May 2002

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Bush Criticized On Digital Divide

INTERNET
Consumer Broadband Prices Keep Rising

SOFTWARE
Linux Distributors Gang Up
OCLC, Olive Software Ally to Digitize Library Newspaper Archives

DIGITAL DIVIDE

BUSH CRITICIZED ON DIGITAL DIVIDE
A report sponsored by several consumer groups stated that nearly two-thirds
of Americans now have access to the Internet, but that less affluent
households risk missing out on the digital economy as they are less likely
to have online access. According to the report, 45 percent of Americans
still do not have Internet access and a second-tier divide is emerging as
richer Americans access high-speed Internet. The consumer groups argue that
the administration is misinterpreting a recent study (released by the
Commerce Department in February)by looking at Internet access in work and
schools, rather than in homes. "Rather than misdefine the problem of the
digital divide, the Bush administration would like to misinterpret it out of
existence," said Chris Murray of the Consumers Union.
[SOURCE: CNET; AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1023-928431.html?tag=cd_mh)
See also:
REPORT: "DIGITAL DIVIDE" STILL AN ISSUE
[SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: D. Ian Hopper, AP Technolgy Writer]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31922-2002May30.html)

INTERNET

CONSUMER BROADBAND PRICES KEEP RISING
California-based market research firm ARS reports that the average monthly
price for broadband Internet service increased 4 percent during the first
quarter of 2002. ARS said that 91 percent of broadband companies in business
since 2001 have raised their rates. The firm added that consolidation of
service providers is leading to fewer choices and higher prices for
consumers. ARS analyst Mark Kersey said in a statement, "We expect that this
trend of increasing prices will hamper the widespread adoption of broadband
services and that the vast majority of users will continue to access the
Internet via dial-up connections for the foreseeable future." Kersey added
that prices will probably not rise much more this year since high-speed
Internet service providers have already pushed prices to the limit.
[SOURCE: CNET; AUTHOR: Sam Ames]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1033-928200.html?tag=cd_mh)

SOFTWARE

LINUX DISTRIBUTORS GANG UP
Ending several days of speculation, Linux distributors Caldera, SuSE,
Turbolinux and Conectiva confirmed on Thursday that they will band together
under the UnitedLinux banner. UnitedLinux was formed to create a
standardized distribution of the Linux operating system aimed at wooing more
businesses to the open-source operating system. Under terms of the
agreement, the four companies will collaborate on the development of one
common Linux operating environment, which will be called UnitedLinux
software. Nearly every major software and hardware vendor has expressed
support for UnitedLinux, including systems and software vendors AMD, Borland
Software Corporation, Computer Associates, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
Intel, NEC, Progress Software and SAP.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Michelle Delio]
(http://www.wired.com/news/linux/0,1411,52864,00.html)

OCLC, OLIVE SOFTWARE ALLY TO DIGITIZE LIBRARY NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES
Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) and Preservation Resources have
singed an agreement with Olive Software to digitize libraries' archives of
newspaper content and put that content online. Libraries can use Olive
Software to build an electronic archive, including index, of newspaper
content.Once the collections have been digitized, libraries can host them on
their own servers or on OCLC's server. Libraries maintain control of the
content and its distribution, and OCLC will offer a premium service where
users can pay for access to the full text of some content. "Newspapers are
valuable research sources for scholars," said said Meg Bellinger, vice
president of OCLC Digital and Preservation Resources. "The Olive/OCLC
alliance represents a major advance in making these materials more
accessible and more user-friendly. Users will be able to pore over
libraries' collections at their convenience. Digitized fragile materials
will no longer require white-glove treatment. These materials are literally
being unchained from special collections rooms and microfilm readers and
will be available to users when and where they need them."
[SOURCE: InfoDay, AUTHOR: Barbara Quint]
(http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb020528-1.htm)

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PRIVACY
Government, Internet Industry In Anti-Terror Eavesdropping
Partnership
Microsoft Faces European Commission Inquiry On Privacy Concerns

TELECOMMUNICATIONS
U.S. Court Undercuts Rivals To Baby Bells
New York Green Lights $400Mil Wireless Network

INTERNET
They're Not Treating Webcasters Like Royalty
Lieberman To Visit Bay Area In Push For Broadband Strategy

PRIVACY

GOVERNMENT, INTERNET INDUSTRY IN ANTI-TERROR EAVESDROPPING PARTNERSHIP
Internet and telecommunications companies have been fielding a surge of
requests -- nearly five times pre-Sept. 11 levels -- from law enforcement
officials seeking subscriber information. Privacy advocates are concerned
that the recent passage of the Patriotic Act will harm the civil liberties
of innocent citizens. Al Gidari, a privacy lawyer said, "The trend up to
Sept. 11 was for more privacy protection, greater procedural safeguards,
more sunshine on the process and more notice. I now see all those things
tied up in a box with a little bow on them and forgotten about in the
corner." While authorities stress that the surveillance activities are
extremely targeted, Alan Davidson, associate director of the Center for
Democracy and Technology said, "The fear is that we create a system where
tremendous amounts of information about people are collected and ultimately
used for purposes other than what was originally intended." Prosecutors are
quick to point out that nothing in the Patriotic Act allows surveillance
activities without approval by a judge and proving probable cause.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3343587.htm)

MICROSOFT FACES EUROPEAN COMMISSION INQUIRY ON PRIVACY CONCERNS
The European Commission voiced concerns about Microsoft's .NET Passport
system and possible privacy violations. The Passport system stores Internet
users' personal information on Microsoft servers so they do not have to
re-enter the information when moving among programs. Along with the Passport
investigation, the European Commission is also investigating whether
bundling the Microsoft Media Player with Windows is giving Microsoft an
unfair advantage. Erik Meijer, a Dutch member of the European Parliament has
accused Microsoft of passing user information to unknown parties and voiced
fears that if a user fails to log off incorrectly they can accidentally
reveal personal information to other users. In the United States, the
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has also expressed concern over
the Passport system saying that Windows XP gives users the impression that
they must open a Passport account to use Windows and the Internet. EPIC has
asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Microsoft for privacy
violations and unfair trade practices.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Bloomberg News]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/28/technology/28SOFT.html)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

U.S. COURT UNDERCUTS RIVALS TO BABY BELLS
A federal appeals court rejected rules forcing major telephone companies to
open their local lines to competitors. In Friday's ruling, Judges Harry T.
Edwards, A. Raymond Randolph and Stephen F. Williams found that the FCC had
shown a "naked disregard of the competitive context" in the area of
high-speed Internet service. They said that the FCC rules failed to
acknowledge that cable companies control 54 percent of the broadband
market-almost double the penetration of the telephone industry's comparable
DSL service. The regional Bell companies, most likely to be affected by
network leasing, contend that the rules force them to provide access at
unreasonably low rates and that they apply regardless of the state of
competition in a given region. Competing phone companies maintain, on the
other hand, that lack of federal rules would preclude local competition for
broadband services. The FCC rules will remain in place until the FCC
rewrites them to comply with the justices' mandate to tailor network leasing
rules for individual markets.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7208-2002May24.html)

NEW YORK GREEN LIGHTS $400MIL WIRELESS NETWORK
The state of New York is planning a statewide wireless network with an
estimated worth of $400 million. The wireless network project is one of two
large information technology projects to make it through the state
appropriations process this year, according to James Dillon, New York's
chief information officer. The state is also planning to integrate the
state's human services network which will affect four agencies: the Office
of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the Office of Children and Family
Services and the departments of Health and Labor.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: William Welsh]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176763.html)

INTERNET

THEY'RE NOT TREATING WEBCASTERS LIKE ROYALTY
Librarian of Congress James Billington rejected without comment a proposal
for royalty payments by Web broadcasters. But Billington's stay of execution
may only be temporary. Webcasters are still in the peculiar situation of
having to pay fees that no FM radio station pays. Because there were no
records when terrestrial radio started, copyright laws did not include
payment to performers-only songwriters had to paid for their creative
efforts. In 1995 and 1998, however, Congress changed this by passing the
Digital Performance Rights in Sound Recordings Act and the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act. Together, these laws "corrected" the situation
long bemoaned by the recording industry by requiring digital audio
transmission services to compensate performers and their record labels. But
there is a massive exemption in this law: FM and AM stations who also
broadcast over the Internet are not required to pay royalties to artists and
recording labels. Aside from setting a rate high enough to bankrupt most
Webcasters, the royalty rates rejected by Billington essentially amounted to
a special tax on Web radio.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Rob Pegoraro]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8271-2002May25.html)

LIEBERMAN TO VISIT BAY AREA IN PUSH FOR BROADBAND STRATEGY
Sen. Joe Leiberman, D-CT will visit the Bay Area this week to release a
broadband white paper and throw his support behind new legislation to
support broadband deployment. A draft copy of the report stated that faster
transmission of graphics, sound and video will spur economic growth by
transforming the way citizens learn, interact with the government and shop.
The Senator plans to introduce legislation to address various issues in
broadband including tax credits, regulation and research and development.
While 70 percent of consumers have access to broadband, only 11 percent
subscribe to the service. Many consumers cite high prices and a lack of
compelling content as reasons not to subscribe. There has been a great deal
of debate in Washington around increasing broadband deployment and several
bills are already pending that include providing tax incentives to build
broadband networks in rural areas and boosting funding for research and
development.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Heather Fleming Phillips]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/3345247.htm)

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INTERNET
Americans Need To Be More Skeptical About Health Info Online, Study
Says
Broadband Competition 'A Myth'
FirstGov Site Gets High Marks
Visions Of a Wild and Wireless Future

PRIVACY/SECURITY
Gov. Ventura Signs Internet Privacy Bill
Consortium Created To Improve Software Reliability

INTERNET

AMERICANS NEED TO BE MORE SKEPTICAL ABOUT HEALTH INFO ONLINE, STUDY SAYS
In a study released by the Pew Internet & American Life project, it was
found that just a quarter of Americans who research health information
online check the source and timeliness of the information. Half of the group
studied rarely or never followed recommended procedures to check information
quality. Seventy-three million Americans have gone online for health
information. Among those surveyed,17% used online health information to
diagnose or treat a medical condition without a doctor. Lee Rainie, director
of the Pew project did point out that, "A lot of people are going back to
their doctors when they have questions or checking with other authoritative
sources. There's no evidence people are doing completely whacky
self-diagnoses." The study was conducted primarily through telephone
interviews with 500 individuals who commonly seek health information online.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal; AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1022097055982379720,00.html?mod=technolo
gy_main_whats_news)

BROADBAND COMPETITION 'A MYTH'
According to analyst firm IDC, European subscriptions to high-speed Internet
services are increasing due to aggressive marketing campaigns by incumbent
operators rather than true competition. "Incumbent operators have a majority
share of broadband connections in most countries," said IDC research manager
Jill Finger. IDC attributes the lack of a competitive broadband environment
on the failure to unbundled local-loops. Says Finger, "The local-loop
unbundling process is simply too complex and politically preoblematic to
create a competitive broadband access market within a reasonable timeframe."
[SOURCE: BBC News]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2002000/2002160.stm)

FIRSTGOV SITE GETS HIGH MARKS
A recent redesign of the government Web site FirstGov has resulted in
increased customer satisfaction. Michael Messinger, FirstGov's marketing
and communications director said since the redesign, "We know that traffic
has been going up on a monthly basis." The new site organizes information
for citizens, businesses, and other levels of government into three "user
channels". It was designed to ensure that users would find the information
sought within three clicks. Most importantly, there has been a dramatic
increase in the number of first-time visitors who say they will visit the
site again. Before the redesign those numbers were extremely low.
[SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: William Matthews]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/fcw1.htm)

VISIONS OF A WILD AND WIRELESS FUTURE
What does one of the founders of the Internet think about how it is being
uses and where it is going? Robert Kahn, co-inventor of the TCP/IP protocols
(the foundation language of the Internet) says "It's the tip of the iceberg
now. Kahn believes in the future of the Internet, despite the Internet
bubble burst and problems with new technologies. The creative potential for
the Internet, he feels, is limitless in part because "The Internet is an
architectural philosophy, rather than a technology." One of the biggest
failures of the Internet, says Kahn, is the untapped potential for
education. "We've made," he says, "almost no progress with regard to the
Internet and education."
[SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Shannon Henry]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60488-2002May22.html)

PRIVACY/SECURITY

GOV. VENTURA SIGNS INTERNET PRIVACY BILL
Governor Jesse Ventura on Wednesday signed legislation that makes Minnesota
the first state to enable Internet users to decide how ISPs handle personal
data. The bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by state lawmakers,
requires Internet service providers to notify subscribers that they can
control whether their data is disclosed and how it is to be used. Internet
giants like America Online and Yahoo remain strongly against the legislation
as it imposes new liabilities on companies that are victims of online fraud
or hacking.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes; AUTHOR: Dick Kelsey]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176737.html)

CONSORTIUM CREATED TO IMPROVE SOFTWARE RELIABILITY
Eighteen organizations are joining Carnegie Mellon University to improve
software reliability and security. The Sustainable Computing Consortium
(SCC) includes Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, American International
Group (AIG) and NASA. The National Research Council recently released
statistics that last year U.S. companies spent $12.3 billion to repair
systems affected by computer viruses and $175 billion on damages caused by
software defects. William Guttman, director of the SCC said, "Software
systems have become the critical infrastructure of our nation and economy.
Unreliable software has profound consequences."
[SOURCE:USA Today; AUTHOR: Dan Verton]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cw1.htm)

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COPYRIGHT
Static Over Net Radio
Trial Set for Digital Millennium Copyright Act Case

INTERNET
Ancient Writing System Gets Internet Update
Sweden's Post Office Pushes Online Mail
Big-City Broadband Growing At High Speed

TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Telecoms Can Challenge States In Federal Court, Justices Rule

COPYRIGHT

STATIC OVER NET RADIO
After nearly three years of debate, the director of the Library of Congress
is scheduled to decide today whether to accept or reject proposed royalty
fees for music streamed over the Internet. Everyone agrees that record
artists deserve compensation, but dispute what formula should be used to
determine royalties. On one side, Webcasters maintain that the current
proposal from the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) sets rates too
high for most Webcasters to remain in business. On the flip side, industry
representatives like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
and some artists feel that the rates are fair. Don Henley of the popular
recording group, Eagles, said in a statement that "If a Webcaster can
survive only by paying the recording artists a nominal or relatively
nonexistent royalty, then perhaps the Webcasters' business model is not
viable. A detail not often noted is that, under current law, traditional
radio broadcasters and Webcasters have been obligated to pay royalty fees
based on revenues to organizations representing composers, not to artists
and record companies. Thus, the new royalties would add an additional
financial burden for Webcasters that terrestrial broadcasters would be
exempted from.
[SOURCE: San Francisco Gate; AUTHOR: Benny Evengelista, Edward Epstein]
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/05/1
9/BU210365.DTL)

TRIAL SET FOR DIGITAL MILLENIUM COPYRIGHT ACT CASE
A judge set an August 26 date for the first criminal trial under the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. of Moscow has been
accused of creating technology that allows users to avoid copyright
protections on Adobe Acrobat files. While the program is legal in Russia, it
is banned under the DMCA. If convicted ElcomSoft could be fined $500,000.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/3303774.htm)

INTERNET

ANCIENT WRITING SYSTEM GETS INTERNET UPDATE
A number of universities have begun to transfer hundreds of examples of the
5,200-year-old cuneiform writing system to the World Wide Web. Cuneiform
was used from 3200 B.C. to A.D. 75 to record everything from tax receipts to
the legends, science and religion of the ancient world. Hundreds of
thousands of tablets written in cuneiform are in museums around the world.
Project leads believe that bringing these tablets online in dictionary,
photographic, and 3D forms will be of tremendous value to researchers. The
Birmingham University Digital Forensic Project is creating a Web-based
cuneiform catalog covering signs made from 3000 B.C. to 323 B.C. In the
Digital Hammurabi Project at Johns Hopkins University they are collecting
three-dimensional images of tablets from 2000 B.C. onward. Johns Hopkins
Assyriologist Jerrold Cooper said, "The beauty of this is that with fast and
cheap 3-D scanning, we can practically put the tablet in your hands on your
desktop." Other online projects are based at UCLA and the University of
Pennsylvania.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Dan Vergano]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/2002/05/21/cuneiform.htm)

SWEDEN'S POST OFFICE PUSHES ONLINE MAIL
Posten, Sweden's national post office, is trying to persuade Swedes to sign
up for a new Internet mail-delivery service. "Our vision," says Posten
spokeswoman, Margareta Chowra, "is that the hall carpet or mailbox will
never be cluttered with anything but the occasional love letter or
invitation to a party." Posten, like many other national postal services
around the world, has seen its revenues drop due to competition from private
delivery services and e-mail. Through its new Internet service, Posten hopes
to reinvent itself and recapture customers. The new service, dubbed
ePostbox, will cost companies about 25 percent less than standard mail
delivery. Other countries with electronic post office services, such as
Canada, the U.S. and Finland, have not seen customers rush to use the
service.
[SOURCE: International Herald Tribune; AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
(http://www.iht.com/articles/58378.html)

BIG-CITY BROADBAND GROWING AT HIGH SPEED
According to a new study by Nielsen/NetRatings, 60 percent of the 20 largest
U.S. cities show more than 50 percent growth in home broadband
subscriptions. Approximately 25.2 million home users surfed the Internet via
broadband connections, a 58 percent rise from last April's figures. While
impressive gains were seen in the nation's high-population cities (New York,
Los Angeles, Boston and Philadelphia jumped by more than 40 percent),
broadband growth was at record levels. Hartford, Connecticut recorded growth
of almost 200%, and Baltimore, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Orlando,
Florida all saw broadband subscriptions increase by at least 150 percent
over the year ending April 30, 2002. Detroit, Michigan was the only top 20
city showing single-digit broadband growth.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes; AUTHOR: Dick Kelsey]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176676.html)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

TELECOMS CAN CHALLENGE STATES IN FEDERAL COURT, JUSTICES RULE
The Supreme Court ruled that Verizon Communications Corp. and other large
telecommunications companies could challenge state regulatory decisions in a
federal court. State public utility commissions have preferred state courts
that often defer to their rulings. If forced into the federal court there is
a danger that the states will be caught up in long and expensive litigation
with the Baby Bells and long distance companies. State regulators had argued
that the 11th Amendment barring lawsuits "against one of the United States
by citizens of another state" made them immune to being sued in federal
courts. When asked about the 8-0 defeat, Brad Ramsey, general counsel of the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners said, "I'm
disappointed but not surprised...It's taxpayers who may ultimately bear the
burden for this." The case centered on "interconnection agreements", the
contracts that define rates competitors pay the Bells to gain access to
their network.
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yochi J. Dreazen and Robert S.
Greenberger]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB102189858666918600,00.html?mod=technolog
y_main_whats_news)

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