INTERNET
Bill to Promote Internet Filters in Libraries Stalls
COMPETITION
Time Warner Cable Dials in Phone Service
PRIVACY
Japan Passes Privacy Protection Law
DIGITIAL DIVIDE
Expert Decries IT Application On Economic Growth
INTERNET
BILL TO PROMOTE INTERNET FILTERS IN LIBRARIES STALLS
A bill in the Oregon legislature to pressure public libraries into filtering
Internet
content is under heated debate. Proponents of the bill argue that libraries
risk
exposing children to pornography and other indecent materials without the
use
of filtering software, while opponents claim that the software often blocks
legitimate
content as well, typically health-related sites, making the bill
unconstitutional.
Though Oregon has far stricter protection for free speech than the US
Constitution,
the bill's sponsors feel that when government funds are used, limits on
speech are
reasonable. "The government clearly can decide on limits of what it can or
cannot
say. To the extent the library wants to accept funding from the state, the
state should
have the ability to tell the library what it should or should not express,"
said Lake
Oswego lawyer James Leuenberger.
[SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-05-21-oregon-filters_x.htm
COMPETITION
TIME WARNER CABLE DIALS IN PHONE SERVICE
Competition may finally be realizing its potential in local telephone
markets, argue
analysts. Time Warner Cable announced a local/in-state/domestic long
distance
package to the Portland, Maine area last week, joining a list of cable
providers
including Cox and Comcast that offer such services in the local markets.
In-Stat/MDR
analyst Norm Bogen sites IP telephony and increased cell phone use as part
of the
slow decline in local lines on RBOC networks. Since cable companies can
carry local,
long distance, voice, video and data on their pipeline, the next few years
may see an
upheaval in the local market similar to that seen in the long distance
market in the
mid-1980s.
[SOURCE: CNET News; AUTHORS: Ben Charny and Evan Hansen]
http://news.com.com/2100-1037_3-1008962.html?tag=fd_top
PRIVACY
JAPAN PASSES PRIVACY PROTECTION LAW
Japanese lawmakers passed legislation Friday restricting the use of
personally
identifiable information by corporations and government bureaucracies. The
law will
allow citizens to obtain data collected about them by such entities and
control the use
of that information. Critics expressed concern that the new law would result
in an
overwhelming number of claims on business and the government. Magazine
publishers also weighed in, worried that the measure would repress speech
since
magazines are not expressly covered in a clause exempting news media.
[SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-05-23-privacy-japan_x.htm
DIGITAL DIVIDE
EXPERT DECRIES IT APPLICATION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH
In a paper presented at a meeting of the Institute of Directors in Lagos,
international
ICT expert Dr. Lloyd Atabansi stated that poor implementation of technology
infrastructure has attributed to the slow rate of economic growth in
Nigeria. Entitled,
"The Impact of Information Technology (IT) on a Growing Business Concern,"
Atabansi noted that low levels of financing have also hindered the growth
effects of
ICT investment. He recommended that administrative infrastructure be "fixed"
to allow
for more efficient uses of tech investment, adding that the government
should require
all companies to be ICT compliant.
[SOURCE: AllAfrica.com; AUTHOR: Hassan Idris (Daily Trust)]
http://allafrica.com/stories/200305270229.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------