October 2002

DIGITAL DIVIDE
A Lack of Money Forces Computer Initiative to Close
OECD Report on Global Education
Digital Divide Exists among Heart Patients

INTERNET
New Touch Technology is Sealed with a Handshake
Nobel-Winning Economist Hails Internet's Potential

BROADCASTING
NOW Criticizes Television's Distorted Image of Women

DIGITAL DIVIDE

A LACK OF MONEY FORCES COMPUTER INITIATIVE TO CLOSE
The national offices of PowerUp, an organization initiated by executives
from America Online and other high-profile institutions to increase access
to the Internet and skills development for underserved youth, will close by
tomorrow. The nearly 1,000 community technology centers financed by PowerUp
will be left to fend for themselves. Many of the community technology
centers affiliated with PowerUp have been forced to shut down amid decreased
funding to programs and slow economic times. Some projects will continue
providing services to communities with financial support from the Boys and
Girls Club of America and companies such as Microsoft, AOL Time Warner,
Intel and Gateway. "It was never the intention for this to go on"
indefinitely, said Denise Keyes of PowerUp, explaining that the centers
were always supposed to become self-sustaining. "This seems like a natural
transition time."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/30/technology/30POWE.html)

OECD REPORT ON GLOBAL EDUCATION
Students in Canada -- where schools average one computer for every six
children -- have more access to technology than students almost anywhere
else, according to Education at a Glance 2002, a survey of 30,000 students
in 32 countries by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD). The international average is only one computer for every
13 students. Australia and the United States lead the survey with a
one-in-five ratio. The study also revealed that girls were less likely than
boys to have access to a computer at home in all countries surveyed.
Additionally, only 58 percent of girls said they think computers are
important, compared with 70 percent of boys.
[SOURCE: The Star, AUTHOR: Louise Brown]
(http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Arti
cle_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035773821801&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=96833218
8492&call_pagepath=News/News&col=968793972154)
(URL may need to be pasted together if broken)

DIGITAL DIVIDE EXISTS AMONG HEART PATIENTS
As cardiologists increasingly turn to the Internet for help providing
information to people who have either suffered from a heart attack or are at
higher risk of developing a heart condition, they are discovering that many
of those patients are older and unfamiliar with computers. "There is a
digital divide between heart patients who use computers every day -- either
at work or at home -- and those who have never used a computer," said Beth
Abramson, a cardiologist and a researcher with the Heart and Stroke
Foundation. According to a new survey, Canadians who have suffered a heart
attack tend to be older, less familiar with computers and less likely to
surf the Internet. The results of the survey, conducted by Dr. Abramson and
her cardiac prevention team at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital, will be
discussed this week at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress being held in
Edmonton.
[SOURCE: Globe and Mail, AUTHOR: Allison Lawlor]
(http://rtnews.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/tech/RTGAM/20021030/w
heart1030/Technology/techBN/)

INTERNET

NOBEL-WINNING ECONOMIST HAILS INTERNET'S POTENTIAL
Despite the bursting of the dot-com bubble, Nobel Prize-winning economist
Michael Spence believes the Internet economy has decades of huge growth
ahead of it. The growth of network-based information technology "will make
the idea of the global economy real" as the basic infrastructure is
increasingly deployed though out the world, he said in a resent presentation
at the Rotman School of Management. Mr. Spence said that the potential of
the Internet is especially important for underdeveloped countries, where
workers were confined to local markets, but can now use information
technology networks to take advantage of a global market through
outsourcing. Spence, who shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics with
Joseph Stiglitz and George Akerlof, made important contributions to
economists' thinking regarding "asymetrical information" -- situations in
which markets work improperly because buyers and sellers do not share the
same knowledge.
[SOURCE: Globe and Mail, AUTHOR: Bruce Little]
(http://rtnews.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/tech/RTGAM/20021029/w
spen1029a/Technology/techBN/)

NEW TOUCH TECHNOLOGY IS SEALED WITH A HANDSHAKE
A scientist in London and another in Boston shook hands yesterday via the
Internet. The scientists were able to not only to feel the texture of each
other's hand, but also react to the force of each other's grip. New devices
nicknamed phantoms can re-create the sense of touch by sending small
impulses at very high frequencies via the Internet, using high-bandwidth
fiber optic cables. In a similar manner of the brain reinterpreting moving
pictures into still images, the phantoms are integrated to create a
continuous sensation. "You can actually feel the object being pushed against
your hand," stated Joel Jordan of MIT. Among the varied applications of the
new technology is the ability for trainee surgeons to practice operations
via the Internet.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2002-10-29-net-touch_x.ht
m)

BROADCASTING

NOW CRITICIZES TELEVISION'S DISTORTED IMAGE OF WOMEN
"Television remains very much a man's world, with women serving primarily as
'eye candy,'" according to NOW Foundation President Kim Gandy. The NOW
Foundation has released a report examining entertainment programming on the
six US broadcast networks as part of the Watch Out, Listen Up! media
campaign. "Network programming sends a distorted, often offensive, image of
women, girls and people of color," says Gandy.
[SOURCE: National Organization for Women]
(http://www.now.org/press/10-02/10-28.html)

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BROADCASTING/CABLE
Cablevision May Aid Merger Bid
A TV House Divided

OPEN SOURCE
Nonprofit to Create Open Source Software

INTERNET
The Web on the Campaign Trail
Spanish Net Law Sparks Protest

BROADCASTING/CABLE

CABLEVISION MAY AID MERGER BID
Cablevision System Corp.'s rumored role in saving the barely-breathing
EchoStar-DirecTV merger is closer to becoming reality. Cablevision and
EchoStar have orchestrated a deal in which EchoStar would sell some of its
spectrum space and satellite capacity to Cablevision, creating a competitor
for areas where the merger would otherwise have created a monopoly. The deal
is designed to make the merger acceptable to the US Department of Justice
and the FCC, the latter of which rejected the merger earlier this month.
"This addresses the fundamental concerns raised about going from two
satellite competitors to one," said Gene Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers
Union's Washington office. "If done appropriately, it means the marketplace
is no worse off competitively, and in theory, should be better off."
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28514-2002Oct27.html)

A TV HOUSE DIVIDED
Under fierce competition from satellite services, Time Warner's cable
division is selling new features that give viewers more control over TV
content. So-called "Personal Television" can turn TVs into personal digital
video recorders, making it easy for viewers to skip over commercials. But as
Time Warner Cable promotes the services, its plans are colliding with the
interests of networks and studios, including its own Turner Broadcasting and
Warner Bros. Studios, which live off of programming schedules and
advertising sales. The internal struggle at AOL Time Warner is indicative of
a broader battle unfolding between service providers and content providers.
Satellite and cable companies say they are giving viewers what they want,
while networks and studios feel they are being robbed. AOL Time Warner chief
Richard D. Parsons feels that the company is well positioned to survive the
internal strife, since "we have all the pieces inside.... All of our guys
know that where we are going to find growth in this business is by finding
ways to deliver the stuff that we have created to an expanded audience."
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: David D. Kirkpatrick]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/28/technology/28HOUS.html)

OPEN SOURCE

NONPROFIT TO CREATE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
Software industry pioneer Mitch Kapor has started a nonprofit organization,
the Open Source Applications Foundation, to create open-source software
applications. The foundation's first software program will be a personal
information manager, code-named Chandler. The program will combine email and
calendar functions with tools for sharing files among multiple users --
similar to the functionality of Microsoft Outlook Express but without the
reliance on the more expensive Microsoft Exchange. Chandler would offer this
kind of performance to smaller organizations at much lower cost by using
peer-to-peer technology. "Individuals and small organizations are at a
disadvantage today," said Kapor. "I'm in favor of end-user empowerment and
decentralization." The foundation will offer its code free to individuals or
organizations, provided they also make any code they produce using the
foundation's work freely available as well.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Lawrence M. Fischer]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/28/technology/28SOFT.html)

INTERNET

SPANISH NET LAW SPARKS PROTEST
According to a new Spanish law, any Web site located in Spain that engages
in commerce must register with the Spanish government. The rule has prompted
over 300 Web site owners, many of whom are small-scale nonprofits, to take
down their pages in protest. The government says the law, which stems from
European Union directives, aims to encourage online commerce by making the
Internet a safer place to do business, keeping Internet companies subject to
the same tax and commerce laws as traditional firms. But opponents say Spain
has gone far beyond the spirit of the EU guidelines. "This law is a huge
blow to freedom of expression in Spain," said Carlos Sanchez Almeida, a
lawyer for Kriptopolis, a digital rights and Internet security site. The law
also applies to foreign-hosted Web sites if the people transacting business
on them are physically in Spain.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56021,00.html)

THE WEB ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Weather they're running for a US Senate seat or for county sheriff,
candidates are turning to the Web to post their campaign platforms, solicit
donations and find all-important volunteers for their grass-roots campaigns.
Candidates say that the Web enhances old-fashioned door-to-door campaigns by
reaching potential voters when it is convenient for them and in general
reaching them more often. Importantly, the Internet allows candidates to
disseminate information that is unfiltered by the media or other sources.
"Everything I release to the media is subject to editing or is condensed,"
said Dirk Anderson, a Republican candidate for sheriff in Lewis and Clark
County in Montana. "I can't get anything in the paper the way I want unless
I buy an ad. But I can put anything I want on the Web."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Selingo]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/24/technology/circuits/24poli.html?pagewante
d=1)

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BROADCASTING=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Groups Ask Powell to Extend Debate

INTERNET=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 More Than One Internet Attack Occurred Monday

GROUPS ASK POWELL TO EXTEND MEDIA DEBATE=20
The Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Digital Democracy
joined several other groups Wednesday in filing a motion to extend =
public
comment time on the FCC's review of its media ownership rules. Though =
set to
end on December 2, 2002, the groups are asking for a four-month =
extension
following the release of report datasets. Currently, no date has been
established. "The question here is does FCC Chairman Michael Powell =
really
want a serious debate on this issue or not. If so, he will grant the
additional time extension, release the additional research information, =
and
hold field hearings," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the =
Center
for Digital Democracy. "If he doesn't grant this reasonable request, he
clearly isn't interested in ensuring meaningful discourse on these very
serious issues."=20
[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy]=20
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/washingtonwatch/ownershipExtension.=
html
)=20
=A0=20
MORE THAN ONE INTERNET ATTACK OCCURED MONDAY
A coordinated Denial of Service attack on the Internet's 13 root =
servers
Monday was followed by another large-scale assault a few hours later,
according to reports from affected companies. The primary attack =
targeted
the heart of the worldwide Domain Name System, which converts numeric =
IP
addresses into words and names. The second attack struck "name" servers =
that
direct Internet users to locations such as the dot-com, dot-biz and =
dot-info
domains. If the servers for any domain were disabled long enough, users
would have difficulty reaching addresses within them. Fortunately, most =
name
and root servers have sufficient back-up capacity to minimize the =
likelihood
of such an attack. The Office of Homeland Security and the FBI are
investigating these incidents, noting that at this time it is unclear
whether the same source is to blame for the separate attacks.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHORS: Brian Krebs and David McGuire]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6894-2002Oct23.html)

----------------------------------------------------------------------=20

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Seniornet Campaign Pushes Tech Literacy
A Boon for Nonprofits With Software Needs
Welfare Software

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Small Web Radio Stations to Pay Lower Royalties

TECHNOLOGY & DEMOCRACY
An E-Mayor for Virtual LA City

DIGITAL DIVIDE

SENIORNET CAMPAIGN PUSHES TECH LITERACY
SeniorNet is launching a national advertising campaign to encourage older
Americans to become computer literate. Consisting of three public-service
television ads in 23 markets, the yearlong campaign will explain the
benefits of the Internet. Planet Earth Media Foundation will produce the
campaign, an in-kind donation valued at $4.7 million, and the San Jose-based
Skoll Community Fund contributed a $250,000 grant. According to SeniorNet
CEO and President Ann Wrixon, part of the campaign's aim is to draw the
attention of government, business and community leaders in a bid to increase
funding for older-adult technology training.
[Source: San Jose Mercury News, Author: John R. Quain]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4337452.htm)

A BOON FOR NONPROFITS WITH SOFTWARE NEEDS
DiscounTech, an online software store created by CompuMentor, provides
discounted software solutions to non-profit organizations amid tough
economic times. Many non-profits are able to purchase software such as
Microsoft XP from DiscounTech at prices as low as $60, compared to the
current retail price of $500. DiscounTech saves clinics, community service
agencies, homeless shelters and other organizations time by allowing them to
purchase directly from the company opposed to the long process of applying
for grants. "Now for every four licenses of Microsoft Office we save enough
to buy another computer," said Mark McNeil, information technology director
of the nonprofit Economic Opportunity Council. For software companies, like
Microsoft, distributing their products at steep discounts or for free, can
be a way to raise visibility - a tax-deductible form of marketing.
[source: New York Times, AUTHOR: Laurie J. Flynn]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/21/technology/21DISC.html)

WELFARE SOFTWARE
Until recently, efforts by philanthropists, non-profits and government
agencies to improve public access to computers have omitted a key component
- software. Over the last two years, however, a growing number of companies
and universities have heeded the cry for help from social service agencies
in need of specialized software. Benefactors have pushed the envelope beyond
traditional database applications allowing social workers to keep track of
clients. One new package, the Self-Sufficiency Calculator, is a Java-based
program that enables users to enter personal information and compare that
information against eligibility requirements for state and federal
assistance programs, including housing assistance, food stamps, and
Medicare. Private firms have joined the effort as well.
[SOURCE: MIT Enterprise Technology Review, AUTHOR: Alan Leo]
(http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_leo101802.asp)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

SMALL WEB RADIO STATIONS TO PAY LOWER ROYALTIES
Smaller Internet radio broadcasters scored a temporary victory last weekend
in their quest to avoid the high royalties expected from larger firms such
as American Online and Yahoo. All Webcasters were due Monday to begin
paying royalties to artists whose songs they use, but an agreement among
musicians and record labels caps the liability for small stations at $500
per year since 1998. The labels are currently able to charge the high
per-song rates set this summer by the Library of Congress, but chose not to
do so since they are confident that the Senate will approve a measure
lowering the rate for smaller firms. "We didn't want to cause any undue
hardship," said John Simson, executive director of the SoundExchange
clearinghouse, which represents the most major and independent labels --
accounting for some 90% of available recorded music.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-10-21-lower-royalties_x.htm)

TECHNOLOGY & DEMOCRACY

AN E-MAYOR FOR VIRTUAL LA CITY
A likely unsuccessful secession effort by residents of the San Fernando
Valley area of Los Angeles has created a unique case study in e-government
and the use of the Internet in electoral campaigns. Internet consultant Marc
Strassman is running for mayor of the proposed new city, and his almost
exclusively Internet-based campaign and strong support of e-government have
earned him some attention, if not some votes. Strassman believes that
e-government "will vastly increase the quality of life in the Valley and
serve as an example for other municipalities." Strassman emphasizes the need
for broadband access and open-source software to further empower individuals
in the Internet age, stating, "I want (people) to have an opportunity to
participate in their own transformation. Through technology."
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Patrick Di Justo]
(http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55911,00.html)

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