Communications-related Headlines for 3/11/02

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Baltimore Uses African History to Bridge Digital Divide (BS)
Malaysia Responds to Digital Divide with New Initiatives (The Star)

BROADBAND
FCC to Classify Cable Internet Services (WP)
Taming the Consumer's Computer (NYT)

INTERNET
Experts Raise Alarm Over Health Info On Internet (SJM)
Argentineans Use Internet to Protest (Wired)
Internet Archivists Seek to Preserve Digital Records as Cultural
Snapshots (WSJ)
Web's Uses Go Beyond Shopping, To Science, One Aquarium Shows (WSJ)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

BALTIMORE USES AFRICAN HISTORY TO BRIDGE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Issue: Digital Divide
A new after-school program in Baltimore is designed to make 4 million years
of African history come alive through technology. The city, in partnership
with Harvard University, debuted the first of three planned Martin Luther
King Jr. After-School Academies. The program hope to serve two purposes:
bridge the digital divide for African-American youth and have them learn
their heritage at the same time. Children learn a range of computer skills
through a curriculum based in black history. Baltimore is the second city to
offer a King after-school program. Harvard's W.E.B. DuBois Institute
initiated a similar program in Boston last year.
[SOURCE: Baltimore Sun, AUTHOR: Erika Niedowski]
(http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.academy09mar09.story?coll=bal%2Dlo
cal%2Dheadlines)

MALAYSIA RESPONDS TO DIGITAL DIVIDE WITH NEW INITIATIVES
Issue: Digital Divide
Malaysia hopes by 2005 to have an Internet penetration rate of 25% and a PC
ownership rate of 30%. Getting there, however, is proving quite a challenge.
Originally, it was thought that the digital divide was simply between rural
and urban populations. Now it is recognized that there are digital divides
in pockets or communities within these areas. In order to address these
additional rural-urban divides, the government has embarked on several
initiatives including the National PC Ownership Campaign, free public
cybercentres, and provision of PCs and Internet access to 8,000 primary and
secondary schools nationwide. The government would also like to engage the
private sector and communities to implement community learning centers and
senior citizen learning centers. The cost of new PCs and software could
seriously limit the scope of these initiatives. "One or two PCs and software
are affordable, but 10 to 100 PCs - plus software - is too expensive for
most private and community initiatives," says Dr. Nah Soo Hoe, a member of
the Malaysian national Computer Confederation's Open Source Special Interest
Group. Dr. Nah proposes to use refurbished PCs and open source software to
overcome funding limitations.
[SOURCE: The Star, AUTHOR: Charles F. Moreira]
(http://www.star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2002/3/8/technology/08
divide&sec=technology)

BROADBAND

FCC TO CLASSIFY CABLE INTERNET SERVICES
Issue: Broadband
This week, the Federal Communications Commission will decide how to classify
high-speed Internet access over cable lines, a move that should clarify
whether cable operators are obliged to open their pipes to multiple Internet
service providers (ISPs). Federal courts have issued conflicting rulings
over whether cable Internet service should be classified as an information
service or a telecommunications offering. Given FCC Chairman Michael
Powell's well-known deregulatory approach, the commission is expected to
keep cable operators free from telephone-style regulations. Consumer groups
have pushed the FCC and the federal courts to force cable providers to open
their networks to rival ISPs, noting that the nation's two largest cable
companies control nearly 70 percent of the broadband Internet market and
close to 80 percent of the basic cable market.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Newsbytes Staff]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/15583-1.html)

TAMING THE CONSUMER'S COMPUTER
Issue: Intellectual Property
[Op-Ed] The media industry is eager to insure that the next generation of
personal computers is unable to deliver unauthorized movies, music and other
content. Recently, top entertainment executives asked that Congress to
intervene if industry failed to deliver the necessary technology to
safeguard its products. Jonathan L. Zittrain described plans for new
"trusted" PC's that be "digital gatekeepers that act like the bouncers
outside a nightclub, ensuring that only software that looks or behaves a
certain way is allowed in." But he warns that this shift from open platforms
to closed appliance could threaten "competition, innovation and consumer
freedom." While Zittrain see the move toward more trustworthy PC's as
inevitable, he is concerned about the what the consumer will lose.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jonathan L. Zittrain (assistant professor
at Harvard Law School and a director of its Berkman Center for Internet &
Society)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/11/opinion/11ZITT.html)
(requires registration)

INTERNET

EXPERTS RAISE ALARM OVER HEALTH INFO ON INTERNET
Issue: Internet
Medical experts and researchers are concerned about the accuracy of health
information on the Internet. A study of 121 Web sites offering health
information on five topics found information on credible Web sites is not
always accurate. "Our study shows that features of Web site credibility have
only slight or at best moderate correlation with accuracy of information in
five common health topics," said Khalid Khan of Birmingham Women's Hospital
in England. In an effort to collect data on the consumer impact of online
health information, scientists at Germany's University of Heidelberg have
launched the Database of Adverse Events Related to the Internet. The
researchers say they are not suggesting the Internet is harmful to patients,
but believe qualitative data is needed to assess any risks involved in
consumer's using the Internet for health information.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/2820089.htm)

ARGENTINEANS USE INTERNET TO PROTEST
Issue: Internet
Last December, in an effort to save an unstable financial system, the
Argentine government froze all Argentine bank deposits. The freeze, known as
the "corralito" has resulted in massive protests, or "cacerolazos", by
citizens who simply want access to their savings. Saying that the protests
portray a poor image of Argentina to the world, some government officials
have moved to stifle them. Mainstream media, accused of being in the
government's pocket, has largely sided against the protesters. The
protestors, however, are not giving up. Instead, they have taken their
dissatisfaction with the government to the Internet. Several sites have
sprung up to promote and organize protests, discuss issues, and provide
information. Similar sites are being created in other Latin American
countries. Argentina, Columbia and Venezuela's Internet "cacerolazos" may
have different goals, but they share the same spirit: to show the people's
dissatisfaction with political inefficiency and corruption.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Agustin d`Empaire]
(http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,50920,00.html)

INTERNET ARCHIVISTS SEEK TO PRESERVE RECORDS AS CULTURAL SNAPSHOTS
Issue: Internet
The first hours and days after the September 11 attacks are available online
through the efforts of the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library.
The archive includes duplicates of Web pages, message-board postings and
email messages that can be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection.
The widespread use of the Internet in response to the Sept. 11 attacks
underscores the value of archiving digital communications for future
historical analysis. A new Web site called the Sept. 11 Digital Archive
will be launched through a joint effort of the City University of New York
Graduate Center and George Mason University. While the Internet Archive is
created by using automated software robots that crawl sites and index copies
of Web pages, the Sept. 11 Digital Archive reviews all submissions before
publishing them online. A Columbia University professor has cautioned that
while Internet materials do make a valuable contribution to history, they do
not capture everyone's experience. Many people still do not have regular
access to the Internet or choose to spend time online.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas E. Weber]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1015803147665595880,00.html?mod=todays%5
Fus%5Fmarketplace%5Fhs)
(Requires Subscription)

WEB'S USES GO BEYOND SHOPPING TO SCIENCE, ONE AQUARIUM SHOWS
Issue: Internet
Last Spring, high-tech cameras brought live pictures of an unknown deep-sea
squid to a worldwide audience of marine biologists and the general public.
Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
encountered the squid by accident while monitoring high-resolution cameras
on a remotely operated vehicle working in 11,000-foot deep waters. The
development of these real-time, interactive technologies are an excellent
example of the impact of the Web and how it can complement and advance
scientific research. On an ongoing basis, visitors to the Monterey Bay
Aquarium, the sister organization of MBARI, can watch sea otters, penguins
and sharks and turtles via Web cams. Both MBARI and the Monterey Bay
Aquarium receive funding from the Packard family foundation. Following the
late David Packard's vision much of the annual $30 million budget is used to
support projects that require complex robotics and computing. New
technologies have enabled researchers to collect a variety of unconventional
data that present new challenges. "Finding ways to make better sense of it
all is a big challenge in the future, says Debbie Meyer, a MBARI researcher.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kara Swisher]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1015802424615871560,00.html?mod=todays%5
Fus%5Fmarketplace%5Fhs)
(Requires Subscription)

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