August 2001

INTERNET
One-Fourth Of '.Info' Addresses May Be Frauds - Study
Half A Billion People Online - Survey (WP)
AOL Ponders Market, and Policies, in China (WP)

BROADBAND
In Capitol, AT&T and Bells Fight to Control Web Access (NYT)

ANTITRUST
Secret Policeman (WP)

INTERNET

HALF A BILLION PEOPLE ONLINE - SURVEY
Issue: Internet
According to figures released by Nielsen/Netratings today, is approaching
half a billion people online worldwide. The survey notes an increase of 30
million people online since the first quarter of 2001, reaching a projected
459 million people globally. The firm claims it now measures 93 percent of
the online universe, after adding Argentina, India, South Africa and Israel
to its latest quarterly survey. The firm already measured 30 nations in
North America, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America.
The U.S. and Canada together accounted for 40% of the world's online
population; down 1% from June 2001. Europe and the Middle East-Africa region
account for 27 percent of the world's Internet population; the Asia-Pacific
totals 22 percent and Latin America remains almost unchanged at 4 percent.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kevin Featherly (Newsbytes)]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/media/12164-1.html)

ONE-FOURTH OF '.INFO' ADDRESSES MAY BE FRAUDS - STUDY
Issue: Internet
A study performed by University of Minnesota Professor Robert Connor
estimates that one-fourth of the 50,000 addresses registered thus far in the
nascent ".info" Internet domain may have been obtained fraudulently. His
study looked at a universe of 11,500 addresses purchased during the .info
"sunrise period," which ended on Monday. "Sunrise squatters are a serious
problem, probably affecting between 15 percent (and) 25 percent of Sunrise
registrations," Connor concluded in his report. "Unless these problems can
be thoroughly corrected, use of sunrise periods in future top level domain
names may be in doubt." In an effort to make it easier for trademark holders
to obtain the .info addresses that match their trademarked names, Afilias
set aside the first month of the new domain's operation as a sunrise period,
during which trademark holders were permitted to register their proprietary
names in .info. Shortly after making the database available to the public it
became obvious that some had misrepresented themselves as trademark holders
in order to snatch up the most attractive .info Internet addresses before
they became widely available.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David McGuire, Newsbytes.com]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/netarch/12179-1.html)

AOL PONDERS MARKET, AND POLICIES, IN CHINA
Issue: Internet
In May, as AOL Time Warner Inc. prepared to unveil a joint venture it hoped
would open the Chinese market for AOL's Internet services, executives
circulated a list of sample media questions that might come up, like: What
would AOL do if the Chinese government demanded names, e-mails or other
records relating to political dissidents? The answer recommended in the
memo was vague. "It is our policy to abide by the laws of the countries in
which we offer services," it said. But human rights groups are trying to
prod AOL - and other U.S. companies - to commit to uphold basic freedoms and
fair labor practices when they do business in the People's Republic of
China, especially because congressional approval of permanent normal trade
relations has all but eliminated the threat of U.S. government sanctions on
Beijing.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Steven Mufson and John Pomfret]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/12180-1.html)

BROADBAND

IN CAPITOL, AT&T AND BELLS FIGHT TO CONTROL WEB ACCESS
Issue: Broadband
Capitol Hill is the site of a fierce battle between the country's regional
Bell telephone companies and the cable giant AT&T over how to best encourage
the deployment of high-speed Internet access into Americans' homes. The
Bells say they need to be unshackled from current regulations that force
them to open all portions of their local networks to competitors. Those
rules, they say, make it uneconomical for them to invest in new high-speed
fiber technologies that would make D.S.L. more reliable and more widely
available. On the other hand, cable companies - lead by AT&T - argue that
the local telephone companies should not be able to wriggle free of
regulations that the Bells themselves agreed to in the Telecommunications
Act of 1996. The two sides have launched full blown lobbying campaigns
around a House bill, sponsored by Billy Tauzin, (R-LA) and, John D. Dingell
(D-MI), that would give the Bells the protections and leeway they are
seeking to justify investments in D.S.L. "I think this is the most intense
lobbying battle I've seen in my career; there are jokes on television about
the commercials," said Representative Chris Cannon, a Utah Republican on the
Judiciary Committee who opposes the legislation.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Lizette Alvarez]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/29/technology/29NET.html)
(requires registration)

ANTITURST

SECRET POLICEMAN
Issue: Antitrust
Dale Hatfield claims that he has been busy in the six months since the
Federal Trade Commission asked him to monitor America Online's $112 billion
merger with Time Warner. Hatfield says that he has investigated aspects
relating to the merger, sometimes at the prompting of AOL Time Warner
critics and sometimes on his own initiative. But he's not particularly
forthcoming with the details of the work: "I'd prefer not to comment," he
says. No comments. No report. Not even a crumb to feed inquiring minds: Has
AOL Time Warner made its staff and files available for Hatfield's
inspection? "I'd care not to comment," he says. "I regard my role a little
like that of a judge. I don't think I should talk about my feelings about
how things are going." The choice of Hatfield, a former chief of the Federal
Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology, was widely
considered a good choice by the companies and their critics. But Hatfield's
work has been mostly below the radar, save confidential reports he makes to
the FTC every 90 days. Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access
Project - a nonprofit, public interest law firm - says he finds the lack of
transparency in Hatfield's progress unsettling but not surprising. In
contrast to the Federal Communications Commission's open regulatory
framework, Schwartzman likens the FTC to a district attorney's office, where
information is privileged. And the FTC isn't talking either: "The
law-enforcement action [related to the merger] is still ongoing," said an
FTC spokesman. "We won't be able to comment on his performance until he's
completed his business. That could be four or five years."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Alex Daniels]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/12173-1.html)

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JOURNALISM
Growing Audience Is Turning to Established News Media Online (NYT)

BROADBAND
The Possible Sale of AT&T Broadband Worries Content Providers,
Consumers (WSJ)
Narrow Audience Stalls Broadband (SJM)
Marketing First for Last Vampire (Wired)

JOURNALISM

GROWING AUDIENCE IS TURNING TO ESTABLISHED NEWS MEDIA ONLINE
Issue: Journalism
More and more people, particularly younger ones, are turning to the Web for
news. According to Jupiter Media Metrix, the audience for news and
information sites grew 14.7 percent over the past year. Those looking for
news online tend to visit the sites of large national new organizations like
the Washington Post, The New York Times and CNN. "National sites will get
more and more of a share of the news audience and the smaller sites will get
less and less," predicted Vin Crosbie, president of the consulting firm
Digital Deliverance. Some local sites have gained audience as quickly as
have their large national counterparts, but other have stagnated. Recent
studies found that the Web has no supanted more traditional news outlets. A
survey of 4,917 people by Belden Associates, a consulting firm in Dallas,
showed 3% of online news readers said the Web site had prompted them to give
up the print newspaper, 6 percent said they had started a subscription to
the print newspaper after reading the online version.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Felicity Barringer]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/27/business/media/27WEB.html)
(requires registration)

BROADBAND

THE POSSIBLE SALE OF AT&T BROADBAND WORRIES CONTENT PROVIDERS, CONSUMERS
Issue: Cable
Today, six giant companies serve 80% of the nation's cable subscribers, and
soon there may be even fewer. When Comcast Corp. made an unsolicited $40
billion bid to acquire AT&T Corp.'s AT&T Broadband unit, it put the largest
U.S. cable operator in play. A sale of AT&T Broadband to one of the other
giants, such as Comcast or AOL Time Warner, would create an unprecedented
cable behemoth with as many as 22 million subscribers, or nearly one-third
of the 69.5 million cable subscribers in the U.S. today. Content providers
fear that larger cable operators could strong-arm them into offering better
terms. They also worry that cable operators have the ability to deny them
access to millions of homes, not only for their TV programming, but also for
their Internet and interactive TV offerings.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Bruce Orwall, Deborah Solomon and
Sally Beatty]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB998857726537275093.htm)
(requires subscription)

NARROW AUDIENCE STALLS BROADBAND
Issue: Broadband
The broadband revolution is slowing down. Major providers of cable modems
and digital subscriber lines -- the two main types of residential broadband
technology -- have raised their prices this year even while dozens of
Internet service providers and upstart phone companies have collapsed in
recent months. The sector, while still showing strong growth, has seen a
general decline when compared to last year. The number of U.S. subscribers
to cable modems increased 16% in the second quarter from the first quarter
-- down from a 28% growth rate a year earlier, according to Kinetic
Strategies, a Phoenix research firm. DSL uptake has fallen from a quarterly
growth rate of 45% to 12%. Many phone and cable companies have raised their
broadband prices and curtailed promotional discounting even as consumers are
cutting back on spending because of the faltering economy, said Michael
Harris, president of Kinetic Strategies. "It is a recipe for deceleration,"
he wrote in a recent report. Add price increases from the providers, a
general loss of price competition due to failing businesses, and the
traditional "last mile" rollout challenges, and you have a revolution
delayed. Finally, there is one other factor adding to the slowing of
broadband uptake: the lack of mass-market applications that require the
speed and capacity of broadband. "What the average person can do with it
hasn't been compelling," acknowledged AT&T President David Dorman last week.

[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Joshua L. Kwan]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/depth/broad082701.htm)

MARKETING FIRST FOR LAST VAMPIRE
Issue: Broadband
Manga Entertainment president Marvin Gleicher is breaking the Hollywood
rules of film marketing: sell theater tickets first, then sell videos and
DVDs while negotiating TV and pay-per-view rights. Gleicher and Manga
Entertainment will stream their newest film, "Blood: The Last Vampire",
(www.bloodthemovie.com) on the Web simultaneous to its release in Los
Angeles and New York - AND at the same time begin selling the DVDs online
and at Suncoast Video. "If people thought it was great online, hopefully
they'll go and tell their friends who didn't see it," said Manga president
Marvin Gleicher. "We've always been underdogs," said Gleicher. "We've always
had to find niche ways to market films to compete with the likes of Disney
and Warners." Success is relative for Gleicher. An earlier film, "Ghost in
the Shell," made a million dollars in its theatrical run. But, it helped
inspire the Matrix. "A million dollars theatrically, to me that's big
money," Gleicher said. "I don't think another company would make money."
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Michael Stroud]
(http://wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,46312,00.html)

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DIGITAL DIVIDE
High-Tech Center to Open in Ghana (NYT)
Malaysia's Internet Road Show (NYT)

EDTECH
Take-Home Test: Adding PC's to Book Bags(NYT)

CONVERGENCE
Sony's New AirBoard Device Combines TV Set, Internet (WSJ)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

HIGH-TECH CENTER TO OPEN IN GHANA
Issue: Digital Divide
BusyInternet is setting up a state-of-the-art technology center in a place
where consistent telephone service, electricity and even running water can
be hard to find. With the help of Ghanaian business partners, BusyInternet
is preparing to open a high-tech development center in Accra, Ghana, that
offers training rooms, office space, meeting rooms, workstations for
low-cost public Internet access, a photocopying shop and a cafe. The center
will be housed in a 14,000-square-foot former factory building. Equipped
with Pentium III computers, flat-screen monitors and Internet access via
satellite, the BusyInternet building is expected to open next month. The
company plans to open similar centers in other African countries like
Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Uganda next. "There are 240,000 telephone lines in
Ghana for 19 million people," said Mark Davies, the founder and chief
executive of BusyInternet. "It takes about seven dials to make some phone
calls go through, just across town." He said that BusyInternet would be
independent of the local utilities. "We've put in our own link to the
national electric grid, our own generator, our own satellite dish for
bandwidth," he explained. Those plans place BusyInternet in the middle of a
debate on the role of technology investment in developing countries. Bill
Gates argued that such countries need basic amenities like food and medicine
more than they need personal computers. Others, like Freeman Dyson, in his
1999 book "The Sun, the Genome and the Internet," point out that the
technology can be used to educate people in developing countries and help
close the economic gap between them and industrialized countries.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: J. D. Biersdorfer]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/23/technology/circuits/23AFRI.html)

MALAYSIA'S INTERNET ROAD SHOW
Issue: Digital Divide
A bus called the Mobile Internet Unit, is an attempt by Malaysia to help
bridge its digital divide by delivering technology to its poorest, most
remote schools. The United Nations Development Program, conceived the
program, which uses a 40-foot bus loaded with 20 personal computers to teach
basic computer and Internet skills to rural children and teachers. The bus,
however, can only establish Internet access by stringing a telephone cord to
a telephone jack nearby. If one is not available, pupils on the bus surf Web
sites stored on the bus's computer server. At the end of each visit, the
Mobile Internet Unit's organizers leave behind a PC, a modem and an Internet
account so that pupils can practice and teachers can find ways to work
computers into the curriculum.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Wayne Arnold]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/23/technology/circuits/23MALA.html)
(requires registration)

EDTECH

TAKE-HOME TEST: ADDING PC'S TO BOOK BAGS
Issue: EdTech
Amid the decisions of some school districts to provide all of their grade
school students with laptops, some educators worry whether it is the right
choice. The debate is still open about whether laptop programs are really
the panacea that some claim. Budget cuts, maintenance, technical support and
training merge with concerns about child safety: Will the computers be
magnets for muggers? Who is going to make sure that students use them for
schoolwork as opposed to instant messaging and video games? "Before they
spend money on something like that, they ought to fix the leaky roofs," said
Kenneth Reinshuttle, executive director of the Fairfax Education
Association, a teacher's union in Virginia. But given wireless networks,
$1000 laptops, and organizations that either provide or assist in the
hardware, software and wireless networking, the movement is becoming harder
and harder to resist. Henrico County, Va., purchased 23,000 Apple iBooks
which are being distributed this month to every high school student; in
Maine, Gov. Angus King is using a $30 million state budget surplus to supply
portable computers for every seventh and eighth grader in the state; and New
York is expanding its laptop program.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Lisa Guernsey]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/23/technology/circuits/23LAPP.html)

CONVERGENCE

SONY'S NEW AIRBOARD DEVICE COMBINES TV SET, INTERNET
Issue: Convergence
The new Sony AirBoard, which is reported to look like a big Etch-A-Sketch,
is a combination wireless television and Web appliance. For now, the
AirBoard is only available in Japan, but Sony plans to begin selling the
device in the U.S .for about $1,200 by the end of the year. The wireless
technology used by Sony, called Wi-Fi , is considered an important step in
enabling dialogue between a variety of entertainment appliances: PC, stereo
and TV set. The technology, of course, is not without its problems.
Interference and security are the main concerns.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jared Sandberg]
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB998517130401391459.htm
(requires subscription)

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DIGITAL DIVIDE
A More Accessible Web (WP)
Houston Tackles 'Digital Divide' With Free E-mail (USA)

BROADBAND
At Home Could Fail, Firm Says in Filing (WP)

PRIVACY
Tech Elite Divided on Web Privacy Laws (Wired)

EDTECH
Poll: USA Split on Use of Net in Schools (USA)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

A MORE ACCESSIBLE WEB
Issue: Digital Divide
Effective June 25, federal officials have begun revamping keyboards,
photocopiers, teletype devices and other office machines for agency
employees with special needs. The new federal requirement that government
agencies make their Web sites accessible to the disabled is helping
companies such as Arlington-based Crunchy Technologies to find a new role in
the economic slowdown. Crunchy has transformed itself from a service company
to a product company. At least 25 companies have moved in to sell software,
training and other services to federal contractors and government agencies,
according to an analysis by research firm Giga Information Group Inc.
Clients include the Transportation Department, the Federal Communications
Commission and the U.S. Navy. The nation's biggest technology firms,
including Microsoft, HP and EDS also are responding to the federal directive
by updating their product lines. "Section 508 has done a wonderful job of
crystallizing industry awareness about disability," said Denice Gant,
director of the Accessibility Solutions program at Hewlett-Packard.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Carrie Johnson]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37741-2001Aug20.html)

HOUSTON TACKLES 'DIGITAL DIVIDE' WITH FREE E-MAIL
Issue: Digital Divide
On Monday, the city of Houston launched a program to offer free e-mail and
use of personal computer software to its 3 million area residents. People
who verify their residence in the city will get an account number to access
a software package developed by Houston-based Internet Access Technologies
(IAT), including word processing and e-mail. Residents also have free use of
about 1,000 PCs already in libraries and fire and police stations. Houston
residents who own PCs also can access the software if they have an Internet
service provider. The program is intended to encourage Internet use among
minorities, the poor and people in rural areas.
[SOURCE: USAToday (8/20), AUTHOR: Jon Swartz]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-08-20-free-e-mail.htm)

BROADBAND

AT HOME COULD FAIL, FIRM SAYS IN FILING
Issue: Broadband
In documents filed with the SEC yesterday, At Home Corp., the cable
industry's leading provider of high-speed Internet access, revealed it is
running out of money and could go out of business by the end of the year.
The company's service, "Excite At Home", is crucial to the cable industry's
foothold on residential high-speed cable Internet subscribers. The company
connects 3.4 million customers to the Internet. The company's financial
difficulties reflect the changing business environment brought about by the
Federal Trade Commission when it required that Time Warner Cable open its
high-speed network to competing Internet service providers as a condition of
Time Warner Inc.'s merger with America Online Inc. AT&T owns 23 percent of
Excite At Home shares and controls 74 percent of its voting stock.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/telecom/11977-1.html)

EDTECH

POLL: USA SPLIT ON USE OF NET IN SCHOOLS
Issue: EdTech
While half of American adults believe that Internet skills are very
important for students, the other half think they are only somewhat
important or not important at all, according to a recent Associated Press
poll. Some adults expressed concern that students were becoming too reliant
on the Internet. Residents of metropolitan areas were far more likely than
those in rural areas to say Internet skills were very important for children
in school. Teens themselves had fewer reservations about the use of
information technology in education. More than two-thirds of teens said they
use the Internet as their major resource when doing a big project for
school, said Lee Gainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life
Project.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-08-20-internet-schools-poll.ht
m)

PRIVACY

TECH ELITE DIVIDED ON WEB PRIVACY LAWS
ISSUE: Privacy
Carly Fiorina, the head of printer and computer giant Hewlett-Packard, said
her industry had not lived up to its leadership responsibilities in setting
privacy standards. "I think we in the technology industry have fallen in
love with technology. And in the end it is not about the technology," she
said. "Privacy and security, or trust, are vital to consumers, and that is
what we should focus on. There is a role for legislation," Fiorina told a
conference organized by the Progress & Freedom Foundation think tank late on
Sunday in this Colorado mountain resort. HP's manager for technology policy,
Scott Cooper, said the government should pass a law to require Web sites to
clearly and conspicuously post what information they collect and how they
use it.
FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle said the FTC was unlikely to propose such
laws under its new chairman, Timothy Muris.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Peter Henderson, Reuters]
(http://www.wired.com/news/reuters/story?story_id=20010820RTTECH-TECH-PRIVAC
Y-DC.htmlt)

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