DIGITAL DIVIDE
Digital Divide or Dividend? (NYT)
INTERNET
Virginia Court's Decision in Online 'John Doe' Case Hailed by
Free-Speech Advocates (NYT)
DTV
Transition To Digital TV Is Still Fuzzy (USA)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
DIGITAL DIVIDE OR DIVIDEND?
Issue: Digital Divide
[Op-Ed] Friedman writes of Maryann Flowers, who works for AT&T in Alaska
connecting native Eskimo villages and rural health centers. "But every time
we connect one of these native villages, I feel that a little of my native
Eskimo culture is lost," admitted Flowers. The desire to protect her culture
from bad influences, makes her wonder if the digital divide isn't a good
thing. As an antidote to Flowers fears about homogenization at the hands of
the Internet, Friedman tells of a company called Viatru, which uses the
Internet to enable native peoples to stay at home and globally market their
traditional crafts or farm product. The founders of Viatru hope to use the
Internet to preserve culture by rewarding sustainable cultural practices and
by creating a global market for them - "a digital dividend."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A21), AUTHOR: Thomas L. Friedman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/16/opinion/16FRIE.html)
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INTERNET
VIRGINIA COURT'S DECISION IN ONLINE 'JOHN DOE' CASE HAILED BY FREE-SPEECH
ADVOCATES
Issue: Internet
The Supreme Court of Virginia has refused to grant an unidentified company
access to America Online's confidential subscriber information unless the
firm agreed to reveal its identity. The plaintiff in the case, named in
court documents only as "Anonymous Publicly Traded Company," dropped its
efforts to subpoena AOL after agreeing on Wednesday to the dismissal of a
related case in Indiana. the ruling in Virginia could set a precedent for
similar lawsuits across the country. In its decision, the Virginia court
said that an anonymous plaintiff could be given subpoena power only if it
would suffer exception harm, such as a social stigma or extraordinary
economic retaliation, as a result of revealing its identity. Free speech
advocates have hailed the ruling, which they say properly recognizes the
constitutional presumption of openness in American legal proceedings.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Carl Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/16/technology/16CYBERLAW.html)
DTV
TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TV IS STILL FUZZY
Issue: DTV
The USA's transition to digital broadcast television is so far behind the
government's timetable that Congress is revisiting the issue to shove the
rollout back on track. All commercial stations are supposed to transmit
digitally by May 2002. So far, more than 180 of about 1,600 are. Fixing the
rollout is crucial, and not just for broadcasters. Today's TV frequencies
are to be auctioned for new wireless services starting later this year. But
the auctions, expected to fetch billions, will bring far less than hoped if
availability can't be guaranteed. The transition, started in 1998 and
scheduled to be finished in 2006, is "a mess, more characterized by
finger-pointing than progress," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said at a
Commerce Committee hearing earlier this month. "Early on in this session, we
need to begin to try to understand why this transition is off track so we
might think through ways to get it back on track," says Rep. Billy Tauzin,
R-La.
[SOURCE: USA Today (Online), AUTHOR: Mike Snider]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/2001-03-15-dtv.htm)
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