December 2003

WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
WSIS Blog: Special Coverage of World Summit Next Week
DDN/Digital Opportunity Channel Meeting at WSIS to Feature Live
Webcast
US Stymies UN Net Body
Reporters Without Borders Responds to WSIS Ban

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Commentary: Bridging the Digital Divide, Cheaply
HP Announces Microenterprise Development Program

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Commentary: Bill Moyers on Media and Democracy

INTERNET
New Project Aims to Boost Charities' Internet Advocacy

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WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

WSIS BLOG: SPECIAL COVERAGE OF WORLD SUMMIT NEXT WEEK
Andy Carvin, Senior Associate at the Benton Foundation and editor of
Communications-Related Headlines, will file online reports from next week's
World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. These reports will be
published on his blog, Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth
(www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/), over the course of the week. Andy's blog
will be one of several sites covering the summit and related activities,
including the British/Arab collaborative journalism project Dailysummit.net,
WSISnews.org and the WSIS Discussion Blog of Harvard's Berkman Center
(http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/wsis/), among others.
SOURCE: Benton Foundation
http://www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/

DDN/DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY CHANNEL MEETING AT WSIS TO FEATURE LIVE WEBCAST
The Benton Foundation will co-host a forum on the Digital Divide Network
(www.digitaldividenetwork.org) and Digital Opportunity Channel
(www.digitalopportunity.org) in conjunction with OneWorld South Asia on
December 9 at the World Summit on the Information Society. The two-hour
meeting will take place in Geneva's Palexpo Center, Hall 4, Room 2 at 10:00
local time (9:00 GMT). The meeting is free and is open to the public;
attendees are encouraged to RSVP by emailing ddivide( at )benton.org, with the
subject line "WSIS Event." The event will also be webcast courtesy of the
Digital Workforce Education Society (requires a PC with Internet Explorer).
To participate online, please visit http://www.digibridge.org the day of the
event and follow the instructions posted on the homepage.
SOURCE: Digital Divide Network
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org

US STYMIES UN NET BODY
The head of the US government delegation to WSIS has reiterated the US goal
of preventing a UN-sponsored body from taking over management of the
Internet. David Gross, the US State Department's coordinator for
international communications and information policy, said that Internet
management must remain in the hands of the semi-private, US-created Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). "We think it's
extraordinarily important that [Internet management] continue to be private
sector-led," Gross said. Additionally, Gross noted the US position that the
summit delegates should not adopt language that could be used as an excuse
by some governments to quash freedom of expression. "We are always concerned
about statements that might be misunderstood as sanctioning restrictions,
either of freedom of expression or on the freedom of the press," he said.
Gross also voiced opposition to a proposal by the Senegal delegation to
establish an international "digital solidarity fund" to bridge the digital
divide in the developing world. "We don't think that the case has been made
for the creation of a new international fund focusing on these issues in the
way in which it's been described so far," he said. "We do not endorse it
right now, even in its voluntary form, because we're concerned about how
these things play out."
SOURCE: Australian IT
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8060894%5E15342%5E%5Enbv...
5306-15319,00.html

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS RESPONDS TO WSIS BAN
The international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (Reporters
sans frontieres, or RSF) will hold a news conference next Tuesday to protest
the UN decision preventing them from participating in the World Summit on
the Information Society. "Despite our being banned from WSIS, we will ensure
that our voice is heard loud and clear there," Reporters Without Borders
secretary-general Robert Menard said, adding, "An original and news-worthy
form of protest will be announced at the news conference." RSF, which was
informed of the decision in September, has been at odds with the UN since it
the group received a one-year suspension from the UN Commission on Human
Rights for protesting the UN decision to allow a representative from the
government of Libya to serve as the commission's spokesperson. Robert Menard
will be joined by former Agence France-Presse director Claude Moisy and
Patrice Mugny of the Geneva city council, which is providing space for the
event. The press conference will take place on December 9 at 3:30pm at the
Club de la Presse, "La Pastorale," Route de Fernay 106, Geneva.
Source: Reporters sans frontieres
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8657

DIGITAL DIVIDE

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, CHEAPLY
[Commentary] The benefits of the Web have gone disproportionately to a class
of Americans who are mostly white and predominately male, writes Alex
Salkever. To bridge the divide, he proposes a broadband tax credit or tax
rebate for low-income households who purchase broadband Internet access.
Universal broadband access could make every American a better-educated, more
efficient consumer in the modern marketplace, he argues. Big grocery and
drug store chains typically do not locate in poor urban areas, meaning that
residents of poor neighborhoods could benefit from the opportunity to buy
from these stores online. Broadband access could provide low-income
consumers with better information about complex purchases such as cellular
plans, cars and computers. Internet intermediaries such as Carpoint and
Autobytel can help minorities and women, in particular, get better prices
and make better purchasing decisions. Salkever believes that there is plenty
of precedent for government subsidizing the build-out of infrastructure
benefiting all Americans. "It seems only fair to ask for a broadband subsidy
that, if done right, could not only save the poor a mess of money, but also
help them live a richer, more productive life in the Information Age," he
concludes.
SOURCE: Business Week; AUTHOR: Alex Salkever
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2003/tc20031125_7224_t...
.htm

HP ANNOUNCES MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
HP is requesting proposals for participation in the Microenterprise
Development Program, a grant initiative targeting nonprofit microenterprise
development agencies that serve clients in low-income communities in the
United States. The goal of the program is to accelerate the ability of
nonprofit microenterprise development agencies to advance economic growth in
diverse, low-income communities by making the agencies more efficient and
effective through the integration of technology into their core operations
and assisting them in providing their clients with access to technology and
associated training to optimize its use. Through the Microenterprise
Development Program, HP will support nonprofit agencies that have a primary
focus on providing microenterprise development programs and services in
underserved communities. Each grant award will have a total list price value
of $150,000 to $250,000 in equipment, cash, services and support. In
addition, recipients will receive a travel grant to participate in a
symposium to share what they have learned, address common challenges and
provide information that will serve to educate and inform the
microenterprise development industry.
SOURCE: HP
http://grants.hp.com/us/programs/micro_index.html

MEDIA OWNERSHIP

BILL MOYERS ON MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY
[Commentary] Bill Moyers illustrates the dangers of media conglomeration
with a tale about baseball and big media. Foul Ball, a new book by former
Yankee pitching star Jim Bouton, tells the story. The local newspaper in
Bouton's hometown of Pittsfield, MA, wanted to use $18.5 million of taxpayer
money to build a new baseball stadium on property it owns. However, the
property is polluted, and the public voted down the proposal three times. It
turns out the newspaper is owned by MediaNews Group based in Denver, CO,
which owns at least 100 media properties. The paper did not disclose the
pollution issue, and MediaNews ignored a proposal to renovate the existing
historic stadium at no expense to taxpayers. There was no competing paper in
town to throw light on the shenanigans taking place between the publisher
and politicians, writes Moyers. He keeps coming back to the subject of media
conglomeration because "it can take the oxygen out of democracy." The most
important story of all is the one that determines what other stories get
told -- and how, he concludes.
SOURCE: PBS; AUTHOR: Bill Moyers
http://www.pbs.org/now/commentary/moyers28.html

INTERNET

NEW PROJECT AIMS TO BOOST CHARITIES' INTERNET ADVOCACY
At a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Association of Progressive
Communications (APC) launched a pioneering project to help charities tap the
potential of the Internet. Called APC-ActionApps
(http://www.apc.org/actionapps/), the free computer software aims to boost
the advocacy powers of charities across the world. APC says it is designed
to rival software sold by computer giants, enabling nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) to regularly update their websites "cheaply, simply and
speedily." The software's collaborative features "enable organizations to
share their content on each other's sites and strengthen information
communities," said Anna Feldman, who unveiled the software tool to
pan-African organizations. "In this era of globalization the internet has
been promoted as a means of bringing people together, but all-too-often
organizations in the south have been left behind," said APC. Organizations
such as Womensnet, Anti-Slavery International and the Arid Lands Information
Network have already started using the software.
SOURCE: IRIN News
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38055&SelectRegion=Africa&Se...
Country=AFRICA

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