DIGITAL DIVIDE
Advanced Telecommunications in Rural America (NTIA)
President Asks for Wider Internet Access (SJM)
INTERNET
Efforts to Keep the Web From Getting Too Personal (NYT)
Internet Access Charge Prohibition Act (House)
MERGERS
European Union to List Concerns About WorldCom-Sprint Merger (WSJ)
INTERNATIONAL
Syria Advances Cautiously Into the Online Age (WP)
E-Opportunity Abounds In China But So Do Hurdles For Online
Entrepreneurs (NYT)
French Government Withdraws An Amendment on Local Calls (WSJ)
ANTITRUST
State and Federal Lawyers Unite on Microsoft (NYT)
SATELLITES
Boeing Plans Deal to Provide In-flight Access to Live TV, Web (WSJ)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN RURAL AMERICA
Issue: Universal Service
Americans in rural areas lag far behind those in urban areas in access to
advanced telecommunications services, according to a new government report
President Clinton released as part of his New Markets Tour. The advanced
services, commonly known as broadband services, provide high-speed Internet
access and will be a key to the nation's future economic growth. The report,
prepared jointly by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications
and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department's Rural
Utilities Service, responds to a request by 10 U.S. Senators on the status
of broadband deployment in rural versus non-rural areas of the nation and
the potential for new technologies to serve rural areas and underscores the
call by President Clinton and Vice President Gore to bridge the digital
divide.
The report concluded that broadband services have been deployed in urban
areas more than in rural communities. It found that broadband over cable has
been deployed in more than 65 percent of all cities with populations over
250,000, and that broadband over the telephone network has been deployed in
56 percent of all cities with populations over 100,000, while less than five
percent of towns of 10,000 or less have access to either technology. The
primary reason for the slower deployment of advanced services in rural areas
is economic, the report said. The cost to serve a customer increases the
greater the distance among customers. The report recommends a number of
actions including fulfillment of the statutory goals under the
Telecommunications Act of 1996; the consideration of universal service
support mechanisms to support broadband services; and continued support and
expansion to such government initiatives as the E-rate program. The E-rate
program provides Internet access to schools and libraries at discounted
rates to ensure access to new technologies such as broadband services. In
addition, the report said that support for research on alternative
technologies will be crucial to the deployment of advanced services in rural
America. It also urged policymakers to implement regulatory reforms to
stimulate private sector investment in broadband
services.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/ruralbb42600.pdf)
PRESIDENT ASKS FOR WIDER INTERNET ACCESS
Issue: Digital Divide
During his "New Market" tour stop in Whiteville, North Carolina, President
Clinton declared that high-speed Internet access is just as important to
rural communities as telephones, electricity and roads. The President also
highlighted the current disparity in access to broadband service between
cities and rural communities. According to White House statistics, broadband
access costs as much as $1,700 a month in places like Whiteville, while in
most cities the cost for the same service averages $200 a month. The
President praised an agreement between Bell South, GTE and Sprint that will
bring broadband to North Carolina within the next three years and make
dial-up access available within one year from every North Carolina local
telephone exchange carrier. Clinton called pleaded to other
telecommunications companies to make similar investments into rural
communities. The need for broadband in rural communities was emphasized even
further during Clinton's visit to Remote Data Systems (RDS). RDS President
Ben Frink told Clinton that the speed of RDS' Internet access is directly
related to RDS ability to grow. In this case, the slow speed of RDS'
Internet access has become RDS' primary barrier to growth.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/006553.htm)
INTERNET
EFFORTS TO KEEP THE WEB FROM GETTING TOO PERSONAL
Issue: Privacy
Several companies have sprung up to help people control over what sort of
information Web sites can gather about them. The companies, such as
Enonymous, PrivaSeek and Zero-Knowledge Systems, are calling themselves
"infomediaries" (if nothing else, the Internet has given us more cute names
for things than were available at any previous point in history). They work
by collecting information from a user and giving it out to other sites with
the individual's approval. I know what you are thinking-and you are not
alone: "The infomediaries are just more third parties who can change their
mind while holding your information, or who could be bought by somebody else
who has a different privacy policy," said Lauren Weinstein, co-founder of
People for Internet Responsibility. Meanwhile, the Washington-based World
Wide Web Consortium, which seeks to set up standards for the Internet, has
been working to create software that would automatically read a site's
privacy policy and compare it to the user's privacy preferences. The
initiative has come under fire recently for not addressing penalties for a
company breaching its stated policy. Also, there is no guarantee that
software companies will comply with the protocols needed to make the
initiative work.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E6) AUTHOR: Catherine Greenman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/circuits/articles/27priv.html)
INTERNET ACCESS CHARGE PROHIBITION ACT
Issue: Internet/Legislation
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection
has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, May 3, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. in 2123
Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing will focus on H.R. 4202, the
Internet Services Promotion Act of 2000 and H.R. 1291, the Internet Access
Charge Prohibition Act of 1999. Witnesses will be by invitation only.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://com-notes.house.gov/schedule.htm)
MERGERS
EUROPEAN UNION TO LIST CONCERNS ABOUT WORLDCOM-SPRINT MERGER
Issue: Merger
The European Commission repeated a warning that it is inclined to block MCI
WorldCom Inc.'s planned $129 billion acquisition of Sprint Corp. unless the
two U.S. companies agree to significant divestments. European Competition
Commissioner Mario Monti said the commission intended to mail the companies
a formal statement of objections in the next few days. The commission's
statement of objections is expected to demand the divestiture of the
Internet activities of either MCI WorldCom or Sprint, with a clear
preference for the divestiture of MCI WorldCom's UUNet Internet-services
unit. (Sprint already has offered to divest its Internet activities). When
MCI sought regulatory approval of its merger with WorldCom in 1998, the
commission forced MCI to sell its Internet business to Cable & Wireless.
Both Cable & Wireless and labor unions have accused MCI WorldCom of failing
to execute the previous divestiture properly.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Brandon Mitchener and
Philip Shiskin]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB956761358144332676.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
SYRIA ADVANCES CAUTIOUSLY INTO THE ONLINE AGE
Issue: Internet
Syria is slowly being pushed online by a 35-year-old ophthalmologist who
happens to be the country's heir apparent. Bashar Assad, the eldest
surviving son of Presiden Hafez Assad, said recently in an interview that
while tradition may dictate some "guidelines" for controls on Internet
technologies, there is more to be gained than lost by being wired. "As a
point of principle, I would like everybody to be able to see everything. The
more you see, the more you improve. . . .Knowledge is limitless," he said.
"Personally, I try to look for self-discipline, self-regulation. Some other
people have their doubts." In addition to its Internet expansion, Syria also
has a fledgling cellular market. Two consortia, including Egyptian and
Lebanese investors, along with Ericcson and Siemens, are spending around $31
million to get things started. Currently the phones are priced out of the
reach of most Syrians-at around $1,200, but the companies say that prices
should drop soon.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1) AUTHOR: Howard Schneider
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21443-2000Apr26.html)
FRENCH GOVERNMENT WITHDRAWS AN AMENDMENT ON LOCAL CALLS
Issue: Telephony
The French government withdrew a legislative amendment that would have
opened France Telecom's monopoly of the "local loop" - the last stretch of
telephone cable linking users directly to the operator - to new competition
at the request of the Communist Party. The European Commission has said that
governments should open local loop competition by the beginning of next year
or that incumbent operators in markets where that doesn't take place could
face antitrust suits. A spokeswoman for the Industry Ministry said the
French government would either re-introduce its amendment, issue a
governmental decree on the issue, or follow-up on a recent decision by
France's competition council that requires France Telecom to allow rivals
more access to the local loop for high-speed Internet services. "Unless the
amendment is presented again soon, this is going to slow the development of
an Internet culture in France," said Jean-Philippe Valryck, a delegate with
the AFOPT, an association of French alternative telephone operators.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Kevin Delaney]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB956783060666868776.htm)
E-OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS IN CHINA BUT SO DO HURDLES FOR ONLINE ENTREPRENEURS
Issue: E-Commerce
Dozens of electronic commerce and technology companies active in China
came together Wednesday at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School
to discuss the state of e-commerce in China. The meeting comes as debate
heats up over China's admission to the World Trade Organization - a move
proponents say would help U.S. companies profit from China's rapid embrace
of the Internet - and as a record number of Chinese go online. The number of
Internet users on the mainland is estimated at 10 million today, up from
just 2 million in 1998. 30 million users are expected by 2003. Conference
participants spoke of the difficulties of doing business on the Internet in
China. Few Chinese can make online purchases because only a fraction have
credit or debit cards. Dot-coms are also concerned about the role of the
Chinese government, they would like to establish clearer rules tax
obligations for e-commerce transactions.
[SOURCE: USAToday (3B), AUTHOR: James Cox]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000427/2204309s.htm)
ANTITRUST
STATE AND FEDERAL LAWYERS UNITE ON MICROSOFT
Issue: Antitrust
The federal government and the states that are partners in the antitrust
suit against Microsoft agreed today to file a joint proposal on remedies in
the case and back a plan to break Microsoft into two companies, officials
said. While a majority of the 19 state attorneys general involved have
signed onto the plan, but that a few holdouts remained. "There may well be a
minority opinion offered," one senior official said. "But what it will be
and how it will be expressed, we don't know yet." The joint state-federal
plan calls for breaking Microsoft roughly in half, with one-half would be
the operating-system company, the other would hold everything else. The
proposal also includes a range of interim restrictions on Microsoft's
conduct, included is a plan to publish a uniform price list for Windows and
to
give other companies free access to the software interface codes for
Windows.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/27soft.html)
See Also:
PRIVATE SUITS AGAINST MICROSOFT ORDERED BY JUDGES TO BE HANDLED BY ONE COURT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB956791498142714628.htm)
SATELLITES
BOEING PLANS DEAL TO PROVIDE INFLIGHT ACCESS TO LIVE TV, WEB
Issue: Satellites
Boeing has joined forces with units of Loral Space & Communications Ltd.,
Italy's Finmeccanica SpA and Japan's Mitsubishi group to create an
inflight-communications venture that will provide airline passengers with
live television and Internet access. CNN and CNBC are the proposed content
providers for the venture. The aim is to provide high-speed Internet
connections and e-mail at prices lower than what passengers are paying to
use the current generation of telephones installed throughout airliner
cabins. This venture is a major step for Boeing towards its goal of becoming
a leader in providing two-way, satellite-based broadband services to
commercial and corporate aircraft.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Andy Pasztor and Jeff
Cole]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB956790743554374175.htm)
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