RADIO/SPECTRUM
Religious Groups at Odds With G.O.P. on Radio Licenses (NYT)
Spectrum Up for Grabs (WP)
INTERNET
Web Hardware Maker Buys Digital 'Plumber' for $41 Billion (NYT)
F.T.C. Moves to Halt Sale Of Database at Toysmart (NYT)
Journalists Consider Their Place in a Wireless World (CyberTimes)
ICANN Status Report (NTIA)
FBI's System to Covertly Search E-Mail Raises Legal Issues,
Privacy Concerns (WSJ)
INTERNATIONAL
As Former Leader Faces Jail, Turks Rethink Limits on Speech (NYT)
AOL Launching Service in Mexico (WP)
AOL's Big Assault On Latin America Hits a Snag With
Local Providers (WSJ)
World Radiocommunication Conference 2000 (NTIA)
PHILANTHROPY
Philanthropy: Give And Take (WP)
Writer's Philanthropic Hopes Ending in Bitter Court Battle (NYT)
RADIO/SPECTRUM
RELIGIOUS GROUPS AT ODDS WITH G.O.P. ON RADIO LICENSES
Issue: Radio
Republicans in Congress are trying to block the creation of low power radio
stations around the country, but as the Federal Communications Commission
receives applications for low power stations, about half are from religious
organizations -- mostly the sorts of fundamentalist churches active in
conservative Republican politics. "It looks like money's talking, maybe at
the expense of what would be logical long term -- the Republicans supporting
their supporters," said Rich Cizik, director of the Washington office of the
National Association of Evangelicals, which has 4,300 churches as members.
Congressional Republicans are backing big broadcasting companies and their
powerful lobbying group, the National Association of Broadcasters. Radio
executives and media advocates see the move to create low power radio
stations as one of the industry's most important issues since the advent of
FM in the 1960s. "There is a widespread belief that commercial broadcasters
have abandoned their communities," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, the
president of Media Access Project, a Washington law firm that analyzed the
list of applicants and has helped groups apply for low-power stations. "This
does not break down on a liberal-conservative basis."
White House officials have said they support the creation of low-power radio
stations, as has Vice President Al Gore. Gov. George W. Bush of Texas has
not taken a public position on the issue, said Mindy Tucker, a spokeswoman
for his presidential campaign.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: David Leonhardt]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/071100radio-fcc.html)
SPECTRUM UP FOR GRABS
Issue: Wireless
Wireless telecommunications companies have besieged Congress with lobbyists
in attempt to gain control of the spectrum that NextWave Telecom won in
biding at an FCC auction five years ago. The company declared bankruptcy
soon after, and since then the FCC has been trying to retake the spectrum.
The problem is, Next Wave does not want to give up the spectrum. It argues
that it wasn't able to gain financing for the licenses because the FCC
delayed issuing them -- claim which the FCC disputes, arguing that
NextWave didn't pay as it agreed and has no remaining right to the airwaves.
While the company and the Commission have been battling out the matter in
court, Congress has gotten involved in the debate, too. NextWave lobbyists
have compelled some lawmakers to try to help the company out. Others have
attempted to pass legislation that would return the licenses to the FCC.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Susan Schmidt and Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17464-2000Jul10.html)
INTERNET
WEB HARDWARE MAKER BUYS DIGITAL 'PLUMBER' FOR $41 BILLION
Issue: Mergers
JDS Uniphase will buy SDL Inc for $41 billion in stock. That's more than the
combined market value of Amazon.com, ( at )Home, eBay and Priceline.com. JDS and
SDL make Internet components like fiber optic networks. This technology is
likely to remain the technical foundation of the communications revolution
because they are the most cost-effective way to transmit large chunks of
information. JDS Uniphase financial officer Anthony Miller said, "Think of
Amazon and eBay and any number of other companies that are of this genre.
They all require bandwidth to deliver their products and services. And we
and our competitors make the fundamental underlying technology that provides
the amount of bandwidth that is required for the Internet."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/)
F.T.C. MOVES TO HALT SALE OF DATABASE AT TOYSMART
Issue: Privacy
Although Toysmart.com promised to never share customers' personal data with
a third party, the Federal Trade Commission is suing the company to block
the sale of it customer information database. The sale, the FTC contends,
would not just compromise names, addresses and shopping preferences of
online toy shoppers, but potentially also family profile information,
including names and ages of children. Toysmart, which is majority-owned by
Disney, ceased operations in May and began soliciting bids for its assets.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2), AUTHOR: Matt Richtel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/11toysmart.html)
See Also:
FTC CHALLENGES TOYSMART PLAN TO SELL CUSTOMER INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Staff Reporter]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963281236435979911.htm)
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION SAYS WEB COMPANY BROKE PROMISE
NOT TO SELL OR SHARE CUSTOMERS' PRIVATE INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Consumers Union]
(http://www.consumersunion.org/finance/ftcdc700.htm)
JOURNALISTS CONSIDER THEIR PLACE IN A WIRELESS WORLD
Issue: Journalism
Journalists are considering what the effects will be of new mobile
technologies on newsgathering and publishing. Traditional media outlets find
themselves confronted with questions about whether and how to distribute
information to mobile users, what technology to focus on, how to integrate
wireless offerings into their existing operations -- and, of course, how to
make it all pay. Telegeography, a research firm, predicts that by 2002,
there will be more than one billion mobile phones worldwide, topping the
number of fixed-line phones. Another forecaster, ARC Group, expects half of
all digital cellular phone subscribers to have access to data services by
2003. "A whole new media form is evolving under our eyes," said Steven
Shivers, the managing director for Europe at Infospace, a provider of mobile
telephone infrastructure. . He urged journalists and publishers not to
repeat the errors many of them made when the Web first became popular:
"Don't set up a study group and wait for it to report back: a lot of
players, portals, banks, operators, are already laying claims on the mobile
information space."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Bruno Giussani (giussani( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/cyber/eurobytes/11eurobytes.html)
ICANN STATUS REPORT
Issue: Internet
On July 7, ICANN posted its second status report to the Department of Commerce.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.icann.org/general/statusreport-30jun00.htm)
See Also:
On July 7, the General Accounting Office (GAO) released "Department of
Commerce: Relationship with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.gao.gov/new.items/og00033r.pdf)
FBI'S SYSTEM TO COVERTLY SEARCH E-MAIL RAISES LEGAL ISSUES, PRIVACY CONCERNS
Issue: Privacy
Privacy advocates in the computer industry are upset by the FBI's use of a
superfast system called Carnivore to covertly search e-mails for messages
from criminal suspects. Developed at a special agency lab at Quantico, Va.,
and unveiled to a roomful of astonished industry specialists two weeks ago,
the wiretapping system is dubbed Carnivore for its ability to get to "the
meat" of what would otherwise be an enormous quantity of data. Although
federal investigators say they have used Carnivore in fewer than 100
criminal cases since its launch early last year, privacy advocates within
the Internet industry are not amused. When deployed, Carnivore must be
hooked directly into Internet service providers' computer networks in order
to give the Government the ability to eavesdrop on all customers' digital
communications, from e-mail to online banking and Web surfing, at least
theoretically. Internet wiretaps are conducted only under state or federal
judicial order, and occur relatively infrequently.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: NEIL KING JR. And TED BRIDIS]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963264584706292829.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
AS FORMER LEADER FACES JAIL, TURKS RETHINK LIMITS ON SPEECH
Issue: International/Free Speech
Leaders in Turkey are considering modifying laws that make it a crime to
promote religious or ethnic differences and to criticize the government or
military. Some in the influential military and the politicians most strongly
wedded to Turkey's secularist state still oppose change, however, for fear
Turkey will turn more toward Islam. Necmettin Erbakan, the country's prime
minister in 1996-97, appears to be headed for prison for remarks in a
political speech six years ago.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A3), AUTHOR: Douglas Frantz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/071100turkey-speech.html)
AOL LAUNCHING SERVICE IN MEXICO
Issue: Internet/International
Today, America Online plans to launch its first Internet access service in
Spanish. Industry analysts say the success of America Online Mexico's launch
is critical for the company's plans to take its AOL Latin America unit
public later this year and as it attempts to recover from last fall's shaky
launch of AOL Brazil. AOL is the largest online service in the world, with
more than 23 million subscribers, but nearly 90 percent of its members are
in the United States. Its attempts to expand its reach abroad in recent
years have had mixed results. Several of AOL's European services are among
the top players in their countries, but its products in other places,
including Japan and Australia, have faltered. Latin America represents the
fastest-growing Internet market in the world. The number of Internet service
subscribers in the region is expected to more than triple in the next three
years.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Ariana Eunjung Cha]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17471-2000Jul10.html)
AOL'S BIG ASSAULT ON LATIN AMERICA HITS A SNAG WITH LOCAL PROVIDERS
Issue: Internet/International
When Brazilians tried to load AOL's new Internet service last year, they
were treated to the samba stylings of dance band Raca Negra instead of
getting connected to the Web. But before AOL even got to the Web, a
small-town Internet firm had nabbed the U.S. giant's logical address,
aol.com.br. UOL, an entrenched local competitor, left some wondering who was
who. But it is not only in Brazil where AOL is struggling. In Japan, AOL
is in 10th place, and in Germany, it lags far behind the Internet arm of
Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Online. The top spot has eluded AOL in
France and Canada. In Brazil, after launching its service with great fanfare
last November, it's, at best, a distant fourth. Though it towers over U.S.
competitors, with about 18 million subscribers to its flagship U.S. service,
observers doubt the company can maintain its subscriber growth unless it
wins converts abroad. But at every port overseas, AOL has run into
home-grown competitors backed by well-financed phone companies or media
groups with strong local content. These companies claim the same head-start
advantage that helped make AOL a wunderkind in the U.S., and they're wiser
for having watched the American Internet saga unfold. AOL is also facing
organization, cultural, and nationalistic challenges abroad. In some
regions, such as Europe, the company has chosen to call its service AOL,
rather than America Online, to avoid triggering nationalistic issues.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A1), AUTHOR: Pamela Druckerman & Nick Wingfield]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963265377916771931.htm)
WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE 2000
Issue: Spectrum
NTIA has posted Recommendations to Improve U.S. Participation in World
Radiocommunication Conferences by Ambassador Gail S. Schoettler, U.S. Head
of Delegation to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2000.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/wrc/wrcrecommendations.htm)
PHILANTHROPY
PHILANTHROPY: GIVE AND TAKE
Issue: Internet/Philanthropy
There are a growing number of Web sites that help link people with
charities. Some services handle contributions, while others give users
extensive information about specific organizations. Two online philanthropy
sites, eContributor and ChangingOurWorld, have announced a partnership that
will offer the "most comprehensive integrated philanthropic services in the
United States." The two groups plan to provide consulting about fundraising,
volunteer and board recruitment, interactive advertising, event ticket sales
and database management, as well as corporate and personal philanthropy.
Slated to launch this fall is CharityAmerica.com, which calls itself "the
online resource and solution site that offers comprehensive giving tools to
nonprofits and their
supporters." The site will "provide a resource that will help teach the
power of philanthropy [and] also provide a tool to determine the motivating
factors behind the act of giving," said site founder Timothy McCarthy.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A21), AUTHOR: Kent Allen]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18832-2000Jul10.html)
WRITER'S PHILANTHROPIC HOPES ENDING IN BITTER COURT BATTLE
Issue: Philanthropy
The idea was to help children who had cancer and other grave illnesses use
the Internet to talk to one another and to learn about their diseases. But
after seven years and $5 million spent on travel, salaries, fund-raising and
furniture, the foundation author Tom Clancy set up did not even have a Web
site to show for its efforts. The legal mud fight that has broken out in a
Denver courtroom over the failure of the Kyle Foundation offers a rare
glimpse at the inner workings of a celebrity charity. Mr Clancy contends
that the woman he hired to run the foundation with mismanagement and
improper expenditures; she claims Mr Clancy killed off the project just when
it was about succeed. Read the dirt at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Moss & Rutenberg]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/11clancy.html)
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