IP: Teachers back e-rate taxes; Reno on Microsoft

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/opinion/0%2c1042%2c1975%2c00.html


time.com / The Netly News
May 8, 1998


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       It's never fun watching special interest groups fight over money.
   This time it's the National Education Association that's fighting to
   keep billions of dollars in new "e-rate" taxes. The 1996
   Telecommunications Act requires telecommunications firms to pay taxes
   (aka "universal service fund fees") to hook up schools and libraries
   to the Internet. This means higher phone bills, which has telcos such
   as Southwest Bell, BellSouth and GTE crying foul. Pony up, says NEA
   president Bob Chase. "Schools and libraries are eager to connect
   students, teachers and citizens to the future. But we're troubled by
   indications that telecommunications companies may be undermining the
   e-rate."


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       Every Thursday, when Janet Reno holds her weekly press conference,
   she spends more time evading questions than answering them. Yesterday,
   for instance, when asked repeatedly about whether Windows 98 was
   covered by a December 1997 court order, she demurred: "I would not
   comment. That is pending." Nor did she say what economic impact an
   antitrust action might have. Reno wouldn't even talk about state
   governments launching an antitrust suit, except to say she's
   "enjoyed" collaborating with them. "We have had what I think is an
   excellent working relationship with the state attorneys general," she
   said. "And from the outset, there have been a number of state
   attorneys general who have been very interested in antitrust
   enforcement." No kidding.


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