July 2000

WIRELESS
Wireless Valhalla: Hints of the Cellular Future (NYT)
A Review of the FCC's Spectrum Policies (House)

INTERNET
With Project Expanding Net's Reach, There Are No Strangers in
Paradise (NYT)
Advertising: AMedia Starts a Web Site to Draw
Asian-American Clientele (NYT)
Building a Better Web With Content Blueprints (NYT)
Auto Makers Sue Arizona Over Curbs on Web Activities (WSJ)
Kaufman & Broad Auctions Homes Online In First Large-Scale
Internet Property Sale (WSJ)
Down on the Farm, Up on Technology (NYT)

MERGERS/INTERNATIONAL
Telecom Mergers Come Calling On U.S. (WP)
Global Crossing Sells Local Phone Unit to Citizens Communications for
$3.65 Billion (NYT)
WorldCom Appears to Be Open To Selling Itself at Right Price (WSJ)
Telecoms Talks Stall, Japan Tells U.S. To Ease Rules (SJM)
France Will Open Its Airwaves To Common Global Standard (WSJ)
Death of Serb Named in Newspaper Sets Off Battle Over News Media
Restrictions in Kosovo (NYT)

WIRELESS

WIRELESS VALHALLA: HINTS OF THE CELLULAR FUTURE
Issue: Wireless
Although the US is the leader in personal computer and Internet
technologies, we're considered "Old World" when it come to The Next Big
Thing: wireless Internet communications. Market researchers are nearly
unanimous in predicting that in three years more people around the world
will gain access to the Internet through mobile devices than through
personal computers. But to preview this transformation, which some call the
"mobile lifestyle," one has to leave the United States. "You're just
starting to see it in the U.S., but here it is everywhere," said Rolf
Skoglund, a venture capitalist in Stockholm. Sweden has passed the United
States and is now the world's dominant "information economy," measured in
terms of the percentage of citizens who have access to computers, the
Internet, wireless phones and other information technologies. Finland,
Norway and Denmark round out the top five. These countries are at the
forefront of the new information economy based on wireless communications.
American technology companies are rushing over there to figure it out; learn
more at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Peter Lewis]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/circuits/articles/13nord.html)
See Also
A HUTCHISON JOINT VENTURE IN WIRELESS
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Stephanie Strom]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/hutchison-wireless.html)

A REVIEW OF THE FCC'S SPECTRUM POLICIES
Issue: Spectrum
The Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection has
scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, July 19, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. in 2322
Rayburn House Office Building. This will be a legislative hearing entitled:
A Review of the FCC's Spectrum Policies for the 21st Century and H.R. 4758,
the Spectrum Resource Assurance Act. Witnesses will be by invitation only.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://com-notes.house.gov/schedule.htm)

INTERNET

WITH PROJECT EXPANDING NET'S REACH, THERE ARE NO STRATEGIES IN PARADISE
Issue: Digital Divide
On the South Pacific island of Pago Pago, Pago Pago Elementary puts on
fundraising variety shows each year. To date the shows have paid off: a
public address system and plans for a new fountain. But the school's latest
addition, 25 high speed computes weren't had for a song. The computers,
hooked by satellite to a high-speed line in Hawaii, were financed by a $4
million grant from the E-rate program. In its third year, the program has
helped connect a variety of schools from Pago Pago to Aniak
Alaska, making stops at all points in between. Nearly $4 billion has been
awarded to schools and libraries in the United States and in territories
like Puerto Rico and Samoa. At the end of last year, 95 percent of the
nation's public schools had at least one site with Internet access, and 63
percent of all classrooms had been wired, according to the Federal
Communications Commission, which oversees the program. For all of the
successes of providing hardware and access, appropriate classroom use
remains an issue. "To date, there is no curriculum or lesson plan teachers
can follow," Ms. Bowles-Weilenman said. But the success of the of the
program is hard to argue. Once threatened by Republican lawmakers, the
program is no longer a point of debate. Both Vice President Al Gore and Texas
Governor George Bush have incorporated the program into the election
platform. "It's hard to attack success," said William E. Kennard,
the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D8), AUTHOR: Jeer Classing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/circuits/articles/13pago.html)

ADVERTISING: AMEDIA STARTS A WEB SITE TO DRAW ASIAN-AMERICAN CLIENTELE
Issue: Advertising
Print media Company aMedia, which specializes in the English-speaking Asian
American audience, is branching out online with aOnline.com. A recent report
by Forrester Research found that Asian-Americans ranked higher than white
Americans, African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans in both income and
education: Asian-Americans had a median annual household income of $65,000,
and 60 percent of them were college educated. More than three-fourths were
technologically inclined, also the highest rating of the four groups, while
their median age was 36, the youngest of the four groups. AMedia, which has
published aMagazine for 11 years, opted to go online because "there were
limitations inherent in the print product," said Jeff Yang, founder and
chief executive. "To create a mass medium for Asian-Americans, you have to
go where they are. Seventy percent of them, 7.5 million, are online."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Jane Levere]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/columns/071300amedia-adcol.html)

BUILDING A BETTER WEB WITH CONTENT BLUEPRINTS
Issue: Jobs
Information architect. How long do you think that job title has been around
-- did you dream of being one when you were growing up? Its a job that is
becoming increasingly more important as the world moves to the Web -- making
sure that visitors to a site will be able to find their way around easily.
"With apologies to 'Shoeless Joe,' the maxim 'If you build it, they will
come' simply does not apply to the Web," said Colin Furness, a senior
information architect at Iguana Studios. "And many storefronts have not
figured this out yet. Poor useability that alienates users -- especially mom
and pop -- is cheap and easy, which is perhaps why it is so plentiful." The
information architect's job, Mr. Furness said, is to organize the structure
and content of all the material on a Web site, as well as figure out how
users can effectively navigate through the site to find the one or two
things they might be looking for. Once this blueprint has been laid out, the
Web site's graphic designer will concentrate on the visual look of the site.
Or, to put it into building terms, the information architect decides where
the window will go, and the designer decides what the window will look like.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D11), AUTHOR: JD Biersdorfer]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/circuits/articles/13usee.html)

AUTO MAKERS SUE ARIZONA OVER CURBS ON WEB ACTIVITIES
Issue: Ecommerce
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of
International Automobile Manufacturers sued the state of Arizona to block
its new dealer-franchise law. The law includes limitations on Internet
operations for car manufacturers. The groups also are seeking a temporary
injunction to stop the law from taking effect on Monday. In Arizona and
other states, these laws forbid car makers from selling directly to
consumers and have become roadblocks to manufacturers' efforts to develop
online sales. Dealers have been successfully pushing states to beef up the
laws around the country. Manufacturers complain Arizona's updated
dealer-franchise law limits existing business practices outside of franchise
agreements, including offering financing directly to consumers over the
Internet. The alliance represents 13 major auto makers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A6), AUTHOR: SHOLNN FREEMAN]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963441943576410378.htm)

KAUFMAN & BROAD AUCTIONS HOMES ONLINE IN FIRST LARGE-SCALE INTERNET PROPERTY
SALE
Issue: Ecommerce
Kaufman & Broad Home Corp completed what
housing experts say is the first large-scale auction of residential
properties on the Internet Sunday, selling 10 single-family homes and nine
lots in a Palm Springs (CA) subdivision in two hours. Last year, Kaufman &
Broad auctioned 50 condominiums in Sacramento (CA) in a traditional auction.
Sunday appears to be the first time that the Internet was used by a home
builder to clear out a large number of properties at once. While the homes
sold for less than the company thought they were worth, the amount of money
the company will likely save made the auction a success, according to Jay
Moss, Kaufman & Broad's general manager for southern California. "There's a
little bit of risk because you might not get the price you want," says
Mr.Moss. But given that the company sold the homes in one day instead of the
months it could have taken, "that's a risk I'm willing to take." Although
Kaufman & Broad's auction appears to have run smoothly, auctions in general
on the Internet have drawn enormous attention in recent months due to
growing reports of fraud. [House? You just purchased the beautiful tar pit]
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A2), AUTHOR: PATRICK BARTA]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963452602941995000.htm)

DOWN ON THE FARM, UP ON TECHNOLOGY
Issue: InfoTech
Farmers are using technology to begin "precision farming" - taking
the weather, pest damage and other aggravations out of agriculture. The
practice and tools involved involves the use of digitized maps to target
chemical spraying; the use of GPS systems to monitor and overlay data on
acres of fields, row by row; and tractors and farm vehicles that can tap
into the computer and GPS systems. While there are increased cost savings to
the farmers who use these technologies to manage their crop, the cost of the
technology itself is keeping small and medium farms from employing the
practices. There also is a divide for some farmers between the technology
and the application of it. "Most farmers do not want to spend hours and
hours in front of a computer," said John Reifsteck, who runs an 1,800-acre
corn and soybean farm in Champaign (IL). "You can get very frustrated when
all you want to do is print a nice map and things don't work that well."
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Catherine Greeman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/circuits/articles/13farm.html)

MERGERS/INTERNATIONAL

TELECOM MERGERS COME CALLING ON U.S.
Issue: Mergers/International
As the German national telecommunications carrier, Deutsche Telekom AG,
stakes out potential U.S. partners, some on Capitol Hill have articulated
concerns about competition and national security because the German
government owns a majority of the company. While the United States is
currently enjoying high-tech supremacy, the future holds no
guarantees -- particularly as a slew of foreign companies eyes opportunities
here. Deutsche Telekom has openly acknowledged its desire to buy a US
wireless business and a long-distance and Internet network to service
multinational business customers. Possible candidates include VoiceStream
Wireless, Qwest Communications, and even Sprint. "It's going to be tough,"
said Kevin Sullivan, an antitrust expert and law partner at King & Spaulding
in Washington. "Both the FBI and the Defense Department will have something
to say. . . . Deutsche Telekom's going to have to make some commitment to
decrease government ownership. They're going to have to commit to get well
below 50 percent." The Federal Communication Commission is not allowed to
license any company that a foreign government owns 25 percent or more of.
Despite the barriers for Deutsche Telekom, most experts predict that
globalization will prevail and the company will eventually will find its way
into the United States.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31672-2000Jul12.html)

GLOBAL CROSSING SELLS LOCAL PHONE UNIT TO CITIZENS COMMUNICATIONS FOR $3.65
BILLION
Issue: Mergers
Global Crossing will sell its local phone operations -- ~one million phone
lines in Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- to
Citizens Communications for $3.65 billion in cash. Global Crossing is
concentrating instead on building a network capable of handling huge amount
of Internet and data traffic worldwide. Citizens is shedding its utility
business and increasingly focusing on telecommunications. "The downside of
this deal is that it removes an important source of cash flow for Global
Crossing," said Michael Hodel, a telecommunications analyst with
Morningstar, the mutual fund and stock analysis company. "But at least it
alleviates some concern over funding since the rest of their operations are
burning through cash." "Global Crossing is not doing a great job of
articulating strategy," said Jeffrey Kagan, an independent
telecommunications analyst. "It's a young company that seems to still be
deciding what they'll do when they grow up."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C10), AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/global-crossing.html)

WORLDCOM APPEARS TO BE OPEN TO SELLING ITSELF AT RIGHT PRICE
Issue: Mergers
WorldCom's bid to buy Sprint appears to have gone sour, and is now WorldCom
is open to
selling itself for the right price to suitors, including Germany's Deutsche
Telekom. Deutsche Telekom is in no hurry to make a move for Worldcom, taking
its time to flirt a little with numerous other U.S. phone companies.
Deutsche Telekom has
already submitted a bid for VoiceStream Wireless Corp., a highflying U.S.
wireless carrier, and may pay as much as $46.8 billion for company. Deutsche
Telekom is also searching for a landline partner, and would be more
interested in Sprint, which also has wireless, or Qwest Communications
International Inc., which may be an easier regulatory deal than WorldCom. "I
don't know why DT wouldn't want to talk to the best company in the U.S.,"
said WorldCom's CEO Bernard J. Ebbers . Industry observers say WorldCom
would be a perfect U.S. fit for the German giant. But if no one is ready to
pay Worldcom the price they are asking for, the company could survive
without merging with anyone. It is seen as being in a much stronger position
to remain a successful stand-alone concern than Sprint, its partner in the
failed $115 billion transaction that was blocked by the Justice Department
last month. [Bernie, you're selling? We hardly knew ya.]
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A4), AUTHOR: News Roundup
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963455341269729658.htm)

TELECOMS TALKS STALL, JAPAN TELLS U.S. TO EASE RULES
Issue: International
Japan-U.S. telecommunication deregulation talks stalled on Thursday after
Japanese negotiators demanded that Washington remove regulatory controls for
foreign firms trying to enter the U.S. market, the world's biggest. Tokyo
argues that U.S. rules can be used to bar entry of non-U.S. firms for
arbitrary reasons. Recently, according to media reports, the U.S. Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has raised national security concerns about
the $5.5 billion takeover bid for U.S. Internet service provider Verio Inc
by NTT Communications Corp, the Japanese phone giant's international arm.
Washington argues that interconnection rates charged by NTT are too high,
inhibiting growth of the communications industry in Japan. In this week's
talks, Washington demanded that NTT cut the fees it charges rivals for
access to its nationwide network of local phone lines by 41 percent. Both
President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori have pressured
their negotiators to settle the issue of NTT rate cuts before they meet on
July 20 on the eve of the G8 summit on the southernmost Japanese island of
Okinawa.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reed Stevenson (Reuters)]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/190310l.htm)

FRANCE WILL OPEN ITS AIRWAVES TO COMMON GLOBAL STANDARD
Issue: International/Wireless
France's military will open the country's airwaves to the Bluetooth wireless
networking technology, and move to other frequencies bowing to pressure from
the high-tech industry. Bluetooth enables computers, mobile phones and other
electronic devices to communicate with each other using a common standard,
and is scheduled to make its commercial debut around the world this summer.
France was the only remaining territory not to adopt the Bluetooth protocol,
as the French military already occupied the required radio frequency for its
own communications. The army has now agreed to change to other frequencies.
France's failing to enable Bluetooth's use in France would have led to
endless legal and commercial quandaries. Companies would have had to
manufacture a separate product line only for France. French citizens would
have been tempted to smuggle Bluetooth-equipped devices like wireless
headsets for mobile phones from other markets, while foreign visitors using
such devices would have risked heavy fines and even jail sentences.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: AMY BARRETT]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963436386120465291.htm)
See Also:
CHINA TRANSFERS MOBILE PHONE BUSINESSES FROM MILITARY TO UNICOM, STUDIES CDMA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: WSJ.com]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963460894181779511.htm)

DEATH OF SERB NAMED IN NEWSPAPER SETS OFF BATTLE OVER NEWS MEDIA
RESTRICTIONS IN KOSOVO
Issue: Journalism/International
In Kosovo, the United Nations and the news media are waging a battle over
freedom of the press and vigilant justice. The United Nations administration
that rules Kosovo recently shut down the newspaper, Dita, for eight days
when a Serb was murdered after the paper accused him of crimes against
Albanians and published his name and photograph. Dita's publisher, Behlul
Beqaj, justified publication of the information by saying that the system of
justice in Kosovo was not working, and that there had been no punishment for
people accused of war crimes. Douglas Davidson, who has been appointed by
the UN as temporary news media commissioner in Kosovo, argues with Begaj's
logic. "Publishing names can put people's lives at risk," Mr. Davidson said
in a statement. "It is also violating a fundamental principle of Western
journalism that someone is innocent until proven guilty." But local Albanian
journalists and international media watch-dog groups have protested the
attempts to regulate media so strongly that the United Nations
administration is likely to abandon recently devised code of conduct that
has been imposed on the news media.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A12), AUTHOR: Steven Erlanger]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/071300kosovo-media.html)

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describe articles of interest to the work of the Foundation -- primarily
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RADIO/SPECTRUM
Religious Groups at Odds With G.O.P. on Radio Licenses (NYT)
Spectrum Up for Grabs (WP)

INTERNET
Web Hardware Maker Buys Digital 'Plumber' for $41 Billion (NYT)
F.T.C. Moves to Halt Sale Of Database at Toysmart (NYT)
Journalists Consider Their Place in a Wireless World (CyberTimes)
ICANN Status Report (NTIA)
FBI's System to Covertly Search E-Mail Raises Legal Issues,
Privacy Concerns (WSJ)

INTERNATIONAL
As Former Leader Faces Jail, Turks Rethink Limits on Speech (NYT)
AOL Launching Service in Mexico (WP)
AOL's Big Assault On Latin America Hits a Snag With
Local Providers (WSJ)
World Radiocommunication Conference 2000 (NTIA)

PHILANTHROPY
Philanthropy: Give And Take (WP)
Writer's Philanthropic Hopes Ending in Bitter Court Battle (NYT)

RADIO/SPECTRUM

RELIGIOUS GROUPS AT ODDS WITH G.O.P. ON RADIO LICENSES
Issue: Radio
Republicans in Congress are trying to block the creation of low power radio
stations around the country, but as the Federal Communications Commission
receives applications for low power stations, about half are from religious
organizations -- mostly the sorts of fundamentalist churches active in
conservative Republican politics. "It looks like money's talking, maybe at
the expense of what would be logical long term -- the Republicans supporting
their supporters," said Rich Cizik, director of the Washington office of the
National Association of Evangelicals, which has 4,300 churches as members.
Congressional Republicans are backing big broadcasting companies and their
powerful lobbying group, the National Association of Broadcasters. Radio
executives and media advocates see the move to create low power radio
stations as one of the industry's most important issues since the advent of
FM in the 1960s. "There is a widespread belief that commercial broadcasters
have abandoned their communities," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, the
president of Media Access Project, a Washington law firm that analyzed the
list of applicants and has helped groups apply for low-power stations. "This
does not break down on a liberal-conservative basis."
White House officials have said they support the creation of low-power radio
stations, as has Vice President Al Gore. Gov. George W. Bush of Texas has
not taken a public position on the issue, said Mindy Tucker, a spokeswoman
for his presidential campaign.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: David Leonhardt]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/071100radio-fcc.html)

SPECTRUM UP FOR GRABS
Issue: Wireless
Wireless telecommunications companies have besieged Congress with lobbyists
in attempt to gain control of the spectrum that NextWave Telecom won in
biding at an FCC auction five years ago. The company declared bankruptcy
soon after, and since then the FCC has been trying to retake the spectrum.
The problem is, Next Wave does not want to give up the spectrum. It argues
that it wasn't able to gain financing for the licenses because the FCC
delayed issuing them -- claim which the FCC disputes, arguing that
NextWave didn't pay as it agreed and has no remaining right to the airwaves.
While the company and the Commission have been battling out the matter in
court, Congress has gotten involved in the debate, too. NextWave lobbyists
have compelled some lawmakers to try to help the company out. Others have
attempted to pass legislation that would return the licenses to the FCC.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Susan Schmidt and Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17464-2000Jul10.html)

INTERNET

WEB HARDWARE MAKER BUYS DIGITAL 'PLUMBER' FOR $41 BILLION
Issue: Mergers
JDS Uniphase will buy SDL Inc for $41 billion in stock. That's more than the
combined market value of Amazon.com, ( at )Home, eBay and Priceline.com. JDS and
SDL make Internet components like fiber optic networks. This technology is
likely to remain the technical foundation of the communications revolution
because they are the most cost-effective way to transmit large chunks of
information. JDS Uniphase financial officer Anthony Miller said, "Think of
Amazon and eBay and any number of other companies that are of this genre.
They all require bandwidth to deliver their products and services. And we
and our competitors make the fundamental underlying technology that provides
the amount of bandwidth that is required for the Internet."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/)

F.T.C. MOVES TO HALT SALE OF DATABASE AT TOYSMART
Issue: Privacy
Although Toysmart.com promised to never share customers' personal data with
a third party, the Federal Trade Commission is suing the company to block
the sale of it customer information database. The sale, the FTC contends,
would not just compromise names, addresses and shopping preferences of
online toy shoppers, but potentially also family profile information,
including names and ages of children. Toysmart, which is majority-owned by
Disney, ceased operations in May and began soliciting bids for its assets.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2), AUTHOR: Matt Richtel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/11toysmart.html)
See Also:
FTC CHALLENGES TOYSMART PLAN TO SELL CUSTOMER INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Staff Reporter]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963281236435979911.htm)
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION SAYS WEB COMPANY BROKE PROMISE
NOT TO SELL OR SHARE CUSTOMERS' PRIVATE INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Consumers Union]
(http://www.consumersunion.org/finance/ftcdc700.htm)

JOURNALISTS CONSIDER THEIR PLACE IN A WIRELESS WORLD
Issue: Journalism
Journalists are considering what the effects will be of new mobile
technologies on newsgathering and publishing. Traditional media outlets find
themselves confronted with questions about whether and how to distribute
information to mobile users, what technology to focus on, how to integrate
wireless offerings into their existing operations -- and, of course, how to
make it all pay. Telegeography, a research firm, predicts that by 2002,
there will be more than one billion mobile phones worldwide, topping the
number of fixed-line phones. Another forecaster, ARC Group, expects half of
all digital cellular phone subscribers to have access to data services by
2003. "A whole new media form is evolving under our eyes," said Steven
Shivers, the managing director for Europe at Infospace, a provider of mobile
telephone infrastructure. . He urged journalists and publishers not to
repeat the errors many of them made when the Web first became popular:
"Don't set up a study group and wait for it to report back: a lot of
players, portals, banks, operators, are already laying claims on the mobile
information space."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Bruno Giussani (giussani( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/cyber/eurobytes/11eurobytes.html)

ICANN STATUS REPORT
Issue: Internet
On July 7, ICANN posted its second status report to the Department of Commerce.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.icann.org/general/statusreport-30jun00.htm)
See Also:
On July 7, the General Accounting Office (GAO) released "Department of
Commerce: Relationship with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.gao.gov/new.items/og00033r.pdf)

FBI'S SYSTEM TO COVERTLY SEARCH E-MAIL RAISES LEGAL ISSUES, PRIVACY CONCERNS
Issue: Privacy
Privacy advocates in the computer industry are upset by the FBI's use of a
superfast system called Carnivore to covertly search e-mails for messages
from criminal suspects. Developed at a special agency lab at Quantico, Va.,
and unveiled to a roomful of astonished industry specialists two weeks ago,
the wiretapping system is dubbed Carnivore for its ability to get to "the
meat" of what would otherwise be an enormous quantity of data. Although
federal investigators say they have used Carnivore in fewer than 100
criminal cases since its launch early last year, privacy advocates within
the Internet industry are not amused. When deployed, Carnivore must be
hooked directly into Internet service providers' computer networks in order
to give the Government the ability to eavesdrop on all customers' digital
communications, from e-mail to online banking and Web surfing, at least
theoretically. Internet wiretaps are conducted only under state or federal
judicial order, and occur relatively infrequently.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: NEIL KING JR. And TED BRIDIS]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963264584706292829.htm)

INTERNATIONAL

AS FORMER LEADER FACES JAIL, TURKS RETHINK LIMITS ON SPEECH
Issue: International/Free Speech
Leaders in Turkey are considering modifying laws that make it a crime to
promote religious or ethnic differences and to criticize the government or
military. Some in the influential military and the politicians most strongly
wedded to Turkey's secularist state still oppose change, however, for fear
Turkey will turn more toward Islam. Necmettin Erbakan, the country's prime
minister in 1996-97, appears to be headed for prison for remarks in a
political speech six years ago.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A3), AUTHOR: Douglas Frantz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/071100turkey-speech.html)

AOL LAUNCHING SERVICE IN MEXICO
Issue: Internet/International
Today, America Online plans to launch its first Internet access service in
Spanish. Industry analysts say the success of America Online Mexico's launch
is critical for the company's plans to take its AOL Latin America unit
public later this year and as it attempts to recover from last fall's shaky
launch of AOL Brazil. AOL is the largest online service in the world, with
more than 23 million subscribers, but nearly 90 percent of its members are
in the United States. Its attempts to expand its reach abroad in recent
years have had mixed results. Several of AOL's European services are among
the top players in their countries, but its products in other places,
including Japan and Australia, have faltered. Latin America represents the
fastest-growing Internet market in the world. The number of Internet service
subscribers in the region is expected to more than triple in the next three
years.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Ariana Eunjung Cha]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17471-2000Jul10.html)

AOL'S BIG ASSAULT ON LATIN AMERICA HITS A SNAG WITH LOCAL PROVIDERS
Issue: Internet/International
When Brazilians tried to load AOL's new Internet service last year, they
were treated to the samba stylings of dance band Raca Negra instead of
getting connected to the Web. But before AOL even got to the Web, a
small-town Internet firm had nabbed the U.S. giant's logical address,
aol.com.br. UOL, an entrenched local competitor, left some wondering who was
who. But it is not only in Brazil where AOL is struggling. In Japan, AOL
is in 10th place, and in Germany, it lags far behind the Internet arm of
Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Online. The top spot has eluded AOL in
France and Canada. In Brazil, after launching its service with great fanfare
last November, it's, at best, a distant fourth. Though it towers over U.S.
competitors, with about 18 million subscribers to its flagship U.S. service,
observers doubt the company can maintain its subscriber growth unless it
wins converts abroad. But at every port overseas, AOL has run into
home-grown competitors backed by well-financed phone companies or media
groups with strong local content. These companies claim the same head-start
advantage that helped make AOL a wunderkind in the U.S., and they're wiser
for having watched the American Internet saga unfold. AOL is also facing
organization, cultural, and nationalistic challenges abroad. In some
regions, such as Europe, the company has chosen to call its service AOL,
rather than America Online, to avoid triggering nationalistic issues.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A1), AUTHOR: Pamela Druckerman & Nick Wingfield]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963265377916771931.htm)

WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE 2000
Issue: Spectrum
NTIA has posted Recommendations to Improve U.S. Participation in World
Radiocommunication Conferences by Ambassador Gail S. Schoettler, U.S. Head
of Delegation to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2000.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/wrc/wrcrecommendations.htm)

PHILANTHROPY

PHILANTHROPY: GIVE AND TAKE
Issue: Internet/Philanthropy
There are a growing number of Web sites that help link people with
charities. Some services handle contributions, while others give users
extensive information about specific organizations. Two online philanthropy
sites, eContributor and ChangingOurWorld, have announced a partnership that
will offer the "most comprehensive integrated philanthropic services in the
United States." The two groups plan to provide consulting about fundraising,
volunteer and board recruitment, interactive advertising, event ticket sales
and database management, as well as corporate and personal philanthropy.
Slated to launch this fall is CharityAmerica.com, which calls itself "the
online resource and solution site that offers comprehensive giving tools to
nonprofits and their
supporters." The site will "provide a resource that will help teach the
power of philanthropy [and] also provide a tool to determine the motivating
factors behind the act of giving," said site founder Timothy McCarthy.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A21), AUTHOR: Kent Allen]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18832-2000Jul10.html)

WRITER'S PHILANTHROPIC HOPES ENDING IN BITTER COURT BATTLE
Issue: Philanthropy
The idea was to help children who had cancer and other grave illnesses use
the Internet to talk to one another and to learn about their diseases. But
after seven years and $5 million spent on travel, salaries, fund-raising and
furniture, the foundation author Tom Clancy set up did not even have a Web
site to show for its efforts. The legal mud fight that has broken out in a
Denver courtroom over the failure of the Kyle Foundation offers a rare
glimpse at the inner workings of a celebrity charity. Mr Clancy contends
that the woman he hired to run the foundation with mismanagement and
improper expenditures; she claims Mr Clancy killed off the project just when
it was about succeed. Read the dirt at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Moss & Rutenberg]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/11clancy.html)

--------------------------------------------------------------

(c)Benton Foundation 2000. Redistribution of this email publication -- both
internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message.

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The Benton Foundation's Communications Policy Program (CPP)
(www.benton.org/cpphome.html) Communications-related Headline
Service is posted Monday through Friday. The Headlines are highlights
of news articles summarized by staff at the Benton Foundation. They
describe articles of interest to the work of the Foundation -- primarily
those covering long term trends and developments in communications,
technology, journalism, public service media, regulation and philanthropy.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone does
not represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by
Kevin Taglang (kevint( at )benton.org) and Rachel Anderson (rachel( at )benton.org) --
we welcome your comments.

The Benton Foundation works to realize the social benefits made possible by
the public interest use of communications. Bridging the worlds of
philanthropy, public policy, and community action, Benton seeks to shape the
emerging communications environment and to demonstrate the value of
communications for solving social problems.

Other projects at Benton include:
Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org)
Debate America (www.debateamerica.org)
Oneworld US (www.oneworldus.org)
Open Studio: The Arts Online (www.openstudio.org)
Sound Partners for Community Health (www.soundpartners.org)

TELEPHONY
SBC's Long-Distance Rates For Texas Will Be Set Today (NYT)
Verizon Defends Its Customer Service (WP)
Virgin Passengers Will Have Access to Mobile-Phone Calls (WSJ)

INTERNET
Groups Encourage Democracy in Managing Internet (SJM)
Catholic School Helps Reservation Get Wired To
The Outside World (WSJ)
As Teacher in the Classroom, Internet Needs Fine-Tuning (NYT)
The First Amendment's Limitations on the Use of Internet Filtering in
Public and School Libraries (TX Law Review)
Business Links On Web Raise Antitrust Issues (NYT)
European Parliament Adopts Safe Harbor Resolution (EPIC)

TELEVISION
'Big Brother' Proves Another Hit for CBS (NYT)
iBlast Signs More Broadcasters For Wireless Plan for PC Content (WSJ)

INFOTECH
Curling Up With An E-Book (NYT)

JOBS
Coalition of Black Professionals Frets Over an Influx of
Skilled Foreigners (WSJ)

TELEPHONY

SBC'S LONG DISTANCE RATES FOR TEXAS WILL BE SET TODAY
Issue: Long Distance
The Federal Communications Commission has approved SBC Communications to
offer long distance services in Texas. SBC is expected to announce it rates
today: $0.09/min for all in-state and out-of-state calls anytime with no
monthly fee -- $0.06/min for customers who subscribe to caller ID or call
waiting. Analysts said customers choosing one of SBC's basic plans could
save money because the average per-minute long-distance charge in Texas is
more than 20 cents a minute. Nationwide, long-distance rates are about 20
cents a minute, according to the Gartner Group, a telecommunications
research firm. "We're encouraged to see greater competition with the likes
of SBC moving into long distance," said Susan Grant, vice president for
public policy at the National Consumers League in Washington. "But this type
of thing can be a blessing or a curse, because so many choices can be
bewildering."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C3), AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/070700sbc-rates.html)

VERIZON DEFENDS ITS CUSTOMER SERVICE
Issue: Telephony
Complaints are being heard from basic telephone customers across the nation
who feel that customer service has suffered as a result of their local
companies' increasing preoccupation with mergers and new technologies. More
than 1,000 complaints were logged with the Federal Communications Commission
during a customer service study launched by the Commission in May. Forty-one
percent of the callers said they received inaccurate information, 16 percent
said customer service failed to respond to the trouble, and 8 percent
reported frustrating hold times. Agency records suggest that some repair and
installation services have slipped in recent years for most Bell companies,
including Bell Atlantic. Officials from Verizon Communications, Bell
Atlantic's new identity after its purchase of GTE Corp, defend their
commitment to customer service. "Traditional basic telephone service is the
way we touch most customers and it remains the core of the business," said
Eric Rabe, a company spokesman. "Nobody here is confused about that. And
service is the key to our success in that business."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59391-2000Jul6.html)

VIRGIN PASSENGERS WILL HAVE ACCESS TO MOBILE-PHONE CALLS
Issue: Telephony
Virgin Atlantic said it will be the first airline to allow passengers to
receive phone calls via their mobile telephone numbers while flying. The
service, dubbed "Earth Calling," requires mobile-telephone customers to
receive special cards from their mobile-phone service providers. When they
board an aircraft, passengers who wish to use the service will swipe the
cards through the phone at their seat and dial a registration number.
Participating mobile-telephone operators -- via their satellite networks
-- will then forward the customer's calls to the aircraft, billing the
customer for the cost of the call to the aircraft. The calls will be
delivered silently via the carrier's on-board seatback telephone terminals,
which will serve essentially as mobile proxies. Because of the success of
mobile telephones, many carriers have already taken on-board telephones off
their airplanes. Virgin Atlantic, echoing moves already made by aircraft
manufacturers and rival carriers, said it is developing an on-board e-mail
system to allow travelers to send and receive messages while flying.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Paulo Prada (paulo.prada( at )wsj.com)]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB962916383301822487.htm)

INTERNET

GROUPS ENCOURAGE DEMOCRACY IN MANAGING INTERNET
Issue: Internet
Public advocacy organizations have launched a campaign to raise public
participation in decisions effecting the management of the Internet.
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, the Electronic Privacy
Information Center, and the American Civil Liberties Union have formed the
Internet Democracy Project as an informational clearinghouse and watchdog
organization. They hope to promote the values of consumers and nonprofit
organizations within Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), the organization chartered by the U.S. government and created two
years ago to coordinate the technical management of the Internet. "There is
real need to focus the attention of civil society on the seemingly technical
issues that organizations like ICANN are addressing," said Barry Steinhardt,
associate director of the ACLU. "If our voices are not heard while the
governance structures are being created, it may be too late." ICANN, which
will hold an election for five at-large directors its board in November, has
been criticized for favoring large companies over individuals.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/054025.htm)

CATHOLIC SCHOOL HELPS RESERVATION GET WIRED TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Issue: Digital Divide
An Internet revolution is quietly taking place at the 80-year-old St.
Peter's mission on the Gila River Indian Reservation, in spite of the
dog-eared books and mismatched school desks that make things look desperate.
Here, nuns carry walkie-talkies to summon each other for phone calls, and
inside one of the mission's classrooms are 25 new IBM PCs made possible by
the generosity of an IBM retiree. Most students at St. Peter's have no
telephone at home. The computer is their sole link to the new Internet universe.
The Gila River community outside Phoenix is also quietly showing a way to
close the Digital Divide without the state's help. St.Peter's data line was
installed by Gila River Telecommunications Inc., an Indian-owned and
Indian-run telephone company known locally as GRTI. "We're an example of
what can be done when you put your mind to it," says Richard Narcia, a
leader of the Pima Indian tribe that has lived in the Gila River area for
more than 2,000 years. It is estimated that less than 10% of Gila River's
20,000 residents had phone service as of the late 1980s. The lack of phones
was a nod to the steep cost of installation back then: $40,000 or more,
according to US West Inc., the local phone company at the time. Although
teledensity has improved, estimated at 51% today in the Gila River area, the
Web remains a nascent concept; there are only about 130 Internet accounts on
the reservation, according to GRTI. The Web access that there is has had the
greatest impact on the kids. All students at St. Peter's mission participate
in mandatory computer classes, with the "Internet" as the most popular
class.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: LESLIE CAULEY]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB962924112271244083)

AS TEACHER IN THE CLASSROOM, INTERNET NEEDS FINE-TUNING
Issue: EdTech
A look at the trial and tribulations of taking online courses. Of the 600
students who enrolled in Advanced Placement courses from Apex Learninf, a
leader in providing AP courses online, two-thirds did not complete enough of
the course work to take the final exam. "This is still pretty new and we are
all learning about it," said Sally Narodick, the chief executive of Apex.
Advanced Placement courses represent one of the first real opportunities to
marshal technology to plug gaping holes in the core curriculums of
financially pressed rural and inner-city high schools that cannot afford
luxuries like college-level courses. Apex charges schools $325 to $400 per
student. Hiring a teacher could cost more than $50,000/year. Apex, one of
the few for-profit ventures in the online Advanced Placement business, has
raised $40 million from investors. Michigan State University, the University
of Nebraska and Johns Hopkins University are also offering college-level
courses to high school students online.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Jacques Steinberg]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/07class.html)

THE FIRST AMENDMENT'S LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF INTERNET FILTERING IN
PUBLIC AND SCHOOL LIBRARIES
This article asserts that the First Amendment permits libraries to use
private-sector software to filter Internet access as long as the filters do
not attempt to favor one socio-political viewpoint over another. It
challenges the 1999 federal court's finding in the Loudoun County Library
case that libraries offering Internet access face no economic constraint on
offering unlimited access. It criticizes that decision as faulty economic
analysis as well as disputing the Loudoun court's public forum analysis. The
article contends that librarians may use filters to manage patrons' use of
the library's limited resources to maximize computer terminal availability
for accessing the categories of content chosen by librarians to be in their
collections. Thus, libraries are free to block access to websites providing
material outside that scope, including "protected speech," e.g., shopping
services and non-obscene photos advertised as XXX. Libraries may also use
removable filters to empower parents to diminish their children's access to
adult material. The article argues, however, that the First Amendment
requires libraries using filters 1) to retain "final say" over selection
decisions, 2) to understand the criteria that the filter uses to exclude
content, and 3) to have the resources to correct the viewpoint discrimination
that filters are likely to generate. Furthermore, it concludes that the
issue of library filtering of Internet access is not so much an issue of
cyberspace law as one of the First Amendment's more general limitations on
librarian discretion in the selection of content.
[SOURCE: Texas Law Review (April 2000) AUTHOR: Mark S. Nadel]
(http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=230834)

BUSINESS LINKS ON WEB RAISE ANTITRUST ISSUES
Issue: Ecommerce
Take a sip of coffee, clear your head and your desk. Now consider: even as
companies move to adopt online business-to-business exchanges (B2B),
regulators are growing concerned about the new sets of antitrust questions
they will be facing. At the heart of the regulators' concerns is how the
rapid exchange of information on the Web sites will affect the companies'
behavior. B2B Web sites allow companies in the same industry to buy and sell
goods, but the sites are often jointly owned by corporate rivals, who,
through the site, have access to shared data. That could make it easier for
them to coordinate the pricing of goods without ever speaking to each other
about it -- a practice that legal scholars call conscious parallelism.
Antitrust experts say the sites and business practices create opportunities
for collusion and price-fixing that did not exist before. The sites already
account for about
$150 billion in annual sales, significantly more than the better-known
consumer sites like Amazon.com. "We at the F.T.C. are very much in a
learning phase," Sheila F. Anthony, a commissioner, told executives and
lawyers at last week's conference. The Federal Trade Commission last week
hosted a two-day conference on potential ways to regulate B2B marketplaces.
"The promise of huge efficiencies is certainly tantalizing," Ms. Anthony
added. "On the other hand, I can't help but wonder if there might be a
serpent in the garden of efficiencies." The commission is already examining
the Big Three automakers B2B site, Covinsint. Other areas of investigation:
The Department of Justice is investigating a B2B project led by six large
meatpacking companies; the Senate Commerce Committee also plans to hold a
hearing this month on the airline industry's joint Web sites.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: David Leonhardt]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/07trust.html)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS SAFE HARBOR RESOLUTION
Issue: Privacy
On July 5, the European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by the
Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs on the
adequacy of Safe Harbor. The report proposes that Safe Harbor include an
individual right to appeal privacy violations, compensation for damages,
clear guidelines for redress, and a review of the system within six months
of Safe Harbor's enactment.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/)

TELEVISION

'BIG BROTHER' PROVES ANOTHER HIT FOR CBS
Issue: Television
The trend towards "reality" television imported from Europe got another
boost as CBS' "Big Brother" enjoyed high ratings during its first episode
Wednesday. The show drew more than 22 million viewers -- more than rivals
NBC and ABC combined. [Hard to believe that 22 million people did not have a
softball game to play]
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/070700cbs-brother.html)
See Also:
VOYEUR OF THE CRAMMED: 'BIG BROTHER' PROFFERS HOURS OF GUILT-FREE SNOOPING
[SOURCE: New York Times (B20), AUTHOR: Julie Salamon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/tv-bigbrother.html)

iBLAST SIGNS MORE BROADCASTERS FOR WIRELESS PLAN FOR PC CONTENT
Issue: DTV
iBlast Networks Inc., an entity created to help television-station operators
provide content to personal computers through a wireless distribution
network, has signed seven more big broadcasters. In 1998 the
Federal Communications Commission gave broadcasters some
flexibility in how they used "digital" spectrum, in return for a piece of any
non-HDTV revenue generated, such as pay-per-view TV or data services. In
signing the new broadcasters, iblast boosts its plan to distribute content to
consumers using part of the digital spectrum that the government is
allocating to broadcasters for new technologies. Ken Solomon, president of
iBlast estimates that by the end of this year, about 60% of iBlast stations
will have their digital channels operating, transmitting a one-way signal
that can be received locally and nationally on PCs equipped with a special
antenna.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: JOE FLINT]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB962928190517007874.htm)

INFOTECH

CURLING UP WITH AN E-BOOK
Issue: Publishing
[Op-Ed] Les than a year ago, there were only a few thousand e-books
available. Today, there are tens of thousands available in different formats
for different devices. The Association of American Publishers has created a
task force for e-book standards, some major publishers are launching e-book
initiatives and almost all of our university presses have experimented with
the technology. One of our key national booksellers is leading in the
selling of e-books. But the sense of urgency should be greater -- not only
for the sake of the book business, which must adapt to the digital world,
but also for readers. With a device weighing just a couple of pounds, you
can carry ~50 pounds of books in electronic format. Connecting to the
Internet, you could have access to whole libraries of books. And with its
possibilities for links to other information, like reference books and maps,
as well as to sound and animated diagrams, the e-book is a challenge to
authors and publishers, as well as readers, to master words, sense and form
in a new way. Bolick concludes: Like the personal computer before it, the
e-book opens a world of possibilities. It is not necessarily better than
printed books, nor need it supplant them. But its time is here.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A19), AUTHOR: Robert Bolick, VP at McGraw-Hill]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/07boli.html)

JOBS

COALITION OF BLACK PROFESSIONALS FRETS OVER AN INFLUX OF SKILLED FOREIGNERS
Issue: Jobs
Black engineers, scientists and computer specialists have made the charge
that politicians of both parties are scrambling to satisfy high-tech
industry demands for more skilled foreigners, while minority Americans are
being excluded from well-paying technical and scientific jobs. If they
follow up their charges, Congress faces a lobby effort to block measures
aimed at nearly doubling special high-tech visas. The group, called the
Coalition for Fair Employment in Silicon Valley, is lobbying against pending
bills that would raise the annual limit on so-called H-1B visas, under
which high-tech workers from India, China and elsewhere are streaming into
the U.S. Democrats and Republicans have proposed competing bills that would
nearly double the current annual limit of 115,000 H-1B visas. The group put
an ad in Roll Call, a newspaper closely read on Capitol Hill, that, in part,
said, "there are already far more qualified Americans to fill existing
high-tech jobs than we need, many of them African-American and other
minorities." They also charge that the H-1B visa program takes jobs from
Americans and reduces overall pay levels by allowing employers to hire
foreigners willing to work for lower wages. "It's disturbing to me when I
see the universities and corporations manipulating the immigration laws in
order to facilitate the importation of low-cost foreign tech workers and not
expend the same resources to develop scientific talent in the
African-American and Hispanic communities," says Keith Jackson, one of two
black physicists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, an arm of
the Energy Department in Berkeley, Calif.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A2), AUTHOR: MARJORIE VALBRUN]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB962928359548877667.htm)

--------------------------------------------------------------
...and we're outta here. Have a great weekend.

(c)Benton Foundation 2000. Redistribution of this email publication -- both
internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message.