E-COMMERCE
Can Open Directory Survive At Portals Geared To Commerce? (SJ Merc)
Online News Sites Examine Separation Of Advertising, Editorial (SJ
Merc)
The Net's Real Business Happens .Com to.Com (NYT)
INTERNET/LEGISLATION
Lawmakers' Tech Votes (WP)
Privacy on Internet Poses Legal Puzzle (NYT)
Is There Another You? (House)
TELEPHONY
FCC May Require Baby Bells To Open Networks To Rivals (WSJ)
Paging Allies Focus Strategy on the Internet (NYT)
BellSouth Is Buying Into Qwest (WP)
JOURNALISM
Intel's Chairman Tells Newspaper Publishers to Supply More Insight
(NYT)
A Look Back in Wonder (WP)
TECHNOLOGY
2005: A Student Odyssey Into The Office (SJ Merc)
SATELLITE
International Satellite Reform, User Perspective (Senate)
E-COMMERCE
CAN OPEN DIRECTORY SURVIVE AT PORTALS GEARED TO COMMERCE?
Issue: Internet
The Open Directory got another boost when Lycos decided to adopt the
fast-growing guide to the Web. Open Directory, a kind of classified guide to
the Web owned by Netscape Communications, now spans more than 430,000 sites,
with about 1,200 to 1,400 sites added each week. The Open Directory is
dependent on 8,800 volunteers for content. Yahoo, the No.1 directory, on the
other hand, depends on a relatively small group of editors, which, the
company says, exercises much-needed editorial judgment. Mike West, a
technology analyst, observes the difference, "The Internet now is two
worlds. There's the Internet as a kind of native phenomenon, and there's the
Internet as a commercial network. There's a dislocation that's going on."
Some see the Lycos use as an intersection of e-commerce and the open Net.
Though Lycos does not charge for the Web content it aggregates, it hopes to
use that content to attract e-commerce and advertising dollars.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Monua Janah]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/in depth/docs/081180.htm)
ONLINE NEWS SITES EXAMINE SEPARATION OF ADVERTISING, EDITORIAL
Issue: Content
The online journalism industry is starting to discuss ways to prevent
contextual advertising from compromising editorial integrity and credibility
of the Web. E-commerce sites have plenty of information on them, and
Internet publication sites have advertising that looks like information.
News sites are starting to realize they need to address the issue in order
to maintain their integrity and compete with new rivals. Last month at a
California conference, industry leaders discussed the adoption of disclosure
policies to ensure editorial integrity. Some news sites, such as CNET and
ZDNet, already have policies, but they are still the exception. The Internet
Content Coalition, a trade group of content producers, is beginning to push
for guidelines that would help Web sites differentiate between advertising
and editorial content. Some industry members, however, want to go a step
further and eliminate contextual ads together.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/348624l.htm)
THE NET'S REAL BUSINESS HAPPENS .COM TO .COM
Issue: E-Commerce
While the papers may be filled with stories about people buying everything
from books to boots online, it is the business-to-business transactions that
is the real e-commerce news. Business-to-business sales, which were worth 5
five times as much as consumer retail sales, totaled $43 billion dollars in
1998. In addition to saving businesses money, ordering over the Internet has
lead to greater efficiency and reduced errors in the fulfillment process.
There are, however, barriers to the proliferation of corporate e-commerce.
It may take the Internet a while to over come the bureaucracy and corporate
culture that mark traditional business practices, making the rate of
e-commerce growth much slower among business than for the retail world.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Bob Tedeshi]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/biztech/articles/19gas.html)
INTERNET ESCROW SERVICES ARE CATCHING ON
Issue: E-Commerce
With the explosive growth of Internet auctions, consumers are increasingly
turning to third parties to help reduce the risk involved with
person-to-person transactions. Internet escrow services that hold money
until both buyer and seller are satisfied with a transaction have become
quite popular as the value of auction goods increase. Both buyers and
sellers look to escrow providers to reduce the risk of fraud, bounced
checks, or goods that do not meet expectations. According to Sanjay Bajaj,
vice president for marketing and business development at I-Escrow, the
number of registered I-Escrow users has grown to 50,000 from 5,000 in the
last five months alone. Yet, still less than one percent of auction
transactions use escrow. While most autions sites do not actively promote
third party escrow services, this could soon change. With mounting
government pressure to curb Internet fraud, e-auctioners might begin to view
these services as a means of preventing government intervention.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/cyber/commerce/19commerce.html)
TELEPHONY
FCC MAY REQUIRE BABY BELLS TO OPEN NETWORKS TO RIVALS
Issue: Regulation/Telephony
On Friday the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) issued a exploratory
proposal that would require Baby Bells to open their networks to competitors.
As part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Baby Bells are required to
make available "seven other parts of their telephone networks" to
competitors. In
1996, the FCC argued that this was the minimum required to allow rivals to
compete on "equal footing." Following a Supreme Court ruling in January, 1999,
the FCC is now reviewing that list of seven. The FCC plans to provide a final
access proposal in August. Baby Bells are "infuriated" that the FCC is even
considering requiring that aspects of their networks, such as high-speed lines
-- used for Internet connections -- may be opened up to rivals. Rober Blau,
BellSouth's vice president of regulatory affairs, says that these lines are
already available to rivals. Larry Strickling, the FCC's telephone official, is
not so sure: "While parts of high-speed lines are available on the market, he
said they don't offer the same wide reach as the Bells' vast networks." The
controversial proposal makes only two recommendations. First, a national
standard for opening parts of the Baby Bell networks. Second, that "loops" (the
final piece of the phone line that links a phone company to a customer's phone)
be included in the new list of parts to be opened up to rivals.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B2), AUTHOR: Kathy Chen]
(http://wsj.com/)
PAGING ALLIES FOCUS STRATEGY ON THE INTERNET
Issue: Wireless
Many of the nation's largest paging companies plan to announce an alliance
to deploy inexpensive hand-held computers that use a new two-way wireless
technology developed by Motorola Inc. With the explosion in use of wireless
telephones, the paging industry faces an uncertain future. To compete with
the booming cell phone business, the paging group plans to incorporate
Motorola technology into hand held computers like the 3Com's Palm Pilot.
"Our vision of the future is that most people will carry two wireless
devices," said John D. Beletic, chairman of the new alliance and chairman of
Pagemart Wireless Inc., one of the largest paging companies. "One is going
to be a telephone, and the characteristics of the telephone are that they
are going to get smaller and smaller and smaller."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/biztech/articles/19page.html)
BELLSOUTH IS BUYING INTO QWEST
Issue: Merger
BellSouth Corp. is buying a 10% equity stake in Qwest Communications
International for $3.5 billion. The two companies will jointly market
Qwest's Internet and voice communications services along with BellSouth's
local networking services. If BellSouth gets approval to offer its own
long-distance service, the companies plan to jointly offer an array of
services such as ATM and electronic commerce. The deal is expected to close
by May.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990419/V000888-041999-idx.html)
INTERNET/LEGISLATION
LAWMAKERS' TECH VOTES
Issue: Politics
Want to know how a particular member of Congress stacks up on technology
votes? The Information Technology Industry Council has published a voting
guide with the votes of Senators and Representatives on 18 technology bills.
This trade association for big technology companies has decided whether a
vote is "pro-IT" or not. [The votes and scores are in pdf format at
(http://www.itic.org/iss_pol/voteguid.pdf).]
[SOURCE: Washington Post (F5), AUTHOR: WP Staff Writer]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-04/19/009l-041999-idx.html)
PRIVACY ON INTERNET POSES LEGAL PUZZLE
Issue: Privacy
A gathering at Massachusetts Institute for Technology (M.I.T.) last Wednesday
focused on, "broad social and legal issues involving the Internet: identity,
privacy, anonymity and free speech." The particular item of discussion was a
M.I.T. developed technology called "anonymous remailer." It can be used to
cover up the origin of a piece of email or the computer from which a user
browsed the Internet. The panelists included Philip Reitinger, a prosecutor for
the Justice Department, and Nadine Strossen, a professor at the New York Law
School and president of the American Civil Liberties Union. Reitinger pointed
out that anonymity has its negative side when used as a criminal device -- "you
can't put a pseudonym in jail," he said. "If people are truly anonymous, there
can be no law enforcement." Ms. Strossen of the ACLU responded: "Certain
individual rights cannot be sacrificed because of the panic and fears of abuse
of a new technology, or because it creates problems for law enforcement." She
identified these "individual rights" as freedom of speech and press; and
privacy -- to be protected in cyberspace as in any space. M.I.T. Professor
Kaashoek, also a panel member, said that since the university's remailer was
set up in 1996. M.I.T. has received several subpoenas from state and federal
authorities and have only been able to offer tracking information for a piece
of the "many-legged communication paths." In response to Strossen's criticism
of corporations' intelligence of Internet an user's every move, Reitinger
received much applause for this ominous statement: "I think we are perilously
close to a lose-lose situation in which citizens have lost their privacy to
commercial interests and criminals have easy access to absolute anonymity.
That's not the world we want."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/biztech/articles/19anon.html)
IS THERE ANOTHER YOU?
Thursday, April 22, 1999 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection and the
Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials joint hearing on Identity
Theft: Is There Another You?
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://www.house.gov/commerce/schedule.htm)
TECHNOLOGY
2005: A STUDENT ODYSSEY INTO THE OFFICE
Issue: Information Technology
Some Palo Alto High School students have seen the office of 2005 and are
arming themselves to deal with it. About 40 students worked on a dozen
inventions -- most in concept -- as part of a project sponsored by a company
studying the skills office workers will need in 2005. The Lie Detector Chair
has built-in sensors; the employee has no idea whether he is being tested.
There's the People Tracker, a device to find co-workers wherever they may be
by typing in an ID number. Watchdog let's parents keep an eye on children
and talk to them, while they work elsewhere. Helper Bot brings food, runs
errands and doesn't gripe. [Hey, we want a Helper Bot already!]
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mike Cassidy]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/mc041899.htm)
JOURNALISM
INTEL'S CHAIRMAN TELLS NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS TO SUPPLY MORE INSIGHT
Issue: Journalism
Andrew S. Grove, Chairman of Intel, predicted that newspapers have three
years to live. He told the members of the American Society of Newspaper
Editors that they will have to make some changes if they want to survive the
theft of advertisers and eyeballs by online new sources'. Grove told the
editors that they need to be innovative and willing to spend more to gather
the news. "From a publisher's standpoint, there's going to be a huge push
and pull," he said, "This requires more money at a time when margins are
going to be under attack." One issue not addressed by Grove is the problem
of small market newspapers, many of which can no longer attract young
journalists. "Every time someone leaves, it's a crisis," said Don Huebscher,
of The Leader Telegraph of Eau Claire, Wis., circulation 29,700. "We used to
get 70 or 80 people for each job opening. Now we get two or three." With out
writers, the editors of small papers could soon be out of work too.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C9), AUTHOR: Felicity Barringer]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/newspaper-future-grove.htm)
A LOOK BACK IN WONDER
Issue: Journalism
Mike Mills, telecommunications reporter for the Washington Post, wrote this
retrospective article as he leaves the newsroom to join Aether Technologies.
He recalls the head-spinning changes that he has covered in the industry in
the past five years -- the continuing fights between the Bell companies and
the long distance carriers, the rise of the Internet, competition in
wireless communications, the development of competition in the local
telephone markets, and blockbuster mergers. "I'll never forget my years at
The Post covering the communications revolution, and writing this occasional
column has been one of the best parts of the job. I'll miss it all beyond
words." [Job well done, Mike. And, oh yes, and you'll really need to read
Headlines now!]
[SOURCE: Washington Post (WB25), AUTHOR: Mike Mills, millsm( at )washpost.com]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/digest/daily/april99/cyber19.htm)
SATELLITE
INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE REFORM, USER PERSPECTIVE
Communications Subcommittee hearing scheduled for Thursday, April 22, at
2:00 p.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Senator Conrad
Burns (R-MT), Chairman of the Subcommittee, will preside. Witnesses to be
announced.
[SOURCE: US Senate]
(http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/schedule.htm)
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