DIGITAL DIVIDE
Bridging Digital Divide Will Take More Than Wires (SJM)
EDTECH
Education: Web's New Come-On (NYT)
Linking Online Kids With Real-World Ethics Education May Be The Way
to Head Off Young Hackers (USA)
CHILDREN & MEDIA
2 Conflicting Views On Filtering The Internet (USA)
Impact of Interactive Violence on Children (Senate)
BROADBAND
Heavy Traffic is Overloading Cable Companies' New Internet Lines
(WSJ)
RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Rural Utilities Invest Funds in Markets Instead of Local Projects,
Audit Says (WSJ)
Rural Local Broadcast Signal Act (House)
TELEPHONY
NTT Move Has US Officials, Telecoms Upset About Expenses (WSJ)
NEWSPAPERS
Audit Bureau Proposes Changes To Newspaper-Circulation Rules (WSJ)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
BRIDGING DIGITAL DIVIDE WILL TAKE MORE THAN WIRES
Issue: Digital Divide
According to a report released Wednesday by the Children's Partnership,
(www.childrenspartnership.org), simply connecting low-income people to the
Internet is not enough. Their content needs also must be taken into account.
In a year-long study, the Children's Partnership found that most content on
the Internet is not useful for poor people or those with weak reading
skills. The study urges community leaders, companies and investors to
develop content that will serve the needs of low-income members as they move
online. "The good news is that as we start to see more under-served people
get connected, we see the next set of questions being raised...whether they
are finding the applications and services they want and need." said Wendy
Lazarus, co-director of the Children's Partnership. The report finds that
those needs are not being met. The authors interview low-income Internet
users, community leaders and literacy experts. In addition, they examined
1,000 Web sites. The study found that only 6 percent of the sites included
information that fit the report's criteria as useful to low-income users.
Only about 1 percent included information on local jobs and housing. "A lot
of this has to do with the lack of local, practical content," she said.
"They really want to know what's in their neighborhood, where can they take
a GED and get low-cost housing." The report also lists several sites that
could serve as models to address these problems.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury AUTHOR: Chris O'Brien]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/divide031600.htm)
EDTECH
EDUCATION: WEB'S NEW COME-ON
Issue: Distance Learning/ E-Commerce.
Internet entrepreneurs are having a go at connecting distance learning with
online shopping. Companies such as notHarvard.com believe that students in
online courses provide a lucrative market. The idea is to offer online
courses for little-to-no cost, and then sell related items to those taking
the course. Michael Rosenfelt, notHarvard.com's founder, calls the concept
"eduCommerce." "Education has always been at the basis of commerce," he
said. "Sellers need to teach, and buyers want to learn." Not everyone
agrees. William L. Rukeyser, director of a nonprofit organization called
Learning in the Real World, has qualms. "If the so-called education has the
intent of getting people to buy a product," Rukeyser said, "then there is an
open question as to whether it can be dignified with the name education at
all."
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: Lisa Guernsey]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/03/circuits/articles/16sell.html)
LINKING ONLINE KIDS WITH REAL-WORLD ETHICS EDUCATION MAY BE THE WAY TO HEAD
OFF YOUNG HACKERS
Issue: Internet/Media & Society
The Department of Justice is employing a new tool in its fight against the
sort of online attacks that disrupted service to several major Web sites
last month. The Department wants teens to learn basic ethical principles. To
this end, it has set aside $300,000 this year to develop curricula, and
spread the word, that kids need ethical as well as technical education to
become contributing members of society. Such ideas as, "it's a really scummy
thing to go looking at other people's e-mail," are necessary, says Martha
Stansell-Gamm, chief of the Justice Department's computer crime section.
Across the country there are only a few schools that spend more than a week
or two on cyber-ethics, but given the ubiquitous nature of computers, there
is a need to develop such ethical principles. "The long-term strategy is to
incorporate this into everyday life," says Nancy Willard, professor of
education at the University of Oregon in Eugene, who has received National
Science Foundation grants to develop classroom standards for "acceptable
behavior."
[SOURCE: USA TODAY (1D), AUTHOR: M. J. Zuckerman and Will Rodger]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000316/2037341s.htm)
CHILDREN & MEDIA
2 CONFLICTING VIEWS ON FILTERING THE INTERNET
Issue: Internet
Internet filtering is one of the most hotly contested issues surrounding the
Web. Two reports released Wednesday presented strikingly different
conclusions on the topic. The family-values advocacy organization, the
Family Research Council, reported that filters will save public libraries
from becoming sex havens where children and adults routinely go for
pornography. In contrast, a report by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation concluded that Internet software filters are imperfect and can
harm children by creating a false sense of security and censoring some
important information, especially in the gay community. The American Library
Association agrees. "Filters don't work," ALA president Sarah Long says.
"Filtering is not an effective technology." Instead, the association
suggests that children and adults be educated about how to use the Net. The
Supreme Court weighed in on this issue in 1997 when it struck down portions
of the Communications Decency Act that made it a felony to display or
transmit "indecent" content over the Net. Now, local and national
legislators continue to grapple with legal and technological remedies.
[SOURCE: USAToday (3D), AUTHOR: Janet Kornblum]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000316/2037249s.htm)
IMPACT OF INTERACTIVE VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN
Issue: Media & Society
The Senate Commerce Committee will convene to discuss the effects of various
forms of media violence on children in American society. The hearing is
scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, at 9:30 a.m., in room 253 of the Russell
Senate Office Building. Senator Brownback (R-KS) will preside.
[SOURCE: US Senate]
(http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/schedule.htm)
BROADBAND
HEAVY TRAFFIC IS OVERLOADING CABLE COMPANIES' NEW INTERNET LINES
Issue: Broadband
As more and more consumers rush to sign up for broadband access, some of the
cable access providers are facing bottlenecks. They have tried to avoid this
with customer agreements meant to limit bandwidth hogging practices such as
hosting Web sites from home, or sending too many large files via email.
However, the problem is so pervasive that the cable companies are forced to
spend millions to upgrade their systems, in order to keep up with Bell
telephone companies, wireless providers and satellite technology, all of
which do or will soon provide high-speed access. Despite the upgrades to the
system, some remain skeptical of cable's future in the world of broadband.
"The cable modem is the Internet equivalent of the old party line," says
Bill Smith, chief technical officer of BellSouth Corp, which provides
high-speed DSL access. "With so many people sharing the same bandwidth, if
the network's not managed well, you're going to have problems."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB953168508826328025.htm)
RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
RURAL UTILITIES INVEST FUNDS IN MARKETS INSTEAD OF LOCAL PROJECTS, AUDIT
SAYS
Issue: Rural Telecommunications
An Agricultural Department audit, to be released today at a House Commerce
Committee hearing, found that the nation's rural utilities, who have
low-interest loans from the government, had invested nearly $11 billion into
stocks, bonds and other investments and only $61 million, or about .5
percent, into rural development. The audit comes after an inspector
general's report that faulted the Rural Utilities Service for continuing to
lend large sums of money at discount rates to rural telephone companies that
no longer need government assistance. In response to the audit, Congress has
become skeptical about allowing the Rural Utilities Service oversight of a
$1.25 billion loan-guarantee program to help companies that want to beam
local TV signals to rural areas. Some members are pointing to the audit as a
reason to not approve the plan at all. A Rural Utilities Service
representative pointed out that there are no specific requirements on how
co-ops should invest and, "we followed the statute."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A10), AUTHOR: Kathy Chen and Bruce Ingersoll]
(http://interactive.wsj.com)
RURAL LOCAL BROADCAST SIGNAL ACT
Issue: Television
Today at 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection
legislative hearing on H.R. 3615, the Rural Local Broadcast Signal Act.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://com-notes.house.gov/cchear/hearings106.nsf/12b6a0781fa86e88852567e50
07558f4/81f41e10cbf0731a852568a10069367e?OpenDocument)
TELEPHONY
NTT MOVE HAS US OFFICIALS, TELECOMS UPSET ABOUT EXPENSES
Issue: Telephony
The Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT) company in Japan has sharply lowered
its Internet access charges for Japanese customers but kept its
"interconnection fees" high, a move that directly impacts foreign telecom
carriers. Alfred Mockett, president of British Telecommunications
international unit says that Japan's interconnection fees are, "two to three
times more expensive than the world-best practice." The U.S. wants an
immediate 41% reduction in the interconnection charge, compared to the 22.5%
reduction Japan is offering. But it's hard to find a direct logical link
between the interconnection issue and the fact that Japan's rate of Internet
penetration is only half of the U.S. level. Most Japanese users don't have
access to fixed-rate service and get billed for every minute they spend
online. According to an NTT executive, this is why there is low Internet
penetration in Japan and why NTT decided to offer low Internet access
charges before lowering its interconnection charges. The U.S. isn't
satisfied, with one American telecom executive calling NTT's new Internet
rates, "an egregious use of predatory pricing".
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A21), AUTHOR: Peter Landers]
(http://interactive.wsj.com)
NEWSPAPERS
AUDIT BUREAU PROPOSES CHANGES TO NEWSPAPER-CIRCULATION RULES
Issue: Newspapers
Officials of the Audit Bureau of Circulations proposed changes to overhaul
its controversial rules under which publishers count circulation. The most
significant proposal is to scrap the ABC's so-called 50% rule under which
newspaper companies can only count as circulation copies, those sold for
more than 50% of their standard price. In place of the 50% rule, the ABC has
proposed a new structure where newspaper circulation will be divided into
three categories. Small newspapers in the U.S. say scrapping the 50% rule
will spark local price wars as larger papers muscle into their territory
with discount offers. A final vote on the proposed rules by the ABC's
membership, which includes most U.S. newspaper publishers, wouldn't occur
before ABC's annual meeting in November.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Matthew Rose]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB953166524229879142.htm)
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