DIGITAL DIVIDE
Tribe Gives Members Computers to Bridge Digital Divide
INTERNET
Study Says 70% of Parents Have Used the Internet
Congress Approves Net Radio Royalty Deal
ICANN Needs Another Long Trip
CABLE
Community Must Ensure that Comcast Empire Takes our Needs into
Account
WIERLESS
Businesses, Big and Small, Bet on Wireless Internet Access
DIGITAL DIVIDE
TRIBE GIVES MEMBERS COMPUTERS TO BRIDGE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Over a thousand members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in
Oregon are now able to use computers, thanks to their tribal council. The
PCs, which cost about $850 each, were purchased with revenue from the
tribe's Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, with the intention of helping
tribal members keep in touch. Each machine is equipped with an Intel Pentium
4 processor and a CD burner; tribal members also received a year of free
Internet access.
[SOURCE: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
(http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/96011_divide17ww.shtml)
INTERNET
STUDY SAYS 70% OF PARENTS HAVE USED THE INTERNET
New research has found that parents with children under 18 are more likely
to have used the Internet, are more enthusiastic about technology and tend
to fear it less than non-parents. A study by the Pew Internet and American
Life Project in Washington DC reported that 70 percent of parents have gone
online, versus 53 percent of adults with no children. Lee Rainie, director
of the project, said that parents likely learned their skills by watching
their children, by sensing what's important to them, and by providing tech
support for them.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/18/technology/18PEW.html)
CONGRESS APPROVES NET RADIO ROYALTY DEAL
The United States Congress recently passed a bill that allows copyright
holders and Webcasters to set their own rates for broadcasting music over
the Internet. The revised bill drops the idea of broadcasters paying
specific rates such as a flat per-song rate for distributing music over the
Net. Now, rates are established depending on whether the operator is
non-commercial -- such as a hobbyist, college or religious station -- or if
it is a commercial operation such as Yahoo! or America Online. Noncommercial
broadcasters have six months to establish a payment plan with copyright
holders. Commercial stations will continue to make payments of roughly one
cent per hour, per listener. "For artists it's a great thing because it
enables small Webcasters to continue to broadcast our members' work," says
Ann Chaitovitz, who represented musicians during the negotiation.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-11-15-web-royalty_x.htm)
ICANN NEEDS ANOTHER LONG TRIP
[Commentary] Is it time for ICANN to go? Author Lauren Weinstein writes
that it's time for ICANN, which recently returned from an expensive meeting
in Shanghai, to take another long trip -- a trip with a one-way ticket. The
call for dissolution of the body that manages the Internet's domain name
system largely stems from its secrecy and unwillingness to accept public
participation. Weinstein argues that ICANN's habit of holding board meetings
in far-flung locations is done to make it as difficult as possible for
critics to participate. "Regardless of how exotic or prosaic the environs of
ICANN's meetings may be, changes of locale won't alter the fundamental fact
that ICANN has outlived its usefulness," writes Lauren. "Rather than finding
acceptable solutions to the many problems of the Internet, ICANN has instead
become a major part of those very problems."
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Lauren Weinstein]
(http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56398,00.html)
CABLE
COMMUNITY MUST ENSURE THAT COMCAST EMPIRE TAKES OUR NEEDS INTO ACCOUNT
[Commentary] Now that the Comcast-AT&T merger is taking root, citizens must
act to ensure that the cable giant's new power is used to support the public
interest, particularly local needs. In this essay, Jeff Chester of the
Center for Digital Democracy urges Philadelphia-area residents to ask tough
questions of Comcast. "Will our schools and libraries receive sufficient
connections to the Internet to help educate our children?" asks Chester.
"How is Comcast planning to share its broadband empire with nonprofit civic
and cultural groups? How will Comcast ensure that the benefits of the
Internet serve low-income households?" These questions and others, he
states, "must be asked now."
[SOURCE: The Philadelphia Inquirer, AUTHOR: Jeff Chester]
(http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/4535945.htm)
WIERLESS
BUSINESSES, BIG AND SMALL, BET ON WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS
The ability to connect to the Internet from anywhere at anytime is creating
a heightened buzz across the country. Both small companies and large
corporations are competing for the opportunity to provide access to the
Internet via wireless technology known as Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is the next big
technology wave, many predict, creating "location aware" communications.
"This feels like the opening of the PC era when for the first time you could
own your own computer," says Ken Biba of Vivato, a company competing in the
bids of offering Wi-Fi services. "With Wi-Fi you can own your own
communications. That's a profound social change."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/18/technology/18WIFI.html)
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