January 22, 2004

New York City Mayor Michael R Bloomberg criticizes Consolidated Edison for electrocution death of Jodie Lane in East Village, while Con Ed says it has checked hundreds of utility boxes since her death, but that such freak accidents cannot be completely prevented; Lane was killed when she stepped on electrified metal plate in sidewalk; photos (M)

Many Prospective Jurors Interviewed in Stewart Trial Several of the three dozen prospective jurors interviewed in the government's case against Martha Stewart have bought her products, watched interviews in which she proclaimed her innocence, or had dealings with her or her company, a court transcript shows. Ms. Stewart is on trial on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and securities fraud stemming from a sale of nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems. She has pleaded not guilty. [Page C7.]

Federal law enforcement agencies say their ability to monitor terrorists and other criminal suspects electronically is being threatened by easing of Internet rules; officials from Justice Dept, FBI and Drug Enforcement Adm have held series of unpublicized meetings, complaining about Federal Communications Comm's 2002 decision to classify high-speed Internet cable services under looser regulatory regime than phone system; Justice Dept fears deregulation order impedes its ability to enforce wiretapping orders, and it has tried to block FCC from appealing recent federal appeals court decision that strikes down major parts of its deregulatory order; FCC has appealed, and as result some telecommunications carriers have taken position in court proceedings that they do not need to make their networks available to federal agents for court-approved wiretapping; law enforcement officials are also concerned about recent statements by FCC Chmn Michael K Powell that he intends to propose rules placing nascent Internet-based telephone services under looser regulatory regime than traditional phone system (M)

India's Wipro says quarterly profit rose 18.6 percent, to 2.74 billion rupees ($61 million); photo (S)

Article on Russian-born conductor Semyon Bychkov, who is preparing for his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov; photo (M)