DIGITAL DIVIDE
White House Spurns Tech Programs (WSJ)
Clinton Links Net To Terror, Digital Divide Policies (WP)
A Lesson in Computer Literacy from India's Poorest Kids (BW)
TELEVISION
Beyond the Box: How Will Television Evolve? (HBS)
BROADBAND
A Contest Of Connections (WP)
MEDIA & GOVERNEMENT
Pentagon Buttons Propaganda Office's Lips (USA)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
WHITE HOUSE SPURNS TECH PROGRAMS LEFT OVER FROM CLINTON PRESIDENCY
Issue: Digital Divide
Despite Bush Administration acknowledgements of the success of several
popular technology initiatives, officials have been moving to dismantle
Clinton-era programs devoted to ending the digital divide. This has included
opposition to tax incentives for companies bringing broadband Internet
access to rural and poor areas as well as the "e-rate" program credited for
wiring thousands of inner-city schools and libraries. The most recent and
controversial cut is the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP). The program
was created to fund innovative uses of technology and provided matching
grants for technology projects at schools, libraries and other public
facilities. The Administration has created block grants that could be used
to fund TOP programs, but there are concerns that that state and local
officials will bypass technology programs and use the funds for other
purposes.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yochi J. Dreazen]
(http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,4287,SB1014760589610593200,00.html)
(requires subscription)
A LESSON IN COMPUTER LITERACY FROM INDIA'S POOREST KIDS
Issue: Digital Divide
Sugata Mitra, head of research efforts at New Delhi's NIIT, a fast-growing
software and education company, conducted an experiment providing PC and
Internet access poor New Delhi children. He discovered that with days, and
with out assistance, the kids had taught themselves to draw on the computer
and to browse the Net. As a result of his experiment, Mitra is convinced
that 500 million children could achieve basic computer literacy over the
next five years, if the Indian government put 100,000 Net-connected PCs in
schools and trained teachers in some basic "noninvasive" teaching techniques
for guiding children in using them. An interview with Mitra appears at URL
below.
[SOURCE: Business Week, AUTHOR: Thane Peterson]
(http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2000/nf00302b.htm)
CLINTON LINKS NET TO TERROR, DIGITAL DIVIDE POLICIES
Issue: Digital Divide
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton on Tuesday called on the global
information technology industry and governments to consider the ways in
which technology can develop globalization into a force toward a more
integrated world. Speaking on the first day of the World Congress on IT,
Clinton said that in addition to the money being earmarked for defense
spending, a healthy proportion should be set aside to "spread the benefits,
using technology, so there are fewer terrorists." He called for a new round
of debt relief for developing nations so more remote places in the world can
access a computer or the Net, get education and health information, and
expand their choices. "Distance education may be the only route to higher
education in some parts of developing countries," Clinton added.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Adam Creed]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/15378-1.html)
TELEVISION
BEYOND THE BOX: HOW WILL TELEVISION EVOLVE?
Issue: Television
The idea that television and the PC will converge in one device is over
rated, said James Ackerman, CEO of OpenTV, but they are becoming "cousins"
in more and more homes. Speaking at a Cyberposium 2002 panel on technology
and change in the entertainment and media industry, experts predicted a
gradual consumer movement from linear to on-demand programming. Panelists
indicated that the growth of on-demand, commercial-free television will
require the industry to develop new economic models. "The cost of creating
new programs isn't coming down. We need to find new economic models for
consumers to pay for content," said Ackerman "If you want to see the future
of television, go out and buy a TiVo," agreed Thomas McGrath, executive vice
president of the Viacom Entertainment Group. "Over 80 percent of consumers
with TiVo never watch a commercial at all." That trend will have dramatic
economic consequences for the industry, he added, since networks won't be
able to produce new programs without advertising revenue.
[SOURCE: Harvard Business School Bulletin, AUTHOR: Julia Hanna]
(http://hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=2789&sid=-1&t=special_r
eports_cyber2002)
BROADBAND
A CONTEST OF CONNECTIONS
Issue: Broadband
The AT&T Corp., Sprint Corp., WorldCom and a coalition of ISP and local
phone companies have spent over $10 million dollars on a campaign to block
the Tauzin-Dingell bill expected to pass the House this week. The bill would
free regional telephone companies from regulations that require they give
competitors access to their local networks at wholesale prices. Staunch
supporters of the bill, the Baby Bells argue that they need the new
incentives to make it worthwhile to lay fiber-optic cable. Rivals of the
bill believe the Bells are more interested in casting off regulations and
rewriting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that required they provide
access to their local networks before offering long-distance data and
telephone service. The bill is expected to experience a tough battle in the
Senate.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Juliet Eilperin]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7677-2002Feb26.html)
MEDIA & GOVERNEMENT
PENTAGON BUTTONS PROPAGANDA OFFICE'S LIPS
Issue: Media & Government
The Pentagon will close the Office of Strategic Influence created
post-September 11 to communicate the United State's point-of-view on the
U.S. war on terrorism. The office fell under harsh criticism last week when
it was reported to have proposed the spreading false information to foreign
journalists.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2002/02/26/propaganda-office-closing.ht
m)
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