1. Monthly archive
  2. February 2001

February 2001

Communications-related Headlines for 2/9/01

INTERNET
Head of Internet Board Defends Selection of Domain Names (NYT)
Patently Ridiculous Claims (WP)
Broken Undersea Cable Snaps Web Access to Millions in China (NYT)

DIVERSITY
Microsoft to Pitch Technology to Minority Businesses (NYT)

TELEPHONY
In-State Calls Cost More Than Coast-To-Coast (USA)

MERGER
FTC Close to Naming AOL Trustee (WP)

INTERNET

HEAD OF INTERNET BOARD DEFENDS SELECTION OF DOMAIN NAMES
Issue: Internet
The head of the board that oversees the Internet's addressing system
appeared before a Congressional panel yesterday to defend the process the
board used to select new suffixes to compete with the popular .com. Vinton
G. Cerf, the chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers, or Icann, said that the selection of new suffixes last fall was
essentially an "experiment." The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on
telecommunications and the Internet convened hearings to consider whether
the board was overstepping its mission. Representative Fred Upton,
Republican of Michigan and chairman of the panel, said there were
"legitimate questions" on the "fairness of the application and selection
process."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C5)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/09/technology/09ICAN.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
CONGRESS SCRUTINIZES SELECTION OF NEW INTERNET DOMAIN NAMES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB98166703692963456.htm)

PATENTLY RIDICULOUS CLAMS
Issue: Intellectual Property
Last June, when British Telecom announced that it had uncovered a 1976
patent application for hyperlinking and that it planned to seek licensing
fees from U.S. Internet providers, much of the world balked. But putting
aside for a moment questions as to who really did invent the Web and
hyperlinking, there's more to this. Fundamentally, the questions swirling
around the British Telecom patent also go to the nature of intellectual
property rights and, at least in America, their purpose: promoting
innovation. On the one hand open platforms have allowed the Web to grow, on
the other hand patents are meant to protect (for a time) the inventor, and
to promote innovation -- even if there are licensing fees involved. But
royalties could stifle use of a technology, right? So is there something
wrong with the concept of the patent? Not according to Esther Kepplinger of
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. According to Kepplinger, "The patents
that are out there [are] fueling the creations of other people" -- that is,
people who can't copy an invention have to invent better alternatives to it.

[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Rob Pegoraro]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47281-2001Feb8.html)

BROKEN UNDERSEA CABLE SNAPS WEB ACCESS TO MILLIONS IN CHINA
Issue: Internet
Millions of people across China were unable to access much of the Internet
on Friday after an undersea cable was severed. It could take three weeks to
make repairs to cable, according to an official at China Telecom. Although
many domestic addresses were accessible, many Chinese Web users were unable
to visit overseas sites. The break in the cable linking Shanghai to the west
coast of the United States apparently sent reverberations throughout the
Asia-Pacific region, with Hong Kong and Singapore reporting reduced online
speeds. China has several undersea cables connecting its data networks to
the rest of the world, but the Shanghai-U.S. line carried the most traffic.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/world/tech-china.html)
(requires registration)

DIVERSITY

MICROSOFT TO PITCH TECHNOLOGY TO MINORITY BUSINESSES
Issue: Diversity
Thursday, Microsoft kicked off a program aimed at training minority
entrepreneurs to use software and build a Web sites for their businesses.
The software giant will hold 85 free workshops in 14 cities from Los Angeles
to Philadelphia. "This is a serious marketing effort. We take this project
very seriously in terms of valuing these customers as potential revenue,"
said Maureen Crommie, a corporate account manager who is directing the
workshops. "It is not a goodwill effort, it's a serious effort to
communicate the benefits of technology." Only 2 percent of African-American
and Hispanic businesses used the Internet as a business tool.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-microsoft-minori.html)
(requires registration)

TELEPHONY

IN-STATE CALLS COST MORE THAN COAST-TO-COAST
Issue: Telephony
While state to-state calling prices dropped 13.2% since 1996, in-state
long-distance prices rose 1.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics'
consumer price index. Local phone companies say higher in-state rates
subsidize basic phone service, keeping it affordable for millions of people.
If intrastate access charges are reduced, local phone companies say,
consumers will pay the price, most likely in higher charges for other
services. "To keep residential service low, other services are priced above
cost," Qwest's Steve Hammack says.
[SOURCE: USAToday (1B), AUTHOR: Andrew Backover]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010209/3056811s.htm)

MERGER

FTC CLOSE TO NAMING AOL TRUSTEE
Issue: Merger
The FTC is close to formally naming Dale N. Hatfield as a special federal
trustee overseeing the AOL/Time Warner merger. Hatfield was a member of the
FCC's task force that oversaw the agency's approval of the deal. As trustee,
Hatfield would be responsible for ensuring the merged company complied with
the terms of the merger. Public interest advocates have supported Hatfield's
appointment as FTC monitor.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E02), AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47259-2001Feb8.html)

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

Communications-related Headlines for 2/8/01

E-COMMERCE
Proposed Law Stirs Concern on Europe E-Commerce (NYT)
Dot-coms charging for former freebies (USA)

PRIVACY
In Tapping the Net, the F.B.I. Insists Privacy Is Not a Victim (NYT)

MERGER
Deutsche Telekom Moves Closer To $35 Billion Mobile Deal in U.S.
(WSJ)

E-COMMERCE

PROPOSED LAW STIRS CONCERN ON EUROPE E-COMMERCE
Issue: E-Commerce
Advertisers, publishers and E-commerce companies are worried about a
proposed European Union law would erect barriers to communicating across
borders in the union. The European Commission will vote in the coming weeks
vote on the proposal, which aims to clarify which nation's laws should apply
in a dispute involving a citizen of one country and a company marketing its
goods or services, or communicating, over the Internet, from another. The
proposal argues that the law in the consumer's country should apply in such
a dispute. By giving preference to the laws in the country of the consumer
in cross- border disputes, Rome II would create "extreme legal uncertainty"
for anyone planning to do business over the Internet in Europe, said Mike
Pullen, a partner at the British law firm of Dibb Lupton Alsop. There is
also concern that such a law would affect newspapers by multiply the legal
risks associated with publishing anything controversial. "By publishing
online, newspapers would be exposed to the various defamation laws that
exist in all 15 E.U. countries," said Angela Mills, executive director at
the European Publishers' Council, which represents many of the large
European publishing houses.
[SOURCE: New York Times (W1), AUTHOR: Paul Meller]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/08/technology/08EURO.html)
(requires registration)

DOT-COMS CHARGING FOR FORMER FREEBIES
Issue: E-Commerce
Internet companies face mounting pressure to turn profits. Many spent the
past few years giving away services to establish large audiences, but with
online advertising waning, they need new revenue sources. The Internet's
biggest players, trying to shore up shaky bottom lines, are making
customers pay for services that once were free. As of Thursday, Free Edgar
will be an oxymoron. The online financial service is charging at least
$29.95 per quarter to users who want e-mail alerts on more than 10
companies. The alerts include Securities and Exchange Commission
filings and litigation notices. Amazon.com, which last week announced it is
whittling 15% of its 8,500 jobs, plans to charge publishers as much as
$10,000 to get their books included on e-mail promotions to customers. Last
week, Microsoft canceled a $400 rebate for personal computer buyers who
signed up for three years of its MSN online service. "It's monetizing of the
dot-com model," says Jill Frankle, director of e-commerce at Gomez Advisors.

[SOURCE: USA Today (A1), AUTHOR: Jon Swartz]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/invest/2001-02-08-free-stuff.htm)

PRIVACY

IN TAPPING THE NET, THE F.B.I. INSISTS PRIVACY IS NOT A VICTIM
Issue: Privacy
As the world has gone digital, criminals have as well, and the Internet in
turn, has provided new frontiers for law enforcement tappers. In
Congressional testimony in July, the assistant director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation's laboratory division, Donald M. Kerr said that due
to the rapid growth of the Internet, networks and databases can be used to
commit crimes and to harm the safety, security and privacy of others. Child
pornography, fraud, identity theft, even terrorism - are being perpetrated
using the Internet as a tool, he said. In attempting to stem the Internet
crime, the FBI developed an Internet wiretapping system called Carnivore.
Carnivore has met with resistance from groups as diverse as the American
Civil Liberties Union and the Republican leadership of the House of
Representatives, who claim that Carnivore can cast an investigative net that
captures the communications of bystanders along with those of a suspect. The
F.B.I. says the real value of Carnivore, by any name, is that it is much
more selective than its predecessor forms investigation. In early times,
that meant standing next to a window in the eavesdrop, the place where water
from the eaves drips, to overhear conversations.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/08/technology/08CARN.html)
(requires registration)

MERGER

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM MOVES CLOSER TO $35 BILLION MOBILE DEAL IN U.S.
Issue: Merger
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to clear
Deutsche Telekom's $35
billion proposal to buy VoiceStream Wireless and Powertel of the U.S, the
Federal Communications Commission is still considering whether the
mobile-phone deal will harm competition, though many market-watchers believe
it will rule in Telekom's favor. VoiceStream's major shareholders agreed to
the purchase in July, so no opposition is expected. Powertel shareholders
are also expected to approve the deal. If the deals go through, Deutsche
Telekom would be the world's largest operator of a GSM or Global System for
Mobile Communications network. GSM is the current standard in Europe and
Asia and is used in parts of the U.S.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A16), AUTHOR: Rhea Wessel]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB981585048618560612.htm)
(requires subscription)

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

Communications-related Headlines for 2/7/01

FCC
New F.C.C. Chief Would Curb Agency Reach (NYT)

BROADBAND
On Campus, Free Fast Internet Access Is No Longer a Given (NYT)

MEDIA & SOCIETY
Sex on TV: Study Finds More, Sooner but Safer (WP)
SCU Raises Millions for its Center on Tech and Society (SJM)

COMPETITION
Verizon Plans Multinational Network To Rival AT&T Hold on Big
Business (WSJ)
Hughes Nears Deal to Create Giant Satellite TV Network (NYT)

COPYRIGHTS
Pat Schroeder's New Chapter: The Former Congresswoman Is Battling
For America's Publishers (WP)

FCC

NEW F.C.C. CHIEF WOULD CURB AGENCY REACH
Issue: FCC
The new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael K.
Powell, speaking at his first news conference as chairman, articulated a
sharply reduced role for his agency. Responding to a question about closing
the gap between those who can afford new technology, Powell said he thought
"digital divide" was a dangerous phrase because it could be used to justify
government entitlement programs that guaranteed poor people cheaper access
to new technology. "I think there is a Mercedes divide," he said. "I'd like
to have one; I can't afford one. I'm not meaning to be completely flip about
this. I think it's an important social issue. But it shouldn't be used to
justify the notion of essentially the socialization of the deployment of the
infrastructure." Gene Kimmelman, co-director of the Washington office of
Consumers Union, said that Mr. Powell's remarks "were insensitive and
elitist." Mr. Powell also said that the F.C.C. basically had no official
role to play in controlling violence or other content, or in seeking
legislation that would require the broadcasters to provide free air-time for
political candidates. He rejected the notion that government limitations on
the size of broadcast companies actually promote diversity of the airwaves.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/07/technology/07FCC.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
CHAIRMAN POWELL HOLDS FIRST PRESS BRIEFING
Audio/Video streaming of Powell press briefing.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/)
FCC CHAIRMAN SIGNALS CHANGE, PLANS TO LIMIT U.S. INTERVENTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A12), AUTHOR: Yochi J. Dreazen]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB981505522511079986.htm)
(requires subscription)

BROADBAND

ON CAMPUS, FREE FAST INTERNET ACCESS IS NO LONGER A GIVEN
Issue: Broadand
College campuses across the country find themselves racing to provide more
network capacity in dorm rooms, only to have students use it for decidedly
non-academic pursuit like clogging the campus network with pirated music
files. As a result, some colleges and universities say they are
reconsidering their approaches to providing Internet access. Students who
live in the dorms at the University of Pennsylvania pay around $180 a year
for high-speed connections, said Michael Palladino, associate vice president
for networking and telecommunications at the university. "We will probably
move in the direction of charging for the amount of bandwidth you consume,"
Palladino said. "We broke away from the pack" in privatizing dial-up
service, Palladino said. Penn has already shut down almost all of its free
dial-up Internet service for students and faculty members living off campus.
According to Palladino, "we said, we don't pay for your phone line at home,
you pay for cable TV on your own, and this is not something we're going to
subsidize."
[SOURCE: New York Times (), AUTHOR: David F. Gallagher]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/07/technology/07EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)

MEDIA & SOCIETY

SEX ON TV: STUDY FINDS MORE, SOONER BUT SAFER
Issue: Media & Society
A study released yesterday by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that 68
percent of prime-time programs in the 1999-2000 television season contained
"sexual content." This number is up from 56 percent three years ago. The
study used a broad definition of sexual activity that includes everything
from kissing to depictions of intercourse. But the news is not all smut all
the time. Victoria Rideout, a Kaiser Foundation vice president, says
safe-sex messages are more prevalent than before on the shows that feature
teens and ones that depict intercourse. "The good news is that certain kinds
of shows are much more likely to include safer-sex references, and those are
shows where it would be most salient and appropriate, those with teen
characters and more advanced sexual content," she said. The study looked at
more than 1,000 programs on 10 broadcast and cable networks -- CBS, ABC,
NBC, Fox, WB, UPN, TNT, Lifetime, USA and PBS -- creating a composite week
of programming from movies, soap operas, reality shows and sitcoms that
aired between October 1999 and March 2000.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C01), AUTHOR: Sharon Waxman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35804-2001Feb6.html)

SCU RAISES MILLIONS FOR ITS CENTER ON TECH AND SOCIETY
Issue: Media & Society
Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology and Society has
raised nearly $4.3 million to support its mission exploring how science and
technology can be used to solve complex social problems, university
officials announced Tuesday. The non-profit institution, which brings
together leading thinkers, aspires to become a global center for dialogue
about the effect of science and technology on work and organization, family
life and culture and law and public policy. The work of the center will be
opened to public view at its first national conference April 26; "Technology
and Us -- A Vision for the Future."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Becky Bartindale]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/center020701.htm)

COMPETITION

VERIZON PLANS MULTINATIONAL NETWORK TO RIVAL AT&T HOLD ON BIG BUSINESS
Issue: Competition
Verizon Communications announced Wednesday that it will create a
multinational network to serve large businesses, pitting itself more
directly against global long-distance companies such as AT&T, British
Telecommunications, France Telecom and WorldCom. Verizon is already the
home phone company for thousands of big businesses based in New York and
parts of California. But the company is currently hampered in its ability to
offer full service to global corporations because it can't reach some
business hubs directly. Verizon plans to spend about $1 billion over five
years installing its own transmission equipment and buying capacity on
undersea and underground cables in the hope it will be able to keep that
business to itself. Verizon and the other Bells are starting to break into
the long-distance market in their home areas, where they have an edge over
pure long-distance competitors because of existing direct links to
customers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Shawn Young]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB981498796245235872.htm)
(requires subscription)

HUGHES NEARS DEAL TO CREATE GIANT SATELLITE TV NETWORK
Issue: Merger
The Hughes Electronics Corporation, the satellite television unit of General
Motors that owns DirecTV has moved closer to reaching a deal with the News
Corporation that would create a global satellite network worth as much as
$70 billion. Under the preliminary terms of the deal being discussed, G.M.
would spin off Hughes as a separate, independently traded company, and then
Hughes would merge with News Corporation's satellite unit, Sky Global
Networks. A deal is still at least two weeks away, the executives also said,
and could very well fall apart. If indeed the deal is sealed, the combined
company would clearly have the largest satellite television network in the
world. It would combine DirecTV's nationwide market with BSkyB's dominant
position in Britain and parts of Europe and with Star TV in Asia and Sky
Latin America.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin And Geraldine
Fabrikant]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/07/technology/07HUGH.html)

COPYRIGHTS

PAT SCHROEDER'S NEW CHAPTER
Issue: E-Publishing
Former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder is preparing to lead the Association of
American Publishers into battle. Against librarians. Schroeder, president of
the Washington- and New York-based Association of American Publishers is
tasked with addressing the problems that American publishers face in the
near future -- economic downturns, competition for leisure time, piracy --
and e-publishing and libraries. Publishers and librarians are squaring off
over the way electronic books and journals are lent out from libraries and
over what constitutes fair use of digitally written material. To
oversimplify: Publishers want to charge people to read material; librarians
want to give it away. "Technology people never gave their stuff away,"
Schroeder says. "But now folks are saying, 'You mean the New England Journal
of Medicine is charging people?' " But Nancy Kranich, president of the
American Library Association, takes issue with some of Schroeder's stance.
In Kranich's mind, library-goers should be able to duplicate limited amounts
of information for educational purposes. Suppose you want to copy a journal
article, quote a section of a book or use a line from a poem, she says.
"That is all permitted under the fair-use provision of the copyright law. In
the digital arena, fair use has been narrowed to the point of disappearing."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C01), AUTHOR: Linton Weeks]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36584-2001Feb7.html)

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

Communications-related Headlines for 2/6/01

TELEVISION
Local TV Devotes Less Than A Minute A Night To Election Coverage
(USC)
Bertelsmann to Take Over TV Group (NYT)

INTERNET
ISP, DSL Growth Boosts U.S. Net Population (WSJ)
BCE Set to Marry High-Speed Internet, Satellite TV (NYT)
Vatican Eyeing Isidore as Patron Saint of Internet Users (NYT)

FCC
Washington's Other Mr. Powell (NYT)

TELEVISION
LOCAL TV DEVOTES LESS THAN A MINUTE A NIGHT TO ELECTION COVERAGE
Issue: Television/Political Discourse
A survey of campaign 2000 news coverage by 74 broadcast Television stations
in 58 media markets, conducted by the USC Annenberg School for
Communication's Norman Lear Center, has found that most stations aired an
average of 45 seconds of candidate discourse per night during the recent
election. The study was conducted under a Ford Foundation grant to the
Alliance for Better Campaigns, which engaged the Lear Center to
perform the research. The full text of the findings can be found at the
Lear Center's Web site at
http://entertainment.usc.edu/publications/campaignnews.PDF.
[Source: USC Annenberg School for Communications]
(http://entertainment.usc.edu/)

BERTELSMANN TO TAKE OVER TV GROUP
Issue: Television/Mergers
The world's biggest and most privately controlled media empire, Bertelsmann
of Germany, agreed today to take control of Europe's biggest television
broadcaster, the RTL Group, in a stock transaction worth roughly $9 billion.
Based in Luxembourg, the RTL Group owns 22 television stations and 18 radio
stations around Europe. The deal's significance could be in opening up
Bertelsmann to public investors for the first time in its 155-year-old
history. Until recently, European companies relied on bank loans and their
own resources to finance their growth. Even if they were public, many
companies worried very little about the price of their shares and were often
protected from hostile takeovers by a network of long-term cross-holdings
with banks and other industrial companies. Until now, 92 percent of
Bertelsmann shares have been owned either by the Mohn family, who are
descendants of Carl Bertelsmann, or by a family-controlled nonprofit
foundation. "The earth-quaking message here today was that we accepted that
this company can be brought public after three years," said Mr. Thomas
Middelhoff, Bertelsmann's 47-year-old chief executive.
[SOURCE: New York Times (W1), AUTHOR: Edmund L. Andrews]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/06/business/06BERT.html)

INTERNET

ISP, DSL GROWTH BOOSTS U.S. NET POPULATION
Issue: Internet
The Internet population in the United States grew 52% in 2000 to 68.7
million people, according to a new study released Monday by
Telecommunications Reports International (TRI). TRI attributes the to strong
gains in both the paid dial-up Internet service provider (ISP) model and
high-speed access via cable modem or DSL (digital subscriber line)
connections. Although the report says the growth is huge in one quarter, it
says the number of DSL customers is still a small number overall. Amy
Fickling, managing editor for TRI said she did not think the recent failure
of many DSL provider companies is a reason for worry. The study noted that
America Online is expected to raise its fee by 8% this year and cautioned
that other paid dial-up services may follow AOL's lead.
[SOURCE: USA Today (Online), AUTHOR: Michael Bartlett]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/nb/nb3.htm)

BCE SET TO MARRY HIGH-SPEED INTERNET, SATELLITE TV
Issue: Internet
BCE Inc., Canada's largest telecom company says it has plans to integrate
high-speed Internet and satellite television services, which among other
things would allow customers to "time-shift" their TV program schedule. BCE
said it plans to develop new technology to integrate "always-on" high-speed
Internet access with satellite television and a form of digital storage
comparable to a high-capacity computer hard disk. According to the plan,
customers will be able to surf the Internet, chat online, e-mail friends and
customize a selection of television programs beamed via satellite, all at
high speed through a TV set. BCE chairman and chief executive Jean Monty
said the company will test the project this year for commercial launch next
year. According to Monty, this is a world's first, a service that is going
to link direct-to-home digital satellite services with high-speed Internet
and digital storage. Monty said BCE also plans to launch a service early
next year called Sports Connect, which would draw on all of its media
operations to provide a package of sports news tailored to each customer's
demands.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-telecoms-bce-dc.html)

VATICAN EYEING ISIDORE AS PATRON SAINT OF INTERNET USERS
Issue: Internet
Pope John Paul is considering naming Saint Isidore of Seville the patron
saint of Internet users and computer programmers, Vatican sources said on
Tuesday. Saint Isidore, who lived in the seventh century, was believed to
have written the world's first encyclopaedia, the Etymologies, which
included entries on medicine, mathematics, history and theology. The Vatican
first went online in 1996 with its website www.vatican.va which it has used
to publish thousands of Catholic Church documents and Papal speeches.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/pope-internet.html)
(requires registration)

FCC

WASHINGTON'S OTHER MR. POWELL
Issue: FCC
George W. Bush has named Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell, to be the new
chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Powell's predecessor,
William E. Kennard, tried to keep markets open to a diversity of voices and
new competitors. Consumer groups are concerned that Mr. Powell will reverse
course and allow a greater concentration of market power in the hands of the
most economically powerful companies. The Times believes that his hands-off
regulatory approach may not be the best means to foster wireless Internet
services and interactive television.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A24), AUTHOR: New York Times Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/06/opinion/06TUE3.html)
(requires registration)

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

Communications-related Headlines for 2/5/01

INTERNET
The Perils of High-Tech Voting (NYT)
A New Trick Gives Snoops Easy Access to E-Mail (NYT)
A Cyberlab for Internet Behavior (NYT)

POLICY
Fifth Anniversary Of Telecommunications Act Offers Consumers Little
To Celebrate (CU)

BROADCASTING
Indian Country Radio Sends a Stronger Signal (NYT)
Doing Something Right (Washington Post)

JOBS
Dot-com union efforts put on back burner (USA)

INTERNET

THE PERILS OF HIGH-TECH VOTING
Issue: E-Voting
[Op-Ed] From the result of the Florida election has come a new interest in
better voting technology. But with even the latest voting technology, it is
important to ask, "while user-friendly, is it Fail-safe?" While paperless
technologies may eliminate voter error, they multiply the possibilities for
tampering. One can always tell if gears and bearings are rigged, but how
much more difficult is it to find the rogue source code in a million line
program? An automated teller machine has a backup audit trail verifying its
transactions, the equivalent auditing methods for electronic voting devices
would obviously violate the secrecy of the ballot. Here's the gist: voting
security specialists doubt that any electronic system can be both secure and
anonymous. Taking the next step to Internet voting compounds the risks. So
what can be usable, secure and anonymous? Paradoxically, it is the paper
ballot - a uniform, laser-printed ballot that would be both uniform and
clear. This hybrid system would not be cheap. It would not be flashy. But it
would work.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A27), AUTHOR: Edward Tenner (author of "Why Things
Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences")]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/05/opinion/05TENN.html)

A NEW TRICK GIVES SNOOPS EASY ACCESS TO E-MAIL
Issue: Internet
A watchdog group has uncovered a new trick that enables someone to bug an
e-mail message, essentially eliminating the illusion that e-mail exchanges
are private. Today, the Privacy Foundation, an educational and research
organization based in Denver plans to provide public demonstrations of the
process, which the group calls "e-mail wiretapping" and believes to be
illegal. The group is calling for the major vendors of e-mail programs to
provide their software with JavaScript automatically turned off. Because
many e-mail users continue to hit "reply" during long e-mail exchanges
rather than initiating new messages, the JavaScript code could enable an
individual to eavesdrop on an entire conversation. The widely used e-mail
programs that are vulnerable to the exploit include Microsoft Outlook,
Outlook Express and Netscape Messenger 6. America Online users and users of
Web-based e-mail programs like Hotmail would not be affected. "What bothers
me is that in this case, my vulnerability is a function of what you do.I can
be careful, I can take every precaution, I can turn off JavaScript, and it
doesn't matter. If my neighbor isn't diligent and I send him an e-mail, I'm
still vulnerable," said Carl Voth, an engineer in British Columbia.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Amy Harmon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/05/technology/05JAVA.html)
(requires registration)

A CYBERLAB FOR INTERNET BEHAVIOR
Issue: Internet
Donna L. Hoffman and Thomas P. Novak, professors at Vanderbilt University's
Owen Graduate School of Management, are working to develop an "eLab" that
will give researchers a chance to study the way people interact with Web
sites as they surf. Vanderbilt University has put up $1.05 million to start
the program, and the researchers hope to raise $20 million to keep it going.
Once the program is set up, students and researchers will create Web sites
that will be open to the outside world. As visitors wander through the
sites, their actions will be closely monitored, with small changes to the
sites to see reactions.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C3), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/05/technology/05NECO.html)
(requires registration)

POLICY

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OFFERS CONSUMERS LITTLE TO
CELEBRATE
Issue:Policy
On the fifth anniversary of the Telecommunications Act, a landmark law that
promised lower prices and increase consumers choice, the Consumers Union
(CU) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) say the anniversary offers
little to celebrate as a handful of huge companies continue to monopolize
the cable TV and local telephone industries. The two organizations note that
since the act became law on February 8, 1996, cable rates have risen nearly
three times as fast as inflation, and most of the local phone service market
still belongs to the regional Bell monopolies. CU and CFA urge policymakers
to enforce ownership limits that promote diversity competition if the
Telecommunications Act is ever to deliver on its original promises. "If
consumers are ever to see the promised benefits of competition in
communications markets, policymakers in Washington and the states must begin
to be genuinely pro-competitive and worry less about being pro-business,"
said Mark Cooper, Research Director of CFA.
[SOURCE: Consumers Union]
(http://www.consumersunion.org/telecom/teledc201.htm)

BROADCASTING

INDIAN COUNTRY RADIO SENDS A STRONGER SIGNAL
Issue: Radio
In December, KUYI-FM was launched in First Mesa, AZ as the 30th American
Indian radio station in America. Broadcasting to the 11,000 Hopis that
inhabit 11 villages on three broad mesas, much of KUYI programming is in
Hopi. Like most Indian stations, KUYI carries a mix of programming:
mainstream and American Indian music, information from tribal and village
governments; syndicated national news; community bulletin boards. Harlan
Nakala, the kikmongqwi, or chief and religious leader, of First Mesa,
explained its significance: "We can give news to elderly Hopi that can't
speak English. Some young don't speak Hopi, so now they can hear Hopi and
not be ashamed."
[SOURCE: New York Times 2/4 (34), AUTHOR: Catherine C. Robbins]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/04/arts/04ROBB.html)

DOING SOMETHING RIGHT
Issue: Journalism
The four-year-old Fox News Channel is reveling in its recent success, with a
major Newsweek story out today. Its total viewership was up 133 percent last
month over January 2000. And its prime-time audience was up 102 percent,
nearly four times the 27 percent boost posted by MSNBC amid accusation by
some Democrats who say Fox was "an avowed enemy of the Gore campaign." Fox
features such conservative or anti-Clinton commentators as Newt Gingrich,
Dick Morris, Fred Barnes, Bill Kristol and Tony Snow (Kristol and Snow both
worked in the first Bush White House). "During the past two months, if it
hadn't been for Fox, I don't know what I'd have done for the news," said
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott last week on "Fox News Sunday." The
perception of Rupert Murdoch's network as a conservative bastion is defended
by Fox News President Roger Ailes, who insists the accusation is way off the
mark. "Finally both sides are being presented," Ailes says. "I believe
anytime anyone's point of view is cut out, that's bias."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C01), AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26378-2001Feb4.html)

JOBS

DOT-COM UNION EFFORTS PUT ON BACK BURNER
Issue: Jobs
Before it ever got off the ground, the effort to unionize dot-com workers
appears dashed. Amazon.com this week slashed 1,300 jobs, including those of
400 customer-service representatives in Seattle who had been conducting a
petition drive for unionization. In San Francisco, workers at e-commerce
site eTown.com have postponed for up to six months a vote on forming a union
after dropping unfair-labor charges against management over layoffs. Now
that layoffs are mounting, experts see little chance of labor uprisings.
"People aren't willing to take additional risks during tough economic times.
The climate has chilled the effort," says labor lawyer Stephen Cabot.
[SOURCE: USA Today (Interactive), AUTHOR: Jon Swartz]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-02-02-union.htm)

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Communications-related Headlines for 2/2/01

INTERNET
Public Interest Groups Call for ".us" Internet Public Square
(Benton)

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Public Voice Seeks Comments on DOT Force Effort (EPIC)
Volunteer Program Teaches Kids The Nuts And Bolts Of Computers (SJM)

TELEPHONY
Local Phone Choice Still Elusive (WP)

TELEVISION
News Corp., Viacom Discuss Swapping Several TV Stations (WSJ)

INTERNET

PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS CALL FOR ".US" INTERNET PUBLIC SQUARE
Issue: Internet
A coalition of 22 public interest groups, including the Benton Foundation
and the Media Access Project, have urged the Department of Commerce not to
sell off United States country code without consulting public interests. In
a letter (http://www.benton.org/Policy/US/docletter.html ) addressed to the
Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications Information
Administration (NTIA), the coalition requested that the NTIA: 1) prohibit
the current administrator, Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI), from entering into
any binding contracts or arrangements altering the nature of the .us space,
and 2) commence a proceeding focusing explicitly on the public interest
issues raised by the disposition of .us. In August 2000, the NTIA began a
proceeding on the future management of .us.
[SOURCE: Benton]
(http://www.benton.org/Policy/US/)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM TEACHES KIDS THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF COMPUTERS
Issue: Digital Divide
While most school computer programs teach kids how to use the Internet or
word-processing software, a program in Oakland, CA, Access 2 Technology
(A2T), teaches students to learn about what is "under the hood" of those
machines. A2T volunteers help Bay Area kids refurbish old computers that are
channeled back into service in school computer labs or non-profit
organizations. "A lot of schools in the Bay Area have computers, but they
don't have people at the school who can maintain the computer labs," said
Renae Briggs, a computer consultant who started A2T in her living room. "If
students at the school learn how to troubleshoot, then you don't have to
keep reinventing the wheel."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dana Hull]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/access020201.htm)

PUBLIC VOICE SEEKS COMMENTS ON DOT FORCE EFFORT
Issue: Digital Divide
In July 2000, the heads of state of the Group of Eight (G-8) sought to
address the Digital Divide and created the Digital Opportunity Taskforce
(dot force) project
(http://www.g8kyushu-okinawa.go.jp/e/genoa/index.html#1). The dot force
plans to present a final report by this summer at the next G-8 meeting in
Genoa, Italy and will distribute its first draft of a report by the end of
February 2001. The Public Voice encourages all interested parties to
contribute comments, and will forward all comments submitted by Friday,
February 16 to the dot force group.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.thepublicvoice.org/dotforce/)

TELEPHONY

LOCAL PHONE CHOICE STILL ELUSIVE
Issue: Telephony
In the five years since the deregulation that came with the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the telecommunications industry has put
billions of dollars into new infrastructure for the next generations of
telephone and Internet, yet only a fraction of the nation's residential
customers today have a choice for old-fashioned local telephone service. "We
clearly have a failure to produce competition," said Mark Cooper, research
director for the Consumer Federation of America. "The industry organization
that Congress hoped would come into being just has not materialized." The
Bell companies argue that it is the Telecom Act itself, and the regulations
that have spawned from it, that discourage further competition. Advocates of
the Act argue that even if many "competitive carriers" go bust or are
consolidated in the ongoing shakeout, their assets will endure for others to
fashion into sustainable businesses. "The Telecom Act doubled the amount of
investment into the information sector," said Reed Hundt, who oversaw the
first two years of its implementation as FCC chairman. "In my view, the
successes of the Act are directly related to the growth of the American
economy." To date, only two Bell companies have been allowed to enter the
long-distance business, and only in a total of four states: Bell Atlantic
(now Verizon) in New York and SBC Communications in Texas, Kansas and
Oklahoma.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01). AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3652-2001Jan30.html)

TELEVISION

NEWS CORP., VIACOM DISCUSS SWAPPING SEVERAL TV STATIONS
Issue: Television
News Corp. and Viacom are in talks about swapping several of their
television stations in order to take better advantage of relaxed Federal
Communications Commission rules that allow broadcasters to own two TV
stations in one market. Since News Corp. agreed to acquire 10 big-city
stations from Chris-Craft Industries Inc.'s last summer, analysts have
expected that it would seek to use some of those stations to trade with
other big broadcasters to create so-called duopolies. By owning two stations
in a market, broadcasters can cut costs and gain leverage with advertisers,
as well as the studios.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (), AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB981078935457774501.htm)
(requires subscription)

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Communications-related Headlines for 2/1/01

MEDIA & SOCIETY
Democracy Needs Many Voices (NYT)
MTV: Battling Hate Online (WP)

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Internet Access To Expand In Brazil (NYT)
India's Fixed-Line Deregulation Draws Ire of Cellphone Industry
(WSJ)

E-COMMERCE
States Mulling E-sales Taxes (USA)

FCC
F.C.C. Member Won't Seek Another Term (NYT)
FCC Suspends of the Broadcast and Cable EEO Outreach Rules (FCC)

MEDIA & SOCIETY

DEMOCRACY NEEDS MANY VOICES
Issue: International
As Communism in Eastern Europe was crumbling, Secretary of State James Baker
called for international support for independent broadcasting in the
emerging states of the collapsing Soviet Union, in a speech delivered in
Prague in 1990. Nothing raises more fear in a repressive regime than
challenges to the control of information. And nothing is more important to
the development of a civil, democratic society. Press freedom, especially in
broadcasting, remains threatened in many former Soviet and East Bloc
countries, and in China the democratizing power of the Internet is stalled.
Free elections may be a first step in establishing the rule of law, but
there can be no multiparty elections without a multiplicity of news outlets.
Given the long history of Republican advocacy of First Amendment rights
abroad, President George W. Bush and policymakers should put American
support for uncensored news outlets at the top of their foreign policy
agenda.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A23), AUTHOR: David Hoffman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/01/opinion/01HOFF.html)
(requires registration)

MTV: BATTLING HATE ONLINE
Issue: Internet
When MTV launched an Internet discussion board, Fight for Your Rights, where
users could address issues related to hate and violence, it quickly became a
forum for the expression of bigotry and hatred. MTV has decided to censor
any of the posts, including those that promote prejudice, hoping that
viewers will learn from reading bigoted expressions. Some, however, believe
that MTV needs to offer more guidance in the chat area if they want anything
good to come out of the discussions. Marc Weiss, the founder and executive
producer of Web Lab, a New York-based nonprofit that specializes in creating
productive online discussions, says unmediated discussions often "turn into
'flame' wars. The people who are the most passionate start butting heads,
and then the people who really want to talk don't want to stay there."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C04), AUTHOR: Kimberly Shearer Palmer]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10869-2001Jan31.html)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

INTERNET ACCESS TO EXPAND IN BRAZIL
Issue: Digital Divide
A new government program to build, sell, and finance low-cost computers,
could mean millions more Brazilians soon surfing the Internet.
Communications Minister Joao Pimenta da Veiga Filho said that the government
will make new PCs available for between $200 and $250, which poorer
Brazilians will be able to purchase for installments of around $10 a month.
Industry estimates now put the number of Brazilians who regularly surf the
Net at between 8.5 million and 14 million, by far the most of any South
American country.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: ASSOCIATED PRESS]
(http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Brazil-Cheap-Computers.html)
(requires registration)

INDIA'S FIXED-LINE DEREGULATION DRAWS IRE OF CELLPHONE INDUSTRY
Issue: Digital Divide
India has opened its fixed-line phone business to unlimited competition,
hoping to quickly improve its archaic phone system. A new government policy
says anyone can start a fixed-line company in India as long as basic
requirements are met. But a provision that allows fixed-line companies to
operate wireless-in-local-loop networks, or WLL, a sort of poor man's mobile
phone, is driving the cellphone industry crazy. Advocates of WLL as a means
of expanding basic phone services say it will cut down on the costly,
time-consuming need to string wire into every home. Even as the industry
challenges WLL before a government tribunal, cellphone operators are
themselves racing to get into the fixed-line business. Allowing fixed-line
phone business to operate wireless services is a like a death knell to the
cellular industry. But while India may be deregulating, it's still not among
the most liberal telecom markets. For instance, transmitting voice traffic
over the Internet is still illegal.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A19), AUTHOR: Jesse Pesta]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB980966111150149119.htm)
(requires subscription)

E-COMMERCE

STATES MULLING E-SALES TAXES
Issue: E-Commerce
Some governors and lawmakers want to standardize tax codes from state to
state to try to capture sales taxes on things bought over the Internet, in
an attempt to stave off billions in lost revenue. Technically, online
purchases are subject to state sales taxes, but it is usually up to the
buyers to pay. And Few people do so. As a result, states are projected to
lose up to $20 billion a year in unpaid e-commerce sales taxes by 2003,
according to a study cited by the National Governors Association. The
governors association, with state lawmakers and others, is pushing
legislation to make it easier for states to capture such taxes. Even if
states buy into this approach, they will be relying on e-sellers to
voluntarily collect and send taxes to the states - at least until Congress
acts or a Supreme Court ruling is overturned.
[SOURCE: USA Today (Online), AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-01-31-states.htm)

FCC

F.C.C. MEMBER WON'T SEEK ANOTHER TERM
Issue: FCC
Harold Furchtgott-Roth, one of two Republican commissioners on the Federal
Communications Commission, has declined to seek a second term on the
five-member commission. "There comes a time when every free-market advocate
in government must fulfill his dream by returning to the private sector,"
Mr. Furchtgott-Roth said. Mr. Furchtgott-Roth was often critical of agency's
attempt to regulate new technologies which he said hampered development and
innovation.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/01/business/01ROTH.html)
(requires registration)

FCC SUSPENDS OF THE BROADCAST AND CABLE EEO OUTREACH RULES
Issue: Jobs
On January 16, 2001, a court of appeals found certain requirements in the
Federal Communications Commission's new broadcast and cable EEO rules to be
unlawful and therefore vacated the broadcast rule in its entirety. This
week, the FCC ruled to suspend the EEO outreach program rules for broadcast
and cable pending issuance of the Court's mandate and assessment of the
Court's decision.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Orders/2001/fcc01034.txt)

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