INTERNET GOVERNANCE
Can Anyone Organize the Internet? Yes, ICANN. (WSJ)
Internet Group Says Individuals Will Have to Wait (NYT)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Following the Money, Through the Web (NYT)
WIRELESS
Speeding Up Wireless Computing (NYT)
Bell Atlantic in Talks with Vodafone (USA)
MEDIA & SOCIETY/ MINORITIES
BET.com Will Spur, Not Scare, Competitors (USA)
MERGER
Cisco to Acquire Networking Firm Cerent (WSJ)
LIBRARIES
The Struggle to Find Librarians (WP)
INTERNET GOVERNANCE
CAN ANYONE ORGANIZE THE INTERNET? YES, ICANN.
Issue: Internet
[OP-ED] ICANN held its third board meeting, which wraps up today in Santiago,
Chile. Ester Dyson wrote of the agenda of this meeting by stating that ICANN
was set up to make the protocols of the Internet work. She said ICANN is
making decisions concerning "policies for the allocation of domain names in
the .com, .net and org 'top level' domains -- for now, the most popular
ones. Our challenge is to find some consensus on where to draw the line
between 'abusive' registrations, in which someone is stealing the value
created by someone else's trademark -- and cases where someone in good faith
has registered a name that may be someone else's trademark." Dyson continued
by saying that the Internet originally grew by market rules but that it
cannot continue for two reasons. First, she said, "the old system is no
longer working so smoothly. Like it or not, governments around the world --
not just the U.S. -- want to see someone 'in charge'." Secondly she stated,
"Moving from monopoly to an open market is a complicated process, as
experience in the telephone market has taught. In the long run, the market
will work, but making the transition requires oversight." Dyson said that
there may be other alternatives to the trademark/domain name issue in the
future -- so that people are not battling over the few names ending with
.com. "In addition to .com, .net and .org, do we want .store,
.air for airlines or .fin for financial institutions?" she asked. "That
would provide
some competition for .com, and competition is the best market regulator."
Dyson ended by saying, "Icann's challenge is to help that happen
smoothly -- and not to get so wedded to fixing the current system that it
can't recognize the value of something better."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, A18, AUTHOR: Esther Dyson is the president of
Edventure Holdings and interim chairman of Icann]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB935619569495464879.htm)
INTERNET GROUP SAYS INDIVIDUALS WILL HAVE TO WAIT
Issue: Internet
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet's
new governing body, has again rejected request to create a membership group
that would represent individual Internet domain name owners. ICANN has
plans to adopt a policy for resolving domain name disputes at its board
meeting, which is being held at the University of Chile this week. Critics
say that the proposal on the table, which was written without input from an
official voice of individual Internet user and non-commercial interests,
favors major trademark holders over individuals and small businesses.
"Given that individuals are the single largest group of Internet users, it
is remarkable that substantive issues that speak directly to the rights of
domain name holders are being resolved with neither individuals nor
non-commercial users being represented," wrote Mikki Barry of the Domain
Name Rights Coalition.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/cyber/articles/26domain.html)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
FOLLOWING THE MONEY, THROUGH THE WEB
Issue: Political Discourse
As the 2000 presidential race heats up, the Internet has made it easier
than ever to track who is giving money to whom. On the Web you can find
out, for instance, that the famous Beverly Hills ZIP code 90210 gave more
money to federal candidates than any other ZIP code in California. The
Internet is making it easier for journalists, political opponents and
citizens to draw connections between the dots between politician's
positions and their funding sources. Federal candidates and their parties
have had to provide filings with the Federal Election commission on how
much money is raised, who donated it and how the money is spent. Until
1996, when the commission began putting much of the information online, one
needed to go to the commission's offices in Washington to access those
records. "This is an extraordinary development. Anyone, anywhere in
America, can click onto one of these Web sites and see who is behind their
lawmaker," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public
Integrity. "I don't want to sound pie-in-the-sky, but this brings democracy
and accountability much closer to the average citizen."
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: Leslie Wayne]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/circuits/articles/26camp.html)
WIRELESS
SPEEDING UP WIRELESS COMPUTING
Issue: Wireless
As the idea of wireless data networks grows in popularity, cellular
carriers and other companies are working hard to bring mobile technology up
to speed. Currently, even the most state of the art wireless data
transmissions are slow compared to high-speed lines. In the next few years,
more than a dozen companies will spend millions of dollars to upgrade the
nation's wireless systems, with means adding software and hardware to tens
of thousands of the cellular base stations. Upgrades will happen
bit-by-bit, much the way the current wireless systems came to be. For some
carriers, the first step in the transition is an increase to 14.4 kbps,
which does not allow much beyond transmitting e-mail and files and
obtaining relatively small amounts of information off of Web sites. By 2001
or so, such services could be eclipsed by a system known as G3, the true
third generation for high-speed wireless transmission, and speeds of up to
2 megabits per second. G3 will arrive in Europe and Japan much sooner,
because among other things, U.S. carriers must contend with incompatible
and competing standards for digital services. Some analysts and industry
executives are even questioning the need for these super-high-speed data
wireless networks. "The question is, What will customers do with such
high-speed links for data?" said Oliver Valente, vice president for
advanced systems development at Sprint PCS. "It will depend on the market
we see for very high-speed data."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Katie Hafner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/circuits/articles/26next.html)
BELL ATLANTIC IN TALKS WITH VODAFONE
Issue: Wireless
An alliance is being discussed that would give competition to national
wireless carriers such as AT&T, Sprint and Nextel. The alliance, between
Bell Atlantic and Vodafone would allow customers who buy large blocks of
time to call anywhere in the U.S. without paying long-distance prices.
Bankers for the two companies are meeting this week in London to discuss
details. Together, the companies have 17 million wireless customers. A full
merger has also been in the discussion, but Bell Atlantic is buying GTE,
which competes with Vodafone in some markets and they would likely be forced
by regulators to sell off some of their other assets to complete such a
deal. For the short term, a long term roaming agreement seems to be the
likely outcome, allowing each companies' customers to get discounted prices all
across the U.S. for their wireless services.
[SOURCE: USA Today, 1B, AUTHOR: Steve Rosenbush and Thor Vladmants]
(http://www.usatoday.com/money/mds9.htm)
MEDIA & SOCIETY/MINORITIES
BET.COM WILL SPUR, NOT SCARE, COMPETITORS
Issue: Internet/Minorities
BET.com, a web portal aimed at African-Americans Web users is not ensured
an e-commerce monopoly similar to that of its broadcast unit Black
Entertainment Television. Rather, the first-of-its-kind Web site will
likely open the door to more capital for competitors also targeting
minorities on the Web. BET.com was announced by Robert L. Johnson, chairman
and fonder of Black Entertainment Television, and will be launched in
November with funding from Microsoft and three media giants. Research shows
4.3 million African American use the Internet from home, and, according to
Forester Research, African-Americans are adopting the Internet at a faster
rate than the rest of the population. Venture capitalists are expected to
take an active interest in Web sites with similar audiences to BET.com,
such as Blackvoices.com and Netnoir.com.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Gwen Daye Richardson]
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/ncguest1.htm)
MERGER
CISCO TO ACQUIRE NETWORKING FIRM CERENT
Issue: Merger
In what is believed to be the highest price ever paid for a closely held
technology company, Cisco Systems has agreed to acquire Cerent for about
$6.9 billion in stock. Cerent, a Petaluma, California start-up company,
makes devices that route telephone calls and Internet traffic on and off
fiber-optic lines. Its equipment serves as a bridge between communications
lines and the local telephone and data network, helping to reduce congestion
and allow phone companies to move more types of data faster. Cerent's first
product, for example, can handle 240 gigabits of data a second, the
equivalent of 3.8 million phone calls or 160,000 high-speed T-1 lines.
Cerent commanded the extraordinary price even though it has never turned a
profit. Cisco announced the acquisition along with a deal to buy Monterey
Networks, a Richardson, Texas networking company, for about $450 million in
stock -- these two purchases are Cisco's 39th and 40th acquisitions.
Speaking with Cerent employees, John Chambers, Cisco's chief executive, said
his company is determined to be the leader in optical networking technology.
"We don't think this can be done by one company without combining skills,"
he said.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, A3, AUTHOR: Scott Thurm]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB935625277526496066.htm)
LIBRARIES
THE STRUGGLE TO FIND LIBRARIANS
Issue: Libraries
As traditional school libraries have turned into media labs, schools are
hard pressed to find librarians at ease with both books and technology. A
shortage of librarians in general was instigated by the early retirement of
many older librarians uneasy with the new technology found in most
libraries today. There is also swelling retirement numbers of tech-savvy
librarians of the baby-boom generation. In Maryland, Virginia and the
District of Columbia, at least half of all library media specialists are
expected to retire in the next five to 10 years. Some schools districts are
actively recruiting teachers who are also trained in the latest technology
so they eventually can become library media specialists, as well as
offering tuition-reimbursement programs for current teachers to attend
local universities and take classes towards a master's degree in library
science. Other school districts are using parent volunteers in school
libraries. "Being a [media specialist] is not one of the more glamorous of
technology jobs," Ken Reed, director of technology services and resources
for Alexandria schools . "A lot of people see themselves in classrooms and
not in the library. . . . That's because it is a job that is not well
understood and appreciated."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Mary Louise Schumacher]
(http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/26/016l-082699-idx.h
tml)
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