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Telecom
FCC Denies All Requests To Extend E911 Deadline
The FCC has denied all requests from cellular telephone firms looking for more time to comply with a federal mandate requiring "enhanced 911" systems to be able to locate wireless callers in emergency situations. AP reports that not a single wireless carrier was able to comply with a mandate requiring them to equip 95 percent of their subscribers with location-capable handsets by Dec. 31, 2005. Industry groups had sought a blanket waiver for all carriers and suspension of the requirement. The FCC made decisions against Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless and others months ago but did not release all of the orders as a bloc until Friday. Starting Feb. 1, regulators will require most carriers to adhere to new reporting rules on their progress in meeting E911 orders.
Privacy
FCC Will Implement Rules To Protect Phone Records
The FCC is expected within weeks to set new rules on protecting personal telephone records from unauthorized disclosure, USA Today reports. The move is a result of last summer's revelations that investigators for Hewlett-Packard used deception to obtain the phone records of board members and reporters in order to identify the sources of news leaks regarding company matters. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is recommending that the commission order phone carriers to require that customers use passwords to immediately obtain their calling records by phone. Customers could obtain their records without passwords by asking phone companies to send them to their home addresses or by having phone company representatives call customers back on their home or cellular numbers of record. A majority of the FCC's five commissioners support the proposal, but some details could be modified.
Security
U.S. Imposes Conditions On Foreign Telecom Deal
A U.S. panel has decided to impose restrictions on two telecommunications equipment makers that are planning to merge, Reuters reports. According to the Financial Times, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States reviewed the proposed joint venture between Finland-based Nokia and Germany-based Siemens. The Times said that in particular any deal involving Canada's Nortel Networks, which does sensitive work for the U.S. government, would face a lengthy investigation. The panel asked the companies to sign an agreement that could dictate whether foreigners can work on U.S. equipment and software. A Nokia spokeswoman said, "Nokia regards discussions with governmental authorities regarding CFIUS filings as confidential, and as such we cannot comment on discussions or agreements with government authorities."
Domains
Plan For Porn-Related Web Space Open To Comment
An Internet governance body late Friday published for public comment a revised plan for designating Web space for pornographic content. Computer Wire reports that the head of ICM Registry, a Florida-based company that has been pursuing the potentially lucrative .xxx opportunity for the last seven years, expects the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to approve the new domain-name space. According to ICANN, the new proposed contract provides "specificity with respect to ICM's policymaking- and community-related obligations," and "contains significant new provisions to ensure that ICANN has concrete and practical mechanisms to enforce the contract." However, little support for a .xxx domain ending to Web addresses exists, even from anti-pornography activists and pornographers.
Intellectual Property
Rep. Berman May Quash Push For Copyright Reform
When Rep. Howard Berman was named chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Internet and intellectual property, many observers grew concerned that any hope of copyright reform this Congress is unlikely, The New York Times reports. Some say Berman is in the pocket of Hollywood constituents from his district. Lawrence Lessig, a well-known authority on the legal issues surrounding intellectual property and the Internet, wrote last week on his Web log that any real chances of policy reform dissappeared when Berman took the helm. Change is needed "to fit the legitimate objectives of copyright -- to assure that artists have the incentives they need to create great new work -- into the contours of digital technology," Lessig said. He hadded that putting Berman in charge of the copyright committee "is like making a congressman from Detroit head of an automobile safety subcommittee, or a senator from Texas head of a global warming subcommittee."
On The Hill
Security Plans, Minimum Wage Are On House Agenda
The work of the 110th Congress is just getting started, but this week's agenda -- covering everything from ethics and stem-cell research to raising the minimum wage and bolstering homeland security protections -- brings a beat-the-clock, end-of-year feel to Capitol Hill. CongressDaily reports that Democrats, in the majority for the first time in 12 years, are trying to jumpstart the process with an ambitious, 100-hour push in the House on legislation popular with the party's base. That will include taking up a bill Tuesday to implement remaining recommendations from the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, pushing Wednesday for the first increase in the federal minimum wage in nearly a decade, and debating legislation Thursday to allow federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. The Senate will spend much of its first full legislative week debating new ethics restrictions.
Campaigns
Sen. Biden Announces Bid For White House In 2008
Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden announced his presidential bid on Sunday, saying that he thinks he can hold his own against potential high-profile, Democratic rivals like Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. AP reports that Biden of New Jersey said he will create an exploratory committee by the end of the month to help raise money and gauge support for his candidacy. Biden has served as a co-chairman of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, and he is the new chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Biden's first presidential bid collapsed 20 years ago amid allegations that he plagiarized a campaign speech from then-British Labor Party leader Niel Kinnock.
Broadband
San Francisco Reaches Deal For Wireless Broadband
San Francisco on Friday said it has reached an agreement to create a citywide wireless broadband network, The New York Times reports. Google will provide free service on the network at relatively low transmission speeds, while EarthLink and other companies will charge for faster service. The network will be constructed, owned and operated by EarthLink, which will pay certain fees to the city for access to public rights-of-way and city property. In other news, The Contra Costa Times reports on the decision by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to eliminate fees for installing high-speed Internet cable along state rights-of-way.
Privacy
Michigan Law Requires Notice Of Data Breaches
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm last week signed into law a measure that would require Michigan residents to be notified if the security of a database containing their personal information is breached. CongressDaily reports that individuals and government agencies would have to notify consumers when a security breach puts personal information, including Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, and financial information, at risk. "Today's technology has taken commerce and communication to new heights, but it also put citizens at additional risk of identity theft as ever-increasing amounts of personal information are stored and transmitted electronically," said Granholm, a Democrat. "While I am pleased to sign legislation that provides critical information to consumers, we must do more to provide our citizens with the tools they need to truly protect themselves."
Security
Test Of Texas Border Cameras Leads To Few Arrests
A fall test run of a high-tech border camera system in Texas netted only a handful of arrests of undocumented immigrants, causing some concern about the efficiency of a $5 million border security plan championed by Gov. Rick Perry. AP reports that Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said the month-long test, which cost $200,000, was not an attempt to make arrests. Instead, he said it was to make sure the technology worked. But some lawmakers said they are now unsure how they will respond when Perry, a Republican, requests money for the project during this year's legislative session. "It seems to me that $20,000 per undocumented worker is a lot of money," said state Rep. Norma Chavez, a Democrat.
Telecom
Group To Announce Standard For Wireless Security
A group that establishes standards for the wireless industry on Monday is scheduled to announce new security specifications for protecting home networks. AP reports that the Wi-Fi Alliance has identified products that can be configured to make wireless networks at home and elsewhere more secure. A study released last year by JupiterResearch found that 40 percent of consumers failed to activate security features on their home wireless networks. Frank Hanzlik, the managing director of the alliance, said the group is committed to making it easier for consumers to configure the security features of their wireless networks.
Culture
Most Teens Responsible On MySpace, Study Finds
Most teenage users of the MySpace online social network do not display information or photographs that could attract pedophiles, though many still post potentially provocative photos, according to a new study. AP reports that the site has faced scrutiny by parents, teachers and law enforcers in recent years for its ability to make young users vulnerable to unwanted sexual advances from pedophiles and online stalkers. But according to the study, conducted by two academics, 91 percent of teen profiles reviewed at MySpace did not list full names. About 40 percent of teens keep their profiles private, which means they are only viewable to friends. But the researchers found that 5 percent of teens posted pictures of themselves in bathing suits or underwear, and 15 prcent of profiles showed friends in bathing suits or underwear. In other news, The Wall Street Journal reports that MySpace and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences plan to announce that amateur video makers may submit their work for a "Broadband Emmy," a prize first given last year.
Health
Defense Launches Health IT Management System
The Defense Department has launched an Internet-based system to improve healthcare services and reduce health threats to military and civilian personnel. Government Computer News reports that the launch began at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which plans to use the system at its Nevada test site to help meet employee protection requirements and provide a Web-based system for managing industrial hygiene records and replace several dissimilar databases with a new technology framework. In September, Defense awarded a one-year contract to Northrup Grumman to implement the system at the nuclear agency. Fielding and training are expected to start later this month.
Television
Content Deals To Put Web Programs On Televisions
Internet-based television programming will be viewable on television sets under deals between various cable networks and Microsoft, The Wall Street Journal reports. Under a deal with Starz, a cable-movie service owned by Liberty Media, computer users will be able to watch downloaded movies on TV sets, and Showtime, a premium movie channel owned by CBS, made a similar arrangement for its Showtime Interactive Web site. Viacom's Nickelodeon has made arrangements with Microsoft to let people watch its Web-based TV programming on any computer equipped with Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system.
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Magazine Monday
Data Security Is Not An Easy Deal For Democrats
The Democrats became the majority party in the 110th Congress on Thursday, but intraparty jurisdictional battles may pose trouble for enacting legislation that would set national standards for protecting consumers' financial data, according to National Journal.
Infighting between parties, committees and the two chambers stalled data-protection measures in the 109th Congress. Backers of such bills think the Democratic Party will have a shot at crafting more consumer-friendly legislation than what Republicans considered. Yet Democrats will continue to face the same hurdles -- potential ego battles, parochial concerns and turf wars.
The latest issue of The Atlantic Monthly, meanwhile, highlights the evolution of "social search" systems online.
The Internet's early days consisted of the mechanistic, keyword-only searches, but searching gained popularity when it became both fast and relatively smart. Even more advanced are social searches on Web sites like del.icio.us, Flickr, Technorati and YouTube that specialize in Web sites pictures, Web logs and videos.
Each allows users to tag and store materials and to search what others have tagged.
Another Atlantic article discussed the "digital music mosh pit," arguing that a new wave of Web innovation is now challenging Steve Jobs' "empire of cool."
Elsewhere, Wired magazine used algorithms from Google and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to discover the nation's top 10 technology towns, or "geek meccas." Washington earned a perfect score for tech jobs, as did Orlando, Fla., for its amount of Circuit City stores per capita.
And Technology Review highlighted how televisions are going high-speed online. The article said televisions, computers and the Internet will be as one in the living room in the near future.
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Check Out Technology Daily's Features
Every day, the staff of National Journal's Technology Daily provides readers with a special feature of timely interest. In today's State Roundup, Staff Writer Michael Martinez looks at the most important tech policy news from state legislatures and governors' mansions across America.
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