Edupage July, 28, 1998
Edupage, a summary of news about information
technology, is provided three
times a week as a service of EDUCAUSE, a consortium of leading colleges
and universities seeking to transform education through the use of information
technologies. The organization has offices in Boulder, Colorado and
Washington, D.C.
BELL ATLANTIC TO BUY GTE FOR $52.8 BILLION
Bell Atlantic has agreed to purchase independent phone company GTE in a
stock deal valued at $52.8 billion. The proposed merger, which is expected
to face vigorous antitrust scrutiny from federal regulators, would control
more than a third of the U.S. local phone market and operate in 41 states.
GTE chairman and CEO Charles Lee would be chairman and co-CEO of the
combined company, sharing the office with Bell Atlantic CEO Ivan Seidenberg.
(Reuters 28 Jul 98)
DARTMOUTH ENDORSES APPLE'S iMAC FOR INCOMING FRESHMEN
In a letter to 1,100 incoming freshmen, Dartmouth College is recommending
that they purchase Apple Computer's new iMac computer to satisfy the
school's computer requirement. Computing Director Lawrence Levine says the
suggestion is not the result of any special deal with Apple, and that his
campus also supports other PCs, including a Windows-based machine from Dell.
(Chronicle of Higher Education 31 Jul 98)
EXECUTIVES TOUT PRODUCTIVITY FEATURES OF HAND-HELD PCs
In a survey of 600 business executives conducted by International Data
Corp., 70% reported owning a 3Com PalmPilot hand-held computer. Nearly 77%
reported gaining between one and four hours a day in productivity, thanks to
the machines, with the top uses being personal information and e-mail.
(Investor's Business Daily 28 Jul 98)
VENTURE CAPITAL LIKES INTERNET BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MODEL
Venture capitalists are more likely to fund companies developing products
and services for the business-to-business market, rather than consumers,
according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. "There isn't going to
be another Yahoo! funded soon," says the study's director. Top among
products for funding are network security, electronic commerce between
companies, and vertical industries, such as banking or construction.
(Information Week 20 Jul 98)
NET PRIVACY UNDER SIEGE
A series of court orders forcing Internet service providers to divulge the
identities of their subscribers has privacy experts worried that free speech
on the Net is in jeopardy. "I wouldn't call it a trend yet. These are the
opening salvos," says one activist who runs the Anonymizer ISP service.
"It's an attempt to chill speech. They're hoping people will self-censor
out of fear." Most ISPs will give up private subscriber information when
approached by the courts, although such action is usually a last resort for
those who wish to stop defamatory or untrue Web postings because it's so
expensive. "We respond to valid legal processes," says an America Online
spokesman. "In a civil case, we do notify the member, to tell them they are
the subject of a legal proceeding." (TechWeb 28 Jul 98)
FILTERING THE INTERNET
A study by the Denver-based education market research company Quality
Education Data found that 39% of primary and secondary schools that make the
Internet available to students use filtering software, but that 80% have
"acceptable use policies" in place. A company executive explains: "If
there's an acceptable use policy, some schools feel that is enough. Another
reason may be that they don't have the money for the software yet or the
software might be incompatible with their networks. And the software still
hasn't been perfected." Many schools and library administrators are
critical of new legislation proposed in the U.S. Senate by John McCain
(R-Ariz.) and Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) to require filters to screen out
pornography at all schools and libraries that accept new federal "E-Rate"
subsidies for Internet access. (New York Times Cybertimes 28 Jul 98)
MAN FIRED FOR DOWNLOADING PORNOGRAPHY
In the Netherlands, an employee of the Justice Ministry's information
technology department has been fired for downloading pornography, including
child pornography, to his home and office computers. Possession of child
pornography in that country carries a maximum sentence of six years'
imprisonment. There is no evidence that the civil servant had been selling
the pornography for profit. (AP 27 Jul 98)
THE WORD "ALTAVISTA" WORTH $3 MILLION
Compaq, which owns the AltaVista search engine for exploring the Internet,
has paid Jack Marshall of San Jose, California, $3 million to acquire the
name he had registered for his Web site: www.altavista.com. This appears
to be the largest amount ever paid to purchase the rights to a registered
domain name. (San Francisco Chronicle 28 Jul 98)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educause.edu) and Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educause.edu). Telephone: 770-590-1017
Visit Edupage at the Educause web site at: http://www.educause.edu
Technical support for distributing Edupage is provided by Information
Technology Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
© Copyright 1998, BizFN.com. All
rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and
redistribution, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the
prior written consent of BizFN.com. The content provided within the BizFN.com web
site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as
investment advice. At no such time should
information contained on BizFN.com be considered an offer to buy or sell securities. |