Television
FCC: Free Air Time for Political Candidates
Satellite
NYT: Satellite Experiment Builds a Tribal 'Meta-University'
FCC: DBS Service Rules, Technical Rules and Ownership Limitations
Mergers
WP: CSC Refuses Attempted Takeover
NYT: Computer Services Company Vows Fight on Hostile Offer
FCC: Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Merger Performance Monitoring Reports
Internet
WSJ: Start-Up Plans Internet Search Service Tying Results to
Advertising Spending
NYT: A New Tack for Filtering Spam
NYT: Internet Transmissions Should Remain Duty Free, U.S. Tells
World Body
TelecomAM: Missouri PSC Sets March Hearings On Promoting Internet Access
Privacy/Security
WP: Phone Users' Privacy Addressed
WSJ: FCC Rules Limit the Use of People's Phone Records
TelecomAM: FCC Sets Rules For Use Of Proprietary Phone Information
FCC: Customer Privacy Provisions of 1996 Telecommunications Act
International
WP: MCI, AT&T Find Mexico a Bad Connection
Microsoft
WSJ: AOL, MCI Subpoenaed in Microsoft Case
** Television **
Title: Free Air Time for Political Candidates
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/stwek809.html
Author: Chairman Bill Kennard
Issue: Free Air Time for Political Candidates
Description: FCC Chairman William E. Kennard States Preliminary Views in
Support of FCC Authority to Require Broadcasters to Provide Free or
Reduced-Rate Air Time to Political Candidates: "The FCC has received dozens
of requests and petitions from citizens, political scientists, public
interest advocates, 55 Members of Congress and the President asking the
Commission to examine whether broadcasters should be obligated to provide
free or reduced rate air time for political candidates as a way of reducing
the demand for campaign dollars by enhancing candidates' ability to reach
the electorate. Given these calls and my conviction that improved exposure
to informed political debate would serve the public interest, I favor an FCC
rulemaking proceeding examining free or reduced-rate air time initiatives."
** Satellite **
Title: Satellite Experiment Builds a Tribal 'Meta-University'
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/nation/022098nation.html
Author: Jason Chervokas & Tom Watson
Issue: EdTech
Description: Northwest Indian College, in Bellingham, WA, is part of an
ambitious experiment in distance learning. The program, called the American
Indian Higher Education Consortium Distance Learning Network, uses a network
of satellite links spread across 30 tribally controlled community colleges
to offer audio, video and data course materials in everything from
accounting and business management to native philosophy. "The system has
two-way audio, video and data capability between schools where there are
both downlinks and uplinks, and one-way data transfer elsewhere." The
results have been mixed over the past three years since the program started,
but enrollment in virtual classes has more than doubled in each of the
years and "a 'meta-university' is developing that serves previously
unreachable groups of students where education is needed to help combat high
unemployment and poverty."
Title: DBS Service Rules, Technical Rules and Ownership Limitations
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/News_Releases/1998/nrin8004.html
Issue: Satellite
Description: In order to facilitate the licensing of advanced satellite
services and to promote competition in the multichannnel video programming
delivery (MVPD) market, the Commission has proposed streamlining and
consolidating its service rules governing the Direct Broadcast Satellite
(DBS) service. The Commission's proposals are consistent with its goal of
regulating services in a common-sense manner that reduces regulatory burdens
and facilitates the delivery of new services to consumers. To these ends,
the Commission proposes consolidating the DBS service rules, currently
located in Part 100, with the rules for the other satellite services,
including the Direct-to-Home Fixed-Satellite Service (DTH-FSS) in Part 25.
The Commission also proposed updating the technical rules for the DBS
service and requested comment on additional actions it could undertake to
speed the delivery of DBS service to the states of Alaska and Hawaii as well
as to non-continental United States territories and possessions. [Statements
of Commissioners Furchtgott-Roth
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Furchtgott_Roth/Statements/sthfr806.html and
Powell http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/Statements/stmkp804.html]
** Mergers **
Title: CSC Refuses Attempted Takeover
Source: Washington Post (G1,G4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/056l-022098-idx.html
Author: Mark Leibovich
Issue: Merger
Description: On Thursday, Computer Sciences Corp.'s board of directors
rejected an unsolicited bid from Computer Associates International. The
board said the deal would make "no business sense" and that it had no
intention of negotiating a deal with Computer Associates. In a letter to
CA's chairman, Charles Wang, Van Honeycutt, CSC'c chief executive, said,
that Computer Sciences had "moved to strengthen our protection against your
ill-considered and unwelcome attempt to force and acquisition" and that the
company would "utilize every legal means necessary to defeat your attempt."
Title: Computer Services Company Vows Fight on Hostile Offer
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022098merger.html
Author: Saul Hansell
Issue: Merger
Description: Computer Sciences Corp. announced yesterday that it would fight
the hostile takeover bid made by Computer Associates International Inc. CSC
said that CA's offer of $9.8 billion, or $108 a share, was far too low and
that a merger would pose problems for its customers, employees and business
prospects. CSC's chief executive, Van Honeycutt, released a letter to
Charles Wang, CA's chief executive, that said, in part: "Charles, we
respectfully suggest that you withdraw your offer immediately and move on."
CA issued a statement saying that it would continue to fight for the merger.
Title: Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Merger Performance Monitoring Reports
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/ba_pmr/
Issue: Mergers
Description: This URL noted above provides a link to an Excel (version 4.0)
spreadsheet file which contains all of the non-proprietary data filed by
Bell Atlantic pursuant to the Bell Atlantic/NYNEX merger order, Appendices C
and D. Bell Atlantic has not requested confidential treatment for certain
data concerning its retail operations in the performance monitoring reports
for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. The
FCC is making the information for these jurisdictions available at this
time. The FCC has not determined if the data does or does not conform to the
merger requirements and the FCC has not audited the validity of the data. If
you have any legal questions, please call Tony Dale on (202) 418-2260. If
you have technical or engineering questions, please call Whitey Thayer on
(202) 418-0822.
** Internet **
Title: Start-Up Plans Internet Search Service Tying Results to Advertising
Spending
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Don Clark
Issue: Online Services
Description: GoTo.Com is the latest in a series of start-ups hoping to
improve on conventional technologies for finding information on the World
Wide Web. Companies such as Yahoo! and Lycos and Excite have built large
audiences, but are often criticized for returning large quantities of
irrelevant material. Bill Gross, GoTo.Com's founder, decided to let market
forces take over where technology development failed. The search service is
based on the idea of ranking answers to consumer queries according to which
advertiser will bid the most money. The concept would be controversial
because so many Web users are seeking information that doesn't necessarily
come from the largest companies. But Mr. Gross argues that the idea is much
the same as ads in the Yellow Pages, where big companies often purchase
prominent positions. "It's the stock market for attention," Mr. Gross said.
"I think it's going to change the marketplace forever."
Title: A New Tack for Filtering Spam
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022098spam-filter.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: Two programmers in Florida, Jennifer Vassilev and Maurice
Valmont, have developed software that promises a simple solution to the
overabundance of spam. The program, called Mail Guard, processes an
individuals email before it gets to her/his mailbox. "Mail Guard then
automatically creates a 'blacklist' and a 'whitelist' by asking all unknown
senders to reply to a query that says they will never send unsolicited junk
email." Since the majority of spammers send in bulk, most are unlikely to
ever respond. These messages are then kept out of the user's mailbox in a
separate file and the address is added to the black list. The program user
also can physically add names to the lists.
Title: Internet Transmissions Should Remain Duty Free, U.S. Tells
World Body
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/022098trade.html
Author: Bruno Giussani
Issue: Internet Use and Regulation
Description: Yesterday, the U.S. proposed to the World Trade Organization
that Internet transmissions, such as downloading software, accessing
financial information, attending a "virtual" language class over the
Internet, etc., should be kept free of customs duties. Out of the 132
countries that are members of the WTO, none of them "currently consider
electronic transmission as import items for custom duties purposes" and
therefore "no one is levying duties on them," said U.S. Representative, Rita
Hayes, to the organization's General Council gathered in Geneva. Hayes
added, that WTO members "should agree to continue this practice" and
consider the Internet a duty-free zone. The U.S. proposal was welcomed by
diplomats from industrialized countries, such as Japan, Switzerland,
Australia and the European Union. On the other hand, diplomats from
developing countries voiced suspicions over the U.S. administration's
intentions and spoke of their reluctance to give up this possible future
source of tax revenue. The Nigerian representative stressed that the
Internet is still in the early stages of development in Africa. And the
Egyptian representative expressed concern that international discrimination
would arise from the technological dominance of the U.S. and a handful of
other countries, adding, "electronic commerce and the computer industry are
not a level playing field today,"
Title: Missouri PSC Sets March Hearings On Promoting Internet Access
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 20, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Internet: Access
Description: The Missouri Public Service Commission will hold five public
hearings around the state to collect customer comments on Internet access
concerns and issues. The hearings are part of a PSC study of what changes
are needed to facilitate public access to the Internet. The PSC has asked
each intervenor and service provider in this proceeding to file a position
paper outlining the Internet access services and rates now available, and
offering specific suggestions for rule changes to improve availability of
Internet access services.
** Privacy/Security **
Title: Phone Users' Privacy Addressed
Source: Washington Post (G1,G3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/059l-022098-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Privacy
Description: The Federal Communications Commission moved to protect
consumers yesterday from having their privacy invaded by telephone companies
hoping to use customer calling information for marketing purposes.
"Consumers will now control what the phone company can do with that personal
information," said William Kennard, FCC Chairman. They "can be confident
that personal information will not be used or sold by phone companies
without their consent." Telecommunications companies will now be required to
obtain explicit permission to use data, by informing consumers, by mail or
telephone, about how they wish to use or sell the data and then ask their
permission.
Title: FCC Rules Limit the Use of People's Phone Records
Source: Wall Street Journal (B9)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Privacy
Description: In an attempt to protect customer privacy, federal regulators
adopted rules aimed at preventing telephone, cellular and paging companies
from using customer records or calling patterns to sell other services. The
FCC agreed to require companies to obtain permission -- either written, oral
or electronic -- to use such personal information before they market new
services to those people. A 1996 telecom law says companies have to secure
permission to use personal information about customers before pitching them
new services or products. AT&T, as well as other companies wanted the FCC to
let them assume they have permission to use customers' personal information
unless customers tell them they may not. The FCC rejected this approach, and
instead put the onus on telecom companies, the FCC officials said.
Title: FCC Sets Rules For Use Of Proprietary Phone Information
Source: Telecom AM---feb. 20, 1998
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Privacy
Description: The FCC clarified rules to protect private information about
consumers' phone service that some companies say will make one-stop shopping
a bit more expensive. The Commission approved regulations defining when
phone companies can use proprietary information about a customer's service
without approval and set rules for seeking permission when it is needed.
Regulations that protect so-called customer proprietary network information
-- such as "when you call, who you call and how much you pay for the call"
-- was included in the Telecom Act, Chairman Kennard said.
Title: Customer Privacy Provisions of 1996 Telecommunications Act
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8019.html
Issue: Privacy
Description: The Commission adopted an Order that furthers the privacy
rights of telecommunications customers while promoting the convenience by
which customers may receive telecommunications service. In addition, the
Commission's action fosters fair competition among telecommunications
carriers regarding the use of customer information. This sensitive and
commercially valuable customer information includes, for example, when a
customer places a call, whom and where a customer calls, and the types of
service offerings to which a customer subscribes. The Telecommunications Act
of 1996 refers to this as "customer proprietary network information," or
CPNI. [See statement of Commissioner Susan Ness
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/States/stsn806.html]
Title: Digital Information Protection Proposed
Source: Washington Post (G3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/060l-022098-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Digital Protection
Description: Five companies, Hitachi Ltd, Intel Corp., Marsushita Electric
Industrial Co, Sony Corp and Toshiba Corp., proposed a technical framework
Thursday to hopefully prevent people from making unauthorized duplicate of
copyrighted material, such as music and movies, when it is stored in digital
form. The group hopes to see devices with the anti-copying technology in
retail stores by the end of the year.
** International **
Title: MCI, AT&T Find Mexico a Bad Connection
Source: Washington Post (G1,G4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/20/065l-022098-idx.html
Author: John Ward Anderson
Issue: International/Telephony
Description: MCI and AT&T decided to enter the Mexican phone market when the
market became fully privatized on Jan. 1, 1997. However, these two U.S.
behemoths underestimated the strength of Telmex, Mexico's ex-monopoly phone
company, and overestimated how many customer they could steal from the
former monopoly. "The promised Clash of the Titans has degenerated into a
playground brawl, with the U.S. companies casting themselves as 90-pound
weaklings being picked on by the resident bully." Although AT&T and MCI now
offer long-distance services to Mexican consumers, they have to use Telmex's
local phone network to complete their international and domestic
long-distance calls, forcing the companies to give more than 70 percent of
their revenue to Telmex. In a letter to FCC Chairman William Kennard, asking
the FCC to intervene on MCI's behalf, MCI chief executive Gerald H. Taylor
said, "MCI knows how to compete, but we cannot do so against a heavily
subsidized Telmex, whose strategy of open discrimination and
anti-competitive abuse has been tolerated for far too long." Some
communications analyst said that the U.S. companies are victims of their own
"brash style and inflated expectations." Ray Ligouri, a telecommunications
analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York said, "This notion that Telmex is
the behemoth and poor little MCI and AT&T are getting beat up is ridiculous.
Rather than adapt to the Mexican style of negotiation and conciliation, they
have been very adversarial, especially Avantel [the MCI joint venture]. This
is a bed U.S. carriers made for themselves, and now they don't want to lie
in it."
** Microsoft **
Title: AOL, MCI Subpoenaed in Microsoft Case
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke & David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Justice Dept. sent civil subpoenas to AOL and MCI to
examine additional channels Microsoft uses to distribute its Internet
Explorer software. A Microsoft spokesman said the company doesn't know what
the department is seeking in its requests. The subpoenas appear to focus on
whether the Internet providers agreed to favor Microsoft's Internet Explorer
product over Netscape's browser program. AOL reported that the Justice Dept.
requested that AOL turn over correspondence and contracts with Microsoft.
Department officials have said they are conducting a broad examination of
Microsoft's practices beyond the pending case.
*********
Swoooosh! And we are outta here. Have a great weekend and we'll see you Monday.