September 2002

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Webcasters May Get Reprieve On Royalties
Cyber-Turf Law Hinges on 'Hack'

BROADCASTING
DTV's Political Stakes Run High

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Who's Online in China?
Government to Boost Education With 102 Computer Labs

WIRELESS
Cell-Phone Rate Maps No Longer Required

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

CYBER -TURF LAW HINGES ON 'HACK'
Just what constitutes hacking? The question will be among the hot issues
today during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the Peer-to-Peer
Piracy Prevention Act, a potential new weapon to protect intellectual
property in the age of rampant Net trading. The bill, which consumer
advocates say would give the record industry the right to hack into
individuals' PCs in search of copyright violations, is perhaps the most
radical of a number of proposals in Congress to ease the entertainment
industry's alarm over file-sharing. Bill sponsor Rep. Howard Berman,
D-Calif., disagrees, saying the bill "in no way allows a copyright owner to
hack into anyone's computer. ... (They) are only allowed to enter or look
into a P2P user's computer to the same extent that any other (peer-to-peer)
user is able to do so."
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Mike Snider]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2(002-09-25-hack_x.htm)

Webcasters May Get Reprieve on Royalties
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee chairman introduced a bill on Thursday
that will give Webcasters a six-month relief on new royalties rates where
they must pay record labels and artists for streaming content over the
Internet. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) introduced the bill to give
Congress more time to consider changes to the way royalty rates have been
set. At issue are the controversial royalties set by the Librarian of
Congress, that would start in mid-October. Hundreds of stations have shut
down in the face of those fees, and many more were expected to close rather
than pay the three years of accumulated royalties that would soon be due.
[SOURCE: LA Times, AUTHOR: Jon Healey]
(http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-webcast27sep27,0,6885904.story?coll
=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology)

BROADCASTING

DTV'S POLITICAL STAKES RUN HIGH
The U.S. Congress on Tuesday heard debates from broadcasters and cable TV
operators who were both hoping to gain an advantage in a proposed bill that
requires all television broadcasters to convert from analog to digital
television by 2006. The transition has been slow in taking off largely due
to the high cost of digital televisions, limited programming and arguments
over program copying and cable TV compatibility. The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) is trying to speed up the transition by requiring
manufacturers to include digital tuners in sets by 2004. A bill proposed by
the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee calls for the industry to end
analog broadcasts by 2006. Multicasting remains an open issues because the
bill does not require cable operators to carry analog and digital signals.
The conversion could disable the estimated 300 million VCRs and TVs.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55400,00.html)
See Also:
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE PANEL ON TRANSITION TO DIGITAL
TELEVISION
[SOURCE: House Committee on Energy and Commerce]
(http://energycommerce.house.gov)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

WHO'S ONLINE IN CHINA?
China now has 45 million Internet users, the second most in the world. While
that might sound a lot, it is only 3.6% of the vast population of 1.3
billion. Nearly half of China's surfers - 44% - are students or
professionals, and half the country's websites are based in its three
richest cities, according to official web data collector CNNIC. The growth
of Internet use has received a massive boost from cuts in telephone tariffs
in the last year and a half, but the deployment of broadband continues to be
hindered territorial battles between competing government ministries. The
market, however, is giving broadband a push, with developers building it
into new apartment blocks to make them more desirable to buyers. Internet
expansion is also partly being driven forward by Beijing's successful bid to
host the 2008 Olympic Games, when journalists and tourists are certain to
put China's digital infrastructure to the test.
[SOURCE: BBC, AUTHOR: Mary Hennock]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/business/2269161.stm)

GOVERNMENT TO BOOST EDUCATION WITH 102 COMPUTER LABS
Nigerian Minister of Education Prof. Babalola Borishade announced a
comprehensive plan to reinvigorate secondary schools in his country, and
technology will play an important role. Addressing the 49th session of the
National Council of Education (NCE) in Kaduna, Borishade said that a
computer laboratory would be equipped in each of the 102 schools throughout
the country. "Arrangements have been concluded to link these schools
electronically with some schools in the United Kingdom, South Africa and
South-East Asia," said Borishade, who added that each state and the federal
capital territory were expected to nominate five colleges during the first
phase of the program.
[SOURCE: This Day, AUTHOR: Josephine Lohor and Juliana Taiwo)
(http://allafrica.com/stories/200209270020.html)

WIRELESS

CELL-PHONE RATE MAPS NO LONGER REQUIRED
The FCC will no longer require cellular phone companies to give customers
information about their service areas. By a 3 to 1 vote, the agency
concluded that the 20-year-old rule was no longer necessary because
competition would prompt cell-phone companies to provide service-area
information without government rules. Commissioner Michael J. Copps
dissented from the decision, saying he feared that when the rule is lifted,
"we face the risk that carriers with the worst service areas will try to
conceal their inferiority by not making service maps available." Chris
Murray of Consumers Union shared Copps' concern. "It's hard to understand
how allowing companies to provide less information to consumers helps makes
the market work better," he said. FCC officials noted that because the rules
were initially enacted to cover cellular technology, they never applied to
the newer wireless technology, such as Sprint's PCS service, yet these firms
have continued to provide information about their coverage areas.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Caroline E. Mayer]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3059-2002Sep25.html)

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BROADCASTING
Justice Dept. Staff Said to Be Opposing Satellite TV Merger
Report Finds FCC and Congress Off Course in the Transition to
Digital TV

INTERNET
All the News Google Algorithms Say Is Fit to Print
Experts To Chart A Way For Combating Online Racism

EDTECH
Making Good on Promises to Increase Funding for Special Education

BROADCASTING

JUSTICE DEPT. STAFF TO OPPOSE SATELLITE TV MERGER
In a rare move for the Bush administration, Justice Department staff members
have recommended that the government block a potentially anticompetitive
$11.2 billion merger of the two largest satellite television broadcasters,
DirecTV and EchoStar. The decision would be a major victory for News
Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, who had sought to buy DirecTV and has
since waged a political and legal campaign to stop the EchoStar deal. DOJ
lawyers said that in many markets the deal would reduce competition from
three companies - DirecTV, EchoStar and a cable television company - to just
two, while eliminating competition in rural areas not served by cable. The
satellite companies argue that the deal is the only way to compete
effectively against increasingly large cable television companies. The
merger would create a company with more than 16 million subscribers, making
it the second-largest paid-TV company in the nation. The deal has faced
opposition from several prominent Senate Democrats as well as a large group
of state attorneys general. The decision by the antitrust staff cannot take
effect until division head Charles A. James approves it, although there are
signs that he will do so.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/business/24MERG.html)

REPORT FINDS FCC AND CONGRESS OFF COURSE IN THE TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TV
In a report released today entitled "A Consumer-Friendly Industrial Policy
for the Transition to Digital Television," by Consumer Federation of America
finds that digital television (DTV) policies being advanced by the Federal
Communications Commission and some in Congress are anti-consumer and will do
little to speed the transition to DTV. "Under the current DTV transition
policies, consumers are being forced to pay more for less," said CFA
Director of Research Dr. Mark Cooper, adding that higher costs and reduced
functionality "are more likely to slow the transition and leave new digital
media less innovative than it otherwise could be." The report examines two
key DTV issues: a digital tuner mandate which will drive up television
prices but offer consumers marginal value and a proposed "broadcast flag,"
which will curb home recording rights. CFA believes Congress and the FCC
should adopt consumer friendly policies to accelerate the DTV transition.
This can be accomplished by establishing digital must-carry policies and
open set-top box standards, compelling broadcasters to provide appealing
digital content and protecting consumer fair use rights.
[SOURCE: Consumer Federation of America]
(http://www.consumerfed.org/backpage/092402cooper_digitaltv.html)
See Also:
TAUZIN ISSUES STATEMENT ON DIGITAL TELEVISION BILL RELEASES DRAFT
[SOURCE: House Committee on Energy and Commerce]
(http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/news/09192002_731.htm)

INTERNET

EXPERTS TO CHART A WAY FOR COMBATING ONLINE RACISM
A conference being held this week in Brussels brings together U.S. and
European policy makers and Internet experts to discuss strategies to combat
violence, racism and xenophobia on the Internet. The conference, organized
by Oxford University's Program in Comparative Medial Law and Policy, will
attempt to bring together different points of view on how to deal with
objectionable content on the Internet. "Conflict between a very liberal U.S.
approach to Free Speech and European countries' bans on incitement to racial
hatred is in danger of making the internet a safe haven for organized
racism," says Damian Tambini of the University of Oxford. "Most European
Race Hate sites are hosted in the US. State regulation is neither possible
nor desirable; the only route forward is for the industry itself to develop
an international strategy for dealing with race hatred, and this meeting is
an important step forward."
[SOURCE: SelfRegulation.info]
(http://www.selfregulation.info/iapcoda/press-020924.htm)

ALL THE NEWS GOOGLE ALGORITHMS SAY IS FIT TO PRINT
The popular U.S. based search engine Google announced on Monday that it will
now offer a news feature that uses search algorithms instead of humans for
its news page. Google's co-founder Larry Page says the company is trying to
leverage the experience of all the editors out there. The news featured on
the site comes from more than 4,000 web sites and is considered to be a
trial version, but Google may offer a fee based news service in the future
while syndicating news to other web sites.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Saul Hansell]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/technology/24GOOG.html)

EDTECH

MAKING GOOD ON PROMISES TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION
A new report by The Heritage Foundation recommends that Congress increase
funding for special education by transferring funds from a wide range other
programs. The report calls for the immediate elimination of over funding for
over 20 programs. Several of the programs the foundation suggests cutting
support the use of technology in the schools, including Community Technology
Centers and Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use
Technology.
[SOURCE: The Heritage Foundation, AUTHOR: Krista Kafer]
(http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/bg1585.cfm)

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DIGITAL DIVIDE
Simputers: When Technology Does _Not_ Bridge the Digital Divide
(commentary)
Malaysia's Penang State Unveils K-ICT Blueprint

PHILANTHROPY
Packard Foundation Facing Cutbacks

DIGITAL TV
Tauzin Sets 2006 Deadline for Digital TV Signals
New Bill: More DTV Limits

INTERNET
Experts Slam Cyber Security Plan
Consumer Groups Cry Foul Over E-Filing Plan
Australian Racism Ruling to Affect Internet

DIGITAL DIVIDE

SIMPUTERS: WHEN TECHNOLOGY DOES _NOT_ BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
(Commentary) Columnist Scott McCollum takes issue with the Simputer, the
India-developed handheld device designed for use by low-literate and
non-English speaking populations. McCollum criticizes the Simputer as a
misguided attempt to bridge the digital divide. "The well-meaning academics
and activists that have showered the Simputer with accolades apparently
don't realize by teaching an illiterate nomad how to use a computer that
only other illiterate nomads use, they are not helping to bridge that
digital divide," he says. "How can anyone honestly expect developing nations
to ever help themselves if the Simputer doesn't actually teach them how the
rest of the world really works?" McCollum also laments that the Simputer's
ease of portability will make it a natural target for theft. "Customs and
mores aside," he continues, "someone _will_ steal the village Simputer to
make a quick buck and it is unrealistic to claim poor villagers in remote
areas won't do it."
[SOURCE: World Tech Tribune, AUTHOR: Scott McCollum]
(http://www.worldtechtribune.com/worldtechtribune/asparticles/buzz/bz0919200
2.asp)

PENANG UNVEILS K-ICT BLUEPRINT
The Malaysian state of Penang has published a "Knowledge-Information
Communications Technology Blueprint" (K-ICT) that sets the goal of
transforming the state into an "intelligent land" over the next several
years. Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, who announced the plan on
Wednesday, stated that the blueprint would focus on connectivity, knowledge
worker development, e-economy, digital equity and electronic good
governance. "We will appeal to telecommunications companies to help in
ensuring Penang becomes a fully connected state by 2005." he explained. Koh
emphasized the blueprint's focus on e-government: "[The] entire state
government would be re-invented with its structure and mindset transformed
through a fully networked e-government that is client-focused, efficient and
transparent." Koh added that the state would establish CTCs known as
k-community centres in villages across the state.
[SOURCE: The Star (Malaysia), AUTHOR: K. Suthakar]
(http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/9/19/nation/stinfoo&sec=nat
ion)

PHILANTHROPY

PACKARD FOUNDATION FACING CUTBACKS
Demonstrating the measurable effect of the tech sector's stock slide on
philanthropic endowments, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced
plans to lay off up to 80 staff members and slash its grants to nonprofits.
The foundation's endowment -- consisting primarily of Hewlett-Packard stock
-- has shrunk from $13 billion in 1999 to $3.8 billion today. "The Packard
Foundation needed to adjust its size to represent a new reality," said
foundation president Richard Schlosberg. The foundation's board of
directors reduced next year's grants budget by $50 million to $200 million,
as compared to $616 million in 2000. Family-oriented and population control
programs will still be a priority for the foundation. However, Packard will
consilodate conservation and science resources, and will no longer consider
arts and nonprofit effectiveness -- an area it all but created -- as major
programs. The foundation plans to diversify its endowment by selling its
shares of HP and Agilent, which make up about 86 percent of the portfolio.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jon Boudreau]
(http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/4112039.htm)

DIGITAL TV

TAUZIN SETS 2006 DEADLINE FOR DIGITAL TV SIGNALS
Yesterday, Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), chairman of the US House Energy and
Commerce Committee, released a draft proposal of legislation that would
increase the transition to digital television in the US. The bill would
require all US broadcasters to transmit digital signals by the beginning of
2006, and have them cease broadcasting analog signals by the end of that
year. "While we prefer marketplace solutions, clearly it's time for us to
provide leadership in this area," Tauzin said. The bill would also direct
the FCC to set technical standards for DTV, including the implementation of
a "broadcast flag," which would allow consumers to copy DTV programming for
their own personal use, but prevent them from distributing it on the
Internet. Consumer groups have criticize the legislation. "This bill draft
would give an unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy the authority to
dictate the use of and regulate the devices in a consumer's family room,"
Digitalconsumer.org said in a statement.
[SOURCE: Yahoo! News, AUTHOR: Andy Sullivan, Reuters]
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=581&ncid=581&e=6&u=/nm/200
20919/tc_nm/media_digitaltv_dc)

See also:

NEW BILL: MORE DIGITAL TV LIMITS
A new bill proposed by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), calls for the adoption of
additional measures to end analog television compatibility. Seth Schoen, a
technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the bill will
allow the government to control the next crop of consumer electronics.
Government officials and manufacturers want to prevent the redistribution of
TV shows and movies through the Internet by implementing technology that
bans copying and recording. The bill would also make analog recording media
such as VCRs obsolete. Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) has proposed a measure
similar to Tauzin's that would require not only television sets, but all
electronic devices to come with restrictive copy protections. The House
Telecommunications Subcommittee is expected to debate Tauzin's bill next
Wednesday.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Brad King]
(http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,55276,00.html)

INTERNET

EXPERTS SLAM CYBER SECURITY PLAN
"The government cannot alone secure cyberspace." With that statement, White
House cyber security adviser Richard Clarke presented the National Strategy
to Secure Cyberspace, a plan that stresses voluntary cooperation and
education while garnering expert criticism. "It's far too amorphous," said
Christopher Wolf, head of the computer security practice at Proskauer Rose
LLP in Washington, noting that the strategy is analogous to "asking ordinary
citizens to erect a nuclear shield." In lieu of regulation, the strategy
advocates a free-market approach in which the government would foster
communication among companies and allow increased revenues to motivate
compliance. The report makes about 70 recommendations and raises issues for
further discussion. Despite being criticized for lacking teeth, some
experts see a bright spot in that the report might establish acceptable
standards for security. "Right now, most users don't know what you should
do to take reasonable care," said Michael Overly of Foley & Lardner. Two
months of debate remain before the proposal is submitted to President Bush

CONSUMER GROUPS CRY FOUL OVER E-FILING PLAN
A Bush administration plan to increase income tax electronic filing has
drawn criticism from consumer groups. The plan, part of an effort to meet
the congressionally-mandated target of 80 percent of citizens e-filing by
2007, would be administered by a nonprofit consortium of private firms
offering free services to 60 percent of taxpayers nationwide via the IRS
website. Consumer advocates such as the Consumer Federation of America,
Consumers Union, the National Consumer Law Center and the US Public Interest
Research Group worry that e-filing would be used to ensnare low-income
taxpayers in refund anticipation loans, or RALs. RALs offer a short-term
cash advance of anticipated tax refunds, often at high interest rates. The
groups said the proposed agreement should be changed to prohibit consortium
members from offering RALs -- a move industry giant H&R Block said was
unnecessary, since the agreement specifically prohibits conditional sales.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-09-19-etax-protest_x.htm)

AUSTRALIAN RACISM RULING TO AFFECT INTERNET
An Australian court ordered a Holocaust revisionist to remove insensitive
and racially-motivated content from his Web site or face jail time. The case
against Dr. Fredrick Toben is believed to be the first in regards to
Australia's Racial Discrimination Act and the Internet. "The court was
satisfied on the evidence ... [that Toben] has published material on the
World Wide Web which is reasonably likely, in all of the circumstances, to
offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate Jewish Australians," the judge said
in its ruling. "If we consider things to be truthful, then we should not be
fearful of stating them," Toben said after the ruling. Toben previously
spent seven months in a German jail for defaming the dead and provoking
racial hatred. He has seven days to remove the online content, and is banned
from republishing similar material to the Internet.
[SOURCE: The Australian, AUTHOR: Sharon Labi]
(http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5115501%255E4
21,00.html)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

EDTECH
Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001
`DO IT' Seeks to Foster Learning

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Pilot Project Demonstrates Transportable Internet Satellite System
to Ohio Communities
IT Power for Nigerians

BROADBAND
Behind the High-Speed Slowdown

EDTECH

INTERNET ACCESS IN U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS: 1994-2001
The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) has released a report on Internet access in U.S. public schools from
1994 to 2001. The report presents analysis on the progress of Internet
connectivity in public schools and classrooms, and on the ratio of students
to instructional computers with Internet access.
[SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of
Education]
(http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2002018)

`DO IT' SEEKS TO FOSTER LEARNING
A nonprofit group run by former NBC News president Lawrence Grossman and
former FCC chairman Newton Minow is calling for federal funding for a
multibillion-dollar Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (DO IT) to help
meet the needs of learners in the 21st century. Their proposal calls for the
establishment of a nonprofit, nongovernmental agency that would do for
"learning what the National Science Foundation did for science." The funding
for DO IT would come from revenue that the government earns from its
auctions of the publicly-owned electromagnetic spectrum. Initially estimated
to yield about $18 billion, the spectrum sales are now likely to bring in an
excess of $35 billion.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Larry Magid]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/larry_ma
gid/4054644.htm)

DIGITAL DIVIDE

PILOT PROJECT DEMONSTRATES TRANSPORTABLE INTERNET SATELLITE SYSTEM TO OHIO
COMMUNITIES
A new transportable satellite system will soon bring connectivity to rural
Ohio communities that have never seen the Internet. The Ohio State
University, OARnet and ITEC-Ohio have partnered with the American Distance
Education Consortium to design and construct a trailer-mounted transportable
satellite Internet system (TSIS). ITEC-Ohio Director Pankaj Shah said that
although this is not the first Internet satellite system to be built, the
key difference is that it's affordable, easy to transport and easy to
deploy. "Our goal was to design a system that can be fabricated
inexpensively, that can be easily taken into remote areas, and with minimal
training can be operated by public school teachers, librarians, and other
non-technical people," Shah said. "We are taking this satellite dish into
remote and underserved communities so we can show them the potential for
flexible broadband Internet connectivity, as well as to demystify wireless
technology for people."
The deployment of this new system will provide substantial opportunities to
areas where standard Internet connectivity is currently limited.
[SOURCE: Ascribe]
(http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/spew4th.pl?ascribeid=20020917.074452&time=08
%2028%20PDT&year=2002&public=1)

IT POWER FOR NIGERIANS
Tranter International Limited, a Georgia, US-based global information
technology company, is helping to decrease the digital divide by providing
Nigerians with access to business courses via a Web-based distance education
program. ExecuTrain (EVC) provides training and skill development for
corporate information technology professionals as well as for students in
underserved communities. After paying a subscription fee of N12,000 (USD
$95), students will gain access to courses at Howard University in
Washington, DC. The company has established relationships with cybercafes
around the city of Lagos for those who lack Internet access.
[SOURCE: All Africa, AUTHOR: NewsWatch (Lagos)]
(http://allafrica.com/stories/200209170800.html)

BROADBAND

BEHIND THE HIGH-SPEED SLOWDOWN
[Commentary] As broadband subscriptions near a critical mass, their growth
is starting to slow. There were just four million new customers in 2002, as
compared to five million new subscribers in both 2001 and 2000, according to
technology research company ARS. The cost of high-speed Internet access
seems to be an important factor in its slow adoption, though companies do
not appear to be in any rush to cut prices. As of June, the average price
for cable modem service was $45.31 per month, up 15% from $39.40 a year ago.
Author Jane Black points to Korea as proof that that price -- not content -
has stifled the growth of broadband in the US. More that 50 percent of
Korean households have a broadband connection, compared with just 12 percent
in the US. Black claims that the difference is a result of the Korean
government's push to open the country's phone monopoly, Korea Telecom, to
competition. The intense price wars that ensued dropped the cost of
broadband to as little as $25 a month.
[SOURCE: Businessweek, AUTHOR: Jane Black]
(http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2002/tc20020917_2824.htm)

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