INTERNATIONAL
India Cracks Down on Tehelka.com Months After Bribery Expose
Telecommunications Drawing Investors In Afghanistan
INTERNET
Broadband Service Providers Lure Users With 'Lite' Versions
Internet Audience Still Growing After All
Registrars Rally Behind ICANN
INTERNATIONAL
INDIA CRACKS DOWN ON TEHELKA.COM MONTHS AFTER BRIBERY EXPOSE
Last March the Indian news Web site Tehelka.com exposed widespread
corruption amongst numerous officers, top politicians and government
officials. The hidden-camera sting resulted in the resignation of several
senior government officials and massive public outrage. Now, a year later,
two of those senior officials are back at work and two Tehelka journalists
have been arrested. Financial backers of Tehelka.com have been targeted for
raids and are under investigation by India's securities agency.
Tehelka.com's editor has called the government's actions "...a massive
vendetta campaign," and the editor of the Hindustani Times added, "The level
of persecution is phenomenal." In the past, India has prided itself on its
hundreds of independent media outlets. Vincent Brossel, the head of
Reporters Sans Frontieres, a media watchdog group, said that in the last few
years "he has never seen so many press freedom issues in India."
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Scott Neuman]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB102969286920873315,00.html?mod=technolog
y_main_whats_news)
(Requires subscription)
TELECOMMUNICATIONS DRAWING INVESTORS IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan's government is aggressively pursuing foreign investors to help
build cellular networks in what is one of world's poorest countries. "We
have a big technological gap because no investment has come into the sector
over the past two decades apart from very limited investment in telephones,"
said Communications Minister Mohammad Masoom Stanakzai. The Afghan
government has formed partnerships with United States-based Telephone
Systems International to offer cellular service in Kabul, Herat and
Kandahar. Years of war have severely damaged the wireline phone network and
what remains does not extend beyond Afghanistan's borders. Today the country
relies on satellite bandwidth for telephone calls and data transmission to
the outside world. While the challenges to bring connectivity to Afghanistan
remain high, telecommunications remain the only sector of the Afghan economy
that is attracting foreign investors.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/3891314.htm)
INTERNET
BROADBAND SERVICE PROVIDERS LURE USERS WITH 'LITE' VERSIONS
In an effort to attract more Internet users, several broadband providers are
offering a slower, cheaper version of their service. Covad Communications
Group, Charter Communications and Cox Communications all offer services that
are much faster than dial-up but only a third as fast as a DSL connection.
The companies are hoping to get their customers hooked on faster service and
eventually want to upgrade to the faster, more expensive service. "What
these providers are discovering is... they have a good amount of capacity
and a lot of it is not being utilized," said Mark Kersey at ARS. "Covad's
got this great backbone and only about 350,000 people using it, so why not
persuade people to switch from dial-up?"
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB102952444259247795,00.html?mod=telecommu
nications%5Fprimary%5Fhs)
(Requires subscription)
INTERNET AUDIENCE STILL GROWING AFTER ALL
After a June in which sequential growth of the Internet audience slowed to a
standstill, Media Metrix says the number of Americans using the medium is
rising again. The study found that there were 119 million Internet users in
July, up 29 percent from 92.2 million users the previous July. Usage minutes
climbed 3.7 percent month over month, marking the first significant gain
since February. Total usage minutes were measured at 106.1 billion in July
2002, up 62 percent from 69.7 billion a year ago.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Pamela Parker]
(http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/1448061)
REGISTRARS RALLY BEHIND ICANN
Forty-four accredited registrars sent a letter to the Commerce Department in
support of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The group stated that ICANN is "the most viable solution to ensure the
ongoing stability of the Internet's naming and addressing systems." ICANN
has been criticized for being "flawed and ineffective," but this group of
registrars insisted that any issues could be solved in a "mutually agreeable
manner."
[SOURCE: CNET News.com, AUTHOR: Jim Hu]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954167.html?tag=cd_mh)
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