INTERNET ACCESS
Why pay for Internet service? (SJM)
EDTECH
Graduating From File Cards to Databases (WP)
E-COMMERCE
Debate on Internet Taxes Takes Political Turn (NYT)
European law seen as grave threat to E-Commerce (SJM)
ANTITRUST
Microsoft and US Square Off In Antitrust Trial's Final Round (WSJ)
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Group Puts Disaster Data on Internet (NYT)
MERGERS
Motorola expected to buy General Instrument (SJM)
Bell Atlantic and Vodafone, Once Enemies, Are Said to Be Near a
Deal(NYT)
INTERNET/ACCESS
WHY PAY FOR INTERNET SERVICE?
Issue: Internet/Access
The viability of free Internet access providers has long been
questioned, but several companies are eager to bet that consumers will
put up with floods of ads and poor customer service in exchange for
free monthly connections. The recent announcements of a AltaVista's new
free Internet service and NetZero initial public offering of stock
highlight the growing momentum of free Internet access. While the free
service movement is gaining more attention, there have already been
many failures and all of the no-cost providers have yet to turn a
profit. "They need to develop an advertising model that supports
them,'' said Kathey Hale, a Dataquest analyst. "The only places
supported purely by ads are radio and TV. On the Internet, no one's
cracked it." Free ISPs are currently being helped along by a drop in
the cost of running the networks caused by increased competition and
falling long-distance rates.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Chris O'Brien]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/isp091399.htm)
EDTECH
GRADUATING FROM FILE CARDS TO DATABASES
Issue: EdTech
Throughout the Washington region, school systems are utilizing
interactive Web sites, high-concept software and lap-top computers in
their administration offices. They hope that better technology will
eliminate costly paperwork and clerical staff, allowing more money and
resources to be spent on classrooms, and enable educators to catalogue
student data in ways that can help them improve instruction. Some
districts are having more success than others. Upgrading technology is
expensive--up to $15 million for the basics, according to estimates
from Prince George's County officials. To find the money for such
technology upgrades, schools are eliminating central office positions,
and outsourcing, or hiring private companies to store documents on a
customized computer system accessible by school officials
district-wide. The alternative is an old system still used by some
schools. The ultimate goal in utilizing databases is to be able to go
to a shared file and pull files electronically. In Fairfax County, a
school system which makes use of such a system, administrators can pull
files of teachers and other employees at the click of a computer mouse
while transportation officials feed data into a computer that
recommends the most efficient bus routes. Additionally, every school
has been linked to an information system that allows principals to
download student records and place purchase orders electronically. In
some systems data is warehoused in powerful computers that can
catalogue it and analyze it by race, gender, age or other criteria.
School officials say low-tech administrative operations have led to
real problems that affect the classroom, such as slowdowns in hiring
teachers and backups on ordering supplies and furniture.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, B1, AUTHOR: David Nakamura]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/sept99/technology13.htm)
E-COMMERCE
DEBATE ON INTERNET TAXES TAKES POLITICAL TURN
Issue:E-Commerce
The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (ACEC), meets this week
in New York to continue discussion on a draft proposal for Internet
sales tax structures. The proposal, slotted for a spring presentation
to Congress, will recommend structures for federal, state, local and
international taxation and tariffs on transactions using the Internet.
Additionally, the proposal will recommend an Internet access tax
structure. Not all of the members of the commission see Internet taxes
as a given, while others are more concerned with the form the process
takes. Governor James Gilmore (R) of Virginia, an opponent of taxes
himself, says that he wants all sides to be heard. Gilmore is confident
that the commission will be able to define the issues for Congress, if
not present a comprehensive proposal, by spring. That process will be
made harder by the commission's goal to recommend a structure for more
than 30,000 state and local jurisdictions which, in the past forty
years, have disagreed over how to collect taxes from mail order sales.
One recommendation would ask each state to adopt a single tax rate and
provide tax-calculating software to businesses. Created along with
legislation that Internet tax moratorium, the commission's 19 members
include eight business representatives, eight politicians from state
and local governments and three members of the Clinton administration.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeri
Clausing](http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/13pane.
html)
EUROPEAN LAW SEEN AS GRAVE THREAT TO E-COMMERCE
Issue: E-Commerce
Legislation pending in the European Union would allow Internet shoppers
to sue e-commerce firms in their own national courts regardless of
whether the company had actively sought to sell its product in the
consumer's country or not. At the moment, disgruntled online shoppers
can only take legal action in the country where the business is based.
Critics say, if passed, the law could be damaging to both e-commerce
and international trade. "Compliance with the laws of many different
countries would impose tremendous, even unbearable, costs for small and
medium sized enterprises," warned Dirk Hudig, secretary-general of the
Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE).
The passage of the controversial bill might "create another
transatlantic trade war;" according to Michael Pullen key lobbiest
opposing the legislation. Pullen suggests that the EU should not
over-regulate e-commerce if it hopes to recreate the type of success
the U.S. has experiences in this area.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/844313l.htm)
ANTITRUST
MICROSOFT AND US SQUARE OFF IN ANTITRUST TRIAL'S FINAL ROUND
Issue: Antitrust
Microsoft and the US Department of justice entered the final round of
the government's antitrust suit against the computer software company
on Friday with both sides submitted their proposed fact findings.
Closing arguments are scheduled for next week. In the filings, the
government said Microsoft's explanations of its alleged attack on an
Internet software rival had changed repeatedly over the course of the
trial. The Justice Department also questioned the credibility of Bill
Gates, Microsoft's chairman, who gave testimony in the case. In its
response, Microsoft said the government relied broadly on hearsay and
had not proven their case. In the trial, which began
in October, the government alleges that Microsoft used its dominant
Windows operating system to crush Netscape and thwart other rivals that
threatened
the Redmond, Wash. software company's power. Microsoft maintains that
consumers weren't harmed by its actions and that Netscape hasn't been
prevented from distributing its software. Microsoft argued that
Netscape, far from being crushed, had been sold for $10 billion to AOL,
which continues to pose a competitive threat to Microsoft. The maker of
Windows software also cited rising competition from a computer operating
system called Linux. The government argued that even if consumers
benefited in the short run from Microsoft's decision to give away its
Internet software, they have been harmed over the long run by a lack of
choice and lost innovation by rivals. Restrictive contracts that
Microsoft imposed on its Internet partners and on personal-computer
makers that preinstall Windows resulted in Microsoft's browser's being
installed on 100% of new PCs, the government said.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, AUTHOR: John R.Wilke]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB936971152435821176.htm)
See also:
E-MAIL OFFERS INSIGHTS ON MICROSOFT TRIAL STRATEGY
[SOURCE: New York Times, Author:Joel Brinkley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/13soft.html)
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
GROUP PUTS DISASTER DATA ON INTERNET
Issue: Access to Government Information
Environmental advocates have published information about the risks of
chemical accidents on the Right To Know Web site (http://www.rtk.net).
The information includes a state-by-state executive summary of
"worst-case scenarios" related to chemical companies in the United
States. The summaries were presented to the Environmental Protection
Agency by the chemical corporations. The information is intended to aid
the government in preparing people who live near factories for toxic
catastrophes such as spill or explosions. The information is provided
to the EPA through the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990. The EPA
intended to release the summaries on its own Web site, but the released
was suspended for a year by President Clinton and Congress. President
Clinton and Congress felt that the information would provide uninspired
terrorists with a road map for mayhem, while environmentalists believe
that the release was prevented to avoide mbarrassment to the chemical
companies providing the information.Members of Congress expressed
outrage that the EPA intended to make the information available
worldwide. Rep. Thomas Bliley, (R) said he never imagined the
information would be easily searchable "from Boston to Baghdad, from
Los Angeles to Libya." Environmental advocates believe that the
publication of the material will lead to better preparedness on the
parts of communities and may lead to fewer accidental releases.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Carl
Hulse](http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/13chemical
-accid)
MERGERS
BELL ATLANTIC AND VODAFONE, ONCE ENEMIES, ARE SAID TO BE NEAR A DEAL
Issue: Alliance
Bell Atlantic and Vodafone Airtouch officials declined to comment but
sources say further discussion has taken place between the two
companies with respect to a deal which could allow each others cellular
customers to make calls in each companies' respective areas without
being charged for long distance in the U.S. For Bell Atlantic, a joint
venture with Vodafone Airtouch would give it the national cellular
footprint it has craved for several years. Vodafone Airtouch would get
an expanded American presence to rival the national wireless networks
of AT&T and Sprint.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Laura M. Holson]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/13voda.html)
See also:
Bell Atlantic, Vodafone Boards To Vote on Joint-Venture Firm
[SOURCE: Wall Street
Journal](http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB937153357235367789.htm)
MOTOROLA EXPECTED TO BUY GENERAL INSTRUMENT
Issue: Merger
Motorola has begun talks to acquire General Instrument in an all-stock
deal valued at about $9.5 billion, according to reports. General
Instrument stockholders would get slightly more than half of a Motorola
share for each of their common shares of General Instrument The
partnership would bring together one of the best-known
consumer-electronic makers with the cable industry's leading provider
of cable TV set-top boxes. General Instrument and Motorola declined to
comment. The Wall Street Journal said General Instrument's chief
executive, Edward Breen, was expected to keep his post as head of the
company, though it would become a unit of Motorola. The journal also
reported that since Motorola has high name recognition that outranks
the marketplace recognition of General Instrument, the Motorola name
would be used on General Instrument equipment.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury]
See Also:
Motorola Is Negotiating Stock Deal To Acquire General Instrument
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB937172483147417806.htm)
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Congratulations, Kevin, on becoming a dad!