Arts and Humanities
NYT: Bleak Study On the Arts Stirs Outcry
Copyrights
NYT: Europeans Push For Copyrights In Cyberspace
NYT: Electronic 'Branding' Receives Accolades at Frankfort Book Fair
Corporate Retrenchment
WSJ: How AT&T Directors decided It was Time For Change At the Top
Digital Television
NYT: PBS Makes Digital Plans
Encryption
WSJ: Frech proposal for Encryption Worries EC
Internet
NYT: Steady Diet Of Spam on Online Services
Internet Content
WP: The Discontent Over the Content
Internet: General Info
WSJ: Microsoft to Add Search Capabilities To Free Version of Its
On-Line Service
WP: Who Knows Why but They Don't Say When
Lifestyles
NYT: When Venting Computer Rage The First Step Is The Longest
Mergers
WSJ: Rivals Assail GTE on Impact Of Bid for MCI
WSJ: Bargain or Burden? The Question of MCI's Worth
**Arts and Humanities**
Title: Bleak Study On the Arts Stirs Outcry
Source: New York Times (B1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/nea-funding.html
Author: Judith Miller
Issue: Arts
Description: American Canvas, a 193-page Federal report on the state of the
arts in the U.S., has created quite a reaction across the nation. Most of
the outcries have been in response to coverage by newspapers and television
stations that decided to focus on the report's conclusion that "artists and
art groups are partially responsible for the growing alienation between the
public and the arts, a gap that made recent cuts in government arts spending
possible." While some were outraged by these conclusions, like Randall
Bourscheidt, president of the New York city-based Alliance for the Arts, an
arts advocacy group, and chief of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's cultural advisory
committee, who commented, "Talk about blaming the victim!" Others were less
reactionary, like Armando Duran, a lawyer, social activist and participant
in one of the forums from which the report was based, who said, "I stand by
that criticism. And I think the N.E.A.'s constant struggle reflects that
insularity and the fact that the vast majority of people don't understand
what the arts are supposed to do."
**Copyright**
Title: Europeans Push for Copyrights in Cyberspace
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Reuters
Issue: Copyright
Description: The European Commission is in the process of drafting a text on
"copyright protection for material carried on the Internet and other
electronic networks." This move, pushed forward in an effort to deter
pirates from using technology to make and distribute illegal copies of
recordings, films or texts, is causing quite a debate between the publishing
and entertainment industry, and equipment manufacturers, telecommunications
companies and on-line service providers. Members of the entertainment
industry are concerned that they could be severely damaged if they are not
allowed to control all commercial uses of their products. "There's a very
big danger that the entire financial stability or underpinnings of our
companies is not only threatened, but could collapse if we in fact don't
control the means to exploit our product," said Rick Dobbis, an executive at
the Phillips Electronics N.V. unit at Polygram International. On the other
hand, European equipment, telecommunications and on-line companies, which
have joined together to form the Ad Hoc Alliance for a Digital Future, are
concerned that the EU will go overboard in their efforts to protect
copyrights, making virtually all copyrighting illegal, even that by
consumers for their personal use. "We're afraid that, you could maybe call
it greed, the content owners could ruin their and our markets," said Gerry
Wirtz, an executive at Phillips who head the associations copyright committee.
Title: Electronic 'Branding' Receives Accolades at Frankfort Book Fair
Source: New York Times (D11)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/102097book.html
Author: Doreen Carvajal
Issue: Copyright
Description: At Frankfort's 49th annual book fair, hundreds of publishers
crowded around to view an electronic marking, or branding, system that could
be used to track goods in digital commerce. Dietrich Gotze, the chief
executive of the German publishing house, Axel Springer Verlag A.G., told
over 400 publishing executives just before a big-screen demonstration of
electronic marking, "It's one of the most important events in publishing for
this century, and I don't think I'm saying too much."
**Corporate Retrenchment**
Title: How AT&T Directors Decided It Was Time For Change at the Top
Source: Wall Street Journal (A1)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author: John J. Keller
Issue: Corporate Retrenchment
Description: AT&T's board of directors may announce C. Michael Armstrong
as the new CEO of AT&T today in an effort that the company hopes will
revitalize their status that was in serious compromise during the
"tumultuous" nine-year tenure of present chairman, Robert Allen. The new
chairman will have to decide whether or not to deal with the bidding war
over MCI, chart a strategy to stave off declines in long-distance, and
revive flagging fortunes in local service and on the Internet.
**Digital Television**
Title: PBS Makes Digital Plans
Source: New York Times (D11)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/102097pbs.html
Author: Joel Brinkley
Issue: Digital TV
Description: While the more commercial television networks contemplate how
to make their transition into digital broadcasting, the Public Broadcasting
System (PBS) is plunging forward with a clearly articulated plan and lots of
enthusiasm. The intention of the PBS strategy, according to Gary P. Poon,
executive director of PBS's Digital Television Strategic Planning Office, is
"to do it all," taking advantage of all of the possibilities offered through
digital tv. According to Robert Coonrod, President of the Corporation of
Public Broadcasting, "technology is finally catching up with our mission."
The one problem PBS is facing is how they are going to pay for the
transition. Early this month, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting gave
the Clinton Administration a proposal outlining what their 349 stations
intend to do with the new, digital channels, along with a request for $771
million to help pay for it. This request, designed to be paid out over a
three year period, represents just a portion of PBS's needs with the total
transition costs coming in at $1.7 billion. PBS officials are hoping to
raise the additional $1 billion from foundations, state governments and
viewers.
**Encryption**
Title: French Proposal For Encryption Is Worrying EC
Source: Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com
Author: Jennifer L. Schenker
Issue: Encryption
Description: France is proposing a law that would ensure government access
to corporate electronic communications. It's the only Western country that
bans any domestic use of cryptography, and places strict controls on the
export of encryption tools. The new rules, however, allow businesses in
France to encode their corporate secrets but require the code be given to
French-gov't approved entity in which the majority of the capital or votes
is retained by French nationals. Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communications
Corp., and the Business Software Assoc. have raised objections to the
proposal's "kicker": the requirement of companies selling products with
encrypted codes in France to reveal their "source codes". The BSA is
expected to release a statement supporting the European Commission's
decision to reject this "key-recovery" approach to encryption in the proposal.
**Internet**
Title: Steady Diet of Spam on Online Services
Source: New York Times (D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/techcol/102097techcol.html
Author: Peter H. Lewis
Issue: Internet
Description: "Spam," unsolicited commercial e-mail and automated bulk
mailings, is growing at an incredibly fast rate. Internet service providers
confirm that the problem is getting worse. "Aside from annoying many
people, the real problems with spam, some Internet experts say, involve the
traffic jams and computer crashes it can cause." In an effort to address
this problem, in the past six months, four bills have been introduced in
Congress intended to ban or regulate junk e-mail, more than a dozen bills
have been offered among the states and the Federal Trade Commission has
commissioned a study of possible solutions. Some Internet service providers
also are working to cut down on the amount of spam they relay. However,
there is concern that these new tactics threaten to disrupt the very nature
of the Internet, which "grew into a powerful communications medium on the
fundamental premise of computers on the network freely handling and
forwarding one another's messages."
**Internet Content**
Title: The Discontent Over the Content
Source: Washington Post (WashTech, 17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-10/20/0121-102097-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Internet Content
Description: AOL has had several run-ins with groups that manage areas
devoted to special topics (photography, sports, games, etc.) since January.
Their decision to charge a flat rate of $19.95 a month instead of
by-the-minute billing changed the nature of many of the financial
relationships AOL had with content providers. "Some contracts [with content
providers] were canceled," after the flat pricing took effect, said AOL
spokeswoman Tricia Primrose. For AOL, with its eye on Wall Street, "the days
of heavy investing without a return on investment have ended," she added.
AOL used to share the per-minute charges with the providers, now they are
unwilling to share subscriber fees, requesting that providers line up
advertisers, and charging commissions for things sold electronically. While
there are some who support AOL's "more business-like approach", there are
providers who have turned "independent" by going straight to the Web. Some
business executives, like Jim Wayand, a VP of business development for
"onQ", express the concern that as AOL becomes more focused on the business
they may end up not enough heed to the value of the community nature of the
network of small info providers.
**Internet: General Info**
Title: Microsoft to Add Search Capabilities To Free Version of Its On-Line
Service
Source: Wall Street Journal (B11)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: Don Clark & David Bank
Issue: Internet: General Info
Description: Microsoft is adding new World Wide Web search capabilities in
1998 through a licensing deal with Inktomi Corp. to beef up a website called
MSN.com, the free part of its subscription-based Microsoft Network on-line
service. The free site is now emerging as a key-content development focus in
its own right.
Title: Who Knows Why but They Don't Say When
Source: Washington Post (WashTech, 19)
http://www.washingtonpostcom/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-1-/20/0181-102097-idx.html
Author: Margot Williams
Issue: Internet: General Info
Description: Quality standards for information from the Web or online
commercial databases ought to be no different from standards that apply to
print. Finding the dates on documents and files has been a question of many
a researcher. But search engines treat dates differently. Only HotBot and
AltaVista display the file date, the date the file was placed on its Web
server. Many other search engines, like Excite, Infoseek, and Webcrawler,
display no date at all. Danny Sullivan, editor of "Search Engine Watch",
said, "I think it would be beneficial to all search engine users if it was
standard for search engines to report the date a Web page was spidered...in
this way, they could instantly know how out-of-date the search engine was."
**Lifestyles**
Title: When Venting Computer Rage The First Step Is The Longest
Source: New York Times, CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/102097smash.html
Author: Matt Richtell
Issue: Lifestyles
Description: Rage against the Machine, no - not the band, took on a new
meaning this weekend above a San Francisco parking lot. The 'Big Crash', an
event sponsored by the nationally syndicated radio show On Computers,
invited listeners to vent their frustrations against every problem they have
ever had to encounter via their computer, be it crashing hard drives,
disfunctional software, e-mail difficulties, printer problems, lost files,
etc. Renn Vara, who founded On Computers in 1992 and is one of three hosts,
points out that his listeners definitely aren't Neo-Luddites, stating that
"All these people love computers, they love the industry. But I kept
noticing that there was something else at play. We can't ignore that there
is a lot of underlying frustration. We decided to give them one week to get
it out of their systems." The program also held an essay contest to find
the most "poetically stated computer angst." The winner, a 53-year-old
engineer, won a new Dell computer and was flown to San Francisco to
indelicately discard his old one.
**Mergers**
Title: Rivals Assail GTE on Impact Of Bid for MCI
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://www.wsj,com
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: Merger
Description: GTE says a combination with MCI would ignite competition
across the phone industry. But rivals contend that GTE uses every regulatory
and legal trick to block competitors from getting in, despite deregulation
aimed at opening local markets. GTE has sued to block federal rules aimed at
encouraging local competition, and fought "interconnection agreements"
imposed by states. Consumer advocates think that an MCI-GTE union would mean
fewer choices and higher prices. Mark Cooper, research director for the
Consumer Federation of America, said, "These are two companies that were
supposed to be competing in every market. [A merger] turns them into one.
That arithmetic doesn't help consumers."
Title: Bargain or Burden? The Question of MCI's Worth
Source: Wall Street Journal (B10)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author: Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Merger
Description: The money being thrown around in the record-breaking bidding
war for MCI has posed a question about the actual worth of the country's
second-largest long-distance carrier. Is MCI overpriced because impending
competition from the Baby Bells eventually will drive down its vaunted 20%
of the long-distance market? Or is MCI worth a bundle because that
competition will make the brand name more valuable? Some industry insiders
say that MCI isn't worth what it was a year ago. On the other hand, some say
that as an incumbent in a sea of newcomers and sweeping changes, MCI would
have the ability to differentiate itself in the market. And, its strong
relationship with corporate customers, along with their successful expansion
of services could help MCI stave off competition. "The value of MCI to each
of the bidders is not reflective of what MCI is as a stand-alone company is
worth," noted Guy Woodleif, a telecom analyst with Prudential Securities.
"It's more reflective of what MCI brings to the suitor."
*********