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Nortwestern University takes a lead in using the Internet to add sound and
sight to courses

AT&T and SBC Reportedly Talk of Huge Phone Merger

An Active Chief Is Leaving the FCC

Interpublic invests in an Internet provider aimed at young adults

Murdoch Gets Primestar Stake In Pact With His Cable Rivals

Is a $50 Billion Merger What Deregulation Was Really All About?

FCC Chairman Hundt Will Step Down

AT&T Talking To Bell Firm About Merger

Frappuccino and Fiction to Go?

WWW.Magazine

At the FCC, Hundt Signs Off

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
*********************************************
Title: Nortwestern University takes a lead in using the Internet to add
sound and sight to
courses
Source: New York Times
Author: William Honan
Issue: Education
Description: In Class Notes column, Honan profiles Northwestern University,
the fountain of young, impressionable policy wonks. NWU has invested $5
million in wiring classrooms and other technological aides. Instructors are
using technology enhance classes will historic speeches, compiling resources
via the World Wide Web, and teaching courses concurrently in Illinois and
Manchester, England.

Title: AT&T and SBC Reportedly Talk of Huge Phone Merger
Source: New York Times (D1)
Author: Mark Landler
Issue: Mergers
Description: In what could be the mother of all mergers (well, at least
until Disney decides to take over the US Government), executives have
confirmed that AT&T and SBC are engaged in merger talks. The proposed merger
would be valued at $50 billion and would result in a company with 90 million
ling distance customers, 30 million local subscribers, and dominance in
California and Texas. "AT&T is acting like Humpty Dumpty, trying to put
itself back together again," said an industry consultant. Call out the
king's horses.

Title: An Active Chief Is Leaving the FCC
Source: New York Times (D1)
Author: John Broder
Issue: FCC
Description: "The best chairman in the history of the Federal Communications
Commission" announced he will step down from as soon as a successor is
named. During Chairman Hundt's tenure, the Commission issued new licenses
for digital television, set rules for children's educational television,
tried to bring greater competition to cable TV, attempted to harness the
explosion in wireless communications, negotiated an international
telecommunications agreement, and began deregulation of the nation's
telephone system.

Title: Interpublic invests in an Internet provider aimed at young adults
Source: New York Times (D5)
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Internet/Advertising
Description: Interpublic, the world's third-largest agency company, is
investing in Tripod which targets "the transition generation, young adults
who are moving from college to the workplace." "The deal is emblematic of
how the huge agency companies that dominate Madison Avenue are staking
claims in cyberspace" by investing in independent companies.

Title: Murdoch Gets Primestar Stake In Pact With His Cable Rivals
Source: New York Times (D5)
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Satellite TV
Description: Rupert Muroch's News Corp tentatively agreed to relinquish some
satellite assets in return for a minority, nonvoting share of DBS operator
Primestar Partners, run by cable TV giants Time Warner and TCI.

Title: Is a $50 Billion Merger What Deregulation Was Really All About?
Source: Wall Street Journal (A1)
Author: John J. Keller and Bryan Gruley
Issue: Mergers
Description: AT&T's merge discussions with SBC "is sparking a hot debate
over whether such a megagiant would simply be too big for the country's --
and consumers' -- good." Even if the two companies reach an agreement,
federal regulators are going to be carefully scrutinizing the merger --
"twice the size of the largest merger in corporate history." Some will
argue that AT&T is trying to recreate a monopoly. The companies will argue
that once strengthened by AT&T, SBC would be more willing to open its local
markets, increasing competition and lowering customer rates. The Telecom Act
was supposed to let companies compete with another giving consumers more
choices and better prices. But in reality, companies don't want to get into
turf wars and would rather merge. Because of AT&T's plans, the newly
formed British Telecom-MCI company could start scoping out its own Baby Bell
to buy.
Many lawmakers, liberals and conservatives alike, are not thrilled with the
proposed deal.

Title: FCC Chairman Hundt Will Step Down
Source: Wall Street Journal (A2)
Author: John. R. Wilke
Issue: FCC
Description: FCC Chairman Reed Hundt will resign and end his four year
tenure as head of the FCC. He'll probably stay around another 6 months
while a successor is found. Some of the finalists for Mr./Ms.
Communications America include: William Kennard, FCC general counsel just
nominated for Commissioner seat by President Clinton; Commissioner Susan
Ness; and
Kathleen Wallman, former head of FCC Common Carrier Bureau and current
policy advisor
at the White House.

Title: AT&T Talking To Bell Firm About Merger
Source: Washington Post (A1)
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Mergers
Description: AT&T is talking about merging with SBC Communications, one of
the country's biggest telephone carriers. If the merger talks went through
and the merger was approved, it would reunite a large section of the Ma Bell
system which was broken up in 1984. The merger could cut down on
competition since AT&T has been offering local phone service.

Title: Frappuccino and Fiction to Go?
Source: Washington Post (C1)
Author: David Streifeld
Issue: Lifestyles!
Description: Starbucks, provider of coffee and coffee-affiliated
beverages, is going to start selling Oprah's Book Club Choices. Starbucks
will give the profits from the book sales to charitable foundations.

Title: WWW.Magazine
Source: Washington Post (C1)
Author: Howard Kurtz
Issue: Internet Publishing
Description: Feed Magazine, an online journal covering culture and
technology, has been one of the success stories in online publishing.
The founders envisioned a world of small publications cohabiting the web
with large corporate presences. But instead, today, to stay alive, most
small journals are making deals with big companies. Small online Zines have
a less news oriented, more culture talk kind of focus, dude.

Title: At the FCC, Hundt Signs Off
Source: Washington Post (D9)
Author: Paul Farhi and Mike Mills
Issue: FCC
Description: Hundt is stepping down from his post as FCC Chairman. Reed
Hundt once quoted Jabba the Hud, Star Wars Villain, to describe his time at
the FCC: "Someday you will learn to appreciate me." In this 3 and 1/2
years as FCC Chairman Hundt got "new cable TV price regulations,
"children's educational" TV program requirements, and new rules to guide TV
viewers and
stations into the "digital" broadcasting era." While Hundt was not too
popular among corporate folks, public interest advocates appreciated Hundt's
mantra to establish "private competition in communications and public
benefits from communications." There is a lot of turnover on the 5-member
commission.
Only Commissioner Susan Ness will remain after Hundt leaves. The article
also has small info box about just what the FCC does.

Title: Taking the Initiative to Fill 19,000 Technology Jobs
Source: Washington Post (D9)
Author: Peter Behr
Issue: Education Technology
Description: Forty District of Columbia leaders from business, government, and
community organizations launched a campaign to create
"technology training courses and computer networks in D.C. schools and
community organizations." The plan is to help train qualified candidates
for the 19,000 unfilled technology jobs in the area. The project is using DC's
Ballou High School's technology initiative as one of their models. [see
Headlines 3/7/97]
leaders believe that getting the hardware will be the easy part and getting
principals and teachers to support the effort will be more challenging.

At the FCC
Chairman Hundt's 5/27/97 speech "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"

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forgrabs-l@cdinet.com

At This Site, Russian Nerds Get Together, Virtually

Parent Volunteers Give Affluent Schools an Advantage Hard to Duplicate

GTE Discloses 3 Big Deals in Growth Bid

2 Phone Companies Deny Report on 10,000 Job Cuts

FCC Expected to Back Off On Business Phone Line Fee

AT&T Could Lose $350 Million in 2001 To Calls Via Internet

Reaching Out To Pass Over Someone

FCC (Daily Digest)

GTE to Buy Internet Firm BBN Corporation

1 in 6 U.S. Adults Regularly Online, Study Indicates

*********************************************

Title: At This Site, Russian Nerds Get Together, Virtually
Source: New York Times (A4)
Author: Michael Specter
Issue: International
Description: While real world cafes are still slow to catch on in Russia,
cybercafes are tres chic. Virtual World is a popular Internet access point
with big skylights, cold beer, and some cafe lattes. It is frequented by
international students, business people, and kids.

Title: Parent Volunteers Give Affluent Schools an Advantage Hard to Duplicate
Source: New York Times (A28)
Author: Abby Goodnough
Issue: Education/Low-Income
Description: The number of parent-volunteers in schools is rising, but
rising much faster in wealthy districts. Poor districts don't have enough
people to provide the services once covered by government. In New Jersey,
Governor Whitman has put a cap on how much wealthy districts can spend on
education in the hopes that this limit will let poor schools catch up.
Experts argue, however, that suburban parents "will not let that happen
because they will always pitch in to provide the special programs their
school budgets cannot cover." Low-income parents would be more likely to
spend time at schools if the schools provided day care for other children
and free meals. Other experts argue that poorer districts just don't do a
good enough job recruiting volunteers.

Title: GTE Discloses 3 Big Deals in Growth Bid
Source: New York Times (D1)
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: The country's biggest local phone carrier, GTE, is going to
pay $616 million to buy the BBN Corporation, one of the country's biggest
Internet providers. GTE is also buying a chunk of a nation-wide fiber
optic network constructed by QWest and is entering a partnership with Cisco
Systems, a producer of networking equipment.

Title: 2 Phone Companies Deny Report on 10,000 Job Cuts
Source: New York Times (D4)
Author: Mark Landler
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: Bell Atlantic and Nynex announced that their merger would not
result in loss of 10,000 jobs as reported in news stories yesterday. The
companies said they plan to cut only 3,000 management jobs within three
years of the deal.

Title: FCC Expected to Back Off On Business Phone Line Fee
Source: Wall Street Journal (A2)
Author: Dow Jones News Service
Issue: Universal Service
Description: As part of its reorganization of universal service subsidies,
the FCC is expected to accept a plan that would charge business $2.75 for
each telephone line. Originally, the agency had planned to charge $4 a
line, but pressure from businesses made the FCC back off. The costs of the
$2 fee are supposed to be offset by drops in long distance charges.

Title: AT&T Could Lose $350 Million in 2001 To Calls Via Internet
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7)
Author: WSJ Staff Reporter
Issue: Industry Trends/Internet
Description: Currently there are 12 million US citizens on line. In four
years there should be 44 million, and many of these people could be using
the Internet to make international phone calls. In the year 2001, long
distance companies could lose between $620 and $925 million in
long-distance charges.

Title: Reaching Out To Pass Over Someone
Source: Washington Post (C10)
Author: Michelle Singletary
Issue: Low-Income
Description: When NationsBank customers call the bank's toll free service
number, the system assesses which customers are very lucrative for the bank
(lots of accounts, loans, etc.) and passes those callers along to specially
trained service representatives. Regular customers may have to wait a
little bit longer to talk to someone. "Using new technology, bankers are
increasingly gauging customer profitability and are tailoring their service
levels and marketing accordingly. . . Those [customers] with accounts that
don't generate much income or non customers will find it tougher to get
service or may be charged higher fees . ." Other banks think that
Nations tactics are not good for the community and are trying to use
new technologies to serve the average customer better.

Title: FCC (Daily Digest)
Source: Washington Post (C10)
Author: WP Staff
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The FCC is expected to vote today to charge businesses $2.75
per month per phone line as part of its reorganization of universal service
policies.

Title: GTE to Buy Internet Firm BBN Corporation
Source: Washington Post (C10)
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: Big telephone company, GTE, is going to buy BBN, "one of the
companies that founded the Internet, having helped develop common software
technology for the network 28 years ago . ."

Title: 1 in 6 U.S. Adults Regularly Online, Study Indicates
Source: Washington Post (C10)
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Internet
Description: Close to 1 in 6 adults, greater than 31 million Americans, use
the Internet regularly. Users rank the Internet as everything from
indispensable to very difficult to use (though those terms are not
necessarily mutually exclusive). "About 35 percent of Internet users said
that they are watching less television. More than 25 percent of Internet
users are spending less time on long-distance telephone calls. Sixteen
percent of Internet users say they spend less time with magazines,
newspapers, and other personal computer applications." Also, using the
Internet seems to make people not get as much sleep.

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forgrabs-l@cdinet.com

Foundation To Announce New Structure And Grants

FCC Auction of Airwaves Draws Weak Bidding

Network Solutions Dropped as Registrar of Internet Domains
*********************************************
Title: Foundation To Announce New Structure And Grants
Source: New York Times (A28)
Author: Judith Miller
Issue: Philanthropy
Description: After a yearlong reorganization, the Ford Foundation will
announce $50 million in new grants today including $20 million to fight
poverty. Ford is the nation's largest private grant-making institution.
Ford plans to give away more than $407 million in grants this year in three
program divisions: asset-building and community development; peace and
social justice; and education, media, arts, and culture.

Title: FCC Auction of Airwaves Draws Weak Bidding
Source: Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com/) (A2)
Author: Bryan Gruley
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Television broadcasters are thrilled because the FCC's latest
round of spectrum auctions is not going all that well. Broadcasters want
the auctions to be unsuccessfully because that increases their chances of
being able to hold on to their analog channels longer. FCC Chairman Hundt
says he's not that surprised by the subpar bidding because the FCC didn't
give the industry enough advanced notice about this auction.

Title: Network Solutions Dropped as Registrar of Internet Domains
Source: Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) (E1)
Author: David S. Hilzenrath
Issue: Internet
Description: The National Science Foundation announced that it will not
renew Network Solutions' contract to register Internet domain names.
Network Solutions, however, declared that it would not give up its
exclusive hold of .com and other established addresses. A coalition of
groups led by the Internet Society is trying to start a movement where many
companies can register addresses not just Network Solutions. Allowing for
competing firms to register domains, users could see lower prices and
better services. Domain names act as the Zip-code of the Internet, enabling
users to address email and locate pages on the World Wide Web.
*********

LICY@periplum.cdinet.com

AT&T Seeks Global Reach and Partners

New Guidelines on Net Ads for Children

Who uses the Internet and how?

Software Lets Marketers Target Web Ads

BT, MCI Detail Pact with Telefonica

Two German Cases Show How Europe Still is Struggling to Regulate Internet

Libraries Urged to Nip Internet in the Buff

ANSER to the Call for Help

Got a Minute?

Scrap Program Ratings, Diller Says

Commerce Committee to look at 'safe harbor'

McCain wants to lock-in channel to give-back in 2006

Hard-Liquor ads: A mere drop in the keg

Sky's Modest Proposal

TV debate moving beyond ratings

We've heard this song before

*********************************************

Title: AT&T Seeks Global Reach and Partners
Source: New York Times (D1)
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: International
Description: AT&T's plans to control the global telecommunications market
received a set back last week when Telefonica de Espansa chose to split
from AT&T's international affiliation and make a deal with British Telecom
and MCI.

Title: New Guidelines on Net Ads for Children
Source: New York Times (D5)
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Internet Regulation/Children
Description: Last year the FTC challenged advertisers to come up with a set
of voluntary guidelines for Internet ads aimed at children. The Children's
Advertising Review Unit, an Industry group, has expanded the guidelines for
TV ads for kids to include Internet ads. The Consumer Federation of
America and the Center for Media Education have also developed an
alternative set of guidelines for the FTC. The industry guidelines urge
advertisers to make a reasonable effort to see that children get their
parents' permission before ordering products or supplying advertisers with
personal information. CME's guidelines believe that no information should
be solicited from children.

Title: Who uses the Internet and how? We'll get back to you on that if
someone figures it out
Source: New York Times (D5)
Author: Laurence Zuckerman
Issue: Internet Sales/Services
Description: Advertisers may be staying away from the web until there is a
more effective way to study who is on the Internet and when. As a result,
"dozens of companies are now competing to become to the web what A.C.
Nielson and its ratings are to television (Nielson itself, of course, is
one of them)." In the industry, gathering information about web visitors
and web visitors' habits is called "usage analysis."

Title: BT, MCI Detail Pact with Telefonica
Source: Wall Street Journal (A19)
Author: Gautam Naik, Carlta Vitzhum
Issue: International
Description: Friday's deal between Spain's Telefonica SA and British
Telecommunications-MCI will "give the trio an enviable position in three of
the world's richest markets -- North America, Europe, and Latin America."
Right now the Latin American market is worth about $35 billion. In the
next three years, it is expected to be worth $60 billion.

Title: France Telecom's Privatization Spurs Service Makeover
Source: Wall Street Journal (A19)
Author: Douglas Lavin
Issue: International
Description: France Telecom SA is suddenly teaching its customer-service
agents to be nice and making other public-relations investments because, as
France's phone market becomes privatized, France Telecom is going to have
to compete for customers.

Title: Software Lets Marketers Target Web Ads
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: Internet Sales/Services
Description: New software is available to tap into consumer databases and
gather information so that web advertisers can target their ads as
specifically as junk mail is targeted. A user would come to a site, enter a
small amount of personal info to enter the site, the little rabbit inside
the site would run over and use this personal info to pull up a full
profile from a consumer database, then the little site-master cyberrabbit
would run back and display an ad on the site for the peanut butter-olive
cookies that the user has an insatiable addiction to as known from past
credit records.

Title: Two German Cases Show How Europe Still is Struggling to Regulate
Internet
Source: Wall Street Journal (B9B)
Author: Silvia Ascarelli and Kimberley A. Strassel
Issue: Internet Regulation/International
Description: After a couple of not very successful attempts to penalize
Internet service providers for the content of some of the sites they
support, European governments are beginning to view Internet service
providers like phone companies in that they shouldn't be held liable for
"criminal conversations conducted over telephone lines."

Title: Libraries Urged to Nip Internet in the Buff
Source: Washington Post (B1)
Author: Amy Argetsinger
Issue: Libraries/Internet Regulation
Description: Anne Arundel County Library is debating whether to "restrict
patron's access to the more lurid offerings of the unregulated Internet."
The president of the libraries board of trustees stated that, "We can't
really pull the plug on something because we don't appreciate the subject
matter. We have to respect people's rights to access what they want to
access." But he went on to say that, "when you have people going into the
library and seeing objectionable pictures on the screen, I can understand
why they're upset." Greater than half of the nations libraries expect to
offer Internet service by the end of this year.

Title: ANSER to the Call for Help
Source: Washington Post (p.17 in Wash Etch)
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: Info-Etch
Description: ANSER, a nonprofit Arlington-based research organization, has
developed a computer software called HART (humanitarian assistance
requirement tool) which helps relief workers assess the damage of natural
disasters or civil disruption and keep track of who needs aid and what
supplies have gone where. The program can categorize data on demographics
like pre-war population or prison population and estimate supply needs like
how much maize, salts, fat/oil is available. Relief workers say that this
type of program that can keep tracks of lots of fragments of information is
much needed.

Title: Got a Minute?
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.4)
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV/Public Service Announcements
Description: In a speech to the National Association of Advertisers, FCC
Chairman Reed Hundt stated that TV networks should dedicate 60 seconds of
prime time per night for public service announcements in exchange for their
spectrum to transition to digital TV.

Title: Scrap Program Ratings, Diller Says
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.4)
Author: BC Staff
Issue: V Chip
Description: Barry Diller, the chief of Silver King station group,
commented in a speech that content-based ratings for TV shows would be
"loony" because they would be plagued with inconsistencies and the amount of
TV programming would make them impossible to implement. Diller also asked
broadcasters to support free-time for candidates.

Title: Commerce Committee to look at 'safe harbor'
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.7)
Author: Heather Fleming
Issue: V Chip
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz) has
agreed to let the committee evaluate the 'safe harbor' bill which would let
broadcasters choose between content-rating shows with sex, violence, and
objectionable language or moving shows with high scores in these categories
to times when kids are less likely to watch them.

Title: McCain wants to lock-in channel to give-back in 2006
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.6)
Author: BC Staff
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz) is
contemplating legislation which would require that broadcasters give back
their old spectrum after the transition to digital television by 2006.

Title: Hard-Liquor ads: A mere drop in the keg
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.14)
Author: Heather Fleming
Issue: Advertising
Description: In 1996 hard liquor television ads, which the liquor industry
started producing after a very long voluntary ban, only equalled about .1%
of what's spent on beer and wine advertising. The alcoholic beverage
industry spent $664,745,000 on TV ads last year. Distilled spirits spent
$678,000. House Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La) would like beer,
wine and spirits industries to organize a voluntary code of conduct for TV
alcohol advertising. The article has chart with a break down of
different companies' advertising expenditures.

Title: Sky's Modest Proposal
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.22)
Author: Heather Fleming
Issue: Satellite
Description: Executives of Sky, Rupert Murdoch's satellite TV project, are
circulating draft legislation on Capitol Hill which proposes that satellite
carriers transmit local broadcasting signals in designated markets, but does
not require carriers to retransmit all local broadcasters.

Title: TV debate moving beyond ratings
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.22)
Author: Heather Fleming
Issue: V-Chip
Description: For the past three months lawmakers have argued and listened
to arguments about the television ratings system. In a debate last week,
several lawmakers wanted to refocus the debate away from the type of
ratings system to the content of the programming. Senator Mike
DeWine (R-Ohio) stated that "TV holds up certain things as the norm in
society. The reality or norm that TV portrays is a different America than I
accept, I see . . and I know." Former Senator Paul Simon created
legislation which gave broadcasters an anti-trust exemption from 1990-1993
to evaluate TV content. According to the President of the PTA, the
broadcasters never produced a national code for content.

Title: We've heard this song before
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.90)
Author: Editorial Staff of Broadcasting and Cable
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Broadcasting and Cable comes out against Hundt's suggestion
of 60 public service announcements in prime time. The article warns that
"there's no end to this list" of requirements.

At the FCC

REMARKS OF CHAIRMAN REED HUNDT BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL
ADVERTISERS, WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 17, 1997.

"COMMUNICATIONS AND THE HEALTH CARE OF TOMORROW" - REMARKS OF CHAIRMAN REED
HUNDT BEFORE THE FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE/PARTNERSHIPS
FOR NETWORKED CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATION 1997 JOINT SESSION, WASHINGTON,
DC, APRIL 15, 1997.

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