Ripple lets children, adults stay connected

Ripple lets children, adults stay connected

DENVER — Research shows that read-aloud time in the early years is vital for later school success. And, kids love hearing stories, especially when read by a favorite adult.

Now, Ripple —a new online reading service, is making it possible for children to stay connected to the important adults in their lives — even when they’re away on business, serving with the military or just live out of town.

Users choose a book from the Ripple Library and the child(ren) to whom it is to be read, then read aloud into Ripple’s digital recorder. Kids listen to their stories on a Ripple player — a free download —and can follow along with the actual book. Users can buy a single recording session for $9.95 or a package that brings the per-recording price as low as $4.58.

Ripple’s mission is to promote children’s literacy, strengthen U.S. schools and libraries, and foster connections between children and the important adults in their lives. For more information, including how your school or library can take part, visit the Ripple Web site: www.RippleReader.com.

EU assembly adopts Net, telephone-user rights

STRASBOURG, France — The European Parliament has endorsed new telecom rules that would give phone and Internet users more rights and allow them to appeal to national courts if they are cut off for illegal file-sharing.

The rules endorsed last week are part of a broad telecommunications package that also aims to boost competition for Internet and phone services. As a last resort, telecom companies could be required to separate their infrastructure and services businesses, giving other companies a shot at providing rival services on the same networks.

A new EU-wide telecoms authority also would be set up to ensure fair competition.

The EU’s 27 nations must now implement the law in their national legislation by June 2011.

For consumers, the most visible part of the law are the new rights they would get to switch cell phone or fixed line operators within one working day and to challenge disconnections, even if they are illegally sharing copyright-protected movies or music.

A service provider would have to inform users before cutting off access because of a copyright violation, and those users would be able to appeal to a national court.

Internet users still won’t have an automatic right to Internet access — as some EU lawmakers had originally intended. The European Parliament dropped that guarantee because of concerns it could hinder French and British efforts to cut off Internet access to persistent file sharers.

Internet activists push for greater democracy

BARCELONA, Spain — The Internet can be a powerful medium for politicians to get their message across but it is also a vital means for civilians to have a say in what politicians do, participants in a political conference say.

Andrew Rasiej, founder of the Personal Democracy Forum series, said tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube help people organize “in order to have an impact on the political process and to petition governments to be more responsive to their everyday needs.”

Combined dispatches