INTERNET
House Votes To Make Net Safer For Kids
Royalty Rates for Internet Radio Rejected
DIGITAL DIVIDE
On Ghana's Tech Frontier, Internet Start-Up Flourishes
Nonprofit Aims To Wire Rural Asian Schools
CONTENT
Connecting Large Advertisers and Ethnic Newspapers=20
INTERNET
HOUSE VOTES TO MAKE NET SAFER FOR KIDS
Two bills were approved this week that focus on creating safer online
environments for children. The first bill would expand wiretap =
authority to
target suspected sexual predators in the hopes of stopping meetings =
between
children and molesters. Wiretaps could also be authorized for people
suspected in child pornography or enticing children to have sex for =
money.
A similar wiretapping bill was killed in the Senate last year. The =
second
bill approved on a 406-2 vote will create a .kids.us domain overseen by =
the
federal government for children under 13. Participation in the domain =
would
be voluntary and parents would be able to limit children's access to =
urls
ending in .kids.us. Supporters feel it will protect children from =
exposure
to pornography and chat rooms. Groups like the American Civil =
Liberties
Union have called the bill an attempt at censorship. ACLU attorney =
Marv
Johnson said, "It essentially gives them carte blanche to kick out =
whatever
they want."=20
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/05/21/kids-internet.htm)
ROYALTY RATES FOR INTERNET RADIO REJECTED
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, overseer of the =
U.S.Copyright
Office rejected proposed royalty rates and stated he would give a final
decision on June 20. Webcasters have been actively lobbying to reduce =
the
proposed royalty rated they fear will put them out of business. The =
rates
would be e retroactive to 1998 and could cost large webcasters hundreds =
of
thousand of dollars annually. Webcasters currently pay royalties to
composers and music publishers based on a percentage of their revenue.
Traditional radio broadcasters have avoided paying royalties for each =
song
played by arguing that they are promoting the music. After the final =
ruling
comes down opponents can appeal within 30 days and a court can modify =
or set
aside Billington's decision. =20
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David Ho]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53422-2002May21.html)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
ON GHANA'S TECH FRONTIER, INTERNET START-UP FLOURISHES
Mark Davies and partner Alex Rousselet have built a thriving Internet =
caf=E9,
BusyInternet with a copy center, meeting rooms, restaurant, bar, =
movies,
lectures and even rent space to small startups such as a Web design =
firm and
e-commerce site, eShopAfrica.com. BusyInternet provides access to about =
1500
Ghanaians who pay $1 an hour to surf online each day. Davies now has =
plans
to set up the infrastructure for Internet phone calls, something the
Ghanaian government currently considers illegal. Foreign investors =
believe
that if Internet calls were allowed Ghana could set up a hub of call =
centers
and compete with India and other countries that service Western =
companies.
Jim Moore, an expert on Internet development at Harvard said, "A =
relatively
modest market share can do a lot for these countries because they are =
so
poor." The Ghanaian government runs the telephone company and has a =
vested
interest in protecting those revenues. They are currently considering
whether they will allow Internet phone calls and Davies has put his =
plans on
hold saying, "Nobody knows whether voice transmission across the =
Internet is
legal or not." Those who have gone ahead with servicing =
voice-over-Internet
calls have ended up in jail and had equipment confiscated by the =
government.
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Michael M. Phillips]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1022014693311040680.djm,00.html)
NONPROFIT AIMS TO WIRE RURAL ASIAN SCHOOLS
Room to Read, a nonprofit start-up dedicated to improving literacy in
developing nations, will launch a new division Wednesday to wire
impoverished classrooms in Asia. Eleven classrooms in Nepal and Vietnam =
will
be the first recipients of grants under the new program, which provides =
each
school with four computers, one printer, all related hardware and =
software
and a dedicated dial-up connection. Room to Read founder John Wood said =
the
group will be cautious when selecting the rural districts that receive
computer grants; "There are certain communities where doing this =
program
would be putting cart before the horse. Some places don't even have
electricity." Communities that receive Room to Read computer grants =
must
provide matching grants for teacher training and computer upgrades, =
repairs
and maintenance. Wood dismissed concerns that Internet access would
transform rural communities by exposing them to Western commercialism. =
He
noted that Room to Read is encouraging donations of educational =
software and
CD-ROMs to help children learn languages, advanced mathematics and
physics--not just software that enables them to get into AOL chat =
groups to
discuss American pop culture and trivia.
[SOURCE: CNet, AUTHOR: Rachel Konrad]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1017-920022.html?tag=3Dfd_top)
CONTENT
CONNECTING LARGE ADVERTISERS AND ETHNIC NEWSPAPERS
Ethnic newspapers, like News India-Times, The Guyana Monitor and The
Filipino Reporter, with small but loyal readerships, have a hard time
competing with national magazines for advertising revenue. But the
Independent Press Association has begun a program to help those =
newspapers
tap into the broader market by making it easier for advertisers to buy =
ads.
The program, called the All Communities Advertising Service, permits
advertisers to place ads in many ethnic publications with one phone =
call.
"It's basically an ad agency for the little guys," said Garry =
Pierre-Pierre,
the editor and publisher of The Haitian Times in Brooklyn, which uses =
the
service. The service's creation is a reflection of the growing market =
for
ethnic publications in multicultural cities like New York, which is =
home to
about 150 of them. Independent Press Association sees the service as a =
way
for advertisers to reach a relatively untapped group of consumers. A =
study
conducted last month by the National Association of Hispanic =
Advertising
Agencies, which said that 3.2 percent of mainstream advertising is =
aimed at
Hispanics, yet 12.5 percent of the population is Hispanic
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Aaron Donovan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/22/business/media/22ADCO.html)
(requires registration)
----------------------------------------------------------------------