INTERNET
Internet File-Sharing Bigger Than Record Business
REGULATION
Senate Commerce Committee to Hold Universal Service Hearing Next
Week
F.C.C. Chief Wants Rules Eased
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Youth IT Programme Creates Jobs
INTERNET
INTERNET FILE-SHARING BIGGER THAN RECORD BUSINESS
The California legislature was warned yesterday that free peer-to-peer music
file sharing has become so common that its volume actually dwarfed the
multi-billion dollar recording industry. Eric Garland, a Web trends analyst,
told the Senate Select Committee on the
Entertainment Industry that fighting the popular activity would be "a losing
battle" and that the industry should instead embrace downloadable music as a
part of their distribution model. Industry execs see it differently,
however, and plan to push for legal challenges to P2P sharing while
launching education campaigns about the illegality of such activity.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jim Wasserman]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40744-2003Mar28.html)
REGULATION
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE TO HOLD UNIVERSAL SERVICE HEARING NEXT WEEK
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a
hearing next Wednesday, April 2 2003 on universal service. The hearing will
begin at 9:30 AM and will be held in room SR-253 of the Russell Building. A
witness list can be found at the URL below.
[SOURCE: The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation]
(http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=687)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
F.C.C. CHIEF WANTS RULES EASED
FCC Chairman Michael Powell told an organization representing media and
communications professionals that it he found it "hard to see how a complete
ban on newspapers' owning TV stations serves the public interest." The
Commission plans to hold a meeting on June 2nd to adopt new media ownership
rules. While some analysts say that the rule is "as good as dead," consumer
advocates such as Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project argue that
relaxing the rules "poses a real threat to the democratic process."
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Bloomberg News]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/28/business/28FCC.html)
YOUTH IT PROGRAMME CREATES JOBS
All 120 students in South Africa's Youth Internship Programme pilot last
year graduated and have been offered IT industry jobs. A joint effort of the
trade and industry department, the Sector Education and Training Authority
(Seta) and private companies, the program sought to alleviate a shortage of
IT professionals by pairing students aged 18-30 with six tech companies. The
students developed programming, installation, security and business analysis
skills. The plan targets previously disadvantaged groups and next year will
expand to other South African cities.
[SOURCE: AllAfrica.com, AUTHOR: Lesley Stones, Business Day (Johannesburg)]
(http://allafrica.com/stories/200303270436.html)
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