Headlines

Legal and regulatory issues

   Access to public sector information / IT in government

• Russia - Eltsine joue au président branché avec les "citoyens internautes" (Agence France-Presse) Boris Eltsine a joué mardi au président branché en répondant pour la première fois aux internautes sur le web, usant d'humour pour parler de choses graves, et de vives réparties pour prouver au monde, en direct, qu'il est en parfaite santé mentale et physique. Pendant une demi-heure, Boris Eltsine a répondu, du tac au tac, à 13 questions tour à tour sérieuses, personnelles, ou insolites, posées des Etats-Unis, des Pays-Bas ou de la Russie. L'interview a été diffusée sur le site http://www.msnbc.com/chat/default.asp, de la télévision américaine NBC. http://www.nomade.fr/contenu/infoendirect/afp/980512MU00181950.shtml

   Competition

Kirch / Bertelsmann

• EU - German DigiTV Deal Dead? (Reuters) The European Commission will block a digital pay-television alliance between Bertelsmann and Leo Kirch unless the two German media partners make serious competitive concessions, a commission spokesman said today. The spokesman said that a meeting on Friday between Kirch, European Competition commissioner Karel Van Miert, and other company representatives had been inconclusive. He said the firms must substantially improve offers made to meet commission concerns that the deal, which also involves telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom, would create a lasting monopoly in the German pay-TV market. http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/12229.html

• EU - Bertelsmann: Uns fehlt die Phantasie für neue Zugeständnisse (Agence France-Presse) Bertelsmanns Vorstandsvorsitzender Mark Wössner erklärte bereits, er rechne nicht mehr mit der Zustimmung aus Brüssel. Weitere Zugeständnisse seien wohl nicht mehr möglich, teilte Bertelsmann am Montag mit. Die Antwort der EU folgte sofort: Eine positive Entscheidung sei derzeit nicht möglich, hieß es aus Brüssel. "Uns fehlt derzeit die Phantasie, was noch an Zugeständnissen möglich sein könnte", hatte Bertelsmann-Sprecher Manfred Harnischfeger bereits am Wochenende im WDR erklärt. http://www.newsroom.de/dbsql/db_detail.cfm?Datensatz=8021&dbname=news&db

• EU - Digitalfernsehen: Experten sehen möglichen Alleingang von Premiere (Reuters) Sollte die Allianz zwischen den Medienkonzernen Kirch und Bertelsmann beim Digitalfernsehen scheitern, erwarten Experten neue Bündnisse oder eine faktische Alleinstellung des Pay-TV-Senders Premiere. Mittelfristig könne es neue Partnerschaften geben oder Premiere allein dastehen, sagte der Chef der Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (MABB), Hans Hege, am Montag in Berlin. Als Partner für die Kirch-Gruppe komme der US-australische Unternehmer Rupert Murdoch in Frage, sagte der Medienanalyst der BHF-Bank, Michael Schatzschneider. http://www.newsroom.de/dbsql/db_detail.cfm?Datensatz=8037&dbname=news&db

   Copyright

• USA - Recording Industry Group Sues Music Sites (TechWeb) The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a group representing major music labels, has filed multimillion-dollar lawsuits against two websites that distribute free music downloads, including one run by a 20-year-old college student.The RIAA wants not only to shut down the offending sites, but to collect financial damages. http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980511S0020

   Data Protection (privacy)

• USA - Banks urged to focus on privacy (Reuters) Banks must take the lead in protecting their customers' privacy if they want to continue expanding into other lines of business, a top federal regulator says. "You have much at stake here," Acting Comptroller of the Currency Julie Williams told a group of banking industry lawyers attending a Bankers Roundtable conference Friday. http://www.news.com/News/Item/Textonly/0,25,21964,00.html?pfv

   Internet content

• German prosecutors ignore legislators' intent (eco e.V.) The German Internet Trade Association eco Electronic Commerce Forum e.V. (Cologne) has issued a "Statement on freedom in the Internet" in response to bureaucratic assaults on the global data network. The Information and Communication Services Bill (occasionally called "Multimedia Act"), planned in summer 1997 as a historic accord between the Internet industry and the German Federal government, is threatened. The eco statement warns that the "Multimedia Act" is undergoing a process of stepwise reinterpretation, undermining and downgrading through public prosecutors, bureaucrats and adherents of youth protection movements. http://www.eco.de/Presse/PM/p19980507-Simple-en.html

   Liability

• Germany - L'ex-chef de CompuServe Allemagne jugé pour diffusion de pédophilie (Agence France-Presse) L'ancien chef de CompuServe Allemagne, Felix Somm, comparait depuis mardi devant un tribunal de Munich (sud) pour diffusion de pédophilie sur l'Internet, dans le premier procès du genre en Allemagne. Felix Somm, 34 ans, doit répondre de la diffusion de documents pornographiques à caractère pédophile, zoophile ou violent sur la filiale allemande du serveur américain CompuServe en 1995 et 1996, selon l'accusation. http://www.nomade.fr/contenu/infoendirect/afp/980512MU00181959.shtml

   Millennium bug

• EU holds millennium bug summit (Reuters) Experts from across the European Union are trading ideas on preventing computer chaos when the new century dawns. Seeking to head off such chaos, British junior trade minister Barbara Roche summoned European Union member states to thrash out solutions to the so-called millennium bug. "This conference is about sharing our experiences to ensure that each member state's awareness, activities and other preparations are as effective as possible," Roche told reporters at the start of the conference Friday. "We are absolutely determined to put our full weight and authority behind this." http://www.news.com/News/Item/Textonly/0,25,21957,00.html?pfv

   Security and encryption

• Foul porpoises: U.S. Navy caught hacking into British marine charity Web site (InfoWorld Electric ) The U.S. Navy has been caught attempting to break in to secure areas of a World Wide Web site sponsored by a U.K. marine-mammal preservation charity, according to officials at the organization. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) -- which operates an online shopping site aimed at generating money for the welfare of the animals at http://www.wdcs-shop.com -- said it was alerted to the attempted break-in last week by its site-hosting company. http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?98058.winavy.htm

   Telecommunications

• EU - Procédure ouverte contre 5 pays de l'UE sur les directives télécoms (Agence France-Presse) La Commission européenne a ouvert des procédures d'infraction contre cinq pays-membres de l'UE qui n'ont pas correctement mis en oeuvre les directives européennes sur les télécommunications. L'Autriche, la Belgique, la France, l'Italie et le Luxembourg sont mis en cause sur la mise en oeuvre d'une directive pour les autorisations générales et les licences individuelles dans le secteur des services de télécommunications. Dans ces cinq pays-membres, soit la transposition de la directive est incomplète, soit des conditions d'autorisation sont imposées qui vont au-delà de la liste exhaustive prévue dans la directive, estime la Commission. En outre, la France, la Belgique et le Luxembourg sont poursuivis pour transposition incomplète de la Directive européenne sur l'interconnexion des réseaux de télécommunications. http://www.nomade.fr/contenu/infoendirect/afp/980512MU00181891.shtml

Market & Technology

   Internet access and use

• UK - Coin-fed browser in pubs (Financial Times) A new pastime is about to be introduced in pubs - coin-fed machines offering uncensored access to the internet. Britain is already home to a similar, but more limited, internet experiment. Designed for pubs, leisure centres and other public places, Epic's online kiosk delivers content from a selection of web sites via a touchscreen. Epic's aim is to introduce the internet to the computer illiterate by making it easy to use and fun. The sites concentrate on sex and sport. The sex content has, however, been restricted to softer offerings such as Playboy and Playgirl. Purtech's system comes with keyboard and full internet browsing capabilities. This means no censorship and a guaranteed outcry from those concerned with standards of public morality. http://www.ft.com/hippocampus/q1e8be.htm

   Market

• 'Wired' Sold To Conde Nast For $75M (Inter@ctive Week) Conde Nast Publications Inc. this week agreed to acquire the pioneering Web magazine Wired in a deal valued at more than $75 million. The agreement ends a financial roller-coaster ride for Wired Ventures Inc., parent company of the high-profile technology magazine that has failed twice in attempts to offer its stock on the public market. With the sale, Wired Ventures is expected to focus exclusively on Web-based publishing properties, such as its HotBot search engine. The company also keeps online rights to the Wired and HotWired brand names. http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/daily/980508d.html

• AT&T broadens Net strategy (News.com) After a wild week on the Internet, in which it announced partnerships with three major search and content sites, AT&T is promising more of the same to come. The telecommunications giant cut deals with Lycos, Excite, and Infoseek, three sites that provide search and navigation services and are transforming themselves into "portals," or the start-up page that provides users with aggregated content and services. http://www.news.com/News/Item/Textonly/0,25,21944,00.html?pfv

• Telcos aim for one-stop shops (News.com) Today's $62-billion buyout of Ameritech by SBC Communications is another bold move to create a "one-stop shop" for phone and data services in the telecommunications industry, a result of deregulation and converging technologies. It comes in the wake of MCI's proposed merger with WorldCom, AT&T's buyout of Teleport, Bell Atlantic's merger with NYNEX, and SBC's other big acquisition--Pacific Bell. http://www.news.com/News/Item/Textonly/0,25,21976,00.html?pfv

   Multilingual content and software

• AltaVista offers Web Search Tool for Chinese, Japanese and Korean Users (real.Content) Digital Equipment Corp. Monday announced the launch of the AltaVista World Index, providing Chinese, Japanese and Korean users with a single Web search tool. The new offering, which supports multiple language encodings across the entire Web, uses Unicode to store character information for a number of languages, allowing users to search for Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as Central European, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish and other languages from one location. http://real.NewsHub.com/0598/11_01.htm

   Security and encryption

• A Privacy Hole in My Excite (Wired) Users who have set up accounts on the My Excite Channel might be in for an unwelcome surprise: A security hole in the customizable news and search page makes it possible for third parties to view a wide range of surfers' personal preference data -- potentially everything from employment information to stock portfolios. http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/12212.html

   Statistics

• E-commerce to total $333 billion by 2002 (InfoWorld Electric ) While $8 billion worth of business was transacted on the Internet in 1997, that figure will grow to $333 billion by 2002, according to International Data Corp.'s eCommerce Forum, being held here. By 2002, Web-based transactions will account for about 1 percent of the global economy, said Frank Gens, senior vice president of IDC. http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?980511.eiecomm.htm

• INTERNET: Growing use among children, study shows (Financial Times) Almost one third of British children aged 7-16 have used the internet at least once, a survey shows. And their growing familiarity with the online world may be helping to drive demand for computer equipment among their parents. The survey, by NOP family, a division of pollsters NOP Research, interviewed 1,000 children across the UK and the responses indicate that two in three of those surveyed who had used the net said it was for "education purposes". More than 40 per cent of young users said they had visited educational sites online and half said they had used the net to find information for school projects or homework. http://www.ft.com/hippocampus/q1ced2.htm

• Study: $23.6 Billion Planned for E-Commerce Upgrades by 2002 (Internetnews) ActivMedia Inc. said its fifth update of the "Real Numbers Behind 'Net Profits 1998" study shows that companies will invest up to $23.6 billion by 2002 to upgrade their e-commerce automation. Executive Summary online at http://www.activmedia.com/exec.html. http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/1998/05/1101-study.html

• Study: Internet Affected $7.5 Billion in '97 Consumer Sales (Internetnews) Data from the Consumer Online Commerce Report from Cyber Dialogue/FindSVP indicates that the Internet influenced $7.5 billion in online and offline sales last year. In fact, online shopping is beginning to measurably displace, replace or otherwise fundamentally change traditional consumer shopping behavior. The study showed that more consumers used the Internet to find information for purchases made offline than online in 1997. http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/1998/05/0701-sales.html