DIGITAL DIVIDE
Bush Staff Wants to Slash Programs Set Up to Help Close 'Digital
Divide'(WP)
INTERNET
Lawmakers Again Grill Icann Over Group's Net-Name Policies (WP)
Search Results Becoming More Commercial (SJM)
EDTECH
Teenagers Try Online Learning (NYT)
CABLE
Average Cable Bill Rose 5.8% In a Year (WP)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
EU Commits to Copyright Protection; Critics Warn It Could Boost
Prices
DIGITAL DIVIDE
BUSH STAFF WANTS TO SLASH PROGRAMS SET UP TO HELP CLOSE 'DIGITAL DIVIDE'
Issue: Digital Divide
Even as the "digital divide" widens, the Bush administration wants to slash
government programs providing computers and Internet access to poor and
underserved areas. The Commerce Department budget proposal for the fiscal
year starting Oct. 1 will suggest cutting the Technology Opportunities
Program, a favorite of the Clinton administration and many leading
technology executives, by about 65%. During a press conference earlier this
month, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael
Powell, likened the digital divide to "a Mercedes divide -- I'd like to have
one, I can't afford one."
A federal retreat from efforts to encourage Internet use among minorities,
the poor and people in rural areas would be a significant shift of U.S.
policy from that of the Clinton administration, which first popularized the
phrase "digital divide." Some experts worry that the cut would send the
wrong message amid an economic slowdown that already has reduced
philanthropic giving by some leading technology companies.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB982190280535779663.htm)
(requires subscription)
INTERNET
LAWMAKERS AGAIN GRILL ICANN OVER GROUP'S NET-NAME POLICIES
Issue: Internet
Lawmakers aggressively questioned the Internet's oversight body Icann, for
the second time this month, raising concerns about whether the group is
acting in the best interest of the public. Icann was questioned about
critics' claims that the group operates in secrecy and lacks clear policies
for dealing with Internet names. Icann operates on a mandate from the
Department of Commerce, though there is considerable confusion over exactly
what the group's powers are, and should be. The lawmakers also questioned
the way Icann has governed itself. During last fall Icann elections, there
were allegations that several at-large board members were unfairly elected.
Icann again faced questions about its selection late last year of seven new
top-level domains to join the likes of ".com" and ".net." Several sponsors
of domains that weren't selected have complained that the vote was heavily
influenced by special interests, and have criticized Icann for requiring a
$50,000 application fee from anyone who wanted a shot at a new top-level
domain.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Jason Anders]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB982180455397426931.htm)
(requires subscription)
See Also:
WEB NAMING GROUP HIT FROM WITHIN
[Source: Washington Post (E03), AUTHOR: Ariana Eunjung Cha]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7107-2001Feb14.html)
SEARCH RESULTS BECOMING MORE COMMERCIAL
Issue: Internet
Internet search engines and directories are increasingly turning towards a
pay-for-placement model, where companies bid against one another for top
billing. Search engines, which once tried to be pure navigational tools that
made their money from banner advertisements, are now hurting for revenues
due to the online advertising slump. "Six years ago I wouldn't have called
the Web a very commercial realm, but now a significant portion is all about
business," said Srinija Srinivasan, Yahoo's editor in chief. "For that
segment, I think there's absolutely a place" for paid search results, she
said.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Deborah Lohse]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/search021501.htm)
TEENAGERS TRY ONLINE LEARNING
Issue: EdTech
A growing number of teenagers are participating in fully accredited online
courses as an attractive alternative to going to high school. Class.com
serves 27 students full time around the country and the Florida Online High
School, a state-run online program, serves 45 students who receive their
entire high school curriculum online and delivers courses to hundreds more
who are being taught at home by their parents. Administrators of online
programs stress that most of the students they serve are actually in
schools, where they use computers in the schools' libraries or guidance
offices to take one or two supplemental courses. In fact, many of those
administrators say that they discourage students from doing all their high
school work online. "I think they would be doing the child a disservice,"
said Sandra Feldman, president of American Federation of Teachers.
"Especially when you are talking about high-school-age children...You would
have to have a pretty good reason to have a teenager alone at a computer all
day," she said.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: Lisa Guernsey]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/15/technology/15SCHO.html)
(requires registration)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
EU COMMITS TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION; CRITICS WARN IT COULD BOOST PRICES
Issue: Intellectual Property
The European Parliament approved a law to allow publishers and music and
film producers to employ "technical protection measures," including
encryption, to prevent people from making unauthorized copies of their works
and would make it illegal, in most cases, to circumvent such measures. The
law is expected to be endorsed without major changes by European Union
governments and formally transposed into national law over the next couple
of years. "Copyright owners now have wider protection here than in the
U.S.," said Enrico Boselli, the Italian Member of Parliament who shepherded
the draft law. But critics warned that the law does little to pave over
practical differences between individual European countries and could result
in higher prices for consumer electronics in the short term. Some European
countries have long imposed levies on recording equipment to compensate
musicians, composers, authors and producers for losses resulting from
unauthorized copying. Some countries, including France and Germany, are now
expanding such levies to include personal computers, scanners, printers and
devices used to record on compact discs.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A15), AUTHOR: Brandon Mitchener]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB982159222697782071.htm)
(requires subscription)
See Also:
EUROPE GETS A GUIDELINE TO PROTECTING COPYRIGHTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Paul Meller]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/15/business/15DIGI.html)
(requires registration)
CABLE
AVERAGE CABLE BILL ROSE 5.8% IN A YEAR
Issue: Cable
A new FCC survey has found that the average monthly cable-television bill
climbed 5.8% nationwide over the one year period ending in July. The rise in
cable prices far outpaced the average rate of inflation for other goods and
services - 3.7%. Congress ended federal price controls on cable-TV bills on
March 31 in hopes of spurring competition. An increase in costs for
programming presented the single largest contributing factor to the rate
hikes, according to cable operators.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6003-2001Feb14.html)
--------------------------------------------------------------