DIGITAL DIVIDE
Report Counts Computers in Majority of U.S. Homes (NYT)
INTERNET
New Cable Standard May Triple Speeds (CNET)
FBI Denies Bias as U.S. Raid Shuts Arabic Web Sites (NYT)
POLICY
Pendulum Swings to Microsoft, but How Far? (NYT)
Official: Bush High-Tech Policy Coming Soon (CNN)
COPYRIGHT
Security Workers: Copyright Law Stifles (CNET)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
REPORT COUNTS COMPUTERS IN MAJORITY OF U.S. HOMES
Issue: Digital Divide
More than half of the households in the United States had at least one
computer last year, up from 42 percent in 1998, and more than 40 percent
were connected to the Internet. In addition, according to a Census Bureau
report released today, 65 percent of children ages 3 to 17 had access to a
computer at home in 2000, up from about 55 percent in 1998. But the survey
found significant discrepancies in computer ownership and Internet use along
age, racial and economic lines. Among households with incomes of $75,000 or
more, 88 percent had a computer, while in households with incomes below
$25,000, only 28 percent had a computer. Sixty-one 1 percent of white adults
said they owned a computer, while 37 percent of black adults and 35 percent
of Hispanic adults said they did.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: The New York Times Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/07/technology/07COMP-CENSUS.html)
(requires registration)
INTERNET
NEW CABLE STANDARD MAY TRIPLE SPEEDS
Issue: Broadband
A new cable Internet standard for the DOCSIS protocol (Data Over Cable
Service Interface Specification) promises a significant increase in cable
bandwidth. DOCSIS 2.0, as the standard is to be called, particularly affects
upstream transmissions, according to CableLabs, the industry research group
that has developed the protocol. Currently, cable networks can deliver
speeds of 500kbps and 2mbps. However, cable modem customers are often
limited to 128kbps when sending data upstream. Uploading data at 128kbps is
sufficient for Web surfing, sending e-mail and other files, but critics
complain the upstream speed limits hamper their ability to send larger files
or take advantage of advanced Internet services. Under DOCSIS 2.0, cable
operators could allow consumers to send more data at greater speeds, a
requirement for high-end online video game players and necessary for new
services such as Internet-based phone calls, videoconferencing and other
future interactive applications.
[SOURCE: CNET News, AUTHOR: Corey Grice]
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-7079103.html)
FBI DENIES BIAS AS U.S. RAID SHUTS ARABIC WEB SITES
Issue: Internet
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is denying bias after an 80-strong U.S.
terrorism task force raided Texas-based, InfoCom Corporation, a host of
Arabic Web sites, including the Arab world's leading independent news
channel. The FBI denied any anti-Arab bias and said it was executing an
unspecified federal search warrant in conjunction with an ongoing two-year
investigation. The FBI declined to specify the target of the search warrant.
The raid resulted in a temporary shut-down of Web sites it hosts for about
500 customers, including that run by Al-Jazeera television and the newspaper
Al-Sharq, both based in the Gulf state of Qatar. Al-Jazeera is a major
regional news source for Arabic speakers, often called "the Arab CNN." "We
have nothing to hide. We are cooperating 110 percent with the FBI,"
InfoCom's lawyer Mark Enoch told reporters. InfoCom's customers are not
solely Arabic or Muslim. "They are across the board, from Dallas to
California to other places around the world," one employee stated.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Reuters Wire]
(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mideast-usa-internet.htm
l)
POLICY
PENDULUM SWINGS TO MICROSOFT, BUT HOW FAR?
Issue: Antitrust
The Bush administration, by adopting a measured, conservative approach in
the Microsoft antitrust case, clearly increased the chances that the two
sides would reach a settlement. The Justice Department made a crucial
concession in dropping the charge that it has been illegal for Microsoft to
bundle new software to its monopoly product - the industry-standard. It
appears that the Justice Department will no longer peruse a breakup of the
software giant, instead it will rely on court-ordered sanctions on
Microsoft's corporate behavior to increase competition in the software
business. Some industry analysts, however, question whether the Bush
administration, having decided against restructuring the software industry
by breaking up Microsoft, will have the determination to police Microsoft's
behavior aggressively.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/07/technology/07ASSE.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
REFORMING MICROSOFT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: The New York Times Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/07/opinion/07FRI1.html)
(requires registration)
OFFICIAL: BUSH HIGH-TECH POLICY COMING SOON
Issue: Policy
According to a senior administration official Wednesday, the Bush
administration will shortly reveal it views on a range of high-tech issues
ranging from junk e-mail to online privacy. Nancy Victory, who heads the
Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA), said that the administration would probably favor a
light touch, encouraging the high-tech industry to develop voluntary
guidelines, rather than imposing regulations or pushing for new laws.
Victory also said the NTIA has been working with the FTC on privacy and
other issues.
[SOURCE: CNN News, AUTHOR: Reuters Wire]
(http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/09/05/spam.reut/index.html)
COPYRIGHT
SECURITY WORKERS: COPYRIGHT LAW STIFLES
Issue: Copyright
The sweeping restrictions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
reached a new, and perhaps unintended, audience when two well-known computer
security experts pulled their own works form the Internet this week. Fred
Cohen, a well-known security consultant and professor of digital forensics
and Duo Song, a security expert at Arbor Networks, both pulled their works
from the Web because of the threatened lawsuit of Princeton computer-science
professor Edward Felten, and the arrest of Russian encryption expert Dmitry
Sklyarov. "When they started to arrest people and threaten researchers, I
decided the legal risk was not worth it," said Fred Cohen, who took his
evidence-gathering tool--dubbed Forensix--off his Web site earlier this
week. Dug Song pulled his own site down in protest as well. Last month,
fearing retribution, Dutch encryption expert Niels Ferguson refused to
publish his discovery that Intel's encryption scheme for Firewire
connections had a major flaw. While the DMCA probably does not directly
apply to much of the researchers' work, their greater concern is the
willingness of software makers and media companies to sue over any potential
threat. In 1999, the movie industry filed multiple lawsuits against the
creators of a program to decrypt DVD disks. Originally, the program had been
created to add DVD playback ability to the Linux operating system.
[SOURCE: CNET News, AUTHOR: Robert Lemos]
(http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7079519.html)
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