Bulletins

WASHINGTON - Five people have been indicted and four of them arrested on charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering in connection with a program designed to bring Internet access to schools and libraries, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday.

The Federal Communications Commission wants your input about possible regulation of Voice over IP (define) services. As part of its just-released Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for IP-enabled services, the FCC said it is looking for specific, pragmatic proposals for the possible regulation of the technology, including VoIP.

At a time of tighter budgets for education technology, schools and libraries are still lagging in their use of E-rate discounts that have been approved for them, according to a recently completed review by Funds For Learning.

Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Veon introduced House Bill 2386 to meet Gov. Rendells challenge that legislators fund the creation of a statewide education network for K-12 schools during the next 18 months.

The Schools and Libraries Committee of the Universal Service Administrative Company Feb. 23 authorized the Schools and Libraries Division to begin approving internal connections requests for the 2003 funding year from applicants with discount rates as low as 70 percent, subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

If Cori Capik forgets to jot down a math assignment, she no longer squanders an evening by calling classmates who might also be clueless. With a few clicks of her laptop mouse, the eighth grader at Miamis Palmer Trinity School can easily track down that homework assignment - or any other one she might have missed. And while she's at it, she can peek at her current grades, check the date of her next science quiz, or download the middle-school dance schedule.

In Pennsylvania, many of the states school districts must pay a premium for high-speed telecommunications service because of their location. The lack of affordable access to this technology prevents many schools from using educational materials that are available electronically to other schools using broadband telecommunications.

The Schools and Libraries Committee of the Universal Service Administrative Company January 26 recommended that an additional $1.687 million be budgeted in 2004 for additional resources for the review of E-rate program invoices.

A number of schools have been required to repay some E-rate discounts they received because they were not in compliance with the requirements of the Childrens Internet Protection Act by the date they were supposed to be.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell announced today that he has appointed Lisa M. Zaina as Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Zaina currently serves as senior legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.