Benton RSS Feed

Television
FCC: Free Air Time for Political Candidates

Satellite
NYT: Satellite Experiment Builds a Tribal 'Meta-University'
FCC: DBS Service Rules, Technical Rules and Ownership Limitations

Mergers
WP: CSC Refuses Attempted Takeover
NYT: Computer Services Company Vows Fight on Hostile Offer
FCC: Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Merger Performance Monitoring Reports

Internet
WSJ: Start-Up Plans Internet Search Service Tying Results to
Advertising Spending
NYT: A New Tack for Filtering Spam
NYT: Internet Transmissions Should Remain Duty Free, U.S. Tells
World Body
TelecomAM: Missouri PSC Sets March Hearings On Promoting Internet Access

Privacy/Security
WP: Phone Users' Privacy Addressed
WSJ: FCC Rules Limit the Use of People's Phone Records
TelecomAM: FCC Sets Rules For Use Of Proprietary Phone Information
FCC: Customer Privacy Provisions of 1996 Telecommunications Act

International
WP: MCI, AT&T Find Mexico a Bad Connection

Microsoft
WSJ: AOL, MCI Subpoenaed in Microsoft Case

** Television **

Title: Free Air Time for Political Candidates
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/stwek809.html
Author: Chairman Bill Kennard
Issue: Free Air Time for Political Candidates
Description: FCC Chairman William E. Kennard States Preliminary Views in
Support of FCC Authority to Require Broadcasters to Provide Free or
Reduced-Rate Air Time to Political Candidates: "The FCC has received dozens
of requests and petitions from citizens, political scientists, public
interest advocates, 55 Members of Congress and the President asking the
Commission to examine whether broadcasters should be obligated to provide
free or reduced rate air time for political candidates as a way of reducing
the demand for campaign dollars by enhancing candidates' ability to reach
the electorate. Given these calls and my conviction that improved exposure
to informed political debate would serve the public interest, I favor an FCC
rulemaking proceeding examining free or reduced-rate air time initiatives."

** Satellite **

Title: Satellite Experiment Builds a Tribal 'Meta-University'
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/nation/022098nation.html
Author: Jason Chervokas & Tom Watson
Issue: EdTech
Description: Northwest Indian College, in Bellingham, WA, is part of an
ambitious experiment in distance learning. The program, called the American
Indian Higher Education Consortium Distance Learning Network, uses a network
of satellite links spread across 30 tribally controlled community colleges
to offer audio, video and data course materials in everything from
accounting and business management to native philosophy. "The system has
two-way audio, video and data capability between schools where there are
both downlinks and uplinks, and one-way data transfer elsewhere." The
results have been mixed over the past three years since the program started,
but enrollment in virtual classes has more than doubled in each of the
years and "a 'meta-university' is developing that serves previously
unreachable groups of students where education is needed to help combat high
unemployment and poverty."

Title: DBS Service Rules, Technical Rules and Ownership Limitations
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/News_Releases/1998/nrin8004.html
Issue: Satellite
Description: In order to facilitate the licensing of advanced satellite
services and to promote competition in the multichannnel video programming
delivery (MVPD) market, the Commission has proposed streamlining and
consolidating its service rules governing the Direct Broadcast Satellite
(DBS) service. The Commission's proposals are consistent with its goal of
regulating services in a common-sense manner that reduces regulatory burdens
and facilitates the delivery of new services to consumers. To these ends,
the Commission proposes consolidating the DBS service rules, currently
located in Part 100, with the rules for the other satellite services,
including the Direct-to-Home Fixed-Satellite Service (DTH-FSS) in Part 25.
The Commission also proposed updating the technical rules for the DBS
service and requested comment on additional actions it could undertake to
speed the delivery of DBS service to the states of Alaska and Hawaii as well
as to non-continental United States territories and possessions. [Statements
of Commissioners Furchtgott-Roth
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Furchtgott_Roth/Statements/sthfr806.html and
Powell http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/Statements/stmkp804.html]

** Mergers **

Title: CSC Refuses Attempted Takeover
Source: Washington Post (G1,G4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/056l-022098-idx.html
Author: Mark Leibovich
Issue: Merger
Description: On Thursday, Computer Sciences Corp.'s board of directors
rejected an unsolicited bid from Computer Associates International. The
board said the deal would make "no business sense" and that it had no
intention of negotiating a deal with Computer Associates. In a letter to
CA's chairman, Charles Wang, Van Honeycutt, CSC'c chief executive, said,
that Computer Sciences had "moved to strengthen our protection against your
ill-considered and unwelcome attempt to force and acquisition" and that the
company would "utilize every legal means necessary to defeat your attempt."

Title: Computer Services Company Vows Fight on Hostile Offer
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022098merger.html
Author: Saul Hansell
Issue: Merger
Description: Computer Sciences Corp. announced yesterday that it would fight
the hostile takeover bid made by Computer Associates International Inc. CSC
said that CA's offer of $9.8 billion, or $108 a share, was far too low and
that a merger would pose problems for its customers, employees and business
prospects. CSC's chief executive, Van Honeycutt, released a letter to
Charles Wang, CA's chief executive, that said, in part: "Charles, we
respectfully suggest that you withdraw your offer immediately and move on."
CA issued a statement saying that it would continue to fight for the merger.

Title: Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Merger Performance Monitoring Reports
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/ba_pmr/
Issue: Mergers
Description: This URL noted above provides a link to an Excel (version 4.0)
spreadsheet file which contains all of the non-proprietary data filed by
Bell Atlantic pursuant to the Bell Atlantic/NYNEX merger order, Appendices C
and D. Bell Atlantic has not requested confidential treatment for certain
data concerning its retail operations in the performance monitoring reports
for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. The
FCC is making the information for these jurisdictions available at this
time. The FCC has not determined if the data does or does not conform to the
merger requirements and the FCC has not audited the validity of the data. If
you have any legal questions, please call Tony Dale on (202) 418-2260. If
you have technical or engineering questions, please call Whitey Thayer on
(202) 418-0822.

** Internet **

Title: Start-Up Plans Internet Search Service Tying Results to Advertising
Spending
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Don Clark
Issue: Online Services
Description: GoTo.Com is the latest in a series of start-ups hoping to
improve on conventional technologies for finding information on the World
Wide Web. Companies such as Yahoo! and Lycos and Excite have built large
audiences, but are often criticized for returning large quantities of
irrelevant material. Bill Gross, GoTo.Com's founder, decided to let market
forces take over where technology development failed. The search service is
based on the idea of ranking answers to consumer queries according to which
advertiser will bid the most money. The concept would be controversial
because so many Web users are seeking information that doesn't necessarily
come from the largest companies. But Mr. Gross argues that the idea is much
the same as ads in the Yellow Pages, where big companies often purchase
prominent positions. "It's the stock market for attention," Mr. Gross said.
"I think it's going to change the marketplace forever."

Title: A New Tack for Filtering Spam
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022098spam-filter.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: Two programmers in Florida, Jennifer Vassilev and Maurice
Valmont, have developed software that promises a simple solution to the
overabundance of spam. The program, called Mail Guard, processes an
individuals email before it gets to her/his mailbox. "Mail Guard then
automatically creates a 'blacklist' and a 'whitelist' by asking all unknown
senders to reply to a query that says they will never send unsolicited junk
email." Since the majority of spammers send in bulk, most are unlikely to
ever respond. These messages are then kept out of the user's mailbox in a
separate file and the address is added to the black list. The program user
also can physically add names to the lists.

Title: Internet Transmissions Should Remain Duty Free, U.S. Tells
World Body
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022098trade.html
Author: Bruno Giussani
Issue: Internet Use and Regulation
Description: Yesterday, the U.S. proposed to the World Trade Organization
that Internet transmissions, such as downloading software, accessing
financial information, attending a "virtual" language class over the
Internet, etc., should be kept free of customs duties. Out of the 132
countries that are members of the WTO, none of them "currently consider
electronic transmission as import items for custom duties purposes" and
therefore "no one is levying duties on them," said U.S. Representative, Rita
Hayes, to the organization's General Council gathered in Geneva. Hayes
added, that WTO members "should agree to continue this practice" and
consider the Internet a duty-free zone. The U.S. proposal was welcomed by
diplomats from industrialized countries, such as Japan, Switzerland,
Australia and the European Union. On the other hand, diplomats from
developing countries voiced suspicions over the U.S. administration's
intentions and spoke of their reluctance to give up this possible future
source of tax revenue. The Nigerian representative stressed that the
Internet is still in the early stages of development in Africa. And the
Egyptian representative expressed concern that international discrimination
would arise from the technological dominance of the U.S. and a handful of
other countries, adding, "electronic commerce and the computer industry are
not a level playing field today,"

Title: Missouri PSC Sets March Hearings On Promoting Internet Access
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 20, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Internet: Access
Description: The Missouri Public Service Commission will hold five public
hearings around the state to collect customer comments on Internet access
concerns and issues. The hearings are part of a PSC study of what changes
are needed to facilitate public access to the Internet. The PSC has asked
each intervenor and service provider in this proceeding to file a position
paper outlining the Internet access services and rates now available, and
offering specific suggestions for rule changes to improve availability of
Internet access services.

** Privacy/Security **

Title: Phone Users' Privacy Addressed
Source: Washington Post (G1,G3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/059l-022098-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Privacy
Description: The Federal Communications Commission moved to protect
consumers yesterday from having their privacy invaded by telephone companies
hoping to use customer calling information for marketing purposes.
"Consumers will now control what the phone company can do with that personal
information," said William Kennard, FCC Chairman. They "can be confident
that personal information will not be used or sold by phone companies
without their consent." Telecommunications companies will now be required to
obtain explicit permission to use data, by informing consumers, by mail or
telephone, about how they wish to use or sell the data and then ask their
permission.

Title: FCC Rules Limit the Use of People's Phone Records
Source: Wall Street Journal (B9)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Privacy
Description: In an attempt to protect customer privacy, federal regulators
adopted rules aimed at preventing telephone, cellular and paging companies
from using customer records or calling patterns to sell other services. The
FCC agreed to require companies to obtain permission -- either written, oral
or electronic -- to use such personal information before they market new
services to those people. A 1996 telecom law says companies have to secure
permission to use personal information about customers before pitching them
new services or products. AT&T, as well as other companies wanted the FCC to
let them assume they have permission to use customers' personal information
unless customers tell them they may not. The FCC rejected this approach, and
instead put the onus on telecom companies, the FCC officials said.

Title: FCC Sets Rules For Use Of Proprietary Phone Information
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 20, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Privacy
Description: The FCC clarified rules to protect private information about
consumers' phone service that some companies say will make one-stop shopping
a bit more expensive. The Commission approved regulations defining when
phone companies can use proprietary information about a customer's service
without approval and set rules for seeking permission when it is needed.
Regulations that protect so-called customer proprietary network information
-- such as "when you call, who you call and how much you pay for the call"
-- was included in the Telecom Act, Chairman Kennard said.

Title: Customer Privacy Provisions of 1996 Telecommunications Act
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8019.html
Issue: Privacy
Description: The Commission adopted an Order that furthers the privacy
rights of telecommunications customers while promoting the convenience by
which customers may receive telecommunications service. In addition, the
Commission's action fosters fair competition among telecommunications
carriers regarding the use of customer information. This sensitive and
commercially valuable customer information includes, for example, when a
customer places a call, whom and where a customer calls, and the types of
service offerings to which a customer subscribes. The Telecommunications Act
of 1996 refers to this as "customer proprietary network information," or
CPNI. [See statement of Commissioner Susan Ness
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/States/stsn806.html]

Title: Digital Information Protection Proposed
Source: Washington Post (G3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/060l-022098-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Digital Protection
Description: Five companies, Hitachi Ltd, Intel Corp., Marsushita Electric
Industrial Co, Sony Corp and Toshiba Corp., proposed a technical framework
Thursday to hopefully prevent people from making unauthorized duplicate of
copyrighted material, such as music and movies, when it is stored in digital
form. The group hopes to see devices with the anti-copying technology in
retail stores by the end of the year.

** International **

Title: MCI, AT&T Find Mexico a Bad Connection
Source: Washington Post (G1,G4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/065l-022098-idx.html
Author: John Ward Anderson
Issue: International/Telephony
Description: MCI and AT&T decided to enter the Mexican phone market when the
market became fully privatized on Jan. 1, 1997. However, these two U.S.
behemoths underestimated the strength of Telmex, Mexico's ex-monopoly phone
company, and overestimated how many customer they could steal from the
former monopoly. "The promised Clash of the Titans has degenerated into a
playground brawl, with the U.S. companies casting themselves as 90-pound
weaklings being picked on by the resident bully." Although AT&T and MCI now
offer long-distance services to Mexican consumers, they have to use Telmex's
local phone network to complete their international and domestic
long-distance calls, forcing the companies to give more than 70 percent of
their revenue to Telmex. In a letter to FCC Chairman William Kennard, asking
the FCC to intervene on MCI's behalf, MCI chief executive Gerald H. Taylor
said, "MCI knows how to compete, but we cannot do so against a heavily
subsidized Telmex, whose strategy of open discrimination and
anti-competitive abuse has been tolerated for far too long." Some
communications analyst said that the U.S. companies are victims of their own
"brash style and inflated expectations." Ray Ligouri, a telecommunications
analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York said, "This notion that Telmex is
the behemoth and poor little MCI and AT&T are getting beat up is ridiculous.
Rather than adapt to the Mexican style of negotiation and conciliation, they
have been very adversarial, especially Avantel [the MCI joint venture]. This
is a bed U.S. carriers made for themselves, and now they don't want to lie
in it."

** Microsoft **

Title: AOL, MCI Subpoenaed in Microsoft Case
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke & David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Justice Dept. sent civil subpoenas to AOL and MCI to
examine additional channels Microsoft uses to distribute its Internet
Explorer software. A Microsoft spokesman said the company doesn't know what
the department is seeking in its requests. The subpoenas appear to focus on
whether the Internet providers agreed to favor Microsoft's Internet Explorer
product over Netscape's browser program. AOL reported that the Justice Dept.
requested that AOL turn over correspondence and contracts with Microsoft.
Department officials have said they are conducting a broad examination of
Microsoft's practices beyond the pending case.
*********
Swoooosh! And we are outta here. Have a great weekend and we'll see you Monday.

Spectrum
WSJ: FCC May Alter Payment Plan For Licenses
WP: Virginia Tech Won't Get FCC Discount

FCC
FCC: Biennial Review Home Page
TelecomAM: FCC Chairman Challenges Industry To Create
Education Partnerships
FCC: Lessons from the Underground Railroad

Telephony
NYT: US West to Ask FCC Permission to Build Big Data Network

Technology
WP: High-Tech ID Cards Planned For Use on Mexican Boarder
WP: Intel Expands Pentium II Chip Line at High, Low Ends

Mergers
NYT: Hostile Offer For Computer Services Unit
WP: Computer Associates Bid For CSC Turns Hostile
WP: Illinois Company Buys Coherent Communications
WSJ: BellSouth, EDS Plan An Alliance to Offer Data Services
in Region

Microsoft
WSJ: Injunction Sought Against Microsoft Is Denied by Judge
NYT: Judge Dismisses Texas Challenge Against Microsoft

** Spectrum **

Title: FCC May Alter Payment Plan For Licenses
Source: Wall Street Journal (B2)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Bryan Gruley & Elizabeth Jensen
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Federal regulators are preparing to make small but significant
changes that would aid wireless companies that haven't been able to pay
billions of dollars for licenses they won in a government auction two years
ago. Bidders in the FCC auction offered $10.2 billion for licenses to use
the airwaves to provide a new generation of wireless phone service. But last
year, many said they couldn't pay on the FCC's installment plan, and the
commission adopted a plan letting bidders choose among four options to pay
or relinquish their licenses. Now, in response to pleas by several
companies, the FCC is considering changes that would give bidders more
flexibility in choosing an option and allow them to forfeit less of the
money they have paid the gov't., agency officials said.

Title: Virginia Tech Won't Get FCC Discount
Source: Washington Post (C13,C14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/18/041l-021898-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Bidding will begin today at a federal auction for the largest
blocks of airwaves ever to be put up for sale. An unlikely bidder among the
wireless industry giants and venture capitalists is Virginia Tech. The
university hopes to win a license covering the 7,000-square-mile area around
its Blacksburg campus. If it wins, student engineers hope to construct a
test project showing that "low-cost, high-speed Internet access to each home
and office, using small antenna, is possible in an area where mountains and
trees often cause radio interference." Yet the Federal Communications
Commission denied VA Tech's request to be classified as a bidder with no
revenue yesterday, a designation which would have given the university a 45
percent discount on the price of its license. The FCC said the reason for
its decision is because the nonprofit VA Tech Foundation, which is financing
and carrying out the project, has endowments totaling about $78 million, $3
million over the limit required for the "small business" designation. The
agency also counted the $500 million that the school receives annually from
state aid, tuition and other sources. The FCC "has not adopted any special
exemptions for not-for-profit entities," said a letter yesterday from
kathleen O'Brian Ham, chief of the FCC's wireless bureau, to Virginia Tech.
The university therefore, "does not meet the gross revenue requirements to
qualify as an entrepreneur." To make it worse, university officials say that
most of the wealthiest bidders qualified for the discounts of 25 to 45
percent because, despite their billions in assets, these companies have
little or no revenue.

** FCC **

Title: Biennial Review Home Page
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/biennial/
Issue: Regulation
Description: Section 11 of the Communications Act requires the Commission to
review all of its regulations applicable to providers of telecommunications
service in every even-numbered year, beginning in 1998, to determine whether
the regulations are no longer in the public interest due to meaningful
economic competition between providers of the service and whether such
regulations should be repealed or modified. Section 202(h) of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 also requires the Commission to review its
broadcast ownership rules biennially as part of the review conducted
pursuant to section 11. The Commission has determined that the first
biennial regulatory review presents an excellent opportunity for a serious
top-to-bottom examination of all of the Commission's regulations, not just
those statutorily required to be reviewed.

Title: FCC Chairman Challenges Industry To Create Education Partnerships
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 18, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Education/Jobs
Description: FCC Chairman Kennard challenged the telecom industry to
establish partnerships with universities to train and prepare high-tech
workers. Kennard said studies show a lack of trained workers will result in
345,000 unfilled technology jobs this year. Kennard also said that the
Virginia High-Technology Partnership Program should be a model for the rest
of the industry. "I would be delighted to the see the FCC
related-industries... consider setting up a partnership like this one." [see
speech at http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek804.html]

Title: Lessons from the Underground Railroad
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/spmkp802.html
Issue: Minorities
Description: Commissioner Powell's 2/17/98 Remarks to the Douglass Policy
Institute. "Let me ...commemorate Black History month by focusing my
comments on the apt theme of this forum: 'From the Underground Railroad to
the Information Superhighway.' To be honest, when I first heard this title I
thought it a bit strained. Is there really any connection between the
underground railroad and telecommunications policy? When we asked Faye
[Anderson, Douglass Policy Institute] for a little help with what she was
getting at, she dutifully pointed out that both the underground railroad and
the information superhighway are powerful metaphors for opportunity. In a
time before Black History Month even existed, some of our ancestors rode the
Underground Railroad, risking their lives and their families to trade
slavery and degradation for freedom and at least a chance for a better life.
It dawned on me that this last part -- freedom and a chance -- is what
serves as the common ground for both our ancestors migrating from the South
and those of us who are trying to make our way onto the information
superhighway."

** Telephony **

Title: US West to Ask FCC Permission to Build Big Data Network
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021798uswest.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Telephony
Description: US West Communications Group, which provides local telephone
service in 14 western states, said Tuesday that it plans to ask federal
regulators for permission to build a large new data network. Their move
joins a new attack on rules that keep the Bell local telephone companies out
of the $80 billion long-distance market. Executives at US West said that
they intend to file a petition with the Federal Communications Commission
within a week. The company also announced yesterday agreements with six
major computer and software developers and with a company that is building a
new national fiber-optic network.

** Technology **

Title: High-Tech ID Cards Planned For Use on Mexican Boarder
Source: Washington Post (A19)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/18/059l-021898-idx.html
Author: William Branigin
Issue: Smart Cards
Description: In an effort to tighten control of the US-Mexican boarder, the
US government will soon begin replacing millions of Boarder Crossing Cards
with state-of-the-art documents that use compact-disc technology to store
information. The new cards, called"laser-visa" cards, will have security
features that will make them more difficult to counterfeit.

Title: Intel Expands Pentium II Chip Line at High, Low Ends
Source: Washington Post (C15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/18/049l-021898-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: In an effort to better tailor its products to fit different
types of computers, the Intel Corp announced yesterday that it will
introduce two new lines of computer chips based on its Pentium II
microprocessor. Andrew Grove, chairman of Intel, told a group of software
and hardware developers that in the next few months the company will unveil
a new brand of chips intended for the sub-$1000 machines, one of the
fastest-growing segments of the computer market. The other new line will be
aimed at sophisticated workstations and servers. "One size certainly doesn't
fit all the processor business anymore," said Drew Peck, an analyst with
Cowen & Co. in Boston. With the growing enthusiasm for less expensive PCs,
Intel needed to develop another computer chip to reduce the price erosion
that has been reducing the profitability of its current mainstream chip, he
said.

** Mergers **

Title: Hostile Offer For Computer Services Unit
Source: New York Times (D1,D21)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021898merger.html
Author: Saul Hansell
Issue: Merger
Description: Computer Associates International Inc. intensified its bid to
purchase Computer Sciences Corp. yesterday by filing a formal tender offer
to buy its stock for $108 a share in cash. Merger experts say that Computer
Associates' move towards a hostile takeover will increase the chances of the
Computer Sciences Corp. being sold -- if not to Computer Associates then to
another company. "One way or another, this company is going to get sold,"
said Moshe Katri, an analyst with UBS Securities. He said that Computer
Sciences' business appeared to be slowing down making it a more attractive
time to sell. "Fundamentally, business is kind of weak for these guys,"
Katri said, "and they have a more than generous offer."

Title: Computer Associates Bid For CSC Turns Hostile
Source: Washington Post (C13,C15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/18/046l-021898-idx.html
Author: Mark Leibovich
Issue: Merger
Description: Computer Associates International Inc. turned hostile
yesterday after the Computer Sciences Corp. did not respond to overtures to
negotiate a friendly merger. CA revised their offer from $114 a share to
$108 a share after CSC did not respond to a letter that CA President Sanjay
Kumar wrote to CSC chief executive Van B. Honeycutt over the weekend. "If
substantive negotiations have not started by Monday at 12:00 noon EST, we
will have no choice but to move ahead on a unilateral basis at a
substantially lower price than we communicated," Kumar said in the letter.
CA would not comment yesterday. CS spokesman, Bruce Plowman, said his
company would respond later this week. "Until then, Computer Associates can
do whatever it wants," Plowman said. Computer Sciences has 10 days to
respond to Computer Associates' bid.

Title: Illinois Company Buys Coherent Communications
Source: Washington Post (C15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/18/048l-021898-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Merger
Description: Tellabs Inc., based in Lisle, IL, announced yesterday that it
will merge with Coherent Communications Systems Corp., based in Ashburn, VA,
in a deal valued at approximately $670 million. The deal will combine
Tellabs' strength in the US market for products that improve voice quality
over traditional and wireless telephone networks with Coherent's strong
international presence with similar voice-enhancement products for
telecommunications companies. "The combination of Tellabs and Coherent
Communications allows us to bring sophisticated echo-canceler and
speech-processing technology to customers around the world and provides us
the resources to quickly explore new uses for this technology," said Michael
Birck,Tellabs president and chief executive.

Title: BellSouth, EDS Plan An Alliance to Offer Data Services in Region
Source: Wall Street Journal (B2)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Merger
Description: Electronic Data Systems and BellSouth said they will form an
alliance to sell data services to small and midsize businesses in the nine
southeastern states where BellSouth provides phone service. The alliance
comes six months after BellSouth, Atlanta, chose EDS, Plano, Texas, to
operate the computer systems of its telecommunications subsidiary. Execs
said the companies jointly would invest $50 million in the alliance.
Initially, the alliance will sell Internet commerce services and management
help for wide-area computer networks.

** Microsoft **

Title: Injunction Sought Against Microsoft Is Denied by Judge
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: A Texas district-court judge rejected arguments by the state's
attorney general that provisions in Microsoft's licensing agreements
interfered with the state's antitrust investigation of the company's
marketing practices. Judge Joseph Harris refused to grant an injunction
sought by Texas Attorney General Dan Morales, who challenged the
nondisclosure agreements Microsoft requires of computer makers and others
that license its software. Mr. Morales said his probe of Microsoft's
business practices has been hampered by companies' fears that they will have
to report to Microsoft about any information they share with investigators.
Microsoft said Mr. Morales produced no evidence that the nondisclosure
agreement had interfered with his investigation.

Title: Judge Dismisses Texas Challenge Against Microsoft
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021798texas.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Judge Joseph Hart of State district Court in Austin dismissed a
lawsuit by the state yesterday that challenged part of the licensing
agreements that the Microsoft Corp. has with computer manufacturers. Judge
Hart said that he would consider further evidence showing that the
non-disclosure provision, which require manufacturers to notify Microsoft
before releasing any information to government investigators, is hampering
the state's investigation. "We are please that the court recognized the
important role non-disclosure agreements play in protecting microsoft's
intellectual property -- out most valuable asset," said Tom Burt, associated
general counsel for Microsoft.
*********

Universal Service
TelecomAM: McCain Calls GAO Universal Service Report 'Serious'

Regulation
WP: Will Congress Wake Up To Its Blocking Weapon?

Television
WSJ: Seagram Completes a Spinoff to HSN Of Majority of Its Television
Business

Telephone
WSJ: Mexico's Telmex: All Alone on the Telephone

Journalism
WP: Why We Publish Leaks

Microsoft
WSJ: Microsoft May Face Battle Over 'Content'
NYT: Gates Invited to Senate Hearing

Speed Kills?
NYT: U.S. and I.B.M. Join Forces to Develop Fastest Computer
WP: IBM Gets $85 Million Contract to Build Fastest Supercomputer

** Universal Service **

Title: McCain Calls GAO Universal Service Report 'Serious'
Source: Telecom AM---Feb. 13, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain called "serious"
a finding by the General Accounting Office (GAO) that the FCC exceeded its
authority by creating corporations to implement new universal service
programs. He said he will work to "ensure that the FCC...abides by the
spirit and intent" of the Telecom Act. McCain said he supports the goal of
hooking schools and libraries to the Internet, but does not believe
"multi-million-dollar bureaucracies" are necessary to achieve it.

** Regulation **

Title: Will Congress Wake Up To Its Blocking Weapon?
Source: Washington Post (G1,G4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/13/158l-021398-idx.html
Author: Cindy Skrzycki
Issue: Politics
Description: The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is supposed to make Congress
more accountable for federal regulations by offering a type of regulatory
veto power for the legislative branch. Instead, members seem to lack
interest, making the law "about as effective as a popgun in removing even a
single one of the 7,408 regulations that flowed out of dozens of agencies
last year." The act gives Congress 60 legislative days to review a rule.
The president can veto Congress's action, but Congress may override the
veto. Some of the members who initially supported the act have been holding
briefings for members' staff to remind them that the law is there and how to
use it. "To date, Congress has not fully implemented this powerful new
oversight tool. Since CRA became effective, only a handful of resolutions to
disapprove a rule have been introduced, and not a single one has been
passed," said a letter to Republican members from Reps. George Gekas (R-PA),
Sue Kelly (R-NY), and David McIntosh (R-IN), members who originally
supported passage of the provision. House Republican Majority Leader Richard
K. Armey (R-TX), backed them up by urging his colleagues to attend the
briefings "and learn how to use this important and underutilized
congressional tool."

** Television **

Title: Seagram Completes a Spinoff to HSN Of Majority of Its Television
Business
Source: Wall Street Journal (A5)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Eben Shapiro
Issue: Television/Merger
Description: Seagram completed the spinoff of most of its Universal Studios
television business and USA Networks to Barry Diller's HSN, as CEO Edgar
Bronfman defended the deal against critics still puzzled over why the
company is ceding control of such a major business to another entity. In
exchange for contributing USA and Universal's domestic-television business
to HSN, Seagram received $1.2 billion in cash and 45% of HSN's stock. HSN is
changing its name to USA Networks, Inc.

** Telephone **

Title: Mexico's Telmex: All Alone on the Telephone
Source: Wall Street Journal (A15, Op-eds)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Philip Peters
Issue: International/Telephone
Description: After investing $900 million in Avantel, its Mexican joint
venture, MCI says it , may now scrub plans to invest $900 million more. The
reason: a lack of impartial regulation as reflected, for example, in rules
that divert about 70% of Avantel's international revenues to Telmex, the
dominant national carrier. But what's good for Telmex is not necessarily
good for Mexico, and regulatory failures on both sides of the Rio Grande
are denying Mexicans the benefits of a fully competitive market and could
soon lead to the telecom equivalent of a trade war.

** Journalism **

Title: Why We Publish Leaks (Op-Ed)
Source: Washington Post (A25)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/13/024l-021398-idx.html
Author: Benjamin Wittes
Issue: Public Interest
Description: The leaking of material puts the press in an uncomfortable and
conflicted position. Leaks pit the journalist's need to gather essential
information against society's desire to have a government that is capable of
keeping the details of highly sensitive investigations and certain national
security information quiet. It is difficult to argue that a culture that
prints leaks does not often have serious consequences for both individual
citizens and the functioning of government. Plain and simple fairness
requires that grand jury evidence and federal investigations be kept quiet
while "probes are pending." This material is protected to shield the
innocent people that are investigated before getting to the bad guys. While
it also is true that the government has a real interest in keeping
classified information and certain agency decisions from premature
publicity. "The disclosures of official misconduct are an important check on
overweening government power and hidden corruption." It is not the job of the
press to protect government secrets. A newspaper's function is to present
information for the public and leaks are part of that essential mission.
"Without unauthorized disclosures, the press (and the public) would be
dependent on government's self-presentation -- which is to say its propaganda."

** Microsoft **

Title: Microsoft May Face Battle Over 'Content'
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: David Bank
Issue: Internet Content/Antitrust
Description: Microsoft could face another challenge over its ambitious plans
to become the primary gateway for entertainment, information and commerce on
the World Wide Web. Civic subpoenas issued by the Justice Dept. suggest that
Microsoft's plans in Internet information "content" are emerging as a focus
for gov't. lawyers considering whether to develop an additional antitrust
case against the software giant. Microsoft execs insist their deals with
potential Internet partners are strictly legal. The company hoped to use
links between software and Web content as a way to compete with browser
rival Netscape. Netscape argues that the strategy has the potential to turn
the Internet into a proprietary medium shaped by Microsoft.

Title: Gates Invited to Senate Hearing
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021398microsoft.html
Author: Associated Press
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) and other Congress members from
Washington state have complained that Microsoft has not been given the
chance to present its views regarding the allegations of antitrust
violations by the Senate Judiciary Committee. As a result, Senator Orrin
Hatch (R-UT), the committee chairman, invited Microsoft's chairman, Bill
Gates, to testify at a hearing next month on the industry's business
practices. Gates responded that he doesn't know if he will be able to make
it. Hatch said, "This hearing will present an opportunity for industry to
educate the committee about competitive dynamics in the marketplace. This
should provide an important step in our consideration of how antitrust
policy could best serve consumers and the long-term health of the software
industry and the Internet generally." A Microsoft spokesman, Jim Cullinan,
said that Gates had a "previous long-standing commitment" and another
Microsoft senior executive might have to appear in his place.

** Speed Kills? **

Title: U.S. and I.B.M. Join Forces to Develop Fastest Computer
Source: New York Times (C4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021398ibm.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: The Department of Energy announced yesterday that it had signed
an $85 million contract with the IBM Corp. to build a supercomputer capable
of 10 trillion calculations a second. IBM said the machine will be designed
on the technology that enabled the Deep Blue supercomputer to beat the chess
master Garry Kawparov last year. If the supercomputer meets its goal of 10
"teraflops," or 10 trillion mathematical operations a second, it will be the
fastest computer in the world. "To put this into context," said Secretary of
Energy, Fredrico F. Pena, "we will be able to do in less than a day all of
the calculations that were performed at the weapons laboratories in the
first 50 years of the nuclear weapons program." Randy Christensen, deputy
program manager for the Advanced Strategic Computing Initiative at Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratories said,"Our program has inspired other
organizations and other governments to look hard into this area. We are
pushing the envelope."

Title: IBM Gets $85 Million Contract to Build Fastest Supercomputer
Source: Washington Post (G3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/13/151l-021398-idx.html
Author: Los Angeles Times
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: The Energy Department has awarded an $85 million contract to
the International Business Machines Corp. on Thursday to build a
supercomputer. The contract is part of a multiyear federal program to
acquire computers that are 9,000 times more powerful than everyday PCs for
use in national defense laboratories. The machine will be used to simulate
the detonation of nuclear warheads which will allow scientist to evaluate
the aging U.S. arsenal without performing any test explosions. "The
credibility and success of the program is key to White House efforts to
demonstrate that actual nuclear tests are unnecessary and to persuade the
Senate to ratify a test ban treaty signed by President Clinton two years
ago. The U.S. has not conducted nuclear tests since Clinton announced a
moratorium in 1992." Fredrico Pena, Secretary of Energy, said, "We need new
supercomputational powers so we can certify that our weapons are safe,
secure and reliable without testing."
*********
...and we're outta here. See you Tuesday after the extended holiday weekend
-- love those presidents!

Universal Service
TelecomAM: Senate Communications Subcommittee To Examine SLC Administration
TelecomAM: California Align School Telecom Support Fund To FCC E-Rate
For 95% Discounts
TelecomAM: Iowa Network Asks FCC To Rule That It Can Receive
'E-Rate' Payments
TelecomAM: Missouri PSC Establishes State Universal Service Fund

Competition
TelecomAM: AT&T Loses $3 On Every Local Customer, Armstrong Says
FCC: Status of Local Telephone Competition

Internet
NYT: Senators Again Take Up Internet Restrictions
TelecomAM: FTC Plans Net Sweep To Check On Industry Self-Regulation
NYT: E-Mail Sender Convicted of Civil Rights Violation
NYT: This Is your Brain. This Is Your Brain as A Computer Interface

Mergers
WP: Foes See Lawyer's Civil Rights Agenda in Attack on MCI
WSJ: Sprint Plans Accord With EarthLink To Combine Internet-Access
Businesses

** Universal Service **

Title: Senate Communications Subcommittee To Examine SLC Administration
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 11, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Senate Comm. Subcommittee will hold hearings on the
"excessive" administrative overhead of the Schools and Libraries Committee [sic]
and the "unpredictability" of the Section 271 application process, Chairman
Conrad Burns said. He said another hearing will feature Wall Street
representatives on whether phone companies who complain about legislation
and regulation really are suffering financially. [For more information on
the Schools and Libraries *Corporation* see http://www.slcfund.org/]

Title: California Align School Telecom Support Fund To FCC E-Rate For 95%
Discounts
Source: Telecom AM---feb.11, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Calif. Public Utilities Commission has approved changes to
the Calif. Teleconnect Fund (CTF) so that schools and libraries can use it to
supplement the federal universal service fund's E-Rate discounts to produce
discounts of 60% to 95% on educational telecom services. The PUC has aligned
the CTF's guidelines with those of the federal E-Rate program. A school that
qualifies for, say, a 40% discount using the E-Rate program now can also
apply for a CTF discount equal to half the remaining charge, producing a
total 70% discount from the combined federal and state support. [For more on
the CPUC decision see ftp://ftp.cpuc.ca.gov/gopher-data/telecom/T16118.doc]

Title: Iowa Network Asks FCC To Rule That It Can Receive 'E-Rate' Payments
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 11, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Iowa agency that runs the state's telecom network wants the
FCC to give expedited consideration to a petition that would declare the
state-owned Iowa Communications Network to be a common carrier eligible to
receive federal universal service subsidiaries for discounted telecom
services to the schools and public rural health centers it serves. The FCC
concluded that state communications networks in general don't meet the
definition of an eligible telecom carrier for universal service subsidies
because they are not common carriers providing services to the public. [For
more on the Iowa Communications Network see http://www.icn.state.ia.us/]

Title: Missouri PSC Establishes State Universal Service Fund
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 10, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Missouri Public Service Commission has adopted rules
establishing a Missouri Universal Service Fund to ensure affordable basic
local telephone service, pursuant to a mandate of a 1996 state universal
service law. The Missouri fund is to be used to ensure provision of
essential telecom services at rates in high-cost areas, and assist poor and
disabled customers in obtaining affordable phone services. Initial estimates
show the fund will need about $16.1 million a year.[For more info see
http://www.ecodev.state.mo.us/]

** Competition **

Title: AT&T Loses $3 On Every Local Customer, Armstrong Says
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 11, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: AT&T has stopped marketing local phone service to consumers
because it loses money on ever customer, CEO Michael Armstrong said. He said
that because court battles have blocked the leasing of unbundled network
elements, the only immediate way to enter the local market is through
resale, and incumbents' discounts are too low for competitors to make money.
Armstrong also said that AT&T spent $3.5 billion to enter the local market
over the last two years and signed up more than 300,000 customers but is
losing $3 per month on every customer. "AT&T is not going to spend money on
this fool's errand and that's what [resale] is today," he said.

Title: Status of Local Telephone Competition
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/enbanc/012998/eb012998.html
Issue: Competition
Description: FCC Releases Transcript of February 29 En Banc Presentations on
the Status of Local Telephone Competition.Includes: Heather Gold, President,
Association for Local Telecommunication Services; Roy Neel, President,
United States Telephone Association; Michael Mahoney, President & COO, RCN
Corp., Princeton, NJ; Alex Netchvolodoff, Vice-President, Cox Enterprises,
Washington DC; and Jack Reich, President & CEO, ACSI, Annapolis Junction, MD.

** Internet **

Title: Senators Again Take Up Internet Restrictions
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021198porn.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The censorship debate reopened in Congress on Tuesday with
committee consideration of two bills designed to restrict children's access
to Internet material deemed to be indecent. Most of the hearing focused on
the bill introduced by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) on Monday that would
require all schools and libraries receiving federal Internet funding to
install screening software. The other bill discussed is known as CDA 2, a
bill filed late last year by Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) that would require
commercial Web site operators that distribute material "harmful to minors"
to restrict access to adults with personal identification numbers or credit
cards. McCain said, "I am very concerned about censorship, but I think we
need to act to try and provide some rules, otherwise we may find ourselves
in a situation where Americans say, 'Look, this has got to stop; we are
willing to sacrifice some of our civil liberties to protect our children.'"
Free speech and civil liberties groups have vowed to fight against any
mandates on Internet access or content.

Title: FTC Plans Net Sweep To Check On Industry Self-Regulation
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 10, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: The Federal Trade Commission plans to survey more than 1,200
Web sites next month to
determine whether industry self-regulation is working, a top Commission
official said. Lee Peeler, FTC associate director of advertising practices,
said that Commission staffers will examine the 100 most-visited Web sites
and 200 sites aimed at children. Peeler said the FTC sweep will be a way to
determine the extent to which the online industry has kept promises it has
made over the last three years to develop policies on privacy and
information distribution. [See the FTC's website at http://www.ftc.gov/]

Title: E-Mail Sender Convicted of Civil Rights Violation
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021198hate.html
Author: Rebecca Fairly Raney
Issue: Legal Issues/Internet
Description: Richard Machado, a 20-year-old Los Angeles man who sent
threatening email to students with Asian sounding names at the Univ. of
Calif. at Irvine in September 1996, was convicted yesterday of interfering
with the civil rights of those Asian university students. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Mavis Lee said, "[the conviction] sends a message out there that
hate crimes are serious and hate crimes on the
Internet are no different."

Title: This Is Your Brain. This Is Your Brain as A Computer Interface
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/surf/021198mind.html
Author: Ashley Dunn
Issue: InfoTech
Description: "The Brain," developed by Natrificial, based in Santa Monica,
CA, is the latest interface entry created to help us process through the
mass amounts of information on the Internet. The program is a
two-dimensional interface that gives users the ability to link pieces of
information to what Natrificial calls "thoughts." The thought can be a word
processing document, a Web page or a topic point. When a group of thoughts
are connected, they make up the structure of your personal "brain." When you
click on a thought, it moves to the center of your screen so all of its
immediate links are displayed. This design was created to be similar to the
human mind. Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and
Development in 1945 and who wrote the ground breaking essay "As We May
Think", described the human brain as one which "operates by association.
With one item in its grasp, it snaps instantly to the next that is suggested
by the association of thoughts, in accordance with some intricate web of
trails carried by the cells of the brain." One of difficulties we encounter
today is that our modern interfaces force a linear vision of information
instead of a true associative process for organizing information. "The idea
behind The Brain is that the user constructs the organization of their
information as they work. Thus all the data on your computer and the Net are
not lumped together by category or function, but rather by how you use it."

** Mergers **

Title: Foes See Lawyer's Civil Rights Agenda in Attack on MCI
Source: Washington Post (A1,A18)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/11/103l-021198-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi and Mike Mills
Issue: Merger
Description: David Honig, a communications lawyer, civil rights advocate and
person who is known for challenging dozens of TV and radio station deals in
the past, is arguing that Worldcom's acquisition of MCI Communications Corp.
would fail the FCC's requirement of being in the "public interest" because
the newly merged company would mostly serve "big-ticket business" and ignore
the needs of lower-income customers. Honig and Jesse Jackson point to
Worldcom's all-male, all-white board of directors and say that the merger
would go against the FCC's goals of fostering minority involvement in the
telecommunications industry. A Honig foe, who asked not to be identified,
said: "The system is set up in a way that rewards people for making these
filings. The only people who would spend the time and effort to proceed are
those who see a payoff at the end of the line." Honig also has orchestrated
an advertising campaign, underwritten by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and MCI
rivals the Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., that in one draft print ad
compares Worldcom and MCI to Bonnie and Clyde, where it says, "America needs
public hearings and more time to examine the real impact of this merger."

Title: Sprint Plans Accord With EarthLink To Combine Internet-Access
Businesses
Source: Wall Street Journal (B11)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: Merger
Description: Sprint plans to combine its consumer Internet-access business
with that of EarthLink Network and take a 30% stake in a deal valued at $180
million. Under the arrangement EarthLink will add 130,000 subscribers of
Sprint's Internet Passport service to its own member base of about 445,000.
For Sprint, the move is a tacit admission that its consumer Internet
service, launched in '96, never took off. Sprint will make a $24 million
investment in EarthLink and provide a $100 million line of credit in
exchange for 4.1 million convertible preferred shares of EarthLink.
*********