TELEPHONY
National Cellular Plans With Flat Rates Stir Up Industry (WSJ)
Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (NTIA)
PRIVACY
High Court to Address Whether Taking Media on Raids Violates Rights
(WP)
TELEVISION
Vital Signs: TV Teen-Ager: High Alcohol Content (NYT)
E-COMMERCE
Online Stock Exchange Planned
ANTITRUST
Gates Made Blunt Threat to Intel, Executive Testifies (WP)
An Intel Executive Testifies of a 'Credible and Fairly Terrifying'
Threat by
Microsoft (NYT)
A Microsoft Rebuttal but Nothing to Rebut (NYT)
Microsoft Threatened to Withhold Help On New Chip, Intel Executive
Testifies (WSJ)
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TELEPHONY
===========
NATIONAL CELLULAR PLANS WITH FLAT RATES STIR UP INDUSTRY
Issue: Wireless/Competition
Flat rates from nationwide cellular providers AT&T and Sprint seem to be
hurting regional wireless providers like the Baby Bells. As recently as
three years ago, many markets had but two providers living happily in a
duopoly. Now some markets have as many as six providers competing with low
prices and a variety of calling plans. The Baby Bells are likely to compete
by targeting in-region customers who don't often travel outside their home
calling area. AT&T's one-rate calling plan which includes a certain number
of minutes per month is "counting on customers who are on the cusp of
migrating from landline to wireless for their long distance," said an
industry analyst.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Nicole Harris]
http://wsj.com/
Public Telecommunications Facilities Program
Issue: Public Broadcasting
The formal announcement of the 1999 grant cycle for the Public
Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) was printed in the Federal
Register on November 6. Applicants for matching grants under the PTFP must
file their applications on or before January 14, 1999. NTIA anticipates
making grant awards by September 30, 1999. Approximately $21 million is
available for FY 1999 for PTFP grants pursuant to P.L. 105-277, the
Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999. The
amount of a grant award by NTIA will vary, depending on the approved
project. For fiscal year 1998, NTIA awarded $19.8 million in funds to 115
projects. The awards ranged from $3,000 to $978,033.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/ptfp/ See "What's New"
========
PRIVACY
========
HIGH COURT TO ADDRESS WHETHER TAKING MEDIA ON RAIDS VIOLATES RIGHTS
Issue: Privacy
The Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear two cases brought against law
enforcement groups for incidents involving "media ride-alongs." The court's
role will be to resolve the conflicting decisions rendered by federal
appeals courts in similar cases. Both cases will be argued before the court
early next year. In one case a Rockville, MD couple say police violated
their constitutional protection from unreasonable searches and seizures by
bringing a newspaper reporter and photographer into their home in April
1992. An appeals court ruled against the couple. In the other case an
appeals court ruled in favor of a Montana couple who complained that U.S.
Fish and Wildlife officials had brought CNN newspeople with them onto their
property in March 1993.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A10), AUTHOR: Amy Argetsinger]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-11/10/055l-111098-idx.html
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TELEVISION
===========
VITAL SIGNS: TV TEEN-AGER: HIGH ALCOHOL CONTENT
Issue: Television
TV teen-agers are more likely to be seen with an alcoholic beverage than any
other kind of food or drink, according to two recent studies of television
and drinking. A study published in the October issue of The Journal of
Studies on Alcohol reported that alcohol appeared in nearly half of the
prime time network programs studied over a two week period. The study did
find, however, that teen-agers who drank were not portrayed in a positive
light. In another study, conducted by Stanford University, researchers found
that teens who increased their television viewing were more likely to start
drinking.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D9), AUTHOR: John O'Neil]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/111098sci-health-strollerci
ze.html
============
E-COMMERCE
============
ONLINE STOCK EXCHANGE PLANNED
Issue: Internet
E-Trade Group Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp. are planning the first online
stock exchange, primarily for trading shares of small corporations seeking
capital. The goal is to be operating in early January, assuming they get
approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Meanwhile Andrew
Klein of Wit Capital Corp. has been working for two years to organize an
online exchange. He expects his to be up and operating early next year.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C1), AUTHOR: Ianthe Jeanne Dugan]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/washtech/webtrade.html
==========
ANTITRUST
==========
GATES MADE BLUNT THREAT TO INTEL, EXECUTIVE TESTIFIES (WP)
AN INTEL EXECUTIVE TESTIFIES OF A 'CREDIBLE AND FAIRLY TERRIFYING' THREAT BY
MICROSOFT (NYT)
A MICROSOFT REBUTTAL BUT NOTHING TO REBUT (NYT)
MICROSOFT THREATENED TO WITHHOLD HELP ON NEW CHIP, INTEL EXECUTIVE TESTIFIES
(WSJ)
Issue: Antitrust
"Bill made it very clear that Microsoft would not support our next processor
if we did not get alignment on the issues," said Steven McGeady, an Intel
Corp. vice president, on the stand Monday of the government's antitrust
trial against Microsoft Corp. McGeady said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates
made a "credible and fairly terrifying" threat against his company because
Microsoft felt Intel was developing computer software that would compete
with their products. According to McGeady, at an August 1995 meeting Gates
told him and other Intel executives that Microsoft would not support a new
line of Intel microprocessors (with MMX) if Intel did not stop working on
certain software projects. Intel later abandoned work on software called
Native Signal Processing in response to Microsoft complaints. In videotaped
testimony shown in court Gates denied threatening Intel and said he had
urged Intel to abandon certain projects because of "incompatibilities with
Windows" and because "the quality of some of their work was very low."
After the court session, a Microsoft spokesman said McGeady had "distorted
the facts." Earlier in the day an Apple executive, e-mail messages and
memos were used to support the government's contention that Microsoft had
threatened to stop producing its Office suite of business software for
Apple's Macintosh computers unless Apple adopted Microsoft's Internet
Explorer as the default browser on its computers. Apple did make the
Microsoft product its default browser in August 1997.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: Rajiv Chandrasekaran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/biztech/articles/10soft.html
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/10demo.html
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: John Wilke]
http://wsj.com/
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Sorry, there is no Chicago Tribune coverage today. In observance of Veterans
Day, there will be no Communications-related Headlines service tomorrow
November 11.