INTERNET
October Internet Use in U.S. Grew 15% (WSJ)
Court Says France Can't Censor Yahoo Site (NYT)
AOL Time Warner, Sony in New Alliance (WP)
JOURNALISM
Opponents of War Are Scarce on Television (NYT)
SECURITY
Online Privacy Expert Shifts Focus to Security (NYT)
INTERNET
OCTOBER INTERNET USE IN U.S. GREW 15%
Issue: Internet
Internet use in the U.S. grew 15% in October to a record 115.2 million
people, in what analysts said was a welcome sign of the new medium's growth
despite harsh economic times. According to estimates expected to be released
Tuesday by Nielsen//NetRatings, the year-over-year growth rate itself is
well off the 35% jump recorded in October 2000, before the economic slump.
Still, the growth is impressive given the slowing economy,
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: WSJ Staff Reporter]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1005606647447580240.htm)
(requires subscription)
COURT SAYS FRANCE CAN'T CENSOR YAHOO SITE
Issue: Internet
In a decision that is being applauded by Internet companies and civil
liberties groups, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the United States
Constitution's protections of free speech trumped a French order requiring
Yahoo to remove Nazi materials from its Web site. "Although France has the
sovereign right to regulate what speech is permissible in France, this court
may not enforce a foreign order that violates the protections of the United
States Constitution by chilling protected speech that occurs simultaneously
within our borders," wrote Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Federal District Court
for the Northern District of California, in San Jose. The dispute started
when French groups sued Yahoo for allowing people to sell Nazi-related items
in its auctions. The groups argued that because Yahoo's site could be viewed
by people in France, the site was subject to French laws that largely
prohibit the display and sale of Nazi insignia Internet companies,
free-speech advocates and scholars of international law have viewed the case
as a major test of how the Internet's global reach can be reconciled with
conflicting laws intended to be applied within national borders.
[SOURCE: New York Times (11/9), AUTHOR: Lisa Guernsey]
(http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Crash-Internet.html)
(requires registration)
AOL TIME WARNER, SONY IN NEW ALLIANCE
Issue: Networking
AOL Time Warner Inc. and Sony Corp. said yesterday that they will jointly
develop an array of online consumer products to pave the way for the day
when people's homes and the electronic devices in them become tied together
in a common communications network. The alliance is a potentially powerful
marriage of AOL Time Warner, the world's largest Internet and media company,
and Sony, the world's largest consumer electronics maker. The companies'
vision is to create a broad technology platform that brings together a host
of consumer devices, from televisions to stereos to computers, allowing
people to simultaneously view movies, listen to music and share other
entertainment content over multiple devices. The devices would be connected
to the Web through high-speed connections, including cable or telephone
lines, or satellite or wireless networks.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Alec Klein]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/media/13656-1.html)
JOURNALISM
OPPONENTS OF WAR ARE SCARCE ON TELEVISION
Issue: Television
Just as television news programs are careful to filter Taliban propaganda
and omit the most wrenching images of bombing victims, they have not dwelt
on criticism of the United States' effort. The small pools of domestic
dissent are absent from American television. Erik Sorenson, president of
MSNBC, argued that there was not enough dissent to warrant coverage. "There
has not been a lot of debate, period," Mr. Sorenson said. "Most of the
dissent we've had on the air is the opposite - conservatives like John
McCain and Bill Bennett saying we should bomb more or attack Iraq." He noted
that MSNBC had found it difficult to find anyone credible opposed to the war
- let alone willing to go on television. But public figures like Richard
Gere, Susan Sarandon and Phill Donahue have been eager to express their
antiwar sentiments.
[SOURCE: New York Times (11/9), AUTHOR: Alessandra Stanley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/09/national/09DISS.html)
(requires registration)
SECURITY
ONLINE PRIVACY EXPERT SHIFTS FOCUS TO SECURITY
Issue: Security
As perhaps the nation's most vocal authority on data privacy, Richard M.
Smith spent the last two years trying to keep Americans' personal
information private from corporate intrusions. But now he is now turning his
attention to studying whether the public is sufficiently secure. Mr. Smith
resigned earlier this month as the chief technology officer for the
nonprofit Privacy Foundation in Denver to focus on technology related to
"homeland security" issues, like facial scanning and electronic ID cards.
Privacy is an important thing, but now people are concerned about their
safety and about security, so those have moved up in priority," he said.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Laurie J. Flynn]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/12/technology/12RICH.html)
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