DIGITAL DIVIDE
One Year Later, Navajo Teen Still Waits To Log On (SJM)
NONPROFITS
As Economy Slows, Dot-Coms Crash, Dot-Orgs Are Paradigms of Stability (WSJ)
EDTECH
E-Commerce: Pushing Ahead With Online Education (NYT)
FCCC
Top FCC Official Says Agency Should Revisit AT&T Conditions (WSJ)
Consumer Information Bureau Releases its First Annual Report (FCC)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
ONE YEAR LATER, NAVAJO TEEN STILL WAITS TO LOG ON
Issue: Digital Divide
Last year, Myra Jodie, a teenager from Steamboat, Ariz., used a school computer to enter an online contest. She won a blueberry iMac. Unfortunately, Myra could not use her computer to access the Internet because the trailer she lives in has no phone. Myra became a symbol of the digital divide. When President Clinton became the first sitting president to visit the Navajo reservation, Myra introduced him to thousands in Shiprock, N.M. A wireless phone company said it would connect Myra's family to distant phone lines with its radio-based technology. But a year later, it appears to have abandoned its efforts, and Myra is still without a phone.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mike Cassidy]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/opinion/dispatch/mc031101.htm)
NONPROFITS
AS ECONOMY SLOWS, DOT-COMS CRASH, DOT-ORGS ARE PARADIGMS OF STABILITY
Issue: Nonprofits
Call it revenge of the dot-org. Two years ago, high-flying dot-coms threatened to eclipse not only brick-and-mortar companies, but also scores of nonprofit environmental, political and other grass-roots groups readily identified by their ".org" moniker. Last month, eNature.com the Web site which provides online guidebooks about plants and wildlife, was bought by the National Wildlife Federation. The big nonprofit environmental group agreed to spend $4 million in cash to bolster its presence in cyberspace. "This is one of the last places in the world we would have looked for money," says Chris Krueger, eNature's vice president and executive producer. Dot-coms and dot-orgs each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Dot-orgs have less access to capital, such as the stock market, which can be a disadvantage in boom times, and they may have trouble keeping top employees from bolting to more lucrative jobs. On the other hand, dot-orgs aren't dependent on shaky venture financi!
ng and impatient investors, a decided advantage in down economic times. And many large nonprofits have foundation sources that give them relative financial stability. As the dot.com craze disappears into oblivion, now, it's the dot-orgs that look like models of stability and even fund-raising potential.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Jim Carlton]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB984348541543781867.htm)
EDTECH
E-COMMERCE: PUSHING AHEAD WITH ONLINE EDUCATION
Issue: Edtech
While some corporate trainers and a handful of universities have found a lucrative niche in online education, many companies that target online education to the average consumer are struggling. In additional to getting consumers to pay for information they think they can get free elsewhere on the Web, online education companies have failed to dispel the image of e-learning as a feeble alternative to the real thing. "This whole idea of selling e-learning to the mass market has mostly failed because our culture hasn't moved to the point where we are self- directed learners," said Cushing Anderson, an analyst with IDC, an Internet research firm. "These companies have had big trouble finding people who simply want to learn stuff."
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/12/technology/12ECOMMERCE.html)
(requires registration)
FCC
TOP FCC OFFICIAL SAYS AGENCY SHOULD REVISIT AT&T CONDITIONS
Issue: FCC
A Federal Communications Commission official said the agency should revisit the strict conditions imposed on AT&T's acquisition of MediaOne Group, and suspend its deadline for the company to sell some cable assets. Commissioner Harold Furchgott-Roth said the agency shouldn't force AT&T to reduce its 42% share of the nation's cable-television market until the agency has had time to review a recent court decision striking down federal cable-ownership caps. Mr. Furchgott-Roth's remarks, which came just days after similar comments from FCC Chairman Michael Powell, suggest the GOP-controlled commission may be willing to adopt a softer approach toward AT&T, the nation's largest cable operator. Postponing the FCC deadline would allow AT&T to negotiate from a position of relative strength, helping it hold out for more favorable terms. "It's impossible to ask a company to come into compliance with rules that the courts found unconstitutional," said Mr. Furchgott-Roth, who voted against!
the divestiture conditions last year.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B4), AUTHOR: Yochi J. Dreazen]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB984355058168060285.htm)
CONSUMER INFORMATION BUREAU RELEASES ITS FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
Issue: FCC
The Federal Communications Commission's Consumer information Bureau has released its first annual report. In November of 1999, former FCC William Kennard created the Consumer Information Bureau to help the public make informed choice and fully benefit from increased competition and proliferation of new services and devices.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/cib/annual/2001.html)
--------------------------------------------------------------