SPECTRUM
U.S. Set to Start Airwave Auction (WP)
MERGERS
AOL Deal's Opponents Mobilizing (WP)
AOL-Time Warner Access Accord Draws
Criticism From Small ISPs (WSJ)
TELECOM
Talks for Stake in Japan Telecom (NYT)
1996 Telecommunications Act Creates
Obstacles for Women and Minorities (NYT)
INTERNET
Voice Web Portal Business Moving into e-Commerce (NYT)
E-PUBLISHING
Draconian Content Controls Are
Real Horror of Today's E-Books (WSJ)
SPECTRUM
U.S. SET TO START AIRWAVE AUCTION
Issue: Auctions
Today begins the FCC's long-anticipated auction of a slice of spectrum that
will give some company(ies) the rights to transmit mobile-telephone calls
and Internet data in metropolitan areas to more than 165 million people. The
spectrum auction could fetch as much as $20 billion for the federal
government according to some estimates "Spectrum is kind of like real
estate: You can't make more of it, so it always goes up in value," said Ken
Hyers, a wireless communications analyst with Cahners In-Stat Group. "If a
company buys it, unless they do something spectacularly stupid, they can't
lose." More than three-quarters of the spectrum was claimed five years ago
for $4.8 billion by now-bankrupt NextWave Communications. After the company
failed to make its payments, the FCC canceled its licenses. The airwaves
being auctioned today can be used for 3G wireless applications, but are not
limited to that purpose.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56058-2000Dec11.html)
MERGERS
AOL DEALS'S OPPONENTS MOBILIZING
Issue: Mergers
Opponents of AOL's acquisition of Time Warner are mobilizing to persuade
antitrust enforcers to attach tough conditions to the deal. The American
Civil Liberties Union said it is set to meet with commissioners on
Wednesday. Small and mid-size Internet service providers from Florida to
Wisconsin are contacting commissioners by telephone, e-mail and letter, and
some representatives may come to Washington to meet with them this week.
Some consumer groups said they have appointments with commissioners today.
The FTC also invited Microsoft to weigh in on the merger, sources said.
Microsoft has repeatedly raised concerns about the deal. "We've had a
dialogue with the [FTC] staff," said a Microsoft spokesman.
[SOURCE: Washington Posit (E01), AUTHOR: Alec Klein]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56055-2000Dec11.html)
AOL-TIME WARNER ACCESS ACCORD DRAWS CRITICISM FROM SMALL ISPS
Issue: Open Access
Members of a coalition of small- and medium-size Internet services providers
(ISPs) have scheduled meetings to tell top Federal Trade Commission
officials that the agreement between EarthLink and AOL-Time Warner isn't a
good model for other open-access agreements. EarthLink's deal doesn't fit
smaller providers, said Stephen Heins, director of marketing for a Wisconsin
ISP with 2,500 residential and 250 business customers. Small providers lack
the advertising and e-commerce revenue garnered by EarthLink. Instead, most
rely solely on subscriber revenue. Dave Baker, EarthLink's vice president
for law and public policy, said the terms EarthLink struck with Time Warner
Cable "could be used by other ISPs to negotiate access. We have not
compromised their ability to do so. We have enhanced it. With the FTC
reviewing their merger, Time Warner had an incentive to negotiate a fair
deal with us."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Mark Wigfield]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB976571389348939723.htm)
(subscription required)
TELECOM
TALKS FOR STAKE IN JAPAN TELECOM
Issue: International
The Vodafone Group is in talks to buy 15 percent of Japan Telecom for about
$2.5 billion in a move that would give it an edge over its rival British
Telecommunications as the two maneuver for greater control of the company,
Japan's third-largest telecommunications operator, people involved in the
discussions say. Such a deal could place Vodafone in a stronger bargaining
position as AT&T prepares to divest itself of its 10 percent stake in Japan
Telecom after an agreement last month for NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest
mobile phone company, to take a 16 percent stake in AT&T Wireless. British
Telecommunications is in discussions with AT&T about buying that stake, but
nothing has been decided, a person close to the British company said. An
agreement with Japan Telecom would be the latest deal to give Vodafone an
edge over its British rival. In September, Vodafone took control of Airtel
Movil S.A., the Spanish mobile phone company, in which British Telecom has a
minority stake.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Suzanne Kapner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/12/technology/12PHON.html)
(requires registration)
1996 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT CREATES OBSTACLES FOR WOMEN MINORITIES
Issue: Telecom
The 1996 landmark law that was warmly embraced by the Clinton administration
and many Republicans as a way to begin deregulating the nation's
telecommunications industry has had the unintended effect of raising
substantial new barriers for companies controlled by minorities and women,
five studies commissioned by the federal government have found. The studies
show that the wave of consolidation in the broadcast, telephone and cable
industries prompted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 created "nearly
insurmountable obstacles." The studies, to be released on Tuesday by the
Federal Communications Commission, conclude that barriers imposed by both
the government and the marketplace have taken a particular toll in
telecommunications, where the lifeblood is the government license to use a
part of the airwaves. In 1995, Congress eliminated a tax program intended to
encourage investment in small, minority- and women-owned telecommunication
companies. The FCC had earlier encouraged small businesses by permitting
them to bid in license auctions and make payments in installments. But after
some businesses defaulted on those loans, the rules were changed.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/12/business/12BARR.html)
(requires registration)
INTERNET
VOICE WEB PORTAL BUSINESS MOVING INTO E-COMMERCE
Issue: Internet
The voice Web portal business is taking a first tentative step into
e-commerce, as Tellme Networks announced a deal with shopping site ShopTalk
to provide e-commerce services on the Tellme portal and to host that
company's voice business. The service will allow callers to browse a
Web-like menu of commerce options over the telephone, surfing through the
site using voice-recognition commands. Tellme is one of the largest
companies providing Web-like service over the telephone.
[SOURCE: CNET News.Com, AUTHOR: John Borland]
(http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_0_4_4101014_00.html)
E-PUBLISHING
DRACONIAN CONTENT CONTROLS ARE REAL HORROR OF TODAY'S E-BOOKS
Issue: Copyright
Early adopters of e-books are encountering a difficulty that goes beyond
finding the proper reader software or getting their $1 payment to Stephen
King: a hard-core pursuit of copyright protection that is crippling the
usefulness of e-book content. Users of peanutpress.com for example, will
find reasonably priced book, good software and a compelling list of content
choices. But, peanutpress.com users can't do some important things that
readers who purchased a physical copy of the book can do: underline or
highlight a passage of text or pass it along for others to benefit from. The
fair use clause of U.S. copyright statutes allow readers limited ability to
extract and use portions of a copyrighted work without needing to ask
permission of the copyright holder. But the book publishing industry is
panicked by the prospect of Napster-like copyright issues among handheld
e-book readers. "You have to remember that fair use is a right," says Carrie
Russell, copyright specialist with the American Library Association's
Washington office (www.ala.org). "It is a right inherent in copyright law.
You don't have to get permission."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lewis Perdue]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB976486327467263073.htm)
(subscription required)
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