INTERNET
Commentary: So Much for Michael Powell's Net Vision
Court's Call: Hands Off VoIP
BROADCASTING
Commentary: Overuse Robs Shock Word of its Power
EDTECH
Grant to Help Teachers Make Use of Technology
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Housing Authority Gets Grant for Computers
V-Empower Wants to Give Small Orgs Web Expertise
SPECTRUM
Northpoint Getting Help in Quest for Spectrum
-------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Government for All:
Take part in our upcoming virtual conference!
Information and free registration: http://www.egov4all.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERNET
SO MUCH FOR MICHAEL POWELL'S NET VISION
[Commentary] In the view of Business Week's Alex Salkever, FCC Chairman
Michael Powell's plan to deregulate the communications and media industries
may be ready for life support. First it was the media ownership debacle, and
now a US court has decided that cable-TV companies should allow competing
Internet service providers (ISPs) to sell Web access over broadband cable
networks. Salkever writes that the ruling could have a more severe impact
for the Bells than for cable companies, as the Bells are relying more on
growth prospects from broadband to supplement declining revenues in landline
markets. The Bells and cable companies are expected to mount sustained
lobbying and judicial offensives, particularly fearing that if the Democrats
win the White House in 2004, they would lose Powell along with their chance
to benefit from his agenda. Perhaps most importantly, "a broad shift in
court policy that views the Internet as an extension of existing telecom
services could pave the way for laws guaranteeing high-speed Net access to
all communities, much like the universal access provisions for local phone
service," writes Salkever.
SOURCE: Business Week; AUTHOR: Alex Salkever
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2003/tc2003108_1029_tc119.
htm
COURT'S CALL: HANDS OFF VoIP
Internet phone providers have won the first battle against state regulators
to forego regulations placed on traditional telephone companies. Minneapolis
federal Judge Michael J. Davis permanently barred the state of Minnesota
from applying traditional telephone rules to Vonage, which lets consumers
bypass the traditional phone network by making voice calls over a broadband
connection. For now, the state plans to comply with the court decision, says
Stuart Mitchell, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission analyst. The ruling
frees Vonage to sell Internet phone service in Minnesota without obtaining a
telephone operator's license or paying fees to support 911 services.
Furthermore, the order is the first to address state authority over
so-called voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). "This ruling is a significant
victory for Vonage and (VoIP) technology," Vonage said in a statement. This
decision mounts growing pressure on the FCC and Congress to revise the rules
and definitions, which previously have drawn a strict division between voice
networks and data networks. "We're not suggesting that broadband telephony
should never be regulated, but it can't be squeezed into existing
regulation," Vonage Chief Financial Officer John Rego said in a recent
interview.
SOURCE: CNET News.com; AUTHOR: Ben Charny and Evan Hansen
http://news.com.com/2100-7352_3-5088158.html
TELEVISION
OVERUSE ROBS SHOCK WORD OF ITS POWER
[Commentary] "Now that California has chosen as its leader a man who admits
to having groped women, it's time to lift the flimsy veil off the F-word and
let it stand proudly," writes columnist Susan Ager. She is referring to the
FCC's decision that U2 singer Bono did not violate TV obscenity standards by
uttering these words on a music awards show: "This is really, really
(F-word)ing brilliant." The FCC concluded the word was acceptable because
Bono used a variant that had nothing to do with sex. Jesse Sheidlower,
linguist and principal North American editor of the esteemed Oxford English
Dictionary, said the FCC ruled correctly because the F-word is rarely used
anymore in sexual references, but most often as "a general intensifier."
"There's no question," he added, "that in the last 10 to 15 years, it's been
increasingly acceptable and appearing in places it never appeared in the
past."
SOURCE: Detroit Free Press; AUTHOR: Susan Ager
http://www.freep.com/features/living/ager9_20031009.htm
EDTECH
GRANT TO HELP TEACHERS MAKE USE OF TECHNOLOGY
The federal government recently awarded Columbus State University's (CSU)
College of Education a $1.5 million federal grant to teach teachers how to
use technology to improve reading skills. This U.S. Department of Education
grant will target reading deficiency, which is the most urgent need in many
surrounding counties, says Elizabeth Holmes, Director of CSU's Educational
Technology Training Center. In West Central Georgia, the percentage of
adults that do not graduate from high school is about twice the national
average. "Too often, the cause of this academic failure begins with reading
difficulties," she says. Web-enhanced learning tools can make a difference,
if the technology is available in the classrooms and the teachers know how
to use it, she adds. CSU's multi-faceted approach will revise curriculum,
training teachers and students on latest technology, and incorporate the use
of online programming and software designed to identify problems and develop
individualized solutions.
Source: Ledger-Enquirer
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/6966957.htm
DIGITAL DIVIDE
HOUSING AUTHORITY GETS GRANT FOR COMPUTERS
The Columbus Housing Authority in Georgia received $200,000 in federal funds
to equip and staff a computer lab. This Neighborhood Networks grant, along
with vocational and social counseling, is part of an 18-month relocation
process for Peabody Apartment Residents. The authority received a $20
million grant to tear down and revitalize the Peabody housing complex over
the next two years. "We hope to help bridge the digital divide," said Amy
Carroll, who is overseeing the Peabody project for the Housing Authority.
"We will provide the computer training in hopes we can make them
self-sufficient." The lab should be operational by early next year. The
authority asked for a $180,000 grant, but was pleasantly surprised to learn
the grant was increased by $20,000. "That is the first time I have ever seen
that," Williams said. The Fulton County Housing Authority was the only other
authority in Georgia to receive the Neighborhood Networks grant.
SOURCE: Ledger-Enquirer; AUTHOR: Chuck Williams
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/6966954.htm
V-EMPOWER WANTS TO GIVE SMALL ORGANIZATIONS WEB EXPERTISE
Often small organizations and nonprofits cannot afford to hire expensive
consultants or in-house Web developers. As a result, communication
technologies are often underutilized in this sector. In 2000, Shukoor Ahmed
set out to change that by starting a company that sells software to aid
small political and nonprofit organizations to become more efficient and
tech savvy. Organizations can use communication technologies to stay up to
speed on what government is doing, says Ahmed. "One of the biggest things
that came up is the lack of expertise in information systems in politics and
public policy," he continues. "We felt there was a disconnect between
citizens and legislators." The V-Empower software serves a range of
functions for organizations, including the management of Internet donations
and the capability to create surveys that can gauge member opinions. The
software can be customized and implemented in less than three days. A little
over two years after start up, the company has 39 organizations as customers
and hopes to increase sales in the next year.
SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Ellen McCarthy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48289-2003Oct5.html
SPECTRUM
NORTHPOINT GETTING HELP IN QUEST FOR SPECTRUM
Satellite television companies might have to start sharing spectrum with
companies like Northpoint Technology Ltd., which wants to build a land-based
network of antennas to beam TV and Internet services to consumers. The firm
says it would like to provide access to millions of Americans, who are
underserved or overcharged. Critics say Northpoint is just a politically
connected firm using its influence to freeload off American tax dollars by
getting a free operating license. After petitioning Congress, Northpoint,
with help from some key figures, managed to get language inserted in two
bills that would grant licenses to those airwaves for free rather than force
the firm to submit to a FCC public auction. If Northpoint "can go head to
head with incumbent cable systems in all parts of the country, I believe
that this good old-fashioned competition will result in lower prices and
better service for consumers," says Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA). Not all
agree. The FCC rejected the firm's petition for a license and scheduled a
public auction in 2004 for a part of the spectrum, which governments
estimates is worth $60 to $100 million.
SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Juliet Eilperin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58840-2003Oct7.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------