[Both sections of this issue have been concatenated into one file for this archive.] Date: Mon, 19 Sep 1994 11:27:04 -0600 (MDT) From: richard bryant Subject: COM NET NEWS V1.6 Part 1 September 1994 COM NET NEWS Vol. 1 No. 6 September Part 1--Original and Other News >From the Editor As indicated in the last issue of COM NET NEWS, I am requesting donations from readers to help defer the costs of production of this newsletter. I am requesting a donation of $35 per year for individuals and $75 per year for companies and organizations. Non-U.S. subscribers, please send donation in U.S. currency. But, please note that this is a request--you will not be dropped from the subscription list if you don't contribute. A number of readers requested to unsubscribe because of the donation. Please don't feel that you have to pay. If you can't afford it or have too many other paid subscriptions, or whatever, don't worry, you will still receive COM NET NEWS. Also, I will continue to post COM NET NEWS on various listservs and the it may be freely distributed among groups for noncommercial purposes. The request for donations is due to the time and other costs incurred in putting together COM NET NEWS. It is hoped that you feel that it is of value to you, and you can be assured that I will continue to better COM NET NEWS. Back issues of COM NET NEWS are archived in the Well gopher (gopher.well.sf.ca.us) under "Community/" As a reminder, this issue of COM NET NEWS reflects the suggestions of several subscribers. COM NET NEWS now contains a Table of Contents, and, the newsletter is broken down into two parts--Part 1--Original and Other News; and Part 2--News from Other Newsletter Sources, e.g., Edupage. The two parts will be emailed to you as separate messages. Richard W. Bryant, Editor RW Bryant Associates Advanced Technology Market Research & Com Net Consultants P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** ORIGINAL AND OTHER NEWS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ La Plaza/Fielding Institute Rountable, Taos, NM URISA '94 Annual Conference & Exposition in Milwaukee, WI PAVNET Gopher Server OTANEWS Listserv Now Available Selected OTA publications Available Via FTP Politicians Have It Wrong: Universal Service for the Infobahn Isn't a Reform, It's a Problem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LA PLAZA/FIELDING INSTITUTE ROUNDTABLE, TAOS, NM La Plaza and the Fielding Institute held a jointly sponsored roundtable over the weekend of 9-11 September 1994 in Taos, New Mexico. The purpose of the roundtable was to discuss and "brainstorm" ideas concerning the development of community networks--particularly the La Plaza Telecommunity. Approximately 25 attendees from around the U.S. convened to discuss issues in four main topic areas: education, community outreach, technology, and business/economic development. Working documents were generated at the end of the Roundtable which may eventually bainable community networks. The proceedings of this conference is being completed now and a more complete account will be presented in the October issue of COM NET NEWS. URISA '94 ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION IN MILWAUKEE >From 5-11 August 1994, some 3000 Conferees from 50 States, 11 Provinces and 23 Countries representing public & private sector administrators, managers,technicians and users of data viewed the wide range of available applications, experience, success and failures. Randy Gschwind, Conference Chair, and URISA have brought together the public and private sector by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas that foster enhanced quality, asset maximization and reduced cost through the productive use of available, organized information detail. URISA has encouraged the effective interaction of technology with urban & regional data since 1963 to assist development expressing the interdependence of people, data & technology. Nine tracks covered such diverse, but related subjects as demographics, dollars/$ense, industry, infrastructures/transportation, integration, land/resource management, public safety, research/technology, and standards. Keynote speakers - Monday - Professor James B. Quinn, Chair U. S. National Research Council Committee, emphasized the importance of the service industry, showing dramatic results, but no means of measurement, other than the knowledge that critical data was made available to make knowledgeable decisions impacting the bottom line. Tuesday - Robert J. Woods, Manager Federal Telecommunications System (FTS2000), expressed the government focus on service to the citizen initiative. The fundamental shift in government systems design from inner agency workings to customer access needs of integrated voice, data and video telecommunications. Thursday luncheon Michael W. Dobson, VP for Industry Affairs at Rand McNally Publishing Group, espoused the critical need for friendly interfaces and software structuring to make information easily available to users through interoperability of technologies. "nobody is born dumb, but information technology can make them think they are......". Special events Student Presentation "think-tank" for educational outreach in geography, mathematics, social studies, and science impact on real world problems using spatial information systems (SIT:UPSS) with Project Showcase; Mapping Lead Exposure; Citizen Access; Direct Marketing; Federal Geographic Data Committee including National Spatial Data Clearinghouse & Metadata Standard Training, FGDC Geospatial Data Partnerships Forum, Tiger Enhancement Technical Working Group; ESRI User Group Meeting; INTERGRAPH User Group Meeting; Exemplary Systems In Government Awards were made to Wilson Automated Government Enhancement System for Small Municipal Systems; Presidio Graphic Management Information System, National Park Service at the Presidio, S.F., Ca. , for Operations Automation Systems Award; NeighborLINE, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pa., Honorable Mention; Executive Information System, City of Missauga, On. , Canada, Corporate Systems Award; City of Providence, R. I. , Providence Plan, Honorable Mention. The Workshops, Technical Tours and Social Events were all linked together in a Network that enchanced and encouraged the exchange of information with technology methods between technicians, exhibitors, users, public and attendees. Next years conference will be in San Antonio, July 16-20. Further information may be obtained from: URISA at 202.289-1685. ______ksipos@pacs.pha.pa.us for Philadelphia Area Computer Society... Source: Daniel A. Updegrove University of Pennsylvania Associate Vice Provost 3401 Walnut, Suite 221A Information Systems and Computing Phila, PA 19104-6228 Executive Director 215 898-2883 Data Communications & Computing Service fax 898-9348 ===================================== PAVNET-ONLINE GOPHER SERVER Currently, promising programs around issues of community, youth, and family violence, substance abuse, and victims rights are listed on PAVNET. Sub-categories of Prevention, Enforcement, and Treatment/Rehab hold descriptions and contact sources. Foundation and federal funding sources are also listed under seperate directories. PAVNET is still under construction and evaluation so only a sample of these sources are available. PAVNET's gopher server can be accessed under the CYFERNET directory under USDA in Federal Government gophers. PAVNET has not established a domain name of its own since it is still under construction. PAVNET-Online is a free service that is part of a federal initiative among the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services. Labor, and Defense. Access via telnet by commercial or free-net system is supported currently, but we soon it will have email access using Almanac software. PAVNET will establish links to other federal agencies with similar data as well as to private gophers and BBSs nationwide. The organization hopes to get a grantsmanship tutorial and discussion list up by the Fall and is waiting for evaluations for over 500 effective programs to be returned and typeset before posting the rest of its resource database. Source: John Gladstone 301/504-5462; NAL, 10301 Balt. Blvd., Beltsville Md 20705-2351 ************************************* OTANEWS LISTSERV NOW AVAILABLE The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment is the research arm of the U.S. Congress. It publishes reports covering a very wide range of industries, topics, and areas of interest to most all. The OTA has a well deserved reputation of excellent research work. (They do their homework. Editor) The Office of Technology Assessment of the United States Congress has introduced an electronic mailing service to provide news about recently released OTA publications to those with access to Internet e-mail. When an OTA publication is released to the public, OTA will distribute an electronic version of the report brief or news release to readers who subscribe to OTANEWS. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE To subscribe to OTA's electronic mailing list, you must have e- mail access to the Internet. Then follow these steps: 1) Address an e-mail message to listserv@ota.gov 2) Leave "subject" blank. Go to the body of the message. 3) In the message space, type subscribe OTANEWS your e-mail address. For example: subscribe OTANEWS mdexter@ota.gov 4) Send the message. 5) You will get a confirmation that your subscription has been entered. If you encounter difficulties, send an e-mail message to postmaster@ota.gov The information you receive about newly released OTA publications will include order information as well as instructions for downloading the publication via ftp from OTA if it is available electronically. OTA is a nonpartisan analytical agency that serves the U.S. Congress. Its purpose is to aid Congress with the complex and often highly technical issues that increasingly affect our society. Source: Martha Dexter mdexter@ota.gov Director, Information Management (202) 228-6233 Office of Technology Assessment fax (202) 228-6098 U.S. Congress Washington, DC 20510-8025 *********************************************************** SELECTED OTA PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE VIA FTP Selected OTA publications are now available via FTP. The following address information will connect you to the ftp server at OTA: * ftp to otabbs.ota.gov (152.63.20.13) * login as anonymous * password is your e-mail address * all of the publications are in the /pub directory Some of the most recent OTA publications available which are relevant to the Net community are indictated below. NOTE: Each publication has a designated subdirectory under the /pub directory, and each publication is divided into separate files by chapter. All of the files are ASCII text files. The following publications are available in the subdirectories indicated: **************** September 1993 **************** Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services, 188 p. /pub/making.government.work Protecting Privacy in Computerized Medical Information, 168p. /pub/protecting.privacy.medical.info *************** April 1994 *************** The Social Security Administration's Decentralized Computer Strategy: Issues and Options, 96 p. /pub/soc.sec *************** May 1994 *************** Electronic Enterprises: Looking to the Future, 188 p. /pub/elenter General Publications OTA Catalog of Publications, March 1994, 64 p., updated regularly /pub/catalog Health Care Reform Brochure, June 1994, 10 p. /pub/healthref ******************** Contact Information ******************** OTA Congressional and Public Affairs (202) 224-9241 cpa@ota.gov OTA Publications Distribution (202) 224-8996 pubsrequest@ota.gov ===================================================== POLITCICANS HAVE IT WRONG: UNIVERSAL SERVICE FOR THE INFOBAHN ISN'T A REFORM, ITS A PROBLEM The magazine "Wired" recently published what it called "...an essential primer on a crucial aspect of telecommunications reform legislation currently before Congress." The following is a press release received over the net. 15 August 1994, San Francisco - As Wired's John Browning points out in a seminal overview in the September issue, politicians love to give universal service lip service, but this hallmark of 1930's telecommunications legislation is an obsolete policy for the networked world of the information age. The real problem for the 21st century is a surplus, not shortage, of bandwidth, and the solution is universal access. Because of the extremely timely nature of this story, the editors of Wired pre-released it to members of the US House and Senate as they deliberate three telecommunications bills. The principle behind the old policy of universal service is that everyone should have the right to telephone service at an affordable price. Politicians, regulators, and so-called citizens' advocates are now arguing that this model should be applied to the pricing and distribution of information services. The three reform bills currently before Congress all call for one form of universal service or another. Unfortunately, this model is obsolete. Formulated at a time when there was a shortage of bandwidth (in other words, a total lack of connection to the telecommuniations grid), it is irrelevant in an era when there will be at least six different technologies competing to bring telecommunications services to consumers (phone, cable, cellular, satellite, wireless, and power company). Browning argues that the focus should instead be on insuring maximum access to content providers, to guarantee that the pipes are full for competitors. Open access regulation focuses on opportunity rather than duty. Instead of saying what services networks should provide at what price, the point of access regulation is simply to require big network operators to make available to everybody, on a non-discriminatory basis, whatever services they do provide - and, more importantly, to offer the same access to the underlying technologies from which those services are constructed. This is not blind de-regulation. On the contrary, open access requires the government to intervene vigorously - particularly to ensure that small, new competitors get to use the existing telecom infrastructure on the same terms as the entrenched (soon-to-be-former) monopolies that built it. It also forces companies to offer services to all customers - without, for example, requiring that somebody buy their telephone service in order to watch their movies on cable TV. "Unlike mandated services," Browning explains, "mandated access promises to break open entrenched cable-television and telephone monopolies so that competition and choice can begin in earnest." Browning's piece gives a summary of the telecom-reform legislation that has surfaced in 1994 - each bill containing a mixture of subsidies, service regulation, and competition. Both the Markey-Fields bill and the Brooks-Dingell bill passed in the US House of Representatives in late June. These serve to create competition in telecom markets where previously only monopolies existed, and lift restrictions on the seven RBOCs created by AT&T's breakup. The third key piece of legislation, the Communications Act of 1994, encourages competition in telecom and cable industries, gives the FCC more regulatory flexibility, and ensures the preservation of universal services. Browning concludes that "by pushing companies to offer network services at something like the cost of providing them - instead of a fictional price contrived for social convenience - regulators can put networks on sound economic footing and make them independent of the whims of politics and subsidy." Universal excess The fact that universal service is difficult to administer is not by itself a compelling argument for burying it - even slowly and with great respect. But many of the same changes that complicate the practice of universal service also undermine its moral foundation. Since the Post Roads Act of 1866 - which in return for the right to string wires along public roads required telegraph operators to carry, without discrimination, the messages of anybody who wanted to use those wires - America's government has based its regulation of electronic media on the assumption of shortage. The Post Roads Act was in large part inspired by a nearly successful attempt by telegraph operators to put the fledgling Associated Press out of business by refusing to carry its messages, which competed with their own news services. To prevent other such abuses of power, the regulation of radio, television, and telephones has been based on the idea that those scarce resources must be regulated for the public good. Technology and competition, however, now promise to turn shortage to glut. Yet, all of the proposals to bring competition to network markets are predicated on the idea that technology will create, if not excess, at least an adequate supply of bandwidth and electronic expression so that new information services will be freely available. Rep. Ed Markey, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance, says "someday, choosing which network to use will be no different from choosing which kiosk on Harvard Square to buy your newspaper from." Russ Neuman of MIT's Media Lab argues that someday soonish most homes will have a choice of connecting to five high-capacity networks: one built on the telephone system, one built on cable television, one built on the electric power network, a wireless network for personal communications devices, and another wireless network built from the spaces freed up in the radio spectrum as today's analog television signals go digital. With the advent of real choice, the moral bargain underlying universal service - that in return for the use of scarce public resources, telecom companies must give service back to the community - becomes largely void. If the resources are not scarce, then the moral duties owed the community by telecom providers are no greater - and no less - than those owed by other firms. The way to recognize that change, and to eliminate many of the innovation-crushing practical difficulties in administering universal service, is to change emphasis from regulation based on service to regulation based on access. Open access regulation focuses on opportunity rather than duty. Instead of saying what services networks should provide at what price, the point of access regulation is simply to require big network operators to make available to everybody, on a non-discriminatory basis, whatever services they do provide - and, importantly, the underlying technologies from which those services are constructed. It lets customers decide what services they want. Better, unlike mandated services, mandated access promises to break open entrenched cable-television and telephone monopolies so that competition and choice can begin in earnest. An easy way to see the difference between access regulation and service regulation is to consider the "set-top box," the computer on the TV which will provide brains for interactive multimedia entertainment. Service regulation is when the government specifies a minimum level of service, and sets rates for those minimum services - as cable regulators do now. In set-top-box terms, the regulations might require, say, 200 channels for $25 a month. Access regulation would set neither rates nor service requirements; the assumption is that competition will keep pressure on price and quality. Instead, access regulations force companies to offer services to all customers - without, for example, requiring that somebody buy its telephone service in order to watch its movies on cable television. More important, access regulations also require big, entrenched companies to make available to competitors the components from which their services are constructed. In set-top-box terms, this means that customers gain the right to buy, say, cable programming from Time Warner, a set-top box from Ted Turner, and intelligent agents from General Magic - or whichever company offers the best services (whether it be the firm who laid the wire to the door or not). Time Warner, for its part, has to offer an interface from its cables to Ted Turner's set-top box with the same price and performance as that offered for its own boxes. Access regulations thus boost choice and competition at two levels. First, they eliminate the possibility that existing companies can use their huge investments in infrastructure to squeeze out new competitors. The regulations would enable anybody and everybody to have access to, say, installed coaxial cable at roughly the same price at which the cable companies' accountants charge the costs of that cable to their own businesses. Second, they enable customers to mix and match various offerings from a variety of companies to create services they want. Universal access works successfully in long-distance telecommunications - where competition fueled by access regulation has improved quality and choice even as it has reduced prices. So legislators have incorporated an ambitious variety of access regulation into legislation - particularly into the Markey-Fields bill. Not only does the bill require big companies to give competitors intimate access to their networks, it also requires them to keep expanding those networks so that lack of capacity cannot itself become a constraint on access. Telephone companies venturing into cable would be required by Markey-Fields to build as much cable capacity as there was demand for channels - with the FCC to define "demand for channels" - and to make it available to all on equal terms. The hope, at least, is that electronic innovation and electronic bandwidth will become the printing press of the next millennium - and that cheap, easy-to-produce video 'zines will surge alongside the paper ones as technology's contribution to the ability of all the artists, college students, political activists, lunatics, and sports fanatics to express themselves. Abandoning universal service need not mean abandoning equality. On the contary. If information services are essential and high cost is denying these services to the poor, government can give the disadvantaged the means to buy some minimum level of service - as it does now with Medicare and food stamps. (After all, nobody is suggesting that restaurants should pay more for food and supermarket prices should be regulated to provide cross-subsidies for universal service of nutrition among the poor.) Equally, instead of requiring cable operators and other information-service providers to set aside capacity for free (or at least below cost) community broadcasting, government can encourage the growth of capacity and provide grants for those whose voices it reckons should be heard - as it now does for artists. There are already interesting experiments along these lines. Both the Commerce Department and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have recently created grants for community-oriented networks. New York state has experimented with novel ways of financing telecoms for the very poorest. But in order to take these experiments further, politicians throughout Washington - and particularly Al Gore - will have to indulge in an uncomfortable honesty. To imply, as Gore now does when he "challenges" network providers to wire every school, hospital, and library in America by 2000, that it is possible to provide ubiquitous, high-bandwidth networks without either new taxes or high prices for some new services. Universal service cross-subsidies are a tax - albeit a tax buried in the price of services and beneath layers of obscure cost allocation and pricing regulations. They are a particularly inefficient and wasteful tax. And, worst of all, they are a deceptive and distorting tax, a tax that makes it hard to see the real costs of the building blocks of tomorrow's networks and thus the real opportunities in building the networks that will change the world. That is no foundation on which to build the future. If networks are indeed the future of America, at least the nation should begin building them as it would speak over them - with honesty at all times, even when the honest message is not the one people want to hear. More important, honesty underlies the sort of regulatory system in which networks can realize their potential. By pushing companies to offer network services at something like the cost of providing them - instead of a fictional price connived for social convenience - regulators can put networks on a sound economic footing, and so make them independent of the whims of politics and subsidy. By requiring entrenched giants to provide basic technology to others as they provide it unto themselves, regulators can set free the vast investments already made in telecom infrastructure for expansion and innovation, and so fulfill the public trust that built them. By allowing innovation to rise or fall on its own merits - rather than because of lobbyists' pressure - regulators can enable Americans to choose for themselves the way they would like to communicate, to learn, and to use the vast potential of the new technology they are creating. Building upon the sound foundations of real competition and honest pricing, people can begin to build for themselves the sorts of networks they want - rather than waiting to be served. John Browning is a writer and consultant living in London and a contibutor to The Economist, and wrote "Power PC: Reengineering Regulation" for Wired 2.07. Wired 2.09 is currently available on newsstands for US$4.95 or by sending e-mail to subscriptions@wired.com. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Will.Kreth HotWired +1.415.222.6345 [vox] Online.Ambassador 510 3rd.St. +1.415.904.0669 [fax] info@wired.com SF.CA.94107.USA http://www.wired.com/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The "Information Hypeway" doesn't exist. The "Information Ecology" does. Check it out. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=Copyright 1993,4 Wired Ventures Ltd. All Rights Reserved=-=-=-=-= -=-=For complete copyright information, please see the end of this file=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Date: Mon, 19 Sep 1994 11:28:11 -0600 (MDT) From: richard bryant Subject: COM NET NEWS V1.6 Part 2 September 1994 COM NET NEWS Vol. 1 No. 6 September Part 2--News from Other Newsletter Sources >From the Editor As indicated in the last issue of COM NET NEWS, I am requesting donations from readers to help defer the costs of production of this newsletter. I am requesting a donation of $35 per year for individuals and $75 per year for companies and organizations. Non-U.S. subscribers, please send donation in U.S. currency. But, please note that this is a request--you will not be dropped from the subscription list if you don't contribute. A number of readers requested to unsubscribe because of the donation. Please don't feel that you have to pay. If you can't afford it or have too many other paid subscriptions, or whatever, don't worry, you will still receive COM NET NEWS. Also, I will continue to post COM NET NEWS on various listservs and the it may be freely distributed among groups for noncommercial purposes. The request for donations is due to the time and other costs incurred in putting together COM NET NEWS. It is hoped that you feel that it is of value to you, and you can be assured that I will continue to better COM NET NEWS. Back issues of COM NET NEWS are archived in the Well gopher (gopher.well.sf.ca.us) under "Community/" As a reminder, this issue of COM NET NEWS reflects the suggestions of several subscribers. COM NET NEWS now contains a Table of Contents, and, the newsletter is broken down into two parts--Part 1--Original and Other News; and Part 2--News from Other Newsletter Sources, e.g., Edupage. The two parts will be emailed to you as separate messages. Richard W. Bryant, Editor RW Bryant Associates Advanced Technology Market Research & Com Net Consultants P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu **************************************************************** **************************************************************** NEWS FROM OTHER NEWSLETTER SOURCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Educom Pizza on the Internet (California always does it first ed.) Internet Backbone Set for Techno-Overhaul Telemedicine Faces Obstacles Maryland Gets Online Internet Travel Connection Digital Announces Dectalk Express Speech Synthesizer Internet Tidbits E-Forms At Your Fingertips Internet Keeps on Growing and Growing Internet Access Providers CIA Plans One-Way Mirror on the Internet Citizen Database A Lull in Info Highway Traffic Privacy Commissioner Seeks Rules for Info Highway Advance in Network Security What's Hot & What's Not Commerce on the Net Organizing Chaos with a Universal Mailbox Data-Mining is the Next Big Thing for Supercomputers Online Services Have Data Mines, Too Telecommunity Spurs Demand for ISDN Mergers and Acquisitions Update Japan Wants Private Sector To Build Network Latin America is PC Boomtown Ferraris or Edsels on the I-Way? America Online To Compete with the Internet Delta and AT&T Form Alliance (an interesting partnership, ed.) LDDS Acquires WIltel Wireless Forecast Cloning Apples Electronic Public Information Newsletter DOE Moves To Establish an Electron Grants Submission System International Free Press, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1994 Belize Online Connects to the INTERNET Computers in Education in Belize ============================================================= FROM EDUCOM ************************************************************************ EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to Edupage: send a message to: listproc@educom.edu and in the BODY of the message type: sub edupage Ralph Roister Doister (assuming that your name is Ralph Roister Doister; if it isn't, substitute your own name). ... To cancel subscription to Edupage: send a message to: listproc@educom.edu and in the BODY of the message type: unsub edupage. [Edupage is also available in Portuguese and Spanish; to subscribe, send mail to edunews@nc-rj.rnp.br.] EDUCOM REVIEW is our bimonthly print magazine on learning, communica- tions, and information technology. Introductory subscriptions are $18 a year in the U.S.; call 800-254-4770, or send mail to offer@educom.edu. You've procrastinated long enough. Just do it, and get it over with. EDUCOM UPDATE is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational news and events. To subscribe to the Update: send a message to: listproc@educom.edu and in the BODY of the message type: sub update Arthur Scratchpenny (assuming that your name is Arthur Scratchpenny; if it isn't, you should substitute your own name). ... To cancel subscription to the Update: you should send a message to: listproc@educom.edu and in the BODY of the message type: unsub update. ARCHIVES. For archive copies of Edupage or Update, gopher to educom.edu or look at our WWW server: URL: http://educom.edu/. To communicate with Edupage or Educom, send mail to comments@educom.edu or info@educom.edu. *********************************************************************** PIZZA ON THE INTERNET (California always does it first ed.) For users who are too absorbed to get off the 'Net to order supper, Pizza Hut and software publisher Santa Cruz Operation are offering PizzaNet. The service, now being tested in Santa Cruz, requires customers have access to the Internet and Mosaic to view the menu provided by the PizzaNet server in Wichita, Kansas. The order is then sent to the SCO Open Server system at the customer's nearest Pizza Hut. (Miami Herald 8/23/94 C1) INTERNET BACKBONE SET FOR TECHNO-OVERHAUL The old NSFNet, the backbone of the Internet, will be taken out of commission this month as new equipment is phased in. Some users fear the changeover could cause technical glitches, but business users are hopeful that many of the stringent limits on advertising will not apply as forcibly on the new network. (The Internet Letter 8/1/94) TELEMEDICINE FACES OBSTACLES The use of digital compression to send high-quality video images from rural areas to big-city hospitals for diagnosis has been instrumental in bringing specialized care to rural America. But support for telemedicine is far from universal, and doctors trained in conventional diagnostic methods are uncomfortable with the high-tech approach. In addition, fewer than 1,000 genuine teleconsultations were performed in North America last year, resulting in a lack of data on the subject. Finally the cost-effectiveness of equipping telemedical centers has yet to be proven, and the licensing and reimbursement issues involved in performing medicine across state and national borders must be resolved. (Investor's Business Daily 8/17/94 A4) MARYLAND GETS ONLINE Maryland now offers residents Internet access for $35 a year for e-mail, $100 a year for other services such as FTP and Gopher, plus the cost of a local phone call. The project is funded partially by a $2 million government grant and is run by the state's public library system. (Internet World 10/94 p.10) INTERNET TRAVEL CONNECTION Ontario's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation wants to set up a central reservation registry linked to the Internet. (Toronto Globe & Mail 8/22/94 B4) DIGITAL ANNOUNCES DECTALK EXPRESS SPEECH SYNTHESIZER In an effort to strengthen its commitment to physically challenged customers, Digital Equipment Corporation has announced DECtalk Express Speech Synthesizer, a lightweight, portable speech synthesis product providing expanded PC capabilities for individuals who are blind, visually impaired, or have learning disabilities. The Speech Synthesizer converts ASCII text to synthesized speech output, allowing users to hear computer monitor screen contents and other text communicated via natural-sounding DECtalk speech. Contact: 800-722-9332 for technical assistance or 800-344-4825 to order. INTERNET TIDBITS Did you know that: There are 106 books in the Unofficial Internet Book List, with an average page length of 335. Out of 200,000 e-mail messages received by the White House since last summer, only one contained a death threat. In June 1969 there were three ARPAnet hosts, compared with 2.3 million Internet hosts in June 1994. There are 1600 copies of Mosaic downloaded from NCSA each day. For more info on these and other Internet tidbits, see: http://www.openmarket.com/info/internet-index/current.html. (Internet Index 8/2/94) E-FORMS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Companies with more than 500 employees typically spend between $94 billion and $120 billion per year on some 1,210 different paper forms. Fortunately, electronic forms -- accessed, filled out, and filed online -- are making a dent in the paper chase, and BIS Strategic Decisions predicts a 118% increase in the average number of e-forms processed each month between 1993 and 1996 (compared with 4% for paper). (Information Week 8/8/94 p.42) INTERNET KEEPS ON GROWING AND GROWING The Internet Society says there are now 3.2 million reachable machines on the Internet, and 1 million new hosts were added during the first six months of 1994, with much of the growth attributable to growth outside the world in more than 80 countries. For more info: http://info.isoc.org. (ISOC Release 8/4/94) INTERNET ACCESS PROVIDERS The Maloff Company estimates the following ranking of Internet access providers, with approximate percentage of the total U.S. IP marketplace, based on revenue, as of March 1994: PSI, 13%; UUNet/Alternet, 12%; Sprint, 12%; IP Resellers, 10%; Nonspecified Regional Nets, 10%; ANS, 9%; NETCOM, 7%; CERFnet, 4%; Colorado Supernet, 4%; NEARnet, 3%; World, 3%. (Internet Business Journal, July-August 94, p.8) CIA PLANS ONE-WAY MIRROR ON THE INTERNET The CIA plans to start using the Internet for gathering information, but will configure its systems to prevent file transfers in the opposite direction, because the agency is "keenly aware" that by connecting to the net it increases the danger of security breaches by hackers. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 8/11/94 D2) CITIZEN DATABASE The Commission for Immigration Reform has recommended a national computer database containing the names of every citizen or legal alien with a Social Security number or a green card. Prospective employers could then check the database to verify job applicants' information. The proposal has bipartisan support in Congress, but has alarmed many privacy experts. (InformationWeek 8/22/94 p.20) A LULL IN INFO HIGHWAY TRAFFIC Due to poor public response to meetings, Canada's Federal Advisory Council on the Information Highway may pack up its plans to have high-profile cable and phone executives go on a seven-city tour of public hearings. (Montreal Gazette 8/11/94 D7) PRIVACY COMMISSIONER SEEKS RULES FOR INFO HIGHWAY Canada's Privacy Commissioner warns that privacy will be the first roadkill on the info highway as consumers use technology more in their everyday lives. He urges the federal government to introduce legislation to protect misuse of personal data processed by communications systems. (Ottawa Citizen 8/10/94 A3) ADVANCE IN NETWORK SECURITY The New Hampshire-based Net Market Company says it has a system that offers online credit card shopping in total privacy, based on the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) data encryption software, which is free on the Internet and uses the same RSA Data Security algorithms used by CommerceNet. (New York Times 8/12/94 C1) WHAT'S HOT & WHAT'S NOT A Deloitte & Touche report concludes that movies on demand, home shopping, video games, interactive TV, living room gambling and education will be highly popular but that government services and pesky infomercials may not be. The study found that most people are willing to pay a total of $25 monthly to ride the info highway. (Ottawa Citizen 8/13/94 D2) COMMERCE ON THE NET A new WWW page (http://pass.wayne.edu/business.html) describes about 70 sites related to doing business on the Internet. ORGANIZING CHAOS WITH A UNIVERSAL MAILBOX Software known as "universal mailbox" applications can help you sort out all the voice mail, e-mail and faxed messages that have managed to clutter your electronic in-box over the weekend. The software displays all messages on your PC screen, including the time it came in, who sent it, and how long it is. Then by clicking on a voice message, for instance, your computer automatically dials the sender. Universal mailbox software has yet to catch on widely due to the lack of standardized switching equipment used in corporate phone networks and voice mail systems. "Telephone systems are the last remaining closed computers in the world," says one universal mailbox fan. (St. Petersburg Times 8/14/94 H8) (How about this for an interesting juxtaposition of articles--Thinking Machines and Data-Mining) DATA-MINING IS THE NEXT BIG THING FOR SUPERCOMPUTERS Big credit card companies, banks, airlines and insurers have discovered massively parallel processing in an effort to divine which consumers are likely to buy what products and when. A Gartner Group VP predicts sales of parallel systems could expand tenfold to $5 billion by 1998 as a result of this new application. While marketing folks are waxing euphoric, one business professor warns the fallout could be nasty if companies start abusing their newfound info: "The companies doing this have a big responsibility. Otherwise there will be an information Chernobyl." (Wall Street Journal 8/16/94 B1) ONLINE SERVICES HAVE DATA MINES, TOO The online service you use has been compiling data on you too, including your social security number, credit card number, demography and interest areas. Using this and other data, CompuServe offers a service called CompuTrace, which offers the last known address for any person in the U.S. A similar service will tell you how long someone has had a particular phone number or lived at a particular address and who else lives there, and yet another service provides information on how to obtain driving records, state by state. A bill was passed by the House last month that would require all telecommunications companies, including online services, to tell consumers what information is being collected, how it's being used, and provide an opportunity to opt out. (Tampa Tribune 8/15/94 B&F 3) TELECOMMUTING SPURS DEMAND FOR ISDN Integrated services digital network is finally coming into its own, as telecommuters snap up the high-speed data connections necessary to access many corporate networks. Dataquest estimates the number of ISDN lines using a basic rate interface will reach 226.4 million by the end of this year, almost double from 1993. That number will hit 335 million lines by the end of 1995. (Investor's Business Daily 8/15/94 A4) MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS UPDATE Despite appearances, the number of mergers and acquisitions in the information technology industry in the first half of 1994 remained about the same as in the same period last year (291 vs. 296). The value of the transactions rose 12% , however, to $14.2 billion. The software sector came out on top, with the value of transactions doubling from $2.7 billion to $5.4 billion, including eight transactions worth more than $100 million each. (Wall Street Journal 8/16/94 B5) JAPAN WANTS PRIVATE SECTOR TO BUILD NETWORK Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry wants the private sector to take the lead in building a $750-billion national fiber-optic network that would link all Japanese homes and businesses by 2010. MITI's position is an about-face from its usual pro-active stance on government/industry technology projects, and U.S. companies are eager to play a major role in constructing the Japanese Infobahn. (Wall Street Journal 8/15/94 A1) LATIN AMERICA IS PC BOOMTOWN Sales of personal computers in Latin America totaled $2.4 billion in 1993, and are expected to more than double over the next five years. Brazil was the largest national market last year, increasing more than 34% over the previous year. Sales in Argentina and Chile grew by 40% last year, while Mexico's sales declined by 5% due to the uncertainties of NAFTA and pre-election jitters. Nevertheless, Mexican sales accounted for 30% of all sales in the region. (Miami Herald 8/15/94 p.14) FERRARIS OR EDSELS ON THE I-WAY? A Wall Street Journal editorial deplores the over-regulation contained in S. 1822, sponsored by Sen. Fritz Hollings, and comes out in favor of a draft bill being circulated by Sen. Bob Dole. On the Hollings bill: "The worst restrictions have to do with `universal service,' which is so generously defined that companies may be forced to provide video-on-demand and other entertainment options free to impoverished customers." On the Dole bill: "His draft legislation would even repeal the 1992 Cable Act. Such sweeping deregulation is surely the only way the I-Way is likely to get built." (Wall Street Journal 8/17/94 A12) AMERICA ONLINE TO COMPETE WITH THE INTERNET America Online has formed an alliance with publishing giant Simon & Schuster to form the "College Online" interactive computer service which would seek to become a commercial alternative to the Internet. AOL also announced that its subscriber base has passed the 1-million mark. (New York Times 8/17/94 C4)Pacific Telesis Group has decided to forego the trial stage and will move directly into commercial deployment of its interactive video network in California. The company cited the looming prospect of competition from cable in the local phone market as the impetus for jumping the gun on its planned $16 billion statewide network. (Wall Street Journal 8/17/94 B6) DELTA AND AT&T FORM ALLIANCE (an interesting partnership ed.) The information technologies division of Delta Air Lines is being spun off to form a new Atlanta-based computer services company in partnership with AT&T. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 8/23/94 D1) LDDS ACQUIRES WILTEL Jackson, Mississippi-based LDDS Communications is acquiring Houston- basted WilTel to become the fourth-largest long-distance carrier (after AT&T, MCI, and Sprint), with 5% of the $65 billion a year long-distance telephone market. WilTel was created in the mid-eighties by a Williams pipeline unit that put fiber optic cable through an unused pipeline. (New York Times 8/23/94 C1) WIRELESS FORECAST The number of cellular subscribers was 16 million in 1993 and is expected to increase to 33 million by 1998. Paging subscribers numbered 19 million in 1993, growing to 37 million by 1998. In mobile radio-dispatch, there were 1.5 million subscribers in 1993, expected to reach 5.2 million by 1998. (Washington Post 8/22/94 p.29) CLONING APPLES Apple's strategy is to license selectively to "complementary" partners who can help the company's marketing efforts without engaging in direct competition. Potential partners? In Japan, NEC and Fujitsu; in Germany, Vobis; in Italy and South America, Ing.C.Olivetti; in the U.S., Motorola and IBM. Apple's executive VP says, "If we had licensed earlier, we would be the Microsoft of today." (Newsweek 8/29/94 p.40) FROM EPIN SUMMARY OF ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER VOL. 4, NO. 16; August 12, 1994 DOE MOVES TO ESTABLISH AN ELECTRONIC GRANTS SUBMISSION SYSTEM The Department of Energy (DOE) has entered into an agreement with Federal Information Exchange (F.I.E.), Inc., to establish a pilot project for the electronic transmission and processing of grant proposals for the nation's colleges and universities. The purpose of the two-year project is to establish the system whereby an academic advisor can receive, process and submit an application for federal funds, and whereby DOE can process and ultimately award (or reject) the grant electronically. F.I.E., based in Gaithersburg, MD., calls the process "Electronic Research Administration," to describe both the submission and the processing of the grant application. EPIN: For more information on the complete ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER and subscription rates contact: James McDonough Electronic Public Information Newsletter epin@access.digex.net Tel:/Fax: (301) 365-3621 FROM INTERNATIONAL FREE PRESS Vol. 1, No. 1, 1994 David Hosten Publishing Editor ao826@freenet.carleton.ca BELIZE ONLINE CONNECTS TO THE INTERNET Belmopan, Belize 21 July 1994 - Belize Online Information Services has announced the introduction of INTERNET service with effect from August 1st 1994. The INTERNET allows users to access a wealth of information sources and exchange electronic mail and files with more than 25 million people in more than 100 countries around the world. Belize Online is the first community access online information service established in our country and was featured as the cover story in the July issue of the BIS publication Belize Today. An online service allows anyone with a computer and a telephone modem to dial into the service and access software libraries, information databases or exchange mail with others. Under an agreement with government, Belize Online provides free access to news and information on Belize through a special area called Forums on Belize. In this area callers can find news, information, background material, statistics and several government publications useful for research, homework assignments or for other applications. Free users also have limited access to BOL's software libraries which currently hold more than 10 thousand programs including applications for education, science, business, personal productivity and recreation. Added-value services, including INTERNET access and larger download volumes for software are available for a small fee. BOL director Manolo Romero says that INTERNET access had been planned for later this year, but "Demand from existing users compelled us to accelerate our link-up to this world-wide system". The INTERNET, now known as the Information Super Highway is growing at an astonishing rate as more and more people realize the benefits of economical access to communication and information sources. Romero said that Belizeans should be proud to know that Belize is now connected to the Information Super Highway and that this will open the door to the more rapid integration of the latest information technology in our schools, businesses and even the home. Belize Online has expressed its appreciation to the UCB BELINET distance education project and its director Mr. Brian Candler who assisted in obtaining an INTERNET feed. One of the first benefits of Belize Online's link with the INTERNET will be the creation of a Belize News Mailing List. This is a special feature that will hold all the news and information bulletins generated by the Belize Information Service. Anyone in any pa r of the world will be able to subscribe to this list free of cost merely by sending an E-mail message to the list via a local phone call in their country. Thereafter they will receive in their local E-mail box, all information posted on the Belize News List every day. "This will certainly make it easier for Belizeans, news organizations, governments and friends of Belize to access information on our country quickly, efficiently and economically," says Romero, adding that the mailing list will of course be available free of cost to educational institutions, businesses or any individual with access to E-mail within Belize. "In a time when it is important to maintain a profile on the international scene and keep our friends informed on the latest developments in our country, Belize's presence on the INTERNET will be highly advantageous", he concludes. By Manolo Romero sysop@online.com.bz COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION IN BELIZE Belize has joined the race to utilize the latest information technology to jump-start computer education in our education system. Many schools have been putting in computer systems in recent years, but the Ashcroft Foundation recently pumped in more than BZ $500,000. as part of its Information Technology Programme for the Children of Belize. This is an ambitious project to ensure that computer education is rapidly incorporated into the school curriculum. In its initial stage the project has provided modern computer suites for the Belize Teachers College and seven high schools, including the Anglican Cathedral College, Edward P. York High School, Orange Walk Technical High School, Stann Creek Ecumenical, Toledo Community College, the Corozal Community College and the Independence High School. In an age where computer skills are now required for many jobs, Belize has distinct advantages over many of its neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean. For one, Belize has joined many developed countries where computers are duty free. Not regarded as luxury items but rather as essential tools for a country's development and competitive edge. The rapid evolution in manufacturing techniques where computers can literally be assembled in a garage from freely available components has also led to a growth of in-country computer factories, like Syscomp and Business Compute Systems. Syscomp, part of Belize Holdings, assembles computers and peripherals in Belize at prices as good as computers imported from the US. Recent market studies show that job applicants who are computer illiterate have markedly diminished possibilities of landing the job they desire - especially in the private sector. The public service moves more slowly and typewriters are still held in higher regard by some managers, but this is changing. Part of the process is the natural attrition of older employees who retire or leave the service, and the corresponding inflow of young blood with new skills and innovative ideas. But a corresponding part of the equation lies with many public officers actively seeking computer training from the slew of training centres now operating in Belize. "The future belongs to those who equip themselves with information technology skills today", says Belize Teachers College Vice-Principal for administration Erlindo Pech. "We need to move away from a scenario where many computers are used merely as glorified typewriters. Computers are becoming essential tools in the schools and the workplace. Our objective is to imbue our children with the necessary skills by linking as many schools as possible via computer networks to share ideas, projects, assignments and even lecturers." The University College of Belize is doing its part by actively promoting the BELINET project which already operates an Electronic Mail services and plans to allow students in remote areas take lessons using interactive distance education technology. UCB computer specialist Brian Candler says that the biggest drawback in Belize continues to be the high cost of telecommunication. BELINET is trying to have Belize gain full time access to the INTERNET - the global computer network in part funded by the US government. The INTERNET is available for free to teachers, students and researchers in many countries but since Belize still retains a telephone monopoly, negotiations to achieve this goal must be carried out with BTL. BELINET currently offers intermittent access to the INTERNET with which it links twice a day, but the communications costs and the lack of live, interactive service limit it usefulness. "Belizeans are entitled to free INTERNET access to allow our students and people to tap in to the vast wealth of information, news groups, mailing lists and software," he says. "Given the difficulty of obtaining up to date information in Belize by other means, not having access to this system places a serious handicap on our students, teachers, decision-makers and others seeking information,' he adds. Belize Online is also interested in offering INTERNET access through BELINET but the communications costs are prohibitive at this time, especially for a system that operates as a community access service. By Manolo Romero sysop@online.com.bz --------------------------------------------------------------