MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Commentary: FCC's Local Motion
COPYRIGHT
Court Rules That Trade Secrets Can Outweigh Free Speech
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Global Initiative to Help Close Digital Divide in South Africa
Bridging the Digital Divide in Boca Raton
E-WASTE
Teaching Future Generations to Recycle High-tech Trash
CABLE
Cable on the Blink as Pakistan Operators Challenge Ban
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
Event: The Role of Science in the Information Society
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC'S LOCAL MOTION
[Commentary] The Christian Science Monitor surmises that FCC Chairman
Powell's localism task force is a maneuver to "sideline a hot issue by
throwing it to a study committee." Although Powell isn't convinced that
allowing greater concentration of broadcasting ownership could diminish the
amount of local news coverage, he is seemingly willing to look for
solutions. The task force may or may not allay public fears that the new
ownership rules will stifle diversity and further homogenize radio and
television programming. The article argues that Powell's actions are based
on the view that new technologies, from satellite TV to Web radio, will
bring more media diversity and meet local consumer demand. For low-power FM
radio in particular, Powell said he would rapidly expand the number of
licenses. This should increase the opportunities for local companies to find
market niches that many national media companies won't fill, he says. Still,
the opening of more local radio may not be enough to satisfy critics of the
new media ownership rules, argues the Monitor; only a presidential veto may
save Powell's plan.
SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0826/p10s02-comv.html
COPYRIGHT
COURT RULES THAT TRADE SECRETS CAN OUTWEIGH FREE SPEECH
The California Supreme Court brought Andrew Bunner's DVD copyright
infringement case a step closer to completion yesterday, ruling that an
individual's First Amendment right to free speech does not outweigh an
entity's interest in protecting its trade secrets. The remaining issue is
whether or not the DVD decryption software that Bunner posted to his website
was indeed a trade secret, a question that the court remanded to a state
appeals court. Bunner was sued in 1999 by a coalition of companies, all of
which are licensees of DVD encryption software. Bunner posted code for
software written by a Norwegian teenager that could crack the encryption,
allowing digital copying of DVD movies. Bunner's attorneys contend that
since the code was made available on many websites by the time Bunner had
posted it, its status as a trade secret is in question.
SOURCE: The New York Times; AUTHOR: Steve Lohr
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/26/technology/26CODE.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO HELP CLOSE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN SOUTH AFRICA
ITExpeditors (www.itexpeditors.com) is joining the Digital Partnership
program in South Africa with a donation of 440 Pentium II and Pentium III
computers and other IT equipment from its refurbishment facility. The PCs
will be installed into 88 school-based "eLearning Centers" across South
Africa. The Digital Partnership will pair the donation with Internet access,
free software, digital content and technical support for teachers, students
and the local community. The Digital Partnership is an initiative launched
by The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), an
international charity, and supported by the World Bank, South African public
authorities and community partners, and a network of 30 international
companies, including Microsoft, Cisco, Intel and Oracle. "[ITExpeditors']
generosity will contribute to a real breakthrough in building corporate and
community partnership," said IBLF CEO Robert Davies. "Over 40,000 poor
children and their teachers will now have access to technology for the very
first time."
SOURCE: International Business Leaders Forum; AUTHOR: Steve Morton
http://www.digitalpartnership.org/news.php
BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN BOCA RATON
When Boca Raton Rotary Club member Mike Odsess learned that his daughter's
school was updating its computer lab, he knew he had recognized an
opportunity to help underprivileged kids in his community. Odsess arranged
for the school's year-old Macs to be donated to go to several nonprofit
organizations. Among the groups benefiting from the donation are the Boca
Raton Police Athletic League, Boca Helping Hands, Dixie Manor Youth Center,
Whispering Pines Youth Center and the Boca Teen Center. "Most kids are
taught everything on computers at school and there are a lot of
underprivileged kids that don't have access to computers at home," said
Roxanna Trinka, adding that the new computers "will allow them to hit the
ground running and give them the same advantages as everyone else." While
some of the computers will be hooked up in youth centers, several will find
their way into the homes of low-income families.
SOURCE: Boca Raton News; AUTHOR: Kelli Kennedy
http://www.bocaratonnews.com/index.php?src=news&category=LOCAL%20NEWS&pr...
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E-WASTE
TEACHING FUTURE GENERATIONS TO RECYCLE HIGH-TECH TRASH
A two-year-old computer-harvesting program at the University of Oregon (UO)
rescues old computers from the university's waste stream and recycles almost
everything but the plastic cases. Irene Smith, an instructor at UO's College
of Education, shows teachers-in-training the complex problem of e-waste and
teaches them how to strip computers down to their basic elements. The
teachers then share that knowledge with their elementary school classes.
Kids not only love to take things apart, they also show a keen understanding
about the environmental downside of technology, Smith said. The next step is
to see whether the UO program can be expanded to other state universities
and even to state government. A drawback of the program is that none of the
recyclables are worth any money: Nick Williams, UO's environmental manager,
says the university has to pay companies to take things such as circuit
boards, plastic-insulated wires and metal.
SOURCE: eSchool News; AUTHOR: eSchool News staff and wire service reports
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=4584
CABLE
CABLE ON THE BLINK AS PAK OPERATORS CHALLENGE BAN
A February ban on Indian TV channels by the Pakistani government has gone on
long enough, the country's cable industry has decided. In protest, cable
operators have refused to air popular international channels such as the
BBC, CNN and Fox, claiming that the effect of the ban on Indian programming
has been "catastrophic." The Cable Operators Association of Pakistan says
that customers have refused to pay their monthly bills since their favorite
Indian programs were blocked. The association accuses the government of
attempting to shut out the competition to state-run Pakistan Television
(PTV), which has lost revenue to Indian programming. Citizens fear that the
government is seeking to exert direct control over information. "Today, the
government has banned Indian channels, tomorrow it may ban the Net," said
housewife Uzma Nasir. Despite the protests, the government stands by its
ban. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority says that the action
was intended "to promote private Pakistani channels," and "[m]any operators
have decided to abide by the law and the government will not review its
decision." Senior Pemra official Waseem Ahmed warned that rogue stations'
"licenses could be cancelled for not showing Pakistani channels."
SOURCE: Yahoo! News; AUTHOR: Ahmad Naeem Khan, OneWorld South Asia
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20030826/wl_onew...
/1793666961061891790
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
EVENT: THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
CERN, the International Council for Science, the Third World Academy of
Sciences and UNESCO are organizing the RSIS forum to discuss the role of
science in the information society. Held in conjunction with WSIS, the forum
is a response to a recent call by Kofi Annan for the world's scientists to
work towards extending science's benefits to all people. Scheduled speakers
at the forum include Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, former
ICANN chair Esther Dyson, Romanian President Ion Iliescu and Thai Crown
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Forum organizers are currently seeking
proposals for exhibits to be displayed over the course of the week;
proposals are due September 30. The forum will be held December 8-9,
immediately prior to the start of the World Summit on the Information
Society.
SOURCE: CERN
http://rsis.web.cern.ch/rsis/
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