DIGITAL DIVIDE
Vietnam Wrestles with Internet Growth
The Cultural aned Political Environment of ICT Projects in
Developing Countries
OWNERSHIP
FCC and Right-Wing Radio Helping U.S. Press Freedom Slip Away
DIGITAL DIVIDE
VIETNAM WRESTLES WITH INTERNET GROWTH
The explosion of Internet use in Vietnam has prompted a mixed reaction in
Hanoi. On one hand, the government plans to quadruple the current number of
Internet users to four million by 2005 and inject $100 million into the
country's IT sector over the next two years. Yet Vietnam's pro-Internet
development policies are tempered by its tight control over use and content.
Web sites with pornography, violence, and especially political dissidence
are all deemed "poisonous and harmful." The government blocks access to
several of these sites, and violators have faced imprisonment.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2003-02-03-vietnam_x.htm
)
THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT OF ICT PROJECTS IN DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
[Abstract] "While most of today's ICT projects involve several
organizations, each can have different views on how to attain the project's
goals. When designing an ICT-enabled development project, analysis of its
cultural and political dimensions allows us to understand how the project
team functions and to anticipate problems well ahead."
[SOURCE: iConnect Online, AUTHOR: Rutger Rosendaal]
(http://www.iconnect-online.org/base/ic_show_news?sc=107&id=2009)
OWNERSHIP
FCC AND RIGHT-WING RADIO HELPING U.S. PRESS FREEDOM SLIP AWAY
[Commentary] America has already seen the detrimental effects of media
deregulation and consolidation, according to columnist Molly Ivins. The
elimination of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 has had "a stunning effect on
political debate," and the 1996 deregulation of radio has created giant
companies such as Clear Channel Communication, who own several radio
stations in the same market. "What is so perfectly loony about the FCC's
proposal," says Ivins, "...is that it is being done in the name of `the free
market.'" She concludes by noting that the US now ranks 17th, behind Costa
Rica and Slovenia, in an index of press freedom established by Reporters
Without Borders.
[SOURCE: The Salt Lake Tribune, AUTHOR: Molly Ivins]
(http://www.sltrib.com/2003/feb/02032003/commenta/25802.asp)
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