INTERNET
Privacy Policy Vs.Practice (WP)
Hearing on Viruses Becomes Debate on Privacy (CyberTimes)
AOL To Roll Out Devices That Get You On The Internet
Without Requiring A PC (WSJ)
Judge Strips Look-Alike Web Name (WP)
Engineer Charged in Online Hoax (WP)
Altavista To Auction Advertising Space (WP)
Rap Revolutionaries Plan an Internet Release (NYT)
A Virtual Firm for Lawyers Who Volunteer (CyberTimes)
TELEPHONY
Ameritech Takes Some of Mystery Out of Bills (ChiTrib)
FCC Auction Of Wireless-Phone Licenses Brings In Total Of
About $412.8 Million (WSJ)
AT&T, Time Warner Likely Won't Sign Deal For Local Phone
Service By April 30 (WSJ)
Telecom Italia Holds New Talks (WSJ)
FCC
Kennard Testifies before House Appropriations Committee (NECA)
INTERNET
PRIVACY POLICY VS. PRACTICE
Issue: Privacy
The federal government is not doing a very good job protecting Americans'
privacy on the Internet, according to the Center of Democracy and
Technology. The Washington-based, high-tech policy and advocacy group will
release a report today that suggests not all federal Web sites adhere to the
Clinton administration's claims that it wants to protect privacy on the Web.
CDT concludes that only a third of the federal Web sites reviewed
publish a link to a "privacy notice" or "privacy policy" -- disclosures on
what information is collected electronically and how it is used -- on their
home page. Only half had notices that could be found with a few clicks of a
computer mouse. "Posting the privacy notices just gets us to the point where
the agencies say, 'Yes, we agree privacy is an issue,'" CDT policy analyst
Ari Schwartz said. "Next we can look at the actual content of the policies."
CDT says it sent its report to Peter Swire, appointed last month by the
White House as the first "chief counselor for privacy" and urged him to
bring all federal Web sites into compliance.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A27), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-04/16/089l-041699-idx.html)
HEARING ON VIRUSES BECOMES DEBATE ON PRIVACY
Issue: Privacy
On Thursday, a Congressional subcommittee hearing on how to prevent further
outbreaks of viruses like Melissa became a discussion of tensions that
arises from protecting the nation's computer networks against such attacks
without jeopardizing privacy in Cyberspace. "We are so wrapped up with the
idea of hunting down cyberterrorists that the walls are chipped out and our
privacy rights are steadily eroded," said Rep Anthony Weiner (D-NY).
Rep. Wiener was disturbed that America Online and Microsoft provided
information to help track the creator of the Melissa virus. Others, however,
focused more on the potential harm that other viruses could cause. "Future
mutations, or entire new strains, could easily be much harder to detect,
spread even more quickly and cause significantly more damage," said Richard
Pethia, director of a computer security center at Carnegie Mellon. Pethia
and others stressed the need for greater cooperation between governmental
and private entities in the tracking of cyber criminals.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/cyber/articles/16virus.html)
AOL TO ROLL OUT DEVICES THAT GET YOU ON THE INTERNET WITHOUT REQUIRING A PC
Issue: Internet Access
AOL is expected to introduce a number of devices that allow access to the World
Wide Web without the use of a personal computer. A "screen phone" is one such
device. It looks like an office desk phone, but has a small screen and
keyboard. AOL's goal with the new device is: "to make AOL a pervasive presence
in consumer's lives, cementing member loyalty and expanding revenue
opportunities for advertising and electronic commerce," Weber and Delaney
report. Although a manufacturing partner has not been announced, Alcatel of
France is the most likely. Minitel, an earlier screen phone has caught on in
France. AOL is hoping that with a mass market of US consumers hooked on the Web
and email, the screen-phone will not replace the PC (to be used for longer
Internet sessions) but will be sold as a way to perform shorter Internet tasks.
AOL's backing would give Alcatel the name it needs to sell its phones. Alcatel
screen-phones do not use Microsoft operating system -- they use Java software
from Sun Microsystems, AOL's new partner stemming from AOL's Netscape
purchase.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Thomas Weber, Kevin Delaney]
(http://wsj.com/)
JUDGE STRIPS LOOK-ALIKE WEB NAME
Issue: Legal Issues/Internet
The decision of a federal judge in Virginia yesterday is expected to set a
precedent for thousands of variations of popular corporate names that have
been registered by individuals either seeking to sell them back to the
business or drum up traffic for their own sites. U.S. District Judge Claude
Hilton ruled that the domain name "wwwpainewebber.com" be stripped from the
owner of a pornographic Web site and that the name be frozen by Network
Solutions, the company that doles out Web site names. Walter Effross, a law
professor at American University, said, "This ruling is significant, because
it's going to raise a lot of companies' consciousness that they should be
doing something about their site names. This is surely going to spawn a lot
of other cases." Effross believes the ruling will put more responsibility on
Network Solutions to review domain name requests. At the present time
Network Solutions receives 7,000 registration requests every day and
normally approves their use within 24 hours.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Ianthe Jeanne Dugan]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/april99/internet0416...)
ENGINEER CHARGED IN ONLINE HOAX
Issue: Legal Issues/Internet
A 25-year-old employee of PairGain Technologies was arrested yesterday and
accused of originating a fake news story posted on the Web that caused stock
prices for PairGain to rise dramatically. Gary Dale Hoke of Raleigh (NC)
faces a charge of securities fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 10
years in prison and a $1 million fine. A fake Bloomberg News Web page
included a false report of the company's impending acquisition and led to
frenzied trading in PairGain on April 7. Hoke allegedly used the Angelfire
service for his bogus Web page and Microsoft's Hotmail.com to direct people
to the page from a financial message board operated by the online portal
company Yahoo. Charles McBrayer, chief financial officer at PairGain,
suggested two motivations for such an act. He believes the person is "trying
to make money on it or trying to make money for some friends on it -- or
trying to prove how smart he is, that he's smarter than everybody else."
[Maybe he should move to DC when this is over -- proving how smart you are
is considered acceptable social behavior there]
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E2), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/biztop924260291361.htm)
ALTAVISTA TO AUCTION ADVERTISING SPACE
Issue: Electronic Commerce
AltaVista announced yesterday it will take the commercialism of search
results one step further by placing paid material directly in the list of
relevant sites located by a search. The Internet search service said the
advertisements will be marked as ads and are being used in an attempt to
increase revenue for the site and heighten the relevancy of search returns.
Starting Monday AltaVista will phase in paid placements for the 500 keywords
(search terms) they are auctioning to advertisers. Initially only one
advertiser will be listed per search. Later a second paid listing will be
added. Critics contend that the advertisements sully the "objective"
computer-generated results that come up in response to searches. AltaVista's
owner, Compaq Computer Corp., has been adding features to the service as it
readies it for a public stock offering later this year.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E3), AUTHOR: Leslie Walker]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/april99/search0416.htm)
RAP REVOLUTIONARIES PLAN AN INTERNET RELEASE
Issue: Internet/Recording Industry
Public Enemy, a popular rap group, will release its new album, "There's
Poison Going On", through the Internet. The record will be available for
download and mail order on a Web site starting in May, but wont be
available in stores until June 16. Atomic Pop, the group's label, has not
yet decided on which of the competing formats it will use to compress the
album into a downloadable file. The decision of Public Enemy to do an
Internet release highlights the industry's move toward the distribution of
music through digital means. "Change is inevitable, and everything is about
to change," said Chuck D, the rapper who leads Public Enemy. "At the end of
the day," said Al Teller, founder of Atomic Pop, "artists will see a
larger dollar amount than from the traditional way of selling records."
[SOURCE: New York Times (B5), AUTHOR: Neil Strauss]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/biztech/articles/16chuck.html)
A VIRTUAL FIRM FOR LAWYERS WHO VOLUNTEER
Issue: Volunteerism
A recently launched Web site, Probono.net, hopes to turn the good intentions
of overworked lawyers into reality for people needing free legal help.
Michael Hertz, a partner in a New York law firm, founded the project with
the help of a $250,000 grant from financier George Soros' Open Society
Institute. The site is organized around several practice areas, each of
which is "hosted" by a public interest law firm and supported by a private
firm. Lawyers who visit the site can find out about cases that need
volunteers and visit an online library to learn information about unfamiliar
areas of the law. "The need is huge," Hertz said. "Studies show that 80
percent of the civil legal needs of low-income people go unmet by lawyers.
If we can link all the parts of the legal system together, it can be very
effective." Many in the legal and nonprofit communities are very excited
about possibilities this project. "In one way, this site enables attorneys
sitting at desktops in an office to find out about areas of law that might
interest them, find out who the players are and find out how to get involved
in a public interest program," said Michael Rothenberg, associate director
of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/cyber/cyberlaw/16law.html)
TELEPHONY
AMERITECH TAKES SOME OF MYSTERY OUT OF BILLS
Issue: Telephone
A simplified phone bill from local phone giant Ameritech has been unveiled
in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio and is will be used in Chicago in a month or
two. The new bill will help the company comply with yesterday's
truth-in-billing order from the FCC. But there's still problems: The new
Ameritech bill, for example, has a single line that reads 'Federal Access
Charge...$3.50.' "That's a charge name that keeps changing," said Martin
Cohen, executive director of the Illinois Citizens Utility Board consumer
advocacy group. "They were calling it a 'mandatory charge per FCC order,'
and now call it a federal access charge, but none of the names really
describes it. Most customers assume it is a tax, but it isn't," he said. "It
is a charge made by Ameritech for the purpose of maintaining their network
lines. It was approved by the FCC, but not mandated. The FCC limits how much
Ameritech can charge, but it doesn't require them to levy the charge, and
none of it goes to any governmental body." Mr. Cohen said the new Ameritech
bill still makes a number of fixed monthly fees sound like taxes even though
they aren't. The new bill does go far to solve two industry headaches:
slamming -- where a company illegally switches a consumers service -- and
cramming -- where a company adds new services without permission. Last year,
the FCC logged more than 60,000 consumer complaints about confusing phone
bills and service changes they didn't ask for.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (p.1), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
(http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-27130,00.html)
FCC AUCTION OF WIRELESS-PHONE LICENSES BRINGS IN TOTAL OF ABOUT $412.8 MILLION
Issue: Spectrum/Regulation
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) raised about $412 million in an
auction of over 300 licenses to be used by cellular phone companies and paging
services. Due to increased competition and prices have gone down since the last
auction. In 1996, the FCC took in $10.2 billion and auctioned 493 licenses.
Scott Cleland, managing director of the Legg Mason Precursor Group, said, "The
difference in the proceeds shows that the value of spectrum has changed. At the
[earlier auctions] people thought this was the last frontier. But the FCC has
put more out there so it's not as scarce. Also, there's a lot more competition
and so, there's more risk." The biggest winner was Cook Inlet/Vocie Stream, an
Anchorage Alaska based company owned by native Alaskans. It spent $19.2 million
on 28 licenses in Chicago and Dallas. FCC Chairman Kennard said the auction
added licenses to smaller markets, like Carlsbad (NM), as well as larger ones.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: Kathy Chen]
(http://wsj.com/)
AT&T, TIME WARNER LIKELY WON'T SIGN DEAL FOR LOCAL PHONE SERVICE BY APRIL 30
Issue: Cable/Telephony
AT&T said they may not have an agreement closed with Time Warner by April 30.
Talks began on Feb. 1 between the two around Time Warner offering AT&T access
to its 12 million customers. Time Warner Chairman Gerald Levin says the talks
are proving to be complex. An AT&T statement says, "There are no hurdles to
prevent us from reaching an agreement soon." The complexities of the talks stem
from AT&T's attempt to gain an agreement with cable operators to use their
lines to provide local phone service across the US. AT&T would like to use its
agreement with Time Warner as a model for deals with other cable operators. In
turn, Time Warner wants to see how AT&T fares with other companies before they
cement their 20 year agreement with AT&T. The two companies have resolved a
couple of issues -- how revenues will be divided and how much capacity or
"bandwidth" AT&T will have on Time Warner systems. Unresolved issues include
which cities to launch service in and when. Media One must also approve the
agreement. It has veto rights over Time Warner's cable systems.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B7), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
(http://wsj.com/)
TELECOM ITALIA HOLDS NEW TALKS
Issue: International/Telecommunications
Telecom Italia has entered talks with telecommunications company Deutsche
Telekom -- discussing a merger that would prevent Olivetti's pending takeover
of Telecom Italia. Government ownership and the strategic partnership currently
in place between France Telecom and Deutsche Telecom are two "huge hurdles" to
the merger. The German government owns 74% of Deutsche Telekom, while the
Italian government owns only 4.5% of Telecom Italia. If the merger were to go
through and the German government held onto its shares, it would be a major
shareholder in what is now Telecom Italia. Both governments hold their former
monopolies as national strategic assets and the European Commission would
scrutinize the deal. Further complications include France Telecom and Deutche
Telekom's joint stake in Sprint, known as Global One. If the Telecom Italia and
Deutche Telekom merger goes through, Deutche Telekom would increase its global
presence and be a stronger rival to AT&T and British Telecommunications.
Telecom Italia may present the pending merger as the only alternative to
Olivetti's pending $65 billion bid to take over the company.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A10), AUTHOR: Anita Raghavan, Steven Lipin and
Gautam Naik]
(http://wsj.com/)
FCC
KENNARD TESTIFIES BEFORE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Issue: FCC/Budget Issues
The House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce yesterday held
a hearing on the FCC's Year 2000 budget. The FCC has requested a Year 2000
budget of $230,887,000 and a staff of 1,930 funded full-time equivalents
(FTEs). The request is an increase on $38,887,000 from the previous year. Of
the increase, $20.3 million is directly related to the agency's relocation
to its new Portals location. Subcommittee Chairman Rogers (R-Kentucky), who
opposed the FCC's relocation and who worked to block the FCC's relocation
funding request last year, said that the subcommittee will not appropriate
money to pay for the move. Chairman Rogers said that as long as he is
chairman, "we will not pay." The FCC is seeking $8.7 million in year 2000
to help repay the General Services Administration (GSA) for part of its
moving expenses. Chairman Kennard said that Congress' refusal to help fund
the move could have a "devastating effect" on the agency. Rep Julian Dixon
(D-CA) stated that the subcommittee should "make it clear" to GSA that money
for the relocation is never going to paid and added that GSA should not
punish the FCC. Chairman Kennard pledged to work with the subcommittee "to
make the best of the situation."
Chairman William Kennard before the House Appropriations Committee,
Subcommittee on Commerce: In his prepared statement, Chairman Kennard
briefed Subcommittee Members on the recent FCC consumer protection
initiatives. Chairman Kennard mentioned three examples of the agency's
commitment to "work on behalf of the American consumer": 1) the FCC has
increased consumer access to long distance rate information by requiring
long distance carriers to publicly disclose their rates to the public in an
easy-to-understand, clear format, including posting rates on the companies'
websites; 2) the Commission launched a consumer education campaign to
publicize what cable consumers should now do to ensure good service and fair
rates since sunset of FCC's cable rate regulation authority; and 3) the
adoption of new standards which will require telephone companies to make
their bills clear and easy to understand. Chairman Kennard also told the
Subcommittee that the agency needs the right tools to be able to create a
"leaner and smarter" FCC. Chairman Kennard requested Congress give the
agency buy out authority. He said this would allow the FCC to buy out
permanent employees and to replace them with employees with the appropriate
skills to handle the agency's changing workload. In addition, Chairman
Kennard said the FCC needs legislation to ensure that the goals of Section
309(j) of the Communications Act are met, and that our auctions/licensing
process is not completely undermined by the bankruptcy courts.
[SOURCE: National Exchange Carriers Association]
(http://www.neca.org)
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...and we are outta here. Have a great, tax-free weekend.