Hello folks -

I just got back from a 6-week trip to India and Australia, and
realise I have fallen somewhat behind in my postings to this
list. So here goes - a sample of the past few editions of my
weekly column "International Internet NewsClips," which are also
posted at the MecklerMedia Web site (http://www.mecklerweb.com
under the Net Day section). 
Comments, feedback, etc. most welcome. Happy reading!!
                                                       - madan
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Madanmohan Rao, Communications Director, United Nations Inter
    Press Service bureau (rao@igc.org)
- -----------------------------------------------------------------

Will The Internet Really Usher In Electronic Democracy?
- -------------------------------------------------------
All you may get out of politicians who use the Internet is a
library full of stuff you would never read on paper. Despite the
excitement over the political side of Internet access, you most
certainly will not get a two-way electronic link into the
decision-making process of your preferred party. Politicians
would prefer that you read their thoughts - but they do not have
the time to read yours. The real reason many of them seem to turn
to the Net is to look cool.
(The Sunday Times, England; September 10, 1995)

Beijing Info Spreads "Faster Than A Game Of Chinese Whispers"
- -------------------------------------------------------------
Information from the UN Conference on Women is rapidly winging
its way from Beijing to locations around the world - via the
Internet. Thanks to the WomensNet project at the Association for
Progressive Communications, conference proceedings, documents and
speeches are being made available on the World Wide Web
(http://www.womensnet.apc.org/beijing) as well as through local
dial-up services in countries where Internet access is not widely
available.
(The Independent, England; September 11, 1995)

Virtual Universities Signify Profound Changes - And Dilemmas
- ------------------------------------------------------------
The electronic transfer of a global masters degree over the
Internet from Paideia University in Amsterdam to Perth in
Australia six weeks ago signified the start of profound changes -
and dilemmas - to the university system. The growth potential of
cyberdegrees, given their flexibility and the global reach of the
Internet, is enormous. 18 new online or virtual universities have
sprung over the past 12 months. But how much credence can be
given to online courses? It may be hard tell what is respectable
online, without the usual referents like local knowledge.
(The Australian; September 6, 1995)

Protests On The Internet - Electronic Terrorism Or People Power?
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
"Make their ears ring, their fax machines burn out, their
telephone systems collapse and their Internet lines glow," reads
a protest message targeting the French telecommunications network
in response to the Mururoa Atoll nuclear testing. This is power
to the people on a global scale - but can this also be called
electronic terrorism? The Net's character is nothing more than a
reflection of society, according to Kevin Johnson-Bade,
coordinator of CyberVote, a Web site that links Net nuclear
protest sites worldwide. On one end of the spectrum, such
activity can be used to mobilise citizens in different
geographical areas; at the other end of the spectrum are
activities like spamming.
(The Age, Melbourne; September 5, 1995)

TV Networks Will Not Be Replaced By Online Services In Info Age
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of falling away to make room for pay TV and various new
media such as online services and the Internet, the popularity
and value of the TV networks in the U.S. and Australia has
actually grown within one remarkable month. Though the new media
are better suited for niche markets, the TV networks are
effectively unchallenged in their ability to deliver a mass
market to their advertisers. TV networks are unlikely to become
"roadkill" on the information superhighway, just as newspapers
survived the impact of radio and both survived the television.
(The Australian; September 5, 1995)

Race Hate Thrives On The Internet - But Some Netizens Fight Back
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
On Usenet and on the Web, global extremists of all kinds are
taking advantage of the practically uncensorable nature of the
Internet. Ranging from alt.politics.white-power and alt.skinheads
to home pages for the National Socialism Primer, Resistance
Records and Aryan Crusaders, the Internet is being used as a
propaganda tool by people who are pushed to the fringes in their
countries. While governments establish committees and think-tanks
to grapple with such issues, the Net community is "establishing
its own equilibrium." Canadian service station manager Ken McVay
and U.S. programmer Jamie McCarthy have been confronting and
exposing hatemongers on the Net. Many extremists, however, are
moving away from Usenet to the Web, which is closer to the
broadcast model and need not involve debate.
(Sydney Morning Herald; September 4, 1995)

Culture Clash: Is The Net Really A Free-Market Utopia?
- ------------------------------------------------------
Many cyberspace aficionados think the Internet is the "apotheosis
of the marketplace" - decentralised, self-executing, and not
needing regulation. But the growth of the Internet has also
spawned a unique subculture committed to open access but
skeptical of opportunism and profiteering. The guardians of Net
culture do not share the worship of the profit motive. Commercial
ventures will coexist only uneasily with the non-profit culture.
Thus the Internet will remain something other than pure
capitalism, and will be a hybrid of subcultures.
(Business Week; September 4, 1995)

Internet Is Advantageous To India - Within Reasonable Limits
- ------------------------------------------------------------
In these days, when India is staking high on global businesses,
it is inadvisable to shun the Internet despite concern about
issues like cyberporn. The Internet is a relatively low-cost
business tool, and is ripe for utilisation by corporate users in
India who have now matured through the humble experience of LAN
links. Beyond that, however, it would be unwise to expect the
Internet to directly remove poverty or help rural development.
(Computers Today, India; August 1995)

Internet Provides Hurricane Relief Information
- ----------------------------------------------
Hurricane Felix's recent destructive tour once again gives the
Internet a chance to prove itself as a great source of
information during disasters. Images of Felix's progress are
available at http://www.intellicast.com/weather/usa/hurir.gif. To
find out what to in case a hurricane hits, turn to the American
Red Cross Page (http://www.mizar.crossnet.org/homepage.html).
Trauma information for survivors can also be found on the Web at
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dvb/trauma.htm.
(New Scientist, England; 26 August, 1995)

Japanese Web Sites Proliferate
- ------------------------------
Despite the language barrier - computerised Japanese can be read
only by  double-byte enabled browsers like Netscape 1.1N and not
Mosaic - surfers  can find a number of Web sites with information
in both English and  kanji - such as NTT (http://www.ntt/jp), the
Sony Computer Science Lab  (http://www.csl.sony.co.jp), the
Ministry of International Trade and  Industry
(http://www.miti.go.jp/index-e.html), and the Japan External 
Trade Organisation (http://www.jetro.go.jp/).
(Computing Japan; August 1995)

Internet Set To Take Asia By Storm
- ----------------------------------
The Asia-Pacific region represents the world's largest
marketplace,"  according to Toon King Wong of Singapore-based
Asia Online publishers.  "I believe the Internet will be embraced
by Asia to drive trade faster  and further across the region," he
told attendees at the Internet World  conference in Sydney.
Although censorship issues would pose a  significant barrier to
Internet growth, the Internet would "still win  out in the
commercial arena." The regional growth will be "explosive"  and
commercial activity on the Net will be "feverish."
(The Australian; August 29, 1995)

French MiniTel Modest, But Pointer To Future Of CyberSurfing
- ------------------------------------------------------------
With its "ungainly looks, fuzzy screen, and fiddly keyboard,"
France's  MiniTel terminal is a technological relic from the
early 1980s - but as  an interactive service, it has gone much
further than the Internet or  the other commercial online
services in testing what ordinary people  want from computer
networks. Though the network equipment has been  subsidised, most
of its services are not. More practical services such  as
banking, tourism, and local official information have taken over
from  "frivolous traffic" such as games and sex. MiniTel is used
by 14.4  million people, just less than a third of France's
population.  
(The Australian; August 29, 1995)

Hong Kong Media Companies Join Online Publishing Consortium 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to a $3.2 million grant from the Industry Department's
Industrial  Support Scheme, 10 media companies have joined the
Electronic News Media  and Publishing Consortium's online
platform, developed by the Chinese  University's department of
information engineering. "The whole idea is  to allow people to
search as many newspapers as possible," according to  Cheung
Kwokwai, lecturer at the University. There has been "tremendous 
development" of the Chinese-language sector of online
information. One  of the problems, though, is that different
media use different codes on  their computer systems. The Chinese
University runs the Hong Kong  Internet Exchange.
(South China Morning Post, Hong Kong; August 29, 1995)

Internet Aids Business And Global Trade
- ---------------------------------------
The Internet is contributing to a "network-centric model" of
business,  according to David Bishop of IBM, who spoke at the
Internet World  conference in Sydney. This could also lead to an
end to "shrink-wrapped  software." Madanmohan Rao of the Inter
Press Service news agency said  that the Internet is being viewed
by many countries as a "low-cost  platform for publishing and
obtaining trade-related information."  Internet-based trade
initiatives include UNCTAD's Global Trade Point  Network
(http://www.unicc.org).
(The Age, Melbourne, August 29; Australian Financial Review,
August 28)

New Book Examines Societies In Cyberspace 
- -----------------------------------------
"Cybersociety: Computer-Mediated Communication and Community," a
set of  essays edited by Stephen Jones, explores the
sociological,  anthropological, and political implications of the
emerging meta-civilisation in cyberspace. "Critical to the
rhetoric surrounding the  information superhighway is the promise
of a renewed sense of community,  and in many instances, new
types and formations of community," according  to Jones. The
essays examine community interactions in MUDs and Usenet. 
(The Futurist; July-August 1995)

There Need To Be More "Women Moguls" In Cyberspace, Author Says 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Australian writer Dale Spender, author of "Nattering on the Net:
Women,  Power and Cyberspace," says there are not enough "women
moguls" in  cyberspace. "Women must be full participants in
shaping the system and  the rules, and be involved in the
cybercommunity in the same numbers and  on the same terms as
men," she says. Spender has also launched other big  projects
like WITS (Women, Information Technology and Scholarship) and 
WIKED (Women's International Knowledge Encyclopedia and Data).
(Information Age; August 1995)

Electronic Frontiers Australia Advocates Online Rights 
- --------------------------------------------------------
Electronic Frontiers Australia (http://www.efa.org.au/EFA) is an 
advocacy group dedicated to preserving online freedoms and
rights. One  of its main upcoming concerns is educating the
public about Internet  legislation, which is currently being
handled by legislators who assume  the Net is a single entity
which can be affected by a national law. EFA  feels that parents
should take greater responsibility for supervising  their
children's access to the Net.
(Internet Australasia; August 1995)

Will Internet Bring Untold Benefit Or Cultural Destruction?
- -----------------------------------------------------------
At the recent conference on Communications, Culture and
Development in Jakarta hosted by the Asian Mass Communication
Research and Information Center, participants from 27
countries debated the potential of the Internet and its socio-
economic impact. Issues of concern included protection of
intellectual property rights, cultural pollution, national
productivity, economic imperialism, technology transfer, and
social invasion. The Internet may widen the technological gulf
between countries - but, if properly and equitably
implemented, could also aid the developing countries. A number
of such nations have already set up "cultural servers" to
promote their heritage, and thus do not have to "take a back
seat" to the industrialised nations. Countries like Indonesia,
which tend to be associated with media control, are "gung ho"
about making Internet access affordable. 
(Information Age; August 1995)

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Unveils Web Site
- ----------------------------------------------------
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has launched a Web
site (http://www.abc.net.au) with more than 1,000 hyperlinked
files covering radio programs, corporate history and audience
feedback. "We have 64,000 hours of sound library tapes - a
huge resource to start with," said Peter Manning, head of
multimedia operations. The material will also be made
available through Apple's eWorld and the MicroSoft Network.
(The Australian; August 22, 1995)

Consternation Arises Over Net Censorship Issues In New Zealand
- --------------------------------------------------------------
Consternation over issues of censorship and privacy on the New
Zealand Internet has been on the rise. ISOCNZ, the Internet
Society of New Zealand (info@netsoc.org.nz) has been providing
analysis of the difficulties the Internet poses with respect
to issues of control. Several universities and Internet
service providers have been blocking access to newsgroups
dealing with erotica. On the part of the government, the
proposed Technology and Crimes Reform Bill seems to be a
"collection of unworkable ideas." ISOCNZ is trying to develop
technologies that will allow service providers to become
"child-safe" accredited.
(Internet Australasia; August 1995) 

Australia Launches Exporting Service Based On The Internet
- ----------------------------------------------------------
   Austrade, the Australian Trade Commission, has launched 
an Internet-based information service for its exporters, 
called TradeBlazer. Intially an "electronic shopfront," the 
service hopes to eventually mature into an "electronic 
marketplace" with the capability to complete transactions 
online. TradeBlazer will be particularly valuable to 
Australia's 70,000 small and medium-sizd businesses, 
according to the Minister for Trade. Australia also ranks 
second after the U.S. in its uptake of the Internet. 
Negotiations have begun with Japan to establish reciprocal 
online services. Economists say that Australia needs to 
improve its trade performance and compensate for import 
flows, which reached their highest recorded monthly level 
this July.
(Business Day, Thailand, August 19-20; Australian Financial 
Review, August 18, 1995)

China Will Limit Use Of The Internet
- ------------------------------------
   The Chinese government has announced that it would limit 
users' access to the Internet. "By linking with the Internet 
we do not mean absolute freedom of information," according 
to Wu Jichuan, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. 
Shanghai and Beijing are already connected to the Internet, 
and 10 more cities will have access this year.
(Asian Business Review; August 1995)

Will Internet In India Open "Floodgates To Cyberporn?"
- ------------------------------------------------------
   Cyberporn has raised a furore even in "a country as 
liberal as the United States" only a month ago. Commercial 
Internet access in India was launched only a week ago, but 
with "no orders from above" for blocking obscene material, 
according to a manager at the VSNL Internet access provider. 
The bureaucrats in the Department of Telecommunications 
"have not bothered to introduce any checks in the system" 
while taking the policy decision of providing widespread 
Internet access in India.
(Business Standard, India; August 15, 1995)

Internet Links Global Protest Against France
- --------------------------------------------
   Leading academics and lawyers from more than 50 
universities across 40 countries have challenged the 
legality of the French decision to resume nuclear testing in 
the South Pacific. David Anton, lecturer in international 
and environmental law at Melbourne University, organised the 
challenge by contacting colleagues around the world via the 
Internet. This is one of many global protests coordinated 
and launched against the French testing program via the 
Internet.
(The Sunday Times, Britain; August 4, 1995)


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End of online-news-digest V1 #339
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