EDTECH
Senate Approves Student Privacy Bill (Newsbytes)
This Library's 'Born Digital' (Wired)
SOFTWARE
AOL-Microsoft Talks Ended by a Growing Rivalry (NYT)
E-Voting Market Spurs New Alliances (WP)
BROADCASTING
Discreet War Brews in Public Radio in Los Angeles (NYT)
Brazilians Argue Over Digital TV Format (NYT)
EDTECH
THIS LIBRARY'S 'BORN DIGITAL'
Issue: Libraries
The National Science Digital Library, funded by the National Science
Foundation and due to be launched in 2002, will allow users to browse
resources in science, mathematics, engineering and technology education
from libraries nation-wide. Carol Terrizzi, communication director for
Cornell's Site for Science, one of the collaborators on the project,
describes the site as "one library with many portals," remarked that "(The
NSF) wants to increase the educational opportunities for students, teachers
and the lifelong curious in this country,"
said. Other collaborators include teams of computer scientists and
librarians at Cornell, Columbia and the University of Missouri. The NDSL may
also provide library tours, collection tours and tools for educators and
students to personalize the NDSL portal.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Katie Dean]
(http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,44554,00.html)
SENATE APPROVES STUDENT PRIVACY BILL
Issue: Privacy
The Student Privacy Protection Act sponsored by Senators Richard Shelby
(R-AL) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) was passed by the Senate on Thursday. It
would require parental consent for schools to allow companies to collect
personal information from students. The legislation was added as an
amendment to the education reform bill. The privacy legislation requires
schools to notify parents when businesses may want to
collect data from students, and to disclose how the information will be
used, who will have access to it and how much time the data gathering will
take. Parents will also need to be informed when the school privacy
policy is amended. Although Internet companies like ZapMe! have drawn fire
from the National School Board Association and the American Association of
School Administrators for offering to put computers in schools in exchange
for personal data from students, the act was opposed by both groups for
placing an undue administrative burden on schools.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: Brian Krebs]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166923.html)
SOFTWARE
AOL-MICROSOFT TALKS ENDED BY A GROWING RIVALRY
Issue: Software
Talks between Microsoft and AOL Time Warner about integrating their services
collapsed this weekend. The dispute, over how their software would be
combined, shows how rivalry in the computer industry has shifted from
individual pieces of software, like Web browsers, to control over whole
systems that govern how consumers use computers. With it's new operating
system, Windows XP, Microsoft is trying to closely link its programs to a
range of consumer activities, including financial services, shopping and
entertainment, via the Internet. This new encompassing strategy gives AOL's
latest version its most direct competition yet. Sources say that talks
between the companies broke down when Microsoft raised objections to adding
RealPlayer to the AOL software that would be
included as part of Windows XP.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/18/technology/18SOFT.html)
E-VOTING MARKET SPURS NEW ALLIANCES
Issue: E-voting
The potential of the electronic voting market to line pockets is drawing
together high-tech business in new networks. In a recent alliance formed
between Dell Computer Corp and Hart InterCivic Inc., Dell won
exclusive rights to sell the InterCivic e-voting machine eSlate. Dell also
allied with Unisys Corp. and Microsoft Corp. to come up with a comprehensive
e-voting solution. Some alliances are focusing in on
equipment while others are targeting the entire voting process. Unisys
representative Barry Lurie predicts the industry will expand from its
current $100-200 million annual market "to a billion or more per year
market." The extent the e-voting market is lucrative depends largely on
whether Congress will agree to match funding in tate and local governments
to modernize technology and remake flawed registration processes.
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166911.html)
BROADCASTING
BRAZILIANS ARGUE OVER DIGITAL TV FORMAT
Issue: DTV
Later this year, the Brazilian telecommunications regulatory agency, Anatel,
is expected to select the digital technology standard for the future of
broadcast television in Brazil. The broadcast industry has thrown its
tentative support behind a relatively untested Japanese
standard, in part because it is supposed to be particularly good for mobile
service. The broadcasters' endorsement has generated criticism within
Brazil and among proponents of the United States and European standards that
are also under consideration. Critics say the
Japanese format say the will be so expensive that it may make TV sets too
costly for the bulk of Brazilian households. At the recent meeting of the
Free Trade Area of the Americas in Quebec, government officials from around
the hemisphere discussed the idea of one hemispheric digital TV standard as
a way not only to ensure hardware compatibility
throughout the area but also to create economies of scale to force down the
price of all equipment.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jennifer Rich]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/18/technology/18DIGI.html)
DISCREET WAR BREWS IN PUBLIC IN LOS ANGELES
Issue: Radio
While NPR nears signing a deal to open a West Coast production and
incubation complex just outside Los Angeles, one of its main rivals, the
aggressive and innovative Minnesota Public Radio, producer of "A Prairie
Home Companion" and "Car Talk", has just opened a similar $3 million center
in Los Angles. The move eludes to the growing competition in
public radio. While commercial radio audiences have been slowly eroding the
last five years, the public-radio audience has been growing, said Tom
Thomas, an industry consultant. Revenues were up 10.7 percent for fiscal
1999, the most recent figures available. The public radio networks must vie
for air time on local stations, which are free to buy programs from any
supplier and frequently purchase from more than one. Local stations are also
increasingly acting as suppliers.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Neal Koch]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/18/business/18NPR.html)
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