INTERNET
Net Group Picks Interim President (NYT)
LOCAL TELPHONE
Teligent Begins Foray in Telecommunications (NYT)
Cutting the Cord to Battle the Bells (WP)
Teligent Service to Debut in 10 Markets (WSJ)
ADVERTISING
TV to Advertisers: Please Get in Line Behind the Politicians (WSJ)
IBM HotMedia Aims to Speed Online Ads (WSJ)
ANTITRUST
Netscape Accused of 'Setup' (WP)
At Trial, Microsoft Says Key Meeting Was a 'Setup' (NYT)
In New Twist, Microsoft Says It Was 'Set Up' (WSJ)
TECHNOLOGY
Doing Fieldwork in the High-Tech Jungle (WSJ)
Judge Clears Way for Digital Player (CyberTimes)
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INTERNET
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NET GROUP PICKS INTERIM PRESIDENT
Issue: Internet
The California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or
ICANN, has chosen technology pioneer Michael M. Roberts as its interim
president and chief executive officer. Roberts, founder and first executive
director of the non-profit Internet Society, recently retired as vice
president of Educomm, a high-tech consortium of 600 colleges and
universities. ICANN, the non-profit group that expects to assume management
the Internet from the federal government, has recently been criticized by
Commerce Department officials who articulated concern that the group's
decision-making process wasn't public and that it lacked adequate financial
accountability.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Internet-Management.html
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LOCAL TELEPHONE
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TELIGENT BEGIN FORAY IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS (NYT)
CUTTING THE CORD TO BATTLE THE BELLS (WP)
TELIGENT SERVICE TO DEBUT IN 10 MARKETS (WSJ)
Issue: Competition
Teligent, a two-year-old telecom start-up, is expected to launch service to
compete with the Baby Bells in 10 markets around the country. Unlike other
new entrants, Teligent claims it can save clients up to 30 percent by using
wireless technology to transmit data at high speeds. The "fixed wireless"
technology, which uses roof-top antennae instead of wires, will allow
Teligent to save money by avoiding the need to leas network parts from the
regional bell companies.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C24), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/biztech/articles/27wire.html
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C1), AUTHOR: Mike Mills]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-10/27/034l-102798-idx.html
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B9), AUTHOR: Stephanie N. Mehta]
http://www.wsj.com/
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ADVERTISING
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TV TO ADVERTISERS: PLEASE GET IN LINE BEHIND THE POLITICIANS (WSJ)
Issue: Advertising
Television stations are the envy of the media industry right now. Political
commercials inundate the airwaves in the final days before the November 3
election bringing in hundred of millions of dollars in revenue. But there
are a couple of downsides for stations like WFIE-TV in Evansville, IN: (1)
If the commercials come from the candidates' organizations, stations must
find room to air them. That means stations are often forced to cancel or
reschedule previously scheduled commercials. Often political airtime
purchases are made with little notice which makes the station personnel
scramble to schedule the political commercials and inform companies or ad
agencies that their previous schedule no longer applies. (2) Candidates
have a right to get the lowest unit rate for commercials which means they
can run more commercials. At WFIE local advertising normally is about 70%
of the revenue. This month political advertising will be about 35% to 40%
of the station's revenue. Ad agencies worry that stations mark up their
rates at this time of year because television airtime is at such a premium.
Some companies play down television at this time of year to advertise in
newspapers, on radio or via direct mail.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A1), AUTHOR: Jeanne Cummings]
http://www.wsj.com/
IBM HOTMEDIA AIMS TO SPEED ONLINE ADS (WSJ)
Issue: Advertising
Fighting the view that most Internet ads are small, static and easy to
ignore, IBM has produced new software called HotMedia that it hopes will
incorporate a variety of effects without slowing down the loading of Web
pages themselves. Audio, video, zoom and panoramic views could be included
by Web-site developers within the ads using the new software. IBM is
providing HotMedia to developers for free or for a nominal fee and has
agreements with several of the leading ad agencies working on the Web. Hala
Makowska of Organic Media said, " The fact that there's no 'plug-in' is a
big step forward." This effort is the first by a major technology concern
to address the need to improve the look of advertising on the Internet.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Sally Beatty]
http://www.wsj.com/
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ANTITRUST
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NETSCAPE ACCUSED OF 'SETUP' (WP)
AT TRIAL, MICROSOFT SAYS KEY MEETING WAS A 'SETUP' (NYT)
IN NEW TWIST, MICROSOFT SAYS IT WAS 'SET UP' (WSJ)
Issue: Antitrust
"Isn't it a fact that the June 21, 1995, meeting was held for the purpose of
creating something that could be described as a record to be given to the
Justice Department to spur them to take action against Microsoft?" With
that and similar questions asserting his company had been "set up,"
Microsoft Corporation's lawyer, John Warden, changed the direction of the
defense of the company's actions in the government's antitrust trial. The
change in Microsoft's tactics in examining James Barksdale, Netscape's
president, resulted from another memo from a former Netscape lawyer being
introduced into evidence. The memo was sent to the Justice Department
describing the meeting only two days after the June 21 meeting and one day
after Netscape had received a request from the Justice Department to provide
information on a separate investigation of Microsoft. Questioning the
timing of the three events, Warden described the new memo as evidence that
the "meeting was a setup orchestrated by Netscape's counsel." On the
witness stand, Barksdale called Warden's description of the events as "absurd."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A6), AUTHOR: Rajiv Chandrasekaran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr & Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/27soft.html
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: John R. Wilke]
http://www.wsj.com/
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TECHNOLOGY
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JUDGE CLEARS WAY FOR DIGITAL PLAYER
Issue: Intellectual Property
Monday, a federal judge ruled that Diamond Multimedia Systems can start
shipping a handheld device, called the Rio, that records and stores music in
digital form and then plays it back over headphones. The Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) filed a lawsuit to stop distribution of the
Rio, claiming the device would lead to widespread music piracy on the
Internet. Judge Audrey B. Collins of United States District Court in Los
Angeles also ruled that Diamond should not have to install a software system
to prevent the Rio from being able to copy unlicensed music. Record company
representatives worry that devises such as the Rio could have a great impact
on industry earnings.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Matt Richtel]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/cyber/articles/27rio.html
DOING FIELDWORK IN THE HIGH-TECH JUNGLE (WSJ)
Issue: Technology/Employment
A growing group of social scientists, anthropologists and psychologists have
found careers in the high-tech industry. Major companies, including IBM,
Xerox and Intel, have hired social scientists or psychologists to help them
figure out how people use products. While such research goes back to the
1970's effort by Xerox to find out how people use copiers to better design
them, only in the past few years have high-tech companies agreed that this
need exists. Intel points to its Proshare video phone which the company
loved but which consumers hated. That led to ethnographic research and the
design of their new TeamStation videophone. A new Intel product that grew
out of the research is the "couch pad" which shows Web pages related to TV
programs. Social scientists are attracted to high tech industries because
pay is higher than in entry-level academic jobs.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Dean Takahashi]
http://www.wsj.com/
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