OWNERSHIP
FCC Member To Hold Hearings On Media Ownership Rules
DIGITAL DIVIDE
The Payoff for Investing in Poor Countries
Argentina Bets On Cyberspace
INTERNET
Internet Forces Schools To Grapple With Speech, Copyright
Net Activism Offers Lessons For Ministers
OWNERSHIP
FCC MEMBER TO HOLD HEARINGS ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES
Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has announced that, despite a lack
of support from FCC's Republican chairman, he will hold hearings on the
impact of relaxing media ownership rules. The FCC is trying to rewrite the
rules governing media ownership in cable, broadcasting and cross-ownership
of broadcast stations and newspapers to pass muster at the U.S. Court of
Appeals. The rules were intended to limit the reach of any one company both
nationwide and in individual markets in order to ensure that no one media
"voice" would dominate. But the courts have demanded that FCC justify its
limits with empirical evidence. Copps says that hearings will elicit
comments from the groups that may not otherwise be heard at the agency,
which is besieged daily by industry lobbyists.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mark Wigfield]
(http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,BT_CO_20021121_004850,00.html)
(requires subscription)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
THE PAYOFF FOR INVESTING IN POOR COUNTRIES
"Multinationals can do plenty to help the world's poor," according to C.K.
Prahalad and Allen Hammond, "and in the process help themselves." The
authors claim that investment and entrepreneurial activity in developing
countries would let corporations to benefit from the large aggregate buying
power of poor communities, while also stimulating an era of intense
innovation and competition. They say that information technology and
communications infrastructures-especially wireless-could be an inexpensive
way to establish marketing and distribution channels in these communities.
And despite the perception that people in developing markets cannot use such
advanced technologies, the authors argue, "poor communities are ready to
adopt new technologies that improve their economic opportunities or their
quality of life." In fact, they urge multinationals to "deploy advanced
technologies at the bottom of the pyramid while, or even before, deploying
them in advanced countries."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: C.K. Prahalad and Allen Hammond]
(http://hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=3180&sid=0&pid=0&t=nonp
rofit)
ARGENTINA BETS ON CYBERSPACE
Despite the ongoing economic crisis, Argentina is continuing to see in an
increase in the number of users getting online and there is optimism about
the many entrepreneurial opportunities available. The country has seen an
increase of more than 14 percent of citizens online compared to last year.
"We have the opportunity to show that we have a lot of people with bright
ideas and entrepreneurial spirit," according to Dot.com entrepreneur Roberto
Cibrian. Argentines are using the Internet to bank online and some
Argentines living abroad visit local supermarket websites to buy food for
their impoverished relatives in Argentina. While more people are going
online, there is a continual effort to bridge the digital divide - only 5
percent of citizens outside the country's capital of Buenos Aires have
access to the Internet
[SOURCE: BBC News, AUTHOR: David Jamieson]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2502669.stm)
INTERNET
INTERNET FORCES SCHOOLS TO GRAPPLE WITH SPEECH, COPYRIGHT ISSUES
As universities' computer network capacity become overrun by file-sharing
students, so too have schools' president's offices been deluged by
complaints from the recording industry. With an estimated 2.6 billion music
and video files shared illegally each month on college campuses, four
entertainment industry groups sent a joint letter to over 2,000 university
presidents last month urging them to crack down on copyright infringement.
The challenge for the schools lies in the fact that they hope to avoid a
monitoring role in the students' Internet use, especially at large state
institutions with tens of thousands of students. But as monitoring software
becomes more efficient and readily available, schools may be hard-pressed to
stay out of the copyright policing fray much longer.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-11-25-schools-internet_x.htm)
NET ACTIVISM OFFERS LESSONS FOR MINISTERS
As political activists in the United Kingdom increasingly flock to the
Internet to organize protests and maintain contact with each other, the
British government is looking to this grassroots model for help in getting
citizens more engaged in the political process online. At a summit of
ministers, business leaders and net experts in London this week, officials
acknowledged that use of the Internet by political activists could provide
valuable lessons for the UK Government. "I am very interested in using the
advantage of the Internet for richer political engagement," Trade and
Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt told the conference.
[SOURCE: BBC News, AUTHOR: Jane Wakefield]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2496363.stm)
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