DIGITAL TELEVISION
Free Air Time For Political Candidates Isn't Required
Under Panel's Draft Plan (WSJ)
Pact on Digital TV Agreed by Set Makers And Cable Companies (WSJ)
INTERNET
Survey Shows a Sharp Rise in Net-Savvy Academics (CyberTimes)
Where Parents (at Home) Can Go For Expert Advice on Child Rearing (NYT)
In Search of a Free ISP (CyberTimes)
Some Companies Long to Embrace Web But Settle with Flirtation (WSJ)
==================
DIGITAL TELEVISION
==================
FREE AIR TIME FOR POLITICAL CANDIDATES ISN'T REQUIRED UNDER PANEL'S DRAFT PLAN
Issue: DTV/Campaigns
Recommendations from a presidential commission will not require digital
broadcasters to give free air-time to political candidates, according to a
draft plan of a report scheduled for release in mid-December. The
'Gore Commission' was appointed last year to formulate public interest
obligations for broadcasters as they transition to digital technology. The
Administration had hopes that free air time would be part of the panel's
recommendations, but at this time the draft only includes a suggestion for
broadcasters to voluntary provide five minutes of air time a night in the 30
leading up to an election. Gigi Sohn, executive director of the Media Access
Project and commission member, says the report contains "very general, mushy
principles." Ms. Sohn did add, however, that the draft is "a good compromise
document. Nobody's going to get everything they wanted." [For more info see
http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/piac.html]
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B9), AUTHOR: John Simons]
http://www.wsj.com/
PACT ON DIGITAL TV AGREED BY SET MAKERS AND CABLE COMPANIES
Issue: Television
How to connect new digital televisions to cable networks is a technical
issue that finally is being resolved by engineers for set makers and cable
companies. The first generation of digital televisions lacked that
capability because agreement had not been reached on how to do it. The
tentative agreement announced yesterday leaves some issues, including
copyright protection, unresolved but centers on use of a FireWire, the wire
for the connection and on exchange of information between the two electronic
systems.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B9), AUTHOR: WSJ Staff Reporter]
http://www.wsj.com/
========
INTERNET
========
SURVEY SHOWS A SHARP RISE IN NET-SAVVY ACADEMICS
Issue: EdTech
Parts of the 1998 Campus Computing Project survey
http://www.campuscomputing.net/ were released this week reporting that
college professors are embracing the Internet as a tool for teaching. The
survey of 571 technology officials at two- and four-year colleges around the
country reports that 44% of college courses use e-mail in some way -- that
number was 32.8% last year and just 8% four years ago. 23% of college
courses use Web pages to post class materials and other resources; four
years ago, the figure was less than 5%. About 43% of respondents said their
institutions had a computer competency requirement for undergraduates; in
1992, the figure was 30%. Computer ownership among students is up: this year
the figure was 42% of students, more than double the figure five years ago.
The biggest problems faced on campus is still assisting professors to
integrate technology use into the classroom and intellectual property
questions. [Just asking...do you think the Times has decided to run at least
one edtech story a day?]
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels
mendels( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/cyber/education/04education.html
WHERE PARENTS (AT HOME) CAN GO FOR EXPERT ADVICE ON CHILD REARING
Issue: Internet
How to get the toddler to sleep, what to do about hitting and biting, how to
toilet train - those are some of the most frequently addressed subjects on
the National Parent Information Network. The network claims not to be a
"hotline" for crises but is an information service for family issues. It
uses the largest education database in the world established by the
Educational Resources Information Services. The network is available
tollfree from 9 AM to 6 PM EST at (800) 583-4135 or via the Internet at
http://www.npin.org. In September the service had 250,000 visits to its
Web site and received about 1,000 calls. The project, at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is financed by the U.S. Department of Education.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A22), AUTHOR: Jo Thomas]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/04college.html
IN SEARCH OF A FREE ISP
Issue: Internet Access
A number of Internet entrepreneurs thought they had a winning formula: round
up Internet users tired of paying $20/month to their ISP, give them free
email, and sell their attention to hungry advertisers. But the model does
not seem to be working as another firm offering free email, San Jose-based
Bigger.net, went under last week. In theory, the idea should work like
television in which networks pour millions of dollars into creating free
programming, knowing they will recoup their investment through advertising.
Skeptics say that an ISP would have to sign up 50,000 subscribers or more
before a major advertiser took them seriously. These ISP often have to
attract new Internet users which are more costly to serve because of the
support they need.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Matt Richtel
mrichtel( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/cyber/articles/04isp.html
SOME COMPANIES LONG TO EMBRACE WEB BUT SETTLE WITH FLIRTATION
Issue: E-Commerce
While many companies are rushing to peddle their products online, some are
worried about the effects of the Internet on traditional distribution
channels. Selling online can slash costs up to 15 percent, but large
companies in competitive industries fear the threat to the person-to-person
sales structure they've already invested fortunes to build. Like everyone
else, big businesses feel the pressure to move online instead of risk
getting 'Amazoned' (losing business to an Internet upstart). Many companies
are dealing with the Internet challenge by going slow with the transition to
electronic commerce. This means that some Web sites may not be publicized,
or have high prices to avoid alienating sales representatives and dealerships.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A1), AUTHOR: George Anders]
http://www.wsj.com/
=========
ANTITRUST
=========
MICROSOFT CONTENDS DEALMAKING IS COMMON IN TECH INDUSTRY (WP)
MICROSOFT UNVEILING NEW BROWSER (WP)
MICROSOFT TO UNVEIL LATEST ENHANCEMENT OF ITS WEB BROWSER (WSJ)
Issue: Antitrust/Technology
Everybody does it. Experts say that Microsoft is presenting contradictory
views for its defense in the government's antitrust trial. They are
contending that everyone in the business discusses colluding as standard
operating procedure. On the other hand they are suggesting their rivals are
lawbreakers for doing it. Legal experts say that law requires dominant
firms to play by tougher rules which may make the Microsoft defense
difficult as the trial continues. [The trial resumes today after a recess
for Election Day.] In spite of the legal tussle that features distribution
of Microsoft's Internet browser at the center, the corporation will
introduce today the beta version of Internet Explorer 5.0. The new version
includes features to simplify surfing and searching the Web and includes
some popular features from the Office suite programs (Word, Excel, etc.).
It drops some of the "channel bar" and "Active Desktop" features from the
current release. The final version is due out in the first quarter of 1999.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (B11), AUTHOR: David Segal]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
[SOURCE: Washington Post (B13), AUTHOR: Elizabeth Corcoran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/stories/19
98/stories/1998/explorer1104.htm
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: David Bank]
http://www.wsj.com/
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*