1. Monthly archive
  2. March 2003

March 2003

Communications-Related Headlines for March 6, 2003

JOURNALISM
Online Newspaper Shakes Up Korean Politics

INTERNET
Ruling Could Threaten Long-Standing Content Protections
EU Cybercrime Code Could Punish Online Demonstrations

JOPURNALISM

ONLINE NEWSPAPER SHAKES UP KOREAN POLITICS
Many recent socio-political shifts that have occurred in South Korea can be
attributed to the Internet. With 70 percent of households connected via
broadband, S. Korea is one of the world's most wired nations. Citizens use
the services to gain information on their government and, particularly in
the December 2002 elections, candidates for office. One popular news site,
"OhmyNews," has received particular attention. The product of former
underground journalist Oh Yeon Ho, OhmyNews has forced the more conservative
print media to cover stories it might not often shed light upon. "My goal
was to say farewell to 20th-century Korean journalism, with the concept that
every citizen is a reporter," said Oh.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Howard W. French]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/06/international/asia/06SEOU.html)

INTERNET

RULING COULD THREATEN LONG-STANDING CONTENT PROTECTIONS
A case headed to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit may have
serious ramifications for Internet service providers and Web companies
hoping to avoid liability for their users' content. Actress Christianne
Carafano (a.k.a. Chase Masterson) filed a defamation suit against
Metrosplash, the company that operates Matchmaker.com, after someone posted
a personals ad including her name and address along with alleged falsehoods.
A US District Court judge ruled against Carafano on the defamation claim but
noted that Metrosplash "was not shielded by Section 230 of the
Communications Decency Act," concluding that Matchmaker.com was not just a
service provider but a content provider. "The District Court ruling is
contrary to the policy goal of the Communications Decency Act, which was to
facilitate robust Internet communication, and is inconsistent with prior
cases that have applied the act," argued Sharon Le Duy, senior vice
president and general counsel for CNET.
[SOURCE: CNET News, AUTHOR: Paul Festa]
(http://news.com.com/2009-1023-991264.html?tag=fd_lede1_hed)

EU CYBERCRIME CODE COULD PUNISH ONLINE DEMONSTRATIONS
A new European Union cybercrime code could quell online organized protests
similar to the "Virtual March" on Capitol Hill last week. The code
references a recently adopted Council of Europe charter on cybercrime,
defining "unsolicited emails designed to hinder the computer system of the
recipient" as a criminal act. Thus, cyber-protestors would be treated the
same as the terrorist and hackers the code was designed to ensnare,
according to legal experts.
[SOURCE: IDG.com, AUTHOR: Paul Meller]
(http://www.idg.com.sg/idgwww.nsf/unidlookup/747086C6A7DD52A848256CDF00062D0
3?OpenDocument)

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Communications-Related Headlines for March 5, 2003

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Monti Backs Moves to Ease Digital Divide
US Commerce Dept Launches Partnership To Spur Tech Growth in
Developing Nations

TELEHEALTH
Cyberspace Surgery Transforms Medicine

INTERNET
Who's Minding the E-Store?

DIGITAL DIVIDE

MONTI BACKS MOVES TO EASE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Europe's Competition Commissioner Mario Monti recently given member states
the go-ahead to invest millions of euros in high-speed Internet and mobile
networks in poor and rural regions. Around EUR10 billion has been set aside
by the commission for investment in projects that would reduce the digital
divide, including the upgrading of infrastructure to support broadband. The
commission is set to issue guidelines shortly on the use of these funds.
[SOURCE: Electricnews.net, AUTHOR: Andrew McLindon]
(http://www.electricnews.net/news.html?code=9351529)

COMMERCE LAUNCHES PARTNERSHIP TO SPUR TECHGROWTH IN DEVELOPING NATIONS
Yesterday, US Commerce Secretary Bill Evans helped launch the Digital
Freedom Initiative (DFI), which aims to promote economic growth in the
developing world through information and communication technology. Key
elements of the initiative include promoting pro-growth regulatory
structures and deploying volunteers to share business knowledge and
technology expertise. The DFI will be piloted in Senegal; if successful, it
could be rolled out to 20 countries in the next five years.
[SOURCE: US Department of Commerce]
(http://www.commerce.gov/opa/press/2003_Releases/March/04_Digital_Freedom_re
lease.htm)

TELEHEALTH

CYBERSPACE SURGERY TRANSFORMS MEDICINE
Tomorrow, a pioneering Canadian surgeon will remove a piece of cancerous
bowel from a patient hundreds of kilometers away in a hospital-to-hospital
telerobotics-assisted surgery. The procedure will involve the use of
three-armed robot named Zeus to directly translate Dr. Mehran Anvari's
natural hand, wrist and finger movements to instruments inside the patient.
Experts say Anvari's landmark laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, surgeries
will transform medicine the way the Industrial Revolution changed the 19th
century. The goal is to help train physicians to conduct such surgeries in
remote areas. With the ongoing difficulties of attracting specialized
surgeons to Canada's north, health-care experts see this technology as a way
to bring necessary services to those communities.
[SOURCE: Torstar News Service, AUTHOR: Paul Morse]
(http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Arti
cle_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035778639381&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972
154)
(long URL may need to be pasted together if broken)

INTERNET

WHO'S MINDING THE E-STORE?
Recently, the US Justice Department has added Internet domain names to the
types of property seized in crime busts. In the past, websites simply
vanished once the computer servers were seized, but in the recent weeks, the
sites remained active, greeting visitors with stern warnings from government
agencies. Some civil liberties advocates fear the government could use the
new method to spy on Web surfers who visit confiscated sites. Among issues
that remain unresolved in the courts is whether a domain name constitutes
property.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,57910,00.html)

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Communications-Related Headlines for March 4, 2003

CONTENT
Case Tests Congress' Ability To Make Libraries Block Porn

COMMUNITY MEDIA
On the Road

INTERNET
Europeans Live Life Online
Cambodia Goes Online

CONTENT

CASE TESTS CONGRESS' ABILITY TO MAKE LIBRARIES BLOCK PORN
This week the Supreme Court will hear the government's appeal as it tries to
revive a law that forces public libraries receiving federal funds to block
access to online pornography and obscenity. The Children's Internet
Protection Act of 2001 has never taken effect because a lower court ruled
that its filtering requirement forces public libraries to violate the First
Amendment rights of users. Paul Smith, a lawyer representing the American
Library Association, the American Civil Liberties Union and other
challengers, says the Children's Internet Protection Act is censorship. "A
library, after all, is an institution that exists to enable private citizens
to access whatever information they may seek," he says. Users should be able
to decide for themselves "where to go in cyberspace and why," he says.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Joan Biskupic]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-03-03-library-porn-usat_x
.htm)

COMMUNITY MEDIA

ON THE ROAD
Jon Alpert, Co-founder of Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) in New
York City, one of the nation's most honored nonprofit media centers, has
figured out a way to bring to bring his media empowerment show on the road.
With the help of numerous grants and in-kind donations, including a National
Endowment for the Arts' prestigious Leadership Projects for the Millennium
Challenge Grant, DCTV turned a touring bus into a mobile television studio.
As part of its first project, the Cybercar visited 26 cities in 25 days to
create a one-hour show entitled Speak Up New York! for PBS. In each town,
the Cybercar hosted a series of youth civic engagement seminars in, which
led up to a live televised youth Q&A with the state's gubernatorial
candidates on the week before Election Day. Eleven PBS stations broadcast
the dialogue, which had been recorded at the Cybercar. In 2004, Alpert hopes
to take the Cybercar to all 50 states in a Speak Up campaign geared around
the presidential elections.
[SOURCE: Video System, AUTHOR: Cody Holt]
(http://videosystems.com/ar/video_road/index.htm)

INTERNET

CAMBODIA GOES ONLINE
A project underway in Cambodia is on its way to opening community
information centers in 22 provincial capitals around the country. With the
help of $1.2 million in aid money from the United States, the centers will
use wireless technology to enable many Cambodians to go online for the first
time. Project organizers hope that the effort will give Cambodian voters
better access to information ahead of the general election in July. However,
organizers will have to confront considerable technological challenges and
the low standard of voter education.
[SOURCE: BBC Online, AUTHOR: Simon Montlake]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2814387.stm)

EUROPEANS LIVE LIFE ONLINE
The Internet is transforming the social habits of Europeans, according to a
recent study by AOL examining the online habits of surfers in the UK, France
and Germany. The study found that Internet is having an especially profound
impact in the area of personal relationships. One in two people online in
Europe has asked someone out on a date via e-mail and nearly half say they
have sent or received an e-mail only invite to a party or social event.
Philip Rowley, President of AOL Europe, says the Internet is "transforming
how they come together, organize their social lives and even share personal
news. There is no mistaking the profound impact it is having on our social
norms."
[SOURCE: BBC Online, AUTHOR: Cody Holt]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2815007.stm)

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Communications-Related Headlines for March 3, 2003

OWNERSHIP
Not Enough: FCC Public Hearing Allows Only One Hour for Citizen
Input=20

INTERNET
Civil Society Wins a Place at WSIS Table
Lawmakers' Web Sites Improving, Report Finds

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Pondering Value of Copyright vs. Innovation

OWNERSHIP

NOT ENOUGH: FCC PUBLIC HEARING ALLOWS ONLY ONE HOUR FOR CITIZEN INPUT
The FCC's public hearing last week in Richmond, VA offered little
opportunity for citizens to provide comments, say attendees. "If this =
is all
we have to offer as far as inviting the public into this process, then =
I
think it's really deficient," said Philadelphia resident Anthony Mazza. =
The
article provides detailed coverage of the discussions regarding =
ownership
limits in the TV, radio and newspaper markets, including statements =
made by
panelists, witnesses and the FCC commissioners.
[SOURCE: Richmond.com, AUTHOR: Jay-Anne Casuga]
(http://www.richmond.com/output.cfm?ID=3D2414262)

INTERNET

CIVIL SOCIETY WINS A PLACE AT WSIS TABLE
Nonprofit organizations celebrated an important victory after delegates =
to
the preparatory committee meeting of the World Summit on the =
Information
Society decided that non-governmental organizations will participate, =
for
the first time, on equal footing with governments and business at this
year's summit. Alongside government and private sector representatives,
civil society and international inter-governmental organizations will =
be the
main actors involved in preparing for and participation in the December
summit, where the mandate is to establish policies to bridge the global
digital divide. Committee chairman Adama Samass=E9kou of Mali went so =
far as
to say that the creation of the Civil Society Bureau was the most =
important
achievement of the sessions.=20
[SOURCE: Inter Press Service News Agency, AUTHOR: Gustavo Capdevila]
(http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=3D16394)

LAWMAKERS' WEB SITES IMPROVING, REPORT FINDS
Members of Congress have increased the utility of their respective Web
sites, offering more constituent services and less member =
"advertising,"
according to a Congress Online Project report to be released today. The
report notes a marked increase in "A" and "B" grades from last year's =
study,
up to roughly half of the sites surveyed from only 10 percent a year =
ago.
Members now offer services ranging from links to district news to a =
how-to
page for finding federal educational assistance. The report also states =
that
the number of substandard sites has only decreased nominally, still =
hovering
around 25 percent.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian D. Faler]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30578-2003Mar2.html)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY=20

PONDERING VALUE OF COPYRIGHT VS. INNOVATION
Two conferences in California last weekend pitted copyright owners and
academics against technologists and legislators over the issue of =
public use
of original works and public ownership of spectrum. At the first =
conference,
at the University of California/Berkeley, attendees discussed the =
future of
digital rights management (DRM) software, which is used to protect
copyrighted materials against reverse engineering as per the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Critics argue that DRM software is =
headed
down a dangerous path, discouraging innovation by companies who learn =
to
create the next generation of technologies based on deconstructing =
current
inventions. The second conference, held at Stanford University, =
featured a
discussion of the public nature of spectrum and whether the license =
system
ought to be scrapped in favor of outright sales, which proponents say =
could
result in lower prices and the prevention of bandwidth interference. =
Critics
contend that emerging technologies such as software-enabled radios will
reduce or eliminate the interference problem without altering the
public-commons notion of spectrum ownership.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Amy Harmon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/03/technology/03COPY.html)

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