Communications-related Headlines is a free daily online news
service provided by the Benton Foundation. It will keep you up
to date on important industry developments, policy issues, and
other pertinent communications-related news events. This service
is available online at (www.benton.org/News/).
--------------------------------------------------------------
COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FEBRUARY 24, 2000
INTERNET & SOCIETY
Voters Defeat Measure on Filters at Library (NYT)
ADL Blasts Yahoo! For Online Hate Clubs (USA)
TELEVISION/CABLE
AOL Angles For TV Viewers AOLTV Marries Net, TV In First Salvo Of
Battle For Interactive Services (USA)
TV Makers and Cable Operators Settle 2 Disputes Over Digital TV
(WSJ)
AT&T, Cablevision Set Marketing Accord (WSJ)
WIRELESS
Bluetooth Standard Promises a World Without Cables (WSJ)
Two-Way Net Satellite in the Works (USA)
INTERNET
Hundreds of Net Disputes in International Mediation (Cybertimes)
A Utopian With a Twinkle and an Idea: Online Democracy (NYT)
ANTITRUST
Microsoft Breakup Called Illogical (WP)
INTERNET & SOCIETY
VOTERS DEFEAT MEASURE ON FILTERS AT LIBRARY
Issue: Internet & Society
Residents of the conservative town of Holland in southwestern Michigan have
voted against a proposal to force a public library to filter computer access
to the Web. Voters came out 55 percent to 45 percent against the referendum,
which would have cut off municipal financing for the library here unless it
blocked access from its computers to sites containing "obscene, sexually
explicit or other material harmful to minors." The American Library
Association estimates that 15 percent of the nation's public libraries have
already installed filtering software to prevent patrons from visiting
various kinds of sites, especially pornographic ones. While a filtering
policy failed to gain approval in Holland, none of the computers in the
children's area are connected to the Web, and the computers in the adult
section with Web connections are all arranged as to be visible by the
library's computer trainer, sits at the base of the horseshoe, where she can
see what people are viewing.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A12), AUTHOR: KEITH BRADSHER]
(<http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/24library.html>
)
ADL blasts Yahoo! for online hate clubs
Issue: Media and society
The Anti-Defamation League, blasted Yahoo for violating its own rules of
banning ''hateful'' content. The ADL sent a letter to Yahoo calling on them
to remove the sites of several hate groups. Yahoo didn't respond and ADL
sent a release to the press. Yahoo says that while it can't police its
sites, it does investigate every complaint within 24 hours, and sites with
objectionable content, will be removed. Yahoo's Mark Hull says, ''We strive
to promote inclusiveness and free expression on the Internet."
[SOURCE: USA Today (3D), AUTHOR: Janet Kornblum]
(<http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000224/1966368s.html>)
TELEVISION
AOL ANGLES FOR TV VIEWERS AOLTV MARRIES NET
Issue: Internet/Television
AOL takes will soon take its first step toward this blending of TV and the
Internet this year when it launches AOLTV. Its deal with Time Warner, the
No. 1 cable operator with more than 13 million customers, opens the way for
AOLTV to dominate interactive TV. Time Warner's cables could help it become
a seamless cable TV package, eliminating the need for a separate set-top box
and a phone line. AOL's interactive service could be "profoundly important,"
says Merrill Lynch's Internet specialist Henry Blodget. If successful, the
company's clout over interactive communications might become "analogous to
Microsoft's control of the PC operating system." One reason analysts are so
enthusiastic about interactive TV is because of its ability to bypass the
Internet. John Corcoran says CIBC World Markets' says; "There are still 65
million homes not connected to the Internet, and TV is well-positioned to
move into that connectivity gap."
[SOURCE: USAToday (1B), AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
(<http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000224/1966411s.htm>)
TV MAKERS AND CABLE OPERATORS SETTLE 2 DISPUTES OVER DIGITAL TV
Issue: DTV
TV makers and cable-system operators came to an agreement yesterday on two
out of four issues that have been delaying the manufacturing of digital
televisions that connect with cable systems. The agreements covered
technical standards and the operation of on-screen program guides. The
remaining two issues of contention focus on the precise labeling of "cable
ready" digital TVs and copyright protection of digital programs. TV makers
want the definition of "cable ready" labels to be flexible enough so that
they don't have to incorporate cable connections in every digital set.
Cable operators fear that with such flexible labels, TV makers will opt not
to include cable connections in certain sets, especially those which have
low profit margins. On the issue of copyright matters, FCC Chairman William
Kennard thinks that FCC involvement might be required before an agreement
can be reached. In January, Mr. Kennard had warned the two industries that
they had till April 1 to come to agreement or the FCC would impose its own
rules. Mr. Kennard's response to the agreements, "What today's announcement
shows is there's a willingness in the industries to work out these issues
voluntarily."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12), AUTHOR: Evan Ramstad]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB951350201663982690.htm)
SEE ALSO: DEAL BOOSTS MAKER OF SET-TOP BOXES
[SOURCE: USAToday (2B), AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000224/1966420s.htm)
AT&T, CABLEVISION SET MARKETING ACCORD
Issue: Broadband
AT&T Corporation and Cablevision Systems created a marketing agreement which
offers consumers free premium cable channels or high-speed Internet service
if they subscribe to AT&T's long-distance services and take Cablevision's
cable-TV service. The arrangement should help AT&T sign up more
local-telephone service in New York. AT&T had spent a year trying to work a
deal with TimeWarner to use their cable-TV wires to deliver local telephone
service nationwide. Cablevision and AT&T noted that additional incentives,
in the form of giveaways, could be offered later. "This is different than
discounts," an AT&T executive said.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B11), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB95135910480476258.htm)
WIRELESS
BLUETOOTH STANDARD PROMISES A WORLD WITHOUT CABLES
Issue: Wireless
Bluetooth, named for the feisty Viking conqueror king who unified and
Christianized Denmark, is set to unify the wireless world and banish cables
from the kingdom of computers, peripherals and appliances. In a
Bluetooth-enabled world, devices would use radio signals sent across the
currently uninhabited 2.4-gigahertz frequency band to recognize and
communicate with each other even when not in line of sight. Swedish
mobile-phone maker Telefon A.B. LM Ericsson initiated the Bluetooth Special
Interest Group in 1998 with IBM, Intel Corp., Nokia Corp. and Toshiba Corp
to develop a single specification that would allow low-cost, short-range
wireless communication and networking among PCs, mobile phones, digital
cameras and other devices, as well as connections to the Internet -- and so
cut through the forest of wireless data-transfer options. Mobile computer
vendors would then be able to build a single radio into all devices,
enabling them to speak in one language with each other, rather than having
to create computers capable of handling all manner of interface cards. "We
still have some engineering homework to do and costs must come down," says
Horst Laven, director of Bluetooth development in the Siemens Communication
Devices division. Mr. Laven sees the cell phone market as the engine of
Bluetooth, "which will really take off soon." Other Bluetooth products are
featured as part of CeBIT, the Hannover computer fair that begins Thursday.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Interactive, AUTHOR: Vivien Marx]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB951332862969909363.htm)
TWO-WAY NET SATELLITE IN THE WORKS
Issue: Satellite
Microsoft, EchoStar and satellite company Gilat are teaming up to give Web
surfers another high-speed Internet option: two-way satellite service.
Gilat-To-Home will beam Microsoft Network access to a home satellite dish,
larger than current dishes at about 24 by 36 inches. Gilat promises to
outperform current satellite speeds, with download speeds from 400 kilobits
per second to 40 megabits per second and uploads from 56k to 153k. Testing
of the system is under way; availability is expected by year's end. No
pricing was announced. The Yankee Group projects that by 2004, about 3.9
million homes will be receiving high-speed service via satellite, compared
with 9.6 million homes with cable modems and 7 million with DSL. Satellite
service will especially help in rural areas that cable and phone companies
might overlook, says Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman.
[SOURCE: USAToday (3D), AUTHOR: Mike Snider]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000224/1966372s.htm)
INTERNET
HUNDREDS OF NET DISPUTES IN INTERNATIONAL MEDIATION
Issue: Internet
A new system for mediating cybersquatting disputes, involving trademarks in
Internet addresses, has become quite popular with 175 cases having been
filed in the last three months. The system, called the Uniform Dispute
Resolution Policy, was adopted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) (the organization that administers the Internet's
domain system) last August. Under the policy, a domain name holder can be
forced into mediation if someone files a claim alleging their domain is
identical or confusingly similar to a trade or service mark, or for a
variety of other reasons, including the domain name being registered in bad
faith. While critics charged that the system might make it too easy for a
complainant to take away a domain name from someone with a legitimate claim
to it, the policy's supporters say that it makes it easier for small
companies and organizations to defend themselves.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Cybertimes) AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/cyber/articles/24domain.html)
A UTOPIAN WITH A TWINKLE AND AN IDEA: ONLINE DEMOCRACY
Issue: Political Discourse
Before there was the John McCain's Web fundraising miracle, or Bill
Bradley's homepage, there was Jim Warren. Warren has been around for just
about every important bit of personal computing history, including, the
legendary Homebrew Computer Club, Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer
Calisthenics and Orthodontia (considered the first software magazine), the
first West Coast Computer Fair and Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet.
Through it all, Warren has been advocating computing as a means to
democracy. In the early 1990's (long before the Web) he was complaining
about tech illiterate elected officials and the lack of email addresses for
congressional offices. In the 1992 and 1996 elections, he advocated online
candidate forums, but he is still waiting for them to materialize. He says
candidates were resistant to the forums because they didn't know who was
going to ask something and couldn't control what comments people were going
to make." While he has been quieter this campaign season, he is still
willing to help anyone who wants to get information to the public-regardless
of party affiliation.
[SOURCE: New York Times () AUTHOR: Rebecca Fairley Raney]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/circuits/articles/24warr.html)
ANTITRUST
MICROSOFT BREAKUP CALLED ILLOGICAL
Issue:Antitrust
Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard law professor who has twice been asked by U.S.
District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to help with technical and antitrust
issues in the ongoing cases against Microsoft, has said yesterday that he is
"skeptical about breakup." Lessig, speaking before a group of reporters at
the National Press Club, Lessig added, "It doesn't seem logical to me, but
it does to the government." Although the court has solicited Lessig's
opinion's before, Jackson has not consulted Lessig on possible penalties for
Microsoft, While he acknowledged that he has not spent time studying breakup
or other remedies, he said that he can't imagine that there isn't a solution
that reigns in Microsoft's practices, short of breakup.
[Source: Washington Post (E1) AUTHOR: James V. Grimaldi]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/a26947-2000feb24.html)
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Benton Foundation's Communications Policy and Practice (CPP)
(www.benton.org/cpphome.html) Communications-related Headline
Service is posted Monday through Friday. The Headlines are highlights
of news articles summarized by staff at the Benton Foundation. They
describe articles of interest to the work of the Foundation -- primarily
those covering long term trends and developments in communications,
technology, journalism, public service media, regulation and philanthropy.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone does
not represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by
Kevin Taglang (kevint@benton.org), Rachel Anderson (rachel@benton.org),
Jamal Le Blanc (jamal@benton.org), and Nancy Gillis (nancy@benton.org) -- we
welcome your comments.
The Benton Foundation works to realize the social benefits made possible
by the public interest use of communications. Bridging the worlds of
philanthropy, public policy, and community action, Benton seeks to shape
the emerging communications environment and to demonstrate the value of
communications for solving social problems. Through demonstration
projects, media production and publishing, research, conferences, and
grantmaking, Benton probes relationships between the public, corporate,
and nonprofit sectors to address the critical questions for democracy in
the information age. Other projects at Benton include:
Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org)
Open Studio: The Arts Online (www.openstudio.org/)
Destination Democracy (www.destinationdemocracy.org/)
Sound Partners for Community Health (www.soundpartners.org/)
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
To subscribe to the Benton Communications-Related Headlines,
send email to: listserv@cdinet.com
In the body of the message, type only:
subscribe benton-compolicy YourFirstName YourLastName
To unsubscribe, send email to:
listserv@cdinet.com
In the body of the message, type only:
signoff benton-compolicy
If you have any problems with the service, please direct them to
benton@benton.org
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| The Net-Newsletters mailing list is a service of the |
| Internet Scout Project -- http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ |
| |
| Archives for K12-Newsletters can be found at |
| http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/caservices/net-news/ |
+---------------------------------------------------------+