MEDIA OWNERSHIP
The March on Washington 40th Anniversary and Minority Media
TELEPHONY
Straightening Out the Story on Telecom's Routing Game
INTERNET
ALA to Examine CIPA's Impact on Libraries
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Study: More Net Use on Coasts, in the Mountains
SBC Opens Tech Center at St. Mary's University
PRIVACY
Group Gets Private Data on US Officials
-------------------------------------------------------------------
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON 40TH ANNIVERSARY AND MINORITY MEDIA
Forty years ago today, a quarter of a million people gathered in front of
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. urging passage of pending federal
civil rights legislation. Andrea Taylor, president of the Benton
Foundation, and co-author Norris Dickard mark the occasion by looking back
at the progress of minority media over the last 40 years. Covering major
milestones from 1963 to the present, the essay summarizes data on the
current status of minorities as consumers, producers and owners of media in
America. Taylor also explores the ramifications of the FCC's recent media
ownership decision.
SOURCE: Benton Foundation; AUTHORS: Andrea Taylor with Norris Dickard
http://www.benton.org/publibrary/issuesinfocus/1963march.html
See also:
NPR and PBS special features on the March on Washington 40th anniversary
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/march40th/index.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/local/march40/
TELEPHONY
STRAIGHTENING OUT THE STORY ON TELECOM'S ROUTING GAME
Perhaps MCI isn't alone in manipulating the call routing system to its
advantage, suggests this USA Today article. MCI has come under fire of late,
as allegations by its competitors have prompted a Justice Department
investigation and a congressional inquiry. According to industry analysts,
however, the practice of attempting to route calls to avoid higher
connection fees has been a standard practice for years. "Over the past seven
years, every major segment of the industry, new and old, has spent an
immense amount of time scheming to game the complex process," the Texas
Office of Public Utility Council and Consumers Union told the FCC earlier
this year. In fact, the accusation that MCI arranged for call codes to be
altered is not new. Texas-based long distance reseller NTS pled guilty to
mail fraud last February after federal prosecutors proved that the company
routed calls through older equipment to strip the origin codes before
reaching SBC Communications, a tactic which defrauded SBC of roughly $76
million over five years. Other methods are also common, including the
so-called Internet loophole in the 1996 Telecom Act. When AT&T discovered
how to transmit long distance calls via data packets, which are exempt from
access fees, other industry players followed suit.
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHORS: Kevin Maney, Andrew Backover and Elliot
Blair Smith
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2003-08-26-mci-cover_x.htm
INTERNET
ALA TO EXAMINE CIPA'S IMPACT ON LIBRARIES
On August 23, a group of librarians and trustees representing the American
Library Association (ALA) met to discuss issues around the Supreme Court
ruling reaffirming the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). CIPA
requires schools and libraries receiving federal edtech dollars to install
filtering software on public computers. In the coming weeks, ALA members and
staff will work to gather information about the financial impacts of CIPA,
an unfunded mandate. They will also begin developing criteria and tools for
evaluating technological protection measures, with an aim of identifying
filters that have the ability to "minimize the harm" of underblocking and
overblocking online information. Other work includes a communications plan
to update ALA members and educate the public, and advocacy to oppose any
further efforts to mandate filters in libraries. "Equity of access is a core
value of the library profession and the ALA, and we must be clear that
installing filters that block access to safe and legal information deepens
the digital divide between those who have Internet access at home, work or
school and those who 'have not,'" said ALA President Carla Hayden in a
statement.
SOURCE: American Library Association; CONTACT: Larra Clark
http://www.ala.org//Content/ContentGroups/Press_Releases2/Press_Releases...
3_August/A_statement_from_ALA_President_Carla_Hayden.htm
DIGITAL DIVIDE
STUDY: MORE NET USE ON COASTS, IN THE MOUNTAINS
A new study released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project reports
that Americans living on the coasts and in Rocky Mountain states access the
Web more than southerners and midwesterners. Pew infers that better
education and higher income levels are predictive of higher levels of
Internet use. Overall, 59 percent of adults said they have accessed the
Internet by the end of last year, up from 50 percent in 2000. Oregon and
Washington state set the pace with 68 percent, with New England clocked at
66 percent and California close behind with 65 percent. Sixty-four percent
of adults in the Rocky Mountain states and the National Capital region have
been online. In contrast, southerners reported only a 48 percent use rate,
the lowest in the country.
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: Associated Press
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2003-08-27-pew-net-use_x.
htm
See Also:
A Digital Divide Unconquered
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56643-2003Aug27.html
Read the Pew report:
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=98
SBC OPENS TECH CENTER AT ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY
St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, will open its SBC Center for
Information Technology on September 12. To build the center, the SBC
Foundation donated $1 million through its SBC Excelerator program, which
gives grants to nonprofits aimed at improving technology access, education
and workforce development. St. Mary's President Charles Cotrell said the
center "has an academic function but it also has a community outreach
function." The center, which features a teleconferencing auditorium, wired
and wireless classrooms and satellite TV, will be used for entrepreneurial
courses for the general public, programs for high school students and
teachers and tax preparation courses for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
Program. In the spring, the university plans to use the classrooms for its
own students as well. Cotrell hopes the center, located near a city-run
Learning and Leadership Development Center and across the street from the
Memorial Branch Library, will "help encourage digital literacy and break
down the digital divide for people on the city's West Side who do not have
access to the latest technology."
SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News; AUTHOR: L.A. Lorek
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=110&xlc=1046240
PRIVACY
GROUP GETS PRIVATE DATA ON U.S. OFFICIALS
Proving that just about anything is for sale on the Web these days while
underscoring the need for tougher consumer credit protection laws, a
consumer group was able to obtain the Social Security numbers and addresses
of top government officials. California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and
Consumer Rights said that for $26 each it was able to obtain personal
information on Attorney General John Ashcroft, CIA Director George Tenet and
other chief Bush administration advisors. The group says that pending
legislation in the House would endanger tough consumer privacy laws at the
state level, including the bill signed by California governor Gray Davis
yesterday. "Banks and insurers should not be able to go to Washington as an
end-run around the most protective state privacy laws," said the group's
executive director Jamie Court. While the foundation shares the banking
industry's desire for strong national privacy standards, Court emphasized
the need for allowing states to go the extra mile if they so choose, noting
the importance of halting inter-company trafficking. "If you cannot stop the
traffic in your information among corporate affiliates, you don't have
privacy in this nation," Court said.
SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHOR: Jennifer C. Kerr, Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58013-2003Aug28.html
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights:
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------