INTERNET
Who Owns the Internet? You and i Do
Web Logs Open Up a New World of Journalism
Supreme Court Intervenes in DVD Dispute
POLICY
Security, Telecom Top Tech Policy Agenda for 2003
TELEPHONY
Requiem for the Pay Phone
INTERNET
WHO OWNS THE INTERNET? YOU AND I DO
Joseph Turow, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the
University of Pennsylvania, has begun a small crusade to de-capitalize
Internet - and, by extension, to acknowledge a deep shift in the way that we
think about the online world. "The capitalization of things seems to place
an inordinate, almost private emphasis on something," he said, turning it
into a Kleenex or a Frigidaire. "The Internet, at least philosophically,
should not be owned by anyone," he said, calling it "part of the neural
universe of life."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/29/weekinreview/29SCHW.html)
(requires registration)
WEB LOGS OPEN UP A NEW WORLD OF JOURNALISM
The trend of keeping a Web log, a personal online journal posted to an
Internet site, is beginning to have an impact on the way in which news is
covered. According to MSNBC.com executive producer Joan Connell, Web loggers
have helped media outlets identify stories that might have otherwise gone
unnoticed or inadequately covered. A recent example is Sen. Trent Lott's
controversial remarks earlier this month, a story at which "[t]he mainstream
media yawned, rolled their eyes and went on," Connell said. Web loggers
opined on the issue for a full week, however, compelling the media to run
the story.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Dale Dallabrida, Gannett News Service]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2002-12-30-web-
logs_x.htm)
SUPREME COURT INTERVENES IN DVD DISPUTE
A Supreme Court case involving DVD copyright circumvention is likely to
settle another hot tech law dispute - jurisdiction for Web cases. The DVD
industry is seeking a reversal of a California Supreme Court decision
stating that webmaster Mark Pavlovich, who posted a program that allowed
users to break DVD security codes, could not be sued in their state. The
industry believes that the prevalence of the movie industry in California
makes that state the proper venue. Pavlovich's attorney counters that his
client should not be dragged "into a forum that's halfway across the
country," adding that the decision has implications for anyone doing
business or otherwise having a presence on the Web. The high court's
decision will lend another voice to the international debate on jurisdiction
- a recent decision in Australia that allowed a US company to be sued there
sent shockwaves through the legal and business community.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-12-30-dvd-court_x.htm)
POLICY
SECURITY, TELECOM TOP TECH POLICY AGENDA FOR 2003
The 108th Congress faces a series of tech policy decisions as it prepares to
set to work next month. Foremost among these is the balance between privacy
and national security as the newly formed Department of Homeland Security
explores ways to streamline the federal government's information technology
and gather better citizen information. Congress will also debate digital
copyright issues, with several new bills along with one or two holdovers
from the last session aimed at minimizing consumers' ability to make copies
of digital works. The states plan to ask Congress to pass a mandatory
national Internet sales tax, a request that will almost certainly garner
heavy debate. Finally, legislation to combat identity theft and unsolicited
commercial e-mail is expected.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55618-2002Dec30.html)
TELEPHONY
REQUIEM FOR THE PAY PHONE
Pay phones are disappearing from the American landscape. With the spread of
wireless, the number of pay phones has dwindled from a high of 2.7 million
in the mid-1990s to about 1.9 million now. While pay phones in many
locations actually lose money, they are still profitable in the
lowest-income areas of a city, said Terry Rainey, president of the American
Public Communications Council Inc., an industry group representing
independent pay phone operators around the country. "There are a great
number of people in this country without a phone," Rainey said -- 4 and 5
percent, which is more than the 1 or 2 percent of the U.S. population that
lacks television sets.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Yuki Noguchi]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49017-2002Dec28.html)
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