MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Copps: Media Should Cover FCC Reform
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Eluding the Web's Snare
Software Rams Great Firewall of China
WIRELESS/BROADBAND
Can Wi-Fi Take Us to the Last Mile?
Event: Wireless Innovations: New Technologies and Evolving Policies
The Storm over Broadband Bundling
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
COPPS: MEDIA SHOULD COVER FCC REFORM
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has crisscrossed the United States in recent
months, repeating a mantra to all who will listen: the US media is failing
to inform the public about the potential impact of media ownership
deregulation. "The media have not done a very good job of teeing up this
debate for the American people," He said recently at the Northwestern
University School of Law. "Whatever your side, someone's got to tell them
what's up for grabs." According to the Pew Research Center for the People
and the Press, more than seven out of 10 Americans surveyed said that
they've heard "nothing at all" about the proposed deregulations, while only
four percent surveyed -- less than one in 20 -- said they had heard "a lot"
about the issue. "Three out of four people don't know -- that's not
acceptable," Copps said. "My plea, for all people with the media, is to
exercise your responsibilities and your rights in this debate."
[Source: Editor and Publisher, AUTHOR: Mark Fitzgerald]
(http://www.mediainfo.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_display.jsp?v
nu_content_id=1865715)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
ELUDING THE WEB'S SNARE
The group of Web non-users described as "Net evaders" by the Pew Internet
and American Life Institute's recent study are a curious lot --- the Web is
at their fingertips but for various reasons they choose not to employ its
resources and services. For some, like 57-year-old Vicki Lewis of Bethesda,
MD, the Web is too impersonal. For others, such as Peter O'Grady of Chapel
Hill, NC, the Internet is an intimidating world -- an opinion not shared by
his two adult children and wife, each an avid user. Somewhat surprisingly,
the Net evader population cuts across generations, as many young adults
avoid the Web for the same reasons while older adults embrace the ability to
keep in touch with old friends and grandchildren.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Katie Hafner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/17/technology/circuits/17shun.html)
SOFTWARE RAMS GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA
The International Broadcasting Bureau's Voice of America arm has
commissioned software to assist Chinese Web surfers in circumventing
government-imposed Internet restrictions. The software allows PC users to
create a "circumvention Web server" that can tunnel under the government
firewall, giving them access to, among other sites, Voice of America news.
"The Chinese government jams all of our radio broadcasts and blocks access
by their people to our Web site. We want to allow the people there to have
the tools to be able to have a look at it," said Ken Berman, program manager
for Internet anticensorship at IBB. The pairing of IBB and software
developer Bennett Haselton is noteworthy in its irony. Haselton has been a
vocal opponent of content filtering laws effecting public computers, and the
software he developed could very well be used to undermine filtering efforts
domestically.
[SOURCE: CNET News, AUTHOR: Paul Festa]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1028-997101.html?tag=fd_top)
WIRELESS
CAN WI-FI TAKE US TO THE LAST MILE?
[Commentary] Cory Doctorow, co-editor of the boingboing.net blog and
outreach coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, laments the
FCC's recent decision to abandon rules requiring Baby Bell telephone
companies to accommodate broadband services competition. Doctorow says the
decision will impact the growth of local wireless Internet access, since the
Baby Bells forbid their customers from setting up free wi-fi access through
their broadband connections. "The feds have thrown the rate-pricing question
back to the states, saying, in effect, You figure it out," he writes. "That
means that in some states we might get vibrant markets, while in others --
places where the phone company is in bed with the local government -- we'll
get no competition." Doctorow says there's still hope, though, as nonprofit
groups like the Bay Area Wireless Users Group establish their own community
wireless ISPs, or WISPs. So unless the Baby Bells begin to treat their users
like customers rather than "passive consumers," Doctorow says,
"entrepreneurial and philanthropic efforts may be the only ways to make
broadband service ubiquitous and competitive."
[SOURCE: Busines 2.0, AUTHOR: Cory Doctorow]
(http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,47997,00.html)
EVENT: WIRELESS INNOVATIONS: NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND EVOLVING POLICIES
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, in
conjunction with the FCC and the State Department's International
Communications and Information Policy Group, will hold a two-day wireless
forum as an extension of last year's "Spectrum Summit." On May 12th, a
Technology Showcase will display the latest innovations in wireless tools
and applications, and the May 13th forum will feature a policy panel with
experts from the industry, government and academia. The events will be held
in the U.S. Department of Commerce Lobby and Auditorium, 1401 Constitution
Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2003/04162003wi.htm)
THE STORM OVER BROADBAND BUNDLING
[Commentary] Don't fret over the bundling of cable service and high-speed
Internet, insists Randolph J. May of the Progress and Freedom Foundation.
Contrary to critics who call for the investigation of companies such as
Comcast, May argues that bundled video and Internet offerings violate
neither the letter nor the spirit of antitrust law. In fact, he says,
competition in the multichannel video market is quite robust, with satellite
customer growth outpacing that of cable. Such competition benefits the
consumer: they get an immediate price break, they reap the benefits of
competitive reactions in the market, and they benefit from the economic
stimulus that comes with increased broadband deployment.
[SOURCE: CNET News, AUTHOR: Randolph J. May]
(http://news.com.com/2010-1071-997226.html)
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