Communications-related Headlines for 3/20/01
INTERNET
Groups to File Suit Against Law Requiring Web-Filtering Measures
(WSJ)
Congressional E-Mail Overload Is No Surprise (WP)
State Web Sites Offer Little Practical Info - OMB Watch (WP)
HEALTH
For Medical Journals, A New World Online (NYT)
Teenagers Find Health Answers With a Click (NYT)
FCC
Consumer/Disability Telecommunications Advisory Committee (Cdtac)
Meeting (FCC)
INTERNET
GROUPS TO FILE SUIT AGAINST LAW REQUIRING WEB-FILTERING MEASURES
Issue: Internet
Civil liberties groups and libraries plan to file suit today to stop a
recently passed law that would require schools and libraries to install
Internet filters on public computers. Critics say the law pushes a bad
technology on schools, removes community control and fails to provide money
to pay for the software. They also contend that Internet filters fail to
block many inappropriate sites while denying access to others that shouldn't
be blocked. Unless a judge grants an injunction, schools and libraries will
have to install filters next month or lose their federal funds earmarked for
Internet access. "We don't think this is a useful way to make sure that
children have a safe and enriching experience online," said Nancy Kranich,
president of the American Library Association.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB985041560954778642.htm)
See Also:
CRITICS TO FILE SUIT OVER INTERNET FILTERING LAW
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-03-19-filters.htm)
EPIC CHALLENGES WEB FILTERING LAW
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/)
CONGRESSIONAL E-MAIL OVERLOAD IS NO SURPRISE
Issue: Internet
[Commentary] A new study from the Congress Online Project says congressional
offices are being swamped by constituent and lobbyist e-mail. While senators
have a fair amount of people working for them, House of Representatives
elected officials, often put up with few employees, often in cramped
offices. The study says that a lack of resources and inefficient
congressional offices contribute to the e-mail logjam. All Congress members
receive a limited budget to hire people to do all manner of activities, and
few of these are frivolous. It's hardly likely there will be any sort of tax
increase to make sure there are enough gofers around to write e-mail
responses. The study also notes that bulk e-mail or "spam" campaigns from
lobbyists are taxing the stretched resources of Congress members and
staffers. One thing that Congress members could do is answer more e-mail
with e-mail, not mail via the US Postal Service, the way the study said more
than 90 percent of representatives and senators do.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Washtech), AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/rmacmillan/8446-1.html)
STATE WEB SITES OFFER LITTLE PRACTICAL INFO - OMB WATCH
Issue: Internet
A new report from OMB Watch says that state websites have little or no
practical information to share. The report says most state legislature Web
sites do not offer any information on their legislature's committee or floor
schedules, legislative calendars or session reports, and only about half
provide plain-English definitions of legislative terminology. Moreover, 51
percent of the sites plant information-tracking cookies on users' computers,
but 96 percent of those
sites offer no privacy statement showing that they use the technology. The
study also found that 75 percent of legislature Web sites collect or somehow
use personal data, but do not have "clearly defined" privacy policies.
"Democracy itself depends upon citizen and public interest participation.
The prospects of e-government to deliver enhanced democracy through
technology requires no less," the group said in its executive summary of the
report.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Washtech), AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/govtit/8430-1.html)
HEALTH
TEENAGERS FIND HEALTH ANSWERS WITH A CLICK
Issue: Health/Internet
Thousands of adolescents, both boys and girls, are turning to the Internet
for answers to their health questions. There are several Web sites focusing
on teenage health that are written by medical professionals with a view to
providing balanced, factual information. In addition to the for-girls-only
iEmily, the most comprehensive of these sites are TeenGrowth
(www.teengrowth.com), the Web site for the Pediatric Health Alliance; the
teenager section of KidsHealth site (www.kidshealth.org), which is
underwritten by the Nemours Foundation; and ZapHealth (www.zaphealth.com), a
company based in Manhattan, the only site among these that carries
advertising. These sites offer information on topics ranging from fitness,
to body piercing and tattoos and even pregnancy. For teenagers looking for
health information, the Web offers something a visit to the doctor's office
doesn't: privacy.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Bonnie Rothman Morris]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/20/health/20TEEN.html)
(requires registration)
FOR MEDICAL JOURNALS, A NEW WORLD ONLINE
Issue: Health/Internet
In the medical libraries of many developing countries, the magazine racks
have been replaced by computer terminals, as students and teachers have
begun to use the Internet to gain access to the medical journals. The
decision of the B.M.J. -- as the well-regarded British Medical Journal is
known -- to make itself available at no charge on the Web is an important
sign of the way the Internet is changing the multibillion-dollar medical
journal business. The Internet could fundamentally change the face of the
industry, with some midlevel publications facing the threat of extinction if
they fail to adapt. The democratizing effect of the Web has already had at
least one benefit: the flow of valuable information making its way to poorer
countries. This has been a welcome development at places like the University
of Zimbabwe, where Dr. Klara Tisocki, a professor of pharmacology at the
university, said the Web had already made it easier to do her job, allowing
her, for example, to get the latest information on administering drugs
against the AIDS virus. Still, while some major journals make themselves
available selectively to developing countries, and say they are moving to
increase those efforts, Dr. Tisocki said much more needed to be done to make
studies available.
[SOURCE: New York Times (F1), AUTHOR: Eric Nagourney]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/20/health/20JOUR.html)
FCC
CONSUMER/DISABILITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CDTAC) MEETING
Issue: FCC
The FCC's Consumer/Disability Telecommunications Advisory Committee holds
its first meeting on Monday, March 26. The FCC announced the establishment
of the Committee on November 30, 2000. Organized under the provisions of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act at the FCC, it will play a large role in
keeping the Commission apprised of the needs and concerns of consumers. It
will make recommendations to the Commission regarding consumer and
disability issues within the jurisdiction of the Commission and facilitate
the participation of consumers, including people with disabilities and
underserved populations, in proceedings before the Commission
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Consumer_Information/News_Releases/2001/nrci0103
.htm)
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