Congressional Bill Might Endanger ISPs

Congressional Bill Might Endanger ISPs

by Christopher Keough
Staff Reporter

Local Internet service providers are lobbying hard to defeat a bill pending in Congress that would deregulate the high-speed Internet business.

LA-County ISPs and the California Internet Service Providers Association have banded together to push for the defeat of the House Resolution 1542, also known as the Tauzin-Dingell bill for its prime sponsors, Reps. WJ Tauzin, R-La, and John Dingell, D-Mich.

The complaint? The industry claims the legislation emasculates the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which opened major phone companies networks to competitors before they can provide long-distance service.

Small ISPs fear loosened restrictions would make it easier for the phone companies to freeze them out of the long distance digital subscriber line (DSL) business.

This is the No.1 issue facing Internet providers today, nothing else is even close," said Jim Pickerell president of Santa Monica-based ISO Brand Internet X LLC and recently elected president of the California ISP Association.

Brand X, which Provides Internet service to the city of Santa Monica, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Sony and Fox studios, would have little chance of competing if Congress removes any protections, he said.

Pickrell charged that phone companies are already ignoring the law by charging noncompetitive prices for network access.

"On some theoretical level we at least have legal recourse," he said. "If the bill passes, we won't have any rights."

Pets Go Mainstream

NeoPets.com, the Glendale-based Wen site that allows users to adopt and care for virtual pets, is counting on a recent licensing deal with Viacom Consumer Products to broaden the company's exposure and beef up revenues.

Viacom will license the NeoPets interactive games and publishing worldwide, according to Doug Dohring, chairman and chief executive of the dot-com.

Dohring deferred to Viacom when asked to detail the specifics of the licensing arrangement. Viacom officials refused to discuss the terms other than to say it was a long-term deal.

"This has always been a part of our strategic plan; to take our online assets and move them to offline media," Dohring said. "We feel with Viacom's strength in publishing and interactive areas they can bring us to the right developers and publishing and interactive arenas they can bring is to the right developers and publishers in the offline environment."

Dohring said publishers have been soliciting NeoPets for months, but the company decided to go through Viacom because of its proven success with properties such as "Star Trek." NeoPets wants to publish a series of books based on some of the 40 "species" of virtual pets at its Web site.

Dohring also intends to convert the concept for interactive games for PCs and console platforms. Nothing is finalized, however.

"We've been strategizing quite a bit since we signed the agreement," he said. "We have our ideas as to what we feel will be most in demand by our user base."

Neopets' Neopia, a fictional online world of games and contests, has attracted more than 20 million members. Dohring said 50,000 new members register every day. The main audience is users 17 years old and younger, but the site also attracts adults.

Virtual Closer

Like so many of the companies that fueled its ranks, VIC, the Venice-based group that grew from a handful of techies to become a Southern California network of tech-related professionals, is kaput.

VIC Executive Director Brad Nye sent out an email to members announcing the end of the organization and his plans to pursue work with a new national nonprofit children's organization.

"VIC's path mirrored those of many of the dot-coms from which it drew members and sponsorship dollars," Nye said in his message.

VIC became closely aligned with new media companies, which proved to be among the hardest hit by the dot-com meltdown.

VIC meetings, which gained a reputation as less about networking than whooping it up with other young tech professionals, took on a pall over the last several months as enthusiasm dried up with the jobs. That was not necessarily Nye's or anyone else's fault, according to Victor Hwang, chief operating officer at Larta.

"In some ways, VIC was just part of the ride everyone went on," Hwang said.