DIGITAL DIVIDE
Networks for People '99 (NTIA)
TELEVISION
On TV Soon, Look for Latinos (NYT)
More Stations Back Revised DTV Standard (NYT)
INTERNET
Oregon Wages Battle Over Access to Internet (WP)
Signatures on Cyberspace's Dotted Line (NYT)
'Consumer Reports' Rates Catalog Sites As Hard Sells (USA)
Spamming: The E-Mail You Want To Can (House)
TELEPHONY
FCC Blocks AT&T's Plan to Boost Phone-Line Charge (NYT)
Motorola May Hold Key to Unite Wireless Phones (ChiTrib)
LOBBYING
Awaiting Verdict, Microsoft Starts Lobbying Campaign (NYT)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
NETWORKS FOR PEOPLE '99
Issue: Digital Divide
More than 600 people, including government and industry leaders, will
convene at a Commerce Department-sponsored conference in Washington Nov.
1-2 to discuss how information technology is transforming people's lives
and showcase some strategies for bridging the nation's growing digital
divide. Commerce Secretary William M. Daley said the conference provided a
stepping stone to the Commerce Department's Digital Divide Summit planned
for next month. The Summit will bring together government leaders and
corporate executives from
across the country to discuss how the public and private sectors could work
together to provide all Americans access to information technology, a key
element in their advancement and economic success. The 1999 Annual "Networks
for People '99 Conference", sponsored by the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration's Telecommunications and Information Assistance
Program (TIIAP), provides a forum for government officials, industry
leaders and
practitioners to discuss how people are using the information technology to
change the way they live, do business and get educated. TIIAP is a
highly-competitive grant program that promotes the widespread availability
and use of advanced telecommunications in the public and nonprofit sectors.
This year's program features a session on bridging the digital divide and
will include a presentation by David Bolt, who will preview his upcoming PBS
series "The Digital Divide." It will also introduce a new philanthropic
initiative, Helping.Org, a collaborative effort of the Benton Foundation,
the AOL Foundation and other non- profit partners. A demonstration of the
site will showcase resources and tools available through
Helping.Org.
WHEN: Monday and Tuesday, November 1-2, 1999
TIME: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday and 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Tuesday
WHERE: Key Bridge Marriott, 1401 Lee Highway, Arlington, Virginia.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/tiiap102999.htm)
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/tiiap102899.htm)
TELEVISION
ON TV SOON, LOOK FOR LATINOS
Issue: Media & Society
Cable channel Nickelodeon is planning on trying out "Taina" on its
children's audience next year. The show's title character is a
fourteen-year-old Puerto Rican girl growing up in Queens, NY. The show's
producer and creator, Maria Perez-Brown, 37, said she wanted to portray the
existence of a teen-age girl navigating two cultures -- those of her
traditional, three-generation Latino household and of school and the city
outside. The girl retains values from one as she is immersed in the other.
"Taina" is just one of half a dozen projects with Latino themes that the
cable network is developing. Just months ago, a coalition of Hispanic
organizations organized a two-week boycott broadcast networks because shows
all-Latino principal casts have become so rare. Nickelodeon says it is
committed to reflecting the world children live in accurately.
[SOURCE: New York Times (B1), AUTHOR: Mireya Navarro]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/puertorican-tv-series.html)
MORE STATIONS BACK REVISED DTV STANDARD
Issue: DTV
Almost half of the nation's 1,600 broadcast television stations have
expressed support for a revised national standard for digital television
broadcasts. The nation's largest station group, Sinclair, filed a
petition with the Federal Communications Commission early in October,
arguing that the current digital television standard was unable to pick up
watchable television signals in anything less than ideal circumstances. The
company's petition asks the FCC to adopt the transmission standard that is
now used in Europe, which would not work with the digital TVs currently on
the U. S. market.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C14), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/01dtv.html)
INTERNET
OREGON WAGES BATTLE OVER ACCESS TO INTERNET
ISSUE: Broadband
Oregon is the test-bed for a question of national significance: can a city
require a national telephone carrier to open its cable data lines to
competing Internet access providers? Under the banner of customer choice,
David Olson thought so. One year ago he put his ideas to paper and opened up
a can of worms that will affect the nation. After the AT&T purchase of
Portland's cable system, Olson believed that it would only be right for the
company to share its newly acquired cable bandwidth with competing
providers. In January, AT&T filed a suit challenging Portland's right to
require open access. The federal judge ruled for the city. Today a panel of
judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are scheduled to hear arguments
from AT&T seeking to overturn the ruling. Interested parties include
consumer advocates, Internet service providers, the telephone industry and
the cable industry. Each party has a stake in the decision as it directly
affects the future of broadband, a high-speed, affordable connection
alternative for small business and homes that promises to be the next step
in Internet connections.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, pg. A1 AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/nov99/portland1.htm)
SIGNATURES ON CYBERSPACE'S DOTTED LINE
Issue: E-commerce
An attempt to make the so-called digital signature a legally viable
alternative to its ink-and-paper counterpart has stirred partisan
sentiments in Congress. "Digital signatures" refers to various technologies
such as encryption, fingerprint readers and stylus pads that are used to
verify one's identity on the Internet. Legislation pending in the House and
the Senate would allow institutions like banks and insurance companies to
electronically notify customers of certain situations, including default on
their credit card debts or loans, or changes in the terms of a financial
agreement, if the contracts were made online instead of on paper. Opponents
fear that the proposals will allow companies to sidestep longstanding
consumer notification laws. "It's bad public policy," said Andrew Pincus,
general counsel for the Commerce Department. "It's also bad for the
Internet. If the online world is not safe for consumers, what does that do
to the future of electronic commerce?" Changes where made to the House bill
on Friday that attempted to address consumers' concerns by clarifying that
state and federal consumer-notification laws still applied, and that
required notifications could only be made electronically if consumers
specifically consented.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C26, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/01sigs.html)
'CONSUMER REPORTS' RATES CATALOG SITES AS HARD SELLS
Issue: E-Commerce
The non-profit magazine of Consumers Union, Consumer Reports, today begins
rating Web sites. The magazine will begin with the sites of popular
catalogs. Rating catalog sites is only the beginning, according to magazine
officials. Categories will be added each Monday for the next four weeks:
books and music, toys, electronics and small appliances. Overall ratings
are based on ease of use, product information and such policies as privacy
and disclosure of shipping costs. None of the catalogs ranked this week
came in at the top of overall ratings. Sites for clothing, gadget and
sporting-goods catalogs were rated on a five-point scale, with five being
the best. The top scorers received four out of five were Lands' End, J.
Crew, Eddie Bauer, J&R Music and Computer World, Hammacher Schlemmer, REI.
Delivery was pretty much the same for printed catalogs and their online
versions, test shoppers said. The difference was in the shopping
experience. The Web site ratings will be published on Consumer Reports
Online (http://www.consumerreports.org). Some features of the site are
free, but ratings and test results are available only to subscribers.
[SOURCE: USA Today (D1), AUTHOR: Elizabeth Weise]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/llead.htm)
SPAMMING: THE E-MAIL YOU WANT TO CAN
Issue: Internet Regulation
Wednesday, November 3, 1999 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building
The Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection
hearing on Spamming: The E-Mail You Want To Can. The hearing will focus on
the following bills: (1) H.R. 3113, the Unsolicited Electronic Mail Act of
1999; (2) H.R. 2162, the Can Spam Act; and (3) H.R. 1910, the E-Mail User
Protection Act.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://www.house.gov/commerce/schedule.htm)
TELEPHONY
FCC BLOCKS AT&T'S PLAN TO BOOST PHONE-LINE CHARGE
Issue: Universal Service
Friday, AT&T sent a filing to the Federal Communications Commission stating
the company planned to raise from 99 cents to $1.50 a fee it imposes on
consumer bills for each residential telephone line. The FCC temporarily
blocked the 50% increase, pending an investigation into AT&T's pricing
policies. The FCC allows carriers to levy such a fee to help them recover
the costs of contributing to a federal subsidy program, universal service,
which was developed to give all Americans affordable phone service. Larry
Strickling,
the FCC's chief telecom official said that the fee "should cover only costs
incurred [for contributing to the subsidy fund], so the investigation should
look into that." AT&T imposes a flat fee on residential customers and a
percentage-based fee for business customers to recover the costs for
universal service. It recently raised the business rate to 6.6% from 4.9%.
AT&T spokesman Jim McGann said AT&T's fees are going up more than the other
carriers because it contributes more to the subsidy program as a percentage
of its revenue. There are also two other factors that played a role in
AT&T's decision to raise the fee. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit in New Orleans ruled this summer that the FCC could no longer
recover costs of a $2.25 billion program to wire schools to the Internet
through intrastate funds. Therefore, AT&T can only recover those costs through
interstate and international funds, which McGann said has put a bigger
burden on long-distance carriers. Secondly, the FCC has doubled the size of
the
subsidy fund to lower the costs for rural phone customers from $437 million
from $202 million.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, (B7), AUTHOR: Kathy Chen]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB941242371507062758.htm)
MOTOROLA MAY HOLD KEY TO UNITE WIRELESS PHONES
Issue: Wireless Telephony
"The development is very, very significant," said a telecommunications
consultant. "This is really going to change the game." Motorola is expected
to announce today that it has built a chip that will allow a single mobile
phone access all the wireless standards. Consumers should see wireless
service providers offering better rate plans, expanded coverage areas and
access to data instead of just competing on technological differences. "This
just helps more devices talk to each other and helps unleash the power of
wireless," said Jeffrey Kagan, an Atlanta-based telecommunications
consultant. Motorola will begin high-volume production next year and
consumers should start see benefits over the next few years.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 4, p. 1), AUTHOR: Rob Kaiser]
(http://chicagotribune.com/business/printedition/article/0,2669,SAV-99110100
21,FF.html)
See Also:
MOTOROLA TO OFFER A CHIP THAT CAN SUPPORT A VARIETY OF CELL-PHONE STANDARDS
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: John Markoff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/01chip.html)
ANTITRUST
AWAITING VERDICT, MICROSOFT STARTS LOBBYING CAMPAIGN
Issue: Antitrust
Microsoft distributed its annual report to its shareholders back in
September with a letter from Chief Operating Officer Robert Herbold. The
letter urged people to join a lobbying effort and pointed them to a Web site
which contains statements regarding the company's antitrust trial, a
discussion about the "freedom to innovate" and links to specific
congressional leaders that people could contact to tell them of the
injustices Microsoft is facing. A Microsoft spokesman says the Web site has
been up since early this year and a congressional aide said the site does
not have a coherent message.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C6), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/01soft.html)
See Also:
MICROSOFT'S LOBBYING ABUSES
[SOURCE: New York Times (A26), AUTHOR: New York Times Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/01mon3.html)
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