E-GOVERNMENT
US Cyber-Diplomacy Now Up and Running
Slap on the Wrist for UK Government Websites
E-Vote Software Leaked Online
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Reports: Internet Access Soars in Schools, But Digital Divide Still
Exists at Home
TELEVISION
Report: Competition and Subscriber Rates in Cable Television
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E-GOVERNMENT
US CYBER-DIPLOMACY NOW UP AND RUNNING
A two-year, multi-million-dollar project has propelled US diplomacy into the
electronic age. The goal of the project was to provide Internet access to
all US embassies and consulates. The project was completed last week when
the last unwired mission, the US embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, came online,
says State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. About 44,000 Foreign
Service officers and other embassy staffers at more than 260 diplomatic
missions from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe can now peruse the World Wide Web,
says Boucher. He also says that the project links 224 of the State
Department's posts to classified email and intranet systems. A second
department official says the upgrades cost a total of $207 million and came
with warnings not to use the new capability to download pornography or other
questionable material from the Web. The project was given early priority by
US Secretary of State Colin Powell. "One of the first things (Powell) asked
for was funding to bring the State Department into the modern, electronic
age: indeed, he called for a 'state-of-the-art' State Department," says
Boucher.
SOURCE: Yahoo! News
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1212&e=7&u=/afp/2003102...
_afp/us_diplomacy_internet&sid=96001018
SLAP ON THE WRIST FOR UK GOVERNMENT WEBSITES
A new study conducted by the Society of IT Management and the charity
Citizens Advice finds that many UK government websites are failing to meet
the public's needs. The report, entitled "Better Connected: Advice to
Citizens," examined websites run by UKonline, the Department of Trade and
Industry, National Health Service Direct and the Department for Work and
Pensions, as well as some 16 local authority websites. Researchers tested
the ability of government websites to provide relevant information in areas
such as benefits, housing, health, debt, legal proceedings and consumer
complaints. "The performance of UKonline as a signpost to e-government
services is disappointing," the report concluded. Adds Martin Greenwood of
Socitm Insight: "For example, there is a lack of advice on consumer debt on
the Financial Services Authority website." Testers found that sites
incorporating search engines such as Google often failed to direct users to
appropriate sites and information when everyday language was used in their
search terms. Additionally, claim forms online were of inconsistent
usefulness and usability.
SOURCE: What PC? (UK); AUTHOR: Lisa Kelly
http://www.whatpc.co.uk/News/1146505
E-VOTE SOFTWARE LEAKED ONLINE
For the second time this year, electronic voting machine code has been
leaked on the Internet. Software used by Sequoia Voting Systems' voting
machines was left unprotected on a publicly available server. The software
code was stored on a FTP server owned by Jaguar Computer Systems, a firm
providing election support to a California county. The software was used to
place ballots on voting kiosks and to store and tabulate results. This type
of security breach means that anyone with minimal technical knowledge could
see how the code works and exploit it says an anonymous computer programmer,
who discovered the unprotected server. The files also contained Visual Basic
script for voting databases that could allow someone to learn how to rig
voting results. Sequoia's voting machines were used in California's
Riverside County for the 2000 presidential election and for last month's
California gubernatorial recall election. "While this breach of security is
grossly negligent on the part of the county's contractor, the code that was
retrieved is used to accumulate unofficial results on election night and
does not compromise the integrity of the official electronic ballots
themselves," wrote Alfie Charles, Sequoia spokesman.
SOURCE: Wired; AUTHOR: Kim Zetter
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61014,00.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
REPORTS: INTERNET ACCESS SOARS IN SCHOOLS, BUT DIGITAL DIVIDE STILL EXISTS
AT HOME
Improvements have been made in providing computer and Internet access in
public schools. But according to two new reports released by the US
Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, minority and poor
students lack computer access outside of regular school hours. "These
reports are good news and show how much progress has been made in connecting
nearly every school in the nation to the Internet," says Rod Paige, U.S.
Secretary of Education. "But there are still big differences in home
computer use that need to be addressed before we can declare the digital
divide closed." The first report, Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and
Classrooms: 1994-2002
(http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004011), is an annual
department survey conducted to report on the availability and use of
technology in schools. The second report, Computer and Internet Use by
Children and Adolescents in 2001
(http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004014), shows that
computer and Internet access has become an important component of
schoolwork, but that a digital divide still exists, especially with access
within the home. "Closing the digital divide will also help close the
achievement gap that exists within our schools," adds Paige.
SOURCE: US Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2003/10/10292003a.html
TELEVISION
REPORT: COMPETITION AND SUBSCRIBER RATES IN CABLE TELEVISION
US General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report on issues related
to competition and subscriber rates in the cable television industry. The
report analyzes the FCC's annual cable rate report, finding that it does not
appear to provide reliable information on the cost factors underlying cable
rate increases or on the effects of competition. GAO found that 84 of 100
cable franchises surveyed did not provide complete or accurate accounting of
their cost changes from the year, primarily because the FCC survey lacked
clear guidance. GAO also found that the FCC's classifications might not
reflect current industry conditions. GAO recommends that the Chairman of the
FCC take immediate steps to improve the cable rate survey and review the
commission's process for maintaining the status of effective competition.
The GAO report addresses factors that contribute to increasing cable rates
and concerns that ownership affiliations might indirectly influence cable
rates.
SOURCE: US General Accounting Office
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d048.pdf
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