Message-Id: <55206A473154D011924D0020AFF7ACB53270AE@mail1.oulan.ou.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 19:13:22 -0500
From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@ou.edu'" <it-fyi@ou.edu>
Subject: Edupage, 19 October 1997
> ************************************************************
> Edupage, 19 October 1997. Edupage, a summary of news about
> information technology, is provided three times a week as a service by
> Educom, a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and
> universities seeking to transform education through the use of
> information technology.
> ************************************************************
>
> TOP STORIES
> Taxing The Net
> Sun Seeks $35 Million In Java Suit
> Microsoft's European Sales Practices Under Scrutiny
> Excite Buys Web Shopping Company
>
> ALSO
> MIT Puts Computer Sales Online
> NBC Puts Local Content On Web
> Spam Wars And Gold Rush Days
> AT&T Gets New CEO
>
> TAXING THE NET
> The National Governors' Association is attacking proposed federal
> lgislation that would bar states from imposing new sales taxes on
> Internet-related businesses for up to six years. NGA chairman George
> Voinovich, governor of Ohio, says: "If enacted, the legislation
> coming out of the House would undercut state and local sales taxes and
> lead to a virtual sales tax collapse over the next 10 years that would
> be felt by every American community." The fear is that such
> restrictions would not only deprive states of additional tax revenues
> but would also cut into existing sales taxes by driving consumers away
> from local merchants and onto the Internet. However, governors of
> states such as California, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, all
> of which are home to substantial computer-related industries, are in
> favor of the legislation. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 18 Oct 97)
>
> SUN SEEKS $35 MILLION IN JAVA SUIT
> Sun Microsystems has amended its lawsuit against Microsoft, filed
> earlier this month, to specify that it will seek $35 million in
> damages from the oftware maker. The suit alleges that Microsoft
> violated a licensing agreement for use of Sun's Java programming
> language. Sun's specifications dictate that Java-based programs must
> run on any platform, but some of Microsoft's programs use Java in a
> way that makes it compatible only with Microsoft's Windows operating
> system. Besides the $35 million, Sun also wants Microsoft to pay
> additional unspecified damages for misuse of a Java-compatible logo.
> Meanwhile, Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale, voicing the frustration of the
> other 116 Java licensees, has warned Sun that if the allegations hold
> up and it doesn't revoke Microsoft's Java license, he will sue Sun.
> (Bloomberg News Oct 17 97)
>
> MICROSOFT'S EUROPEAN SALES PRACTICES UNDER SCRUTINY
> The European Union's competition commission is taking a close look at
> Microsoft's sales practices abroad, and has sent a "statement of
> objections" to the company based on a complaint from a competitor.
> The commission is investigating other complaints as well, and will
> hold hearings on Microsoft's practices before the end of the year.
> (Wall Street Journal 17 Oct 97)
>
> EXCITE BUYS WEB SHOPPING COMPANY
> Excite, an Internet search service, is buying Seattle-based Netbot,
> which makes software called "Jango" for shopping on the Web. Jango is
> based on technology licensed from the University of Washington, and
> that institution will receive more than $1 million from the sale, as
> well as a share of future royalties. (USA Today 18 Oct 97)
>
> ==============================================
>
> MIT PUTS COMPUTER SALES ONLINE
> The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is moving its computer sales
> to students online, with orders taken via a special Web site,
> MCC/Online. The site will be operated by NECX under contract to MIT.
> "The education discounts aren't what they used to be," says MIT's
> director of administration and finance for information systems. These
> days, he says, the prices from local stores are so competitive that
> students can often get a better deal there. By eliminating the
> overhead associated with running traditional bricks-and-mortar
> computer sales operations, educational institutions can offer their
> clientele better deals. Other schools, including Cornell University,
> are following suit, and some, like Tufts University, are getting out
> of computer sales altogether. (Chronicle of Higher Education 17 Oct
> 97)
>
> NBC PUTS LOCAL CONTENT ON WEB
> NBC has launched its Interactive Neighborhood program, offering
> network affiliates customized information gleaned from Microsoft
> Sidewalk city guides, Big Yellow online directories, and Realtor.com
> and Rent Net housing ads. "With this launch, we're tapping into the
> most valuable content online -- local content," says NBC Cable
> president Tom Rogers. The network plans to add classified and
> personal ads in the next few weeks. (Broadcasting & Cable 13 Oct 97)
>
> SPAM WARS AND GOLD RUSH DAYS
> Internet service provider Apex Global Internet Services (AGIS) will no
> longer offer Internet access to Sanford Wallace's Cyber Promotions, a
> company widely known for sending huge volumes of unsolicited
> commercial e-mail messages on the Internet. Wallace has recently
> indicated that such a turn of events will have relatively little
> impact on him: "We've become more of a consulting and software
> business." He compares his business to the companies that made money
> during California Gold Rush days by selling equipment to the miners,
> and is selling the raw materials and expertise to others who want to
> send bulk e-mail. (New York Times 18 Oct 97)
>
> AT&T GETS NEW CEO
> The new chairman of chief executive of AT&T, the nation's largest
> long-distance company, will be Hughes Electronics Inc. Chief Executive
> C. Michael Armstrong. Industry analyst Jeffrey Kagan warns,
> "Armstrong has to take center stage, rally and inspire the troops, and
> shout from every podium that AT&T is back. Anything short of that is
> trouble." (Washington Post 18 Oct 97)
>
> Edupage is written by John Gehl <gehl@educom.edu> & Suzanne Douglas
> <douglas@educom.edu>. Telephone: 770-590-1017.
>
> Technical support is provided by Information Technology Services at
> the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
>
> ************************************************************
> Edupage ... is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to
> Edupage: send mail to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message:
> subscribe edupage E.F. Schumacher (if your name is E.F. Schumacher;
> otherwise, substitute your own name). To unsubscribe send a message
> to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: unsubscribe edupage.
> (If you have subscription problems, send mail to
> manager@educom.unc.edu.)
>
> The EDUCOM'97 Conference, the premier national conference on
> information technology in higher education, will be held this year
> October 28 to 31 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to almost 100
> presentations from leaders in information technology in higher
> education, the conference will feature Eli Noam, director of the
> Columbia Institute for Tele-Information; Sherry Turkle, MIT professor
> and author of Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet;
> and John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic
> Frontier Foundation. For conference information check out
> <http://educom.edu/ >, call 202-872-4200, or send e-mail to
> conf@educom.edu. Register now!
>
> Educom Review ... is our bimonthly print magazine on information
> technology and education ... Subscriptions are $18 a year in the
> U.S.; send mail to offer@educom.edu. When you do, we'll ring a
> little bell, because we'll be so happy! Choice of bell is yours: a
> small dome with a button, like the one on the counter at the dry
> cleaners with the sign "Ring bell for service"; or a small hand bell;
> or a cathedral bell; or a door bell; or a chime; or a glockenspiel.
> Your choice. But ring it!
>
> Educom Update ... is our twice-a-month electronic summary of
> organizational news and events. To subscribe, send mail to:
> listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: subscribe update E.F.
> Schumacher (if your name is E.F. Schumacher; otherwise, substitute
> your own name).
>
> Translations & Archives... Edupage is translated into Estonian,
> French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Hungarian, Korean, Lithuanian,
> Portuguese, Slovak and Spanish. Send mail to
> translations@educom.unc.edu for info on subscribing to any of these
> translations. See http://www.educom.edu/web/pubs/pubHomeFrame.html for
> Edupage archives.
>
> Today's Honorary Subscriber is E.F. Schumacher (1911-1977), the
> German-born British economist and businessman who advocated replacing
> large organizations with small working units and communal ownership of
> "alternative" technologies. In his 1973 book "Small Is Beautiful: A
> Study of Economics As If People Mattered," Schumacher said that
> modern economists are "used to measuring the 'standard of living' by
> the amount of annual consumption, assuming all the time that a man who
> consumes more is 'better off' than a man who consumes less. A
> Buddhist economist would consider this approach excessively
> irrational: since consumption is merely a means to human well-being,
> the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum
> of consumption. . . The less toil there is, the more time and
> strength is left for artistic creativity. Modern economics, on the
> other
> hand, considers consumption to be the sole end and purpose of all
> economic activity."
>
> ************************************************************
> Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
> ************************************************************
>
>