OWNERSHIP
FCC Clears Comcast's AT&T Deal
FCC's Approval of AT&T Comcast Merger Leaves Cable TV and Net Users
Vulnerable to a Media Mega-Monopoly
EDTECH
Teachers Mainely Happy With Tech
SOFTWARE
Microsoft Giveaway Drowns Out India's Open-Source Software Movement
Bill Gates Finds a Seattle in India
WIRELESS
Growing Wi-Fi Services Cast Wide Net
OWNERSHIP
FCC CLEARS COMCAST'S AT&T DEAL
The FCC's approval yesterday of Comcast's proposed acquisition of AT&T
Broadband positions the cable giant to do more than further dominate the
cable industry. The deal would double the size of Comcast relative to its
nearest competitor while also making it the largest provider of high-speed
Internet service in the nation. The commission voted 3-1 down party lines,
with Michael Copps dissenting on the grounds that Comcast's position would
create too much potential for abuse. The Department of Justice also
indicated that it would not oppose the deal, which creates the first US
cable company with national reach.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51219-2002Nov13.html)
FCC'S APPROVAL OF AT&T COMCAST MERGER LEAVES CABLE TV AND NET USERS
VULNERABLE TO A MEDIA MEGA-MONOPOLY
Despite the recent rash of corporate scandals in the telecom sector, the FCC
failed yet again to protect the public interest from the interests of
powerful corporations, according to the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD).
"There should have been safeguards to ensure competition and diversity in
the cable programming market; real choices for Comcast broadband users...
and public policies designed to empower local communities so they can share
some of the benefits of digital cable," said CDD executive director Jeff
Chester. CDD has worked with other public interest groups for the past year
to warn of the potential effects of the deal on cable competition and
democracy as a whole. Chester vowed that though the merger is nearly
complete, "the work to oppose the monopoly authority of Comcast has just
begun."
[SOURCE: The Center for Digital Democracy press release]
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/attComcastMergerApproved.html)
EDTECH
TEACHERS MAINELY HAPPY WITH TECH
A program intended to provide computer access to every seventh grade student
in the US state of Maine is enhancing student learning, while empowering
teachers to become more computer literate. The initiative, launched by Maine
Governor Angus King, is quickly changing local attitudes about the use of
technology in education. Many teachers who were once skeptical about
learning the technology and its overall benefit are now pleased with its
effectiveness. "I wasn't computer literate before this -- I was definitely
skeptical at first," said Steve West, who teaches eighth grade science and
social studies. Max Crain, the technology teacher at in Bass Harbor, added,
"I see more and more teachers doing more things along with their students.
They start to learn from their students."
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Katie Dean]
(http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,56284,00.html)
SOFTWARE
MICROSOFT GIVEAWAY DROWNS OUT INDIA'S OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE MOVEMENT
With Bill Gates' numerous software donations to India's federal and state
governments this week, Indian officials now appear to be dismissing the
potential of open-source software. "We are a poor country. We cannot develop
operating systems and platforms on our own,'' said Vivek Kulkarni,
information secretary of Karnataka state. Open source advocates, however,
counter that Microsoft's investments in India are merely a ploy to crush
India's growing open source movement. "Proprietary software companies hand
out free copies for the same reason that cigarette companies give sample
packs to college kids -- to encourage addiction,'' said Richard Stallman,
the founder of the Free Software Foundation. Freelance journalist Frederick
Noronha, one of the founders of the south Asian digital divide organization
bytesforall.org, added that the Indian government's dismissive attitude
towards open source applications was ludicrous. "There are many [open
source] applications that the government could use,'' said Noronha. "And
many more are coming. Further, it would cost next to nothing to develop new
software on open source."
[SOURCE: SiliconValley.com, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4516363.htm)
See also:
BILL GATES FINDS A SEATTLE IN INDIA
Microsoft co-founder, chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates
visited Bangalore, the technology capital of India, to tour Infosys
Technologies, the second largest software campus in the world. Bangalore is
in some ways reminiscent of Seattle, teaming with budding young developers
and a massive software services industry. Speaking to a group of young
developers, Gates said that India has an "interesting energy around taking
technology and making it relevant to all citizens, much more than I've seen
anywhere else in the world." Of Gates' visit to India, N. R. Narayana
Murthy, the chairman and chief mentor of Infosys Technologies said, "It was
long overdue."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Am Waldman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/14/international/asia/14INDI.html)
WIRELESS
GROWING WI-FI SERVICES CAST WIDE NET
Demand for Wi-Fi -- wireless Internet technology -- seems primed to explode.
With several locations providing wireless "hotspots" to customers and
companies such as Microsoft and T-Mobile offering compatible hardware and
services, consumers have begun to jump on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. Private
sector plans to further stimulate demand include developing Wi-Fi-ready
devices, increasing the number of public Wi-Fi hotspots and creating more
reliable security measures to protect against hacking. The technology is not
without its bugs -- namely the fact that its spectrum is unregulated and
signals often compete on the same frequency -- but proponents claim that
Wi-Fi's potential outweighs the short-term bugs.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Michelle Kessler]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2002-11-13-wi-fi-technolo
gy_x.htm)
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