A service of the Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org)
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Senate Officials Face Challenge in Repealing New FCC Mandate
Commentary: Comcast Sues San Jose
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Ruling on Filtering Internet P0rrnography Could Widen Digital Divide
PRIVACY
Survey: New Internet Privacy Laws Needed
21ST CENTURY SKILLS
Software Helps Immigrants Learn English
AOLTW Foundation Releases 21st Century Literacy Survey Results
E-GOVERNMENT
Snags, but Many Votes, For Online Primary
E-WASTE
Bill Aims to Cut Computer Clutter
EVENTS
The Fourth World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
SENATE OFFICIALS FACE CHALLENGE IN REPEALING NEW FCC MANDATE
Purdue University's Connie Davis, a visiting assistant professor
specializing in media law, echoes the sentiment that last week's Senate
action on media ownership will face a tough battle as it moves through
Congress. "I think it's going to be awhile before anything happens," says
Davis, who predicts litigation should the rules be overturned. Davis pays
particular attention to the Senate Commerce Committee's measure requiring
radio companies such as Clear Channel Communications to sell off some of
their holdings, noting that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 called on the
Senate to monitor radio ownership caps but that the body failed to do so.
Davis also discusses criticisms that the FCC did not hold significant public
dialogue on the issue. "It's good that the Senate is taking the discussion
to 'another level,'" Davis says. "What did not happen was a good discussion
of these issues in the mainstream media because the mainstream benefits from
the deregulation." Davis expresses some skepticism regarding the real effect
of current legislation, suggesting that rollbacks would still leave many
TV-newspaper cross-ownership relationships intact while failing to alter
Clear Channel's market dominance.
SOURCE: The Exponent; AUTHOR: Amanda Anthony
http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2003/06...
section=city&storyid=SenateFCC
COMCAST SUES SAN JOSE;
ILLUSTRATES DANGERS OF CABLE MONOPOLY IN BROADBAND ERA
[Commentary] Cable giant Comcast has filed suit against the City of San
Jose, California in a case that could determine whether a community is able
to dictate how cable service should serve the public interest in the
broadband era. The company asked a US district court to declare illegal the
city's request that its cable franchisee provide six new public access
channels as well as access to a set of public "modern telecommunications
facilities." Comcast also objects to the appeals process that San Jose has
established for the formal franchise renewal proceedings. The company
alleges that the restrictions "force Comcast to provide an excessive and
unlawful package of public benefits in exchange for the right to continue to
speak in the City," a claim the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) calls
"specious." CDD suggests that Comcast's claim "reveals the cable industry's
political goals for broadband. They clearly want to limit the ability of
local government to use the franchise renewal process to require that some
portion of broadband networks serve the interests of the public."
SOURCE: Center for Democracy and Technology
http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/marketwatch/comcast.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
RULING ON FILTERING INTERNET P0RRNOGRAPHY COULD WIDEN DIGITAL DIVIDE
Internet equity advocates are criticizing Monday's US Supreme Court decision
to allow the government to require libraries that receive federal tech
funding to install Internet filters. The critics argue that minorities and
low-income families, who are statistically more likely to have Internet
access only via libraries, will potentially find it harder to access
information inadvertently blocked by filters. "It is yet another obstacle
for low-income Americans to having the same kind of access and the same kind
of information resources and awareness that their more well-to-do peers
have," said the Benton Foundation's Andy Carvin. According to Judith Klug of
the American Library Association, many libraries intend to reject federal
tech dollars in order to avoid placing filters on their Internet computers
-- but libraries in low-income areas will find it very difficult to make
such a choice. Klug adds that the law puts librarians "in a position of
punishing people who are poor."
SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times; AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-lib25.html
Note: The editors of Headlines have intentionally misspelled a certain word
in the title to prevent email filters from blocking subscribers from reading
this newsletter -- a common occurrence when Headlines covers Internet free
speech issues.
See also:
Many libraries Will Skip Grants to Avoid Using Net Filters
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/6158188.htm
PRIVACY
SURVEY: NEW INTERNET PRIVACY LAWS NEEDED
A study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of
Pennsylvania is fueling the debate about Internet privacy laws. Researchers
said the new survey of 1,200 adult Internet users illustrates a lack of
knowledge on the part of Web surfers about how companies track online
movement and use information. Joseph Turow, a communications professor at
Annenberg, said the most important finding is that "a large percentage of
the American population seems not to understand the complex uses of their
data by marketers." Critics of new Internet privacy laws say the survey was
flawed. "These questions seem to have been asked in a way that is going to
elicit the types of answers they got," said Tom Lenard, vice president for
research at the Progress and Freedom Foundation. But the issue isn't going
away any time soon. "The overwhelming percentage of consumers continue to
believe that some legal framework would help them protect their information
and that personal information is still an important concern," Commissioner
Mozelle Thompson of the Federal Trade Commission said.
SOURCE: Times Leader; AUTHOR: Ted Bridis
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/6162255.htm
21ST CENTURY SKILLS
AOLTW FOUNDATION RELEASES 21ST CENTURY LITERACY SURVEY RESULTS
AOL Time Warner Foundation today released the findings of a national opinion
survey on 21st century literacy conducted by the firms Lake Snell, Perry and
Associates and Market Associates Strategies. The foundation commissioned the
survey to help identify the new literacy needs of today's youth and inform
the direction of philanthropy, public policy and program development. The
survey found that a significant majority of respondents place 21st century
literacy skills, such as technology competency, critical thinking, media
literacy and communication skills, at the top of education priorities.
Ninety-two percent of respondents think that young people need different
skills today than they did 10-20 years ago, while only 42 percent felt that
young people are being taught the critical skills needed for success in the
21st century, either in school or in other settings. Almost 40 percent of
respondents think American youth are "behind" young people from other
countries in obtaining 21st century skills. The foundation also announced $3
million in new grants for initiatives that support the dissemination of
these skills.
SOURCE: AOL Time Warner Foundation
http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/fn_press_view.cfm?release_num=55253235
SOFTWARE HELPS IMMIGRANTS LEARN ENGLISH
Hector Mendiola, Latino activist and former teacher, teamed up with Utah
State University's extension office to create Computer-Assisted Literacy for
Non-English Speakers (CALFNES). The computer-based language assistance
program, which cost about $10,000 to develop, contains 99 lessons with
speaking, listening and writing activities. Computer-based teaching has
several advantages for immigrants; for example, they can learn at their own
pace and not be embarrassed by slow progress in relation to other students.
It also reduces the stigma of being undocumented. In addition, students
learn basic computer skills, including the use of email to receive their
assignments. Moderators such as Mendiola serve as tutors, reviewing homework
and doing verbal exercises with students. "There's nothing that replaces a
live teacher," says Logan High School principal Charles Nelson, who has
overseen several language programs. He has found the best solution for his
students is a combination of both instructor-led and computer-based
teaching.
SOURCE: The Salt Lake Tribune; AUTHOR: Tim Sullivan
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jun/06252003/utah/69724.asp
E-GOVERNMENT
SNAGS, BUT MANY VOTES, FOR ONLINE PRIMARY
MoveOn.org began its first online presidential primary yesterday, quickly
experiencing some of the same snafus that haunt traditional polls. Though an
unexpected overload of participants knocked the vote-counting mechanism
offline temporarily, by the afternoon over 100,000 votes had been cast in
what some call the first meaningful ballot of the Democratic primary. Should
a majority winner emerge, that candidate will receive MoveOn.org's
endorsement, which could mean significant fundraising from the
organization's 1.4 million members. Some candidate's campaign officials have
criticized the election, claiming that MoveOn.org stacked the deck in favor
of three prominent candidates and timed the vote to benefit Vermont governor
Howard Dean in particular. Other campaign officials complained that their
supporters experienced technical problems that prevented them from voting.
SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHORS: David Von Drehle and Brian Faler
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29008-2003Jun24.html
E-WASTE
BILL AIMS TO CUT COMPUTER CLUTTER
The National Computer Recycling Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA),
would add a fee of about $10 to computer purchases in order to fund new
recycling programs. The bill would create a grant program through the
Environmental Protection Agency, and local governments and organizations
could apply for grants to pay for programs to collect, recycle, reuse or
resell computers and components. About half the states have already
introduced some form of legislation addressing the e-waste problem, "ranging
from outlawing cathode ray tubes in landfills in Minnesota to education
programs in Colorado," said Adam Schafer, program director for the National
Caucus of Environmental Legislators. In the opinion of Ted Smith, executive
director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, it is the states that will
push the issue to the forefront. "It's going to take several states to pass
leading-edge legislation before Congress is ready to act," Smith said.
"We're glad that Congressman Thompson has taken the initiative on this but
he's facing a Congress that is hostile to any new environmental regulation,"
he added.
SOURCE: Wired; AUTHOR: Katie Dean
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59372,00.html
EVENTS
THE FOURTH WORLD SUMMIT ON MEDIA FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
The Fourth World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents is scheduled
to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May 3 - 7, 2004. The summit,
previously hosted in Melbourne (1995), London (1998) and Thessaloniki,
Greece (2001), are part of an international movement in favor of children's
and adolescents' right of access to quality media. The summit will bring
together creators, producers, directors, distributors, industry
representatives, researchers, educators, children and adolescents to try to
influence the legislation, production and commercialization of media
products all over the world.
SOURCE: The Fourth World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents
http://www.multirio.rj.gov.br/riosummit2004
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