MEDIA OWNERSHIP
'Soldier's Ethic' Guides Powell At the FCC
UNIVERSAL SERVICE
FCC's Martin: VoIP Providers Should Support USF
E-GOVERNMENT
Feds Cramming Privacy Reports
TECHNOLOGY
Web Guru Fights Info Pollution
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
'SOILDER'S ETHIC' GUIDES POWELL AT THE FCC
FCC Chairman Michael Powell is one of the most widely criticized men in
Washington, faulted by Republicans, Democrats, conservatives and liberals,
feminists, gun owners, big media companies, columnists and lawyers. By
digging in and sticking to his policy prescriptions, Powell is following the
advice of one of his closest confidants: his father, Secretary of State
Colin L. Powell. Both men have been shaped by their experiences in the
military. Chairman Powell says he tries not to take the criticism
personally. "You can't know us if you don't know the soldier's ethic," he
says. In June, the FCC said it would be in the public interest to revamp the
media ownership rules. Members of both parties in both Houses of Congress
disagreed and voted over the summer to modify or wipe out the new
regulations. Powell has been criticized for his refusal play politics and
for his connection to Colin Powell. An editor for Insubordination Magazine
blamed the news media for promoting the Bush administration's war on Iraq.
This was the inevitable result, he said, of Michael Powell being the son of
a "war criminal." At this, Powell remained silent in defense of his father.
SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26728-2003Oct14.html
UNIVERSAL SERVICE
FCC'S MARTIN: VOIP PROVIDERS SHOULD SUPPORT USF
At the US Telecom Association's (USTA) conference, FCC Commissioner Kevin
Martin said that all providers that access the public switched telephone
network, including voice-over-IP providers, should support it by
contributing to the universal service fund (USF). "That would ensure that as
emerging platforms develop, those players would be put on an equal standing
with current players in terms of their contributions to USF," says Martin.
The fund has been under pressure because long-distance revenues have
steadily declined as consumers increasingly have turned to email, instant
messaging and wireless bundles. He also expressed concern about the growing
ranks of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs). The USTA has accused
state public utility commissions of wrongly using ETCs as a means of
creating competition with rural local exchange carriers. Martin reminded
Congress that USF's purpose was not to foster competition, but rather to
ensure that rural areas receive services and prices comparable to customers
in urban areas. "We have to recognize where there has been market failure,"
said Martin, who grew up in rural North Carolina.
SOURCE: Telephony Online; AUTHOR: Glenn Bischoff
http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_fccs_martin_voip/index.htm
E-GOVERNMENT
FEDS CRAMMING PRIVACY REPORTS
To comply with last year's E-Government Act, federal agencies running
databases containing sensitive information about citizens now are required
to submit a privacy impact report. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
will evaluate the reports as it helps the president formulate his budget
request. Though privacy groups generally applaud the new reports, the
Electronic Privacy Information Center already has hit a roadblock in
attempting to obtain the CAPPS II privacy impact assessment. CAPPS II is the
controversial new airline passenger screening system, which will use watch
lists and commercial databases to color-code passengers. The Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) declared that the report was immune from the
Freedom of Information Act, since it was a preliminary document. Ari
Schwartz of the Center for Democracy & Technology argues that waiting to
release the report until the system is tested is backward logic. "The TSA
says it is testing CAPPS II, but they haven't put out a privacy impact
assessment, which undermines part of the purpose of the privacy report,"
said Schwartz. Still, he says that because of the privacy reports "we will
learn a lot more about how government systems work and are built and we will
be able to see the decisions they made."
SOURCE: Wired; AUTHOR: Ryan Singel
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,60782,00.html
TECHNOLOGY
WEB GURU FIGHTS INFO POLLUTION
Electronic communication has become like "information pollution," which not
only distracts but in some ways controls, says web guru Jakob Nielsen. The
average user suffers information overload, even when just using email. The
net has mutated from just a machine into a "procrastination apparatus," he
argues. Furthermore, email can be the worst form of pollution because it has
elements of both personal and mass communication. "The entire ideology of
information technology for the last 50 years has been that more information
is better, that mass producing information is better," he says. Technology
at your fingertips is one thing, but uncontrolled flow of information is
another, says Dr. Neilson. He suggests that anti-spam legislation should be
enacted in order "to hold people accountable for how much they pollute."
Intelligent email software will eventually clean up information pollution,
but Dr. Neilson says time is a non-renewable resource.
SOURCE: BBC News; AUTHOR: Jo Twist
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3171376.stm
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