EDTECH
Internet Access Spreads to More Classrooms, Survey Finds (CyberTimes)
CABLE
U.S. Seeks to Restore Law Limiting Sex Channels on Cable (NYT)
Justices Hear Arguments On Cable Smut Restrictions (WP)
INTERNET
Have Laptop, Will Upload for Dinner (NYT)
Beware Comparison Web Sites (USA)
TELEPHONY
Telenor, Telia Launch Bid For Irish Telecom Firm Esat (WSJ)
Common Carrier Bureau Grants Five States Authority To
Implement Measures To Conserve Telephone Numbers (FCC)
EDTECH
INTERNET ACCESS SPREADS TO MORE CLASSROOMS, SURVEY FINDS
Issue: EdTech
Today, 90% of American schools report having Internet access, up from just
32% three years ago, a recent study found. "Technology in Education 1999,"
Market Data Retrieval's annual look at computers in the schools, also
indicated that the country has yet to reach the Department of Education's
goal of one modern computer for every five students in America's public
schools. Currently the ratio is one for every 10 students. The study also
revealed that there is a still a disturbing trend of slower deployment of
technology in schools with high poverty rates and a high percentage of
minority students. For example, 94 percent of schools in the wealthiest
communities have Internet access, while only 84 percent of the schools in
the poorest areas do. "Citizens should be able to expect a decent public
education," B. Keith Fulton, director of technology programs and policy at
the National Urban League. "To the extent that schools are not providing
students with meaningful connectivity, they are failing their mandate to
provide a good public education."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Pamela Mendels]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/cyber/education/01education.html)
CABLE
U.S. SEEKS TO RESTORE LAW LIMITING SEX CHANNELS ON CABLE
Issue: Cable/Content
Yesterday, the Clinton administration went before the Supreme Court to
defend a recent federal law intended to shield households that do not
subscribe to sexually explicit cable television channels from receiving
unwanted and incompletely scrambled signals during hours when children
might be watching. Last year, a special three-judge federal court struck
down that law on First Amendment grounds because it requires any cable
system that does not have the technology to scramble those unwanted signals
completely to limit their sexually oriented programming to hours when
children were least likely to watch. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the
government was acting as "kind of a super parent" rather than leaving it to
parents who are concerned about the problem to order blocking devices for
their home television sets. A parallel provision of that law requires cable
systems to make these devices available without charge upon request from
the customer. A brief filed by organizations representing booksellers, the
movie industry, the recording industry and others said that because "the
once discrete worlds of print and electronic media are discrete no longer,"
the Supreme Court should stop trying to calibrate different First Amendment
standards for different media. It was noted in the court briefs that as
cable systems switch from analog to digital equipment, the problem is
expected to disappear. Justices questioned parents ability to order and
install the free channel blocking device.
[SOURCE: New York Times, (A19) AUTHOR: Linda Greenhouse]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/articles/120199sex-cable-tv.
html)
See Also:
JUSTICES HEAR ARGUMENTS ON CABLE SMUT RESTRICTIONS
Issue: Cable/Content
Playboy Entertainment describes a federal law designed to block sexually
explicit cable programs from child viewers as "regulatory overkill" before
the Supreme Court. The government contends however that without the law,
graphic adult programming could be glimpsed by anyone, especially children,
"merely with the flip of a dial." The case involves cable channels whose
signals "bleed" into the homes of nonsubscribers. As part of the
wide-ranging 1996 telecommunications law, Congress required cable operators
offering sexually explicit content to "fully scramble" their signals or to
show such programming only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. However, a special
district court in Delaware said the provision violated the First
Amendment's free speech guarantee, noting that the law requires complete
scrambling even to households without children. The Supreme Court justices
expressed doubts about whether "lockboxes" are a viable alternative. The
justices set out to distinguish what sort of "sexually explicit"
programming is restricted under the law and whether it is too broadly defined.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A4), AUTHOR: Joan Biskupic]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/01/081l-120199-idx.html)
INTERNET
HAVE LAPTOP, WILL UPLOAD FOR DINNER
Issue: Internet/ Employment
The Internet has enabled job seekers to not just look for work from the
comfort of their own homes, but to get paid with out ever having to leave
their front doors. Sites like www.eLance.com, Monster.com and FlexMind.com
help pair up independent contractors with employers who are looking to
outsource work. In these times of low unemployment many employers are eager
to gain access to a new pool of freelancers without having to pay for
office space or fringe benefits. Some sites charge employers 20 percent of
whatever they are paying to the freelancer, but others are free for both
companies and perspective employees.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Leonhardt]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/01elan.html)
BEWARE COMPARISON WEB SITES
Issue: E-commerce
Comparison shopping sites on the Internet may not always be offering
information that is objective. Many of these sites only search those online
stores that pay to be in their listing. Other comparison shopping sites
search various sites but give preferential placement to those sites that
pay to be listed. Consumers should know that the results they receive are
not exhaustive, Consumer Reports' Ellen Braitman says. Cnet, America
Online, and Disney's Go Network list findings only from those companies
that pay to be in the search. MySimon.com searches 2,000 sites but puts the
listings returned from its paying partners first.
[SOURCE:USA Today (1B), AUTHOR: Deborah Solomon]
(http://www.usatoday.com)
TELEPHONY
TELENOR, TELIA LAUNCH BID FOR IRISH TELECOM FIRM ESAT
Issue: Merger
Today, telecommunications firms Telenor of Norway and Telia of Sweden,
which are in the process of merging, launched an unsolicited bid valued at
$1.59 billion to buy Irish telecom operator Esat Telecom Group. A few
months ago, Telia and Telenor announced they would merge to create a
company with a market value of as much as $30 billion, propelling the tiny
local players to a medium-range player in Europe's telecom landscape. Esat
offers telecommunications and Internet services in the Irish market and
also owns 49.5% in Irish cellular operator Esat Digiphone, in which
Telia/Telenor also owns 49.5%.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal Interactive, AUTHOR: Dow Jones Newswires]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB944040346351027885.htm)
COMMON CARRIER BUREAU GRANTS FIVE STATES AUTHORITY TO IMPLEMENT MEASURES TO
CONSERVE TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Issue: Telephony
The Common Carrier Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
today released five orders granting the utility commissions in Connecticut,
New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin interim authority to engage in
various telephone number conservation procedures to help ease the cost and
inconvenience associated with area code changes. Under the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC may delegate to state commissions
all or any portion of its jurisdiction over numbering administration.
Efforts are underway to develop nationwide solutions to address the problem
of telephone number depletion, so the FCC grants only interim authority at
this time to the state commissions to institute many of the measures
requested in their petitions. The forthcoming decisions in the Numbering
Resource Optimization proceeding, which will establish national guidelines,
standards and procedures for numbering resource optimization, will be the
ultimate authority with respect to this issue. Action by the Common Carrier
Bureau November 30, 1999 by Orders (DA 99-2633, DA 99-2634, DA 99-2635, DA
99-2636, DA 99-2637). Yog R. Varma, Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission Common Carrier Bureau]
(http://www.fcc.gov)
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