INTERNET
Got A Cause? Here's How To Get Online
Site Barred From Linking To Danish Newspapers
Group Pushing For Online Privacy
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Treating Viewers as Criminals
COMPETITION
Telecom Sector May Find Past Is Its Future
INTERNET
GOT A CAUSE? HERE'S HOW TO GET ONLINE
The Oakland, Calif.-based Ruckus Society organized its first annual Tech
ToolBox Action Camp, a weeklong training seminar to teach activists how to
use computers and the Internet. More than 230 activists, some from as far as
Mexico and Brazil, attended the conference, which ended Tuesday afternoon.
The goals of the camp included helping activist how to better develop Web
sites and improve e-mail communications to help promote their cause, be it
ending police brutality or freeing political dissidents in Cuban jails. But
they were pleasantly shocked when more than 230 people, flew, drove or
hitchhiked to the campground about 65 miles north of San Francisco. Despite
concerns about AOL Time Warner, Microsoft and other corporations' increasing
control of large sections of the Web, participants seemed bullish about the
Internet's ability to give a louder, global voice to alternative
publications.
[SOURCE: CTCNet, AUTHOR: Rachel Konrad ]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1017-941723.html?tag=fd_top)
SITE BARRED FROM LINKING TO DANISH NEWSPAPERS
The Danish Web site, Newsbooster was ordered to stop linking to 20 Danish
newspapers without permission. The court ruled that Newsbooster was a
competitor to the other newspapers and by linking to them they were
compromising the value of the newspaper's advertisements. Newsbooster is a
paid subscription service that allows users to search for topics and receive
lists of applicable news items via the Web site or email. Ebbe Dal,
spokeswoman for the newspapers that filed suit against Newsbooster said, "It
would have been difficult for newspapers to do business if the bailiff's
court had reached the opposite result." Newsbooster still has links to 4,480
international newspapers and thus far have received no complaints from the
foreign publications. Newsbooster manager Anders Lautrup said, "We're deeply
shocked. I trust this will have consequences for search engines worldwide."
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/2002/07/05/denmark-links.htm)
GROUP PUSHING FOR ONLINE PRIVACY
A coalition including the Consumers Union, American Association of Retired
Persons, the American Civil Liberties Union and others launched an effort
this week to put a new privacy initiative on the ballot. Financial
institutions claim that they must be able to share personal consumer
information such as phone numbers, addresses and account balances. Consumer
advocates are asking that the practice stop. Chris Larsen, CEO of E-Loan
donated $1million to fund a signature-gathering campaign saying that
consumer concerns were hurting business at his loan company. He said,
"Privacy is the big obstacle to widespread use of the Internet for financial
services...For the online channels to dominate, that's not going to happen
until customers don't stop and think twice before they give their data."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Laura Kurtzman]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3612624.htm)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
TREATING VIEWERS AS CRIMINALS
[Commentary] An 80s TV show called Max Headroom depicted a media industry so
concerned about capturing the minds of their audience they developed "the
blipvert", a subliminal advertisement that implanted commercial messages
into the viewers brain before they changed the channel. While we have not
reached science-fiction levels yet, Henry Jenkins does see some disturbing
trends in some recent comments and actions of the major media networks.
Turner Broadcasting System CEO Jaime Kellner recently said that consumers
who used digital recorders to skip commercials were guilty of "stealing" and
that, "Your contract with the network when you get the show is that you're
going to watch the spots." Jenkins blasts the idea that there is some sort
of "contract" that forces viewers to watch advertisements. In an environment
of expanding media choices viewers need the networks less and less and the
major media networks have resorted to name-calling and legal battles that
include requesting personal data on thousands of individual consumers
relating to what shows they watch and which commercials they skip.
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Henry Jenkins]
(http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_jenkins070302.asp)
COMPETITION
TELECOM SECTOR MAY FIND PAST IS ITS FUTURE
Deregulation and new technology were expected to spawn a golden age of
competition, energizing the economy while bringing consumers and businesses
a cornucopia of exciting services and products. But now, many of those who
just a few years ago bet big on this dream have reluctantly reached a new
conclusion: The future of consumer choice in phone service may look an awful
lot like the past. Dozens of telecommunications companies have gone bankrupt
and nearly a half a trillion dollars in investments have evaporated. Instead
of a world of choices, a few giants continue to rule -- Verizon
Communications Inc., SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., the local
telephone monopolies carved out of the breakup of AT&T Corp. "The real
nature of this business may be a monopoly business because it just requires
so much capital," said William J. Rouhana Jr., former chief executive of
WinStar Communications Inc., an upstart telephone and Internet company that
landed in bankruptcy in April 2001. The economics of building networks,
upgrading old wires for the high-speed Internet and improving mobile phone
services "are just so overwhelming," Rouhana said. If investors will no
longer bear the costs, then "to have more than one competitor who controls
the physical network may just not be possible."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36589-2002Jul7.html)
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