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Netizens-Digest Volume 1 Number 278
Netizens-Digest Saturday, February 27 1999 Volume 01 : Number 278
Netizens Association Discussion List Digest
In this issue:
[netz] [more] FCC Links & Articles
[netz] FCC & Other Gov't Links
[netz] Flat-rate Net access still alive, for now
Re: [netz] Flat-rate Net access still alive, for now
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 11:36:29 -0500
From: "P.A. Gantt" <pgantt@icx.net>
Subject: [netz] [more] FCC Links & Articles
Source: Special Report from IDG.net
"...From 240+ Web sites, quality computing
intelligence you need every day.
The FCC's ruling today on calls to local ISPs has resulted in a
record amount of traffic to IDG.net. To help you understand the
issues behind this complicated story, the editors at IDG.net
created this special newsletter.
FCC rules ISP calls are long-distance in nature
(Source: Network World Fusion) In a long-anticipated vote, the
U.S. Federal Communications Commission decided that dial-up
Internet calls are interstate in nature and not local.
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58646
Other Articles and Links
- --------------------------------------------------------------
The FCC: No friend of local government
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58648
Commission tiptoed around calls for new broadband-service
regulations in a report on the status of advanced
telecommunications services in the country.
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58650
The challenge of governing the Net has given Congress a full plate.
On the agenda: privacy, encryption, gambling and the FCC.
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58652
Internet bills are being passed at accelerating rates by various
legislatures -- on taxation, censorship, privacy, etc. It's not going to
work to simply oppose them all. We do need law and order on the
Internet
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58654
Computerworld's collection of FCC resources
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58656
- --
P.A. Gantt, Computer Science Technology Instructor
Electronic Media Design and Support Homepage
http://user.icx.net/~pgantt/
mailto:pagantt@technologist.com?Subject=etech
http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/vision/1998-11.asp
Common sense is not common, and conventional wisdom is not
wisdom. But at least you can have conventional sense. ~~ Daily Whale
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 11:40:24 -0500
From: "P.A. Gantt" <pgantt@icx.net>
Subject: [netz] FCC & Other Gov't Links
Why the Internet is important to:
protect???
keep reasonable,???
accessible???
I find one of it's best is
access to information on an almost real-time basis
to discerning citizens not ready to take the media
at face value but willing to research.
researching... researching... researching...
============================================
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html
Official Federal Government WebSite
Library of Congress
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Executive Office of the President (EOP)
Executive Agencies
INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
http://www.fcc.gov/
http://www.fcc.gov/search/wordsearch.html
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Consumer Information Center (Pueblo, CO)
Government Listings:Blue Web Pages
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
(NCLIS)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
United States Information Agency (USIA)
United States Information Agency Home Page (USIA)
United States Information Agency International Home Page
(USIA)
United States International Trade Commission (USITC)
United States Trade and Development Agency
BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES
Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC)
President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection
QUASI-OFFICIAL AGENCIES
Smithsonian Institution (SI)
Go to:
Judicial Branch
Legislative Branch
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/congress.html
Constituent Email to House of Representatives
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Constituent Email to Senate <broken link>
http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm
Senators of the 106th Congress use the one above!
New alphabetical listing
Newspaper & Current Periodical Room Home Page
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/news/ncp.html
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/news/ss.html
Search Engine
Library of Congress Home Page
- --
P.A. Gantt, Computer Science Technology Instructor
Electronic Media Design and Support Homepage
http://user.icx.net/~pgantt/
mailto:pagantt@technologist.com?Subject=etech
http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/vision/1998-11.asp
Common sense is not common, and conventional wisdom is not
wisdom. But at least you can have conventional sense. ~~ Daily Whale
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 13:16:37
From: John Walker <jwalker@networx.on.ca>
Subject: [netz] Flat-rate Net access still alive, for now
Registrations for the On-line Learning Series of Courses
for March '99 are now being accepted. All courses are
delivered by e-mail, are two to three weeks in duration and cost
between $5.00 US and $15.00 US. Information is available at:
http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker/course.htm
Starting 1 March 1999
Introduction to the Internet and On-line Learning
How to Search the World Wide Web Level 1
Using Eudora Lite and Pro Level 1
Using Eudora Pro Level 3
Using Netscape Messenger Level 2
Using Netscape Messenger Level 4
Further courses starting March 15 1999
The following is an excerpt from the CSS Internet News. If you are
going to pass this along to other Netizens please ensure that the
complete message is forwarded with all attributes intact.
- --------------------
Flat-rate Net access still alive, for now
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 25, 1999, 6 p.m. PT
URL: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32955,00.html
Are the days of flat-rate local calls to Internet service providers
drawing to an end?
The answer appears to be no, despite federal regulators' decision
today that a call to an ISP should be treated as long distance.
The Federal Communication Commission ruled that an otherwise local
call to an Internet service provider should be treated as an
interstate transmission, since much of the traffic ultimately goes
out onto the Net at large.
But the commissioners were quick to say that the decision would only
affect contracts between individual telephone companies--and not the
prices paid by individual Internet users.
"[Our decision] doesn't affect the way consumers get dialup access
to the Internet," said FCC chairman William Kennard during today's
meeting. "Nothing we're doing here should be construed as regulating
the Internet."
Kennard went further in a later statement on the issue, reaffirming
the Commission's intention to shield Net users from regulation that
might raise prices or dramatically change the way companies charge
for Net access.
"Those employing scare tactics have also suggested that the FCC is
going to change the way consumers pay for dial-up access to the
Internet. Again, nothing could be further from the truth," Kennard
said. "We are not regulating the Internet and we will not do so as
long as I am chairman."
Warning signs?
But not everyone is as confident as the FCC's chairman.
One commissioner, joined by a coalition of consumer groups, is
warning that the FCC's decision may have inadvertently opened the
door to future per-minute charges on Net access.
According to these groups, the decision today may have undermined
federal regulators' legal justification for exempting ISPs, which
are also known as enhanced service providers, from paying traditional
long distance fees to the Baby Bells.
In a recent court decision, these critics note, a judge upheld the
exemption by noting that not all traffic flowing through an ISP's
server to a consumer went across state lines. But by now treating
the calls as interstate, this justification disappears, they warn.
"It's fair to say that no one at the FCC wants to remove the
enhanced service provider exemption," said Paul Misener, chief of
staff to Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. "[The commission] is
exposing itself to the legal risk of having the enhanced service
provider exemption forcibly removed."
The Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
also warned today that the FCC's decision could wind up backfiring on
Net users down the road.
"We understand that [the FCC] doesn't want to give us usage charges
for the Internet," said Mark Cooper, telecommunications analyst for
the CFA. "But they're going to be hard-pressed not to slip down that
slope. Once you say the Internet is like interstate calling, how are
you going to stop from putting interstate charges on it?"
New confusion
Today's decision may open the door to a new round of litigation,
however, as companies settle down and read the fine print.
Bell companies and their opponents hailed the FCC's ruling as a
victory, even though the commission ruled that the companies must
still follow through on their current contracts with rivals, as
ordered by many states.
But several Bells said they plan to use the decision to try to undo
state decisions anyway.
"Bell Atlantic will immediately ask state commissions to correct
this situation and reconsider their decisions on so-called
'reciprocal compensation' because it's clear that these payments
apply only to local calls," said Tom Tauke, Bell Atlantic's senior
vice president for government relations.
It is possible that these new legal battles--or contract
renegotiations in the future--could wind up finding ISPs paying more
for their basic telephone access. This could be passed along to
users in the form of slightly higher fees, some observers said.
But the issue of users paying per-minute access fees is very
unlikely, even if today's decision did remove one prop holding up the
issue's legal foundation. Any such proposal would meet with bitter
opposition at the FCC and in Congress, observers said.
"The FCC understands that if they propose per-minute access charges,
they will get 30 million emails saying that's a bad idea," said
Chris Savage, a Washington telecommunications lawyer who has been
closely involved in the debate. "They don't want to do that."
Links:
http://www.fcc.gov/
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32789,00.html
http://www.bellatlantic.com/
- -------------
Also in this issue:
- - FCC OKs Billing Change on Dial-Up Access to Internet
Federal regulators passed a plan yesterday that will change billings
among phone companies for consumer dial-up access to the Internet --
a move that could eventually result in higher access fees for
consumers.
- - Rights Group Details Complaint To FTC On Intel
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Center for Democracy and Technology, a
civil liberties group, said Friday it plans to file a complaint with
the U.S. Federal Trade Commission charging that the release of a new
computer chip by Intel Corp. constitutes unfair and deceptive trade
practices.
- - Library of Congress combines multimedia glitz with the power of the
Web
This is what the multimedia and the World Wide Web were supposed to
be about. Not blasting space aliens. Not shopping online for
trinkets. Not placing an electronic bet on the Lakers. Not leering at
pictures of naked cheerleaders.
- - Checking in With a Mom-and-Pop Store
The billion-dollar mergers in the Internet industry have had me
wondering lately about the fate of the mom-and-pop stores that were
supposed to translate good service and niche products into a formula
for success on the Net.
- - Judge agrees Web site a threat
Upholding a $107 million jury verdict, a federal judge ruled
Thursday that an anti-abortion computer Web site and wanted-style
posters were "blatant and illegal communications of true threats"
against doctors and clinics.
- - Brit Cops Post Informants List
LONDON -- Informants who tipped off police about the suspected
killers of a black British student were offered police protection
after their names and addresses were inadvertently published in an
online report on the chilling racist attack.
- - Silver surfers ride the Internet wave
Silver-haired Net surfers can use their AARP memberships to get
discounts online at SeniorWebnet.com; its press release heralds 1999
as the United Nations' "year of the older person."
- - When Is Spam Really Spam?
When is Spam really Spam, and when is it not?
That's the issue one sharp-eyed reader took Nick Usborne to task for
this week, in an article he wrote about the difference between
opt-in email lists and unsolicited email, or Spam.
- - Australian Crypto Report Released On Web
A report on computer security that the Australian government
reportedly sought to suppress has found new life on the Web.
- -Flat-rate Net access still alive, for now
Are the days of flat-rate local calls to Internet service providers
drawing to an end?
- - CSIR, Canadians in joint rural IT project
PRETORIA - Rural African Communities will benefit from a joint
CSIR-International Development Research Centre venture aimed at
improving the use and understanding of information technology among
disadvantaged communities and people in remote rural areas.
- - SA Councils Face Exposure After Ducking Y2K Crisis Talks
Johannesburg - The National Year 2000 Decision Support Centre
intends to expose municipalities that failed to participate in
countrywide meetings this weekend to discuss the millennium bug
crisis looming at local level.
- - OPC Now On the Web
Lagos - The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural movement, Oodua Peoples
Congress, OPC, has acquired a website as part of its move to broaden
the scope of its agitation.
- - U.S. Proposes Nuclear Missile Watch with Russia
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 1999 -- (Reuters) The Pentagon said on Thursday
it invited Russian experts to visit Colorado late this year and
remain into 2000 to share warning data on nuclear missile launches
because of possible false computer signals.
- - Public servants told to stand on guard for Y2K
OTTAWA (CP) -- Federal workers hoping to ring in the New Year among
friends and family could find themselves at the office instead,
holding the fort against the millennium bug.
- - New Lists and Journals
* NEW: KidsWithEpilepsy - Kids talk on life and epilepsy
* NEW: Loss of Our Kids - For Bereaved Parents
* NEW: ECA - Empleo con Apoyo
On-line Learning Series of Courses
http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker/course.htm
Member: Association for International Business
- -------------------------------
Excerpt from CSS Internet News (tm) ,-~~-.____
For subscription details email / | ' \
jwalker@hwcn.org with ( ) 0
SUBINFO CSSINEWS in the \_/-, ,----'
subject line. ==== //
/ \-'~; /~~~(O)
"On the Internet no one / __/~| / |
knows you're a dog" =( _____| (_________|
http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker
- -------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 14:44:43 -0500
From: "P.A. Gantt" <pgantt@icx.net>
Subject: Re: [netz] Flat-rate Net access still alive, for now
The problem is... this according to this source:
"Bells win partial victory in ISP ruling"
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 25, 1999, 9:45 a.m. PT
URL: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32789,00.html
"..But by protecting the states' earlier rulings--and by refusing to say
whether reciprocal compensation contracts were a good idea or not--the
agency left the big local phone companies liable for the contracts
they had already signed..."
[comment: who do they usually pass on $$$ liabilities to??? ->consumers]
The commission also said it would begin soliciting comment on a proposal
that left this kind of agreement between phone companies
up to individual negotiations, rather than to sweeping federal
regulations.
"...But the decision was made under protest by one commissioner, who has
argued that it could inadvertently open up the possibility for courts to
impose per-minute access charges on ISPs..."
[comment: and you know telcos have the bucks to do just that]
> Links:
>
> http://www.fcc.gov/
>
> http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32789,00.html
>
> http://www.bellatlantic.com/
==========================
Remember these links also:
So who do you believe?
==========================
Source: Special Report from IDG.net
"...From 240+ Web sites, quality computing
intelligence you need every day.
The FCC's ruling today on calls to local ISPs has resulted in a
record amount of traffic to IDG.net. To help you understand the
issues behind this complicated story, the editors at IDG.net
created this special newsletter.
FCC rules ISP calls are long-distance in nature
(Source: Network World Fusion) In a long-anticipated vote, the
U.S. Federal Communications Commission decided that dial-up
Internet calls are interstate in nature and not local.
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58646
Other Articles and Links
- --------------------------------------------------------------
The FCC: No friend of local government
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58648
Commission tiptoed around calls for new broadband-service
regulations in a report on the status of advanced
telecommunications services in the country.
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58650
The challenge of governing the Net has given Congress a full plate.
On the agenda: privacy, encryption, gambling and the FCC.
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58652
Internet bills are being passed at accelerating rates by various
legislatures -- on taxation, censorship, privacy, etc. It's not going to
work to
simply oppose them all. We do need law and order on the Internet
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58654
Computerworld's collection of FCC resources
o http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=58656
=================================
Why the Internet is important to:
protect???
keep reasonable,???
accessible???
I find one of it's best is
access to information on an almost real-time basis
to discerning citizens not ready to take the media
at face value but willing to research.
researching... researching... researching...
=============================================
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html
Official Federal Government WebSite
Library of Congress
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Executive Office of the President (EOP)
Executive Agencies
INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
http://www.fcc.gov/
http://www.fcc.gov/search/wordsearch.html
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Consumer Information Center (Pueblo, CO)
Government Listings:Blue Web Pages
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
(NCLIS)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
United States Information Agency (USIA)
United States Information Agency Home Page (USIA)
United States Information Agency International Home Page
(USIA)
United States International Trade Commission (USITC)
United States Trade and Development Agency
BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES
Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC)
President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection
QUASI-OFFICIAL AGENCIES
Smithsonian Institution (SI)
Go to:
Judicial Branch
Legislative Branch
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/congress.html
Constituent Email to House of Representatives
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Constituent Email to Senate <broken link>
http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm
Senators of the 106th Congress use the one above!
New alphabetical listing
Newspaper & Current Periodical Room Home Page
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/news/ncp.html
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/news/ss.html
Search Engine
Library of Congress Home Page
- --
P.A. Gantt, Computer Science Technology Instructor
Electronic Media Design and Support Homepage
http://user.icx.net/~pgantt/
mailto:pagantt@technologist.com?Subject=etech
http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/vision/1998-11.asp
Common sense is not common, and conventional wisdom is not
wisdom. But at least you can have conventional sense. ~~ Daily Whale
------------------------------
End of Netizens-Digest V1 #278
******************************
