seek control of data-scrambling technology when it is used in the U.S. and
wants to work with the computer industry to find ways to balance privacy
concerns with the wants and needs of law enforcement.

** Television **

Title: For Texas Station, HDTV Means Hospital-Disturbing Television
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Evan Ramstad
Issue: HDTV
Description: Last Friday afternoon, WFAA-TV became the nation's first TV
station to begin permanent operation of a digital transmitter, venturing
into the new world of high-definition broadcasting. But just after the
transmission began, some of the 60 wireless heart monitors at Baylor
University Medical Center stopped sending data to nurses' stations. By late
Friday night, they thought they had the problem solved. But on Saturday, the
interference started all over again. It turns out that the unlicensed,
low-power transmitters in Baylor's heart monitors use portions of the radio
spectrum equivalent to TV channels 7 and 9. Steve Juett, the senior clinical
engineer at the hospital, called the station before it turned its digital
transmitter back on. WFAA sent 10 engineers to evaluate and hasn't
transmitted a digital signal since. Though the disruptions didn't lead to
any harm, WFAA says it will wait until the hospital's new system is working
before resuming its digital broadcasts.

** Antitrust **

Title: Competitors, Senators Assail Gates at Hearing
Source: Washington Post (A1,A10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/04/109l-030498-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: At the end of a four-hour Judiciary Committee hearing
yesterday, the panel's chairman branded the Microsoft Corp. a monopoly and
warned that the software giant "will have to learn to live by the rules that
govern monopolies." The hearing consisted of equal parts political circus,
technology tutorial and legal interrogation, signaling a new, more public
examination of Microsoft's role in the economy. Scott McNealy, chief
executive of Sun Microsystems Inc., charged that Microsoft's Windows
operating-system software, which runs more than 90 percent of personal
computers, has a "monopoly [that] has led to fewer choices, raised costs and
stifled innovation." Microsoft Corp. Chairman, Bill Gates, maintained that
government innovation, not Microsoft's actions, threatens technological
innovation. "The software industry's success has not been driven by
government regulation but by freedom and the basic human desire to learn,
innovate and excel," said Gates. "Will the success of this industry
continue? I believe the question can be answered resoundingly 'yes' -- if
innovation is not restructured by government."

Title: Gates, on Capitol Hill, Presents Case for an Unfettered Microsoft
Source: New York Times (A1,D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/04microsoft.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Yesterday, Bill Gates, chairman of the Microsoft Corp.,
delivered an energetic defense of his company's business practices before
Congress, portraying Microsoft as the standard bearer of the nation's
high-technology economy. In listing his industry's achievements, Gates cited
that "software makers had contributed $100 billion to the economy last year,
had created more than 2 million American jobs and had generated an awesome
rate of technological change." Gates did not hold back when it came to
commenting on where he thinks the real threat to the information age lies.
"Will the United States continue its breathtaking technological advances?"
Gates asked members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I believe the answer
is yes -- if innovation is not restricted by government." Gates made his
comments in a four-hour hearing that was established to explore, in the
words of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the committee's chairman, "How market
power works in the software industry and whether Microsoft is abusing its
market power."

Title: Microsoft's Chief Concedes Hardball Tactics
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke & David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Under withering grilling from Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Orrin Hatch, Bill Gates conceded that Microsoft restricts the
ability of its Internet partners to deal with its rivals. Mr. Hatch asked
repeatedly if his company's contracts with Internet service and content
providers excluded Netscape from working with these companies. The
exasperated billionaire finally conceded that the most prominent Web sites
featured in Microsoft's Internet software are barred from promoting Netscape
or being included in Netscape's rival listing. Such restrictions are
included in Microsoft's contracts, but they haven't been confirmed publicly
before by Microsoft.

Title: A Master Programmer Updates His Code
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Don Clark
Issue: Microsoft
Description: The embattled billionaire, Bill Gates, is everywhere, firing
back at his accusers yesterday on Capitol Hill, dispensing computers to
libraries in Alabama, etc. Public-relations specialists have exploited Mr.
Gates's star power to deliver a carefully crafted message -- that Microsoft
means innovation, and policymakers shouldn't do anything to thwart it. It's
a tough sell, because any hope of creating a kinder, gentler image for
America's richest man is periodically undermined by Mr. Gates himself.

** Merger **

Title: Wang Says He May Abandon Bid
Source: Washington Post (C12,C22)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/04/026l-030498-idx.html
Author: Mark Leibovich
Issue: Merger
Description: Charles Wang, chief executive of Computer Associates
International Inc. said yesterday that he will strongly consider withdrawing
the company's hostile takeover bid for Computer Sciences Corp. "I like to
win, but I'm not going to kill myself to win," said Wang. "If I can't get
the barriers to a deal down, of course I have to seriously consider my options."
*********

Digital TV
NTIA: Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest
Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters

Internet
NYT: FTC to Survey Web Sites on Privacy
NYT: In Online Debate, Candidates Focus on Issues Without Spin
WSJ: Hewlett Receives Approval to Export Encryption System
NYT: Library Suite Becomes Key Test Of Freedom to Use the Internet

Telephony
WSJ: Hughes's DirectTV Satellite Service Sets Marketing Deals
With Bell Atlantic, SBC
WP: Cutting the Ties That Bind the Web
WSJ: Belo's Dallas Station Is First to Transmit An HDTV Broadcast
NYT: Congress Moving Quickly to Try to Curb Cell Phone Abuses

Microsoft
WP: Microsoft to Allow Promotion of Other Firms' Web
Browsing Software
WSJ: Sun and Microsoft Battle In Court Over Java Software

** Digital TV **

Title: Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations
of Digital Television Broadcasters
Source: National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/pubint.htm
Issue: Digital TV
Description: The Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of
Digital Television Broadcasters, appointed by President Clinton, is meeting
in Los Angeles, CA today to study and recommend "what public interest
responsibilities should accompany the broadcasters' receipt of digital
television licenses. A RealAudio stream of today's meeting can be accessed
at: http://www.usc.edu/dept/annenberg/events/events.html

** Internet **

Title: FTC to Survey Web Sites on Privacy
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes 2/28/98)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/02/cyber/articles/28ftc.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Privacy
Description: The Federal Communications Commission will survey 1,200
commercial Web sites to analyze the "extent to which they are disclosing
policies for collecting and using personal information online" as part of
its privacy report to Congress, due on June 1. The FTC said Friday that they
will also determine how many sites offer the consumer a choice in how their
personal information is used. The report will be used in part to decide
whether industry self-regulation is doing enough to protect privacy online.

Title: Library Suite Becomes Key Test Of Freedom to Use the Internet
Source: New York Times (D1,D11)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/biztech/articles/02library.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Regulation/Libraries
Description: A group of citizens have filed a suit against the Loudoun
County, VA public library board citing that their effort to bar obscene
material from the Internet accessed at the county's six library branches is
an unconstitutional form of government censorship. Patrons say that the
filtering program the board decided on, X-Stop, cannot tell the difference
between obscene material and other information about sexually-related topics
such as; sexual education, breast cancer, and gay and lesbian rights.
With more than three-quarters of the nation's libraries now connected to the
Internet, the case is expected to serve as a "litmus test of a library's
First Amendment obligation to its patrons."

Title: Hewlett Receives Approval to Export Encryption System
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Don Clark & Nick Wingfield
Issue: Encryption
Description: Hewlett-Packard received U.S. gov't. approval to export a
strong encryption technology to customers in five countries, and announced a
partnership with IBM to share data-security technologies. The computer maker
said it received approval to export a version of its VerSecure technology
with an encryption key that is 128 bits in length, a level of
data-scrambling complexity that is considered virtually unbreakable. H-P's
technology must be activated for renewable one-year periods by designated
agencies in each country. Users aren't required to use a key recovery system
now, but foreign governments could do so in the future as users apply to
renew the encryption capability.

Title: In Online Debate, Candidates Focus on Issues Without Spin
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/articles/02minnesota.html
Author: Rebecca Fairley Raney
Issue: Politics/Internet Use
Description: Candidates for Minnesota governor participated in an online
debate over the past couple of weeks where their challenge was to answer a
question in 300 words or less. Every other day for the past two weeks, 11 of
the 12 candidates responded to questions about the environment, education,
taxation and government involvement in the Internet. Voters could read the
candidates responses by accessing a Web site created by Minnesota
E-Democracy, a non-profit group that sponsored the online debate, or by
receiving them via email. One candidate, Jesse Ventura, said the cost of
online campaigning was right, "It's reaching a huge amount of people at a
very low price." Gordon Picket, treasurer for the Democratic-Farmer-Laborer
Party in rural northeastern Minnesota said that the online debate will help
his party decide who it will support. "In the past, we've looked for clear
positions from candidates. The online debate is adding a useful touch, It's
worth the candidates time." The only candidate who did not participate
announced his candidacy after the online debate had already started. You can
access Minnesota E-Democracy's Web site at:
http://www.e-democracy.org/1998/response1.html

** Telephony **

Title: Hughes's DirectTV Satellite Service Sets Marketing Deals With Bell
Atlantic, SBC
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Frederic M. Biddle
Issue: DirectTV/Satellites
Description: Hughes Electronics plans to announce long-term marketing deals
with Bell Atlantic and SBC Comm. The agreements will partly replace an
ill-starred 1996 pact with AT&T that expired in Dec., though the new
partners won't take an equity stake in DirectTV. The outcome of the latest
alliance will be closely watched by industry players, including several
other Baby Bells that are talking to DirectTV about similar agreements.

Title: Cutting the Ties That Bind the Web
Source: Washington Post (Bus.Section pgs5,6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/02/004l-030298-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Wireless
Description: The cellular industry is promising to significantly improve its
networks over the next few years. Until recently, many consumers had not
given much thought to wireless machines and the data they translate. But as
wireless companies continue to improve upon the speed in which a user can
access and receive information, more Internet addicts are "going wireless"
over cellular phone networks. "What the consumer would like to see is
something that closely simulates what they see over their PC," said Dave
Oros, founder of Aether Technologies LLC a wireless data group. "Five years
from now I honestly believe that everybody who has a cell phone will have
some kind of wireless data application coming across it." Industry officials
agree, saying that outside of speed what the consumer really needs in order
to spur their interest is a new gadget, based on Web technology, that will
capture the buyer's imagination.

Title: Belo's Dallas Station Is First to Transmit An HDTV Broadcast
Source: Wall Street Journal (B3D)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: HDTV
Description: A.H. Belo Corp.'s Dallas TV station, WFAA, became the nation's
first to transmit high-definition digital signals on a nonexperimental
basis. The station turned on its digital transmitter at 2:17 p.m. Friday
with a test pattern. It then simulcast its regular programs, which aren't
produced in HDTV quality. Several times during the weekend the station's
new channel broke away from the programs of its analog channel to
show recorded high-definition programs. Few, if any, people saw the shows,
however. No major TV manufacturers are selling TVs that can pick up HDTV
signals until this fall. WFAA will place HDTV receivers in its station lobby
and at a shopping mall this week.

Title: Congress Moving Quickly to Try to Curb Cell Phone Abuses
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/02cellphones....
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Regulation
Description: Last week, Congress passed a bill to outlaw so-called cloning
devices, which make it possible for someone to charge phone calls to someone
else's account. This move was made in an effort to reduce cellular phone
fraud and eavesdropping.

** Microsoft **

Title: Microsoft to Allow Promotion of Other Firms' Web Browsing Software
Source: Washington Post (A8)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/02/064l-030298-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Microsoft
Description: A Microsoft spokeswoman said yesterday that Microsoft has
decided to revise business deals it made with approximately 40 Internet
service providers to allow them to promote Internet browser software made by
other companies. This move comes at a time when U.S. and European officials
are continuing to look into Microsoft's business practices.

Title: Sun and Microsoft Battle In Court Over Java Software
Source: Wall Street Journal (B8)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Legal Issues
Description: In San Jose, CA, Sun and Microsoft squared off in federal court
in a legal battle over the Java programming technology. A ruling on the most
major issues is expected to be delayed until at least September. Sun sued
Microsoft in October of this past year, claiming that Microsoft broke its
contract with Sun by releasing and incompatible version of the Java technology.
*********

Arts
WP: NEA Grant Proposal Looks Like a Bomb(er)

Universal Service
TelecomAM: Commerce Secretary Urges Business Involvement
in Wiring Nation
NTIA: Connecting All Americans for the 21st Century

EdTech
NYT: ...With Liberty and Laptops For All?

Television/V-Chip
WP: Viewers' Mute Response

Internet
WP: White House Resists Taxes On Internet
NYT: Clinton: Don't Tax Internet Commerce
WSJ: Web Magazines' New Battle Cry: Charge!
NYT: Bloomberg to Supply AOL With On-Line Business Data
NYT: Bertelsmann Plans Website For Book Sales Via Internet
NYT: Amplifying Voices For Human Rights
NYT: Web TV Offers Cheap Web Access, But Consumers Are Wary

Jobs
NYT: High-Tech Executives Ask for Leeway on Foreign Workers

Newspapers
NYT: Circuits

Radio
WSJ: Korean War: Radio Is the Battleground of L.A. Broadcasters

** Arts **

Title: NEA Grant Proposal Looks Like a Bomb(er)
Source: Washington Post (A13)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/26/117l-022698-idx.html
Author: Rick Weiss
Issue: Arts
Description: The embattled National Endowment for the Arts has received a
unique proposal: the NEA Army has applied for a grant of $98 million -- the
agency's entire annual budget -- to model a section of the $2 billion B-2
Stealth bomber and carry the work around the country with a sign that simply
read "PRIORITIES." See The NEA Army: Practitioners of Stealth Art home page
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~hodin/NEAArmy/index.html]

** Universal Service **

Title: Commerce Secretary Urges Business Involvement in Wiring Nation
Source: Telecom AM -- 2/26/98
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: In remarks at a conference sponsored by the NTIA and PULP
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/connecting/index.html, Commerce Secretary William
Daley said that companies that help provide Internet access to poor and
rural areas will be "paid back through better workers and better customers."
FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani told participants that the Commission will
soon begin a rulemaking to determine how to increase the availability of
advanced telecommunications capabilities.

Title: Connecting All Americans for the 21st Century
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/new.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: "Connecting All Americans for the 21st Century:
Telecommunications Links in Low Income and Rural Communities. This summit,
sponsored by the Clinton Administration and PULP will address the immediate
opportunities to take full advantage of Telephone Lifeline, improve access
to new telecommunications technology for low income and rural communities,
and develop strategies to connect and network those communities." [Hear it
at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/connecting/index.html]

** EdTech **

Title: ...With Liberty and Laptops For All?
Source: New York Times (E14)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/circuits/articles/26laptop.html
Author: Mike Romano
Issue: Education
Description: This March, New York City Community School District Six will
distribute 1,000 laptops to students in 26 middle schools, expanding the
pilot program, Learning With Laptops, that was started by the Microsoft
Corporation and Toshiba USA three years ago. The venture which arranges
services and lease agreements for schools now includes AT&T, Acer and
Compaq. The majority of schools that participate in the Learning With
Laptops program lease the basic laptop package to parents for three years at
about $58 a month. District Six will split this cost evenly with the
student's families, who get to keep the computers. At a recent Microsoft
promotional meeting in Seattle, teachers participating in the program
reported improved writing and time-management skills and better attendance
among students with laptops.

** Television/V-Chip **

Title: Viewers' Mute Response
Source: Washington Post (D1,D3-2/25/98)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: V-Chip
Description: Almost nothing has happened in the almost five months since the
television industry started offering on screen labels to warn viewers about
explicit program material. Given the public's underwhelming response, it is
difficult to say whether they are pleased with the new labels or mystified
by them. Bob Wright, chairman of NBC, said, "We get letters and calls about
everything that's on the air, but this has not been one of them." Jack
Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and who
oversaw the development of the movie and TV ratings said, "This has been a
non-event in TV homes. We were prepared for complaints but so far we haven't
received any." The MPAA has received about 800 letters, emails or phone
calls so far, but almost all of them are requesting a brochure on the new
system.

** Internet **

Title: White House Resists Taxes On Internet
Source: Washington Post (E1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/26/161l-022698-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: On Tuesday, the National Governors' Association passed a
resolution urging Congress to allow states to require Internet and
mail-order merchants to collect sales taxes for purchases that are made in
states where the merchants do not have a physical presence. But President
Clinton is backing legislation that would place a moratorium on new Internet
taxes. In an announcement expected today, the President will call for a
commission to develop a uniform approach to taxing Internet purchases.

Title: Clinton: Don't Tax Internet Commerce
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/022698clinton-internet.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Internet Commerce
Description: When President Clinton addresses a technology investor's
conference in
San Francisco today, he will speak against taxing Internet commerce, said an
administration official on Wednesday. The Administration's position, which
would bar state and local governments from enacting taxes on the Internet
until 2004, is in direct opposition to state governors. The Clinton
Administration believes that the Internet is "spurring the growth of new
industries" and that new taxes imposed by local jurisdictions would
undermine that economic impact.

Title: Web Magazines' New Battle Cry: Charge!
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B1)
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Internet Content
Description: Many online magazines are moving to charge subscribers for
their content. "Everybody wanted to get some market share by giving it away
for free," said the business development manager at the Economist. "But
that's not a model that can last forever. Their business models will evolve
into being paid." If this transition works, it could mark the opening of the
floodgates to pay-per services throughout the Internet and end the flow of
red ink that has sunk many websites. [So, how much are your Headlines worth?]

Title: Bloomberg to Supply AOL With On-Line Business Data
Source: New York Times (D2)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/biztech/articles/26bloomberg.html
Author: Lisa Napoli
Issue: Online Services
Description: Bloomberg L.P. plans to announce today that it will work with
America Online as their feature provider of business information. AOL hopes
that the addition of Bloomberg will further increase confidence in the
online consumer markets that have yet to show a profit.

Title: Bertelsmann Plans Website For Book Sales Via Internet
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/biztech/articles/26book.html
Author: Doreen Carvajal
Issue: Internet Commerce/International
Description: Bertelsmann A.G., the German media conglomerate, announced
yesterday plans for a world-wide electronic bookstore. With Bertelsmann's
vast resources, publishing experience and international distribution
network, the bookstore has the potential to become the world's largest
online merchant of books.

Title: Amplifying Voices For Human Rights
Source: New York Times (E14)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/circuits/articles/26justice.html
Author: Michel Marriott
Issue: Internet Content
Description: In an effort to turn the world's attention to the gross amounts
of human suffering that continue to take place around the planet, some human
rights groups are taking their information online. Focus on Justice, an
online human rights group, brings actual accounts of current situations to
people by using video-cassette recorders, television monitors and powerful
computers, much of it donated. "What this technology allows us to do is to
have an impact that no other human rights activists have ever had before,"
said Andrew Greenblatt, co-director of Focus on Justice, which was founded
last fall. Neil V. Getnick, a senior partner in the New York law firm of
Getnick & Getnick and a major supporter of Focus on Justice, said that the
Internet's power to aid human rights is its interactivity: "You can go to a
Web site, learn something about an issue, and then, if you are motivated
about it, immediately have an opportunity to send email to the right people."

Title: Web TV Offers Cheap Web Access, But Consumers Are Wary
Source: New York Times (E6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/circuits/articles/26webtv.html
Author: Michel Marriott
Issue: Web TV
Description: With almost every U.S. household having a television set,
unlike the only 4 out of 10 American households that have computers,
Microsoft, owner of WebTV Networks, thought that pumped-up TV sets would
quickly replace the home computer. A complete WEBTV system can be purchased
for less than $200 -- one-fifth the cost of a bargain PC. "But sales of
WebTV, the most established player in the Internet-television industry, have
proved modest." Retailers say sales are particularly disappointing when you
consider how quickly video-cassette recorders were adopted by the public.
Yet some people believe that the public will want access to the Internet via
their TV set as soon as they get use to the idea. Matthew York, who began
Smart TV, a magazine published six-times a year that focuses on the
dissolving edges that have separated computers and TV's for decades, said,
"I think the days of TV as we know them are numbered. A major paradigm
shift is taking place." Ahran Achachter, vice-president and general manager
of Datavision, a Fifth Avenue electronics superstore said, "This is not
something that can be thrown into the superstore to be bought like bread or
milk. That can be done when everyone understands what it does."

** Jobs **

Title: High-Tech Executives Ask for Leeway on Foreign Workers
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/cyber/articles/26workers.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Jobs
Description: On Tuesday, high-tech executives came to Capitol Hill to plead
for the ability to bring more foreign workers into the United States in an
effort to fill the deficit of skilled workers available in this country. The
Clinton Administration indicated that it was willing to discuss increasing
the current cap, which now gives visas to up to 65,000 skilled foreign
workers a year. Several technology representatives said that they feared
some of the conditions that were proposed along with an increase would make
an already complex process only more burdensome.

** Newspapers **

Title: Circuits
Source: New York Times (Section E)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/circuits/index.html
Issue: Technology
Description: The New York Times introduces a new section on Technology today
called "Circuits." The new section will come out every Thursday and focus on
the "personal side of digital technology in everyday life."

** Radio **

Title: Korean War: Radio Is the Battleground of L.A. Broadcasters
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A1)
Author: John Emshwiller
Issue: Radio
Description: Los Angeles two Korean-language radio stations are fierce
rivals. Jea Min Chang runs FM Seoul and Janghee "Jay" Lee runs Radio Korea.
The two trade barbs that would make Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch blush. But
their latest fight has started an international incident. While reporting
from Korea, Radio Korea's news director reported "word on the street" that
Mr. Chang's family-owned media empire was in dire financial straits and
would not be able to print its newspapers the next day. Mr. Chang complained
to Korean authorities and the news director was arrested and charged with
slander.
*********
Has anyone seen my missing spell checker?