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Business
FTC To Launch Antitrust Probe Of Google Deal, Source Says
The Federal Trade Commission has opened a preliminary antitrust investigation into Google's planned $3.1 billion purchase of the online advertising company DoubleClick, according to a source, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and AP report. An FTC spokesman would not comment. After the planned deal was announced last month, privacy advocates and those concerned over competition concerns responded. "We think it's very important that the FTC. is taking a look at the Google-DoubleClick deal," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy rights group. The Center for Digital Democracy and the United States Public Interest Research Group also requested an FTC investigation into the privacy implications of the deal. In other news, The New York Times reports on competition among tech companies to hire top talent.
Taxes
Bill Would Force Online Retailers To Collect Sales Tax
Legislation introduced by Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., last week would set up the administrative mechanisms needed to collect and distribute sales tax payments for purchases made over the Internet to the states, Computerworld reports. "[Enzi] is not proposing a new tax being collected," said Elly Pickett, Enzi's deputy press secretary. "He just wants a way to make the online retailers [charge] the same as the small business down the street. These online retailers are just skirting around the online sales tax collections."
Defense
Iraq Supplemental Includes Deepwater Restrictions
The Coast Guard's troubled fleet modernization program, Deepwater, would see tightened restriction in the Iraq war supplemental spending bill passed by Congress last week, Federal Computer Week reports. Provisions in the legislation require technical reviews, third-party assessments, and cost estimates for each life cycle, among other requirements, before the project goes forward. The $120 billion bill, H.R. 2206, also provides $917 million for homeland security programs for airport security and grants for emergency preparedness in mass transit, rail systems and shipping ports. The amount is less than what would have been provided for under the previous spending measure, which President Bush vetoed.
Security
Energy Department Admits To Losing 1,400 Laptops
Officials at the Energy Department told lawmakers last week that it is has lost track of roughly 1,400 laptop computers during the past six years. Government Computer News reports department officials said that none of the devices contained classified information. Spokeswoman Megan Barnett said Secretary Samuel Bodman has been working to solve "management deficiencies" that "have been an issue throughout the history of the department. "He has been working to fully identify weaknesses and correct them at their source," she said.
E-Government
Department Takes Down Offensive Web Site After Complaints
The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has taken down a Web site it operated that listed gay rights advocates, environmentalists, abortion opponents, and anti-war organizations in a list of potential terrorists, AP reports. The director of the department, Jim Walker, said his agency received a number of calls and e-mails from people who said the site targeted some people solely because of their beliefs. He said he plans to put the Web site back on the Internet, but will no longer identify specific types of groups. "Our group has only had peaceful demonstrations. I'm deeply concerned we've been profiled in this discriminatory matter," said Howard Bayliss, chairman of the gay and lesbian advocacy group Equality Alabama, said he doesn't understand why gay rights advocates would be on the list.
Cyber Security
Russia Denies Involvement in Massive Cyber Battle
The Russian government has denied involvement in cyber attacks against Estonia for the decision by authorities to remove a bronze statue of a World War II-era Soviet soldier from a park, The New York Times reports. The Internet is widely used in Estonia for multiple tasks such as filing taxes or paying for parking. Estonian authorities said after the statue was removed the country received a flood of data that nearly crippled its digital infrastructure and came from an Internet address belonging to a Russian government official. "It turned out to be a national security situation," said Estonia's Defense Minister, Jaak Aaviksoo. "It can effectively be compared to when your ports are shut to the sea."
E-Government
Health And Human Services Launches Flu Pandemic Blog
In hopes of creating a dialogue on preparing for a potential flu pandemic, the Health and Human Services Department recently unveiled a blog that enlists 16 business, health care, faith-based and community leaders. Government Health IT reports that the five-week blog invites public comment, and makes HHS one of the first Cabinet departments to target a specific issue using Web tools. HHS expects that a pandemic will erupt in the next few years, based upon historic precedent. "The conversation about individual preparedness for pandemic flu must extend nationwide through all possible channels, including social media and the Internet," HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said in a statement. Those posting to the blog include Pierre Omidyar, founder and chairman of eBay and co-founder of Omidyar Network.
Cyber Security
China Works On Cyber Security Defense, Offense
China's People's Liberation Army continues to establish cyberwarfare units and develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, IDG News Service reports. China "has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks," the annual Defense Department report on China's military stated. The Chinese armed forces also have looked to create ways to protect their own systems from cyber attack. The United States and other countries have also attempted to develop the capability to attack an enemy's computer systems.
Porn
China Accuses Schools Of Making Money From Porn
Chinese government officials have accused some schools of making money from online pornography. Reuters reports the Chinese Education Ministry has contacted college campuses about school Web sites they believe are turning a profit off of porn. The Chinese government launched a campaign to "purge" the Internet of sexually explicit images and videos. "Students are easily influenced and perverted by such information as they are still in their formative years and do not have a solid hold on their values," said Education Vice Minister Li Weihong.
Intellectual Property
Taiwan Group To Hold Online Patent Auction
A Web site in Taiwan launched by a government-funded research group will host an online patent auction slated for October, IDG News Service reports. The auction will match international sellers with bidders in Taiwan. A variety of electronic technologies will be sold, including WiMax high-speed wireless Internet, liquid crystal display television and third-generation telecommunications technology. "Many companies have an inventory of unused patents from shelved projects that no longer fit the company's business strategy or core business," the Industrial Technology Research Institute said in a statement Friday. "However, an organization's unproductive patents may be very valuable to another company."
Campaigns
Clinton Ties Spark Shareholder Lawsuit
Investors in the data-processing firm InfoUSA have filed a lawsuit complaining about its hiring of former President Clinton as a consultant. The Washington Post reports shareholders are upset by the decision of chief executive Vinod Gupta to pay Clinton millions in consulting fees for the "extremely vague purposes" of providing "strategic growth and business judgment." Gupta also has donated to the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has used his corporate plane in the past. A campaign spokesman said Gupta's firm has been reimbursed for the flights according to federal election and Senate rules. Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Clinton, said Gupta is a "longtime friend and supporter."
Business
Semiconductor Firm Novellus Sued For Backdating
Executives at Novellus Systems are being targeted in a lawsuit filed in federal court for allegedly backdating and springloading stocks, less than three weeks after the semiconductor firm declared victory in a stock-option case. The Mercury News reports that the same plantiffs who brought the suit against Novellus for stock-option violations filed the derivative suit against Novellus Chief Executive Richard S. Hill and 13 other past and present executives. The suit claims they maximized personal gain through "a variety of illegal and undisclosed tactics." Novellus denies any wrongdoing. In other news, AP reports that Joe Nacchio, the former Qwest Communications chief executive who was convicted last month of insider trading, asked a judge to ensure the telecommunications firm will pay his legal fees in his continuing legal fight.
Culture
Internet Profiles Of Iraq War Casualties Remain Online
Many fallen soldiers have left ghosts of themselves online as MySpace.com profiles remain unchanged after their deaths, AP reports. The photo and words of Army Pfc. Johnathon Millican, who was 20 when he died, are still online as he left them. He wrote, "You don't have to love the war but you have to love the warrior." More than three quarters of those killed in Iraq were 30 years old or younger, and a lot of young enlisted soldiers have pages on the social-networking site, according to military officials. Bob Patrick, of the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress, said Myspace pages "are grassroots stories on the foxhole level, or the cockpit level." The Defense Department recently banned soldiers deployed in the Middle East from accessing social-networking sites from department computers.
Culture
Teen Athlete Receives Unwanted Attention Online
A high school pole vaulting champion in California is worried about the amount of attention she is receiving on the Internet.The Washington Post reports Allison Stokke is concerned for her safety now that scores of pictures and video of her competing have been circulated throughout cyberspace. Stokke, who will attend the University of California at Berkeley in the fall on a scholarship, has asked the social networking site Facebook to remove a fake profile created for her. A recent search on Yahoo for Stokke's name turned up more than 300,000 hits.
Her father, Allan, said he has been keeping a "watchful eye" out for stalkers. In other news, The Boston Globe reports a Vermont museum has opened a new exhibition of items purchased by celebrities on the auction site eBay.
Privacy
Firm Uses 'Smart Cards' To Fight Identity Theft
A California-based company has developed a device it claims can dramatically improve the security of personal information stored on computers. The Washington Times reports GuardID Systems is advertising that its ID Vault system shields consumers from identity theft by using "smart card" frequency technology. The devices will hit stores later this summer. The company is guaranteeing each user up to $1 million in lost funds for as many as ten accounts if its product fails to protect a customer against fraud.
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Blog Bits
Sparking Conversation On FCC's Spectrum Auction
A prominent Democratic blogger this week pledged to flood the FCC with comments about an upcoming spectrum auction.
Matt Stoller of the liberal blog MyDD wrote that the spectrum could be used for wide range of innovative projects. He added that the auction could have a profound effect on the so-called "network neutrality" debate over whether high-speed Internet network operators should be forced to treat all content equally.
"This wireless fiasco we have in America can end, soon," Stoller said.
Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing also wrote an entry about the issue. The deadline to submit comments to the FCC is Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere this week:
-- At The Hill's Congress Blog, American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Tim Sparapani blasted the so-called REAL ID Act, which mandates nationwide standards for drivers licenses.
-- Randy Barnett at The Volokh Conspiracy opined on the launch of a new Web site by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. The site will host user-generated "mash-up" videos of "Star Wars" clips.
-- Kurl Kurtz at The Thicket, the blog hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures, criticized a recent piece by New York Times technology columnist David Pogue about lobbying at the state level. Kurtz said Pogue should "stick to writing about information technology."
-- At the Technology Liberation Front Columbia University law professor Tim Wu examined the economics of Apple Computer's policies for repairing its popular iPod digital music players.
-- And Timothy Karr of the watchdog group Free Press took note at the Save the Internet blog about how former Vice President Al Gore is speaking out in favor of network neutrality. Gore discusses the issue in his newly released book, "The Assault on Reason."
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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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