INTERNET
Survey Shows Mixed Use Among Wired Schools (NYT)
VeriSign-ICANN .Com Deal Now In Govt Hands (WP)
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act - The First Year (CME)
MERGER
AOL Time Warner Reports Higher Earnings (NYT)
JOURNALISM
Dictatorship TV (USA)
INTERNET
SURVEY SHOWS MIXED USE AMONG WIRED SCHOOLS
Issue: Edtech
Recent survey suggests that colleges are wiring classrooms at a slower pace
than their primary and secondary school counterparts. According to a survey
done by education research firm Market Data Retrieval, 64 percent of
colleges say they have Internet access in their classrooms, up from 49
percent in the 1999-2000 academic year. Elementary and high schools have
wired 63 percent of their classrooms, up from 3 percent in 1994. Experts
said it might be less important for colleges to wire classrooms because
students learn in a less controlled environment and are apt to have access
to technology in libraries and dormitories. One hundred percent of colleges
reported they have Internet access in their libraries, 94 percent said their
computer labs are wired and 40 percent said their dormitories have online
access, according to the survey.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Rebecca S. Weiner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/18/technology/18EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)
VERISIGN-ICANN .COM DEAL NOW IN GOVT HANDS
Issue: Internet
On Monday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
sent contractual agreements that would ensconce VeriSign Inc. as the
permanent steward of the global ".com" to the US Department of Commerce.
Once the sole seller of Internet addresses in .com, .net and .org,
VeriSign's monopoly was broken in 1999 by the US Commerce Department and the
not-for-profit ICANN, which was charged by the US government with managing
the Internet's worldwide addressing system. Lawmakers have urged the
Commerce Department to closely review the controversial arrangement between
VeriSign and ICANN. "Without taking a position on the propriety of the
revised agreement, we want to ensure that any actions by ICANN support and
encourage strong, vibrant competition," wrote Commerce Committee Chairman
Billy Tauzin(R-LA), Ranking Democrat John Dingell(D-MI), Internet
Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) in a
letter to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David McGuire (Newsbytes.com)]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/9113-1.html)
CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT - THE FIRST YEAR
Issue: Privacy
To mark the anniversary of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
(COPPA), which went into effect on April 21, 2000, the Center for Media
Education (CME) conducted a study of commercial Web sites directed at
children under age 13 to see if they are complying with the provisions of
COPPA.
[SOURCE: Center For Media Education]
(http://www.cme.org/press/010417pr.html)
MERGER
AOL TIME WARNER REPORTS HIGHER EARNINGS
Issue: Merger
As many Internet media companies struggle to meet expectations, AOL Time
Warner, the world's largest Internet and media company, is reporting higher
than expected first-quarter earnings, due strong growth in its online and
cable television subscription businesses. In a statement the company said
its cash earnings rose to 23 cents a share, from 19 cents a year earlier.
"AOL came in with a surprisingly strong quarter in the face of a very
difficult environment," said Jefferies & Co. analyst Fred Moran. "It shows
the fortitude and power of this extremely well-entrenched company and that
it is proving not especially sensitive to the recession or the dot-com ad
bust."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/18/business/business-aoltimewarne.html)
(requires registration)
JOURNALISM
DICTATORSHIP TV
Issue: Journalism/Television
[Editorial] In Russia this week, a top newspaper and magazine were shut down
and the country's only independent national television station, NTV, was
taken over. While officially the shutdowns are explained as business
decisions, many believe the real motivation is that media were getting in
the way of Russian President Vladimir Putin's broader campaign to
consolidate his power. The USAToday writes that "he has set out to crush the
independent media and others who've sought to unmask his increasingly
authoritarian bent." The paper goes on to say that since Putin took office,
"he has steadily pushed Russia toward its historic pattern of rule by a czar
or cadre of apparatchiks who control resources undeterred by an uninformed,
suffering public."
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: USAToday Editorial Staff]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010418/3243354s.htm)
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