INTERNET
Senators Criticize Record Industry, Napster For Delaying Easy Delivery of
Online Music (WSJ)
Tolls Stack Up On Info Superhighway (USA)
ED TECH
Group Aims to Fine Tune Wired Schools (NYT)
DEMOGRAPHICS (INTERNET)
Urbanites Need Net, Too (National Journal's Technology Daily)
SENATORS CRITICIZE RECORD INDUSTRY, NAPSTER FOR DELAYING EASY DELIVERY OF
ONLINE MUSIC
Issue: Internet
The Senate Judiciary Committee took on both the recording industry and
Internet companies for delaying easy delivery of music online. The lawmakers
chided recording companies, saying they drag their feet on signing contracts
with Internet services. New disputes are emerging that will further
complicate digital-music issues. Musicians and retailers are questioning how
they will participate in creating a "celestial jukebox" -- a collection of
every song by all artists available over any Internet connection. Recording
artists Don Henley and Alanis Morissette complained to the committee that
musicians are increasingly excluded from Internet negotiations. "There are a
lot of excruciating details that need to be worked out," Mr. Henley told the
lawmakers. Lawmakers appeared reluctant to push legislation as a solution.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee suggested
the government could offer unspecified incentives, perhaps tax breaks, to
the record labels to spur agreements. But he added that the notion might be
"another lame-brain, Hatch idea." Richard Parsons, co-chief operating
officer of AOL Time Warner, wasn't enthusiastic. "You have to have some
faith in the marketplace," he told Sen. Orrin Hatch.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB986332992118576501.htm)
(requires subscription)
See Also:
NAPSTER, MUSIC INDUSTRY SQUARE OFF ON CAPITOL HILL
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/2001-04-03-napster.htm)
See Also:
SENATORS HEAR DEBATE ABOUT ONLINE MUSIC
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: AMY HARMON
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/04/technology/04MUSI.html)
(requires registration)
TOLLS STACK UP ON INFO SUPERHIGHWAY
Issue: Internet
Cathy Isaak of Mason City, Iowa, was all set to join the front lines of the
technology revolution a few months ago, but have changed her mind. "We all
like our computers a lot," she says. "But we've lost so much in the stock
market, I don't feel like I should be spending this extra money. I'm in the
tightening-my-belt mode." For the monthly fee alone, "Broadband would be $40
a month vs. the $20 we now pay" for dial-up service through America Online.
With the economy softening, lots of people are concluding, as Isaak did,
that this is no time to add monthly expenses.
And beyond current events, a growing sense of what might be called "fee
fatigue" may mean trouble for cable, phone and technology-oriented
companies. If people decide they're already spending enough on media, the
companies will have to rewrite their business plans and brawl for a share of
a fixed market.
Media forecasters aren't sure when consumers will pull the plug on more
fees. Consumers "are not just being nickeled and dimed, they're being 10-,
20- and 30-dollared," says Larry Gerbrandt, a senior analyst at Paul Kagan
Associates. "We've been scaling back our projections. All of us are
concerned about 2001. And if we continue sliding into a recession, then all
bets are off." The typical urban and suburban TV household paid $122 a month
in 2000 for cable, long-distance, Internet, cell phones, pagers, etc., vs.
$123 in 1999, according to researcher Howard Horowitz of Horowitz
Associates.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-04-03-tolls-info-superhighway.
htm)
GROUP AIMS TO FINE TUNE WIRED SCHOOLS
Issue: Ed Tech
Over the past five years, NetDay, a California based nonprofit group has
helped to wire hundreds of schools for Internet access. Now, they are moving
to help teachers harness what travels through those wires. The nonprofit
organization issued a survey late last week detailing teachers' attitudes
toward the Internet and its use in the classroom to lay a foundation for
NetDay's future work. "The real challenge is how to help teachers use the
Internet," said Julie Evans, the chief executive officer of NetDay.
Teachers "were not receiving leadership or advice on different ways to use
the Internet. There really needs to be a new dialogue with the leadership .
. . so they can be more understanding of what the time issue means." NetDay
is building on the experience of working with educators and community
leaders to tap into the learning potential of what travels over wires and
into classrooms. The shift is a challenge for NetDay, which has
traditionally focused on helping schools build physical infrastructure.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: REBECCA S. WEINER
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/04/technology/04EDUCATION.html)
URBANITES NEED NET, TOO
Issue: Demographics (Internet)
While African Americans and Hispanics in urban areas have lagged in gaining
access to computers and the Internet, companies risk losing out on a big
market if they ignore these potential customers, according to a study
released on Monday by the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Citizenship Education Fund,
reports AP. The study was done in November across 700 U.S. urban areas in
which two out of five people are classified as ethnic or racial minorities,
based on U.S. census data. The results, dubbed the "digital divide," showed
that while 60 percent of all urban households have computers, only 48
percent of African Americans and 52 percent of Hispanics ones do. Fifty-one
percent of all urban households have Internet access at home through a PC,
but just 37 percent of African Americans and 42 percent of Hispanics in
urban areas have access. The study said African Americans and Hispanics lag
in computer ownership and access to Internet but are the most likely to
subscribe to an Internet service in the next year.