Archive

Digital Voices is available by electronic mail to subscribers of CPP's newsletter service, BENTON-COMPOLICY. Networked Technologies and the Internet:
A Brief Historical Perspective (8/26/02)
Dr. Amy Friedlander of the Council on Library and Information Resources reviews the history of electricity and telephony deployment, examining how the lessons learned from the dissemination of these technologies might apply to broadband Internet policy. Still Charting the Digital Broadcasting Future:
An Update on the State of the DTV Transition (12/19/01)
Kevin Taglang, former Senior Associate of the Benton Foundation's Communications Policy Program, takes a look back at the recommendations made by the President's Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters (PIAC). .coop: The Online Identity for Cooperatives (11/27/00)
For the first time in the history of the Internet, cooperatives will have their own unique identity. Region's New Economy Can't Exclude the Blind and Visually Impaired (9/25/00)
Dale Otto, President & CEO of the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, launches new program to bridge digital divide for visually impaired. Beyond Access: Understanding the Digital Divide (5/19/00)
Andy Carvin, Senior Associate, Benton Foundation
In order to solve the digital divide, we must look beyond the access issue and examine the importance of literacy, content and community development. Transcript of a speech delivered at NYU. From UUNet to UnionNet: Collective Bargaining and the Digital Divide (2/03/00)
Andy Carvin, Senior Associate, Benton Foundation
With a single act, a large corporation and a workers' union shine light on a novel way to solve the digital divide. Your Chance to Make Television Better (1/03/00)
One year after the Gore Commission finished its report the Federal Communications Commission is finally beginning a proceeding on the public interest obligations of digital broadcasters. Time Is Right For Digital Television Proceeding (10/28/99)
Charles Benton writes, "With so much focus on the new millennium, now less than 70 days away, and the reviews of our past and predictions for the future that accompany it, we may lose sight of the adage: There's no time like the present. Last week, Vice President Albert Gore officially asked the Federal Communications Commission to begin an examination of the public interest obligations of digital broadcasters. The timing is excellent. Starting in November, the majority of US households should have access to digital television signals for the first time." Building Better Nets (7/19/99)
Kevin Taglang, Sr Telecommunications Policy Analyst, Benton Foundation
Less than two weeks ago, the US Department of Commerce released Falling Through the Net, a report that revealed disturbing trends in access to information and communications technologies in this country. In the following week, public interest advocates and others concerned about equity, diversity, and access have an opportunity to ensure that less people fall through the net.
Learn more by reading the Low Income Coalition's comments
Take action by writing FCC Commissioners:

E-Rate: Don't Let the Flame Expire (5/24/99)
Tony Wilhelm, Director of Communications Policy & Practice, Benton Foundation
The poet, Yeats, tells us that education is not the filling of a pale but the lighting of a fire. The Internet sparks this fire in many kids for whom computers, properly supported and integrated into the learning environment, are key to unlocking their creativity and maintaining their interest in learning. At the end of May, the FCC will determine the fate of the E-rate, again thrusting E-rate funding back on the front burner as it decides how broad the support mechanisms should be to wire America's underserved schools and libraries. FCC Chairman, William Kennard, has announced that he wants to fund the E-rate program at its $2.25 billion legal maximum, while critics shout that the program is too expensive and oversteps its mandate.

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