COMPETITION
High Court Says Local Phone Giants Don't Have to Sell Access (NYT)
FCC Audit of Baby Bells Will Contend Billions of Dollars of
Equipment is Lost (WSJ)
AOL Leads Lobby Campaign To Gain Access To 'Broad-Band'
Cable-TV Lines For The Internet (NYT)
Opponents Challenge Merger Plans (ChiTrib)
Global Minded Iridium Has Down-To-Earth Need: Profit (WSJ)
PRIVACY
Intel Alters Plan Said to Undermine PC Users' Privacy (CyberTimes)
INTERNET
Witness Describes Easy Access to Porn (CyberTimes)
E-COMMERCE
States Chafe as Web Shoppers Ignore Sales Taxes (WSJ)
Ads That Are Too Rich for Publishers' Pipelines (CyberTimes)
Gore Discusses E-commerce, Taxes, Privacy (SJ Merc)
ANTITRUST
In Microsoft Battle, a Skirmish Over Apple (WP)
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COMPETITION
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HIGH COURT SAYS LOCAL PHONE GIANTS DON'T HAVE TO SELL ACCESS
Issue: Telephony
Monday, the Supreme Court ended over three years of legal battles over the
content and jurisdiction of portions of the 1996 Telecommunication Act
pertaining to local-phone regulation. The high court ruled that the FCC, and
not the states, has the authority to set rules governing local competition.
The Court, however, decided that the Commission had gone too far in
requiring the Baby Bells to sell access to nearly all of their networks to
competitors. This decision is considered a huge victory for the Federal
Communications Commission, which has received severe criticism from Congress
for its aggressive approach in encouraging local phone competition. Reed
Hundt, former FCC Chairman, says he feels vindicated: "For three years I and
then Chairman Kennard were told that we were running a rogue agency and that
we needed to learn how to read. And it turned out we were right." He added,
"This means that Bill Kennard is the man and that I'm going to Disneyland."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel ]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/articles/012699fcc-bells....
FCC AUDIT OF BABY BELLS WILL CONTEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF EQUIPMENT IS LOST
Issue: Telephone
On Thursday the Federal Communications Commission is expected to release an
audit report which says the Baby Bells cannot find billions of dollars worth
of communications equipment. The existence of the equipment is important
because under the current pricing system, cost for equipment indirectly
affect Bell companies' charges to consumers and to long distance carriers.
The 1997 audit is hotly disputed by the Bell companies who contend the audit
method was flawed. In another move at the Thursday meeting the FCC is
expected to propose that long distance phone companies compensate pay-phone
owners 24 cents for each calling-card or dial-around call.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Kathy Chen]
http://wsj.com/
AOL LEADS LOBBY CAMPAIGN TO GAIN ACCESS TO 'BROAD-BAND' CABLE-TV LINES FOR
THE INTERNET
Issue: Broadband
In an effort to open up access to the US's cable networks, American Online
and other companies are preparing for a high profile campaign to convince
lawmakers and the public that cable providers should allow competitors to
use their lines to offer high-speed Internet service. An AOL led collation,
tentatively called "Open Net," has hired some well known lobbyist --
including Rich Bond, former Republican National Committee Chairman, and Greg
Simon, former technology advisor to Al Gore - to plea their case in front of
Washington policy makers. The group of Internet service providers has argued
that only a few cable-television companies will have control of the
high-speed Internet pipelines, if regulators do not require open access to
their networks.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A20), AUTHOR: Bryan Gruley]
http://wsj.com/
OPPONENTS CHALLENGE MERGER PLANS
Issue: Mergers
If opponents to the SBC-Ameritech merger can show that the proposed deal
will reduce existing or potential competition, the Illinois Commerce
Commission will have grounds to block it. Ohio, the US Justice Department
and the Federal Communications Commission will review the merger on similar
grounds. Rulings from the state commissions are expected this spring
followed by the federal authorities this summer. On Monday, the ICC held a
prehearing meeting to examine the merger with SBC and Ameritech employees
squaring off against opponents. A lawyer for MCI WorldCom contended that SBC
planned to compete with Ameritech in Chicago and that Ameritech has started
to roll out local service in St Louis. Both plans were later scrapped. The
ICC hearings will continue through Friday.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,CTT-5527031,00.html
GLOBAL MINDED IRIDIUM HAS DOWN-TO-EARTH NEED: PROFIT
Issue: Satellite/Telephone
Although Iridium began commercial service on November 1, sending phone calls
and pages from satellites to users, most people remain unaware of the
service. The company also recognizes that the benefits of an advertising
blitz last fall are fading in people's memory. Iridium's $5 billion
investment in global wireless telephone and messaging has run into a series
of glitches, most worrisome a shortage of its special hand-held telephones.
Initial sales have been delayed as a result. Some users say the quality of
service is not as consistent as some land-based cellular systems. Edward F.
Stoiano, Iridium's CEO, says Iridium can have 500,000 to 600,000 users by
the end of the year if the problems are solved. That kind of growth from the
3,000 users Iridium had at the end of 1998 would mean profitability for the
company by early 2000. Iridium is in the enviable position of being the
first to present the service. Other similar projects, including Globalstar
and ICO Global Communications, are still building their networks.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B4), AUTHOR: Quentin Hardy]
http://wsj.com/
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PRIVACY
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INTEL ALTERS PLAN SAID TO UNDERMINE PC USERS' PRIVACY
Issue: Privacy
Responding to fears raised by advocacy groups, Intel is modifying plans for
its Pentium III chip. The identification system in the new chips will
default to "off" whenever the computer is restarted and users can choose
when to turn it on -- or to turn it off permanently. "We've always
understood that there are security questions that get raised when someone is
providing identification in a transaction," Tom Waldrop, an Intel spokesman,
said in explaining the reversal. "Whether an individual is showing a
driver's license of handing over a credit card number, it always raises a
privacy question. We have done things to address that. You have to weigh the
positive value of having more secured Internet transactions, more secure
electronic commerce, against any privacy concerns." Intel makes about 85
percent of the world's computer processors.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing jeri( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/articles/26internet.html
Intel Drops Plans to Activate Chip IDs
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Robert O'Harrow Jr. & Elizabeth
Corcoran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-01/26/058l-012699-idx.html
Intel Rushes to Modify User-Identification Chip
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Don Clark]
http://wsj.com/
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INTERNET
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WITNESS DESCRIBES EASY ACCESS TO PORN
Issue: Internet Regulation
The trial challenging the Child Online Protection Act with testimony from a
Department of Justice witness describing how easy it is to find free
pornography on the Net. But a lawyer for opponents of the law got the
witness to concede that most of the examples he was presenting to the court
would be blocked by filtering software. Critics of the law are arguing,
among other things, that private parental use of filtering software is a
less restrictive alternative to keep children from accessing pornography
online.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels mendels( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/articles/26copa.html
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E-COMMERCE
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STATES CHAFE AS WEB SHOPPERS IGNORE SALES TAXES
Issue: Electronic Commerce
States and local jurisdictions are losing millions of money on Internet
sales, and they are beginning to howl. In most cases consumers are
responsible for remitting "any additional taxes to the taxing authority."
Buyers either don't know or ignore that they are supposed to calculate and
pay state and local taxes.The seller is not required to collect sales tax
presently unless the business has a corporate office, warehouse or other
physical presence in the state where the sale occurs. The three-year
national moratorium on new Internet tax laws effectively prohibits changes
in the current methods of receipts and has set off a tax-free shopping
spree. Most online entrepreneurs believe stricter sales-tax rules would slow
the growth of digital commerce. A national advisory panel was appointed in
December to hash out a uniform Internet-tax policy. Because the panel was
slanted toward industry, Congress will consider expanding membership.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: John Simons]
http://wsj.com/
ADS THAT ARE TOO RICH FOR PUBLISHERS' PIPELINES
Issue: Advertising/Electronic Commerce
Companies are debating the merits of "rich media" advertising which imbeds
animation and audio into banner ads. Part of the question is whether the
cost of producing such ads can be justified and if they upset viewers
because they slow down their Web surfing. According to Roger Mele, senior
producer of advertising systems for Yahoo, requests to run rich media ads on
the site "have held steady for the past six months," after a rush of similar
requests were denied. "Now the rich media companies are coming back with new
approaches, and they're talking about the user," he said. "So they're
starting to create a focus that'll work for both sides." Also see Internet
Advertising Bureau http://www.iab.net/
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi tedeschi( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/commerce/26commerce.html
GORE DISCUSSES E-COMMERCE, TAXES, PRIVACY
Issue: Policymakers/Internet
An interview with Vice President Gore that cover e-commerce and taxes,
privacy, and the information technology initiative reported on yesterday.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mary Anne Ostrom and Scott Herhold]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/business/center1/goretech012699.htm
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ANTITRUST
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IN MICROSOFT BATTLE, A SKIRMISH OVER APPLE
Issue: Antitrust
Paul Maritz, a senior Microsoft Corp. official on the witness stand
yesterday, talked about Microsoft's relationship with Apple Computer Inc. in
the antitrust trial against his company. Maritz, sparring with Justice
Department lawyer David Boies for 2