Communications-Related Headlines for April 25, 2003

Communications-Related Headlines is a free, daily news service posted Monday

through Friday by the Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org). This
service will keep you up to date on important industry
developments and policy issues in communications, technology, journalism,
public service media, regulation and philanthropy.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Customised Copyright Licenses Going Global

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC Rules of the Game: Sound Off on Media Consolidation

DIGITAL DIVIDE
IT Has Failed to Help the Common Man: Experts

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
CUSTOMISED COPYRIGHT LICENSES GOING GLOBAL
The Creative Commons, a US-based non-profit, will soon offer a fully
customizable copyright license template to an international audience. The
licenses, which will be available in five countries by the end of the year,
are more flexible than standard forms and are designed for artists who wish
to allow use of their work without royalties. Some of the customization
includes choosing whether to allow a user to reproduce the work only
non-commercially, to create derivative works or to use it freely if
crediting the original author. The forms will also include a code tag, which
will be included in a Creative Commons database so that users can search for
pieces that they can incorporate into their own works.
[SOURCE: New Scientist; AUTHOR: Will Knight]

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC RULES OF THE GAME: SOUND OFF ON MEDIA CONSOLIDATION
[Commentary] In describing the potential ill effects of media consolidation,
FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein made the rare but crucial point that
this field is not like other industries. "Some say media consolidation would
simply echo a nationwide business trend. But media do not compare with other
goods. ... Control of the media affects the vibrancy of political and civic
discourse -- what the U.S. Supreme Court has called the `uninhibited
marketplace of ideas' ... the very health of our democracy." Adelstein also
emphasized the importance of local control, citing an example in the radio
industry in which local authorities in a small town attempted to spread word
of an emergency via the four local stations, all owned by Clear Channel
Communications. Since the company had pared down its operations, no one
answered the phone for several hours. Adelstein closed by imploring the
public to be aware and involved in the discourse as the time until the FCC's
June 2nd deadline grows shorter.
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle; AUTHOR: Jonathan Adelstein]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/0...
/ED108322.DTL

DIGITAL DIVIDE
IT HAS FAILED TO HELP THE COMMON MAN: EXPERTS
Despite boasting a more rapid rate of technological advancement than any
other country in the world, the benefits of IT in India have yet to reach
the common man, say many experts. Professor Kenneth Keniston of MIT notes
that the hopes attached to e-commerce and e-governance have been "an
illusion" due to the prohibitive cost of purchasing a computer, the
saturation of high-end markets for goods and widespread social injustice and
corruption at all levels of government. Keniston also points out that while
developers give lip service to sustainability, the concept is often lost in
practice. Finally, he says that tele-connectivity is of value but not a
substitute for physical connectivity in rural areas.
[SOURCE: India Times; AUTHOR: PTI]
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?arti...
939191

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