ED TECH
Making the Most of the Internet's Potential for Education
(CyberTimes)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Center in Capital Called a Success in Spanning the Technology Gap
(NYT)
INTERNET
McCain Camp Enjoys a Big Net Advantage (WP)
Charity Watchdogs Warn Of Potential For Online Fraud (NYT)
Web Site Aims to Attract Latin American Teens (WSJ)
ECOMMERCE
Hackers Hit EBay, Buy.com Sites (WP)
Books, Records Would Escape Sales Tax in Stores, on Web in Proposal
to Panel (WSJ)
BROADCASTING
Ruling Stops IcraveTv Transmissions To USA Plaintiffs Say Web Site
Stole, Broadcast shows (USA)
Chris-Craft Unit Sues to Block Viacom From Proceeding With CBS
Acquisition (WSJ)
EMPLOYMENT
More Foreign High-Tech Workers Sought (NYT)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
CENTER IN CAPITAL CALLED A SUCCESS IN SPANNING THE TECHNOLOGY GAP
Issue: Digital Divide
Gateway, a community and job-training center in Washington, D.C. is
affecting lives. If not for Gateway, Patricia Fisher would still be earning
minimum wage, relying on rental assistance and anxious for a better life for
herself and her son. After a free three-month office technology program at
Gateway, Ms. Fisher earns more than twice her previous salary. "When I went
into this program, it supported me 100 percent. And that was what made me
move on with my life," said Ms. Fisher. Gateway's nonprofit parent,
Community Preservation and Development Corp, is wiring 800 housing units at
Edgewood Terrace, a low-income housing community in the northwest section of
Washington. The company plans to install computers in every apartment by
2002. "This is beyond access, this is control," said Leslie Steen, president
of CPDC. "Residents who have control of the technology will end up having
control of the community." CPDC's approach to lift people out of poverty has
drawn praise from federal officials. About 80 District of Columbia residents
take classes on any given day in the modern classrooms of the Gateway
center, which resemble a small conference center.
[SOURCE: Cybertimes, AUTHOR: Raju Chebium]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/cyber/articles/09divide.html)
EDTECH
MAKING THE MOST OF THE INTERNET'S POTENTIAL FOR EDUCATION
Issue: Ed Tech
The Congressional Web-Based Education Commission was set up by Congress in
1998 to study how the Internet can best be used for education. It will study
such issues as distance learning, how best to ensure that students across
the country can be assured equal access to technology, and how to persuade
industry to provide educational content. The 16 member commission, headed by
Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska), will share information with Congress as it
begins a re-examination of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, an
important law underpinning federal education initiatives at the grade school
and high school level. The law, which Congress must re-authorize every five
years, provides about $1.5 billion each year for technology-related
education programs. The commission will also set up a Web site which it
hopes will provide a major forum for debate and public discussion of the
issues raised by the commission as it holds about five more hearings across
the country this year. First and foremost on the commission's agenda,
however, is to complete a report on how the Web can be used for its highest
educational purpose. The report will be completed by November 16 and
presented at that time to Congress and the President.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/cyber/education/09education.html)
INTERNET
MCCAIN CAMP ENJOYS A BIG NET ADVANTAGE
Issue: Political Discourse
An hour after the announcement of Sen. John McCain's win in the New
Hampshire primary was posted to his Web site, $20,000 worth donations had
come in online. Since his victory in the nation's first primary, McCain has
raised $2.2 million over the Internet, recruited 26,000 new volunteers -
and, in the process, rewritten the rules for political campaigning. For
McCain, the Internet has helped translate the New Hampshire bounce into hard
cash, which is instantly eligible for federal matching funds. "McCain could
capitalize in a way that Gary Hart and Paul Tsongas could not" when they won
Democratic state presidential primaries in 1984 and 1992, said Michael
Cornfield, a George Washington University political scientist who studies
the role of new media in campaigns. Candidates began using the Web in the
1996 election, but at that time the sites included little more than
candidates' photos and biographies. Since then, thanks in part to
developments in technology and also to Jesse Ventura's effective use of the
Internet in his campaign to become governor of Minnesota, use of the Web has
expanded markedly. Overall, McCain's campaign has raised $3.7 million
online, almost one-fourth of its total $16 million raised. Moreover, McCain
is using the Internet to keep in touch with volunteers. Some 86,000 people
now get daily campaign updates and are asked to make telephone calls to
recruit others.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: John Mintz]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27893-2000Feb8.html)
CHARITY WATCHDOGS WARN OF POTENTIAL FOR ONLINE FRAUD
Issue: Internet/Philanthropy
Last week's Alaska Airlines crash has prompted charity watchdog groups to
renew their warnings about the dangers of donating money over the Internet.
Alaska Airlines spokesman Jack Evans said that at least two suspect sites
that purportedly raised money for the victims' families shut down after the
airline threatened to sue. "In the online world, with a graphics program and
a Web authoring tool, you can make Web sites look pretty efficacious and
legitimate." Would-be donors should ask lots of questions about how
donations will be spent, said Bennett Weiner, a vice president at the
Council of Better Business Bureaus.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/09online-chariti
es.html)
WEB SITE AIMS TO ATTRACT LATIN AMERICAN TEENS
Issue: Internet
Loquesea.com, a Spanish language Web site, is part of a new wave of
specialty sites that is trying to cash in on the Internet's fast growth in
Latin America, where approximately 40% of Internet traffic is from the
under-30 crowd. Loquesea, which is Spanish for "whatever", is trying to
gain attention by offering bisexual chat rooms, electronic-music fan clubs,
and online greeting cards with messages such as "I hate you." The site's
challenge is to keep up this fear-and-loathing tone while appealing to
mainstream kids who will be the region's future consumers. "Coca-Cola is
interested in the 18-year-old. These brand managers are desperate to reach
their customers," said loquesea's CEO Carlos Lizarralde. "We'll be to young
kids in Latin America what Martha Stewart is to middle-class women in the
US."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A22), AUTHOR: Pamela Druckerman]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950050238918299129.htm)
RULING STOPS ICRAVETV TRANSMISSIONS TO USA PLAINTIFFS SAY WEB SITE STOLE,
BROADCAST SHOWS
Issue: Internet/Broadcasting
On Tuesday, Canadian Web site iCraveTV was ordered by a Pittsburgh judge to
stop sending intercepted TV programming into the USA. U.S. District Court
Judge Donald Ziegler agreed with NFL, NBA and four networks who claimed that
iCraveTV was stealing programming and pumping it into U.S. markets in
violation of U.S. copyright law. The judge issued a preliminary injunction
that prevents iCraveTV from putting broadcasts on its site if U.S. viewers
can see them. In a statement, iCrave's founder Bill Craig, said he will try
to implement technology that would keep the broadcasts inside Canada.
Currently, there is no such technology that can stop the Internet at a
border.
[SOURCE: USAToday (1C), AUTHOR: Kevin Maney]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000209/1921069s.htm)
CHRIS-CRAFT UNIT SUES TO BLOCK VIACOM FROM PROCEEDING WITH CBS ACQUISITION
Issue: Ownership
BHC Communications Inc., a unit of Chris-Craft Industries, filed suit
yesterday in New York State Supreme Court claiming that the Viacom-CBS deal
violates a noncompete clause in the Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries
partnership agreement for the UPN television network. Under the noncompete
clause, Viacom may not "own any interest, financial or otherwise" in a
competing network. As a result of the CBS acquisition, Viacom would control
the CBS television network. Viacom has been seeking to dissolve the UPN
partnership by offering to buy BHC's 50% stake in UPN, or alternatively
offering to sell its UPN interest to BHC. Viacom and CBS said in a joint
statement that the noncompete clause in the UPN partnership agreement wasn't
applicable because of Viacom's offer to buy or sell its interest in UPN.
They went on to claim that this lawsuit was, "transparently without merit
and will have no impact on the timing of the closing" of the merger. Viacom
and CBS hope to complete their merger by late March or early April of this
year.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12), AUTHOR: Martin Peers]
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950056268148631637.htm
ECOMMERCE
BOOKS, RECORDS WOULD ESCAPE SALES TAX IN STORES, ON WEB IN PROPOSAL TO PANEL
Issue: E-Commerce
The "business caucus" group of the federal Advisory Commission on Electronic
Commerce put forward a proposal yesterday that would keep the sales of
books, music, records and other information and entertainment products
exempt from taxation both on the Internet and in stores. To make up for the
loss in sales tax revenue on these items, state governments would gain new
authority to collect other sales taxes on the Internet and on mail-order
commerce across state lines. The proposal would call on Congress to enact
legislation prohibiting taxes on such products as recorded music and books;
to extend the moratorium on new Internet taxes for five years; and to ban
taxes on Internet access. The "business caucus" is a group of six companies
seen as the swing-vote bloc between protax and antitax factions on the
panel. Representatives from Charles Schwab, America Online, MCI Worldcom,
AT&T, Time Warner, and Gateway make up the "business caucus" group. The
Advisory Commission's final meeting will be next month in Dallas, Texas.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Glenn Simpson]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950064857303314114.htm)
HACKERS HIT EBAY, BUY.COM SITES
Issue: E-commerce
Four popular Web sites were hit with "denial of service" attacks yesterday,
on the heels of a similar attack on Yahoo on Monday. A "denial of service"
attack involves flooding computers with so many fake requests for data that
legitimate users are effectively shut out. The attacks, on eBay, Amazon.com,
CNN.com and Buy.com began at around 1:50 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, when
monitors at Buy.com noted a sharp rise in Web traffic, even as the company's
stock rose with its initial public offering. "The IPO did great and then
somebody slammed my site," said Gregory J. Hawkins, Buy.com chief executive.
It took Buy.com about three hours to restore service. Around an hour after
Buy.com recovered, eBay was hit with a similar attack, bringing down its
site until late last night. Then, between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. CNN.com and
Amazon.com's sites were hit with their own attacks. So far, no one has
claimed responsibility for the strikes, which did not cause any damage to
the sites' internal systems, but which will likely cost the companies
revenue because of the downtime. Speculation about who is carrying out the
attacks was rampant on hacker chat rooms and e-mail discussion lists
yesterday. Stuart McClure, author of "Hacking Exposed" and a computer
security consultant in Southern California, said he believes the perpetrator
will pop up in the next few days - not because experts from the three
companies would be able to chase him or her down but because hackers like to
brag. "The point is to prove to . . . their buddies that they can do it," he
said.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Ariana Eunjung Cha and John Schwartz]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26923-2000Feb8.html)
See also:
HACKERS ATTACK MAJOR INTERNET SITES, CUTTING OFF AMAZON, BUY.COM, EBAY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Khanh Tran and Rhonda Rundle]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB950056284596574936.htm)
EMPLOYMENT
MORE FOREIGN HIGH-TECH WORKERS SOUGHT
Issue: Employment
High-tech companies, desperate for workers, are pushing Congress to expand
an immigration program that will allow them to hire more high-tech workers.
The number of high-tech jobs nationwide grew from about 4 million in 1990 to
more than 4.8 million in 1998, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Phil Gramm (R-TX) and Spencer Abraham (R-MI) plan
to introduce a bill to increase the number of H-1B visas -- six-year,
temporary visas granted to foreigners with college degrees -- to 200,000
visas a year. Unions oppose a raise in the visa limit. "We have an abundance
of well-educated college people," said Jack Golodner, president of the
AFL-CIO's Department of Professional Employees. "There are industries that
like to flood the market of our college graduates because they want to keep
the salaries from going up."
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/09visa.html)
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