DIGITAL DIVIDE
Teen Girls Help Create Female Majority Online (WP)
DIGITAL TV
Rally in Detroit (PBTV)
JOBS
Phone Talks Said to Stall, With Strike in Third Day (NYT)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Chasing Hollywood 'Pirates' (WP)
INTERNATIONAL
Iran, Persisting in Drive, Closes Last Reform Paper (NYT)
U.S. Officials Are Scrambling to Resolve Security
Concerns in NTT-Verio Deal (WSJ)
Indonesia Bans Foreign Investment In Internet Firms,
Drawing Criticism (WSJ)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
TEEN GIRLS HELP CREATE FEMALE MAJORITY ONLINE
Issue: Internet/Digital Divide
For the first time since it's inception, the Internet can now claim more
female than male users from the United States, according to a report being
released today by Internet market research firms Media Metrix and Jupiter
Communications. The study found that female users accounted for 50.4 percent
of all U.S. Internet users, while male users made up 49.6 percent. The
largest increase over the past year was for girls aged 12 to 17, whose
online presence went up 126 percent, while the number of boys that age who
went online rose only 45 percent. Women over age 55 have also signed online
in droves, with a 109% increased during the year.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E3), AUTHOR: Leslie Walker]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58646-2000Aug8.html)
See Also:
IN A WEB FIRST, WOMEN ARE IN THE MAJORITY
[SOURCE: USAToday (1A), AUTHOR: Elizabeth Weise]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000809/2533012s.htm)
DIGITAL TV
RALLY IN DETROIT
Issue: Digital TV
Southeast Michigan People for Better TV invites you to join Senator Carl
Levin (D-MI) in a public rally and press conference. In addition to Senator
Levin, national and local PBTV organizers such as Mark Lloyd and Teresa
Tomeo and community, congressional and organizational representatives will
be speaking and answering your questions. The rally will show the FCC and
local broadcasters that many people support having public interest
obligations for digital broadcasters.
Wednesday, August 23, 12 - 2 p.m.at the Southfield Center for the Arts,
Detroit, Michigan (between 9 mile and 10 mile on Southfield Road, on the
east side of the
street).
For more information: Richard Singleton 313-962-0340
[SOURCE: People for Better Television]
(http://www.bettertv.org/20000823dt.htm)
JOBS
PHONE TALKS SAID TO STALL, WITH STRIKE IN THIRD DAY
Issue: Jobs
Talks are not going well between Verizon and members of the Communications
Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Talks stalled on several issues, including the contract for about 50 union
members at Verizon's wireless division, the people said. And progress slowed
on other issues, including mandatory overtime and the shifting of some work
to other locations in response to the merger that created the company.
Adding to the tension is yesterday's announcement that Verizon will purchase
NorthPoint Communications, a provider of high-speed Internet access lines,
for $800 million. The unions have been trying to get the company to stop
subcontracting the installation of Internet lines to nonunion installers.
NorthPoint is a nonunion installer. "We're pleased to see Verizon's
proactive in moving into broadband Internet access or any other area that
would make the company more competitive," said Larry Cohen, executive vice
president of the Communications Workers of America. "But we want details
about how our members would benefit from this -- something beyond the gloss
of a Powerpoint presentation."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/080900verizon-strike.html)
See Also:
NEW YORK: PHONE STRIKE EPICENTER
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Thomas Luek]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/080900verizon-ny.html)
SHARES TUMBLE ON [VERIZON'S] WEAK EARNING FORECAST
[SOURCE: New York Times (c1), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/080900verizon-bell.html)
VERIZON AND UNIONS MAKE SLIGHT PROGRESS IN TALKS TO SETTLE EASTERN PHONE
STRIKE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Deborah Solomon & Yochi Dreazen]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965778166827342969.htm)
VERIZON GETS STATIC FROM UNIONS, WALL ST.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57646-2000Aug8.html)
VERIZON FEELS PAIN OF CHANGE
[SOURCE: USAToday (3B), AUTHOR: Shawn Young]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000809/2533012s.htm)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Chasing Hollywood 'Pirates' (WP)
CHASING HOLLYWOOD 'PIRATES'
Issue: Intellectual Property
A new law that gives broad privileges to copyright holders, allowing them
not only
to protect their works but also to control the digital technology that would
allow them to be copied, is getting its first tests in the courts. Hollywood
studios and the DVD industry are suing several parties involved in
publicizing a program that reveals how to crack the supposedly impregnable
digital video-disk format. The defendants is the case -- who include a
Norwegian teenager who wrote the original program, the hacker magazine that
posted the code on its Web site, and even a company that started selling
T-shirts with the code as a gesture of support - argue that no evidence has
been presented in any of the cases that proves that the computer program is
being used to pirate movies. Instead, they say, this is a matter of free
speech. "I feel strongly that we all have both the desire and the right to
know how things around us operate," Eric Corley, editor of the hacker
magazine 2600, said in his deposition. "It is a chilling effect if you
start punishing people for showing how something works. It is one step away
from punishing someone [for] talking about it." Robert Sugarman, who filed
the suit on behalf of the DVD Copy Control Association, a group of consumer
electronics, motion picture and computer companies, questions the free speak
claims of the defendants: "There is no First Amendment right to steal a
trade secret."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: Streitfeld & Eunjung Cha]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58594-2000Aug8.html)
INTERNATIONAL
IRAN, PERSISTING IN DRIVE, CLOSES LAST REFORM PAPER
Issue: International/Journalism
Bahar, a popular daily newspaper in Iran, was ordered closed for "disturbing
public opinion." Its publisher, Saeed Pourazizi, a close aide to President
Mohammad Khatami, a reformist, was charged with printing "a fake interview
at a sensitive time." Twenty-three publications have been shut down in Iran
since April. Independent newspapers had helped reformist candidates win
parliamentary elections in February. Those newly elected officials had
promised legislation to give the press more freedom, but Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, Iran's top religious leader who has final say in state issues,
denounced the proposed revision in the press law as a threat to national
security and religion. Parliament had to drop the bill.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A10)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/080900iran-newspaper.html)
U.S. OFFICIALS ARE SCRAMBLING TO RESOLVE SECURITY CONCERNS IN NTT-VERIO DEAL
Issue: International/Security
National-security concerns are holding up a $5.5 billion bid by the Japanese
phone company, NTT, to acquire the U.S. Internet company Verio. The deal
has been caught up in a review process for nearly 75 days and faces a Monday
deadline. While US officials are worried that the deal could give the
Japanese government-controlled company access to U.S. government wiretapping
activity and could present an espionage risk, pro-trade agencies contend the
FBI has overblown the concerns, and are pushing for less-stringent
requirements. The dispute has enormous ramifications, not just for trade
relations between the U.S. and Japan, but also for law enforcement as it
grapples with the complications of foreign investment in the rapidly growing
U.S. Internet sector. This is the first time national-security reviews
similar to those surrounding past aerospace and defense deals have been
applied to an international Internet acquisition.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A2), AUTHOR: Neil King Jr. And David S. Cloud]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965777453220522437.htm)
INDONESIA BANS FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN INTERNET FIRMS, DRAWING CRITICISM
Issue: International/Ownership
In a presidential decree released last week, Indonesia's President
Abdurrahman Wahid ruled that new foreign money will be banned from
investment in broadcast television and radio, cable television, print and
"multimedia services." The ban is stoking fears among Indonesian multimedia
companies that they will be left behind from the region's technology boom.
Foreign investors are citing the ruling as yet another hurdle for overseas
money coming back into the cash-strapped Indonesian economy. "Jakarta is
shooting itself in the foot, because the Internet is one area where foreign
money is still interested in Indonesia," said Patrick Alexander of Batavia
Investment Management Ltd., part of a U.S. group that owns one of
Indonesia's largest Internet portals. Investment is scarce from Indonesia's
debt-laden financial sector, and many Indonesian start-up companies say they
are turning to foreign sources for funding. Many now question whether their
growth plans are sustainable, and even question whether the ruling is
enforceable. According to Hidayat Jati of Asiagateway.com, an Internet
gateway operator, Mr. Wahid's ruling went against the spirit of Indonesia's
new media law, which is aimed at promoting the free flow of information
after it was stifled during the 32-year rule of former President Suharto.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A18), AUTHOR: Jay Solomon]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB96576142912116243.htm)
--------------------------------------------------------------
(c)Benton Foundation 2000. Redistribution of this email publication -- both
internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Benton Foundation's Communications Policy Program (CPP)
(www.benton.org/cpphome.html) Communications-related Headline
Service is posted Monday through Friday. The Headlines are highlights
of news articles summarized by staff at the Benton Foundation. They
describe articles of interest to the work of the Foundation -- primarily
those covering long term trends and developments in communications,
technology, journalism, public service media, regulation and philanthropy.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone does
not represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by
Kevin Taglang (kevint( at )benton.org) and Rachel Anderson (rachel( at )benton.org) --
we welcome your comments.
Other projects at Benton include:
Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org)
Debate America (www.debateamerica.org)
Oneworld US (www.oneworld.net)
Open Studio: The Arts Online (www.openstudio.org)
Sound Partners for Community Health (www.soundpartners.org)
To subscribe to other free Benton Foundation newsletters, visit:
(http://www.benton.org/Resources/home.html)