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Targeting the digital divide
San Francisco Examiner
March 20, 2000
WASHINGTON — Politicians are rushing to try to close the digital divide,
the gap between Americans who have computers and Internet access and
those who don't.
Some business leaders, however, argue that the divide will close
automatically — and far faster than people think — as high-tech
companies hungry for profits reach out to the poor and minority
Americans who don't yet have access to computer technology.
No one disputes that there is a gap. A number of recent studies have
shown that minorities, low-income Americans, and rural residents are far
less likely to have computers and Internet access than wealthier, white,
or urban Americans.
For example, the latest U.S. Commerce Department study, titled "Falling
Through the Net III," showed that wealthy Americans are 20 times more
likely to have Internet access than the poor.
The report also called the digital divide "one of America's leading
economic and civil rights issues" because poor, minority and rural
Americans will be left behind if they aren't given the tools to become
part of the nation's technological revolution.
Numerous proposals to bridge the divide have been offered by lawmakers
and business leaders.
The proposals include President Clinton's request for $2 billion in tax
incentives to companies that donate computers and expertise to local
community technology centers, a congressional bill targeting $120
million in federal funds for upgraded computer centers at Boys & Girls
Clubs, and a voluntary effort by high-tech companies to train more
minority employees.
In addition, the Clinton administration has promoted the E-rate program,
which gives discounts to schools and libraries for Internet connections
and other telecommunication services.
The $2.5 billion annual program is designed to ensure that poor and
rural children, who may not have computers at home, at least have access
to upgraded computers at schools and libraries.
"What we've tried to do is get people aware of the problem," said Larry
Irving, former U.S. assistant commerce secretary for information and
communications. Irving was the driving force behind the Commerce
Department's decision to produce the "Falling Through the Net" studies
that have attempted to measure the digital divide.
"Now we need to devote time to finding a cure for the disease. I don't
believe government is the only solution. I think the private sector and
foundations can make a huge contribution," added Irving, now president
of UrbanMagic.com, an Internet portal aimed at African Americans.
The site, which is funded by a business founded by former basketball
star Magic Johnson, is scheduled to be launched later this year.
Mark Lloyd, executive director of the Civil Rights Forum on
Communications Policy, contends that the debate over the digital divide
"is fundamentally a debate about power: Who will have power, and who
will not."
But Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association
of America, a Washington, D.C., trade association, believes Lloyd and
others are making a lot of fuss about a problem that will essentially be
solved shortly by market forces.
"The idea that this is some kind of permanent, long-term or intrinsic
problem is silly," Miller said. "No one ever talked about a radio divide
or a television divide when those technologies were new. We've got to
realize that any new technology takes a while to be adopted."
The idea that the gap is a civil rights issue is "balderdash," Miller
added.
"It's not a civil right, it's an economic opportunity," he said. "What
government should do is maximize competition in the marketplace.... The
people who make money off the Internet want to get their products to
everyone."
http://examiner.com/000320/0320digitaldivide.html
************************************************
Lisa Potter
School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599