To the Point

The Internet: Public Trust or Center for Private Profit?

Telephone companies and cable operators, which invest billions in the electronic hardware that brings the Internet to consumers, want to change the way customers pay for that access. Instead of the current flat fees, they want different users to pay different amounts, according to how much they go on line and how fast they get service. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and eBay are among the Internet providers who claim that means corporate censorship of the marketplace of ideas. Consumer groups too are forecasting limits on downloads and e-mail. Should government step in to guarantee access for all or should free-market innovation be left to evolve on its own? Would that mean limits on downloads and e-mails? Is it a threat to virtual democracy as Internet users have come to know it?Making News: White House Criticized for Late Notice on Shooting AccidentVice President Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion in Texas over the weekend. Texas layer Harry Whittington is hospitalized in "stable condition." The accident occurred on Saturday, but the White House press corps didn't learn about it for almost 24 hours. Anne Kornblut is Washington correspondent for the New York Times.Reporter's Notebook: Kofi Annan Asks Bush for Military Assistance in DarfurUN Secretary General Kofi Annan went to Washington today to ask President Bush what America can contribute to stop what the US government has called "genocide" in the Darfur region of Sudan. The African Union has sent 7000 soldiers and monitors, but the effort is under-staffed, under-funded and ineffective. American Ambassador John Bolton has asked the UN to begin contingency planning for a mobile force to end the killings, rapes and pillaging. Jon Sawyer is Director of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.