KIDS & MEDIA
Plugged In Generation (WP)
Circuits Holiday Buying Guide (CyberTimes)
FCC Chairman Kennard Celebrates the Success of the E-Rate (FCC)
Statement by the President: E-rate (WhiteHouse)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Digital Divide: Digital Opportunity (NTIA)
INTERNET
Leading Media Companies Forming Joint Web Venture (NYT)
Microsoft Ends Row With AOL Over Instant-Messaging Software (WSJ)
Site Offers Videos of Candidates, Without the Flash (CyberTimes)
TELEPHONY
Sprint and MCI Request Approval (WSJ)
FCC Will Adopt Policy Allowing Data Firms to Share Phone Lines (WSJ)
The Global Search Continues For a Single Wireless Standard (WSJ)
PRIVACY
ACLU Launches ECHELON Website (EPIC)
Safe Harbor or Pirates Cove? (EPIC)
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Time Warner Is Planning to Stop 'Soft Money'
Political Donations (WSJ)
INTERNATIONAL
Trade Deal Will Send Overseas Capital Flooding Into
China's Internet Industry (WSJ)
KIDS & MEDIA
PLUGGED IN GENERATION
Issue: Children & Media
Children spend the equivalent of an adult work week alone and unsupervised
with media. More precisely, "Kids & Media ( at ) The New Millennium," a new study
by the Kaiser Family Foundation surveying 3,000 children ages 2 - 18, found
children on average spend 5 hrs 29 min/day with some form of media. For
children 8 and older the number is higher -- 6 hrs 43 min/day. The survey
looked at all media: television, music, video games and reading materials.
"Most parents will say, 'Not my child.' And most parents will be wrong,"
said Donald F. Roberts, a Stanford University communications professor.
Despite the press' attention on computers, television remained the
dominant medium with an average of 2 hrs 46 minutes/day -- though 17% of
the surveyed children spend more than five hours in front of the TV. Music
came in second. Computer use and Internet use placed last and second to
last. The survey results averaged to 21 minutes/day on computers outside
of the school, including 8 minutes of Internet use. Children between the
ages of eight and thirteen were the heaviest users.
The survey also revealed that minority children are more likely to live in a
home where the TV is on "most of the time" -- a response given by 42% of the
children about TV use in the house. Fifty-six percent of African American
children gave this response compared to 42% of Hispanics and 39% of White
children. Forty-nine percent of the children said there are no household
rules about television. Another aspect of the survey was a look at where the
media are used: 53% have a television in their bedroom including 32% of the
2-7 year olds. Use of media "has become an increasingly isolated activity,"
said Vicky J. Rideout of the Kaiser Family Foundation's program on
entertainment media and public health.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, (A1), AUTHOR: Ellen Edwards]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/A12569-1999Nov17.html)
See Also:
KIDS & MEDIA ( at ) THE NEW MILLENNIUM
[SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation]
(http://www.kff.org/content/1999/1535/)
TV GRABS BIGGEST SHARE OF KIDS' TIME
[SOURCE: USA Today (D1), AUTHOR: Peter Johnson]
(www.usatoday.com)
HEADLINES EXTRA: FAMILIES & TECHNOLOGY
Posted to this list earlier today. Available at
(http://www.benton.org/News/Extra)
CIRCUITS: BATTERIES INCLUDED
Issue: E-Commerce
The New York Time's Circuits section is a holiday buying guide this week.
Stories cover games, pagers, home computers, digital cameras, office
technology, A/V equipment, and site where you can buy all this stuff.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: New York Times Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/circuits/index.html)
FCC CHAIRMAN KENNARD CELEBRATES THE SUCCESS OF THE E-RATE
Issue: Universal Service/EdTech
From the News Release: FCC Chairman William Kennard announced yesterday that
over a million classrooms will be connected to the Information Superhighway
because of the e-rate. "The e-rate is working," stated Chairman Kennard,
"enabling children in over one million classrooms to access a whole new
world of knowledge. It is a critical investment in the next millennium for
our schools, our children, and our country." This week marks the final wave
of funding for the second year of the e-rate program, established by the
bipartisan Snowe-Rockefeller-Exon-Kerrey amendment to the Telecom Act of
1996. It provides 20% to 90% discounts on telecommunications services,
Internet access and internal connections to schools and libraries. This
morning Chairman Kennard celebrated the success of the e-rate at a
roundtable discussion, entitled "Kids & Media ( at ) The New Millennium, hosted
by the Kaiser Family Foundation in New York city. A report on kids and
media, released at the event, highlights the importance of the e-rate
program.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1999/nrmc9076.html)
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT: E-RATE
Issue: Universal Service/EdTech
Today, the Federal Communications Commission announced that the "e-rate"
will help connect over one million classrooms to the Internet. This is a
giant step toward the goal that Vice President Gore and I set to connect
every classroom and library to the Internet by the year 2000. Children all
over the United States are now able to log on to the Library of Congress,
get online mentoring from a scientist halfway around the world, and acquire
the skills they need to succeed in the high-tech economy of the 21st
century, because of the e-rate. Parents also benefit by now being able to
communicate more frequently with teachers, and follow the academic
performance of their children. Combined with investments that my
Administration is making in multimedia computers, teacher training, and
high-quality educational software, the e-rate is putting the future at the
fingertips of our children. It is also helping to bridge the "digital
divide" by providing the deepest discounts to the poorest schools and
libraries that need it most.
[SOURCE: White House]
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
DIGITAL DIVIDE: DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY
Issue: Digital Divide
A draft agenda for the upcoming Digital Divide Summit is now available.
Includes sessions on: Access, Training & Education, Marketing & Content in
Underserved Communities, Technology & Economic Development in Underserved
Areas, Sustainable Public Access Points, Lowering Barriers to Access Through
New Product Development, Marketing to and Content for Underserved
Populations, Rural Communities -- Targeted Solutions and Workforce
Development -- Training and Education
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/digitaldivide/summit/agenda.html)
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/digitaldivide/summit/)
INTERNET
LEADING MEDIA COMPANIES FORMING JOINT WEB VENTURE
Issue: Journalism/Alliances
As part of an unprecedented media alliance announced yesterday, the
journalism of the Washington Post, NBC News, Newsweek and MSNBC will be
available on both MSNBC.com, Washingtonpost.com and a planned new
Newsweek.MSNBC.com. Tom Wolzien, a media analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein
& Co., said that the effort to aggregate high-quality journalism on a Web
site could quickly broaden that site's audience -- and its appeal to
advertisers. According to company executives, advertising revenue from the
collaborative ventures will be shared. This alliance is seen as a
significant move responsive to the growing challenge of attracting audiences
in the narrowcasting era of cable TV and the Internet. Other media
companies, such as The New York Times and ABC have also been exploring
joint ventures.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C16), AUTHOR: Felicity Barringer ]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/18web.html)
See also:
NEWS TITANS LINK IN DEAL WITH REACH
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Tim Jones]
(http://chicagotribune.com/business/printedition/article/0,2669,SAV-99111801
95,FF.html)
MICROSOFT ENDS ROW WITH AOL OVER INSTANT-MESSAGING SOFTWARE
Issue: Online Services
Microsoft says it will at least temporarily stop trying to make
its instant-messaging software communicate with AOL's similar software.
Microsoft tried to break into instant messaging, which is one of AOL's most
successful software applications, by introducing MSN Messenger Service.
Microsoft designed the software so that its own users could send messages
to people who use AOL's service. Microsoft said its decision is the result
of the techniques AOL uses to lock its system, which Microsoft says could
pose a security threat to both companies' customers. Deanna Sanford, a
Microsoft lead program manager, said AOL Instant Messenger software
contains a bug, known as a "buffer overrun," that makes it possible to run
software code on a user's personal computer without his knowledge or
approval. AOL, she said, has used that bug to help identify MSN users.
Microsoft has introduced a version of the service for MSN users only. AOL
has denied that anything in its software is dangerous to its users.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Don Clark]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB942876389354431090.htm)
SITE OFFERS VIDEOS OF CANDIDATES, WITH OUT THE FLASH
Issue: Political Discourse
Doug Bailey, a well-known Republican consultant, has launched an Internet
site that offers voters no-frills, 90-minute video clips of candidates
stating their positions on issues important to voters. The nonprofit
venture, the Freedom Channel, provides free studio time to candidates for
president, governor, and the United States Congress. Paul Taylor, executive
director of the Alliance for Better Campaigns, which encourages the media
to improve it's coverage of campaigns, called the Freedom Channel "the
ultimate cornucopia" for political information. "There's the potential here
to get broadcasters to use this material," he said. Tony Wilhelm, director
of communications policy for the Benton Foundation, hoped that sites like
the Freedom Channel would making the most of the Internet potential to
allow citizens to set the political agenda. "The question is whether it's
television by another name, and whether it will engage a larger portion of
the public," Wilhelm said.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Rebecca Fairley Raney]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/cyber/articles/18campaign.html
GERMAN COURT OVERTURNS PORNOGRAPHY RULING AGAINST COMPUSERVE
Issue: Internet/Content
Yesterday, a Bavarian court ruled that the former top executive of
Compuserve's German subsidiary is not guilty of distributing pornography.
Two years ago, Compuserve executive Felix Somm was convicted of
distributing pornography because customers could use the Internet service
provider to download child pornography from Web sites in the United States.
Compuserve argued that it had tried to block German customers from a long
list of pornographic sites. Germany is one of the most aggressive Western
nations in trying to police the Internet. Online service companies
considered this decision a victory, as it helps clarify their legal
responsibility for material that customers might obtain from the Internet.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Edmund L. Andrews]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/18compuserve-ger
many.html)
TELEPHONY
SPRINT AND MCI REQUEST APPROVAL
Issue: Mergers
Yesterday, MCI filed papers with the Federal Communications Commission
seeking approval for its purchase of Sprint. The companies expressed
in the filing that the merger of the second and third largest long distance
carriers would give them the leverage needed to compete within local
telephone service as well as a way to compete with AT&T to build broadband
networks. Federal regulators are likely to give the deal scrutiny as the
merger would leave about 80% of the current long distance customers in the
hands of AT&T and the merged company. The FCC and Justice Department both
made public statements this weekend saying they have not prejudged this
merger and will give it the usual review. MCI and Sprint argue that there
are plenty of new networks offering long-distance and that would force them
to keep its prices competitive, as they would lose their customers to the
competing long-distance companies.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, (E3), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/A13478-1999Nov17.html)
FCC WILL ADOPT POLICY ALLOWING DATA FIRMS TO SHARE PHONE LINES
Issue: Broadband
Today, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to adopt a policy
called "line sharing" that will allow competing digital subscriber line
(DSL) carriers to share the copper phone wire that delivers voice-telephone
service to homes and businesses. Currently, customers buying DSL broadband
service from companies such as Covad Communications, must buy a second
telephone line from the local incumbent telephone company. But the Baby
Bells and GTE sell high-speed data services over the same wire that carries
voice traffic, which gives the local phone companies an automatic price
advantage over competitors because customers don't have to spend the extra
$20/month or so for that second line. More residential consumers could
obtain high-speed Internet access via the DSL technology at lower cost under
the FCC's proposed policy. The Bell companies have argued the FCC has no
authority to require them to share their lines and say their rivals should
lease
a line from the Bells wholesale and offer both voice and data services on
it. Covad argues that it needs line sharing to make residential broadband
service affordable for residential customers. Other companies providing data
services via DSL include Rhythms NetConnections and NorthPoint
Communications.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mark Wingfield - Dow Jones Newswires]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB942882563241089608.htm)
THE GLOBAL SEARCH CONTINUES FOR A SINGLE WIRELESS STANDARD
Issue: Wireless Telephony
"There will be multiple broadband-wireless standards," said Mark Lowenstein,
an analyst for the Yankee Group, a consulting firm in Boston. Consolidation
in the wireless industry is prompting AT&T and British Telecommunications,
which are forming an international venture, to push hard for "multimode"
phones that will work on different networks on either side of the Atlantic.
The problem has been the standards built into the phones. Some industry
executives had hoped the next generation of wireless networks would
encompass a single standard -- but that is still not the case. There are
several standards for wireless service today, ranging from Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM) to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In
2000, two phone makers are expected to use another digital standard, Time
Division Multiple Access (TDMA). The most popular standard worldwide is GSM,
which boasts more than 230 million users, according to the Yankee Group.
Phones introduced last year allow customers to use their GSM phones in the
U.S., Asia and Europe -- but GSM has attracted only about five million users
in North America. One of the reasons the wireless industry likes to have
many different standards is that if customers could use their phone on any
network, they might be more inclined to switch wireless phone companies much
the way they switch long-distance carriers. Having more than one standard
stops people from switching so easily. In addition, not all carriers are
pushing to deliver worldwide wireless services. "I'm not sure how much
market there is" in providing international wireless services, said Richard
Lynch, chief technology officer of Bell Atlantic's wireless unit.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, (A6), AUTHOR: Stephanie N. Mehta]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB942877844806187254.htm)
PRIVACY
ACLU LAUNCHES ECHELON WEBSITE
Issue: Privacy
The American Civil Liberties Union, in conjunction with Omega Foundation and
EPIC, has launched a new web site www.echelonwatch.org, which is designed to
focus public attention on the threats to civil liberties which are posed by
Project ECHELON. Echelon is perhaps the most powerful intelligence gathering
organization in the world. Reports suggest that this network is being used
to spy on private citizens everywhere, including on the Internet. This site
is designed to encourage public discussion of this potential threat to civil
liberties, and to urge the governments of the world to protect our rights.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/)
SAFE HARBOR OR PIRATES COVE?
Issue: Privacy
The Department of Commerce has posted a revised version of its privacy
principles and "Frequently Asked Questions" (http://www.ita.doc.gov/ecom)
that provide guidance to U.S. organizations seeking to take advantage of the
"safe harbor" proposal instead of actually providing privacy protections for
their customers in Europe and the United States. Comments from the public
(http://www.ita.doc.gov/ecom/aaronmemo1199.htm#Attachment A) are due by
December 3.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/)
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
TIME WARNER IS PLANNING TO STOP 'SOFT MONEY' POLITICAL DONATIONS
Issue: Politics
Time Warner said it would no longer make large contributions to political
parties. Time Warner and Timothy Boggs, its top lobbyist, donated $471,000
to national party committees in the last election and similar amount to
various state party committees. So far this year, the company has donated
$155,000 to the national parties. Time Warner also said that it would spend
$2.6 million to bolster the campaign coverage of its media outlets and
support a youth voter-registration drive as well as the Committee for
Economic Development, which advocates banning soft money. It's unclear
whether Time Warner's move will lead to a trend. Soft-money contributions
are skyrocketing as the parties raised well over $200 million for each of
the past two elections, more than double what they had raised in each of the
previous two. The Committee for Economic Development has persuaded about 200
top executives to support its soft-money ban. "They have made a courageous
decision, and we hope it will be a model for other companies," said CED's
president, Charles Kolb.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, (A28), AUTHOR: Phil Kuntz]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB942887490446554182.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
TRADE DEAL WILL SEND OVERSEAS CAPITAL FLOODING INTO CHINA'S INTERNET
INDUSTRY
Issue: Telecommunications/International
Foreign investors will finally be allowed to legally invest in China's
thriving Internet industry. The decision was part of a trade deal reached
with the U.S. this week as China's attempts to join the World Trade
Organization. Under the deal, China will allow foreign investors to hold 49%
of certain telecommunications-service companies -- including Internet firms
-- once the country enters the global trade body. Investors will be allowed
to increase their stakes to 50% in two years. However, it is investors who
ignored Beijing's earlier bans who may benefit most. Under the terms of the
trade deal, existing investments in all service industries, including the
Internet, will be legal despite the fact that many give foreigners larger
stakes than the WTO agreement permits. Such "grandfathering" is common in
trade deals to prevent rollbacks from current positions. In this case
companies who gambled and invested ahead of the law are basically being
rewarded. Some still caution that the industry isn't yet in the clear as
Beijing needs to draft regulations that will implement the market-opening
measures its trade negotiators agreed to. Additionally, removing a ban on
foreign investment does not erase the fact that the Internet is still
regarded with suspicion by many Chinese policy makers. Chinese officials are
discussing how to license Internet companies and review content on Chinese
Web sites, areas that existing laws don't address.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, (A16), AUTHOR: Leslie Chang]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB942867426523651360.htm)
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