BROADBAND
Open Access Now! Wait, Never Mind (WSJ)
FCC Issues Inquiry On Advanced Telecommunications Capability (FCC)
INTERNET
Experts Want to Dissect McCain's Internet Fundraising (NYT)
Wireless Option Opens Door To A New E-World (USA)
My Kinda Town (NYT)
PRIVACY
Lawsuit Says Web Cookies Allow Illegal Stalking (NYT)
FTC Reviews Privacy Issues at Health Web Sites (WSJ)
ACCESS
FCC Adopts Rules To Improve Phone Services For The Disabled (SJM)
SATELITTES
Motorola Inc, McCaw Shift Iridium Tactics (WSJ)
Accord Reached On Bid for Comsat (WP)
BROADBAND
OPEN ACCESS NOW! WAIT, NEVER MIND.
Issue: Broadband
Last year, America Online vehemently lobbied for laws mandating that cable
companies offering broadband service provide "open access" to AOL and other
Internet service providers. But last week, in light of its pending deal with
Time/Warner, AOL stepped back from its ardent stance on open access. "Its
rhetoric may have been lofty," says Gilder, "But its motives were
self-interested." AOL, which had no broadband conduits of its own, knew that
it would eventually become obsolete if it had no way of offering its
customers high-speed services. So, while AOL will now its own cable
broadband lines, its fight for open access has resulted in at least one
decision to require AT&T to open its privately owned and financed cable
lines to competitors, in particular AOL. The usual circumstance for imposing
such a "common carrier" requirement is the existence of a "natural monopoly"
dictating that only one conduit of a kind can realistically be supported to
any consumer. Broadband access, however, "is not a natural monopoly," Gilder
argues. "We don't have a duo-opoly in broadband; we don't even have a
monopoly in broadband; we have a no-opoply," says William Kennard, chairman
of the Federal Communications Commission.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A14), AUTHOR: George Gilder (President of
Gilder Technology Group and editor of the Gilder Technology Report)]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950834775792113320.htm)
See Also:
AOL RE-OPENS DIALOG ON OPEN ACCESS
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dan Gillmore]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/columns/gillmor/docs/dg021800.htm)
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION ISSUES INQUIRY FOR ITS SECOND REPORT ON
ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY
Issue: Broadband
Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission released a Notice of
Inquiry seeking data to determine the rate of deployment of "advanced
telecommunications capability," especially to rural and inner city areas and
persons with disabilities. The Commission also seeks comment on what actions
will accelerate deployment if it is determined that advanced
telecommunications capability is not being deployed to all Americans in a
reasonable and timely fashion.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/2000/nrcc0011.html)
INTERNET
EXPERTS WANT TO DISSECT MCCAIN'S INTERNET FUNDRAISING
Issue: Political Discourse
McCain's ability to raise $2 million via the Internet after his win in the
New Hampshire primary could mark a, "turning point in history," thinks
Michael Cornfield, director of the Democracy Online Project at George
Washington University. That is, if the numbers are true. Prof. Cornfield
has asked the McCain campaign for a list of donors to survey them and ask
how they contributed. His whole question is; were the Internet contributions
evidence of a "spontaneous groundswell of support" for McCain or were they a
result of solicitations? Last week, the campaign admitted to making
telephone calls to prospective donors and entering their credit card numbers
into the Web site, then including those contributions in the Internet
fundraising totals. Yesterday though, Max Fose, who runs the McCain Internet
site, said that Internet donations had not been solicited. As it stands,
experts are afraid that McCain's campaign results may cause other campaign
managers to believe they can get Internet windfalls without exerting much
effort -- an unrealistic expectation that could cause a backlash against the
use of the Internet in politics.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Rebecca Fairley Raney]
(http://www6.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/cyber/articles/18campaign.html)
SEE ALSO:MCCAIN E-CAMPAIGN: SPARE, CHAOTIC, SUCCESSFUL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A16), AUTHOR: Glenn Simpson]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950834320243039643.htm)
My Kinda Town
Issue: Internet Regulation
(Op-Ed)What happens if you take the current regulatory approach to the
Internet and apply it to, say, the city of Bethesda? With the moratorium on
any taxation, the Montgomery Mall becomes a beacon for shoppers from
Virginia, Baltimore, even Philadelphia. Granted, the online stores like
Buy.com aren't too happy, if you don't have to pay taxes at the mall, why
pay their shipping charges? And while it'll be hard getting used to living
in a "window shade free zone" in which, "all kinds of people passing by your
house can peer in and see your eating habits, shopping habits, sexual
predilections, and then sell that information to marketing companies,
unimpeded," at least there is no more junk mail, "only advertising tailored
to our desires." So it'll be hard getting people to overcome their concerns
about moving here since, "occasionally someone abuses your freedom --
reading your mail, libeling you or spreading scurrilous rumors." But you
can't have a successful community with regulation, "Because if you regulate
us, or tax us, you'll kill us." Just ask Commerce Secretary William Daley,
"It is not about the government regulating this ..., because, of course, it
is the dynamic engine that is driving our economy today and we must keep
that open." Writer Thomas Friedman suggests that an unregulated Internet is
no more plausible than the idea of an unregulated community.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A31), AUTHOR: Thomas Friedman]
(http://www6.nytimes.com/library/opinion/friedman/021800frie.html)
WIRELESS OPTION OPENS DOOR TO A NEW E-WORLD
Issue: Wireless/Internet
Several wireless companies, including Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson have begun
to market Web-enabled cell phones. Sprint, AT&T, and Nextel, along with many
local phone carriers, are franticly developing Web services for these
devices, even though customers have yet to jump on the wireless Web
bandwagon. So far, the resolution is poor, the access is slow, the offerings
are meager and the access expensive. But within the next year or so that may
change. Yahoo, America Online and every major Web retailer and travel site
have plans to get their content out to wireless devices. And the sluggish
speeds for these phones are likely to get a boost. The data access speeds on
Sprint's wireless Web phones, which currently are less than 14.4 kilobits
per second, will be up to 28.8K and maybe 56K by the middle of this year.
[SOURCE: USAToday (B1), AUTHOR: Kevin Maney]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000218/1949841s.htm)
ACCESS
FCC ADOPTS RULES TO IMPROVE PHONE SERVICES FOR THE DISABLED
Issue: Media and Society
The Federal Communications Commission is requiring phone companies to expand
the services they offer to persons with disabilities. The Commission voted
5-0 to require phone companies to provide a nationwide service that allows
users to speak directly to a special operator -- trained to identify speech
patterns of those with disabilities -- who would relay the message to the
person on the other end of the line. The FCC also wants phone companies to
improve existing services, for example requiring that text telephone (TTY)
operators be able to type 60 words a minute. All states now offer TTY
services in which the user types a message and an operator reads it out loud
to the person on the other end. Ten states offer the speech-to-speech
service already, in which people with speech disabilities can use their own
voice or a voice synthesizer to talk on the telephone, using special relay
operators. Phone carriers have to make available the new speech-to-speech
service by March 1, 2001. [SOURCE: San Jose Mercury Online, AUTHOR: Staff
Writer]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/038195.htm)
PRIVACY
LAWSUIT SAYS WEB COOKIES ALLOW ILLEGAL STALKING
In what is possibly the most creative take on the issue of Internet privacy,
a lawyer in Dallas has filed a lawsuit against Yahoo and Broadcast.com, one
of its subsidiaries, seeking class-action status and $50 billion dollars in
damages for violating Texas' anti-stalking law. The law states that a person
who follows another person around repeatedly in a way that is calculated to
cause the victim to fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her
family or property is guilty of stalking. The suit claims that Yahoo's use
of cookies amounts to a "surveillance-like" scheme that monitors and stalks
users without their full knowledge or consent. Lawrence J. Friedman, the
lawyer who filed the suit, acknowledged that the Texas law does require that
the stalker make a victim fear for his or her safety. Using cookies is a
form of theft, Friedman claims, because they take up space and are placed
without adequate user permission. "It's like placing a video camera on your
dining room table. That would be [removing] a section of the table -- you
couldn't dine on it," Friedman said. John Sobel, associate general counsel
of Yahoo, responded to the Texas stalker case by saying that it
"demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding about cookies." "Cookies are a
good thing," he said. "They help Web sites provide personalized services,
such as a shopping cart or recognizing your browser when you return."
[Source: New York Times (Cybertimes) Author: Carl S. Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/cyber/cyberlaw/18law.html)
FTC REVIEWS PRIVACY ISSUES AT HEALTH WEB SITES
Issue: Privacy/Health
The FTC has decided to launch a broad review of health-care Web sites to see
if they are improperly sharing visitors personal information with third
parties. "Based on what we've seen, there's reason to be concerned that
there are a number of health companies out there that are not keeping their
promises to consumers about the way they're handling personal information,"
said Richard Cleland from the FTC. A group of health-care Internet companies
have formed an association called the Hi-Ethics Alliance to deal with
privacy and ethics issues. HealthCentral.com and iVillage.com are two of the
sites under investigation.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Jerry Guidera, Glenn Simpson,
Nick Wingfield]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950832549204953612.htm)
SATELITTES
MOTOROLA INC, MCCAW SHIFT IRIDIUM TACTICS
Issue: Satellites
Craig McCaw and Motorola have changed their plans on how to rescue the
troubled Iridium satellite-phone system. Initially, Mr. McCaw's Eagle River
Investments firm and Motorola had offered to provide $75 million in interim
financing to Iridium, enough to carry them through mid-June, while Mr. McCaw
decided whether he wanted to take over the 66-satellite system. Now, McCaw's
Eagle River Investments and Motorola said they will provide only $5 million
in interim financing, carrying Iridium up till March 6, and then submit a
follow-up financing plan to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York next week.
Eagle River said it would lead a group of investors to buy Iridium's assets
by mid-April, essentially sparking an auction for Iridium. The change in
plans comes three days after a group of Iridium's creditors objected to the
original proposal, claiming that it would unfairly enrich Motorola. They
have asked the bankruptcy court for permission to sue Motorola for $2
billion in damages.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Scott Thurm]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950843334164717584.htm)
ACCORD REACHED ON BID FOR COMSAT
Issue: Mergers
House and Senate negotiators have reached an agreement on legislation
clearing the way for Lockheed to complete its $2.7 billion purchase of
Comsat Corp. Lockheed bought 49 percent of Comsat last fall, but it needs a
change in the law to acquire the rest. This is because Comsat was created in
1962 to represent to U.S. in forming an international network of satellites
(known as Intelsat). Because Comsat was the only U.S. entity with access to
Intelsat, Congress prohibited any single investor from owning more than half
of it. While the Senate passed a bill allowing Lockheed to buy Comsat, the
House's bill was much broader and contained provisions that Lockheed said
would kill the deal. The compromise, announced last night, would remove some
of those provisions. For example, the compromise states that while competing
companies may buy satellite access directly from Intelsat, effectively
bypassing Comsat, they are not allowed to invest in Intelsat. Lockheed
claims that would strip Comsat of its value and kill the merger. The
sponsors of the House and Senate bills said that they would support the
compromise when it goes through the conference committee process.
[Source: Washington Post (E1) Author: Greg Schneider]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/a2909-2000feb18.htm)
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