OWNERSHIP
Not Enough: FCC Public Hearing Allows Only One Hour for Citizen
Input=20
INTERNET
Civil Society Wins a Place at WSIS Table
Lawmakers' Web Sites Improving, Report Finds
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Pondering Value of Copyright vs. Innovation
OWNERSHIP
NOT ENOUGH: FCC PUBLIC HEARING ALLOWS ONLY ONE HOUR FOR CITIZEN INPUT
The FCC's public hearing last week in Richmond, VA offered little
opportunity for citizens to provide comments, say attendees. "If this =
is all
we have to offer as far as inviting the public into this process, then =
I
think it's really deficient," said Philadelphia resident Anthony Mazza. =
The
article provides detailed coverage of the discussions regarding =
ownership
limits in the TV, radio and newspaper markets, including statements =
made by
panelists, witnesses and the FCC commissioners.
[SOURCE: Richmond.com, AUTHOR: Jay-Anne Casuga]
(http://www.richmond.com/output.cfm?ID=3D2414262)
INTERNET
CIVIL SOCIETY WINS A PLACE AT WSIS TABLE
Nonprofit organizations celebrated an important victory after delegates =
to
the preparatory committee meeting of the World Summit on the =
Information
Society decided that non-governmental organizations will participate, =
for
the first time, on equal footing with governments and business at this
year's summit. Alongside government and private sector representatives,
civil society and international inter-governmental organizations will =
be the
main actors involved in preparing for and participation in the December
summit, where the mandate is to establish policies to bridge the global
digital divide. Committee chairman Adama Samass=E9kou of Mali went so =
far as
to say that the creation of the Civil Society Bureau was the most =
important
achievement of the sessions.=20
[SOURCE: Inter Press Service News Agency, AUTHOR: Gustavo Capdevila]
(http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=3D16394)
LAWMAKERS' WEB SITES IMPROVING, REPORT FINDS
Members of Congress have increased the utility of their respective Web
sites, offering more constituent services and less member =
"advertising,"
according to a Congress Online Project report to be released today. The
report notes a marked increase in "A" and "B" grades from last year's =
study,
up to roughly half of the sites surveyed from only 10 percent a year =
ago.
Members now offer services ranging from links to district news to a =
how-to
page for finding federal educational assistance. The report also states =
that
the number of substandard sites has only decreased nominally, still =
hovering
around 25 percent.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian D. Faler]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30578-2003Mar2.html)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY=20
PONDERING VALUE OF COPYRIGHT VS. INNOVATION
Two conferences in California last weekend pitted copyright owners and
academics against technologists and legislators over the issue of =
public use
of original works and public ownership of spectrum. At the first =
conference,
at the University of California/Berkeley, attendees discussed the =
future of
digital rights management (DRM) software, which is used to protect
copyrighted materials against reverse engineering as per the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Critics argue that DRM software is =
headed
down a dangerous path, discouraging innovation by companies who learn =
to
create the next generation of technologies based on deconstructing =
current
inventions. The second conference, held at Stanford University, =
featured a
discussion of the public nature of spectrum and whether the license =
system
ought to be scrapped in favor of outright sales, which proponents say =
could
result in lower prices and the prevention of bandwidth interference. =
Critics
contend that emerging technologies such as software-enabled radios will
reduce or eliminate the interference problem without altering the
public-commons notion of spectrum ownership.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Amy Harmon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/03/technology/03COPY.html)
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