Digital Television
TV Makers Not Worried About The Digital Transition
by Drew Clark
LAS VEGAS -- Leading digital television manufacturers said Wednesday that they are not worried that Congress still has not finalized a "hard date" for the transition to digital television, but they said that step must happen to avoid stalemate.
"We have believed all along that we needed a hard date, and we fully expect President Bush to sign a piece of legislation very soon" that will fix Feb. 17, 2009, as the date by which analog broadcasting must cease, said John Taylor, a spokesman for LG Electronics.
He and other television manufacturing representatives spoke here at the Consumer Electronics Show, the country's largest annual trade show. They unveiled new lines of digital televisions, digital video recorders and cellular telephones at press conferences.
"There will be a hard date very soon," said Dave Arland, vice president of Thomson. "The only concern we have is that we are all here producing these products designed for the transition out here at CES, and retailers will not buy them until they know what the date is."
The lack of a final date arises from the fact that although the House and the Senate have agreed to language ending the digital transition by Feb. 17, 2009, the provision is part of broader budget legislation with remaining differences. The House could simply pass the Senate version, and may well do so, but it is not likely to act until reconvening at the end of January.
"We do have a hard date set, when all terrestrial and analog transmitters will be shut off," LG Vice President Robert Perry said. Congress only needs to return and "ratify" that date before it goes to the president for his signature, he said.
The continued failure to set a hard date does not keep major DTV manufactures -- all foreign-owned -- from cashing in on sales of expensive high-definition sets. In 2006, the industry will collectively sell 28 million sets in the United States -- and half of them will be digital, Perry said.
The leading brands include LG and Samsung, both South Korean companies, and Sony and Toshiba from Japan. Since 2004, the French-based Thomson no longer makes televisions. But the company still holds a 30 percent stake in TCL Electronics, a Chinese company that sells sets under Thomson's RCA brand.
But Thomson itself still makes various devices designed to further the digital transition, and in its presentation here, the company highlighted a $199 box to convert over-the-air digital signals for playback on traditional sets.
The company also will sell a $299 Jensen device that plugs into a computer and plays back standard-, high-definition and FM signals.
E-Government
Medicare Drug Plan Hindered By Technology Woes
by Danielle Belopotosky
The implementation of Medicare's prescription-drug plan has hit a few bumps. Still, millions of Americans are enjoying smooth access to the new benefit, according to the Health and Human Services Department.
Computer glitches, incomplete medical information and jammed telephone lines were among the reported problems that surfaced in the first days of Medicare's plan, which was enacted in 2003 and fully implemented Sunday. Some beneficiaries in Maine, Massachusetts, New York and elsewhere reported that their information could not be found in the Medicare database.
Furthermore, some pharmacists who accessed the database to determine patient eligibility for the benefit reported slow computer responses. They had to call into overloaded phone lines at healthcare plans and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to verify eligibility.
"What we experienced on the first day [Monday] were high volumes" of requests, said Robert Borchert, a spokesman for NDCHealth, a healthcare technology company that handles the electronic verification of program beneficiaries for Medicare.
Borchert said the company made adjustments to the hardware and computer codes to rectify the problems. Improvements to response times were seen later on Monday and Tuesday, with a return to normal query responses by Wednesday. "We are at sub-second response times," he said.
As far as other errors within the database, "That is a different issue," he said. Once individuals are enrolled in the drug program with their healthcare plans, the insurers must submit the electronic files to CMS so they can be put in the agency's format. The files then are submitted to NDCHealth. "It is a continuing process," Borchert said.
Given that 21 million people now have access to the benefit, the few problems have not overshadowed the program's early success, said Peter Ashkenaz, a spokesman for CMS. Moreover, due to the "surge in enrollment" in December, human error in completing enrollment forms and the time it takes to process the forms, some beneficiaries had not received their confirmation letters or plan cards in time for the transition.
In Maine, a separate issue hindered the transition for thousands of individuals. Two days before the program's start, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, sent a letter to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, alerting him of reported "inaccurate and incomplete information" of Maine beneficiaries in the computer database.
"The CMS database does not include correct information on roughly half of the approximately 45,000 dual-eligible Medicare beneficiaries," Snowe wrote in the letter. Furthermore, she said some 35,000 low-income people eligible for assistance and also enrolled in the state's pharmacy assistance program had not been validated in CMS' database.
Ashkenaz said the root of the problem in Maine was that "the state had decided" to move its beneficiaries into the Medicare plan Dec. 29. "Needless to say, that was the end of December."
Intellectual Property
Congress, The Courts Face Lively Year On IP Issues
by Sarah Lai Stirland
The upcoming year promises to be another lively and historic one for the intellectual property community in both Congress and the courts.
While the technology industry battles the entertainment sector in Congress over legislation designed to impose copy-protection technology, the Supreme Court will hear a series of patent-related cases. And the publishing industry will continue its legal fight against Google's initiative to make all of the world's books searchable online.
The Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America likely will lobby Congress to pass legislation that would authorize the FCC to mandate anti-piracy technologies in electronics equipment.
MPAA began its lobbying activities at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. The association is inviting Capitol Hill staffers and others to a hotel suite to provide a live demonstration of the "analog hole," MPAA spokeswoman Gayle Osterberg said.
The term refers to the practice of converting analog content into digital format without embedded copy-protection instructions. Hollywood studios are concerned about the potential for mass online redistribution of entertainment programming via the hole.
"The demo is just going to illustrate how it works," she said. "It's basically going to show how the consumer with the right equipment could mass distribute a copyrighted program on the Internet."
House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and the committee's top Democrat, John Conyers of Michigan, have introduced a bill, H.R. 4569, that would require analog conversion devices to feature specific digital security.
The Senate Commerce Committee, meanwhile, is scheduled to hold a Jan. 31 hearing on the "broadcast flag," technology to prevent Internet distribution of broadcast content, and on similar audio anti-piracy technology.
The Consumer Electronics Association last year expressed doubts about the language in a draft form of House legislation. And Joe Born, the CEO of Chicago-based Neuros, one of the electronics firms exhibiting at the show, on Tuesday wrote a letter to the two members of Congress opposing the legislation.
Born said the measure would outlaw one of Neuros' products that converts analog content to digital formats. The device is meant to let consumers make portable the content they have purchased, he said.
"Trying to reduce copyright piracy by closing the analog hole is like outlawing the sunroof to prevent thieves from stealing car stereos," he wrote. "In either case, such legislation would deprive consumers of choice and enjoyment while doing little to reduce theft."
Another issue is how to legally designate copyrighted works whose ownership is unclear. A lobbying source speaking on background said congressional staffers expect to work on legislation related to such "orphan works" sometime this year, after receiving recommendations from the Copyright Office. The office gathered public input last year.
It is unclear when the office will publish a report. A call was not returned by press time.
States
Standardized IDs, Sex-Offender Bills Are On Agenda
by Michael Martinez
Two technology issues top the list of hot items in the states for 2006, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures. The group said measures to comply with a federal law for standardized driver's licenses and to mandate technology to track sex offenders will consume much legislative discussion this year.
Last May, President Bush signed the so-called REAL ID Act, which establishes nationwide standards for driver's licenses. States have until 2008 to comply.
Because the financial burden to comply falls on states and localities, many of their officials are worried that a requirement for licenses embedded with computer chips could hamstring state budgets. The Homeland Security Department has not issued final guidelines for the licenses.
States have offered different cost estimates for compliance. Washington state officials said they expect to pay more than $250 million over five years. Virginia's five-year estimate is $232 million.
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack met with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last year to settle financial and jurisdictional differences regarding the law.
Citizens Against Government Waste sent more than 5,000 petitions to Chertoff in December, urging the department not to require states to include computer chips in licenses. The group said the magnetic-strip technology already used by 49 states is less expensive and has proven itself to be both reliable and secure.
CAGW President Tom Schatz said the fate of state legislation in California could influence Homeland Security's decision. The New York Department of Motor Vehicles already has ruled out using computer chips for its new driver's licenses.
In California, a bill by Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian would prohibit tracking devices from being implemented in personal ID cards and documents. The Senate passed the measure last year, and the Assembly is expected to consider it when it reconvenes this week.
"It will send a very strong message to Homeland Security if a state as large as California says it does not want to use tracking chips," Schatz said.
NCSL also predicted that the use of global positioning systems to track sex offenders would continue to be a prominent state issue in 2006.
Several states have crafted laws modeled after a Florida law that requires convicted sex offenders to wear GPS devices for life. Nine states passed similar legislation in 2005. State officials in Arizona, Indiana and Michigan had bills pending before the end of the year.
Florida's statute -- widely referred to as "Jessica's Law," after 9-year-old kidnapping and murder victim Jessica Lunsford -- took effect last May. It is considered to be one of the nation's most stringent sex-offender acts.
E-Government
Inspector: Homeland Security CIO Needs More Influence
by Daniel Pulliam , GovExec.com
The chief information officer at the Homeland Security Department does not have the authority and influence necessary to accomplish the integration of the department's information technology systems, according to a recent inspector general's audit.
An excerpt from the report, released last week by Inspector General Richard Skinner, said that despite federal law, the CIO is not a member of the senior management team and lacks the authority to strategically manage agency-wide technology programs and assets.
"While the CIO currently participates as an integral member at each level of the investment review process, the department would benefit from following the successful examples of other federal agencies in positioning their CIOs with the authority and influence needed to guide executive decisions on department-wide IT investments and strategies," Skinner said.
By law, the IG must annually assess the department's management challenges. The 26-page report excerpt describing major management challenges was sent to department officials, the White House Office of Management and Budget and congressional committees.
In a response, department officials wrote that CIO Scott Charbo believes he is "properly positioned and has the authority [his office] needs to accomplish its mission." The response also said Charbo will continue to work on the integration of the IT systems and to be the main IT authority under the secretary and the deputy secretary.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has defended his July decision to leave his management chiefs reporting to the undersecretary for management. Chertoff already receives 29 direct reports, and he said any additional ones would create "the illusion of coordination without necessarily the reality of coordination."
The inspector general said the infrastructure transformation office, tasked with improving information sharing, is still working toward a standardized department network, a common e-mail service, a centralized help desk, two data-center services for backing up information, and a standard video service.
The six-year effort by Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a $1.5 billion program of digital flood maps lacks effective coordination as well, and does not address user and funding needs, according to the report.
The assessment also addresses the consolidation of the department's components and the management of contracts, grants, finances and personnel.
The inspectors commended the department for completing a comprehensive inventory of major IT applications and support systems, as well as a department-wide certification and accreditation tool that will help the department comply with a 2002 computer-security law for federal agencies.
Meanwhile, a paper published by the Democratic staff of the House Homeland Security Committee late last month raised questions as to whether the department has effectively addressed key areas of national security. The report is a review of department press releases, congressional testimony and statements over the last three years. Promises related to port security and protecting against chemical or biological attacks made the Democrats' list.
The department could not immediately be reached for comment on the reports.
Today's Feature:
International Roundup
The Chinese government on Sunday launched a Web site to serve as a hub for e-government services. China's president also outlined a 14-year technology plan, while the government separately announced record-breaking investments in research and development.
Every Wednesday, read the International Roundup by Daneille Belopotosky
E-briefs
Lobbying: A technology industry trade group on Wednesday urged Congress to reauthorize the research and development tax credit, which expired Dec. 31. Industry officials said the credit is critical in helping the United States to remain competitive globally. "Continued growth in our economy is inextricably tied to the ability of companies to make a sustained commitment to long-term research," William Archey, president and CEO of the trade association AeA, said in a statement. The tax credit, which aims to spur R&D investment in the United States through economic incentives, expired for the 12th time since it was enacted in 1981. Tech groups have called on Congress to strengthen the credit, but Congress failed to extend it before adjourning in December.
Executive Branch: William Kovacic, a former George Washington University law professor, was sworn in to a seat on the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday. His term runs through Sept. 25, 2011. President Bush nominated Kovacic in July. The Senate confirmed the nomination in mid-December, along with Bush's choice of Tom Rosch. The nominees succeed Commissioners Orson Swindle and Thomas Leary. Leary's term expired at the end of 2005. Both Kovacic and Rosch are noted antitrust legal experts and previously worked in various positions at the FTC. Rosch was most recently a managing partner in the law firm of Latham & Watkins in San Francisco. The public became familiar with Kovacic as a frequent television commentator during the federal government's antitrust trial against Microsoft. Rosch has not been sworn in yet, and an FTC spokesman said the date for doing so has not been determined.
Intellectual Property: Officials who oversee intellectual property offices in China, Japan and South Korea have agreed to strengthen IP cooperation. The Chinese State Intellectual Property Office reported that the delegations, which met in December, agreed to improve patent data exchanges and the electronic transmission of forms, and to develop a Web site with information on IP practices in the three countries. SIPO Commissioner Tian Lipu focused on patent practices in China and recent measures to improve IP protections, and provided an update on a Chinese group focused on IP strategy, which was announced in July. China's commission was joined by Japanese Patent Office Commissioner Makoto Nakajima and Kim Jong-Kap, commissioner of the South Korean Intellectual Property Office.
Courts: The American Bar Association on Wednesday gave Judge Samuel Alito, a Supreme Court nominee, its highest endorsement. ABA's standing committee gave Alito a unanimous "well-qualified" rating for the position of Supreme Court justice. The committee provides such ratings to all federal court nominees. ABA also gave now-Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts the same top rating last year. Previous nominee Harriet Miers withdrew before the committee had a chance to rate her. Senate confirmation hearings for Alito are set to begin Monday.
Security: Vice President Richard Cheney on Wednesday defended secret wiretapping activities by the National Security Agency. "There are no communications more important to the safety of the United States than those related to al Qaeda that have one end in the United States," Cheney said of the controversial NSA wiretapping in a speech delivered at the Heritage Foundation. "If we'd been able to do this before 9/11, we might have been able to pick up on two of the hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon." Cheney did not explain why retroactively notifying the secret foreign intelligence surveillance courts of the wiretapping, as allowed under law, would have prevented such domestic espionage. He also said the 2001 anti-terrorism law known as the USA PATRIOT Act has helped investigators "disrupt terrorist activity, break up terror cells within the United States and protect the lives of Americans."
