MS Browser to use TV spectrum

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

  Wednesday October 8 6:25 PM EDT 
  
  Microsoft to Configure Windows for Broadcasts
  
  By Martin Wolk 
  
  SEATTLE(Reuter) - Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday its forthcoming Windows
  98 operating system update would allow users to get Internet content for
  free over an unused portion of the television broadcast spectrum. 
  
  Under an agreement with WavePhore Inc. in Phoenix, computers equipped
  with television tuners will be able to receive information such as news,
  sports, weather and entertainment without an Internet connection. 
  
  The data, including audio and video, would be sent by broadcast and
  cable and downloaded into the computer hard drive according to
  preferences set by the user through Microsoft's Internet Explorer
  browser. 
  
  The service would be free to users and supported by advertising with
  selected content from providers such as CBS Sportsline,
  Quote.com and Time Warner Inc.publications like Time, People and
  Fortune. 
  
     [snip]
  
  WavePhore's WaveTop service is scheduled to be launched by the end of
  the year over the unseen "vertical blinking interval" of
  the nation's 264 Public Broadcasting Service television stations,
  providing coverage to 99 percent of the population. 
  
     [snip]
  
  The addition of television tuning capabilities is being promoted as one
  of the major new features of Windows 98, and executives
  of the software giant said they expect television tuners to be
  commonplace in new personal computers targeted at consumers in
  the coming holiday season. 
  
   [snip]
  
  _________________________________________
  James Love
  Center for Study of Responsive Law 
  P.O. Box 19367 | Washington, DC 20036 
  202.387.8030  | fax 202.234.5176
  http://www.cptech.org  |  love@cptech.org