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To: American Spirit who wrote (2668)	7/19/1999 5:07:00 PM
From: polarisnh	Respond to of 4298

AT&T Signs Web Agreement With Global Music One; GMO to Host and Operate a2bmusic.com and digitalphono.com LOS ANGELES, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet music software innovator Global Music One (GMO) and AT&T (NYSE: T - news) announced today a new agreement in which GMO will host, operate and maintain AT&T's a2bmusic.com(SM) and digitalphono.com(SM) music distribution Web sites. Under the agreement, GMO will manage daily Web site administration, transaction billing, customer service and the encoding of music for AT&T's Web sites. ''Operating AT&T Web sites allows us to provide our advanced technical skills in the digital music distribution arena,'' said Anthony Stonefield, GMO's founder and Chief Innovation Officer (CIO). ''It offers us the opportunity to apply our software development expertise and interactive marketing solutions to a broad base of music enthusiasts.'' ''This agreement is a culmination of a relationship between AT&T Labs and GMO that began in 1995, when GMO assisted AT&T with the development of its first electronic music distribution prototypes,'' said Chris Varley, AT&T Labs Market Development VP and General Manager of AT&T's a2b music initiative. ''GMO will continue to work closely with AT&T Labs technologists and our business planners to support AT&T's leadership in secure digital music distribution.'' In addition to being one of the first licensees of the a2b music platform, GMO provides AT&T with operational and production support for a2b music's numerous marketing promotions with major labels including Atlantic Records, Capitol Records, Geffen Records, Dreamworks, Interscope Records, Maverick Entertainment Group, RCA Records and Virgin Records. GMO is headquartered on the Tech Coast in Los Angeles, Calif. The privately-held corporation is a leading innovator of software for the delivery and marketing of music on the Internet, broadband and private network systems. GMO's management team combines the expertise of seasoned music, broadcast and Internet industry executives. The company's business alliances and customers include such companies as HBO, Nokia, Aiwa, Music Week's dotmusic.com, Solana Technologies, Grand Royal Records, JazzIz Magazine and Fairwest Direct. AT&T's a2b music (http://www.a2bmusic.com), an AT&T Labs technology for Internet e-commerce and digital distribution, is leading the music industry in innovative uses of secure digital audio distribution. AT&T's a2b music enables clients to leverage unique Internet opportunities to create customized in-store and online retail sales and marketing promotions. AT&T Labs uses these technologies for its research site at digitalphono.com, which offers an online platform for unsigned artists. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.globalmusic.com or contact: Greg Ptacek, greg@globalmusic.com, or Jeannine Schechter, jeannine@globalmusic.com, 310-664-9333, or fax, 310-664-1183, both of Global Music One; or Kevin Compton of AT&T Labs, 650-463-7069, or fax, 650-463-7023, kcompton@AT&T.com. SOURCE: Global Music One

To: American Spirit who wrote (2668)	7/20/1999 10:22:00 PM
From: BrooklynDave	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4298

THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND. WE NEED FCC'S KENNARD TO DO SOMETHING BESIDES JUST TALKING AND ACT TO STOP THIS CRAZINESS! ----------------------------- FOCUS-U.S. localities back open cable Internet (adds FCC chairman comment, paragraphs 9-10) By Aaron Pressman WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - The cable industry suffered another setback in its effort to keep exclusive control of new high-speed cable Internet lines, as a leading municipal association on Tuesday backed open access for competitors. Congress and federal regulators have so far allowed cable operators to keep competing Internet service providers off their high speed access lines, but a few local governments have prohibited such exclusive practices. The National Association of Counties, meeting Tuesday in St. Louis, approved a resolution backing the right of local governments to require open access and urging the Federal Communications Commission and Congress to adopt similar policies. "It is essential that local government franchise authorities have the authority to require that all cable companies provide open access to all Internet service providers," the resolution said. If the FCC or Congress act, "the outcome should be an open access system that encourages competition between ISP providers," the resolution said. Cable companies have argued open access requirements would be hard to implement and deprive them of revenues needed to pay for upgrades to their lines that allow high-speed service. Their arguments have swayed the FCC and Congress but a federal court last month upheld the right of local regulators in Portland, Oregon to impose an open access requirement on AT&T Corp. as a condition of the company's purchase of Tele-Communications Inc. Last week, regulators in Broward County, Fla., adopted a similar measure and Miami and San Francisco may soon follow. The issue is sure to arise across the country as thousands of local governments assess AT&T's planned purchase of MediaOne Group. The county vote did little to change the opinion of FCC Chairman William Kennard. In a speech in San Francisco, Kennard reiterated his opposition to regulation of Internet on cable. "There is no sign that as this nascent market matures that the cable operator has an incentive to deny ISPs access to their platform," Kennard said. "It is not clear that the perceived benefits of mandating open access outweigh their apparent economic and technological costs." Internet companies like America Online and MindSpring Enterprises along with public advocacy and consumer groups plan to lobby the local governments for open access. They welcomed Tuesday's vote by the counties. "County officials understand the concerns and needs of their citizens," said Rich Bond, co-director of the OpenNet Coalition that includes AOL and MindSpring. An AT&T spokeswoman said the policy backed by the counties would slow the deployment of high speed Internet service, which also allows cable companies to compete in the local telephone market. "As FCC chairman William Kennard has said, the information superhighway won't work if 30,000 different localities each establish their own rules for Internet access," the spokeswoman said. "It would also slow the development of competition in local phone service and the roll out of new high-speed services to consumers." The issue arose after cable companies began offering Internet connections over cable wires at speeds 50 to 100 times faster than ordinary connections over telephone lines. The cable companies required customers wanting high-speed access to buy Internet services like e-mail and Web page hosting from a provider owned by the cable companies, like ExciteAtHome Corp. or privately-held RoadRunner. Customers could reach any Web site but must pay for the cable company's service provider even if they would prefer another provider like MindSpring. Telephone companies are forbidden from requiring customers using their lines for high or low-speed Internet access to also buy Internet services from a phone company affiliate.