Caught In |  | by Al Massey |
"We do not fear censorship for we have no wish to offend with
improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show
the dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue."
D. W. Griffiths
Forgive me while I take a moment to weep for you. It was bound to happen. The Internet has been free and without regulation since the beginning and now that we are able to exercise our right to communicate with each other and share ideas big brother, uncle sugar steps up to the plate in an attempt to "protect us." I am speaking of course about the Telecommunications Deregulation Act of 1996 that President Clinton signed into law recently. This bill should more aptly be named the "Decommunications" bill or lawyers' financial assistance act of '96. Included in this little piece of nonsense was something called the Communications Decency Act. The CDA makes it illegal for us to communicate above a third grade level and prohibits us from discussing such matters as abortion on-line. Far reaching implications indeed. As I write this no less than twenty-two groups have decided to challenge this act in court and the Electronic Freedom Foundation and ACLU have received temporary restraining orders blocking its implementation. It appears that every few years a group of self-styled censors crawl out from under their rocks to protect us from each other. In the words of Harry Belafonte, "you can cage the singer but not the song."
Sprinkled throughout this document are references to children and child pornography as well as vague statements such as "community standards" and "indecent material." No amount of legislation is going to change the fact that the ultimate responsibility for your child's safety on the Internet rests with you the parent. This brings me to a great site on the Web, http://www.iguide.com. Here you will be able to locate resources to help guide your child to safe, fun and constructive things to do on-line. I particularly enjoyed SWITCHEROOS, an area that lets you create your own superheros. Check it out, this is the `net done right.
"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."
Following close on the heels of the guv'ments Communications Decency Act is news that a group of cyberthugs led by Curtis Sliwa of the Guardian Angles have formed something called the CyberAngles to patrol the Internet and keep the "streets safe." WOW, just what we need, another group of vigilantes on-line. Check this group out at http://www.safe.surf.com/cyberangles/. And here I was getting comfortable with anarchy.
"If automobiles had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
Word must be out that my favorite words are more, bigger and faster because a "feller" by the name of Milo Medin rang up with the news that his company @Home will push the envelope of consumer Internet access by sending humongous amounts of data over the same cable used for your television programs. The first test of this service is set for, where else, California this spring and if all goes well it will be offered in a number of other US cities later this year. According to Medin, @Home is committed to the development of a backbone service that will route around many of the logjams that plague the Internet today. "There's more overbooking going on, on pieces of the network than United performs on Thanksgiving," said Medin. @Home is a joint venture of cable giant Telecommunications, Inc. and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byres, a venture capital firm.
Kleiner Perkins is the firm that got Netscape up and running so watch out. In addition to Medin, @Home features Will Hearst (yes, THAT Will Hearst) as its CEO and has Jim Barksdale of Netscape on its Board of Directors.
Although Net over cable is infant technology @Home anticipates having between 350,000 and 700,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Besides subscription revenue from consumers, @Home hopes to make money from content providers by charging them fees for use of @Homes replicators (fast servers placed strategically on the @Home backbone) to have their servers mirrored. The replicators will ensure faster access for users, as data will have to travel less distance to each user. Go to http://www.home.net.
"The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up there's no law against whacking them around a little."
When industry bigwigs gathered at the recent Demo '96 conference in Palm Springs to take at look at the year's "Premiere Products," they found the Internet represented in six of the seven products listed. This is in sharp contrast to last year when none of the seven were Internet related.
Three of the seven Premiere slots were devoted to authoring products for the Web with each offering different strengths: database integration, Java applet creation and display, and multimedia creation and display. All three feature drag and drop, object-oriented interfaces suitable for developers and end users alike. In keeping with the wild frontier, top gun environment of the `net two of the three new authoring tools came form startup firms.
Haht Software, Inc., a startup company from Raleigh, NC, announced HahtSite, a WYSIWYG system for developing dynamic Web sites served by database "backbends". Future Tense, Inc., another startup from Bedford, Mass., announced TexTure, a design creation and presentation tool that uses Java applets. TexTure can be used to design Java applets that control the layout, font, and placement of graphics seen by a Java-enabled browser. Computer Associates International debuted Jasmine, an authoring environment for multimedia sites. Jasmine comprises three parts: a browser add-in; a multimedia authoring tool; and an object-oriented, Web-enabled database. Ex Machina, Inc., of New York, introduced AirMedia Live!, described as a "baby monitor" for the Internet. This is a $149 radio receiver that plugs into any desktop PC and receives a continual stream of broadcast data. The AirMedia Live! Client software filters the incoming data, per the user's preferences. Users can stay off-line and still monitor Internet happenings. Maximum Information, Inc., San Francisco, demonstrated a systems management tool for Webmasters that allows for version control of services and content across multiple platforms. Traveling Software announced that they have added TCP/IP support to their popular LapLink program. TCP/IP is but one enhancement to LapLink for Windows 95. Users can remotely control a desktop system or synchronize files between a laptop and desktop over the Net.
"Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand."
Ray Morris and I had an interesting conversation with Geary Broadnax, president of Insync Internet Services, during the recent Computer show at the George R. Brown Convention Center. When HAL-PC was shopping for a internet service provider (ISP), Insync was one of the few that would give us the time of day. While HAL-PC was being dismissed as an amateur upstart by most of the ISPs in town, Geary and Dave Power of Insync were most helpful in making sure we not only got the feed we needed to provide first class operations for our members, but that the service would be first class. Hats off to Insync Internet Services, Inc. and thanks a lot Geary.
"If builders built buildings the way programmers program programs the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization as we know it."
In the "it was bound to happen sooner or later department," the US Council for International Business and the American Bar Association have announced the CyberNotary Project. Yep, you heard me, CyberNotaries. For some time now a committee for the ABA has been developing guidelines for electronic commerce and studying how to certify the authenticity and validity of electronic transactions.
Differences in countries' guidelines for many types of transactions such as rules governing powers of attorney, transfers of corporate shares, and the sale of land have resulted in rejections of US executed documents by foreign authorities. The CyberNotary Project has been working with the Union of Latin Notaries and the International Notarial Organization to create guidelines for this new legal specialty. Ted Barassi, manager of the project and chairman of the ABA committee on CyberNotaries, is exploring the establishment of an international bar association to develop qualifications and issue an exam to license CyberNotaries. "A lot of people say, `What the hell is this? It sounds like an employment act for lawyers,' " said Barassi.
Al Massey is a HAL-PC member.
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