LIBRARY GROUP FIGHTS MANDATORY FILTERING LAW - The Internet filtering bill that was enacted as part of a massive appropriations bill late last year will be contested by a lawsuit from the American Library Association. The ALA's executive board made the decision to pursue the case but has yet to file the lawsuit. The filtering bill requires the use of filters in public schools and libraries as a prerequisite for continued eRate funding from the federal government. The ALA intends to argue in its filing that the bill will exacerbate the digital divide because its terms will mostly impact those who do not own a computer and depend instead upon public computers. The ACLU is also expected to challenge the bill but will focus only on its impact on public libraries. The Center for Democracy and Technology intends to offer support to the legal challenges but will not sign on as a plaintiff at this time. (Cnet, 18 Jan 01)

TOP ANALYSTS FORECAST A SLOW YEAR FOR ONLINE SCHOOLS BUT A SURGE FOR CORPORATE E-LEARNING - New studies by several top research firms predict a slow year for E-Learning in schools and colleges, but a banner year for providers of corporate online courses, according to a Reuters report this week. Forrester Research found that consumers were too attached to brick- and-mortar schools and colleges for E-learning to do more than increase at a slow but steady pace. "It's like turning a tanker. It won't turn on a dime," Paul Hagen, a senior analyst with Forrester told Reuters. But online education will make its mark with corporations in 2001, analysts say. "We're moving from a training and coursework mentality into something providing just-in-time learning or dishing up information that's needed," Hurwitz Group analyst Elise Olding explained. And speed, now more than ever before, is of the essence to keep workers informed, according to Thomas Koulopoulos, president of the Boston-based business and technology advisory firm Delphi Group. One area where analysts expect to see a surge is graduate business courses, with established players like the University of Phoenix and Pearson's FT Knowledge set to profit. However, universities are expected to benefit too, either through partnerships with online for-profits like Cardean University, or through academic tie-ups such as that between Harvard and Stanford's respective business schools. Read more on the Distance Educator website at
CLICK: http://www.distance-educator.com/dn2.phtml?id=2438 (E-NEWS from UCEA, 18 Jan 01)

CISCO TO TRAIN IN INDIA - Training academies will be set up in India to train 100,000 Internet network personnel by 2006. The plan is to offset an anticipated dearth of network workers by 2005. Thirty-four regional networking academies are planned, for which India will be a main software hub. The cost will be roughly $8.6 million for the academies and another $2 million in a related technology skills center. A previous push to train 100,000 in the US was successful. (Wall Street Journal, 16 Jan 01)