.net (French) 1996 November/.net Magazine (FR) - Issue 01 - Nov 1996.iso/mac/Courrier/Pegasus Mail v2.1.2 Folder/Mail/PF08F0.CNM

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Edupage, 12 May 1996.  Edupage, a summary of news items on information
technology, is provided three times each week as a service by Educom,
a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities
seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.
*****************************************************************

TOP STORIES
        Web Rating System Unveiled
        FBI "Decency" Inquiry Criticized In CompuServe Lawsuit
        Microsoft & NBC To Market Personalized News
        MicroUnity's "Cray On A Tray"
        Zenith To Build A Web-TV

ALSO
        BBC Goes High-Tech
        New Anti-Theft Software For Cell Phones
        Does Information Technology Increase Productivity?
        Compaq Picks VideoLogic For 3D Graphics
        Copland Release On Hold
        Student Charged With Online Child Pornography

WEB RATING SYSTEM UNVEILED
The long-awaited PICS (platform for Internet content selection) system is
now functional, allowing parents to screen and block content they deem
unsuitable for their children.  Thirty-nine Internet-related companies plan
to offer their customers software that enables them to filter out pages
according to their own choice of tolerance level for violence, sex, nudity
and language.  Web page sponsors can get their sites rated, on a scale of
zero (innocuous) to four ("X-rated"), by filling out an electronic
questionnaire.  Parents can set the level at which content will be blocked
and can also block all unrated sites.  A password gives parents access to
those areas they've blocked for their children.  (Investor's Business Daily
10 May 96 A18)

FBI "DECENCY" INQUIRY CRITICIZED IN COMPUSERVE LAWSUIT
An FBI inquiry into citizens' accusations that CompuServe was violating the
Communications Decency Act has been harshly criticized by one of the three
judges hearing a suit brought by CompuServe and groups such as the American
Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.  The plaintiffs
are arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it constrains free
speech.  The FBI inquiry took place despite the fact that the government had
promised to refrain from investigating complaints about online "decency"
while the lawsuit was being heard.  The plaintiffs dismissed as a "semantic
fine quibble" the Bureau's assertion that it had conducted a "review" rather
than an "investigation."  The Communications Decency Act is intended to make
it a crime for "indecent" or "patently offensive" sexual material to be made
available to children over computer networks.  (New York Times 11 May 96 p8)

MICROSOFT & NBC PLAN TO MARKET THE NEWS
"The future of TV news is personalized -- it's giving users the ability to
draw on a huge source of information that will cater and be customized to
personal interests," says the president of NBC Cable.  To achieve this new
vision, NBC is developing a "circle of cross promotion" for MSNBC, the new
venture between Microsoft and NBC.  "MSNBC is very much a marketing vehicle.
It's a conscious way to use the brand power of a TV network to drive people
to become online users and the online service to become a regular part of
the way people use television."  (Broadcasting & Cable 6 May 96 p43)

MICROUNITY'S "CRAY ON A TRAY"
MicroUnity Systems Engineering has spent the last seven years developing a
microprocessor that uses parallel processing to zip through video, audio and
data streams at speeds a thousand times faster than today's chips.  "The PC
architecture is nearing the end of its life cycle," says Chairman John
Moussouris.  If all predictions come true, the MicroUnity chip will not only
be super-fast -- it will also be super-cheap, inexpensive enough to be used
in budget-priced cell phones.  And as technology changes, the chips will
upgrade easily, simply by loading new software.  (Business Week 13 May 96 p78)

ZENITH TO BUILD A WEB-TV
Zenith Electronics is planning a television set that will incorporate a
microprocessor and modem, as well as technology developed by Diba Inc. that
allows viewers to surf the Web via a remote control device.  (Wall Street
Journal 10 May 96 B3)

=========================================================

BBC GOES HIGH-TECH
The venerable British Broadcasting Corp. is getting a digital makeover --
with plans to spend more than $300 million on new subscription and
multimedia channels, on-demand news and sports, and an expanded presence on
the World Wide Web.  "The BBC is going through a cultural revolution," says
a media analyst at Goldman Sachs.  The company hopes that the new offerings
will help it rebuild a steadily dropping viewership, but some analysts say
that scenario is optimistic, given that it's unknown if viewers will be
willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for the set-top boxes required to
receive the new channels.  (Wall Street Journal 10 May 96 A5B)

NEW ANTI-THEFT SOFTWARE FOR CELL PHONES
AT&T and Bell Atlantic are installing new anti-theft software in their
cellular service network computers, designed to prevent rampant "cloning" of
cell phones.  The authentication software exchanges a series of passwords
between the cell phone and the wireless network exchange before a call is
placed or received.  The system is already installed in AT&T's New York and
Florida systems, and Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile has introduced the
technology in its New York and northern New Jersey regions.  (Wall Street
Journal 10 May 96 B3)

DOES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY?
Economics Nobel Prize laureate Robert M. Solow suggests that claims of
increased productivity from information technology are highly exaggerated:
"The hype about productivity has been much greater than the performance.
Maybe we have gotten so good at hype that the information revolution seems
bigger to us than the electric motor seemed when it was invented.  But the
electric motor had a big impact on how many shirts you could sew in a day."
(New York Times 12 May 96 Sec4 p1)

COMPAQ PICKS VIDEOLOGIC FOR 3D GRAPHICS
Compaq Computer has selected the U.K. company VideoLogic to supply 3D
graphics circuit boards to give Compaq's Presario line of computers
"aracade-quality" graphics capabilities.  (Financial Times 10 May 96 p19)

COPLAND RELEASE ON HOLD
Apple Computer will delay until 1997 delivery of its new Copland operating
system for the Macintosh, to give the company time to improve Copland's
integration with the Internet.  "Amelio has expressed his desire to
integrate Internet access much more seamlessly with the base operating
system, and that wasn't the original design goal for Copland," says the
editor of an industry newsletter.  In addition, Apple may be considering
making Sun Microsystems' Java part of the mix in the same way that Microsoft
is embedding Java in its Windows 95 software.  (Information Week 29 Apr 96 p15)

STUDENT CHARGED WITH ONLINE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
A student at Adelphi University in Long Island, New York, has been charged
with using a university computer to retrieve (from computers in Sweden and
the Netherlands) photos of children engaged in  sex acts and to retransmit
the photos to people in the U.S. who requested them.  The charge of
promoting the sexual performance of a child is a felony and is subject to
punishment by up to seven years in prison.  (New York Times 11 May 96 p16)

Edupage is written by John Gehl ([e-mail]) & Suzanne Douglas
([e-mail]).  Voice:  404-371-1853, Fax: [phone].

Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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