MERGERS
French Company Agrees to a Deal to Buy Seagram (NYT)
AT&T Paying $3.3 Billion To Add Wireless Systems (NYT)
Safeguards Proposed by Disney Should be Applied to all
Content Providers (CME)
EDTECH
Bush Raises Cash and Discusses Education Technology (NYT)
INTERNET
Reciprocal Compensation Adjustment Act of 2000 (House)
How ICANN Does It (USA)
Letter From Syria (WP)
ECOMMERCE
Another Industry Group Tackles Online Privacy Problem (CyberTimes)
Conflicting Napster Predictions Evoke Errors in Foretelling Impact
of VCR (WSJ)
Music Companies Are Hoping Downloads For Fees Can Prove
as Popular as Free (WSJ)
INFOTECH
Technological Advisory Council (FCC)
MERGERS
FRENCH COMPANY AGREES TO A DEAL TO BUY SEAGRAM
Issue: Mergers
Vivendi, the French water utility, is about to start pumping something else
into homes. The company will pay ~$34 billion in stock for Seagram, the
spirits and entertainment company. [Is Bruce Willis included in the deal?]
Seagram holdings include Absolut Vodka, Universal Studios, Polygram Records,
a television production company and theme parks. The new company will be
called Vivendi Universal and will be based in Paris [France, not Texas].
Vivendi plans to sell off Seagram's liquor business. Vivendi also owns a
mobile telephone operation in France, a pan-European Internet portal,
Vizzavi, and Canal Plus, a pay television company. The proposed deal is a
bet by both Vivendi and Seagram that by combining popular content with a
powerful distribution system, especially the next generation of wireless
Internet services in Europe, it can create a company worth more combined
than by working separately.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Fabrikant & Sorkin]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/062000seagrams-vivendi.html)
See Also:
THE SUN IS SETTING ON SEAGRAM EMPIRE
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Alex Berenson]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/062000seagrams-bronfman.html)
NO TRACE OF ANTI-HOLLYWOOD BIAS IN FRENCH PURCHASE OF UNIVERSAL
"The French always have been the most irate about American domination of the
movies, so to think that now it will be the French who are financing these
American movies, well, you'd have to say that's ironic," said Peter Bart,
editor of Variety.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C12), AUTHOR: Rick Lyman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/062000seagrams-studio.html)
VIVENDI CONFIRMS SEAGRAM PURCHASE FRENCH FIRM NOW POWERFUL PLAYER IN
ENTERTAINMENT
[SOURCE: USAToday (1b), AUTHOR: Vivienne Walt and David Lieberman]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000620/2379191s.htm)
AT&T PAYING $3.3 BILLION TO ADD WIRELESS SYSTEMS
Issue: Wireless
AT&T will pay $3.3 billion for wireless telephone systems in Houston (from
PrimeCo), San Diego (from GTE) and San Francisco (from Vodafone). The
purchases will add 1.3 million customers and 1,400 employees to AT&T's
fast-growing wireless business. The impetus behind the deal came from
regulatory requirements that Vodafone, GTE and Bell Atlantic shed
overlapping wireless properties as they create Verizon Wireless.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C15), AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/)
See Also:
AT&T WIRELESS BUYS SERVICE IN 3 MAJOR CITIES MARKET COVERAGE GETS BOOST
[SOURCE: USAToday (3B), AUTHOR: Shawn Young]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000620/2379133s.htm)
SAFEGUARDS PROPOSED BY DISNEY SHOULD BE APPLIED TO ALL CONTENT PROVIDERS
Issue: Mergers
From Press Release: In a formal filing with the Commission of the European
Communities (representing the European Union, or EU), the Walt Disney
Company has expressed grave reservations about the anti-competitive impact
of the proposed AOL-Time Warner merger on the emerging broadband market. "In
the new market for integrated Internet services," Disney's EU submission
declares, the combined AOL Time Warner (coupled with its vast EMI music
holdings) "will operate a 'walled garden' serving to discriminate against
third party unaffiliated content and precluding access by third party
content suppliers to users of the AOL/TW/EMI service." Responding to these
and other objections to AOL-Time Warner's plans, the European Commission
announced that it will now begin a more rigorous, four-month Phase II
investigation of the proposed merger. Disney requested "that the Commission
consider the monopolist bottleneck distribution features of AOL/TW/EMI and,
if appropriate, require the segregation of the provision of content from the
distribution channel. Internet distribution is an essential facility (not
unlike phone lines, for instance) and open and non-discriminatory access for
all content providers should be guaranteed."
Disney's filing also calls for the following principles to govern the new
broadband environment: 1) Equal treatment of downstream bandwidth, system
throughput, and
data pass-through; 2) Full functionality of return-path transactions, with
equitable
handling of upstream traffic (i.e., transmissions from outside parties,
including subscribers themselves); 3) Nondiscriminatory menus, program
guides, navigation aids, and screen position and placement; 4) Equal caching
of content (i.e., local storage of data to expedite delivery) and 5)
Comparable point-and-click functionality for enhanced/interactive
TV implementations.
For more information, contact Jeff Chester (jeff( at )cme.org)
[SOURCE: Center For Media Education]
(http://www.cme.org/publications/press.html)
EDTECH
BUSH RAISES CASH AND DISCUSSES EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Issue: EdTech
"The goal ought not to be how many classrooms are wired. The goal is how are
we effectively teaching children," said Gov George Bush (R-TX) yesterday
during a campaign swing through Washington and California. Gov Bush
criticized the E-rate program saying it has given local school districts too
little flexibility in their use of the funds, creating a system "hidebound
by regulations." He called for loosening the regulations and for another $80
million/year for the Department of Education to study the best ways of using
technology in classrooms.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A20), AUTHOR: Frank Bruni]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/062000wh-bush-edu.html)
INTERNET
RECIPROCAL COMPENSATION ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2000
Issue: Telephone/Internet Regulation
Thursday, June 22, 2000 11:00 a.m. in2123 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection
legislative hearing. This hearing will focus on H.R. 4445, to exempt from
reciprocal compensation requirements telecommunications traffic to the
Internet. Witnesses will be by invitation only.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://com-notes.house.gov/schedule.htm)
HOW ICANN DOES IT
Issue: Internet
ICANN, the Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, coordinates the
assigning of domain names (such as SomeAddress.com) on the Internet. For
each domain, ICANN also assigns a numerical addressee (123.23.2.7) to which
it corresponds. This centralized addressing system is what allows messages
-- whether text, Web, audio or video -- to be transmitted across the network.
The system is based on the Internet Protocol, simple rules that set out how
every file is sent over the network.
[SOURCE: USAToday (3D), AUTHOR: USAToday Staff]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000620/2379044s.htm)
LETTER FROM SYRIA (The world's commotion arrives on the Internet)
Issue: International
Like the rest of the world, Syria has begun to welcome the Internet. The
World Wide Web, however, presents some difficult questions for this country
that has tightly controlled the flow of information from the outside.
Syrians can now read stories online that would not appear in the officially
controlled local press. Efforts to censor the Internet are hampered by the
fact that individuals can simply use an out-of-country provider to escape
local barriers. But, for the time being, cost is a major obstacle to more
Syrians using the Net to gather information. The government may not be
worrying much about what is coming in over the Internet because computers
are beyond the economic reach of the average Syrian worker.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A17), AUTHOR: Howard Schneider]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24237-2000Jun19.html)
ECOMMERCE
ANOTHER INDUSTRY GROUP TACKLES ONLINE PRIVACY PROBLEM
Issue: Privacy
The Privacy Leadership Initiative, made up of the chief executives of such
giants as IBM, AT&T, Dell Computer and Ford, has vowed to work closely with
consumers to find online privacy solutions that really work. Many of the
companies and groups involved in the new group are already members of the
Online Privacy Alliance, a coalition that was formed two years ago to head
off new Internet privacy regulations. That group set basic guidelines
companies should follow in protecting consumer privacy, and it offered a
sample of the privacy policies that Web sites should post to let visitors
know how their personal information was being used. But the Federal Trade
Commission said in a recent report that such self-regulatory efforts were
not working fast or well enough, and that few Web sites were following
acceptable protection criteria.
"New industry organizations with 'privacy' in their titles are springing up
like new flavors of soft drinks," said Jason Catlett, president of
Junkbusters Corp., a company that works on consumer protection technologies.
"But it's all an attempt to make legislators and consumers think that the
problem isn't that companies are using personal information unfairly and
that consumers need legally guaranteed rights to stop that."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing (jeri( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/06/cyber/capital/20capital.html)
CONFLICTING NAPSTER PREDICTIONS EVOKE ERRORS IN FORETELLING IMPACT OF VCR
Issue: Ecommerce
While some people say that the technology threat to the record industry
might be real, it is too soon to tell what the Internet downloading services
like Napster or Gnutella will do to the recording industry. The
entertainment industry is struggling to predict what downloadable music
files will do to album sales. But if previous battles over VCRs and digital
audio tape have taught us anything, it's that technological prophecies don't
always turn out as predicted. Earlier predictions that TV would put
the movies out of business turned out to be not the case. When radio shows
began playing recorded music, musicians foresaw catastrophe for live
entertainment. It didn't happen. Thomas Parke Hughes, a visiting professor
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says a superior technology doesn't
eliminate the old technology completely; instead, the older way of doing
things is relegated to a niche, where it can remain for a long time.
Nevertheless, Technically adventurous PC owners are connecting their
computers to their living-room stereos. And just around the corner are
digital hi-fi products designed for the living room. New wireless Internet
transmission systems are being developed with the potential to bring digital
audio to cars. And Sony is selling an MP3 player called the "Music Clip"
that's the size of a ballpoint pen. It downloads MP3s from a PC and is used
with earphones, like a Walkman.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Lee Gomes]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB961460865172897147.htm)
See Also:
DESPITE ITS POPULARITY, NAPSTER ISN'T READY FOR PRIME TIME YET
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Tom Weber]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB96146221824027457.htm)
MUSIC COMPANIES ARE HOPING DOWNLOADS FOR FEES CAN PROVE AS POPULAR AS FREE
Issue: Ecommerce
To combat the erosion of both online and offline music sales, the recording
industry is striking back at Napster and Napster-like technologies. Instead
of paying $15.99 for a CD, Napster and like services allow users to download
music for free and then play the MP3 music on their PC, take it with them on
a portable device or "burn" it into their own CD collections. "At the end of
the day, the music industry as we now know it is over," declares Avram
Miller, a former Intel Corp. vice president with close ties to the
entertainment industry. The industry believes, however, that it can
appropriate the Napster format for their benefit. The five major labels --
Universal, Sony, BMG, Warner and EMI -- are preparing to sell their own
authorized downloadable recordings and will use both carrots (new hardware
with better sound quality, give-aways, and incentives) and sticks to move
their authorized recordings. One "carrot" concept is to make each PC a
vending machine -- and every computer user a sales rep for the industry. BMG
is working on efforts to build a system through which fans could distribute
downloaded albums by e-mail or put their encrypted downloads into
Napster-style file-sharing directories. People who start a chain of sales
could receive rewards, such as early access to new music or
commissions/credits on future music purchases. In case the incentives don't
achieve the desired effects, the industry still has an arsenal that includes
both intellectual property suits and new music file formats that only play
when a label's "digital watermark" is present.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1) AUTHOR: Don Clark and Martin Peers]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB961458021337970244.htm)
INFOTECH
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
Issue: InfoTech
The Technological Advisory Council ("Council"), will hold its fifth meeting
on Wednesday, June 28, at 10:00 a.m. at the Federal Communications
Commission, 445 12th St. S.W., Room TW-C305, Washington, D.C. 20554. The
Council was established by the Federal Communications Commission to enable a
wide array of distinguished technologists from industry, academia,
government, and the public to provide recommendations to the FCC concerning
technological developments in the communications industry.
The subjects that will be considered include: (1) software defined radios
and similar devices, and ways that the availability of such technologies
might affect the FCC's traditional approaches to spectrum management in
light of electromagnetic noise levels, including the possibility of creating
a "bill of rights" governing the behavior of intelligent communications
devices; (2) current technological trends in telecommunications services,
including changes that might decrease, rather than increase, the
accessibility of telecommunications services by persons with disabilities,
and ways by which the FCC might best communicate to designers of emerging
telecommunications network architectures, the requirements for
accessibility; (3) telecommunications common carrier network interconnection
issues and how the Council should address these; (4) additional issues that
the Council may choose to address in the future.
For further information, contact Kent Nilsson at 202-418-0845 or TTY
202-418-2989.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Public_Notices/2000/da001
140.html)
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