MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Union Fights Deregulation
INTERNET
Lawmakers Poised to Consider Internet Tax Bill
SECURITY
Bush to Name Tech Security Leaders
DIGITAL DIVIDE
For Company in Cambodia, Only the Destitute May Apply
TECHNOLOGY
'Gadget printer' Promises Industrial Revolution
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
UNION FIGHTS DEREGULATION
As the FCC takes on its review of media ownership rules, America's
entertainment unions have made their position against deregulation clear. A
coalition of unions, including the American Federation of Radio and
Television Artists (AFTRA), Writers Guild of America, Producers Guild of
America, Directors Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild, have filed
comments strongly opposing any rollback of the rules. "The FCC is seriously
considering scrapping the nation's rules governing how much of the media any
person or corporation can own or dominate... thus giving a few huge
corporations virtually absolute direction over what all Americans see and
hear," the unions stated. AFTRA and Writers Guild of America/East, in
particular, called for the FCC to mandate "source diversity" -- independent
ownership over media outlets. AFTRA president John Connolly noted that a
decision to roll back media ownership rules would make it even more
difficult for minorities to run their own media outlets. "There are a couple
of small radio groups owned by African Americans," he said. "Most Spanish
media is not in the hands of members of the Latino community.... This is not
an issue which should be ignored."
[SOURCE: Backstage.com, AUTHOR: Laura Weinert]
(http://www.backstage.com/backstage/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=
1791586)
INTERNET
LAWMAKERS POISED TO CONSIDER INTERNET TAX BILL
The Michigan state legislature may be the first in the US to enact a system
for collecting taxes on Internet sales. The proposed measure is modeled
after an agreement reached late last year by 33 states, including Michigan,
which would eventually ask Congress for a uniform Web sales tax policy for
all states. Budget woes have prompted Michigan to pursue this process, since
the six percent sales tax makes up over a quarter of the state's tax
revenue. The bill faces a formidable political battle in the coming months.
Democrats, including Governor Jennifer Granholm, have been lobbied by small
brick-and-mortar business to ensure tax equity, while Republicans attempt to
maintain the party's lower tax approach to economic stimulus.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-01-08-net-tax_x.htm)
SECURITY
BUSH TO NAME TECH SECURITY LEADERS
According to government sources, the Bush administration is preparing to
name a former intelligence agency chief and a Commerce Department official
to take charge of IT security in the new Department of Homeland Security.
James Clapper, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is
expected to be nominated as head of the Department's Information Analysis
and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) division. Clapper would be responsible
for the nation's IT security, as well as for coordinating the sharing of IT
security intelligence between the various government intelligence agencies.
John Tritak, current director of the Critical Infrastructure Assurance
Office, would serve under Clapper, managing IT infrastructure protection.
The White House must also name candidates for other IT security positions at
the new department, including an undersecretary of Science and Technology,
who would supervise the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The Department would also have a chief privacy officer, in response to
criticism from civil liberties groups that have warned against compromising
privacy rights in the name of homeland security.
[SOURCE: WashingtonPost.com, AUTHOR: Brian Krebs]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34171-2003Jan9.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
FOR COMPANY IN CAMBODIA, ONLY THE DESTITUTE MAY APPLY
In Cambodia, most citizens live on less than a dollar a day, making the
country's unskilled labor force a low-cost solution for foreign companies as
well as a target for globalization critics. One particular company has added
an interesting twist to what is usually a black-and-white moral issue.
Digital Divide Data, a data entry company in the Cambodian capital Phnom
Penh, pays roughly $65 per month for basic typing duties, but the company
reserves its job openings exclusively for Cambodia's least advantaged
citizens. The employees work a six-hour shift each day and are encouraged to
use their additional time to pursue IT training, which is partly funded by
the company. The company's founders, Jeremy Hockenstein and Jaeson
Rosenfeld, run the business as volunteers, drawing no salary from the
business.
[SOURCE: Seattle Times, AUTHOR: June Shih, Christian Science Monitor]
(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134611399_digital0
8.html)
TECHNOLOGY
'GADGET PRINTER' PROMISES INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Engineers at the University of California at Berkeley are developing a new
ink-jet printing technology that would create fully assembled electronic
gadgets in one swoop. The revolutionary production concept, known as
"flexonics," would utilize a new generation of ink-jet printers that overlay
polymer plastics on top of each other until they form three-dimensional
electronic components such as transistors and capacitors. The same printer
simultaneously would use its polymer-layering technology to create the
casing around these plastic electronics, thus allowing it to churn out
devices such as mobile phones, radios, even plastic light bulbs. The
Berkeley researchers have already developed printers that can create
individual electronic components, and now they are developing the
appropriate polymers to connect the components into circuits and encase
them. This radical method for producing electronic gadgets faces one major
downside, though: because its inner electronics cannot be replaced, broken
devices could only be thrown away or recycled rather than repaired.
[SOURCE: New Scientist, AUTHOR: Duncan Graham-Rowe]
(http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993238)
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