MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC to Offer Media Ownership Initiative
Media Companies Family Tree Chart Details Who Owns What
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Commentary: The Digital Divide That Wasn't
Lab at Chicago Puerto Rican Center Will Provide Internet Access
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
Digital Opportunity Channel Launches Special Coverage of WSIS
CHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY
Bionic Youth: Too Much Information?
PRIVACY
Privacy Advocates Call for RFID Regulation
INTERNET
Geeks Grapple With Virus Invasion
Free Online Journal Gives Sneak Preview
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC TO OFFER MEDIA OWNERSHIP INITIATIVE
This morning, FCC Chairman Michael Powell announced plans to address public
concern over localism in the US media landscape. The commission will form a
localism task force that will make policy recommendations within the next
year on promoting localism. The task force is one in a series of media
ownership initiatives revealed by Powell at this morning's press conference;
he also intends to speed the licensing process for low-powered radio
stations (often owned by community groups, schools and churches) and direct
FCC staff to solicit comments on existing rules that promote localism.
Powell called the new initiative "an honest attempt to address the concerns
raised by the public about localism during the media ownership proceeding.
It is neither hollow nor political." He also noted his fellow commissioners'
commitment to preserving localism throughout the media ownership process.
SOURCE: The Guardian; AUTHOR: David Ho, Associate Press
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3049595,00.html
See Chairman Powell's remarks via Real video:
http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/mt082003.ram
MEDIA COMPANIES FAMILY TREE CHART DETAILS WHO OWNS WHAT
The top 100 US media companies generated over USD $195 billion in 2002, with
cable companies capturing about a third of that revenue, according to
Advertising Age's 24th annual report on the country's media giants. The list
contains only media distribution firms supported by advertising, and AOL
Time Warner set the pace with $26.9 billion in revenue, a 9 percent
increase. The cable industry as a whole contributed 10 percent to the
overall increase in media revenues among the top 100, while Spanish language
outlets were identified as the largest growth sector, surging 26.7 percent
in the first five months of 2003. The report, which includes a multi-page
color chart outlining the 100 companies and their key holding in different
sectors, is available in PDF format via the link below.
SOURCE: Advertising Age; AUTHOR: Scott MacDonald
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=38514
Access the report at:
http://www.adage.com/images/random/100mediacos03.pdf
DIGITAL DIVIDE
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE THAT WASN'T
[Commentary] Though she presents both sides of the digital divide debate,
Business Week's Amey Stone takes the position that the technology gap is
narrowing. Increasing competition in broadband is making high-speed Internet
more affordable, she explains; there is also growing minority representation
on the Web, as new sites and Web businesses are launched to attract black
and Hispanic audiences. According to a recent report from the Pew Internet &
American Life Project, 58 percent of American adults had Internet access in
the spring of 2002 compared to 49 percent in April 2000. However, the growth
in the number of Internet users has stalled, hovering between 57 percent and
61 percent since late 2001. One interpretation is that the results signal a
trend of voluntary Net avoidance. But from another perspective, she says, a
divide still exists and will require time, training and education to
eliminate. "You can't wish away" discrepancies in opportunity, says Norris
Dickard of the Benton Foundation, who believes that community technology
centers, where the public can both connect to the Internet and learn to use
it, need ongoing government support.
SOURCE: Business Week; AUTHOR: Amey Stone
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2003/tc20030819_4285_t...
.htm
LAB AT CHICAGO PUERTO RICAN CENTER WILL PROVIDE INTERNET ACCESS
The Puerto Rican Cultural Center of Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood has
long been associated with political activism, especially relating to Puerto
Rican independence. Now, the center is going online for the first time,
setting up a community technology center and digitizing its vast collection
of Puerto Rican cultural resources. The digitizing project, coordinated by a
team of volunteers, will take up to a year to complete. "People who don't
have access are left behind at a faster and deeper rate than ever," said
Alejandro Luis Molina, technology director for the cultural center. "The big
picture is about the construction of knowledge." The center also hosts
daycare facilities and a private alternative high school.
SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times; AUTHOR: Sandra Guy
http://www.suntimes.com/output/zinescene/cst-fin-ecol20.html
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY CHANNEL LAUNCHES SPECIAL COVERAGE OF WSIS
The Digital Opportunity Channel (www.digitalopportunity.org) has created a
"special coverage" section to its website dedicated to the upcoming World
Summit on the Information Society. The resource will feature news and
analysis about the summit from a civil society perspective -- especially
NGOs based in the developing world. It also features an interactive
discussion about the summit entitled "Information Society: Voices from the
South," moderated by Partha Pratim Sarker of BytesForAll.org. The channel,
edited by OneWorld South Asia in New Delhi and the Benton Foundation's
Digital Divide Network, focuses on the role of information and
communications technologies (ICT) in global development and strategies for
bridging the digital divide internationally.
CHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY
BIONIC YOUTH: TOO MUCH INFORMATION?
For children and teens all over the globe, technology is the primary medium
through which they interact socially and recreationally. Until recently,
however, no research existed to indicate whether or not the exposure (or
perhaps overexposure) to technology has been a benefit or detriment to young
minds. In the last five years researchers have found evidence suggesting
that today's children are developing an entirely different set of skills
than their parents due to the brain's ability to adapt. Video games have had
a particularly notable effect on visual perception, though some scientists
worry that the increase in visual stimuli results in stunted emotional
development and other behavioral issues. Correlations have also been found
between video gaming and increased IQ scores. Messaging technology research
is still in its infancy, as scientists try to catalogue the various
behaviors associated with the technology. What seems evident at this point
is that the perceived relationship between avid technology use and
loneliness may be overstated. Messaging also appears to improve social
interaction, build confidence and increase the ability to multitask.
SOURCE: Newsweek; AUTHOR: Fred Guterl
http://www.msnbc.com/news/953368.asp
PRIVACY
PRIVACY ADVOCATES CALL FOR RFID REGULATION
California State Senator Debra Bowen presided over a hearing on radio
frequency identification (RFID), a controversial technology that can be used
to monitor store merchandise wirelessly. Proponents call it the "next
generation barcode," but privacy activists worry that the unchecked use of
RFID could allow retailers to gather unprecedented amounts of information
about activity in their stores and link it to customer information
databases. Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, urged
Bowen to lead a study of RFID and its "profound privacy and civil liberties
implications." She suggested that RFID be subjected to a set of fair-use
guidelines and that consumers should have the right to permanently disable
the chips upon purchasing such goods. Katherine Albrecht, head of Consumers
Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, went further and
suggested a moratorium on the commercial use of RFID technology until legal
guidelines are set. Bowen, an outspoken advocate of consumer privacy, said
that the introduction of legislation to control the use of RFID is
"possible," but that she's not at the bill stage yet. Even if she were to
draft a bill, it would not be her goal to outlaw RFID, she said.
SOURCE: CNET News; AUTHOR: Alorie Gilbert
http://news.com.com/2100-1020-5065388.html
INTERNET
GEEKS GRAPPLE WITH VIRUS INVASION
A recent flood of computer viruses and worms has prompted a debate over how
Internet security is best handled. Microsoft in particular seems to believe
that users and system administrators are ultimately responsible for
protecting their own computers. The company took out a full-page ad in
several major newspapers on Tuesday recommending that people use a firewall,
install anti-virus software and use Microsoft Windows Update, which alerts
users when patches are released. On the other hand, experts said that the
most effective fix would be for Microsoft to start producing significantly
more-secure applications and operating systems. "User education is helpful
in damage control, but it doesn't relieve software developers from their
obligation to create secure applications in the first place," said security
researcher Robert Ferrell. Microsoft has been criticized for writing "Swiss
cheese" code: software containing security holes that leave operating
systems and applications open to far too many attacks. "Microsoft's sloppy
code and arrogance is coming home to roost," said network consultant Mike
Sweeney. Despite all the challenges, Ferrell believes that users should be
working toward creating a secure Internet. "We have the technology and the
motivation. All we need now is some leadership and a little momentum," he
said.
SOURCE: Wired News; AUTHOR: Michelle Delio
http://news.com.com/2100-1020-5065388.html
FREE ONLINE JOURNAL GIVES SNEAK PREVIEW
The Public Library of Science (PloS) has released a sneak preview of its
first non-profit, no-cost scientific journal, PloS Biology. The monthly,
peer-reviewed journal hopes to compete with commercial scientific journals
that often charge subscribers thousands of dollars. "I'm delighted with the
quality of the papers we're publishing," said PLoS executive director Vivian
Siegel, who recently left her position as editor of the regarded journal
Cell to manage the new journal. "I think Nature and Science will look at
some of these papers and wish they had them." Funded by a five-year,
multi-million dollar grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, PLoS
currently has the resources to develop their free journal services; they
also plan to charge researchers $1500 for each article they write for the
journal. But competitors remain skeptical about their longterm viability,
saying that PLoS is merely shifting the cost of peer-reviewed journals from
library budgets to research budgets.
SOURCE: New Scientist; AUTHOR: Kurt Kleiner
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994071
PloS homepage:
http://www.plos.org
Sneak preview of PloS Biology:
http://biology.plosjournals.org/
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