INTERNET
Appeals Court Strikes Down Online Porn Law
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
University of Washington Hosts FCC Hearing Today
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Cities Deliver Broadband for Less
INTERNET
APPEALS COURT STRIKES DOWN ONLINE PORN LAW
The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the Child Online
Protection Act, or COPA, was unconstitutional. The three-judge panel stated
that the law restricts free speech because it requires commercial website
operators that post content inappropriate to children to limit the content
to adults. The court said that in practice, the law would effectively limit
the ability of adults to view constitutionally protected content, including
many non-pornographic sites. The law, which has never been enforced because
of court injunction, will continue to remain under injunction following this
ruling. "It's clear that the law would make it a crime to communicate a
whole range of information to adults," said ACLU associate legal director
Ann Beeson, applauding the court's ruling.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David Caruso, AP]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54660-2003Mar7.html)
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON HOSTS FCC HEARING TODAY
Representatives from the FCC will participate in a hearing today at the
University of Washington to discuss the proposed deregulation of US media
ownership rules. The Seattle Alliance for Media Education (SAFME) will also
host a variety of open-mic activities and workshops for university students
to discuss the FCC proposals. "The FCC is expected to make a decision about
the ownership rules this spring," said SAFME member Michale Kernan. "No
matter what they decide, we need stronger laws to protect media diversity,
competition, local accountability and public access to communication
resources." This evening, FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Public Enemy
lead singer Chuck D and Congressman Jim McDermott will speak at a related
"media action" event. "It should be quite interesting to see how much
student involvement we get," said Paul Beard, project manager for the
Shidler Center for Law, Commerce and Technology. "A lot of people think
there will be a lot of talk and nothing will happen, but I don't think
that's going to be the case."
[SOURCE: The UW Daily, AUTHOR: Nathan Fowler]
(http://thedaily.washington.edu/news.lasso?-database=DailyWeb.fp5&-layout=Li
st&-response=newspage.lasso&-recordID=33957&-search&-Token.Count=4)
(URL may need to be pasted together if broken)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
CITIES DELIVER BROADBAND FOR LESS
Residents of Tacoma, Washington, today find themselves with more choices for
broadband Internet access than most communities: with four local broadband
providers, including the publicly owned Click Network service, Tacoma
households can purchase broadband for $30 a month. "The prices are lower
than they would be if you live in another adjacent city where there is no
competition," said Diane Lachel, community relations manager for the Click
Network, owned by the local public electrical utility. While other
communities have struggled to roll out affordable broadband, cities such as
Tacoma feel their decision to construct their own network has greatly
increased broadband adoption, as well as competition. According to the
American Public Power Association (APPA), 71 communities now offer cable
modem services, while 114 sell broadband through local independent ISPs.
APPA's broadband services director, Ron Lunt, expects these numbers to grow
quickly in coming years due to the FCC's recent decision to not require
telephone companies to give access to new broadband networks to their
competitors. Because of the ruling, he argues, more cities may decide to
deploy their own broadband networks as local DSL providers go out of
business.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Joanna Glasner]
(http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57927,00.html)
----------------------------------------------------------------------