Content Restrictions on the Internet
NYT: Sponsor of Communications Decency Act Introduces a Sequel
WP: Fairfax Library Panel Rejects Internet Limits
Education Technology
NYT: When Laptops Are Required, How Does Campus Life Change?
Children's Television
NYT: Nickelodeon Adds to Children's Hours
Arts
NYT: Salon's Digital Art Ends Up Flat
Microsoft
WP: Besieged, Microsoft Tackles Another Washington
WSJ: How One Sweet Deal Unraveled for Netscape After
Microsoft Called
Telephone
WP: Pay Phone Rate Rising to 35 Cents
Campaign Finance Reform
WSJ: Will Justice Be a Bystander as Campaign Finance Laws Erode?
Old vs New Media
NYT: Listserv Resurrects "Soul" of Old UPI
** Content Restrictions on the Internet **
Title: Sponsor of Communications Decency Act Introduces a Sequel
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/111397decency.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: CDA
Description: Sen Dan Coats (R-IN) has introduced legislation that will
require commercial distributors of material that is "harmful to minors" to
restrict access with credit cards or personal identification numbers. "We
think that the Supreme Court was very clear that user-based controls and the
enforcement of existing laws against child pornography and obscenity is the
appropriate way to protect children on the net," said Jonah Seiger, a
spokesman for the Center for Democracy and Technology http://www.cdt.org
who successfully fought the CDA in court. But Sen Coats believes that this
bill would survive a constitutional challenge: "Although I think that many
opponents of the CDA, who are feeling very heady, want to call it CDA 2, it
is really very different. CDA cast a very wide net. This legislation hunts
with a rifle. It goes after one specific area." [For more information on the
original CDA see http://www.benton.org/Policy/96act/#restrictions]
Title: Fairfax Library Panel Rejects Internet Limits
Source: Washington Post (D8)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-11/13/
Author: Marylou Tousignant
Issue: Libraries
Description: Fairfax County library officials have rejected a plan that
would have allowed parents to prohibit their preteen children from surfing
the 'Net on library computers in an effort to prevent them from viewing
sexually explicit material. This is reflecting the national debate over
whether, and how, to erect roadblocks on the 'Net, especially when children
are involved. The proposal was offered as a compromise between those who
believe in strict limits on Internet access and those who believe any
restriction would be a form of censorship. Charles Fegan, the Braddock
District library board representative, said he was surprised and
disappointed by it defeat, 7 to 3. "This doesn't encroach on anyone else's
freedom. It doesn't do anything with the content of the Internet -- there's
no censorship. It just says, 'Parents, you're responsible.'"
** Education Technology **
Title: When Laptops Are Required, How Does Campus Life Change?
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/111397wakeforest.html
Author: Mary Dalton, Dept of Communication, Wake Forest
Issue: EdTech
Description: All Wake Forest University first-year students were issued an
IBM ThinkPad and a color printer this year. The university's provost David
G. Brown said "If we are to empower each individual student to communicate
frequently with professors, to access customized reading lists, to
collaborate with colleague learners on campus and at distant locations, we
must provide the tools to do so. The computer is such a tool." There are
critics of the program and the additional $3,000 cost to students, but the
university is making massive investments in teacher training, computer
support and evaluation of the program as it progresses. One evaluator said,
"The computer really changes what teaching is all about. For one thing,
office hours now are outdated. The students can get to you and, perhaps,
expect that they will get to you and that you'll respond via the computer.
The faculty member's central nervous system is now expanded with the
computer; it's dispersed across social space more than ever before. The
whole interpersonal climate between students and teachers is changing." [For
more on the introduction of computers to the classroom see The Learning
Connection http://www.benton.org/Library/Schools/}
** Children's Television **
Title: Nickelodeon Adds to Children's Hours
Source: New York Times (B8)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Children's Television
Description: Trying to win audiences that are discontent with "Family Hour"
programming, Nickelodeon has announced that it will expand its prime-time
weekday lineup of children's shows to 9 pm starting next fall. The cable
network only reaches 70% of US households, but has attracted the largest
audience of children during the 8-8:30 pm time slot with shows like "The
Secret World of Alex Mack" and "Hey Arnold!" "The networks have gone to
adult comedies at 8, except on Friday," said Steve Sternberg, a senior
partner at BJK&E, who analyses children's programming for advertisers. Shows
like "Full House" and "Family Matter" declined and the networks decided to
go with adult-oriented shows. "That certainly gives Nick an edge," said
Sternberg. [For more on children's television see
http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/#kidstv]
** Arts **
Title: Salon's Digital Art Ends Up Flat
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/mirapaul/111397mirapaul.html
Author: Matthew Mirapaul
Issue: Arts
Description: The School of Visual Arts' http://www.sva.edu/ Timothy
Binkley organized the New York Digital Salon http://www.sva.edu/salon/ to
display digitally generated art that could be mounted to a wall ("flat
art"). Now in its fifth year, the Digital Salon has a growing number of
submissions -- in part because there are more digital artists and because
the event has been growing in stature. "The sense I get this year -- and
it's the first year I've had this sense -- is that digital artists are
beginning to feel that they're working with an extremely powerful art form
and I think they're gaining a certain confidence about what they're doing,"
Binkley said. [For more information about the arts online see Open Studio
http://www.openstudio.org/]
** Microsoft **
Title: Besieged, Microsoft Tackles Another Washington
Source: Washington Post (E3)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-11/13
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: With its business practices under scrutiny by the Justice
Dept., a Senate committee, a half-dozen state attorneys general and
consumer advocates, Microsoft has begun to mount a broad lobbying effort in
its defense. At the same time, Microsoft's chief rivals have seized the
opportunity to launch an aggressive campaign to influence policymakers.
Microsoft also recently hired former GOP congressman Vin Weber to help boost
support among Republican lawmakers. The company is also taking a more public
posture in responding to govt. antitrust allegations. Microsoft contends
that its business practices are legal. A Microsoft exec said, "It's not good
for any company to be dragged through this kind of parade of rhetorical
events one after another."
Title: How One Sweet Deal Unraveled for Netscape After Microsoft Called
Source: Wall Street Journal (A1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: When Microsoft acquired KPMG's business 2 months after
Netscape thought it had them. Microsoft offered a blizzard of incentives so
compelling that KPMG's vice chairman, Roger Siboni, rescinded his decision
and signed a contract with them immediately. He said, "We saw a Microsoft
organization that was relentless in terms of desire and drive." Microsoft's
tactics illustrate the company's powerful abilities to extend its reach and
conquer new markets.
** Telephone **
Title: Pay Phone Rate Rising to 35 Cents
Source: Washington Post (E1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-11/13/194l-111397-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Telephone Rates
Description: Bell Atlantic, owner of more than two-thirds of the pay
phones in the Washington area, announced yesterday that it would begin
charging 35 cents for a local call from pay phones. A federal law that
removed price ceilings on pay phones on Oct. 7 has already prompted smaller
phone companies to raise the price. By the way, if you have two quarters
that's too bad: pay phones don't give change. Spokesman Michael Daley said,
"The cost is increasing because a lot of phones, particularly in urban
areas, have to be more secure. We have to armor plate the phones. We need to
install metal coils to protect cords. And make sure people can't pry open
coin boxes. We've also designed safer, well-lit kiosks." Daley said that
directory assistance and emergency calls will still be free. Congress
decided to deregulate the pay phone industry because many companies are
competing against each other.
** Campaign Finance Reform **
Title: Will Justice Be a Bystander as Campaign Finance Laws Erode?
Source: Wall Street Journal (A23)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Albert R. Hunt
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: In editorial, Hunt states, the campaign finance laws are in
shambles. The hopes for
much-needed legislation remain slim as politicians conjure up all sorts of
rationales to justify the current system, which is an incumbents' protection
racket. If Attorney General Reno bows to Republican pressures and recommends
an independent counsel, then a politically tainted 3-judge panel will name
an anti-Clinton partisan, who'll then get mired in the complexity of a
criminal investigation of the president. But, the purpose isn't to bring
criminal actions. It would determine whether our national politicians obey
the spirit of the laws and whether those laws are now inoperative.
** Old vs New Media **
Title: Listserv Resurrects "Soul" of Old UPI
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/111397upi.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Old vs New Media
Description: Before there was an Internet, there was United Press
International's message wire. The wire was meant to connect the far-flung
bureaus of the international service, a way to plot news strategy without
costly long distance telephone calls. Every message posted to the wire was
seen by everyone in the company, but that did not deter people from using it
for small-talk, flirtations, and "wire fights." Many UPI veterans insist
that the message wire contributed to the camaraderie that kept the service
competitive through sell offs, pay cuts, bankruptcies, bounced checks and
industry obits. Now the message wire has been reborn and the Downhold
listserv on the Internet. The list has 200 members, all present or former
UPI staff. See UPI http://www.upi.com/.
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