Satellites (spin)
House Votes to Prohibit Satellite Exports to China (NYT)
Millions Await Beep, but Box Remains Silent (NYT)
Satellite Failure Is Rare, And Therefore Unsettling (NYT)
Satellite Outage Felt by Millions (ChiTrib)
One Satellite Fails, and the World Goes Awry (WSJ)
Satellites/InfoTech
Satellite's Breakdown Highlights Fragility of Telecommunications
(ChiTrib)
Satellite Glitch Cuts Off Data Flow (WP)
Day's Story Was Missing a Page (WP)
Telephony
SBC Tells Senate Panel It Needs to Get Bigger to Get Better (TelecomAM)
AT&T Seeks Marketing Pact With Bells (WSJ)
AT&T Seeks Long Distance Marketing Deal With Bells (TelecomAM)
Computer Technology
Intel Eases Policy On Licensing Chip Technology (WSJ)
Merger
AOL Is in Talks to Acquire Mirabilis, Maker of Popular
Internet-Chat System (WSJ)
Arts
Summer Movies Sites Finally Exploit the Web's Multimedia Potential
(CyberTimes)
** Satellites **
Title: House Votes to Prohibit Satellite Exports to China
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/washpol/china-congress.html
Author: Eric Schmitt
Issue: Satellites
Description: In two votes May 20, the House approved a ban on the export of
American-made commercial satellites to China and the sensitive technology
embedded in them. The votes reflect the fears of both Democrats and
Republicans that President Clinton's lifting of an earlier ban allowed China
to their make nuclear weapons more accurate. The Administration criticized
the votes saying that it will bar the US satellite industry from using
low-cost Chinese launching services. The measure will now move to the Senate
where passage is unclear.
Title: Millions Await Beep, but Box Remains Silent
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/21pagers.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Satellites
Title: Satellite Failure Is Rare, And Therefore Unsettling
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/21pagers-satelli
tes.html
Author: Laurence Zuckerman
Title: Satellite Outage Felt by Millions
Source: Chicago Tribune (p1)
http://chicago.tribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,1051,ART-8927,00.html
Author: Stevenson Swanson & Jim Kirk
Description: About 80% of the nation's almost 50 million pagers stopped
working after a satellite malfunction Tuesday afternoon. The problem could
take six days to fix as another satellite may have to be sent into the orbit
of the malfunctioning one.
Title: One Satellite Fails, and the World Goes Awry
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1,B9)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Frederic M. Biddle, John Lippman & Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Satellites
Description: When PanAmSat's Galaxy IV satellite went out of service on
Tuesday evening it affected millions of people and businesses. PanAmSat has
been working to reroute services to other satellites, but it may take several
days before the nation's paging system is back in place and up to a week
before a backup for broadcasting is set up. PanAmSat officials still do not
know what caused the failure, saying that there are no signs of sabotage or
evidence that the satellite was hit by space flotsam.
** Satellites/InfoTech **
Title: Satellite's Breakdown Highlights Fragility of Telecommunications
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec1,p27)
http://chicago.tribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,1051,ART-8929,00.html
Author: Frank James & Jon Van
Issue: Satellites/InfoTech
Description: The failure of the Galaxy IV satellite highlights how
susceptible the information infrastructure is too accidents, hackers, and
terrorists. "The whole infrastructure stinks" in terms of reliability, said
Peter Neumann, a scientist at SRI International's Computer Science
Laboratory. "The pager problem is again indicative of the fact that we get
totally over-dependent on our technology. We don't think about what happens
if something goes wrong. There are a lot of folks who are in trouble if
their pagers don't work this morning because that's their means of existence."
Title: Satellite Glitch Cuts Off Data Flow
Source: Washington Post (A1,A22)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-05/21/234l-052198-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Satellites/InfoTech
Description: The malfunction of PanAmSat's satellite Galaxy IV is by far the
worst outage in the 37 years since communications satellites first entered
service. The failure of the satellite has served as a reminder that as
Americans enjoy the "efficiencies and convenience of instant communications,"
they also become more vulnerable and can fall victim when the technology fails.
"We have such a dependable communications system that we often take it for
granted," said Atlanta telecommunications consultant Jeffrey Kagan. "This is
a wake-up call. There are more people using wireless services, and the
technology itself is more complex than ever. So we shouldn't be shocked when
service goes down from time to time." While contingency plans were moved into
place yesterday, the outage adds to fears that the "world's communications
infrastructure is more prone to massive failure than previously believed."
Title: Day's Story Was Missing a Page
Source: Washington Post (A23)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-05/21/151l-052198-idx.html
Author: Mark Leibovich & Scott Wilson
Issue: Satellites/InfoTech
Description: With the failure of PanAmSat's Galaxy IV, a reoccurring question
of modernity has once again been brought to the forefront of our minds: "Do
people control technology, or does technology control people?" As people
realized that the "little boxes on their belts and purses weren't working,
they scrambled to get messages through some other way" -- in some instances,
people actually had to talk to each other. Experts who examine the sociological
effects of technology said that the failure of Galaxy IV has provided them with
an impromptu case study. "Suddenly, we are confronted with a real-life
experiment
to test the nature of our dependency," said Chuck Darrah, chairman of the
anthropology department at San Jose State Univ., who has studied the effect of
new technology of people in Silicon Valley. "These kinds of hazards don't
seem to
be part of the story the public gets" when complex technologies are planned and
first implemented, said Rob Kling, a professor information science and
information
science and information systems at Indiana Univ. "I'm not saying people
should run
around in fear, but they should take a more considered view that we as
society are
building more complex and fragile systems."
** Telephony **
Title: SBC Tells Senate Panel It Needs to Get Bigger to Get Better
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: Appearing before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee May 19, SBC
Chairman Edward Whitacre said that the company needs to take over Ameritech
in order to build a national and global telecommunications company. [Well,
if you put it that way...what were we worried about?] Congress does not seem
convinced. Sen Richard Durbin (D-IL) asked, "Are Ma Bell's kids coming back
home?" Senior Committee Democrat Patrick Leahy (VT) said that before the
"pieces of Ma Bell are put together again, Congress should revisit the
Telecom Act." He said Congress should ensure that the Bell companies do not
gain more control over "huge percentages of the telephone access lines of
this country through merger, but only through robust competition." Mr.
Whitacre outlined a three-step plan to make SBC a global player like AT&T
and British Telecom: 1) leveraging international assets, 2) starting
facilities-based local competition in 30 markets outside of the combined
SBC-Ameritech region and 3) linking major business customers in those
markets through a long-distance network.
Title: AT&T Seeks Marketing Pact With Bells
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3,A6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John J. Keller
Issue: Long-Distance
Description: AT&T has invited the regional Bell telephone companies to sell
its long-distance service to their local phone customers. If the Bell companies
accept this offer, "it would mark the first time AT&T has teamed up with the
local phone monopolies it spawned after the breakup of American Telephone and
Telegraph Co. in 1984."
Title: AT&T Seeks Long Distance Marketing Deal With Bells
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Title: AT&T chief invites alliance similar to deal company opposes
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec3,p3)
http://chicago.tribune.com
Author: Jon Van
Description: AT&T Chairman Michael Armstrong sent letters to each of the
Baby Bells asking the local telephone companies to enter marketing alliances
with the long distance giant. US West and Ameritech have entered similar
deals with Qwest Communications. In a letter faxed to Bell company chief
executives late May 19, Armstrong said that "while we have opposed those
[Qwest-Bell] agreements on legal grounds, we also would like to provide our
customers the convenience of one-stop shopping should these arrangements be
found lawful. In fact, we would like to enter a similar agreement." Mr.
Armstrong said joint marketing is "a terrific opportunity for AT&T to use
the [Bell companies] as an agent to provide long distance service in each of
their regions."
** Computer Technology **
Title: Intel Eases Policy On Licensing Chip Technology
Source: Wall Street Journal (B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Dean Takahashi
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: Intel announced that it plans to license a major chip
technology to other manufacturers. "The technology is related to products
known as chip sets, which perform several tasks inside personal computers in
conjunction with the microprocessors that are Intel's biggest business." The
move helps to ease a policy that has been criticized by some competitors.
** Merger **
Title: AOL Is in Talks to Acquire Mirabilis, Maker of Popular
Internet-Chat System
Source: Wall Street Journal (B8)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Merger
Description: America Online Inc. is nearing an agreement with Mirabilis Ltd.,
a Tel Aviv-based company that makes a very popular Internet-based chat system
dubbed ICQ -- geek speak for "I seek you." If discussions go as planned,
executives say that AOL would acquire Mirabilis for about $300 million in a
cash-and-stock transition.
** Arts **
Title: Summer Movies Sites Finally Exploit the Web's Multimedia Potential
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/cyber/artsatlarge/21artsatlarg...
Author: Matthew Mirapaul
Issue: Arts
Description: The Web is playing its largest part ever in the promotional
campaigns for big-budget summer blockbusters. Advertisements are now routinely
listing "vanity" URLs in addition to the usual credits and critic remarks. In
its third annual survey of summer movie Web sites, CyberTimes' "arts( at )large" has
visited 20 of the promotional summer sites and found that they are finally
starting to employ the use of the Web's multimedia potential and that file size
really does matter.
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