Digital TV
NTIA: Digital TV Advisory Committee Meeting
WSJ: Paxson Shares Fall Amid Plans For Family TV
EdTech
NYT: Texas may Drop All Textbooks, for Laptops
Advertising
WSJ: Big guns in the Media Take Aim Against Firearms
Electronic Commerce
WSJ: Shopping On-Line? Here's Why You Should -- and Shouldn't
Competition
FCC: Petition for Writ of Certiorari
TelecomAM: ALTS Calls for Supreme Court to Overturn
8th Circuit Pricing Decision
TelecomAM: Strategis Group Says There's Still Money in Wireless,
Despite Competiton
Internet
NYT: A Simple DNS Solution Is Doable, But Unlikely
NYT: Bob's Web Site Puts Greenville Art Scene on Map
NYT: Federal Act Targets Software Theft From Net
NYT: Doctors Face Newly Knowledgeable Patients As
Consumers Learn on the Net
FCC
TelecomAM: FCC Commissioners Plan Items for their First Meeting Together
** Television **
Title: Digital TV Advisory Committee Meeting
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/decmtg/dec5.htm
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Notice of the December 5 meeting of the Advisory Committee on
Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters has been
published in the Federal Register. The meeting will be held on Friday,
December 5, 1997 from 9:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. in the Lounge of the
Export-Import Bank of the United States, 11th Floor, 811 Vermont Avenue,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20571. Further information about the meeting will be
available on the Advisory Committee's homepage at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/pubint.htm. Public comment welcome:
email your comments to piac( at )ntia.doc.gov with subject "Public Comment"
Title: Paxson Shares Fall Amid Plans For Family TV
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Kyle Pope
Issue: Television
Description: Shares of Paxson Communications slipped as Wall Street
panned the company's plans for a new family-oriented TV network called
PaxNet. It will be launched next August with a mix of movies, infomercials,
and network reruns. Instead of simply selling the air time to a Hollywood
studio or cable company, the company said it will buy programming and sell the
ads itself. Some analysts questioned whether the new Paxson programming will
be distinctive enough to attract advertisers. Company Chairman Lowell "Bud"
Paxson, said, "We would like to be able to say that we have wholesome
programming."
** EdTech **
Title: Texas may Drop All Textbooks, for Laptops
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/111997texas.html
Author: Houston
Issue: EdTech
Description: As the Texas Board of Education debates how to most effectively
replace old textbooks, a remark made by the chairman of the board, Dr. Jack
Christie, to give all public school students laptops instead of textbooks,
is receiving some serious consideration. With the board looking at $1.8
billion in textbook costs over the next six years, it may be cheaper, as
well as innovative, to lease a laptop for each of the state's 3.7 million
students. This move would not only allow schools to maintain up-to-date
information within the classroom but could also be used as a way to close
the technology gap between wealthy and indigent students.
** Advertising **
Title: Big guns in the Media Take Aim Against Firearms
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: G. Bruce Knecht
Issue: Advertising
Description: A new anti-gun ad sponsored by Ceasefire that features a
young child accidentally firing a handgun he found at home is part of a
nationwide media blitz on TV networks, local stations, magazines, and
billboards. The ad, which also features a printed message reporting that "10
children are killed by a handgun every day", is a project of Jann Wenner,
publisher of Rolling Stone, who has mobilized a small army of media
heavyweights with muscle to match the unspoken adversary: the NRA. Rather
than a political message pushing legislation, "we're trying to change
perceptions," Mr. Wenner said. "The reason most men buy handguns is because
they think they can protect their family. But it doesn't work. Handguns are
much more likely to bring harm."
** Electronic Commerce **
Title: Shopping On-Line? Here's Why You Should -- and Shouldn't
Source: Wall Street Journal (B4)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Thomas E. Weber
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: A week from tomorrow is "Black Friday", the official start
of the holiday shopping season and the endless frustrations along with it.
Online shopping is very popular this year with big-name retailers selling
their goods on the 'Net. But there are some arguments for and against
online shopping. For example, you can get great bargains because online
merchants are anxious to build loyalty among customers. Yet the selections
aren't always so vast because creating Web pages to display a retailer's
entire product line is often a job left undone. There are no crowds or
hassles, either, but it can be a big time-waster because search capabilities
don't work well if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.
** Competition **
Title: Petition for Writ of Certiorari
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1997/nrmc7095.html
Issue: Competition
Description: Statement of Chairman Kennard: "The Solicitor General of the
United States today filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the
Supreme Court challenging the Eighth Circuit's decisions in Iowa Utilities
Board v. FCC and People of the State of California v. FCC. Among other
issues, we have asked the Court to clarify the jurisdictional boundaries on
the scope of this agency's rulemaking authority. It is vital that we seek to
clarify these issues on behalf of the American people. What is at stake in
this case is whether the FCC can act to assure competition, choice, and
universal telephone service for all Americans. The goal of assuring
competition, choice and universal telephone service will only be achieved if
the FCC and the states work together. The pendency of this case should not
deter the FCC and the states from finding common ground to achieve these
goals. I intend to continue to work closely with the States to forge common
solutions that deliver choice and universal telephone service for American
consumers. I am fully committed to doing so."
Title: ALTS Calls for Supreme Court to Overturn 8th Circuit Pricing Decision
Source: Telecom AM
http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: The Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS) is
calling for the Supreme Court to overturn a Court of Appeals decision to
disallow Federal Communications Commission pricing rules. Earlier this year
the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC had overstepped its
bounds by requiring a cost-based pricing scheme to be applied nationwide.
Title: Strategis Group Says There's Still Money in Wireless,
Despite Competiton
Source: Telecom AM
http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: Despite compeition from Personal Communications Services (PCS)
cellular carriers are enjoying growth of both subscriber bases and profit
margins, the Strategis Group of Washington, DC finds. Revenue per subscriber
is dropping due to low usage and falling prices, but operating margins for
cellular carriers increased to 40% in 1996 and to 42% by mid-1997. "The
results of our study show that the introduction of PCS has, thus far,
spurred cellular growth, and the predictions of the cellular carriers'
declining profitability are premature," said Carol Mann, a consultant with
the Strategis Group.
** Internet **
Title: A Simple DNS Solution Is Doable, But Unlikely
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/under/111997under-wayner.html
Author: Peter Wayner
Issue: Internet Technology
Description: One of the largest dilemmas challenging the "current system of
self-governance by the techno-elite" is the problem of assigning names on
the Internet. With so much money now on the line the hope for a simple solution
seems to be out of the question. However, Wayner has a "simple" solution
that he believes
would destabilize the current hierarchy of the Domain Naming System (DNS).
His idea is to give each user the ability to control where his or her
computer turns for information about names on the Internet. By empowering
people in this way, it "would give new top-level domains a chance to win
customers and people." Of course the cost of this freedom would be a bit
more confusion but possibly worth the price.
Title: Bob's Web Site Puts Greenville Art Scene on Map
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/mirapaul/112097mirapaul.html
Author: Matthew Mirapaul
Issue: Arts
Description: Robert J. Shiffler, a successful businessman who began to spend
his money on art in the mid-80s, launched a Web site six months ago devoted
to expanding the impact of his contemporary art collection. Since his
collection of over 2,000 objects, the majority dating from 1986 or later, is
located in downtown, Greenville, OH, (not exactly a 'hot' vacation spot) he
designed the site to find new audiences. "I'm not concerned about making
them art collectors or museum-goers," Shiffler said. "I'm concerned about
conveying the experience that is available through contemporary art, the
ability to communicate in a different way." You can access 'Bob's Art' at
http://www.bobsart.com/. [For more on the arts online see Open Studio
http://www.openstudio.org/]
Title: Federal Act Targets Software Theft From Net
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/112097software.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet
Description: Last week Congress passed a bill that would make some Net
piracy a felony with violators getting up to five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. The bill called, No Electronic Theft (NET) makes it a
federal crime to "willfully" make or possess ten or more digital copies with
a value of $2,500 or more. The bill, which now just needs President
Clinton's signature to become law, is the first of several cyberspace
copyright bills pending in Congress.
Title: Doctors Face Newly Knowledgeable Patients As Consumers Learn
on the Net
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/111997prescription.html
Author: Sandeep Junnarkar
Issue: Health
Description: The Internet is starting to play an even more important role in
people's lives as many are logging on to obtain health care and information
about medical treatment decisions. In addition to individual browsing, some
physicians also are beginning to prescribe certain web sites
[take these two URLs and call me in the morning]. "The reason
these sites are important is that they enable patients to be informed
consumers of their physicians recommendations," said David Blumenthal, a
physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "The information can
help them to ask the right questions and to access whether the physician is
competent to care for them." While there is some concern in the medical
field regarding the need for increased time to be spent answering the
questions of more well-informed patients, most agree that the Net will
benefit both parties.
** FCC **
Title: FCC Commissioners Plan Items for their First Meeting Together
Source: Telecom AM
http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: FCC
Description: At the next open meeting on November 25, the FCC will consider
two separate items on allowing foreign-owned companies into the US satellite
and basic telecommunications markets; rules to govern the resolution of
formal complaints against common carriers; and permitting broadcast license
applicants to submit "mutally exclusive initial license applications" for
certain types of broadcast stations.
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