FCC
NYT: Of Megatrends and Giveaways: Some Thoughts and
Regrets of Chairman Hundt
Internet
WSJ: Tangled Web: How the Net Became Land of
Opportunity for Legal Profession
Newspapers
WSJ: Times Mirror Assigns Flagship a New Beat
Mergers
NYT: ICG Reported Near a Deal For Netcom
NYT: Worldcom Fancies Itself Muffler of the Local Bells
TelecomAM: MCI Close to Opening WorldCom Talks
TelecomAM: WorldCom Offer is Difficult Case for MCI to Ignore
TelecomAM: GTE Would Be In Control If a Merger with AT&T Takes Place
Philanthropy
WP: Can $500 Million Make a Dent?
Satellites
WP: Satellites and the Smaller Picture
Arts
NYT: Study Links Drop in Support To Elitist Attitude in the Arts
Privacy
NYT: High-Tech Eavesdropping Raises New Questions on Personal Privacy
NYT: Engineer Promotes Computerized Surveillance System
** FCC **
Title: Of Megatrends and Giveaways: Some Thoughts and Regrets of
Chairman Hundt
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/fcc-hundt-media.html
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: FCC
Description: Reed Hundt, the soon departing four year chairman of the
Federal Communications Commission, says that much of the mass change he has
witnessed over his tenure is a result of "converging circumstances - most
notably, the computer industry's emergence as a global economic force."
"Hundt's recognition of changing trends and his attempts to manage their
repercussions have made him probably the most influential FCC chairman in
years." On the eve of his departure, Hundt reflected on his time at the FCC,
adding that he plans to write a book titled "You Say You Want a Revolution"
stating that it shouldn't take him too long since "I've been giving the oral
version of it for about four years."
** Internet **
Title: Tangled Web: How the Net Became Land of Opportunity for Legal Profession
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A1)
Author: Ann Davis
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: Once, people reveled in the freewheeling, frontier style of the
Internet and the World Wide Web. Now the WWW is home for lawyers, lawsuits
and fine print. Law firms are boasting about opening cyberlaw practices and
universities have added cyberlaw classes. Why? As the Internet becomes more
commercialized, the culture of the Net is giving way to traditional laws
being applied to the new medium.
** Newspapers **
Title: Times Mirror Assigns Flagship a New Beat
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B4)
Author: Peter Gumbel
Issue: Newspapers
Description: The Times Mirror's flagship paper -- the Los Angeles Times --
is being reorganized by chief executive Mark Willes. The business side of
the LA Times will be organized around editorial sections -- such as sports,
business, and a new section targeting women. The individual sections will
operate "as integrated business units, with their own clearly defined
objectives, including profitability." Journalists inside and outside the
paper are concerned that editorial independence may be sacrificed for
commercial goals.
** Mergers **
Title: ICG Reported Near a Deal For Netcom
Source: New York Times, D4
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/101397netcom.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Mergers
Description: Netcom On-line Communications Services Inc. is in the final
stages of negotiations to be acquired by ICG Communications Inc. for $250
million in stock. According to company executives, a deal could be
announced as early as today. If Netcom is acquired, it will be the third
major Internet service company to be taken over by a telephone company in
the past year.
Title: Worldcom Fancies Itself Muffler of the Local Bells
Source: New York Times, D5
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/worldcom-mci.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Mergers
Description: Worldcom's chairman, Bernard Ebbers, believes that they are a
better mate for MCI than British Telecom because Worldcom owns local
telephone networks around the US. With MCI and Worldcom's merger, Mr.
Ebbers proposes that they could create the most significant competitor to
the largely unchallenged domain of the five regional Bell companies. Bruce
Roberts, an analyst with SBC Warburg Dillon Read said, "Up until now, there
really hasn't been a very effective competitor nationally against the
regional Bells. But when you take MCI's marketing muscle and its dollars
and its contacts in Congress, and you put that together with Worldcom's
local markets, you bring a much stronger player to the table and you
increase the pressure on state regulators to open local markets."
Title: MCI Close to Opening WorldCom Talks
Source: Telecom AM http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: MCI's board met last Friday to discuss the WorldCom takeover
bid and appears close to opening talks to get more information on the deal.
MCI will take a neutral position as advisors assess the bid over the coming
weeks. MCI's other suitor, British Telecom, has been silent since the bid
was announced a couple of weeks ago. BT realizes that MCI really has no
choice but to review WorldCom's bid.
Title: WorldCom Offer is Difficult Case for MCI to Ignore
Source: Telecom AM http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: The current and future value of WorldCom stock is the
overriding issue for the MCI board. WorldCom's $30 billion bid is mostly in
stock. Since it was founded 14 years ago, WorldCom's stock has been one of
the best-performing in the US. "The challenge will be to keep the valuation
of the stock as high as it is," said Anna-Maria Kovacs, analyst at Janney
Montgomery Scott. WorldCom appears better placed to enter the local phone
market and, "With the Internet assets it already has acquired -- something
that would be greatly enhanced by an MCI acquisition -- WorldCom is well
placed to benefit from any future switch of voice telephony to the Internet."
Title: GTE Would Be In Control If a Merger with AT&T Takes Place
Source: Telecom AM http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: In a defensive response to merger rumors, GTE told telecom
experts last week that because AT&T needs GTE more than GTE needs AT&T, GTE
would control a merged company. There have been reports of two meetings
between the companies about a possible merger.
** Philanthropy **
Title: Can $500 Million Make a Dent?
Source: Washington Post (A1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-10/13/060l-101397-idx.html
Author: Rene Sanchez
Issue: Philanthropy
Description: Nearly four years after Walter Annenberg gave $500 million to
help improve the nation's most beleaguered urban public schools, some fear
that the gift has become too tangled in big-city school politics and has
been divided between too many groups to do too many things. There are some
signs of success, but many look at Annenberg's charity as an illustration of
how difficult it is to make progress in urban public education -- even when
armed with half a billion dollars.
** Satellites **
Title: Satellites and the Smaller Picture
Source: Washington Post (WashTech p.17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-10/13/042l-101397-idx.html
Author: Peter Behr
Issue: Satellites
Description: Last week, Orbcomm opened a $2 million control center to manage
communications over a network of 28 low-orbiting satellites. Two satellites
are already in orbit with 10 more scheduled to be launched this fall and the
remaining to be placed next year. The network will handle mainly data and
paging transmissions -- the low-budget segment of the rapidly expanding
satellite communications industry.
** Arts **
Title: Study Links Drop in Support To Elitist Attitude in the Arts
Source: New York Times, A1, A15
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/nea-funding.html
Author: Judith Miller
Issue: Arts
Description: A new Federal study, titled "American Canvas", says that the
increase in artists and art groups over the past 30 years have far outpaced
the growth of public and private support and cannot be sustained. The
report, prepared by the National Endowment for the Arts, does not cite the
loss of governmental support as being the primary cause for the growing
alienation between the public and the arts. They also emphasize factors
like "the increase of commercialization of American culture, the aging of
audiences, the decline of corporate and private giving, the loss of arts
education in public schools and the attitudes of artists and cultural groups
themselves." The report concludes, "Sad to say, many American citizens fail
to recognize the direct relevance of art to their lives."
** Privacy **
Title: High-Tech Eavesdropping Raises New Questions on Personal Privacy
Source: New York Times, D1, D6
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/eavesdrop-trial.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Privacy
Description: In a Federal trial set to begin tomorrow in CA, it is projected
that questions will be raised in regards to personal privacy rights in this
age of wireless communication. The trial will focus on the trafficking of
eavesdropping equipment and other electronic surveillance technology. This
case relates to concerns by the FBI and Clinton administration that "recent
advances in technology will make it easier for suspected criminals to
protect their phone and computer conversations from law enforcement agents."
Title: Engineer Promotes Computerized Surveillance System
Source: New York Times, D2
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/101397patents.html
Author: Teresa Riordan
Issue: Privacy
Description: In an effort to further combat crime, David Aviv, a former
aerospace engineer, has developed a system that feeds images from discreetly
placed cameras into computers programmed to detect criminal acts. His
invention, called "Public Eye", uses pattern recognition to detect malicious
acts. Aviv has digitized and stored into the computers memory a variety of
physical interactions. He said, "We employed actors to do re-enactments of
muggings. We had 10 different sizes of muggers and 10 different sizes of
victims." Every time the computer receives a snapshot, it "compares the
image against the library of threatening interactions." Mr. Aviv also
programmed a type of word recognition program, spoken in different dialects,
into the computer memory to detect aggressive and verbal interactions. In
an attempt to reduce false alarms, the camera sends snapshots to the
computer every fraction of a millisecond. If the computer detects a
criminal act, it sends an alarm to police or a paid guard.
*********
Good-bye Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (John Denver)