THE BATTALION
MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1981
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22
AT&T, newspapers wage bitter battle for control
United Press International
American Telephone and Tele-
■aph Co. and America’s newspaper
publishers are preparing for a leng-
tl _L and bitter confrontation over a
A communications test in Texas which
has far-reaching consequences for
the future of telecommunications,
the First Amendment and the dis
semination of information in society.
The issue — which has largely
escaped public attention — is an
“Electronic Information Service”
test AT&T intends to conduct in Au
stin, Texas.
The newspaper industry sees an
“insidious” plot by AT&T to control
all lines of telecommunication in
America as well as the information
transmitted over those lines — parti
cularly advertising.
Murphy urged publishers and
editors “to become as knowledge
able as possible about this matter,
which is now attracting national
attention as the pivotal face-off be
tween the telephone companies and
the news-information media to de
termine their respective roles in the
future of telecommunications.”
He said, “The importance of this
issue goes far beyond what anyone
right now can envision. In every rul
ing that has been given by the Feder-
al Communications Commission,
courts and regulatory agencies of the
government, AT&T has been told
they’e in business to do one thing —
to provide lines of communication
for other people to communicate
with each other. AT&T is mandated
by law to provide an efficient phone
system, nothing more or nothing
less.
“When you control the lines of
communication and provide the data
that would go over those lines, you
are in a pretty commanding position.
It would restrict other forms of
media from the use of telephone
“You’re talking about
the biggest business in
America — a business
that is not satisfied with
making nine jillion dol
lars off Yellow Page
advertising. They want
— it’s endless what they
want. ”
lines because of the monopoly the
telephone company enjoys. They’re
the ones that want to be in the driv
er’s seat and keep everybody out of
the field by providing the services
themselves,” Murphy said.
“Texas is the hotspot. If they suc
ceed here, they’ll go nationwide.
What we’re trying to do is keep full
availability of the telecommunica
tions lines open to whoever wants to
use them for whatever purpose. But
not turn over control of them to the
same people who own them. Other
wise, instead of telecommunications
being something with almost unli
mited potential, it could be wiped
out for everyone but AT&T. AT&T
would choke off competition with
predatory pricing.
“My God, you’re talking about the
biggest business in America — a
business that is not satisfied with
making nine jillion dollars off Yellow
Page advertising. They want — it’s
endless what they want. They’re
trying to cast the newspapers as
trying to choke off competition and
protect classified advertising, be
cause we’re leading the fight on this.
It’s ridiculous. If that was the only
reason we had in opposing this thing,
we wouldn’t have a chance.”
It is not an overstatement, said
Murphy, that the future of telecom
munications and the First Amend
ment itself are at stake because of the
proposed Texas experiment.
But Langsam said AT&T was en
tering the field primarily because
public policy encourages more com
petition in the telecommunications
field.
“There are a lot of organizations
that are competing directly with the
Bell System,” he said. “Conversely,
the powers-that-be have said that the
Bell System should compete. So
what was once strictly a regulated,
limited world of the telephone is now
a much more competitive arena. We
are, in effect, being forced into areas
of competition.
“We’ve been providing directory
services for a long time to telephone
users. The directories were printed.
But we are a very technological orga
nization, we’ve committed a lot to
research and development, and
we re using the fruits of that R&D.”
Langsam said AT&T is already
providing a limited version of the
proposed Austin experiment at Coral
Gables, Fla., in cooperation with the
Knight-Bidder newspaper group.
Extremely limited testing was also
conducted earlier in Albany, N.Y.,
Writer says it s easy to form
business without legal help
United Press International
NEW YORK — Americans who run small businesses,
either full-time or on the side, could save themselves
money and potential trouble by incorporating, and one
. expert says it’s easy to do yourself.
Its not really hard to incorporate and doing so can
protect you against possible large liabilities,” says Ted
Nicholas, author of "How to Form Your Own Corpora
tion Without a Lawyer for Under $50.”
The $50 is misleading. That’s only the initial cost of
setting up a Delaware corporation. To do business, you
must qualify the company in the state where you want to
operate. That costs anywhere from $22 in the District of
Columbia to $550 in California.
You also need a mailing address and possibly a reg
istered corporate agent in Delaware at a cost of any-
■where from $25 to $250 a year.
;) But Nicholas said the do-it-yourselfer will come out
..much, cheaper tljqn .those who use the seryieps: of a
lawyer.
Everyone going into a business with substantial risks
should incorporate, Nicholas said. For example, the
independent gasoline dealers who had to go out of busi
ness during the 1974 energy crisis were personally liable
for business debts because they were not incorporated.
How do you incorporate?
Nicholas recommends getting a Delaware charter
because the state’s corporation laws are more liberal and
flexible than those in most other states. There are no
minimum capital requirements, one person can hold all
corporate offices and there is no state corporate income
tax for Delaware companies who do all their business
outside the state.
Decide whether you need a regular or “close” com
pany. In the close company, all stock is held by a speci
fied number of persons and restrictions on sale or trans
fer of the stock may be imposed.
Having made this decision, set up your Delaware
address, fill out the^proper forms and return them with a
check for $45. You' will get a copy of the corporate
certificate, wmefr must be filed with the" recorder of
deeds in the appropriate Delaware count)?.
To qualify the company to do business in the state
where it is to operate, apply for forms from the secretary
of state and pay the required fees.
Civil rights legislator dies
M.
NFU/Vnui- United Press International
* w iDKK— Emanuel Celler, a Democratic mem-
I' 0 t" 6 House of Representatives for a half-century
[?l 110 aut hored much of the country’s major civil rights
Rome^R 11 ' oied^of pneumonia Thursday at his Brooklyn
A family spokesman said Celler had been ill for
y er souths and had been confined to bed. He de-
oped pneumonia earlier in the week,
wsc tu , 1 won election to the House in 1922, and it
( iQ7o e ^ ec H ve office he ever sought.
pta; 11 ^ terms in the House and 22 years as
L™ an °Hhe House Judiciary Committee, Celler was
Elizabeth H Democratic primary race by
2rp«° V . Care y> a close friend of the former con-
tarv i ca ec ^ Celler “the classic scholar of the cen-
7' n ^ Congress.”
caterl L° U j^ 0u t his life he taught, he led and communi-
ComnJ 5 °^ aw to eac h °f his colleagues in the
sress, Larey said.
clien^ 11 T in * °® ce Celler became a lobbyist for such
tli S a 6 ^ a tional Football League Players Associa-
e merican Society of Composers, Artists and
liter
ER
Publishers, Beneficial Loan Co. and Citicorp.
“I miss the give-and-take, I miss the camaraderie and
I miss the power,” he said at a party in 1978 to honor his
90th birthday. His greatest passion outside politics was
playing the piano.
On his 90th birthday, congratulatory letters and tele
grams poured in from presidents, vice presidents, gov
ernors and prime ministers.
He took office in 1922 — the year the “Teapot Dome”
scandal exploded in President Warren Harding’s admi
nistration.
Harding, Celler recalled in 1978, was a “free and easy
man who didn’t pay much attention to his appointees.”
Of the 10 presidents Celler recalled knowing, his
favorite was John F. Kennedy. “He could entice a bird
out of a tree, ” Celler said.
At the time of his death, he was chairman of the board
of American Red Mogen David, the fund-raising arm of
the Israeli Red Cross. He also was a trustee of Brookdale
Hospital and served on the board of University Settle
ment House.
Celler’s wife, Stella, died in 1966. The couple had
another daughter, Judith, who suffered from cerebral
palsy and died in 1971 when she was 50.
Alvin Ailey
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and New York City, involving about
80 persons.
“This is just a test,” he said of the
Florida venture, “and it is not a com
plete database in any sense of the
word.”
Both camps agree that the Austin
proposal is not only far more exten
sive but involves a more complete
database than ever before — with
far-reaching consequences.
“The newspaper publishers may
not like it,” said Langsam, “but we
are being forced into a world of com
petition. We are not going to get into
the newspaper business by any
stretch of the imagination. We’re not
interested in gathering news, we’re
not interested in hiring reporters.”
But the crunch, for the newspaper
industry, does not involve the trans
mission of news over phone lines but
the electronic transmission of adver
tising. Many newspaper executives
It is not an overstate
ment that the future of
telecommunications and
the First Amendment it
self are at stake because
of the proposed Texas
experiment.
feel AT&T, by owning the transmis
sion lines and cornering the electro
nic advertising market, could keep
all media far behind in the competi
tive game — newspapers as well as
cable television and other forums of
the 1980s and beyond.
“We will be involved in advertis
ing, no question about it,” said Lang
sam. “But do we want to put the
newspapers out of business? Abso-
“At stake is the future of
how information will be
exchanged and transfer
red, how ideas will be
disseminated...this is of
unique consequence to
the United States. ”
lutely not. I would tell the newspap
er publishers that technology has a
way of going on whether we like it or
not. Technology has created new
opportunities and new markets.
“We think there will always be a
need for the newspapers and news
paper advertising. I think the news
papers are forgetting that the Bell
System is not the only one getting
into this field. The cable industry is
moving into this area faster than any
body.”
Murphy, of the Texas Daily News
paper Association in Houston, said:
“How can they talk about being
‘forced’ into competition when the
FCC and the courts have ruled they
should not go beyond what they’re
all about — simply to provide the
lines of communication for people to
talk to each other over the phone.
There’s not anything the FCC or the
courts have done to ‘force’ them to
compete.
“When they’re under a consent
decree in New Jersey telling them
they cannot get into areas other than
what they’re already authorized to
do, and they accepted that agree
ment to avoid anti-trust liability,
that’s just simply wrong.
“The newspapers recognize and
accept the growing electronic age.
But they cannot accept the idea that
the telephone company — the peo
ple who own and control the tele
phone lines — can be in the position
of generating, providing and offering
the same services that the mass
media are in business to offer. When
you control and own the lines, you’ve
got a stranglehold on the whole mar
ket.”
Doug Watts, staff counsel to the
ANPA in Washington, said: “At stake
is the future of how information will
be exchanged and transferred, how
ideas will be disseminated. Because
information has always been a pre
cious and constitutionally protected
commodity in our society, this is ol
unique consequence to the United
States.
“This medium is very embryonk
right now—so competition has to be
protected. Otherwise, real competi
tion will be stifled. AT&T gained it:,
intense market penetration by gov
ernment-granted monopoly to pro
vide a universal telephone service.
“It looks to us,” said Watts, “like
what they’ve done is realize that they
have the distribution facilities for a
brand new medium of communica
tion and they also realize that there’s
a tremendous economic potential in
volved in that medium.”
Watts predicted the home electro-s
nic information industry will provide
“stiff, stiff competition” to newspap
ers during the next decade.
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