COPYRIGHT
Point, Click, Legislate and Play (Wired)
LIBRARIES
Grant Will Recruit Latinos, Indians for Library Sciences (TC)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
TV Works in Mysterious Ways for Pat Robertson (NYT)
POLICY MAKERS
Conflicts of Interest May Impede Bush's Nominee for Telecom Post
(WSJ)
COPYRIGHT
POINT, CLICK, LEGISLATE AND PLAY
Issue: Copyright
To solve the problem some Internet users have of not being able to play
incompatible downloaded video and music files, a security standard for media
files may be a requirement added to an Internet privacy bill by the chairman
of the Senate commerce committee Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC). A security
standard would require new electronics equipment to be built with security
controls that limit "unauthorized" files from playing on any new device.
"Unauthorized" files refer to either downloaded pirated files or
unsanctioned files, but with little agreement on how to define these terms,
civil liberties groups are wary of the standards. "This is about gaining
control over electronic equipment so the content industries can control what
consumers can do with their files," Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney
Lee Tien said. "The machine becomes the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow as far as content owners restricting what consumers want to do."
Making media files easier to use at the expense of control over rights
management is a tradeoff of rights people would never make outside of
technology. "If legislation preserves the First Amendment and consumers'
fair use rights, we would probably be OK with it," Miller said. "But
consumers should be able to do things like time shifting, so that you can
continue to tape Ally McBeal on Mondays and then watch it on Tuesday," or
like making copies for personal or educational use.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Brad King]
(http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,45701,00.html)
LIBRARIES
GRANT WILL RECRUIT LATINOS, INDIANS FOR LIBRARY SCIENCES
Issue: Libraries
Fewer than 5 percent of Hispanics and 1 percent of American Indians work as
academic or public librarians. The University of Arizona School of
Information Resources and Library Science is hoping that a $500,000 federal
grant might helpchange that. The University of Arizona has received a
two-year award from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Science to
begin its "Knowledge River" project, aimed at increasing minority
recruitment in library and information science degree programs. "We will
work with local and national experts to develop and enrich our curriculum
and develop research projects that will attract students who want to help
solve the information problems of the 'digital divide,' " said Brooke
Sheldon, director of the information resources and library science school.
[SOURCE: Tucson Citizen, AUTHOR: Staff Reporter]
(http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/7_31_01library_grant.html)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
TV WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS FOR PAT ROBERTSON
Issue: Media & Society
Three years ago, the televangelist Pat Robertson chastised the city of
Orlando and Disney World, which were hosting an event called "Gay Days,"
for their homosexual tolerance. Now, Mr. Robertson finds himself in business
with the Walt Disney Company, after it agreed to spend $5.3 billion to
acquire the Fox Family Channel - a deal that came with an apparently
ironclad commitment to continue carrying Mr. Robertson's daily talk show,
"The 700 Club." Just a few years ago Mr. Robertson said; "Disney, which is
the family organization, is becoming the family of homosexuality and
anti-religious bigotry." Michael D. Eisner, the Disney chairman, didn't seem
to remember such inflammatory statements when he said that Mr. Robertson had
never been one of the members of the religious right who had criticized
Disney. "He is not that far to the right," Mr. Eisner said.
[SOURCE: New York Times (8/1), AUTHOR: Bill Carter ]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/30/business/30ONTV.html)
(requires registration)
POLICY MAKERS
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST MAY IMPEDE BUSH'S NOMINEE FOR TELECOM POST
Issue: Policy
The confirmation hearing of Bush nominee for chief of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Nancy J. Victory will be
held Wednesday before the Senate commerce committee and will likely address
Victory's need to recuse herself from big decisions based on potential
conflicts of interest. Victory said she will voluntarily sell her stock
holdings or place them into blind trusts, and disqualify herself from making
any decisions that may pose a conflict of interest with her husband's
clients, asserting that neither she nor her husband represented companies
that may benefit from NTIA policy. Victory built her career at the
well-known D.C. law firm Wiley, Rein & Fielding LLP representing companies
that may benefit from NTIA policies, where she worked with her husband
Michael Senkowski who continues to head the firm's telecommunications
practice. As part of the Commerce Department, NTIA is a primary regulator of
how and whether to sell airwave spectrum to the private sector, and Victory
and Senkowski own millions in stocks in companies such as Verizon that could
benefit from controlling government-owned airwaves to deliver wireless data
services. Greg Rohde, former chief of the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration under the Clinton administration, said
disqualifying herself on the grounds of personal involvement from such a
major issue "can be a serious problem" for Victory. Spectrum management is
"the most pressing issue facing this agency and this administration. It's
imperative that she be able to work on that."
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ted Bridis And Yochi J. Dreazen]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB996616482109585710.htm)
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