Internet
NYT: U.S. Plans on Internet Names Lacks Support From All Users
WP: The End of an Exclusive Domain
WSJ: Government Plan to Pull Out of Business Of Naming Internet
Addresses
Is Praised
NTIA:Commerce Department Releases proposal To Privatize Internet
Domain Registration NYT: Building 'Internet 2'
Telephony
WSJ: Phone-Industry Revolution Is Foreseen As Internet Poses Pricing
Challenges
FCC: Commission Proposes Streamlined Requirements For BOC Provision of
Information Services
Telecom Digest: Pay-Phone Calls to Get Up-Front Pricing
Television
B&C: FCC Delays DTV Decision
B&C: Digital TV Comes to Computers
B&C: DirecTV/Microsoft Internet Satellite Project in Limbo
B&C: Battle Lines Form Over Free Airtime
Microsoft/Antitrust
WSJ: A Judo Blow Against Microsoft
WSJ: Few Microsoft Foes Dare to Fight Firm in Washington
** Internet **
Title: U.S. Plans on Internet Names Lacks Support From All Users
Source: New York Times (D1,D5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/020298domain.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Internet Regulation/Infrastructure
Description: The Clinton Administration released a proposal, developed by
Ira Magaziner, the Administration's top Internet advisor, Friday to
relinquish the Government's control of the Internet's address system to a
competitive market. The Administration is seeking to privatize a crucial
function of the expanding network and formalize a system that currently
relies largely on one company. The plan recommends the creation of a
not-for-profit corporation to direct the expansion of the Internet's domain
system. The corporation, to be based in the U.S. and run by a representative
group of the Internet's users, would also oversee the core computers that
keep track of who lives where in cyberspace. The overall goal is to lower
costs and broaden consumer choice.
Title: The End of an Exclusive Domain
Source: Washington Post (Bus 5,6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-02/02/003l-020298-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Internet Regulation/Infrastructure
Description: Under a plan released Friday by the White House, firms besides
Network Solutions will be allowed to assign domains: .com, .org, and
.net. In addition, the administration plans to create five new, currently
unnamed, top-level domains. Network Solutions does not appear to be too
concerned with the announcement. Gabriel A. Battista, the company's chief
executive, commented that he thinks the competition is a good idea and will
expand Network Solutions business. After their contract with the National
Science Foundation formally ends in March, the company will continue their
monopoly for six more months while a nonprofit company is established to
supervise competition. Once that is completed, Network Solutions will
"continue to manage the database of addresses in its three existing domains,
allowing it to collect a small fee from other firms that want to sell the
.com, .org, and .net addresses." James J. Petit, an analyst with
Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco said, "At the end of the day, meaningful
competition is probably at least a year out. And once it starts, they're
going to have a big benefit from being in the pole position."
Title: Government Plan to Pull Out of Business Of Naming Internet Addresses
Is Praised
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Internet Domains
Description: Internet players who felt locked out of an earlier
industry-sponsored effort to control Internet addresses praised the Clinton
Administration's new plan to get the gov't. out of the process. A year ago,
the gov't. announced its intention to turn over control of the Internet
address system to the private sector. But when the administration released
its proposal, it had laid out no specific plans for how for how the
transition would occur. Internet users of all types have raised concern
about how the "domain-name" issue will be handled.
Title: Commerce Department Releases proposal To Privatize Internet Domain
Registration
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/new.html
Issue: Internet Regulation/Infrastructure
Description: The Commerce Department released a draft proposal Friday
"suggesting ways to improve the current management of Internet names and
addresses by establishing a private sector policy oversight body and
introducing competition into the domain name registration system." The DNS
Management Discussion Draft is available on the Commerce Dept.'s website at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov.
Title: Building 'Internet 2'
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/020298internet.html
Author: Robyn Meredith
Issue: Internet Growth
Description: The University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development is
a nonprofit group that is trying to bring together academia, government and
industry to create Internet 2, as the project is called, and the programs
needed to operate it. Douglas E. Van Houweling, chief executive and
president of the UCAID and one of the creators of the original Internet,
plans to add high-speed lanes to the clogged electronic highway that today's
Internet has become. He envisions Internet 2 as a way for high-end users to
quickly and reliably move huge amounts of data across phone, cable,
satellite or other yet-to-be invented networks. "Today's Internet is like a
single-lane highway with unlimited access points and no traffic control,"
said Mr. Van Howling. "There will never be a red light that will come on and
say you can't use it -- when the traffic gets heavy, things slow down. What
we're trying to do is build a multilane highway. On each of these special
lanes, we can regulate the amount of traffic to guarantee performance, we'll
still have the far-right lane, where everybody can get on." Those involved
in the project say that broad commercial use of Internet 2 is about four
years away. Mr. Van Houweling expects that once Internet 2 is up and
running, discussions for the creation of Internet 3 will begin.
** Telephony **
Title: Phone-Industry Revolution Is Foreseen As Internet Poses Pricing
Challenges
Source: Wall Street Journal (B11B)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Douglas Lavin
Issue: Telephony
Description: The idea that phone networks must evolve into something that
resembles the Internet is something of a revolution in an industry that has
long resisted the Internet. Telephony via the Internet is only the forefront
of a technological revolution that is dramatically reducing the cost of
standard voice telephone services and will eventually remake the telephone
industry. The pricing revolution would come from a broad restructuring of
telephone networks around the world so that they more closely resemble the
Internet. But this could also lead to the early death of the nascent
Internet telephone industry if that can no longer undercut higher-priced
phone networks.
Title: Commission Proposes Streamlined Requirements For BOC Provision of
Information Services
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
Issue: Competition
Description: The FCC proposed to streamline the safeguards under which the
Bell Operating Companies provide information (or enhanced) services, such as
voice mail and electronic messaging. The safeguards exist to encourage BOC
provision of new technologies and innovative information services, while
ensuring that the BOCs make their networks available for use by competitive
providers of such services. The proposal aims to strike a balance between
the Commission's goal of deregulating where competition has developed, and
its recognition that until full competition is realized, certain safeguards
may still be necessary.
Title: Pay-Phone Calls to Get Up-Front Pricing
Source: Telecom Digest---feb. 2, 1998
http://editor( at )telecom-digest.org/
Author: Tad Cook (tad( at )ssc.com)
Issue: Telephone Rates
Description: Federal phone regulators, in an effort to drive down the cost
of long-distance calls placed from hotels and pay phones, decided to make
telephone companies tell consumers up front how much such calls will cost.
The new rule involves long-distance calls made from a non-residential phone,
where a customer must dial 0 plus the area code and number to make a call.
Charges for these "0-plus" calls are the third-largest source of consumer
complaints to the FCC.
** Television **
Title: FCC Delays DTV Decision
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (pg. 6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Commissioners had hoped to complete a revised plan for matching
each station with a channel for digital broadcasting, One of the questions
is about which channel will constitute the "core spectrum" into which all
broadcasters will be packed once the industry returns its analog channels to
the gov't. Another issue is whether expanding the core spectrum to 30 mhz
would cut into the revenue the government hopes to reap from its auction of
the returned channels.
Title: Digital TV Comes to Computers
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (pg. 79)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Harry A. Jessell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Technicians at WETA-TV's offices flipped the switch on computer
with rabbit ears? Making it possible is a computer card slipped into the
back of the off-the-shelf computer alongside other more conventional
computer components. The card is a prototype DTV receiver built by Intel.
Equipped with the card and either rooftop or a set-top TV antenna, the
computer picked up the signal from WETA-TV's experimental DTV transmitter
four miles away and displays it on the computer monitor.
Title: DirecTV/Microsoft Internet Satellite Project in Limbo
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (pg. 82)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Richard Tedesco
Issue: Digital TV/Satellites
Description: One year after it was trumpeted as the next great combination
of data and TV service, the future of DirecTV's PCTV project with Microsoft
is uncertain and DirecTV is working with another software maker and shifting
emphasis to data delivered to TV. The project is in transition, largely
prompted by delays in the release of Microsoft's Windows 98 system, which
will support the PCTV platform for the data delivery scheme.
Title: Battle Lines Form Over Free Airtime
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (pg. 6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Media & Politics
Description: The day after the President said he would "formally" ask the
commission to move on a free or reduced-cost airtime plan for political
candidates, FCC Chairman Kennard said he plans to do just that. House
Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin said the airtime plan would
constitute the worst start ever of any FCC commissioner. Kennard conceded
that the plan will call for state and federal candidates seeking access to
the airwaves. The plan won't apply to cable, but may apply to radio. Kennard
said, "It's clear that the campaign finance system is broken in this
country. I want the FCC to be part of the solution."
** Microsoft/Antitrust **
Title: A Judo Blow Against Microsoft
Source: Wall Street Journal (Op-eds, A22)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Microsoft/Competition
Description: Netscape announced that it would reveal the source code of its
next-generation browser, Communicator 5.0, on the Internet. Netscape has not
only matched Microsoft, but has raised the stakes by allowing anyone with
the requisite skills to extend, modify, customize, and enhance the program.
What does Netscape hope to gain from this ploy? Well, Microsoft's strength
in providing a uniform operating environment can also be its weakness, one
that Netscape hopes to exploit by providing the opposite: diversity. In the
volatile Internet environment, an application that can mutate rapidly has a
big competitive advantage over an application that changes only when its
manufacturer issues a new release.
Title: Few Microsoft Foes Dare to Fight Firm in Washington
Source: Wall Street Journal (A24)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Michael Schroeder
Issue: Antitrust
Description: As the Justice Dept. has pressed its antitrust case against
Microsoft, two of Washington's best-known lobbying firms have been trying to
assemble a high-profile team of Microsoft rivals to wage open political war
on the software giant.But the campaign hasn't revved up, largely because
most competitors fear retaliation in the marketplace. Privately, some of the
anti-Microsoft lobbyists say they intend to soon unveil a coalition of at
least 10 companies willing to stand up to Microsoft. So far, the number is
only five, and has been tentatively called the Council for a Competitive
Electronic Marketplace.
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