[Air-l] Internet Quiz

[V.Petkovic at lse.ac.uk]

Dear all

 

Does anybody know of an interesting 'Test Your Internet Knowledge' web-site, book, etc. I am giving a presentation at the LSE and would like to make it informative by allowing students to contribute and participate. Ironically, I have been searching the www but was unable to find quizzes/tests that were challenging enough for computer literate young adults (with potential to still trip them up in a few Q&A). Thank you in advance.

 

VP

________________________________

From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org on behalf of Graham Longford
Sent: Fri 27/10/2006 03:54
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: [Air-l] Canada's Alternative Telecommunications Policy Forum - news release



Dear AOIR-listers,

I want to bring your attention to an event that just took place in Ottawa,
Canada, on October 19-21, 2006, the Alternative Telecommunications Policy
Forum. The Forum brought together policy experts, academics, and
representatives from over a dozen community and public interest
organizations across Canada to discuss the implications of
telecommunications policy reforms currently being considered by our federal
government.

On the recommendation of the 2005 Telecommunications Policy Review Panel,
the federal government has directed the main telecommunications regulator in
Canada (CRTC) to implement the Telecommunications Act in a manner that
"maximizes market forces," and is considering abandoning legislative
provisions that, among other things, protect consumers and support broadband
deployment in rural and remote communities.

Topics discussed at the forum included: community broadband and wireless
networks; the risks of relying on market forces to promote network access
and expansion; the reform of Canada's telecommunications regulatory system;
designing government policies and programs to promote effective use of ICTs;
and emerging threats to network neutrality.

Featured Canadian speakers included: the Honourable Sheila Copps (former
Minister of Canadian Heritage); Andrew Clement (University of Toronto);
Pippa Lawson (Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic); Garth
Graham (Telecommunities Canada) and Marc Raboy (McGill University). Other
guest speakers included Sascha Meinrath (Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless
Network) and Ben Scott (FreePress).

The Forum was organized by Marita Moll (Telecommunities Canada) Leslie Shade
(Concordia University) and, in a supporting role, myself.

For anyone interested in learning more, detailed information about the Forum
can be found at www.cracin.ca

Information about the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel and its Final
Report can be found at: www.telecomreview.ca


Contents of the post-Forum news release are also pasted below.

*************************************************************

Alternative Telecommunications Policy Forum
News Release
Oct 26, 2006


Proposed Telecom Policy Places Too Much Faith in Market Forces, Citizens¹
Forum Warns

"We were looking at telecommunications policy through a social and community
economic development lens rather than an industry lens,² according to Marita
Moll and Leslie Shade, organizers of the Alternative Telecommunications
Policy Forum held in Ottawa, October 19-21.

The Forum brought together policy experts, academics, and representatives
from over a dozen community and public interest organizations across Canada
to discuss the implications of telecommunications policy reforms currently
being considered by Industry Minister, Hon. Maxime Bernier. The proposed
reforms, which include weakening consumer protection guarantees and
eliminating regulations aimed at protecting Canada¹s cultural sovereignty in
favour of maximizing market forces, were recommended last spring by the
Liberal-appointed Telecommunications Policy Review Panel (TPRP).

Participants in the Forum generally agreed that the TPRP Report places far
too much faith in ³market forces² in an era when access to advanced
telecommunications services has become essential to economic, social, and
political participation. ³Canadian citizens, consumers, and communities will
be poorly served if the Minister implements the Panel¹s recommendations
without more public input,² insisted Dr. Michael Gurstein of CRACIN and
Executive Director of the Centre for Community Informatics Research,
Training and Development.

"Relying exclusively on 'market forces' to guide telecommunications is a
dangerous myth, and not well supported by the evidence available," noted
Andrew Clement, Professor of Information Studies at the University of
Toronto. 

"Direct government action is an imperative both to the provision of
broadband services wherever Canadians live and to providing the means and
the knowledge for Canadians to use those services effectively" said David
Murdoch, Halifax Regional Community Access Program (CAP) Association
Coordinator.

³Canada would do well to learn from the mistakes already made south of the
border in the U.S., where we embraced aggressive deregulation sooner,²
suggested Ben Scott, Policy Director for Free Press, a Washington, D.C.
media policy think-tank. Scott went on to point out that, since 2001, the
U.S. has fallen from 4th to 12th in  OECD rankings for broadband
penetration.

The Forum also affirmed that telecommunications performs an essential role
in the maintenance of Canadian sovereignty and identity and that this
principle should be retained in any new version of the Telecommunications
Act. 

The Industry Minister is also considering an overhaul of  Section 7 of the
Telecommunications Act, which articulates  the objectives of telecom policy
in Canada. "The proposed rewrite of section 7 of the Telecommunications Act
would eliminate important policy goals such as reliable, high quality
service and the protection of consumers from telecom-specific marketplace
abuses. It would also remove key provisions including the requirement for
just and reasonable rates and the rule against unjust discrimination.
Without these goals and basic ground rules, we can expect lowest common
denominator approaches to telecommunications service in Canada and
widespread marketplace abuses. More than ever before, we need such
principles in order to ensure that telecommunications in Canada continues to
serve the public good as well as the private shareholders of dominant
players," said Philippa Lawson of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public
Interest Clinic (CIPPIC)

Also considered at this meeting was the National ICT Strategy proposed in
the TPRP Report.  ³Such a strategy is important, but we would like to see a
great deal more weight given to community input than has been proposed so
far,² said Peter Frampton, of the Learning Enrichment Foundation, a social
agency that offers programs and services to low income areas in the Greater
Toronto Area.

The group felt broadband access was  key to economic and social development
and therefore should be treated as an essential service.  However, on the
TPRP¹s proposed strategy to deliver broadband to remote and rural areas,
known as U-CAN, the message was that the major benefactors of this subsidy
would  be the largest telephone companies rather than communities.  ³The
outlined financial obligations are simply too onerous for any other group to
play² said Garth Graham of Telecommunities Canada, a group that supports
Canadian community networks. "That leaves communities unable to pursue their
own ideas and choices about connection and development."

The Alternative Telecommunications Policy Forum was convened by the Canadian
Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN), a
SSHRC-funded  research partnership established in 2003 to investigate the
status  and achievements of community-based information and communication
technology (ICT) initiatives in Canada, and was financially supported by a
SSHRC INE public outreach grant.

More information about this Forum can be found at  www.cracin.ca

For further information please contact:

Diane Dechief,
CRACIN Administrator
Tel: 416-978-4662
E-mail: cracin at fis.utoronto.ca


--
Graham Longford, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Canadian Research Alliance for Community
Innovation and Networking (CRACIN)
Co-investigator, Community Wireless Infrastructure Research Project (CWIRP)
Faculty of Information Studies
University of Toronto
140 St. George St., Rm 310
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA  M5S 3G6
email: graham.longford at utoronto.ca
+1 416-978-4662








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