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Personal Files Via Computer Offer Money and Pose Threat

Murdoch Will Buy Cable Empire From Robertson for $1.9 Billion

Among the Not So Well Heeled of Gucci Gulch

Bill Gates Goes Vertical

Rare Alliance On Privacy For Software

With a sale, Murdoch Will End Direct-Broadcast Bid

Welfare's Urban Poor Need a Lift -- to Suburban Jobs

Rivals Microsoft and Netscape Team Up To Protect Consumer Privacy on the Web

Murdoch to Buy Half Family Channel

Microsoft and Netscape Communications

Women, Communications and the Public Interest

Regulation for Fair Competition
*********************************************
Title: Personal Files Via Computer Offer Money and Pose Threat
Source: New York Times (A1)
Author: Nina Bernstein
Issue: Privacy
Description: In a special report, Lives On File: The Erosion of Privacy,
Bernstein addresses the "far-reaching national debate over legal protection
for privacy in a world where information is ever easier to mine and market."
As companies become more interested in personal data, individual privacy "is
looking more and more like an endangered natural resource." [Front page
story continues on two-page spread (A30-31).

Title: Murdoch Will Buy Cable Empire From Robertson for $1.9 Billion
Source: New York Times (A1)
Author: Geraldine Fabrikant
Issue: Mergers
Description: How much irony can we handle? The man who brought us the risque
"Married With Children," the nihilistic series "The Simpsons," and the most
violent children's program -- "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" -- is buying
the cable channel controlled by conservative Christian evangelist Pat
Robertson. Mark Crispin Miller, media studies professor at John Hopkins,
says that even though Murdoch seems unconcerned with Robertson's social
agenda -- which is regularly made fun of by the Simpsons -- the differences
between the two "may be more apparent than real." Fox Kids Worldwide will
buy International Family Entertainment which was spun off from the Christian
Broadcasting Network several years ago.

Title: Among the Not So Well Heeled of Gucci Gulch
Source: New York Times (A28)
Author: Francis Clines
Issue: Lobbying
Description: One of the unspoken secrets of Washington concerns all those
boring committee hearings you flip past on C-SPAN. There's actually dozens
of people wasting precious hours to get one of the prized seats in those
committee rooms. But none of them are the stereotypical $300/hr lobbyist --
they pay messenger companies $25/hr to save them a place. Of course, the
line-standers only see about $10/hr of that.

Title: Bill Gates Goes Vertical
Source: New York Times (A39)
Author: Neal Garber
Issue: Mergers
Description: Having conquered the software industry, Bill Gates now sets his
sights on defeating Michael Jordan! No. But the Comcast deal gives Gates
great potential with the technology to reach American consumers -- but will
he deliver what they want? The lesson of history is "Entertainment triumphs
everything. Entertainment is the most powerful force of our time, one that
is both inexorable and irresistible." Garber's editorial concludes saying
that Microsoft will have to move from the limited market in interfaces and
operating systems "to entertainment, whose market is limitless."

Title: Rare Alliance On Privacy For Software
Source: New York Times (D1)
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Privacy
Description: Netscape and Microsoft have agreed on a standard for privacy
software. The Federal Trade Commission is holding hearings on privacy
concerns and is expected to make recommendations to Congress this fall on
needed changes in Federal law and regulation. The standard has been endorsed
by 100 companies including IBM and Sun Microsystems.

Title: With a sale, Murdoch Will End Direct-Broadcast Bid
Source: New York Times (D4)
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Mergers/Satellites TV
Description: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has agreed to sell American Sky
Broadcasting (ASkyB) to Primestar Partners, the nation's second largest DBS
operator headed by TCI and Time Warner (the nation's major cable operators).
"What we decided to do is to, in a sense, discontinue our effort in
operating a DBS business and concentrate on our core content business," said
News Corps' general counsel.

Title: News Corp. Gains Entry to Cable Market
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
Author: John Lippman and Mark Robichaux
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: With two deals totaling $2.8 billion, Rupert Murdoch enters the
cable industry. News Corp. is selling its satellite assets for a stake in
the cable industry's direct satellite venture, Primestar. This deal is
an about face from Murdoch's earlier plan to challenge the cable industry
with his own satellite TV venture. In the second deal, a News Corp.
partnership Fox Kids Worldwide is acquiring control over International
Family Entertainment Inc., owner of the Family Channel. The Family
Channel is News Corp.'s first US cable network.

Title: Welfare's Urban Poor Need a Lift -- to Suburban Jobs
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
Author: Michael M. Phillips
Issue: low-income/transportation/jobs
Description: For residents of low-income city neighborhoods, its up hill
both ways to get to Suburban jobs. Most public transportation systems are
designed to bring suburbanites to city jobs, but now the jobs are in the
suburbs and inner-city residents are trying to get to them. "Reverse
commuting" is one of the biggest topics in urban-development. Commuting
programs are crucial for the ability of welfare recipients moved into jobs
by the welfare reform act to hold jobs. "The Clinton Administration is
asking Congress for $600 million to fund welfare-related transport programs
over the next six years. It also is backing a five-city experiment called
Bridges to Work, designed to identify which programs work best."
[Many businesses (and therefore jobs) have left the cities
because advances in communications and information technologies have
eliminated the need to be close to collaborators in downtown areas.]

Title: Rivals Microsoft and Netscape Team Up To Protect Consumer Privacy
on the Web
Source: Wall Street Journal (B14)
Author: Don Clark
Issue: Privacy
Description: Microsoft has agreed to support a plan to increase web
surfers' privacy that was initially proposed by its arch-enemy Netscape.
The technology they're promoting is called open profiling standard (OPS)
and allows users to determine how much information is disclosed to
different web sites. The fact that Microsoft is supporting this standard is
evidence of how high the stakes are for electronic commerce. Profiling is
crucial to develop a market, and companies are trying to show the Federal
Trade Commission that
they can protect surfers' privacy before the FTC develops privacy regulations.

Title: Murdoch to Buy Half Family Channel
Source: Washington Post (E1)
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: News Corp. owned by Rupert Murdoch is going to buy half the
Family Channel, owned by Pat Robertson. The Family Channel is produced by
International Family Entertainment Inc. Also, Murdoch's deal with Primestar
to provide digital satellite TV removes Murdoch as a potential competitor
with the dominant cable industry since Primestar is owned by cable companies.

Title: Microsoft and Netscape Communications (Digest)
Source: Washington Post (E1)
Author: WP Staff
Issue: Privacy
Description: Microsoft and Netscape have joined in an alliance to limit the
amount of information businesses collect from web surfers.

At the FCC
Chairman Hundt's 6/10/97 Speech "Women, Communications and the Public
Interest" to the American Women in Radio and Television ("AWRT") Power
Breakfast in Washington, D.C.

Commissioner Ness's 6/10/97 speech "Regulation for Fair Competition" at Asia
Telecom 97 - International Telecommunications Union
*********

For Moscow's Ambitious Mayor, a New Way to Network

F.C.C. Head Opposes Proposal For Ads on Public TV Stations

A Changing Cast Of Media Players

The Next Act for Microsoft

The question is: What is the role of the Ad Council? The answer is: It is
under debate

Megadeals Bolster the Embattled Cable Industry

Readin', Writin', and the Internet

Hundt has not left the building

Getting Better All The Time
*********************************************
Title: For Moscow's Ambitious Mayor, a New Way to Network
Source: New York Times (A3)
Author: Alessandra Stanley
Issue: International/Television
Description: Center TV debuted in Russia yesterday. The station is owned and
operated by the city of Moscow and its main goal is to spread the image of
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov across the nation. Luzhkov may be running for President
in 2000. "There is no independent television," says Center TV's director.
"It is a politicized business."

Title: F.C.C. Head Opposes Proposal For Ads on Public TV Stations
Source: New York Times (A20)
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Public Television
Description: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt said
yesterday that public television stations should reject the proposal from
Lawrence Grossman to air commercials during primetime on Friday and Saturday
nights. "'Commercial noncommercial TV' is an oxymoron that shouldn't be
tolerated," Hundt said. The Chairman admits that the funding of PBS needs to
be "depoliticized," perhaps by setting up a trust with monies raised in
spectrum auctions.

Title: A Changing Cast Of Media Players
Source: New York Times (D1)
Author: Mark Landler
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: Just four years ago many thought the main media mergers would
be between cable operators and phone companies. In the TCI/Bell Atlantic
deal (which later fell apart) and the USWest/Time Warner deal (which still
may fall apart), the TV screen was seen as the "windshield" through which
the public would get their view of the information superhighway. Cable
companies would act as large video vaults for on demand movies and the
interactivity of the phone network would allow for shopping. With the
announced Microsoft/Comcast deal, we're seeing a shift -- cable systems are
the delivery pipeline and the Internet will provide the interactivity.

Title: The Next Act for Microsoft
Source: New York Times (D1)
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Mergers
Description: "microsoft is building a very large, powerful media company,"
says research firm Technology Partners. "What has motivated this push into
media is the search for future growth. And what has attracted Microsoft is
that the media business is going through a transition toward the digital
technology of computers." In addition to the Comcast investment, Microsoft
has teamed with NBC to operate MSNBC, purchased WebTV, and started the
online magazine Slate.

Title: The question is: What is the role of the Ad Council? The answer is:
It is under debate
Source: New York Times (D9)
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Public Service Media
Description: The debate over the ad council center around whether public
service announcements ought to be redefined to reflect market changes.
Television networks have been asked by FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and the Ad
Council to devote one minute of primetime for public service announcements.
The networks believe that they are doing a fine job with PSAs with
celebrities that say Know When to Say When or Stay in School. The Ad Council
counters that although these messages are great, "it's not the same as
speaking in the voice of a nonprofit."

Title: Megadeals Bolster the Embattled Cable Industry
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
Author: Mark Robichaux
Issue: Cable/Media Mergers
Description: A few deals made yesterday may significantly help the
not-so-healthy cable industry. Microsoft is going to invest $1 billion in
Comcast Corporation, the nation's fourth largest cable company, and
Tele-Communications and Cablevision Systems are going to swap some assets
so that TCI's big debt is cut and Cablevision gets a part of the lucrative
NYC market. These deals could allow the cable industry to commence
providing digital services.

Title: IBM's Electronic Mall to Close Up Shop
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: Corporate Retrenchment
Description: IBM's World Avenue cybermall is shutting down after a year
of business. World Avenue did not successfully attract shoppers.

Title: Microsoft Casts a Wider Communications Net
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
Author: David Bank
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: "Microsoft Corp.'s first attempt to jump-start interactive
television failed. Now the software giant is trying to create an updated
version by investing heavily in a broad array of communications companies."
Microsoft is going to obtain 11.5% of Comcast, the nation's fourth largest
cable company, for $1 billion. Microsoft is going to use its relationship
with Comcast to speed up the delivery of high-speed networks to homes so
more people will be able to get set-top Internet boxes like those from Web
TV Networks, which Microsoft bought two months ago. Microsoft does not
support the digital TV standard proposed by the broadcast industry and now
will be more able to affect the development of those standards.

Title: TV Channel in Germany Partly Owned by Time Warner Takes Bankruptcy Step
Source: Wall Street Journal (B9)
Author: Cacilie Rohwedder
Issue: Corporate Retrenchment/International
Description: Puls TV initiated bankruptcy proceedings yesterday "dealing an
embarrassing defeat to its owners, which include Time Warner, George Soros
and Central Media Enterprises."

Title: U.S. Households With PCs Exceed 40% for First Time
Source: Wall Street Journal (B9)
Author: WSJ Staff Reporter
Issue: Info tech/low-income
Description: A survey done at the end of last year by Computer
Intelligence indicated that the percentage of US homes with PCs rose to
40.7%. Growth, however, has been slowing overall. Education and income
are strongly linked to ownership. "About 60% of households with annual
income about $40,000 said they have a PC, compared with about 24% of
households with incomes below $35,000...But the lower income buyers made
up 54% of first-timer PC buyers last year."

Title: Database Firms Set Privacy Plan
Source: Washington Post (A1)
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Privacy
Description: Eight of the country's biggest consumer database companies,
including Lexis-Nexis, agreed to "limit the kinds of information they
assemble about ordinary people and more closely monitor who uses that data."
The companies will not add information from private marketing databases,
such as shopping preferences and magazine subscriptions, to their records.
Privacy advocates believe that this is a step in the right direction but
point out that the smaller database companies will continue to gather this
type of information. The Center for Democracy and Technology
in Washington
is working with a coalition of companies to create a common protocol so that
users can indicate how much personal information they want made available.

Title: Spam Attack
Source: Washington Post (A16)
Author: WP Editorial Staff
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: There are two bills under discussion to regulate bulk junk
e-mail, aka SPAM. The bills have very different approaches to regulating
the Internet and are proposed days before the Supreme Court is expected to
rule on the Communications Decency Act. One measure proposed by Rep. Chris
Smith (R-NJ) compares spam to environmental pollution and is similar to a
1991 law that banned junk fax. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska -- a state
so new no one seems to remember its abbreviation) is sponsoring a measure to
limit commercial email with a v-chip like device (this is also confusing
since few of us could actually tell you what a V-Chip is like) --
"Commercial e-mail would have to be 'tagged' and service providers would
have to supply blocking software that filtered it out on request." It
would be better to wait and see what the Supreme Court says about the
protections for speech on the Internet before Congress goes too much farther
with
either of these bills.

Title: From Satellite TV Matrimony to Acrimony
Source: Washington Post (C1)
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: Cable
Description: Charlie Ergen of EchoStar was planning to produce a satellite
TV network with Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. Now, however, Ergen and
Murdoch have split and Murdoch is partnering with EchoStar's arch-enemy,
PrimeStar -- owned by several big cable companies. Ergen thinks Murdoch
switched to PrimeStar because Murdoch can't make it without the support of
the cable industry. Murdoch needs cable networks to carry his Fox News
Network and FX movie channel. Murdoch is also competing with Disney to buy
Pat Robertson's International Family Entertainment, Inc and must have TCI's
backing (TCI is one of the owners of Primestar, which in turn owns Tubersol,
the maker of Tuberculin Skin Test Gauges -- ok that last part is not true).
Ergen has filed suit against News Corp for breach-of-contract and may join
in another merger soon because his company is having financial difficulties.

Title: Cablevisions Systems (Digest)
Source: Washington Post (C1)
Author: WP Staff
Issue: Cable
Description: Cablevision Systems is going to buy 10 New York City cable
systems from TCI. The deal eases TCI's debt problems and helps Cablevision
increase its hold in the New York market.

Title: Microsoft to Invest $1 Billion in Comcast
Source: Washington Post C1)
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: Microsoft announced that it would invest $1 billion in Comcast,
the nation's fourth largest pantyhose manufacturer which fronts as a cable
company. This deal is Microsoft's largest investment in another company and
Microsoft hopes to hurry the development of interactive fiber-optic networks
that can carry video and audio to and from the home. Comcast has 4.3
million customers and owns half of home-shopping network QVC and 2/3s of
Philadelphia's basketball and hockey teams. The Comcast investment and the
earlier purchase of Web TV are part of Microsoft's effort to become just as
powerful in digital TV as it is in software, sayeth analysts. Because of
Comcast's sports investments, the NBA and the NHL must approve the deal.

Title: Readin', Writin', and the Internet
Source: Business Week (June, 9 1997)
Author: Stephen H. Wildstrom
Issue: Education Technology
Description: Congress and the Clinton Administration have made
substantial commitments to connect the nation's schools to the Internet.
"The trouble is no one seems to know which of the myriad problems facing
American education Internet access can solve...Student access to the
World Wide Web is useful, but probably less so than access to a good
library." One reason for the confusion is that not enough is being
invested to train teachers and administrators to use these new tools. "A
recent study by the Educational Testing Service found that only 15% of
teachers had received even nine hours of training in educational
technology." There are a couple of initiatives and examples, however, that
can help schools make the most of these ed-tech opportunities, including
Co-Nect schools (http://co-nect.bbn.com), the Global SchoolNet Foundation
(http://www.gsn.org), the Dalton School (http://www.dalton.org), and Netschools
(http://www.netschools.net). Wildstrom invites readers to send examples of
schools doing exceptionally good or bad job with ed tech.

Title: Hundt has not left the building
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.16)
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Television
Description: FCC Chairman Reed Hundt still has an agenda for television.
Hundt wants the FCC to address TV journalism, free airtime for candidates,
and broadcast liquor advertising. Hundt's comments are available at
.

At the FCC
Chairman Hundt's 6/9/97 Speech "Getting Better All The Time" to the
Annenberg Public Policy Center's 2nd Annual Conference on Children and
Television
*********

Germany's Efforts to Police Web Are Upsetting Business

Libraries Will Get $16 Million In New Aid From Budget Deal

Code Word: Disaster

Florida Phone Firm to buy Local Internet Pioneer

France Telecom Sale on Hold

Microsoft Helps D.C. Libraries Get Connected

Network-TV Sales Head Skyward As Audience Size Remains A Lure

All Eyes Are on Top German Regulator

Internet Porn Could Be A Thorn In Libraries' Side

Congress Considers New Auctions in Budget Reconciliation Plan
*********************************************
Title: Germany's Efforts to Police Web Are Upsetting Business
Source: New York Times (A1)
Author: Edmund Andrews
Issue: Internet/International
Description: A German woman is in court she maintained a Internet home page
with a link to a left-wing paper called Radikal. The paper includes tips on
making bombs and derailing trains. German authorities are pressing hard to
control content on the Internet. In Germany, it is illegal to run sites with
pornography or offer "youth endangering" material that glorifies violence,
promotes racial hatred or bends morals.

Title: Libraries Will Get $16 Million In New Aid From Budget Deal
Source: New York Times (A34)
Author: Clifford Levy
Issue: Libraries
Description: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and City Council leaders
agreed to a budget that includes $16 million in new aid for the city's
libraries. Funds are intended to help local branches increase their book
purchases. "This remarkable effort on the part of New York's
leaders...underscores the important role of neighborhood libraries in the
city's initiative to improve reading skills, " said Paul LeClerc, President
of the New York Public Library.

Title: Code Word: Disaster
Source: Washington Post (A27)
Author: James P. Moran
Issue: Encryption
Description: This op-ed by Moran, a Democratic representative from
Virginia, encourages the US to stop regulating encryption policies under the
Arms Control Act and to start letting the Commerce Department make
decisions. Also, the government's prohibitions on the exportation of strong
encryption programs and demand for key recovery programs could have a
devastating effect on the growth of what so far has been a very successful
industry for the US.

Title: Florida Phone Firm to buy Local Internet Pioneer
Source: Washington Post (G1)
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Media Mergers
Description: A Beltsville, MD Internet firm, Digex, is being bought by
Intermedia Communications, a Florida phone company, for $150 million.

Title: France Telecom Sale on Hold
Source: Washington Post (G3)
Author: Anne Swardson
Issue: International
Description: France Telecom was planning to "start its first stage of
privatization" next week, but the Socialist party's win in Sunday's
elections may put these plans indefinitely on hold. The new French prime
minister does not believe that profits should be made off public services.
Selling stock was part of France Telecom's way of gearing up for the global
competition when the European market opens on January 1. Most other
European communications companies have privatized partly or completely.

Title: Microsoft Helps D.C. Libraries Get Connected
Source: Washington Post from 6/5/97
Author: Vernon Loeb and Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Libraries
Description: Microsoft donated $1 million of computers, software, and
technical expertise to DC's MLK Library as part of an effort to connect the
District's 26 libraries to the Internet in the next 12 months. MLK Library
now has a computer lab with 16 state-of-the-art computers each with an Internet
connection. This gift was very good news for local libraries because the
DC Control Board cut the city's library budget by $1.5 million. Microsoft's gift
was part of the Libraries Online! initiative in partnership with the
American Library Association.

Title: Network-TV Sales Head Skyward As Audience Size Remains A Lure
Source: Wall Street Journal 6/5/97
Author: Sally Goll Beatty
Issue: TV/Advertising
Description: "Advance sales of advertising time on the Big Four broadcast
networks for the 1997-98 season are expected to hit a record $6 billion, up
roughly 6% from $5.6 billion a year ago, even though the network share of
the TV audience keeps shrinking." As one executive put it, advertisers
have many more outlets to reach people, but television is still the best way
to hit a mass audience. "Because of dwindling-audience factors advertisers
in many cases are paying double-digit percentage price increases to reach
the same number of viewers as last year."

Title: All Eyes Are on Top German Regulator
Source: Wall Street Journal (B7B)
Author: Silvia Ascarelli
Issue: International
Description: Germany has passed sweeping telecom legislation that
liberalizes Europe's biggest market. But -- as we know from implementation
of our Telecom Act of 1996 -- legislation is only the first step. The
question now is will Germany's top telecom regulator favor the state-owned
Deutsche Telekom AG over new competitors like AT&T?

Title: Internet Porn Could Be A Thorn In Libraries' Side
Source: Chicago Tribune
Author: Eric Zorn
Issue: Libraries
Description: Columnist Zorn is facilitating online debate Internet access at
public libraries. "Suspend my privileges at Liberalism Lodge if you
must...but I say libraries and librarians are asking for trouble if they
don't act vigorously to restrict minors from highly salty spots in
cyberspace." Trib site includes a follow-up article with a replies from
Chuck Munson, a Washington librarian, and readers.

Title: Congress Considers New Auctions in Budget Reconciliation Plan
Source: Telecommunications Reports Daily
Issue: Spectrum/Budget Issues
Description: Despite the shortcomings and criticisms of recent spectrum
auctions, Congress is considering mandating more to raise revenue for the
Treasury. The House Telecom Subcommittee is considering raising $27 billion
from the federal departments and agencies under its jurisdiction -- mainly
through spectrum auction.

At the FCC
Chairman Hundt's 6/5/97 Speech to the National Catholic Conference
Communications Committee in Washington, D.C.
*********

Street Art Wars

Senator Tells Networks To Revamp New Ratings

A campaign urges gay men and lesbians to resist tobacco ads

Media 'Revolving Door' Spins Faster for Liberals

Cable: Paying Green, Seeing Red

Virtual Anxiety
*********************************************
Title: Street Art Wars
Source: New York Times (A30)
Author: NY Times Editorial Staff
Issue: Arts&Culture/First Amendment
Description: New York City wanted to control street artists by requiring
them to obtain licenses which are so rare they are almost impossible to get.
The City lost the case in court, though.

Title: Senator Tells Networks To Revamp New Ratings
Source: New York Times (B1)
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: V-Chip
Description: Senator John McCain (R-Ariz), Chairman of the Commerce
Committee, has summoned representatives from the four major networks and
Time Warner to tell them they should revise the TV ratings system to include
content labels. McCain says that if the industry does not change the system,
he will support legislation that does. The FCC will hold hearings on the
system on the system on June 20.

Title: A campaign urges gay men and lesbians to resist tobacco ads
Source: New York Times (D8)
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Public Service Media/Minorities
Description: Public service campaigns that target certain segments of the
population are becoming increasingly prevalent. In California, the Lavender
Smoke-Free Project is introducing a campaign financed by a tax on
cigarettes. Tobacco companies have followed the trend to target the lavender
community and activists are trying to get publishers to reject that ad money.

Title: Media 'Revolving Door' Spins Faster for Liberals
Source: Wall Street Journal (A18)
Author: Brent Bozell III and Brent Baker
Issue: Journalism
Description: This op-ed by the chairman of Media Research Center and the
editor of the organization's Mediawatch newsletter argues that the dividing
line between politics and journalism has been blurry for a long time, and
that many more liberals swing from politics to journalism than
conservatives.

Title: Cable: Paying Green, Seeing Red
Source: Washington Post (A22)
Author: WP editorial staff
Issue: Cable TV
Description: National cable rates have been rising at twice the rate of
inflation. Montgomery County, Maryland will face a 9.5 percent rate
increase. Alexandria, Virginia is going to receive an 11.8 percent increase
next month. Few counties have successfully opposed cable rate increases,
and "until competition can be generated, government attempts to determine
reasonable rates of return or performance standards remain imperfect pursuits."

Title: Virtual Anxiety
Source: Washington Post (A23)
Author: Robert J. Samuelson
Issue: Lifestyles! (soon to be an exciting new informercial)
Description: In this column, Samuelson points out that though Americans
have more free time, we still are anxious about everything and always feel
rushed."We are awash in time-saving devices that, lo and behold, consume
more and more of our time." The GTE Airfone knows how to get to us: "Why
Wait? -- Check Voice Mail -- Call the Office -- Phone the Kids." In the 6
years between 1990 and 1996 (always been real good with numbers), the number
of cell phones rose from 5 million to 44 million. AOL tells us that the
number of emails a day has tripled its size since 1996 to 14 million. 28
percent of households have pagers. "Do one in four Americans need to be
beeped?"
*********