Communications-Related Headlines for July 15, 2002

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Computer for the Poor Stymied
Divide Is More Than Digital
Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide

COMPETITION
FCC Could Let a Bell Buy WorldCom
Cable, Internet Access Rates Prompt Re-Regulation Moves

CENSORSHIP
Hackers Target Web Censorship
China Adds More Web Regulations

DIGITAL DIVIDE

COMPUTER FOR THE POOR STYMIED
More than a year ago, the Simputer was promised as a cheap, handheld
computer that would bring technology to the world's poor. But the Simputer
launch remains in perpetual delay, pending investor and customer
commitments. "Investors see risk in investing in a new product like this,"
said Swami Manohar of the Indian Institute of Science. "Nobody has built a
computer for the rural and poor people. Also, there is no license for the
hardware or software. That is probably the reason for their hesitation." The
Simputer was developed of the Open General License system to reduce costs,
but the fact that applications in the Simputer are not copyrighted may be
hampering its development. In the meantime, Manohar, who is also founder of
one of two companies licenced to make the device, says that his company will
install several Simputer units in India to try and kickstart consumer
interest and demand.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: S. Srinivasan, Associated Press]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61600-2002Jul12.html)

DIVIDE IS MORE THAN DIGITAL
In 1993, MIT Media Lab and the Computer Museum (now a part of Boston's
Museum of Science), opened the first Computer Clubhouse, as a way to teach
basic computer skills to students in underprivileged neighborhoods. The
Computer Clubhouse, sponsored by Intel, has since expanded to 50 locations
across the United States and internationally. Unfortunately, having the
necessary technical knowledge is not all these young people need to achieve
their professional goals. Gail Breslow, who oversees the network of Computer
Clubhouses, acknowledged that it is not uncommon for clubhouse members to be
underestimated, in part because of biases people have about children who
come from poor or troubled backgrounds. "I get frustrated. There a lot of
older members who have trouble getting a job," said Breslow, who also noted
that many students are not privy to good information on how to achieve their
career goals.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Dustin Goot]
(http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53849,00.html)

RECONCEPTUALIZING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
A paper by Mark Warschauer appearing in the most recent issue of First
Monday, a peer-reviewed journal about the Internet, examines the concept of
a digital divide by analyzing community technology projects and models of
technology access. Warschauer proposes a framework of technology for social
inclusion that focuses on effective integration of computers and technology
into communities and institutions, instead of just the provision of access.
[SOURCE: First Monday, AUTHOR: Mark Warschauer]
(http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_7/warschauer/)

COMPETITION

FCC COULD LET A BELL BUY WORLDCOM
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell declared the
telecommunications industry in a state of "utter crisis," and suggested his
agency might allow a Baby Bell to take over WorldCom. The merger of a large
regional phone carrier and the nation's second-largest long-distance
company, a combination once seen as unthinkable, would reverse the FCC's
position on such deals. It also could lead to further consolidation as the
other Bells scrambled to acquire AT&T and Sprint Corp. as a way of keeping
pace. FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the industry's battered, debt-ridden
condition now leaves regulators little choice but to consider such options,
especially if the alternatives would disrupt phone and data service to
WorldCom's 20 million customers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yochi J. Dreazen]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1026696580457716480,00.html?mod=technolo
gy)
(requires subscription)

CABLE, Internet ACCESS RATES PROMPT RE-REGULATION MOVES
Increases in cable rates are prompting consumer advocates to try and reverse
the deregulation of the cable industry. Some members of Congress are also
calling for action. The cable television industry has had a back and forth
relationship with regulation over the years, finally winning deregulation
again in 1996. But the most recent FCC reports on cable prices show that
cable rates between July 2000 and July 2001 rose at twice the inflation
rate. Senator John McCain has found the increases alarming enough to request
the General Accounting Office to investigate. "Consumers have a right to
know why cable rates continue to climb faster than the rate of inflation,"
he said. Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital
Democracy, noted that a Consumer Reports study of cable television,
airlines, banking, telephone and electric service found cable television to
be "the most monopolistic of the industries we evaluated" and said rates
have "skyrocketed under deregulation."
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Bill Bergstrom]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62655-2002Jul12.html)

CENSORSHIP

CHINA ADDS MORE WEB REGULATIONS
The Chinese government has announced new regulations to increase monitoring
and control over text and audio-visual material published on the Internet.
The regulations, effective August 1, will require Web portals and other
Internet publishers to follow the new rules or face unspecified punishments.
Beijing's new regulations will limit the number and structure of Web
publishers. Chinese newspapers reported that the rules apply to formal
publishers on the Web of books, newspapers, periodicals, audio-visual
products and edited works of literature, art, natural or social sciences and
technical engineering. The new rules closely follow an announcement by a
group of hackers that they plan on offering free software to bypass Internet
censorship.
[SOURCE: CNET, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-20140813-0.html?tag
=ats)

HACKERS TARGET WEB CENSORSHIP
A group of technology experts have produced two programs that will help
people in highly restrictive countries bypass traditional web censorship
systems. Both programs are the work of a group of hackers calling itself
Hactivismo. The first program, called Camera Shy, was unveiled in New York
this weekend. Camera Shy allows people to hide messages inside images. The
second program, still in development, has potential for far wider effects.
Named Six/Four, in honor of the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the
software works like peer-to-peer systems that let users share material.
Six/Four allows users to build a virtual network that should be invisible to
the firewalls and filtering systems used by many regimes to block access to
parts of the web they consider objectionable. Six/Four is due to be released
in late 2003.
[SOURCE: BBC News]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2129000/2129390.stm)

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