DIGITAL DIVIDE
Finding Free Internet Access for Those Without (NYT)
Retirees, Minorities Flocking To The Web (Newsbytes.com)
INTERNET
Web Sites Inconsistent on Health, Study Finds (NYT)
COMPETITION
Telco Competition Needs No More Gestation Time - Cerf
(Newsbytes.com)
FCC
Testimony of Chairman Powell On FCC Appropriation (FCC)
SECURITY
U.S. to Give Scholarships For Cyber-Security Corps (WSJ)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
FINDING FREE INTERNET ACCESS FOR THOSE WITHOUT
Issue: Digital Divide
A group of nonprofit organizations are working to help get young people
connected to the Internet by building and distributing a directory - in
both English and Spanish - of more than 20,000 locations nationwide that
offer free Internet access. The ConnectNet database, searchable by zip code,
provides information about free Internet access at libraries and other
community technology centers. A toll-free telephone number - (866) 583-1234
- also provide the information to those without Internet access. "This is
really the first site of its kind to plot out community technology centers,"
said Andy Carvin, a senior associate at the Benton Foundation, which houses
the database on it's Digital Divide Network site. The Kaiser Family
Foundation is promoting the effort through a serious of television
advertisements, directed at teenagers, that will air in English and Spanish
throughout the summer.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: REBECCA WEINER]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/23/technology/23EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)
RETIREES, MINORITIES FLOCKING TO THE WEB
Issue: Digital Divide
A survey on the changing make-up of Internet users reported that the
audience is becoming more diverse in terms of ethnicity, economic status,
education and lifestyle. The report, released by The Media Audit, found that
senior citizens, homemakers and minorities are discovering the Internet and
are making up a large volume of new Net users. Media Audit's co-chairman Bob
Jordan reported that there has been a sharp rise in broadband users,
creating a "two-tier market," at least for now. Jordan predicted that
Internet access will become as essential to providing communications,
information and entertainment by 2010 as the telephone is today. He
projected that Internet penetration in the United States will peak and level
off at 80 percent, similar to trends in the spread of television. The
research found that 44 percent of African Americans are on the Internet, an
increase of 41 percent over the last 3 years, and 42 percent of Hispanics
are online, up 45 percent. Asians have been faster to take advantage of the
Internet than other populations. 63 percent of Asian households were online
in 1998 and 70 percent in 2000 - significantly higher than the 58 percent of
white households in 2000.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes.com, AUTHOR: Sylvia Dennis]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/media/9912-1.html)
INTERNET
WEB SITES INCONSISTENT ON HEALTH, STUDY FINDS
Issue: Internet
A study described in today's Journal of the American Medical Association
found that most of the time, health information on the Internet is hard to
find, hard to read and often incorrect or incomplete, even on the best
sites. The study - sponsored by a philanthropic group, the California Health
Care Foundation, and carried out by researchers affiliated with RAND -
showed that government and university sites did better than commercial ones,
and it concluded that the Internet had the potential "to be a powerful
resource for meeting some of the public's health information needs."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Philip J. Hilts]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/23/health/23NET.html)
(requires registration)
COMPETITION
TELCO COMPETITION NEEDS NO MORE GESTATION TIME - CERF
Issue: Competition
WorldCom executive Vint Cerf disputed Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) Chairman Michael Powell's defense that loosening of regulations
requires more than 5 years to boost competition. WorldCom is a competitor to
the baby Bells, which have historically maintained monopolies in local phone
service markets. Powell said yesterday that half a decade is not enough time
to turn around nearly a century of government-enforced monopoly. Cerf,
however, disagreed, asserting that "We're talking Internet time here."
Powell refrained from endorsing pending legislation in the House that would
overturn part of the requirements of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and
give incumbent carriers the right to offer high-speed data services in the
long-distance market without requiring the incumbent carriers prove that
they have opened their markets. Cerf is against this legislation, pushed by
Representatives W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-LA) and John Dingell (D-MI). "I have
a very negative reaction to that bill right now," he said. "At the very best
it is disingenuous. It makes the assumption that one could distinguish voice
traffic from other kinds of data. There's nothing in the bill that improves
local competition."
[SOURCE: Newsbytes.com, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/telecom/9962-1.html)
FCC
TESTIMONY OF CHAIRMAN POWELL ON FCC APPROPRIATION
Issue: FCC
The FCC Web Site has a summary of the testimony of chairman Michael k.
Powell before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary
of the House Committee on Appropriations. Powell requested $248.5 million
for his agency for fiscal 2002.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/Statements/2001/stmkp125.txt)
SECURITY
U.S. TO GIVE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CYBER-SECURITY CORPS
Issue: Security
The National Science Foundation has selected six universities to participate
in a program to create a "cyber corps" of 200 computer-security students who
would agree to join the government ranks upon graduation. The incentive is
$8.6 million in scholarships, and participants are required to commit to at
least one year for every year of tuition assistance received. The
scholarship is designed to help fill the shortage of computer-security
workers in government. Selected schools include Carnegie Mellon University,
Iowa State University, Purdue University, the University of Idaho, the
University of Tulsa and the Naval Postgraduate School.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB990572871992181459.htm)
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