INTERNET
Women Outnumber Men On The Net By 3.5 Million - Study (WP)
Senate: No New Net Taxes for Five Years (USA Today)
BROADBAND
Studies Forecast Quadrupling Of Broadband By 2005 (Newsbytes)
POLICY
FCC Chief Warns Cable Industry (WP)
New Democrats Outline Tech Priorities In 'E-Genda' (Newsbytes)
INTERNET
WOMEN OUTNUMBER MEN ON THE NET BY 3.5 MILLION - STUDY
Issue: Internet
The U.S. Internet population continues to add female users. As a result, it
now statistically mirrors the gender breakdown of the country's current
population, according to a new study. The study, released today by
Nielsen//NetRatings, found there were 53.33 million active female Internet
users last month and 49.83 million male users. The breakdown was 51.7
percent female to 48.3 percent male. The areas where men continue to lead
are time spent online, number of sessions and the number of pages viewed.
The average male spent nearly 10 hours and 24 minutes online, compared to 8
hours and 56 minutes by women. Men logged on 20 times in the month to 18
times by women, and men viewed 31 percent more pages - 760 to 580.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Michael Bartlett]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166827.html)
SENATE: NO NEW NET TAXES FOR FIVE YEARS
Issue: Internet
The moratorium on taxing goods sold over the Internet will be extended until
2006, according to a deal reached by bipartisan Senate negotiators and
supported by the Bush administration. The Supreme Court ruling that
businesses do not have to collect taxes on sales in states where they have
no physical establishment has allowed Internet customers to avoid state
taxes on e-catalogue purchases. E-commerce companies argue that the 7,600
state and local tax jurisdictions impose too many tax rates. The Senate deal
will require states to simplify their tax collections within 5 years, and
agree on uniformly defined goods and services. "We've been working for well
over two years to allow the Internet to grow without discounting states'
needs for resources," said Senate negotiator John Kerry (D-MA).
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Tom Squitieri]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-06-14-senate-net-tax-plan.htm)
BROADBAND
STUDIES FORECAST QUADRUPLING OF BROADBAND BY 2005
Issue: Broadband
According to the study "The Broadband marathon: Access Technologies Jockey
for Subscribers" by Cahners In-Stat Group, the number of broadband Internet
access subscribers is projected to reach 21 million by the end of 2001, and
to rise 4 times that to 84 million by 2005. The study contributes the growth
in broadband access to the increasing dependence on the Internet for
information, communications, business, entertainment and downloading
high-bandwidth applications. The report finds that cable-modem Internet
service will continue to be the most wide-spread broadband application in
North America, but digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet service will
surpass cable service worldwide in 2002, with satellite and wireless
broadband services continuing to lag behind for several years. Fiber optic
cable service will have the highest growth rate throughout the world, from
10,000 subscribers this year to 3 million by 2005, according to researchers.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: Grant Buckler]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166816.html)
POLICY
FCC CHIEF WARNS CABLE INDUSTRY
Issue: Policy
The head of the Federal Communications Commission is prodding cable
companies to keep consumers at the forefront as they zoom into the digital
world with new TV, Internet and phone products. Commission Chairman Michael
Powell warned cable companies to be careful in how they use their strategic
position as a gatekeeper of TV content and Internet services that reach
their consumers. Consumer advocates, however, said Powell's efforts to
encourage the industry into good behavior do not go far enough. "His urging
doesn't openly protect consumers," said Jeff Chester of the Center for
Digital Democracy. Chester said Powell's remarks won't stop cable companies
from using their networks "to make the openness of the Internet into a
closed system."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kalpana Srinivasan(Associated Press)]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/10475-1.html)
NEW DEMOCRATS OUTLINE TECH PRIORITIES IN 'E-GENDA'
Issue: Policy
The centrist group of Democratic representatives, the New Democrat
Coalition, released their third annual "E-Genda" outlining legislative
priorities in high technology for the rest of the legislative session. The
E-Genda (http://www.house.gov/dooley/egenda2001.html) includes new support
for wireless spectrum management, and calls for the creation of a national
chief information officer to advise the executive branch on technology
policy. It also breaks away from left-leaning Democrats by supporting the
granting of "fast track" trade promotion authority to the president, and
privacy legislation supported by industry groups. "While there may be some
controversy in some of the components in trade policy, privacy legislation
and the like, for the most part there is very little controversy here," NDC
Co-Chair Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) said at a press conference today. "We feel
whether or not legislation gets passed this year, the best hope for
customer-friendly personal privacy protection is going to come from
market-driven solutions." The E-Genda also supports legislation to help
bridge the digital divide, including two programs slashed by the Bush
administration budget, the Technology Opportunities Program and the Advanced
Technology Program.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: Brian Krebs]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/10484-1.html)
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