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Technology Stocks : Loral Space & Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeff Vayda who wrote (6157)	5/14/1999 2:12:00 PM
From: arthur pritchard	Respond to of 10852

Jeff: thanks for stepping in and providing the succinct explanation. We're looking forward to Loral bringing their projects to fruition. The global acceptance of CDMA (read QCOM), should help to market the G*products. Yours truly, Arthur

To: Jeff Vayda who wrote (6157)	5/14/1999 7:40:00 PM
From: djane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10852

Clinton deciding whether to cut Yugoslavia Internet access from Loral satellite May 14, 1999 Copyright © 1999, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast or re-distributed directly or re-directly. WASHINGTON (AP) - Confronted with a dilemma of war in the information age, the Clinton administration is trying to decide whether its trade embargo extends to Internet access for some of Yugoslavia's citizens. Check the Serbian Bookmarks Web site for Yugoslavian sites. Loral Space and Communications Ltd. of New York said it might be forced to cut transmissions into Yugoslavia from one of its satellites, which serves at least two of the country's major Internet providers. ''We're still not clear on this whole thing,'' said Jeannette Colnan, a spokeswoman for Loral Space. President Clinton issued an executive order two weeks ago banning U.S. companies from selling or supplying to Yugoslavia ''any goods, software, technology or services,'' although the order allows for the ''special consideration of the humanitarian needs of refugees.'' The National Security Council said information services are generally considered exempt from trade embargoes, but that electronic commerce is affected. The Internet performs both functions. ''We'll need to inquire further about the appropriate applications of the law,'' said David Leavy, a spokesman for the security council. Loral Space said Thursday that it was discussing its obligations under the embargo with the Treasury Department, which didn't respond to requests for comment. Experts said any move by the United States to limit civilian use of the Internet would be unprecedented. NATO has already attacked Serbian broadcast stations to stem what it describes as propaganda, and Serbs have established an extraordinary network on the Internet criticizing ongoing air strikes. But the Internet also serves as a conduit for civilians to receive unadulterated news reports about NATO efforts. ''The Internet remains at this point one of the major sources inside Yugoslavia for objective news reporting about the war,'' said Jim Dempsey of the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology. Word of the threat to shut down Internet access to at least parts of Yugoslavia spread quickly across the global network, where it was condemned in some e-mail messages and online discussion groups. ''To put it bluntly, we somehow got used to air-raid sirens, bombings and threats of invasion, but we don't know how we're going to survive without the Internet,'' said Alex Krstanovic, cofounder of Beonet, one of the Internet providers in Yugoslavia. But some argued that access should be cut off. ''Continuing to provide these services would be kind of like giving aid to the enemy,'' one person wrote. The possible loss of Internet access also illustrated the fragility of the computer network and the importance assigned to it internationally. Computer traffic in Yugoslavia uses both satellite and traditional land-based telephone lines, but the loss of the Loral satellite could dramatically reduce the Internet bandwidth available to citizens there, causing slow connections or even blackouts. Web sites reliant on the Loral satellite continued to be accessible overnight Thursday, and there were no substantiated reports of anyone unable to retrieve information from outside the country using the Internet. A spokeswoman at the organization that registers Web addresses ending with the country's ''yu'' suffix said that she was familiar with the reports but that there had been no problems yet. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service updated February 1998. Please e-mail comments or questions about this page to Space Online Editor Mark DeCotis. Contact Space Online Manager Jim Banke to inquire about becoming a sponsor. This World Wide Web site is copyright © 1999 FLORIDA TODAY.