POLICY & THE ECONOMY
Lower Wages Never Looked Better (Wired)
COPYRIGHT
Court Takes up Copyright Law Case (AP)
LIBRARIES
Even in Seattle, Some High-Tech Ideas are Too Far-Out (WSJ)
EDTECH
School Computer Deal Includes Families (Ed Week)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
The Challenge Of Getting Latinos Online (Newsday)
INTERNET
Plea for Web Continuity (SCMP)
POLICY & THE ECONOMY
LOWER WAGES NEVER LOOKED BETTER
Issues: The Economy, Workforce Issues
In their new report, "A Prescription to Relieve Worker Anxiety," economists
Lori Kletzker and Robert Litan propose a "wage insurance" provided by the
U.S. government to supplement the incomes of suffering dot-commers forced to
take lower-paying jobs. They argue that a wage insurance would encourage
former technology workers to go back into the workforce rather than stay at
home and accept unemployment checks. Keeping people employed would also
contribute to attempts to prevent a recession, they argue. Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan seems to agree with at least part of this idea.
Speaking before the Senate Finance Committee last month, he alluded to a
wage insurance, stating, "In the end, economic progress clearly rests on
competition. It would be a great tragedy were we to stop the wheels of
progress because of an incapacity to assist the victims of progress."
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Jenn Shreve]
(http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42942,00.html)
COPYRIGHT
COURT TAKES UP COPYRIGHT LAW CASE
Issues: Freedom of Speech and Copyright Law
Should access to software that can decrypt digital movies be considered a
constitutional right? That is the question raised in a case brought before a
federal appeals court on Tuesday that will test the scope of copyright law.
Current law allows individuals to make legitimate copies under its "fair
use" provision, and the defense is making the case that software and its
underlying code require constitutional protection to defend against unfair
use. But according to Judge Jon Newman of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals,
"At worse, [the digital format] eliminates fair use in the most
technologically preferable form.... It doesn't say anything about making
fair use with less technologically (sophisticated) methods." In other words,
"fair use" doesn't necessarily apply to higher-quality digital media when
videotapes and other non-digital media formats already allow "fair use"
copying.
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010501/aponline181700_000.h
tm)
LIBRARIES
EVEN IN SEATTLE, SOME HIGH-TECH IDEAS ARE TOO FAR-OUT
Issues: Libraries and information technology
In Seattle, Washington, there has been a backlash from within the technology
community against extravagant plans to build an "information age" library.
Plans for the building include a "waterfall of information" and floor lights
that turn on as librarians walk on them. Rem Koolhaas, the award-winning
Dutch architect hired to build the high-tech library in Seattle, has stated
that libraries should abandon their "unquestioned loyalty to the book"
because this philosophy would "undermine the library's plausibility at the
moment of its potential apotheosis." Offering a reality check,
representatives of the local technology community have argued that the
library's builders should focus less on architectural aesthetics and more on
practical matters such as effective strategies for providing public Internet
access. Microsoft's Dick Brass said about the plans, "We don't mind the
occasional unusual structure, so long as it works."
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Rebecca Buckman]
(http://www.wsj.com)
(requires subscription)
EDTECH
SCHOOL COMPUTER DEAL INCLUDES FAMILIES
Issue: School-Home Computer Purchasing
Across the US, there's been a growing trend in which high-population school
districts sign exclusive agreements with a particular computer company,
giving students and their families opportunities to purchase PCs at reduced
prices. For example, Florida's Hillsborough County School District recently
entered into a five year, $50 million agreement with Compaq, Inc. that will
help the district's 160,000 students purchase reduced-price computers. The
practice has been praised as a practical solution to getting computers into
the homes of students, which has become increasingly important as schools
embrace education technology in their curricula. Others, however, have
expressed concerns that these agreements effectively block out other PC
products that might serve families better, especially as newer technologies
are released over the term of the contract.
[SOURCE: Education Week, AUTHOR: Andrew Trotter]
(http://edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=33deal.h20)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
THE CHALLENGE OF GETTING LATINOS ONLINE
Issues: Latinos, Digital Divide, Access
As reported recently by the US Census Bureau, America's Latino population
has skyrocketed in the last decade. At the same time, a growing number of
Latinos are going online - though a digital divide still persists, says Matt
Barreto of the Tom