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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (3525)	12/4/1998 6:17:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 11568

Netscape, MCI WorldCom Chiefs Named to Internet Panel (Update1) Bloomberg News December 4, 1998, 4:23 p.m. ET Netscape, MCI WorldCom Chiefs Named to Internet Panel (Update1) (Adds analysts comments.) Washington, Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Netscape Communications Corp. Chief Executive James Barksdale and MCI WorldCom Inc. Vice Chairman John Sidgmore were named to a panel that will review federal policies on Internet taxes. The 19-member group, which will make recommendations to Congress in 2000, was created as part of a law that bans new taxes on Internet business for the next three years. The law was a victory for companies like America Online Inc., Yahoo! Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others that said new taxes would discourage consumers from buying online, hampering sales and stifling Internet growth. ''These individuals bring to the commission a full understanding of the Internet and its growing impact on the personal and professional lives of many Americans,'' U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said in a statement. It was Lott who named Barksdale and Sidgmore to the panel. Lott also chose Utah Republican Governor Michael O. Leavitt, Stan Sokul of the Association for Interactive Media, and Paul Clinton Harris, a Republican with the Virginia House of Delegates. Leavitt, vice chairman of the National Governors' Association, helped congressional lawmakers win state and local support for the bill. ''The composition of the commission will be a key factor in determining eventual recommendations,'' which Congress will use for future legislation, said Bill Whyman, an Internet analyst with Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc.'s Precursor Group. More critical will be who's named chairman of the panel, since that person ''will have a big influence in shaping the drafting process and details of the report.'' Earlier this week, House Speaker Newt Gingrich named Time Warner Inc. President Richard D. Parsons and Charles Schwab Corp. President David Pottruck to the panel. Gingrich also named Virginia Republican Governor James Gilmore; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; and Dean Andal, chairman of California's State Board of Equalization. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt have yet to name their selections to the commission. U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Commerce Secretary William Daley and Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky also will serve on the panel. The commission's findings will be a ''focal point for some good discussions on taxation of the Internet that will have implications far beyond the U.S.,'' said Frank J. Kelly, a vice president with Charles Schwab's Washington office. --Alan M. Wolf and Paul Nyhan in Washington (202) 624-1863/mmw/ge