INTERNET
Protesters Find the Web to Be a Powerful Tool (NYT)
Survey: British Net Fans More Sociable Than Non-Users (SJM)
Plans for Technology National Guard (NYT)
eBlaster, The V-Chip's Tougher Big Brother (WP)
INTERNET
PROTESTERS FIND THE WEB TO BE A POWERFUL TOOL
Issue: Internet
Many of the small and scattered groups of Americans who disapprove of the
Bush administration's response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 are
finding the Internet to be a powerful tool for reaching other dissenters.
People opposed to the war are "certainly one of the most vocal groups on the
Net," said Andrew Carvin, who runs an online discussion forum about Sept. 11
and its aftermath. Mr. Carvin [a senior associate at Benton] said many
participants use free, disposable e- mail addresses and do not identify
themselves. America's first war of the Internet age is spawning a new cohort
of protesters who take for granted the ability to consult a vast array of
international news sources with a few mouse-clicks and is teaching old
activists new tactics.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Amy Harmon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/21/technology/21ANTI.html)
SURVEY: BRITISH NET FANS MORE SOCIABLE THAN NON-USERS
Issue: Internet
A recent survey found that Britons who surf the Internet are more likely to
trust others and do voluntary work than those who don't. Almost a third of
Internet users belong to a community group, compared with less than a
quarter of those who had never used a search engine, according to the survey
released Monday by the National Center for Social Research. "They don't
leave out their friends and family because they spend time hunched over
their computer -- they simply watch less television,'' said Andrew Oswald, a
professor at Warwick University in central England who took part in the
research. The study also found that those with money and education were much
more likely to use the Internet, he said.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1680423l.htm)
PLANS FOR TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL GUARD
Issue: Security
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, there is growing concern about protecting the
nation's information infrastructure. "There is a big hole to be filled in an
expanding national service system," said Will Marshall, president of the
Progressive Policy Institute, a Democratic research center in Washington.
"The more we become dependent on the information backbone, the more we need
to be prepared." Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, is championing a
proposal for a National Emergency Technology Guard, or NetGuard, and plans
to hold hearings on the issue in December. "Technology and science is the
one area that has not yet been mobilized to achieve its maximum potential,"
said Senator Wyden, who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on
Science and Technology. NetGuard is just an idea at this point, and many
issues must be resolved, including how such a corps would be organized. But
perhaps the biggest obstacle is persuading members of the technology
community to work together.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Amy Cortese]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/26/technology/ebusiness/26NECO.html)
(requires registration)
EBLASTER, THE V-CHIP'S TOUGHER BIG BROTHER
Issue: Internet
Parents now have a new tool to help them tame the wild World Wide Web. A new
generation of "spyware", called eBlaster, enables parents to check the Web
sites their children visit, whom they talk to online and even what they say.
And they can gather all this information without their kids ever knowing.
"Part of me feels very guilty," says a Colorado mom who uses the eBlaster to
covertly monitor her daughter's online activities. "I wouldn't want to read
her diary. The only way I've been able to think about it is the risks are so
much higher these days. She could be talking to a 50-year-old pervert with
AIDS."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E05), AUTHOR: Laura Sessions Stepp]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/13842-1.html)
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