BROADBAND
AT&T Wins Henrico Cable Access Ruling (WP)
Disney Seeks 'Enforceable' Rules For AOL Purchase of Time Warner (WSJ)
WIRELESS
Cellphones Might Warn of Disasters (USA)
Researchers Suggest Limiting Kids' Cellphone Use (USA)
INTERNET
Microsoft, Slashdot Exchange Volleys (WP)
PRIVACY
Anonymous Message Board Poster Sues Yahoo! for Disclosures (EPIC)
EMPLOYMENT
Clinton Asks Congress to Raise the Limit on Visas for Skilled Workers (NYT)
BROADBAND
DISNEY SEEKS 'ENFORCEABLE' RULES FOR AOL PURCHASE OF TIME WARNER
Issue: Merger
In comments filed to the Federal Communications Commission, Disney asked
federal regulators to impose "enforceable" conditions on America Online
Inc.'s pending acquisition of Time Warner. Disney said such conditions are
necessary to ensure that it and other content providers have access to the
combined AOL-Time Warner's broadband services. In the FCC filing, Disney
complains repeatedly that the combined AOL-Time Warner will have the
technological ability, and incentive, to favor its own content over that
provided by outsiders. Disney says the combination of Time Warner's cable
systems and content with AOL's dominant online services will "create
undeniable economic incentives and opportunity to favor its own affiliated
content and to discriminate against unaffiliated content providers, thereby
limiting and skewing consumer choice." In response to Disney's accusations,
an AOL spokeswoman said in a statement that the company's commitment to
"open access and content diversity couldn't be stronger."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Bruce Orwall and Martin
Peers]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB958094821514273902.htm)
AT&T WINS HENRICO CABLE ACCESS RULING
Issue: Broadband
Judge Richard L. Williams of the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia
has struck down a local law aimed at forcing AT&T Corp. to share its cable
television lines with rival providers of high-speed Internet service. The
district Judge ruled that the Henrico County Board of Supervisors exceeded
its authority under state law and violated federal law on cable services
when it adopted an ordinance last December forcing AT&T to allow multiple
Internet providers to ride its wires into homes. AT&T is awaiting an appeal
in a similar case in Portland, Ore., where last year ruled a judge ruled
against the company. The Board of Supervisors of Henrico County's, which is
just outside Richmond, Va. has argued that "open access" rules are required
to prevent the cable industry from gaining too much power as an Internet
gatekeeper.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E3), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52765-2000May11.html)
WIRELESS
CELLPHONES MIGHT WARN OF DISASTERS
Issue: Wireless
A soon to be released White House report says that voluntary partnerships
between the wireless industry and government agencies could help quickly
spread disaster information. The report, which should be released by the
White House office of science and technology policy in the coming weeks,
says that e-mail, pagers or wireless phones could one day call their owners
with official warnings if they are in the path of a hurricane, flood or
tornado. A comprehensive national system involving wireless communications
could take years and may never develop, but it shows great promise for
supplementing existing government methods of getting the word out, said Pete
Ward, chairman of the committee that worked on the report.
[SOURCE: USAToday (3B), AUTHOR: Shawn Young]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000512/2256765s.htm)
RESEARCHERS SUGGEST LIMITING KIDS' CELLPHONE USE
Issue: Wireless
A report, commissioned by the British government, has found preliminary
evidence indicating that mobile phone radiation could have subtle physical
effects. It suggests that kids wireless phone use should be limited because
their developing brains could be vulnerable to the radiation. The report,
which also urges increased scrutiny and monitoring of transmitters planned
near schools, hospitals or residential areas, admits that there's no
evidence that wireless phones cause harm to children or adults.
[SOURCE: USAToday (B1), AUTHOR: Shawn Young]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000512/2256832s.htm)
INTERNET
MICROSOFT, SLASHDOT EXCHANGE VOLLEYS
Issue: Internet Law/Civil Liberties
Citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Microsoft attorneys sent an
e-mail Wednesday to the editors of the online news site Slashdot.org
demanding that the editors take down postings about the Microsoft KERBEROS
software security system. Microsoft claims that the postings included
information drawn from Microsoft's own Web site. To protect its intellectual
property, Microsoft would prefer that individuals seeking the information
get it directly from Microsoft's site after signing an online agreement to
treat the files as the company's intellectual property. Slashdot - an open
critic of the Microsoft corporation - has called the e-mail an attempt at
censorship. Robin Miller, editor in chief of Slashdot's corporate parent,
Andover.net responded to the e-mail in kind, writing, "after reflecting on
the nature of freedom for a little while, you may wish to withdraw your
request that we remove readers' comments from Slashdot. Please realize that
if we censor our readers' posts because they contain ideas Microsoft does
not wish to have made public, we may set an unhealthy precedent for other
online news outlets and online service providers, including those owned in
whole or in part by Microsoft itself."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52826-2000May11.html)
PRIVACY
ANONYMOUS MESSAGE BOARD POSTER SUES YAHOO! FOR DISCLOSURES (EPIC)
Issue: Privacy
A ground-breaking lawsuit
(http://www.epic.org/anonymity/aquacool_complaint.pdf) has been filed in
federal court in Los Angeles challenging Yahoo!'s controversial practice of
routinely disclosing user information -- without prior notice -- in response
to subpoenas. EPIC and the ACLU have issued a joint press release discussing
the importance of the case, and the anonymous plaintiff has released a
detailed statement (http://www.epic.org/anonymity/aquacool_release.html)
explaining his claims.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/anonymity/epic_aclu_release.html)
EMPLOYMENT
CLINTON ASKS CONGRESS TO RAISE THE LIMIT ON VISAS FOR SKILLED WORKERS
Issue: Jobs
President Clinton asked Congress to provide 200,000 H-1B visas for skilled
foreign workers in each of the next three years. Current law limits the
number of visas at 107,500 in 2001 and 65,000/year after that. Many in
Congress favor an even bigger increase than the one President Clinton
proposed on Thursday. Congress therefore appears likely to approve a very
substantial increase in the number of visas, known as H-1B visas, for
high-tech workers. Robert Cohen, senior vice president of the Information
Technology Association of America, an industry group, welcomed the
president's proposal. "It's very encouraging that the White House sees the
need to raise the cap," Cohen said. "The administration understands better
now than in 1998 that information technology gives an incredible push to the
overall economy. But the number of visas proposed by the administration is
probably not adequate. We would be pleased to see the cap eliminated, so the
marketplace could decide how many people are needed to get the job done."
Michael W. Gildea, a policy analyst in the professional employee division of
the AFL-CIO, said: "We would have preferred no increase in the number of
visas. We see no credible evidence of widespread shortages of information
technology workers."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A14), AUTHOR: Robert Pear]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/12visa.html)
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