TELEVISION
Govt., Cos. To Bring Internet Home (SJM)
Britons Revamp American TV (NYT)
High Definition Television (House)
Conventions: ABC Gets Help From N.F.L. (NYT)
PRIVACY/SECURITY
Proposal Offers Surveillance Rules For the Internet (NYT)
White House to "Update" the Federal Wiretap Statute (EPIC)
WIRELESS
Passage of Cellular Phone Tax May Solve E-Commerce Riddle (NYT)
INTERNET
The Web's Next Step: Unraveling Itself (WP)
Internet Access Eases Transition For the Navy's Sailors and Airmen
(WSJ)
Books by the Chapter or Verse Arrive on the Internet (NYT)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Movie Studios Seek to Stop DVD Copies (NYT)
TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATION
Japan, U.S. Close To NTT Deal (WP)
Review of the FCC's Spectrum Policies (House)
Independent Telecommunications Consumer Enhancement Act of 2000
(House)
TELEVISION
GOVT., COS. TO BRING INTERNET HOME
Issue: Digital Divide
Lawmakers and technology companies have plans to use one of the most
ubiquitous household devices -- the television -- to bring the Web to
hundreds of fourth-grade schoolchildren. The WISH TV program will provide
them with free digital set-top boxes for one-year that enable them to
receive Web services on standard televisions, plus the two-way cable
connection needed to access the Internet. Educators from several
universities are developing Web-based curriculum for participating schools
to use with children at home. WorldGate Communications, a provider of
interactive services using the TV, is spearheading the effort with support
from Rep. Billy Tauzin, (R-LA). "The idea of putting a PC in the local
library was better than nothing but it was far short of bringing the
Internet into every household in America," said Hal Krisbergh, chairman and
chief executive officer of WorldGate. Once the year is up, however, families
probably will have to pay to continue their Internet service from WorldGate
and for a cable subscription.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Kalpana Srinivasan (Associated
Press)]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/206426l.htm)
CONVENTIONS: ABC GETS HELP FROM N.F.L.
Issue: Television/Political Discourse
ABC viewers can thank the flexible National Football League which has
rescheduled two preseason games so the television network can provide some
prime time coverage of the Republican and Democratic conventions. The
network had earlier announced that it would not pre-empt the football games
and would provide prime-time convention coverage on those nights -- Monday,
July 31, when Republicans convene in Philadelphia, and Monday, Aug. 14, when
Democrats gather in Los Angeles -- only during halftime. The games will
start an hour earlier, at 7 p.m. rather than 8 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time,
ABC officials said. That should allow convention coverage to start about 10
p.m. See the prime time convention coverage for the big three networks at
the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A15), AUTHOR: Peter Marks]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/sports/football/071800fbn-monday-night.html)
See Also:
ADVERTISING: ESCAPING ABC'S CAMPAIGN FOR ITS FALL LINEUP
[SOURCE: New York Times (C7), AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/columns/071800adcol-abc.html)
HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION
Issue: DTV
The Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection has
scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, July 25, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn
House Office Building. The hearing will be an oversight hearing on High
Definition Television (HDTV) and related matters. Witnesses will be by
invitation only.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://com-notes.house.gov/schedule.htm)
BRITONS REVAMP AMERICAN TV
Issue: Television
It's another British invasion. First "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" then
"Survivor." Both are 100% British-made television ideas. Millionaire may
possibly be England's most successful cultural export in the last 30 years.
"It's a bit like the old days of the British empire," said Paul Smith,
managing director of the British production company Celador, which came up
with the game show. "We've got a map of the world in the office colored in
pink where we've placed the show. Most of the world is pink."
[SOURCE: New York Times (B1), AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/arts/071800british-tv-invasion.html)
PRIVACY/SECURITY
PROPOSAL OFFERS SURVEILLANCE RULES FOR THE INTERNET
Issue: Privacy/Security
The White House said yesterday that it would propose legislation to set the
legal requirements for surveillance in cyberspace by law enforcement
authorities. Privacy advocates and civil liberties groups welcomed some
aspects of the proposal but were alarmed by a new FBI computer system, named
Carnivore, that searches and intercepts private e-mail. The White House also
announced that it had eased export controls on encryption technology. The
proposed legislation would require that the same standards that apply to the
interception of the content of telephone calls apply to the interception of
e-mail messages. Specifically, it would require law enforcement agents to
demonstrate that they have probable cause of a crime to obtain a court order
seeking the contents of a suspect's e-mail messages. Privacy and civil
liberties groups criticized the administration's proposal because it would
continue to permit the government use of Carnivore - a system that applies
more broadly than the taps on older technologies. Essentially a small black
box, the device screens information when connected to an ISP. Once
installed, it has the ability to monitor all of the e-mail on a network,
from the list of what mail is sent to the actual content of the
communications.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Labaton & Richtel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/18secure.html)
See Also:
U.S. HOPES TO EXTEND ONLINE WIRETAPPING
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57330-2000Jul17.html)
WHITE HOUSE TO "UPDATE" THE FEDERAL WIRETAP STATUTE
Issue: Privacy
On July 17, White House Chief of Staff, John Podesta, announced that the
Government is proposing legislation to harmonize the rules governing the
interception of electronic communications. The proposal calls for ways to
make the wiretapping rules "more effective for law enforcement while also
assuring privacy and civil liberties." Details of the legislation have not
yet been released. Podesta also announced updates to the Administration's
encryption export policy. For more information on the history of these
issues, see EPIC's Wiretap and Crypto pages.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/)
WIRELESS
PASSAGE OF CELLULAR PHONE TAX MAY SOLVE E-COMMERCE RIDDLE
Issue: Wireless/Ecommerce
By voice vote and with White House support, both houses approved legislation
specifying that each cell phone will have a "primary service area" for the
purpose of state and local taxes. Users pay between $4 billion and $7
billion annually in state and local cell phone user taxes, the industry
estimates. For most cell phone, the primary service area will be the address
where the bill is sent. Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, who
sponsored the Senate version of the bill, said, "This is one of those cases
where it was in everybody's interest to create simplification." Lisa Cowell,
executive direct of the E-Fairness Coalition, a group of merchants
advocating uniform application of sales taxes regardless of whether a sale
takes place in a store, by telephone or online, said the bill's passage made
it clear that the Internet taxation issue could be resolved. "A lot of
politicians have stopped hiding behind this bogyman of 'it can't be done'
because no one knows where the customer is," she said.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C6), AUTHOR: David Cay Johnston]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/18cell.html)
INTERNET
THE WEB'S NEXT STEP: UNRAVELING ITSELF
Issue: Internet
Just when it seemed the sparkle has gone out of Internet investments,
Silicon Valley financiers have found a hot new sector. It is the
peer-to-peer (P2P) market, which will allow individual computer users to
exchange video, music and text files without the involvement of a
centralized source. Billed as an anarchistic threat to the current Internet,
peer-to-peer programs threaten to undermine search engines, auction sites,
book publishers and Hollywood studios by allowing people to trade files
among themselves freely. The technology is so new that company Web sites are
often just a single page with nothing more than the name of the firm, and
aren't even willing to say what they will do, let alone how they will do it.
The best example of how P2P will work is Napster, the music-sharing
technology that allows users to download software for free. The Napster site
itself does not actually have copies of the songs and therefore does not act
like a central repository for information such as Yahoo. The March release
of Gnutella made it possible to exchange non-music files, demonstrating how
innovative this technology can be. All this is making the big Internet
companies such as eBay and Yahoo pay attention.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A01), AUTHOR: David Streitfeld]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59699-2000Jul17.html)
INTERNET ACCESS EASES TRANSITION FOR THE NAVY'S SAILORS AND AIRMEN
Issue: Internet
Richard P. Sparks II was halfway around the world when he first got a
glimpse of his newborn son from a digital photograph sent to him via e-mail.
When his son was born in December, he was aboard an aircraft carrier in the
Persian Gulf. Regular Internet access has made shipboard life more bearable
at sea. It has closed the distance between families and their loved ones,
who are often in harm's way. Mr. Sparks can't think of one sailor aboard his
ship who doesn't use the Internet to stay in touch with relatives. The
U.S.S. John F. Kennedy plays home to 2,500 sailors and 2,500 airmen. The
sailors at "Big John," as the vessel is commonly known, either carry their
own notebook computers, or they have access to 1,000 unclassified PCs on
board. Many use one as part of their duties, but if they don't, there are 10
communal PCs to jockey for in the ship's library. Cmdr. Davis Simpson, "Big
John's" information technology boss, says that the Internet has been a huge
morale booster at sea, and has eliminated the shipboard isolation that can
be depressing.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: John Dodge]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB963848973348669346.htm)
BOOKS BY THE CHAPTER OR VERSE ARRIVE ON THE INTERNET
Issue: Electronic Publishing
Due to a deal between iUniverse and IDG Books, starting next month online
shoppers will be given the option of buying books by chapter and verse,
literally, rather than as a whole unit. Readers will be invited to create
customized books by selecting pieces of content - chapters, pictures, maps -