Telephone
NYT: Fund to Aid Technology in Schools Facing Big F.C.C. Cuts
WSJ: Open and Closed: Genuine Competition In Local Phone Service
Is a Long Distance Off
NYT: Down Country Roads, Come Modern Phones
Cable
WSJ: TCI in Talks Over New Cable-TV Boxes
B&C: TCI eyes box mega-buy
NYT: Internet Ties Help to Revive the Cable Industry as Satellite
Sales Lag Behind
B&C: FCC zeros in on competition
Television
B&C: Another banner year (financially) for NBC
B&C: It all ads up
NYT: Executives Seeking Ways to Make Conventional TV Look Better
in a High-Definition World
WP: PBS's Money Channels
Ownership
B&C: A case for minority tax certificates
Antitrust
WSJ: Microsoft Judge Taps a Pioneer Of Internet Law
NYT: Theorist's Task: Make Old Laws Fit in Digital World of Microsoft
WP: A Tangled Web
Internet
NYT: Cyberspace Staying Duty-Free
NYT: Digital Commerce: Censorship Problems Increase When Moved to
Private Sector
WP: A United Front for the Internet
Philanthropy
NYT: Philanthropic magazines' Circulation Rises, Along With Interest
in Giving
First Amendment/Free Speech
WP: Klan, NPR Station at Odds Over Paid Sponsorship
** Telephone **
Title: Fund to Aid Technology in Schools Facing Big F.C.C. Cuts
Source: New York Times (D1,D10)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121597fund.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Education Technology - FCC Regulation
Description: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 established that large
long distance telephone companies would help pay for the telecommunications
needs of schools, libraries and health care institutions with a ceiling of
$2.65 billion. Now, due to pressure from these phone companies, the Federal
Communications Commission has tentatively decided to cut these fees by more
than 25 percent - about $750 million less than the original amount. Lynne
Bradley, a lobbyist for the American Library Association, said yesterday,
"We worry that if there is a slower ramp-up of the program, that the bigger
schools with more professional technology operations will get their money
first while the communities that have lacked access for which this program
was intended will be left out." "After meeting with AT&T and MCI
Communications Corp., the FCC has decided on spending levels of about $1.8
billion for the schools and libraries and about $100 million for the health
care centers, according to people close to the commission." The FCC is
planning to meet this week to further discuss the reductions. [See "The Boy
Who Cried 'Tax'" by Andrew Blau http://www.benton.org/Blau/taxboy.html]
Title: Open and Closed: Genuine Competition In Local Phone Service Is a
Long Distance Off
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A1)
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: Competition
Description: Almost two years after the passage of the Telecommunications
Act of 1996, the Baby Bells and GTE still dominate local phone service and
the Big Three long distance providers -- AT&T, Sprint, and MCI -- hold more
than 80% of the long distance market. Instead of competition, the Telecom
Act has resulted in merger mania -- $100 billion in deals so far including
WorldCom's purchase of MCI for $37 billion in cash and stock, the largest
takeover ever. Of the original seven Baby Bells, only five remain and AT&T,
Sprint and GTE may be looking for mates, too. Baby Bells must open their
local markets in order to be allowed to enter the long distance market. But
these local phone companies are concentrating their efforts on opening
markets where competition is least likely.
Title: Down Country Roads, Come Modern Phones
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/calif-phone-midget.html
Author: David Batstone
Issue: Universal Service
Description: There are 94 privately owned telephone companies with less than
500 customers across the U.S. These small companies provide much needed
communications to residents in remote areas. With constant advancements in
telecommunications technology, these companies do everything possible to
keep up with the rapid changes. But many of these privately owned
businesses could not keep pace with new technologies without the aid of the
Universal Service Fund - a $793 million Federal program that puts tax on all
phone customers and then uses the proceeds to assist phone companies that
provide service to people in areas that are more costly to serve, like these
rural areas. Rex Bryan, who runs the Pinnacles Telephone Company in
Paicines, CA, says that remote areas would become isolated if Universal
Service didn't exist. "The valuable stakes are the metropolitan zones," he
explains. "Large phone companies can't make money out here."
** Cable **
Title: TCI in Talks Over New Cable-TV Boxes
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (A3)
Author: David Bank
Issue: Cable
Description: As personal computer penetration has stalled at ~40% of all US
households, the industry is turning to cable television as a way of
extending its reach to include nearly all of the nation's 100 million TV
households. Today is the deadline to submit technical and financial
proposals to become the provider of as many as 10 million "network
computers" for the next generation of cable television for
Tele-Communications Inc. The deal is valued at $3 billion and PC giants
Microsoft and Intel are major players. TCI is asking for bids to provide the
ultimate set-top box that will be able to provide: 1) 10-12 channels for
every one that is offered today (through digital compression), 2) Internet
links to enhance traditional programming with background info, statistics
and online transactions, 3) electronic programming guides linked to VCR's,
4) high-speed Internet access for both televisions and PCs, and 5) future
services like "video-on-demand," electronic mail, games, "jukeboxes," and
educational services.
Title: TCI eyes box mega-buy
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Price Colman & John Higgins
Issue: Cable
Description: Tele-Communications Inc's Chairman John Malone says the company
is close to ordering 5-10 million digital set-top boxes to be delivered over
the next 2-3 years to TCI systems and "friend and family." Mr. malone says
TCI expects the biggest chuck of the $1.3-$3 billion price tag will be
picked up by advertisers eager to sell products electronically. There may be
some backing from AT&T as well which is rumored to be considering 1)
investing $1.5 billion into TCI-backed high-speed Internet service ( at )Home and
2) purchasing Teleport Communications Group, the competitive local telephone
access provider backed by TCI and other cable operators.
Title: Internet Ties Help to Revive the Cable Industry as Satellite Sales
Lag Behind
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121597cable.html
Author: Peter H. Lewis
Issue: Cable
Description: The cable television industry is reveling in the wealth of
choices that are now available to them. Choices that range from
programming, telephony, email, high-speed Internet access, electronic
commerce, distance education, interactive games, music, and high-definition
television and movies. All of these new services mean more revenue which
puts a smile on the faces of cable operators who were fearing the worst with
Americans switching to direct broadcast satellite dishes, telephone
companies threatening their turf, the Internet and online service providers
cutting into tv viewing time, and Wall Street, along with their customers,
waning in their support of the cable industry. "Cable is a hero again and
AOL is the Antichrist," said Michael W. Harris, president of Kinetic
Strategies Inc., a market research firm. "Instead of throwing rocks at the
cable truck in the neighborhood, customers are chasing it to order new
Internet services that are a hundred times as fast as today's computer modems."
Title: FCC zeros in on competition
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.18)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Cable/Competition
Description: Following the Federal Communications Commission open meeting on
Thursday, December 18, there will be an en banc hearing on cable
competition. Regulators will hear from National Cable Television Association
President Decker Anstrom, Consumers Union's Gene Kimmelman, the Consumer
Federation of America's Mark Cooper, and People's Choice TV Matthew
Oristano, who chairs the Wireless Cable Association's government relations
committee.
** Television **
Title: Another banner year (financially) for NBC
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.80)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Steve McClellan
Issue: Television Economics
Description: 1997 revenues for NBC will be ~$5.2 billion -- about the same
as last year when the network had $700 million in Atlanta's Olympics
advertising. NBC's total profit will be about $1.15 billion -- up 21% from
last year. NBC president Bob Wright says the company is now worth $17
billion including $4 billion in global cable assets and NBC owned TV
stations worth some $7.5 billion. Mr. Wright expects profit growth in '98 as
well. Network ad rates continue to rise because that advertising is "an
auction marketplace" in which demand for a limited supply of time dictates
pricing.
Title: It all ads up
Source: Broadcasting&Cable
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Steve McClellan
Issue: Television Economics/Advertising
Description: Industry forecasters predict that ad spending will continue to
grow even though the economy shows signs of slowing. Estimated ad growth for
the four major television networks in 1998 are 5.5-5.9% and one group,
projecting out to 2005, said the Big Four will see a climb of 65% to $23.2
billion.
Title: Executives Seeking Ways to Make Conventional TV Look Better in a
High-Definition World
Source: New York Times (D13)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121597hdtv.html
Author: Joel Brinkley
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Starting next fall, a portion of network's daily programming
will be broadcast in high-definition format. This creates a problem for TV
stations, cable companies and major networks that want to broadcast shows
produced the "old way". And what about advertisers that have not adapted
their format to high-definition? Anticipating these problems, almost every
segment of the television industry is planning to use devices, called
line-doublers, to make conventional television look better in a
high-definition world. "Since not all of our programming will be in
high-definition, at least not at first," said Charles Jablonski, a senior
NBC executive, "we need something to fill the gap. So we plan to use some
up-conversion
equipment from Faroudja or Snell & Wilcox." (Faroudja Laboratories and
Snell & Wilcox are both manufacturers of line-doublers.)
Title: PBS's Money Channels
Source: Washington Post (WashTech, p.12)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/15/010l-121597-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: Television
Description: PBS's new entrepreneurialism is now evident in major efforts
under its PBS Learning Ventures division, started in early 1995. It serves
consumer and retail markets, the professional education market and schools
and colleges. Major partnerships and initiatives include: "PBS: The Business
Channel", "PBS Adult Learning Service", "PBS Home Video", "PBS Online" , and
"PBS Records."
** Ownership **
Title: A case for minority tax certificates
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.80)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Erwin Krasow, partner at Verner, Lipfert, Berhard, McPherson and Hand
Issue: Minority Ownership
Description: The minority tax certificate policy was adopted in 1978 to
improve minority ownership of broadcast stations. Tax certificates gave
minority entrepreneurs increased access to the market for broadcast and
cable properties by deferring capital gains to owners selling these mass
media outlets to minorities and investors who provided start-up capital to
minority-owned businesses. During the 15 years the policy existed, it helped
minority-owned companies buy 288 radio stations, 43 television stations, and
31 cable systems -- before 1978 minorities owned 40 of 8,500 broadcast
stations. In 1995, Congress killed the policy when Viacom planned to sell
its cable systems to a minority-led group for $2.3 billion in a move to
defer more than $400 million in federal taxes and $200 million in state
taxes. The tax certificate program should be reinstated "because it is the
right thing to do...it can be reformed in such a way that it addresses the
concerns of Congress and makes it easier for minorities to acquire
broadcasting and cable properties without government mandates, set-asides or
quotas."
** Antitrust **
Title: Microsoft Judge Taps a Pioneer Of Internet Law
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://wsj.com/ (B1)
Author: Ann Davis
Issue: Antitrust
Description: US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has named Harvard
Professor Lawrence Lessig "special master" to evaluate evidence and make
recommendations in the Microsoft antitrust case. Mr. Lessig's writings
denote a political moderate who supports some government regulation. He
argues passionately for consumer choice on the Internet -- an outlook some
legal experts say could bode poorly for Microsoft. How software is written
has "vast social and political implications," he said recently. "With the
law, we as citizens have the right to complain. When (software) code instead
of law regulates, to whom do we complain?"
Title: Theorist's Task: Make Old Laws Fit in Digital World of Microsoft
Source: New York Times (D1,D14)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121597microsoft-lawyer.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Technological Regulation
Description: Lawrence Lessig, Harvard law professor, has been anointed
"special master" in the Justice Departments antitrust suit against
Microsoft. Mr. Lessig, who specializes in how traditional legal practices
translate into cyberspace, will have five months to interpret questions
raised by the case.
Title: A Tangled Web
Source: Washington Post (Op-eds, A26)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/15/021l-121597-idx.html
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Federal District Court Judge Thomas P. Jackson decided to
order Microsoft to temporarily decouple it's operating system from its new
Web browser while the software giant and the DOJ fight about what facts and
metaphors should govern the relationship between the two products. This is a
tough case with enormous financial implications both for Microsoft and its
competitors. The Justice Dept. and Microsoft's competitors have a legitimate
concern that the company is using its entrenched power in the
operating-system market to inflate its presence in the world of browsers.
The product is free, however, and doesn't preclude the use of competing
packages, and most manufacturers want to integrate into their systems. But,
Judge Jackson's decision was thoughtful and well-reasoned. Microsoft
shouldn't be able to overwhelm the browser market before it establishes that
its legal position is correct.
** Internet **
Title: Cyberspace Staying Duty-Free
Source: New York Times (D14)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121597tariffs.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: Last week, the Clinton administration announced that it reached
an agreement with the European Union to impose no new tariff duties on
Internet commerce. This initiative applies to goods, like computer
software, that are purchased and delivered over the Internet. Administration
officials hail the agreement as an important step in the American approach
of keeping new government regulation and taxation to a minimum in cyberspace.
Title: Digital Commerce: Censorship Problems Increase When Moved to Private
Sector
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/digicom/121597digicom.html
Author: Denise Caruso
Issue: Digital Commerce
Description: Free-speech advocates have long-warned of the dangers of
allowing the government to regulate the Internet. Now they are also
beginning to sound alarms about self-regulation. They are pointing to the
Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS), a software that makes it
possible for people to filter the Internet by blocking access to various
types of material. Initially, PICS was embraced by opponents to the
Communications Decency Act as a neutral alternative to government
censorship. But under closer evaluation, these same opponents fear that this
new technology is turning the Internet into a censorship machine because any
group could develop their own version of a PICS-based system. This is of
particular concern, because unlike many of today's filtering systems that
alert the user that they are not seeing certain sites, PICS allows groups to
silently block access. "As a result, outraged critics say PICS is the most
effective global censorship technology ever designed."
Title: A United Front for the Internet
Source: Washington Post (WashTech, p.15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/15/011l-121597-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Mergers
Description: While Washington's interest in the Internet has grown, the
Internet industry's presence in this city hasn't. Almost 20 different
organizations claim to represent the interests of the industry, yet some of
the disparate Internet group have bickered among themselves at times when
the industry needed to present a united front. The Interactive Services
Assoc. and the Assoc. of Online Professionals decided to join forces to
create the biggest Internet industry association. David P. McClure, the
AOP's exec director, said, "If we don't get our act together, Congress is
going to do it for us." By merging, the groups hope to bring together two
different segments of the industry. The ISA largely represents businesses
that create content for the network. The AOP represents Internet service
providers and businesses that support the network's infrastructure. Jeff
Richards, the ISA's exec director, said the new organization intends to
reach out to other industry groups, pitching the benefits of working together.
** Philanthropy **
Title: Philanthropic magazines' Circulation Rises, Along With Interest in
Giving
Source: New York Times (D13)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/charity-mags-media.html
Author: Robin Pogrebin
Issue: Philanthropy
Description: With charitable giving, as a whole, being on the rise, new
publications are appearing on the scene to offer donors philanthropic
advice. "People are looking more to philanthropic sources for new ideas and
leadership in a period where government is shrinking," said Susan Vail
Berresford, the president of the Ford Foundation. "And people who publish
magazines and newspapers see that as a new market." Check out today's
article in the paper or at the above site for descriptions of different
charitable related publications.
** First Amendment/Free Speech **
Title: Klan, NPR Station at Odds Over Paid Sponsorship
Source: Washington Post (B1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/15/047l-121597-idx.html
Author: Howard Kurtz
Issue: First Amendment/Free Speech
Description: Michael Cuffley's organization want to buy a $50 15-second
spot on the local National Public Radio station. But, his organization is
the Ku Klux Klan and that fact has led to a battle that may test the
boundaries of the First Amendment. The Klan is suing KWMU, a St. Louis
station owned by the Univ. of Missouri, contending that a state-run
enterprise cannot discriminate advertisers on the basis of their beliefs.
Cuffley said, "I'm trying to change the image. If you didn't know the stigma
attached to me, you'd think I was one of the best persons you'd ever met."
Robert Samples, the University's communications director, said Federal
broadcasting rules do not require stations to accept advertising from
everyone who wants to buy airtime. "We felt it was in the best public
interest not to let the Ku Klux Klan serve as an underwriter," he said.
*********