INTERNET
Consumers Trust in Online Content 'Alarmingly Low'
Almost Half of World's DSL Users in Asia-Pacific
Pending Minnesota Privacy Law Would Curb Internet Disclosures
How to Fix the Dot-Government
TELEVISION
Entrepreneur Aims to Sell Total.TV, Undercutting Costs of
Digital-Cable
Crisis Deepens Impact of Arab TV News
Youngsters Targeted by Digital Bullies
INTERNET
CONSUMERS TRUST IN ONLINE CONTENT 'ALARMINGLY LOW'
Consumer Web Watch, a new project of the Consumers Union, has issued a
report on online consumer attitudes. According to the study, only 29 percent
of those surveyed said they trust Web sites that sell goods and services.
An interesting finding of the report is that more people are shopping on the
Web, but most do not hold a high opinion of how the process works. "As those
two trends progress, we've seen from our research that trust in e-commerce
sites and sites that provide advice for consumers about what to buy is
alarmingly low," said Beau Brendler, director Consumer Web Watch. The survey
respondents have high standards, with 80 percent saying that it is "very
important" that they are able to trust information on a site, and the same
proportion believe the site must be easy to use.
Hoping to improve Web credibility, Consumer Web Watch has set five
guidelines based on the findings of the current report. The guidelines
suggest clear disclosure of transaction costs, fees and privacy policies.
Additionally, sites should distinguish between ads, news and information,
clearly identify paid and non-paid search results and disclose all business
relationships.
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: Dick Kelsey]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175894.html)
The full report may be found at Consumer Web Watch
(http://www.consumerwebwatch.org)
ALMOST HALF OF WORLD'S DSL USERS IN ASIA-PACIFIC
According to industry analysts RHK, nearly one-half of the world's DSL
connections and more than 7.5 million DSL subscribers reside in the
Asia-Pacific region. The report highlights South Korea as a hotbed of DSL
activity, with four million subscribers at the end of 2001. RHK says the
trend is being repeated in Japan and other Asian countries (including China
and Taiwan) are expected to follow quickly. "Just three yease ago, Asian
service providers were visiting North America to learn how to deploy DSL and
what services to offer," RHK's Ken Twist said in a release. "Times have
changed; this region now accounts for approximately 44 percent of the
world's DSL subscribers."
[SOURCE: Newsbytes, AUTHOR: Adam Creed]
(http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175904.html)
PENDING MINNESOTA PRIVACY LAW WOULD CURB INTERNET DISCLOSURES
Minnesota legislators are close to approving a bill that would regulate how
Internet service providers collect and sell users' personal information.
While this has not been common practice in the past, it could become more
widespread as ISPs such as America Online look for new revenue sources. AOL
currently sells marketers access to the name and addresses of subscribers
and shares customer lists with other AOL Time Warner companies. Marc
Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center,
believes that ISPs should follow the same rules as telephone companies who
are prohibited from reselling customer information. Yahoo Inc. recently
changed its privacy policy and made plans to sell customer lists unless
instructed otherwise. This concerned Minnesota lawmakers who want to stop a
continuing trend in disclosing user information. State Senator Steve Kelley
says the bill is intended to "prevent ISPs from disclosing personally
identifiable information to third parties without the customer's consent."
Governor Jesse Ventura has not indicated whether he will sign the bill.
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Russell Gold]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1018906958383354560,00.html?mod=technolo
gy_main_whats_news)
(Requires subscription)
TELEVISION
HOW TO FIX THE DOT-GOVERNMENT
The first chief technology officer for the Office of Management and Budget,
Norman Lorentz, gave a speech last week at the InfoWorld CTO Forum. The
former CTO of the Postal Service, Lorentz stated, "Government truly can be
transformed using the same approaches that we take in the private sector."
Over the next two years, he is charged with designing new ways to connect
the 22,000 federal Web sites to companies such as Travelocity to handle
government travel or Monster.gov for federal recruitment. When asked about
the privacy and security issue of letting third-party sources handle
sensitive federal information, Lorentz suggested that some ventures could be
designed with both private and public components.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Farhad Manjoo]
(http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,51782,00.html)
ENTREPRENEUR AIMS TO SELL TOTAL.TV, UNDERCUTTING COSTS OF DIGITAL-CABLE
The co-founder of WebTV networks, Phil Goldman, is looking to offer a new
package of TV channels that would be delivered without satellite or cable
connections. The low-cost television service would dispense with the
current generation of set-top boxes and deliver programming through TV
antennae. Goldman faces substantial hurdles, including raising billions of
dollars to purchase all the government-controlled airwaves that will be
coming up for auction in mid-June. He has met with the Federal
Communications Commission to discuss delaying the auction and changing some
rules that would enable Total.TV to compete. In addition to the financial
hurdles of obtaining the spectrum, Goldman will be competing with many
wireless companies who are seeking airwave licenses.
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Rebecca Buckman]
(http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,4287,SB1018904605631589800,00.html)
(Requires subscription)
CRISIS DEEPENS IMPACT OF ARAB NEWS
An unprecedented level of media coverage by private satellite and state-run
national networks is bringing images of the Israeli offensive live into the
homes of Arabs. "There is a constant flow of information now, all from the
same perspective," said Hussein Y. Amin, an expert in Arab media at Cairo's
American University. "It is on the national media, the local media, and the
satellite media. Every second there is a new report, and there is only one
message: solidarity with the Palestinians." Media analysts say that the
coverage has had a major impact on feeding Arab anger at Israel and its
supporters and that non-stop news coverage by private satellite channels
such as Al Jazeera, has resulted in many state-controlled networks feeling
they must follow suit or lose viewers.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Golden]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/international/middleeast/16TELE.html)
(Requires subscription)
YOUNGSTERS TARGETED BY DIGITAL BULLIES
Research commissioned by British children's charity NCH reveals that a
distressing number of youngsters have been threatened via their computers of
mobile phones. Of the teenagers surveyed, 16% had received bullying or
threatening text messages, 7% had been harassed in Internet chat rooms and
4% percent by e-mail. Carrie Herbert, a representative of the Red Balloon
School, which specializes in dealing with bullied children, said that
electronic bullying is even more intrusive than the more conventional kind.
"Children who are being bulied in the classroom, in the playground can at
least get some sanctuary at home. With this kind of bullying the text
messaging can come up while you are watching television, while you are
having a family meal," she said. In response, NCH has a list of tips to
prevent and stop electronic harassment for children and adults. NCH hopes to
provide guidance to parents and teachers to deal with electronic bullying at
school where the problem seems to be strongest.
[SOURCE: BBC News]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1929000/1929944.stm)
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