Universal Service
WP: A New Tax for the New Year
Internet & Online Services
TelecomAM: 'Pro-Family' Groups Say Internet Summit Is P.R. Move By ISPs;
Free Speech Advocates Respond
TelecomAM: Free Speech Advocates Form Alliance To Fight
Internet Restriction
WSJ: AOL to Allow Use Of Microsoft Software For Sending E-Mail
WSJ: Korn/Ferry Moves On-Line For Recruiting
NYT: Basics on Finding Useful and Timely Information
Telephone
TelecomAM: Rowe Says Federal-State Tension Over Telecom Act is 'Healthy'
WP: "Call 54" Service Would Reveal Addresses in Md.
InfoTech
NYT: In Berlin Center, Virtual City Takes Shape
NYT: Motorola Unveils 2-Way Pager
Cable
WP: Small Screen, Big Dream
Newspapers
WP: Chex and Balance
Media&Politics
WP: Roll With Punches, Judge Tells N.Y. Mayor
** Universal Service **
Title: A New Tax for the New Year
Source: Washington Post (A27)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/02/014l-120297-idx.html
Author: James Glassman, American Enterprise Institute www.aei.org
Issue: Universal Service
Description: In editorial, Glassman warns of stiff tax in your phone bill
next year -- a 4-5% in telephone bills to pay for universal service
programs. Glassman criticizes Congress, Vice President Gore, and the Federal
Communications Commission for raising the total bill for universal service
from $1.9 billion to $4.9 billion annually and from trying to hide the cost
in phone bills. "The idea here is an old one: People can't rebel if they're
kept in the dark. That's exactly where the FCC, Gore, [Sen] Stevens
[R-Alaska] and the rest are trying to keep them." [For a look at The New
Definition of Universal Service see
http://www.benton.org/Updates/summary.html]
** Internet & Online Services **
Title: 'Pro-Family' Groups Say Internet Summit Is P.R. Move By ISPs;
Free Speech Advocates Respond
Source: Telecom A.M.---Dec. 2, 1997
http://capitol( at )cappubs.com/
Issue: Internet Content
Description: Sen. Dan Coats (R-IA) has joined some "pro-family" groups in
expressing concern that an upcoming summit on children's use of the 'Net
will be used as a P.R. vehicle for ISPs rather than seriously attempting to
address dangers facing kids online. Coats said that he believed his
legislation has spurred the ISPs to developing and offering software that
would block kids' access to indecent material. Earlier this month he
introduced a bill that would penalize online predators, including ISPs that
sell "harmful" material to minors. Family Research Council President Gary
Bauer said the summit has been "hijacked" by ISPs and that, so far, ISPs
have hampered "even modest attempts" to put blocking technology on the 'Net
and warned "parents can't do it by themselves."
Title: Free Speech Advocates Form Alliance To Fight Internet Restriction
Source: Telecom A.M.---Dec. 2, 1997
http://capitol( at )cappubs.com/
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: A coalition of free speech advocates have announced the
formation of the Internet Free Expression Alliance (IFEA) to fight
gov't.-coerced ratings, blocking and filtering and to ensure the continuation
of the Internet as an open forum. Members told reporters that they're
concerned industry and gov't. officials could jeopardize free speech on the
Internet by agreeing to adopt voluntary ratings systems or promote blocking
and filtering software. EPIC Legal Counsel David Sobel said a new report by
the Center finds that "so-called family-friendly" search engines "typically
block access to 99% of the material on the Internet that would be
appropriate for young people." While panelists at the "Internet/Online
Summit: Focus on Children" acknowledged there's objectionable material
online, they said it is up to the user -- not gov't. or industry -- to determine
what children and others should view. They also agreed that parents should
be educated about the tools available for filtering and blocking, but that
the industry's voluntary adoption of ratings or screening would send a
message to lawmakers that it's open to censorship.
Title: AOL to Allow Use Of Microsoft Software For Sending E-Mail
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Online Services
Description: AOL said it would give its members the option of sending and
receiving e-mail using software from Microsoft instead of AOL's own e-mail
package. They said that they'll rework its system to make it compatible with
Microsoft's Outlook Express. David Gang, senior VP of new products at AOL
said that they won't distribute Outlook Express to AOL customers. While this
move won't really abate AOL's own e-mail problems, it will at least allow
customers to use the more advanced features of the Microsoft program.
Title: Korn/Ferry Moves On-Line For Recruiting
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Joann S. Lublin
Issue: Internet
Description: Korn/Ferry Internat'l will unveil a service intended to fill
mid-level jobs quickly through a blend of Internet technology and
conventional search tactics. A new subsidiary dubbed "CareerLink" will
target U.S. managers and professionals earning $75,000 to $120,000 a year
for the first time. Michael Boxburger, Korn/Ferry president and executive
officer said the electronic job search service may expand to London "in the
next year" and operate U.S.-wide by June 2000. CareerLink is actually a
database that matches potential applicants with vacancies, then personally
screens the best prospects. Employers will get to download the service's
videotaped job interviews before deciding on candidates to meet. Bill Gross,
a 'Net entrepreneur who owns a stake in CareerLink, said, "This is executive
recruiting on steroids because we're speeding up the process."
Title: Basics on Finding Useful and Timely Information
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/travel-log/120297travel-log.html
Author: Stephen C. Miller
Issue: Internet Use
Description: Many of us have looked to the Web as a prime source of timely
data only to discover a search that proves to be frustrating and fruitless.
With this virtual library being still relatively new, a technologically
advanced Dewey Decimal System has yet to be developed. Instead we find
ourselves at the mercy of numerous search engines, all of which use
different systems. But wait, we now have two men in East Greenwich, RI --
Robert Balliot, a librarian, and David Habib, retired vice-president of
technical operations for Arkwright Mutual Insurance Co. with a doctorate in
chemistry -- that have developed a searching tutorial to help us learn how to
find the information that we want and need. Balliot maintains that the real
secret to effectively searching the Web is found in critical thinking. "Try
to consider the authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage of
a Web site before trusting it as an information source," he said, pointing
out that children as well as college professors can post information on the
Internet. Their guide was developed for beginners but can also provide
helpful reminders to those who are already familiar with the basics.
Balliot and Habib's online guide can be accessed at:
http://www.ultranet.com/~egrlib/tutor.htm.
** Telephone **
Title: Rowe Says Federal-State Tension Over Telecom Act is 'Healthy'
Source: Telecom A.M.---Dec. 2, 1997
http://capitol( at )cappubs.com/
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: NARUC Communications Committee President Bob Rowe said that
the Telecom Act "is profoundly federalist in its structure" and was designed
to include "a healthy federal-state tension," in a speech at the American
Enterprise Inst. in Washington yesterday. He also said that state
commissions' legal battles with the FCC are not over "jurisdiction for
jurisdiction's sake," but to protect their ability to carry out "policies
appropriate for their markets." He called for better communication and more
joint actions between the federal and state agencies and advised the FCC to
use only "judicious and limited preemption" of state and local actions.
Title: "Call 54" Service Would Reveal Addresses in Md.
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/02/047l-120297-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Privacy
Description: Bell Atlantic will ask Maryland phone regulators for permission
to offer a new service that will allow people to learn the name and address
of any owner of a listed phone number in the state. People could dial
555-5454, enter a phone number, and receive the name and address of the
person assigned to the number from an automated voice. Bell Atlantic plans
to charge $0.75 for the service and will expand the service to other states
if successful in Maryland. Customers may block their number toll free by
calling 1-888-579-0323. Bell Atlantic claims that the information the
service gives is already available in phone directories. Critics see is as
another erosion of privacy.
** InfoTech **
Title: In Berlin Center, Virtual City Takes Shape
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/euro/120297euro.html
Author: Bruno Giussani
Issue: Information Technology
Description: Virtual reality is moving from the realm of games to the arena
of economic development in an effort to help contractors and businesses
understand why they should build in a certain area. An example of this can
be seen with Artemedia, a German company specializing in virtual reality and
three-dimensional animation. Nearly three years ago, they started
developing the "Berlin 2010" model in an effort to assist the city as it
rebuilds. This model, which will encompass the entire city by the end of
1998, enables the visualization of objects for urban and transportation
planning, property marketing, and environmental management. "It is a
serious digital property development and city planning tool," said Nicholas
Denissen, business development manager at Artemedia. Artemedia's virtual
environment is different from computer games or existing military
simulations in that it allows the user to manage the entire model at once.
"If you can connect a virtual city rendering to actual data bases, for
example, the model becomes a browser -- an easy-to-understand and very
effective user's interface," Denissen explained. Other cities around the
world, like Rome, Vienna and San Paolo, are also looking to use Artemedia's
technology. The State of Georgia will most likely become their first United
States client.
Title: Motorola Unveils 2-Way Pager
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/120297pager.html
Author: Marty Katz
Issue: Information Technology
Description: For all your paging needs, Motorola released their 2-way pager,
dubbed the "Page Writer," for retail sale yesterday. Similar to Skytel's
"Skywriter," this new product enables the user to send and receive email,
and to acknowledge the receipt of a page for guaranteed messaging. Since
these products are basically mini-email terminals, Internet access from
these hand units is possible.
** Cable **
Title: Small Screen, Big Dream
Source: Washington Post (B1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/02/032l-120297-idx.html
Author: Chip Crews
Issue: Cable/Minorities
Description: Troubled by the image of African American men in the media,
Harry Evans started "That Show With Those Black Guys" three years ago. The
cable-access television series now aires in 90 markets including Los
Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, DC. On each show,
Mr. Evans sits down with a successful or up-and-coming black man and gives
him some air time to tell his story. He estimates that he can produce a show
for "probably under a hundred bucks," but receives no funds from cable
operators for the right to air the shows.
** Newspapers **
Title: Chex and Balance
Source: Washington Post (B1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/02/039l-120297-idx.html
Author: Howard Kurtz
Issue: Newspapers
Description: Mark Willes, former executive at cereal giant General Mills, is
now the chief executive of Times Mirror and running the Los Angeles Times.
Story looks at Mr. Willes and how an executive with mainly marketing
experience can run one of the nation's leading newspapers.
** Media&Politics **
Title: Roll With Punches, Judge Tells N.Y. Mayor
Source: Washington Post (A3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/02/070l-120297-idx.html
Author: Blaine Harden
Issue: Advertising/Media&Politics
Description: A bus ad campaign purchased by New York magazine satirizes NYC
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's penchant for claiming credit whenever something
good happens in New York. But the mayor had the city's transit authority
remove the ads claiming they violated his right to privacy and that they
amounted to unauthorized commercial use of his name. But a US District judge
has issued an injunction ordering a return of the ads on the busses: "One
who has chosen to be mayor, and therefore the subject of daily comment and
controversy, cannot avoid the limelight of publicity -- good and bad," Judge
Shira Scheindlin wrote.
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