Tech Daily Dose

Drudge Takes On Google Earth

The big headline on Drudge Report on Thursday morning was "Smile, You're On Google Earth!" The popular news and gossip Web site points out that the Internet search giant's gadgetry shows people's faces on streets and in houses; automobile license plates; people loitering outside strip clubs and adult bookstores; and Apple CEO Steve Jobs' house. I have to admit, that's a little creepy. You cannot, however, see inside Technology Daily's Watergate bunker. Whew!

Posted by Andrew at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gossip Blogger Bows To Copyright Complaint

Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton switched his site's logo after he was slapped with a copyright complaint from Creative Age Publications. The company, which produces spa and beauty magazines, claimed that Hilton ripped off their "sparkly eye and fingernail logo" from its Nailpro magazine.

After reviewing the $150,000 suit, the blogger changed the logo to animated cartoon renderings of himself, according to Radar Online. Copyright fights aren't new for Hilton. Last year, paparazzi agency X17 sued him for $7.5 million for "stealing" their photos. He smacked back, asserting his "fair use" rights.

Posted by Andrew at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Modern Marvels On Display At PTO

Just in time for Washington's summer tourist infestation, the Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday will unveil a showcase of the top 25 inventions from the 2007 Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge.

The competition was sponsored in part by the PTO and presented by the History Channel and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. Inventions featured in the exhibit were chosen from 2,500 entries.

The winning creation was Mike Sykes' Enertia Building System, an eco-friendly construction tool. A few other inventions include the X-Finger, a high-tech artificial finger for amputees; the Tire Lift, which makes changing a heavy truck tire easier; and the Baser Door Handle, a new door handle that protects walls from damage.

The traveling exhibit will be open to the public through June 30 at PTO headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

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RIAA 'In A Better Place' Now, Lobbyist Says

The 463 Blog on Tuesday tossed three questions at Mitch Glazier, the Recording Industry Association of America's top lobbyist. When asked how he would describe his trade group's relationship with the technology sector now as compared to "the Napster years," he says his members are "in a better place."

Glazier goes on: "Like every relationship, it’s complicated and we have definitely matured together. When you think of what the record companies went through – changing almost every aspect of their business model for digital releases (which, despite legitimate criticism, can never happen overnight), giving up distribution, and gaining legal clarity – the Napster years almost seem like ancient history."

Read more of the interview here. He also reveals what he thinks is the single biggest misperception about the RIAA and talks about his group's party-throwing prowess.

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Broadcasters Hire GOP Trio For XM-Sirius Work

Here's a new wrinkle in the ongoing lobbying blitz surrounding the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. The Center for Public Integrity's Telecom Watch blog reports that the National Association of Broadcasters has hired lobbying firm Bluewater Strategies to combat the pending deal.

In a filing last week at the Senate Office of Public Records, lobbyists Tim Kurth, Andrew Lundquist and George Nethercutt, a former Republican congressman from Washington, said they would represent the NAB on the merger and other issues. NAB has led the crusade against the XM-Sirius union and officials have repeatedly testified that the merger would be harmful to consumers and the radio industry.

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MPAA Flack Flees, Launches PR Firm

Gayle Osterberg, who has been the Motion Picture Association of America's vice president for corporate communications for two years, is leaving the trade group to start her own public relations firm called 133 Public Affairs.

Before joining Dan Glickman's team at MPAA, she spent a number of years working for Republican Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma. She also served as a spokeswoman for Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., at the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Does anyone (aside from Osterberg) know the significance of the "133" in the new firm's name? It was Nickles' room number in the Hart Senate Office Building. Look out 463 Communications -- you're no longer the only boutique PR shop in town with a numerical moniker.

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New Project Targets Citizen Media And The Law

The Center for Citizen Media and Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society launched a new project this week (with the help of a $250,000 grant from the Knight Foundation) aimed at providing practical knowledge and tools for citizen journalists.

The Citizen Media Law Project's Web site will soon feature a legal guide "that will cover everything from how to form a business to how to use freedom of information and open meetings laws," Dan Gillmor wrote on his blog. David Ardia, who previously worked in the general counsel's office at the Washington Post, will direct the project.

Gillmor said the initiative is one of many being funded by the Knight Foundation's 21st Century News Challenge. Read more about the rest of the winners here.

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Clinton Theme Song Frenzy Continues

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton thanked YouTube users on Thursday for their help in choosing a theme song for her presidential campaign. There were some interesting entries (including Rick James' "Super Freak" and Tiny Tim's "Tiptoe Through The Tulips"). In a videotaped message, Clinton closed her eyes and swayed back and forth for a minute to Celine Dion's "You and I." The winner will be announced in the coming days.

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Novell & EFF Embark On Patent Project

High-tech firm Novell is teaming up with the Electronic Frontier Foundation to work on reforms to software patents worldwide. The news comes as Congress attempts to overhaul the U.S. patent system with considerable pushback from several sectors.

Novell Executive Vice President Jeff Jaffe said it is "increasingly obvious" that software patents are not a meaningful measure of innovation. He said his company believes that reforming the system is "necessary to promote software innovation going forward."

EFF and Novell, which holds more than 500 patents, plan to lobby governments and national and international organizations to develop policies around patents designed to promote innovation. A key area of focus will be the World Intellectual Property Organization, where United Nations member nations meet to coordinate IP issues.

In addition, Novell will lend a hand to EFF's ongoing "Patent Busting" project, which is designed to attack patents that impose heavy burdens on software developers and Internet. EFF Executive Director Shari Steele said in a press release that she hoped Novell's example encourages other vendors to join the effort.

Posted by Andrew at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Next Stop, Margaritaville

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett was given control of a handful of domain names that were found to be confusingly similar to his own moniker, which is a registered trademark, the National Arbitration Forum said Wednesday. The domains included JimmyBuffettUniversity.com, UniversityOfBuffett.com and others.

In February, Buffett's company submitted a complaint to NAF about the domains. The panel decided that registered owner, Whapp Innovations, was using them for pay-per-click advertising revenue and had used them in bad faith. Only one question remains: What does one major in at Jimmy Buffett University?

Meanwhile, NAF also said it recently settled several other high-profile disputes. Disney Enterprises won control of DisneyComics.com, which was being cybersquatted by a man from India; and The Angels baseball team was denied the rights to Angels.com.

Posted by Andrew at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Future Of DRM Uncertain, Experts Agree

In an ideal U.S. copyright system, content creators would have control of the materials they create, rather than having to hand over the reins to "big commercial companies," which impose strict technological protections, digital libraries expert Karen Coyle said Wednesday.

Digital rights management "has been a market failure" due to consumers' dislike of "tightly controlled materials," she told a copyright summit at the University of Maryland University College. The only true success story, Apple's iTunes store, has thrived because people "love their iPods so much they'll go through anything to get songs onto it," she said.

Technological protections are not all bad, Coyle said. University libraries license material and limit access to their communities, she said. Shields are also needed "if we want to keep our private thoughts private" on PCs that are connected to public networks. "We live with certain amounts of protection that we're comfortable with," she said.

Center for Democracy and Technology Staff Counsel David Sohn said he favors pushing DRM in "a more flexible direction." "Our hope is that the public becomes sufficiently knowledgeable in the DRM debate and is able to apply pressure in the marketplace," he said.

EMI Music Group's recent news that it would make available DRM-free tracks on iTunes and Amazon.com generated a lot of buzz, but it is unclear whether other major labels will follow suit. "It remains to be seen to what extent the movement extends beyond music," Sohn added.

Read Technology Daily's PM edition for more coverage of the conference.

Posted by Andrew at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Spyware Still Harming Consumers, Web Advertisers

Harvard University spyware expert Ben Edelman says the most pernicious players are trying to clean up their images in the wake of recent FTC crackdowns, but the programs' core designs are unchanged. "They still track user behavior, still send browsing to their central servers, and still show pop-up ads -- behaviors users rightly disfavor due to serious effects on privacy and productivity," he wrote on his Web site this week.

The programs also continue to interfere with the legitimate business of Web ads, he said. In particular, Edelman's research shows that some vendors are overcharging affiliate merchants -- especially by claiming commission on organic traffic that the companies would have received anyway. Edelman posted a detailed article presenting six specific examples, followed by analysis and strategies for enforcement.

Posted by Andrew at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Bit Of Idol Banter

Bill Tancer of market research firm Hitwise said Tuesday that his latest Web search data indicates American Idol finalist Blake Lewis has a slight advantage over Jordin Sparks -- at least in the online realm. The winner of the popular TV show will be announced Wednesday night.

As of last week, Lewis, 25, edged out 17-year-old Jordin Sparks by 25 percent, Tancer said. Compare that to his searches for the prior week, which were 270 percent more numerous than hers. Yahoo Buzz is predicting that Sparks will win based on its data. Interestingly, Sparks has a higher proportion of Yahoo searches than Lewis. But Lewis dominated Google searches, Tancer said.

Posted by Andrew at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Clinton Sparks Theme Song Frenzy

You may have already heard that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants your help in choosing a theme song for her presidential campaign. According to her campaign team, more than 500,000 people have watched a video she posted on YouTube last week to launch the competition, and more than 100,000 votes already have been cast.

The nine nominees include well-known hits by the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain and the Temptations, as well as two U2 songs (one of which was used prominently by Sen. John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign). Voters also have been given the option of supporting write-in candidates, which has inspired an American Idol competition of sorts on YouTube. One YouTube enthusiast got ink from McClatchy for suggesting that Clinton use a song titled, "Cancer in My Backyard."

But Clinton isn't the first candidate in the field to solicit music advice online. Fellow Democrat Chris Dodd has been looking for new tunes to put on his iPod for several months at DoddPod. I guess he could pick his theme song from the ones that have been suggested to him on the site. But some of them, like "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones, aren't exactly campaign theme song material. -- Michael Martinez

Posted by Andrew at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Groups Praise Spyware Bill's Passage

Technology Daily's PM edition reports on the House approval of legislation aimed at curbing secretly installed computer spyware. Industry groups seemed pleased with the news.

The bill "offers potent means for addressing the serious problem of spyware without resorting to a sweeping regulatory regime that harms innovation," ITAA President Phil Bond said in a press release. He also called upon the Senate to take up the issue.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau also applauded the approval of H.R. 1525. IAB President Randall Rothenberg said the legislation sends "a strong message to individuals and organizations who attempt to steal consumers’ sensitive information for illegitimate gain and serves as further assurance that those who seek to defraud consumers will suffer the consequences.”

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Leahy & Specter Still Demand Answers

What happens when you're Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and you've neglected to answer burning questions posed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Ranking Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania? You get another letter.

The pair wrote to Gonzales on Tuesday seeking answers to longstanding questions about the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The request follows testimony last week by former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who revealed the Justice Department had concerns about the legal basis for the program.

"This committee has made no fewer than eight formal requests over the past 18 months – to the White House, the Attorney General, or other Department of Justice officials – seeking documents and information related to this surveillance program," the senators wrote. "You have rebuffed all requests for documents and your answers to our questions have been wholly inadequate and, at times, misleading.”

Leahy and Specter noted that the information is crucial for the panel to have before considering any of the administration's proposed changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They set a June 5 deadline for Gonzales to respond.

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Victory For 'Electric Slide' Fans

The man who claims to have created "The Electric Slide" has agreed to end his online video takedown campaign and to stop threatening those who use his "boogey-oogie-oogie" for non-commercial purposes.

The decision settles a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of a videographer who posted a concert clip on YouTube that included 10 seconds of audience members attempting to do the dance. Richard Silver then sent a takedown demand to popular video-sharing site under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Silver agreed to make the dance steps available under a Creative Commons license, which allows the performance, display, reproduction or distribution of any recorded performance of the dance in any medium for non-commercial means.

"New technologies have opened multiple avenues for artists and their audiences to create, share and comment on new works," EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry said in a press release. "We cannot let absurd copyright claims squash this extraordinary growth."

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Trend-Spotting With Google

A Google "hot trends" feature, unveiled on Tuesday, provides recent information on what people are searching for to keep users on the cutting edge of the Web world. The application combines elements of Zeitgeist and Trends -- two existing Google products that give a glimpse into Web search habits, but only in retrospect based on weeks-old data, Reuters reports. The list of hot trends will be refreshed several times daily.

Here are some of the top searches on the 100-item list as of 9 a.m. ET.
- Tanzania National Park
- Harry Belafonte's daughter
- Heroes season 2
- Daniel Pearl
- Hot trends
- Who won The Bachelor
- Heroes finale
- Paula Abdul broken nose
- XM satellite

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Summit Explores The Wireless World

The International Summit for Community Wireless Networks -- a major gathering of community wireless networking developers, implementers and allies -- took place at Loyola College in Columbia, Md. over the weekend.

Sessions explored a host of topics including: social networks and wireless applications; European and South American community wireless developments; low cost PCs and community networking; the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act; and national policy and regulatory battles affecting community wireless.
Read more about the conference here.

Posted by Andrew at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Copyfight Ensues Over NY Times Op-Ed

Sunday's New York Times had an interesting op-ed by novelist Mark Halprin titled "A Great Idea Lives Forever. Shouldn’t Its Copyright?" In it, he laid out his argument for what amounts to perpetual copyright. "No good case exists for the inequality of real and intellectual property, because no good case can exist for treating with special disfavor the work of the spirit and the mind," Halprin wrote.

Reformists are crafting a reply to Halprin's text at Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig's wiki. Contributors have provided arguments against what they view as Halprin's misguided sense of "public good," "public domain" and "value of arts and ideas."

Posted by Andrew at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Un-conference Begins For New Media Folks

After a morning sharing electrical outlets -- sort of -- and drinking mimosas and coffee, new media activists began introducing themselves ahead of the un-conference. Most of the big name bloggers and new media people for the campaigns attended the main Personal Democracy Forum conference Friday but did not stick around for the un-conference Saturday.

The exceptions were two new media consultants for the John Edwards campaign. One described their purpose as "win without evil" during the limited 2-3 word introductions. Most of the people staying on Saturday were activists helping different causes with new media.

The agenda was still evolving as of a few minutes before 11am with people voting for topics on a wiki site.
"This is your event -- not our event," said Andrew Raseij, who founded the Personal Democracy Forum website and organized the Friday conference.

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Presidential New Media Strategists Differ On Social Networking Strategies

New media strategists for presidential candidates John Edwards, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, had a minor debate of their own during the final panel discussion at the PDF Conference in New York Friday.

Zack Exley, a consultant who worked for John Kerry in 2004, said that "nobody believes email especially from the candidates." Michael Turk, who worked for President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, said many candidates are using the Web more as a broadcast medium than real social networking. Exley agreed, asking when we would see candidates spending time daily contacting groups on Facebook.

Peter Daou, who works for Clinton, said that is being done, but it will never supplant visits to meet voters.

Mindy Finn, who works for Romney, questioned whether responding to an individual blogger is the best use of a candidate's time, but said he thinks a candidate should leave messages on Facebook aimed at specific communities.

Posted by Heather at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Revolution Will Not Be YouTubed

Steve Heiferman, Meetup CEO said that information from blogs are useful and so are YouTube videos for generating interest in an issue, but he cautioned that "Content is not king. Contact is king."

"The revolution will not be YouTubed," Heiferman said.

He said candidates like Howard Dean used Meetup last election cycle to organize supporters at meetings and many more candidates are doing it during this presidential primary. Heiferman said it's great companies like Google organize the world's information, but organizing people is what changes democracy.

Heirferman offered a demonstration of Meetup at the end of the PDF conference in New York Friday. Afterwards conference organizer Andrew Raseij joked he had just copyrighted the quote Tthe revolution will not be YouTubed," -- a take off on the book titled "The Revolution Will Not Be Broadcast."

Posted by Heather at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Can Internet Smother Dictatorships With Openness?

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said a dictatorship is a more challenging governing model in the age of the Internet. He said dictators typically control borders with tanks along with the national TV station to keep people in and information out.

But Schmidt said keeping information out is more of a challenge, offering examples of countries like Bahrain blocking access to Google Maps after citizens were using Google to peak at the palaces behind the walls of residences of those in power.

Schmidt said the irony was that an uproar led Bahrain to end the censorship and then the photos that initiated the original censorship got even more attention.

He also explained that even though China censors information in some Google search results, Google at least informs those doing the searches when they are not being given all the information. Schmidt said this happens in about one in every 10,000 searches in China.

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Where Are The Moderates Online?

Rep. Stephen Urquhart, R-Utah, issued a challenge to political bloggers to have passionate discussions on middle ground rather than extreme political positions. "We need to push the conversation to the middle," Urquhart said. "Otherwise we're disenfranchising Americans and helping rot out the core."

But during questions and answers several audience members said that may be easier said than done. One said that it's easy to get people on one political extreme or another to talk than they middle. Her theory was the middle was just not passionate. Another chimed in that the attitude of many moderates is they'll pay attention and vote closer to the election.

Urquhart, however, questioned whether moderates were really apathetic or disgusted by the animosity in the political discussion.

Posted by Heather at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Appeal For a Tech President At PDF Conference

Andrew Raseij, who founded Personal Democracy Forum, challenged presidential candidates to become the tech candidate by committing to a platform of six policies -- or offer alternatives.

1) Declare the Internet a public good
2) Make wireless spectrum available for public use
3) Instead of No Child Left Behind education policies leave no child unconnected
4) Firm support of network neutrality to maintain equal access to content
5) More transparency in the democratic process by making information available online
6) Create a citizens tech corps to help get area back online after a disaster

Raseij asked online activists and bloggers at the conference to help press candidates for their response to such a platform.

Posted by Heather at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cerf Shares His Beliefs On NPR

Google's Vint Cerf, who is often called "the Father of the Internet," will share his belief in the importance of respecting others – both in person and online – in an essay for the National Public Radio series "This I Believe." A podcast of Cerf’s essay will be available at NPR.org on Monday.

The program is inspired by newsman Edward R. Murrow’s 1950’s radio show of the same name and features Americans from all walks of life expressing their core beliefs and values in short, personal essays, according to a press release.

In his essay, Cerf recalls feeling empathy for a limo driver in his 60s, only to discover that he was a retired CFO who took the job to meet interesting people. He also says he does not agree with claims that the Internet "isolates and dehumanizes us." "The net is simply a vehicle for people to communicate," he states.

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Porn Spam Down, FDA Scams Up

Microsoft online safety expert Craig Spiezle told a Direct Marketing Association conference on Friday that he has witnessed an evolution in the "three V's" -- volume of e-mail, vectors of attack and velocity of change. "It's not just unscrupulous marketers. We're seeing botnets, image-based spam and phishing," he said.

Bulk commercial e-mail containing pornography and sex-related offers has dropped a great deal in 2007, Spiezle said, but scams are on the rise. "We're seeing a tremendous amount of spoofed mail purportedly coming from the FDA," he said. Greater efforts to implement e-mail authentication could help diminish that threat, he added.

Read more about the DMA summit in Technology Daily's PM Edition.

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Personal Democracy Forum - Live Blogging

You didn't expect a roomful of new media folks to just sit and listen did you?

Dozens of laptop screens light the otherwise darkened audience section of an auditorium at New York's Pace University as bloggers write in real time about the Personal Democracy Forum conference. In addition to those filing for their own blogs like MyDD.com or Redstate.com, people can also chat and comment on the speakers at a special site set up for the conference. http://pdf2007.confabb.com/conferences/PDF2007/details

Google CEO Eric Schmidt joked that it looked like a Google meeting with people staring at computer screens rather than the speaker. He said it used to bother him and he even tried a laptop ban -- for about a week -- until he realized that instead workers were text messaging on their Blackberries under the table.

Posted by Heather at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Holding A Finger To The Blogosphere Wind

Reprinted from Thursday's PM Edition of Technology Daily:

By Gene J. Koprowski, for Technology Daily

MADISON, Wis. -- Political campaigns are now relying on blogs to "test market" new messages with small, niche audiences before transforming them into full-release commercials and press releases, Republican and Democratic consultants said Thursday.

The trend started on the state level but is going national with the 2008 presidential campaigns, experts said here at the Online News Association's regional conference.

Wisconsin Republican strategist Brian Fraley indicated that statewide blogs are an excellent tool to "test ideas -- and see if they are press release worthy." He said campaigns overall are now devoting more staffing and money to monitoring and cultivating bloggers and online sites.

Fraley cited this week's example of Fred Thompson, a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, releasing an online video in response to a recent trip to Cuba by liberal filmmaker, author and activist Michael Moore.

Thompson previously had criticized the trip, and Moore challenged him to a debate. Thompson answered the challenged in a video released through the Internet rather than the mainstream media. In the video, Thompson noted that another documentary filmmaker had been put in a mental hospital in Cuba. "He made quite a point of emphasizing the words 'mental institution'" when speaking to Moore through the video, Fraley said.

Democratic consultant Ted Osthelder agreed that the Internet video had a dramatic impact on Thompson's visibility as a potential player in 2008. "I don't think campaigns are going to spend $100 million on YouTube.com" like they might on traditional campaign ads, Osthelder said, but more people may well remember Thompson's inexpensive video.

That's because the mainstream media gave the ad national coverage, Osthelder said.

Fraley also said opposition researchers will be on the hunt during the 2008 campaign, with video cameras in hand to capture candidate miscues.

As a result, though, Jim Brady, the executive editor of the washingtonpost.com, said even routine campaign stops at diners will become even more scripted.

The Thompson episode and another video featuring Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as "Big Brother" earlier this year demonstrate that campaign strategies are starting to change because of blogs, panelists said. There are risks to the strategy, however.

Fraley said campaigns can more easily "screw up" than they have before and have that information reverberate throughout the blogosphere and into the mainstream media. Others concurred. "This has resource implications for campaigns," Osthelder said. "Internet strategy must be integrated into the main campaign strategy."

Brady told the ONA audience of about 100 people, including some Wisconsin bloggers, that the 24-hour news cycle has become the "1/2-hour news cycle." The Washington Post has responded by hiring a blogger who updates his site several times a day, Brady said.

"Our audience is not satisfied with one post a day by David Broder or Dan Balz," he said of the paper's longtime political reporters.

Fraley and the other panelists, however, cautioned against campaigns focusing too heavily on technology. "Congratulations if you are on the cutting edge," Fraley said. "But politics is all about winning. There has to be a balance."

Posted by Danny at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Personal Democracy Forum Begins

Author of "The World Is Flat," Tom Friedman is about to explain the subtitle of this conference "The Flattening of Politics."

Stanford University professor and leader of the Free Debates Coalition, Larry Lessig, opened the conference explaining how technology has democratized political speech. He emphasized how the ability to remix video like presidential debate footage is critical. He said if proprietary networks don't want to put the footage in the public domain like CNN has done, they should not be allowed to host debates.

He offered the analogy of putting putting voting booths inside Disneyland and the need to buy a ticket to get in to exercise the right to vote.

Posted by Heather at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Joe Trippi's Priorities: Edwards First, Then Newsies

MADISON, Wis. -- Joe Trippi, the Democratic political consultant, who powered now-Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to prominence with an Internet strategy in 2004, was scheduled to speak at an Online News Association event here but canceled at the last minute by telephone.

His new role on the presidential campaign of Democrat John Edwards created a conflict. "He phoned in his apologies," said Jeff Mayers, president of WisPolitics.com, which helped host the event. "He had some sort of high-level meeting he had to attend today for John Edwards."
-- Gene J. Koprowski, for Technology Daily

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Reminder: Bloggers In The Big Apple

Some of the greatest minds in Internet politicking will attend Friday's Personal Democracy Forum at Pace University in New York City. Our own Heather Greenfield will be reporting from the event. The annual conference draws a bevy of technologists, campaign organizers, politicos, bloggers, activists and journalists.

Some key questions being asked at this year's summit include: How is voter-generated content changing election campaigns? Why should advocacy groups adapt to the connected age? What new technology tools and practices are on the horizon? How are new technologies democratizing the political process? Which political leaders "get it"?

Scheduled speakers include: Peter Daou, Hillary Clinton '08; Becki Donatelli, John McCain '08; Esther Dyson, EDventure; Mindy Finn, Mitt Romney '08; Thomas Friedman, New York Times; author Seth Godin; Facebook.com's Chris Kelly; pundit Arianna Huffington; author Lawrence Lessig; Kim Malone of Google AdSense; Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo; Craigslist founder Craig Newmark; Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google; and Joe Trippi, John Edwards '08.

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Kerry Photo Still Making Waves

Ever heard of Leif Skoogfors? Probably not, but you might know his work. A photograph he took of actress Jane Fonda at a 1970 antiwar rally in Valley Forge, Pa. generated substantial buzz during the last presidential campaign because it showed Democratic contender John Kerry in the background.

The image was picked up by a number of Kerry foes and was spread widely on the Internet without Skoogfors' permission. The photographer said at a copyright event on Capitol Hill on Thursday that he documented more than 600 instances of infringement "and then I had to stop counting."

He said he confronted a number of people that used the image without his permission and "virtually no one took the photo down without a great deal of argument." Skoogfors still has several cases pending against the most egregious infringers -- including a professor who teaches Internet ethics, he said. "I grew up in an age when you were taught not to steal," the photographer added.

At the same event, renowned guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper spoke about the importance of copyright enforcement efforts. As a founding member of the band Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Cropper has strong feelings about piracy. He said too many people consider music a free commodity and "it's going to be a long, hard road" to reeducate them.

Challenging IP theft is not a question of going after individual listeners who download a song or two without paying for them, Cropper said. The companies that manufacture the equipment that people use to infringe "are the people we need to be talking to," he said.

Read more about the event in Technology Daily's PM Edition.

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Sensenbrenner Tries To Derail Patent Bill

Former House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner on Wednesday created some commotion at the mark-up of a patent reform bill. Although H.R. 1908 eventually passed the House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, the Wisconsin Republican claimed the bill was "not ready for prime time."

He said the panel should work out controversial components of the measure before handing it off to the full committee. If H.R. 1908 moves forward with stakeholders still unhappy, the bill would arrive on the Senate's doorstep, where one of two things will happen. "Either the Senate won't act on it… or the Senate will end up writing the final bill. Both alternatives are not acceptable," Sensenbrenner said.

Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., said it was not his intention to "ram things through with lots of people unhappy." Keeping the legislation stuck in subcommittee would not provide the incentive for players in the debate to hash out their differences, he said. Berman had hoped to introduce an manager's amendment but H.R. 1908 passed the panel without the change.

Update: Berman said in a speech on Thursday morning that Sensenbrenner "has decided to go back to his obstructionist mode now that he's not chairman." He said the lawmaker's insistence that problems be worked out in the subcommittee could have put policymakers in the same boat as they were in with the Copyright Act of 1976. Work on that mandate began more than a decade before it passed and Berman said he did not have the stomach for 12 years of patent reform negotiations.

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U.S.-China Trade Progress In Trouble

The United States doesn't expect significant progress on the trade front with China this year, the U.S. Treasury attaché to Beijing told China Daily. David Loevinger said that "now is not the time for bold economic reform, now is not the time to take on strong domestic vested interests."

"Because of a strong political calendar this may be the year that we may be less able to deliver, for us," Loevinger is quoted as having told a news conference in Shanghai. He said that private discussions with Chinese officials are more beneficial than public pressure from the U.S. government.

Also on Wednesday, South Korea's Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon reportedly said that if the United States seeks changes to the proposed free trade agreement between the countries -- currently waiting approval from legislative bodies -- the deal will not be re-negotiated, according to Agence France-Presse. AFP also reported that South Korea and Australia may be considering a possible free trade agreement. -- Winter Casey

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College Experiments With New Health IT Program

For a person with prostate cancer, using information technology to consider possible treatment options may lessen the confusion as to what path to take, researchers from the Medical College of Georgia announced Wednesday.

Gerald Bennett, chair of the Department of Health Environments and Systems in the MCG School of Nursing, said that many options exist for the treatment of the disease but "the bottom line is that we often don't know enough scientifically to recommend one treatment over the other."

The college is part of a National Institutes of Health-funded study-- which nearly 500 patients will take part in across the nation -- to determine the impact a new computer program, known as the Personal Patient Profile Prostate program, which seeks to measure personal considerations and create an Internet decision-support system.

Bennett and his research team plan to recruit 72 cancer patients to test the impact of the Web site. He said in a statement that he expects the Web site will result in men feeling less inner conflict about what treatment decision to make. -- Winter Casey

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Musician Gives John Edwards YouTube Advice

Grammy Award-winning musician John Mayer gave Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards a tip about campaigning on YouTube this week: keep it short and sweet.

Edwards told New York magazine that he arranged a meeting with Mayer at the Time 100 gala, where Time magazine celebrated the release of its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Mayer was joined on this year's list by Edwards' wife, Elizabeth.

YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen also were on the list. Other honored techies included Apple chief Steve Jobs, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Nintendo Wii head designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

According to Edwards, Mayer is of the opinion that if YouTube videos are 25 seconds long, they're "five seconds too long." "He basically said, 'You’ve got to get me in the first twenty seconds,'" Edwards said. -- Michael Martinez

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GOP Silence Frustrates Online Activists

As reported in Tuesday's Technology Daily PM Edition:

Online activists from conservative and nonpartisan organizations and blogs are getting frustrated as they push Republican lawmakers for more transparency.

The party's own activists are among those working to expose the senator or senators behind an objection to a bill that would require electronic disclosures of campaign filings. The Sunlight Foundation has asked blog readers to call every Republican senator to see who is blocking the e-filing bill from Senate passage by voice vote.

Sunlight Foundation Director Ellen Miller said backers of the measure are frustrated that "numerous" telephone calls to Senate offices have been met with a wall of silence, and she blamed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

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Banking With PayPal?

Online payment service PayPal on Tuesday announced it was granted a banking license for the European Union by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, effective July 2. The San Jose, Calif.-based firm also said it planned to move its European headquarters to Luxembourg.

"Our goal is to give European consumers more places to shop securely and conveniently across the web by making PayPal available on virtually every retail website in Europe," PayPal Europe Vice President Brent Bellm said. PayPal has more than 35 million accounts and is offered on more than 100,000 Web sites in Europe.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the eBay-owned firm is fighting off competition from Google, which launched a rival system last month.

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The 463 Blog's 3Qs

The 463 Blog, an amusing online discussion forum run by high-tech PR firm 463 Communications, unveiled its new "3Qs" feature on Tuesday. In it, 463's Sean Garrett asks three questions of "an interesting person in the tech policy neighborhood." I was honored to be their first interviewee.

I was asked: (1) What constantly amazes you as you cover tech policy in D.C.? (2) Which politicians “get” technology the best? (3) On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the job that industry is currently doing to communicate its value and positions in D.C.? Click here to read my answers.

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ICANN Inks Deal With African Registrar

The organization that administers the Internet addressing system signed its first accreditation agreement with a Senegal-based registrar this week. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has similar deals with 890 firms across the globe and this is only the second in Africa, ICANN's Anne-Rachel Inné said.

Kheweul.com has been accredited to register domain names from the .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net, .org, and .pro top-level domains, the group said in a press release. CEO Mouhamet Diop said his company will work hard to "provide domain name services to local African communities." He also plans to promote the digitalization of African cultural heritage and preservation of African multimedia content.

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ACLU Decries 'Childish' Treatment Of Privacy Board

The American Civil Liberties Union ridiculed the White House for censoring a report submitted by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to exclude previously released information. The edits resulted in panel member Lanny Davis's resignation. Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said the tweaks were "standard operating procedure."

ACLU Washington Legislative Office Director Caroline Fredrickson said attempting to keep civil liberties violations secret is "nothing short of childish." She also called the board "a toothless entity that blindly and obediently advances the Bush agenda." Read more about Davis in Technology Daily's PM edition.

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'Fair Use' Advocate Slams DOJ IP Plan

Public Knowledge president and "fair use" advocate Gigi Sohn on Tuesday criticized a Bush administration proposal to reform U.S. intellectual property laws because it included provisions that would make attempted copyright infringement a criminal offense. It would also boost penalties for violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

“It is unfortunate that the administration felt the need to bring back a legislative package that was full of bad ideas when it was proposed in 2005 and continues to be full of bad ideas today," she said. Sohn's group supports protecting IP holders' rights but is worried that the Justice Department plan would "enforce copyright law in ways it has never before been enforced."

Making the "attempt" at copyright infringement the same as actual infringement is an ill-conceived idea, Sohn said in a statement. "The penalties in this bill are out of touch with reality. They range from destroying computers for potentially legitimate use, to life imprisonment for improbable uses of counterfeit goods."

Meanwhile, Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black called proposed alterations to permit wiretaps of attempted infringers "extreme and outlandish." "Will office workers be wiretapped for lingering too long near the photocopier? Will music fans be sent to prison if they fail to secure their digital devices to the satisfaction of the record companies?" he asked.

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Consumerist Ranks Winners, Losers

The Consumerist blog released a brief list of winners and losers from its American Customer Satisfaction Index on Tuesday. Several were tech-oriented. Scores were out of 100; format is company name (score, difference from last year's score).

Winners:
Cellphone Service: Verizon (71, +2.9)
Cellphone Makers: Nokia, Motorola (72, +4.3, +1.4)
Cable & Satellite TV: Echostar (67, -1.5)
Energy Utilities: Southern Company (82, +2.5)
Fixed Line Telephone Service: Verizon, Qwest (72, +4.3, +2.9)

Losers:
Cellphones: Sprint (61, -3.2)
Cellphone Makers: Samsung (70, -4.1)
Cable & Satellite TV: Charter Communications (55, 0)
Energy Utilities: Ameren Corporation (57, -23)
Fixed Line Telephone Service: Embarq (66, +3.1)

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PR Blog: Stayin' Alive

Potomac Flacks, the blog that chronicles "the highs, lows, quips, quotes, comings and goings of Washington, D.C. spokesguys and spokesgals" is fighting to keep its head above water (and is promising a handful of new contributors who hope to prevent the popular site from fizzling). PF founder and author emeritus Adam Kovacevich all but disappeared from the blog when he took a new PR job with Google and his second-in-command, Matt Mackowiak, recently announced his return to Capitol Hill to work as press secretary for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Stay tuned…

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Cuban's Call For New Content

Internet pioneer and billionaire Mark Cuban made an all-call on his blog Monday for new show ideas for HDNet, the high-definition cable television network he owns. Cuban testified last week at a House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee hearing on the future of video.

"One of the fun things at HDNet is listening to or reading pitch ideas for new shows. One of the most irritating and time wasting jobs at HDNet is listening to or reading pitch ideas for new shows," Cuban wrote. Most of the time the idea is a derivative of something that already exists "or something so obvious it's an insult that they are pitching it."

No cooking, pimp or poker shows, Cuban insisted. Anything involving sports or a deck of cards will be deleted, he added. But how about a reality show documenting the daily lives of a group of hard-working tech policy journalists in Washington? I know a very talented, capable cast that is ready for their close-up.

Posted by Andrew at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DOJ's New IP Plan For Congress

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent a legislative proposal to Capitol Hill on Monday aimed at cracking down on intellectual property theft (Read more in Technology Daily's PM Edition). Here are details about the Bush administration's plan that was sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The proposal would:
▪ Increase the maximum penalty for counterfeiting offenses from 10 years to 20 years imprisonment where the defendant knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause serious bodily injury.
▪ Increase the maximum penalty to life imprisonment where the defendant knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause death.
▪ Provide stronger penalties for repeat-offenders of the copyright laws.
▪ Implement broad forfeiture reforms to ensure the ability to forfeit property derived from or used in the commission of criminal intellectual property offenses.
▪ Strengthen restitution provisions for certain intellectual property crimes (e.g., criminal copyright and DMCA offenses).
▪ Ensure that the exportation and transhipment of copyright-infringing goods is a crime, just as the exportation of counterfeit goods is now criminal.

The scheme would also give law enforcement "the full range of lawful investigative tools" when working on IP cases -- including wiretapping privileges. According to DOJ documents, the proposal "provides for voice intercept authority for offenses that are equivalent, if not greater, in impact to other predicate offenses that already give rise to such authority."

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Study: Internet Piracy Worse Than Speeding

About 69 percent of U.S. households believe that acquiring pirated content is wrong -- a lower level of moral outrage than when asked about cheating on their taxes (77 percent), a recent study by Parks Associates showed. Meanwhile, only about 44 percent of respondents said it is wrong to drive over the speed limit.

Attitudes regarding pirated content differed sharply by age, analysts said. About 50 percent of 18 to 25 year olds polled said downloading unauthorized content is wrong, compared with 75 percent of respondents over age 45. Read more about the study here.

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New Copyright Site Launches

Need to understand the complexities and myths of copyright law in plain, simple language but don't know where to turn? Check out ResearchCopyright.com, a new online resource from journalism professor and copyright law expert Bill Hadley.

The site offers free guides on copyright law, copyright search and how to use copyright protection. It also includes news, legal forms and other nifty resources. There's a blog and podcast too. "If we want to protect our creative work and honor copyright laws, then those laws and everything that pertains to copyright registration and copyright protection should be freely and easily available to everyone," Hadley said in a press release.

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Whistleblower Week Begins

The Government Accountability Project and a number of national public interest groups kick off Washington Whistleblower Week on Monday. A series of events are designed to "highlight contributions whistleblowers have made in society and to promote protections for whistleblowers who risk their careers to challenge abuses of the public trust."

Organizers hope activities will build on the momentum from the House passage of H.R. 985, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, earlier this spring. Read more here. Meanwhile, the perfect way to commemorate this special week is by sending tech news tips my way.
Don't be shy… Blow your whistle!

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Reax To Cuban's Net Neutrality Remarks

Randolph May of the Free State Foundation has some interesting thoughts on dot-com billionaire Mark Cuban's testimony at a Thursday hearing of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet -- particularly on the HDNet chairman's network neutrality comments.

In a Friday blog post, May asks: "If net neutrality mandates were adopted, would they be more or less likely to cause bandwidth constraints to 'go away?'" He believes Cuban understands that such a law, if adopted, "would constrain the development of consumer-friendly business models as the Internet continues to evolve, thereby dampening investment and innovation incentives--and thereby killing the chicken that is laying the golden egg."

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Using Technology To Save Dinosaur Tracks

Rapidly eroding dinosaur tracks imprinted near vertical rock faces in a Spanish quarry will no longer be lost forever thanks to cutting-edge technology. Scientists are using a laser scanning system with a built-in digital camera and global positioning system that feeds information to an attached laptop. Computer software then constructs a detailed three-dimensional representation of the extinct animal's foot.

Without the technology, University of Manchester scientists said the fossil site is "so delicate that experts cannot get physically close enough to the tracks to examine them.” The tracks "preserve important information on the locomotion of dinosaurs, which can be properly accessed for the first time,” said palaeontologist Phil Manning, who is leading the project.
-- Winter Casey

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TiVo Chief Touts Consumer Choice

In his testimony before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on Thursday, TiVo CEO Thomas Rogers said the panel was "uniquely positioned to shape the future of television." In this new consumer-controlled era, he said, it is crucial that lawmakers ensure choice among video providers and not get "derailed by incumbent interests that are threatened by innovation and competition."

In his written testimony, he said one of the biggest potential threats to his firm is the prospect of CableCARDs (which are used to view and record digital television) being "rendered useless" by video distributors' technologies that could limit the number of channels received by consumers who have the devices.

"Retail CableCARD devices must not be placed at a competitive disadvantage versus cable supplied set-top boxes," Rogers said. "The subcommittee must ensure that competitive retail set-top boxes have access to all of the television programming that consumers would expect to get from a cable set-top box," he said.

Interestingly, Rogers served as chief counsel to the subcommittee in the 1980s. He told Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., that he was "exceedingly uncomfortable" testifying before his alma mater. "I'm not sure if it's like being a cheering alum returning to a football game or a former student returning for disciplinary action," he said.

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Friday Funnies: Conan Visits Intel

Late night funny man Conan O'Brien visited Intel's Silicon Valley headquarters during a trip to California this month. O'Brien's journey to San Francisco was sponsored by Intel, which gave him an up-close look into the daily lives (and cubicles) of its employees. For the record, I would never mess with anything in Tech Daily Dose czar Andrew Noyes' cube.
-- Michael Martinez

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YouTube PR Machine: Ed Markey

It seems that Rep. Edward Markey, chairman of the House Subcommittee Telecommunication and the Internet, cannot get enough of YouTube. In an interview posted on the video-sharing site, the Massachusetts Democrat heaps praise upon "historic figure" YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and asks him questions about his site's impact on the Internet and politics.

The video was shot on Thursday after Markey's panel heard about the future of video from Hurley as well as CEOs from Sling Media and TiVo. At the hearing, Markey made congressional history by filming a brief video from his chairman's seat and posting on YouTube as well. Chad, you cannot buy better publicity inside the Beltway.

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More Info Sharing Needed, Witnesses Say

The over-classification of information and intelligence hurts local and state officials' ability to share information, Lee Miller of the Virginia State Police told the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment on Thursday.

“Local, state, tribal and federal agencies as well as private industry have individual pieces, and we must have an IT mechanism as well as trusted relationships to put these pieces together… Local and state professionals must also be given the same opportunity as their federal counterparts regarding access to classified systems,” he said in prepared testimony.

Miller, who currently coordinates the day-to-day operations of the Virginia Fusion Center, said the center “utilizes a vast array of networks and databases to assist in the fusion process” but “the number of systems that are available causes duplication and does not promote an effective business process.”

Meanwhile, Donald Kennedy, executive director of the New England State Police Information Network, said that for fiscal 2008 President Bush has proposed $38.5 million to go toward a national program that seeks to fight crime through communication and coordination known as the Regional Information Sharing Systems. Based on increased demand, Kennedy said RISS has requested $53.7 million.

Read more about this in Technology Daily's PM Edition. -- Winter Casey

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Stupak On YouTube's 'Community Guidelines'

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., a prominent child safety crusader on Capitol Hill, on Thursday questioned YouTube CEO Chad Hurley about his video-sharing site's so-called "community guidelines," which are intended to keep child pornography and other illicit clips offline. Stupak said sexual predators and pedophiles can trade illegal images and videos "just like baseball cards" and he wanted to make sure that is not happening on YouTube.

"We make it clear that we don’t tolerate that in our system," Hurley responded at the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet hearing. YouTube staffers monitor activity across the site and they also receive tips from members when they spot inappropriate content. "Our users have done a good job of letting us know what doesn’t belong," he said. Those who violate YouTube's terms of use are promptly kicked off and their videos are taken down, Hurley added.

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Markey's YouTube Video

Well, that was fast. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., made good on his promise to post a video from the chairman's seat of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on YouTube. If you pause the video and squint, you can see all of us scribes, hard at work.

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Product Placement 2.0

Phil Rosenthal, the creator of CBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," delivered some alarming statistics about advertisers' impact on television at a House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet hearing on Thursday. The old days of product placement are long gone, he said.

Product integration -- not only incorporating products into a scene, but making them part of the story line -- is the new strategy, Rosenthal said on behalf of the Writers Guild of America West and the Screen Actors Guild. In fact, product integration occurred more than 4,000 times on network primetime television in 2006, he said.

On NBC's "The Office," a character spent an episode working at a Staples office supply store. On ABC's "Desperate Housewives," characters discussed the "cool" features of a Nissan Xterra. "American Idol" contestants star in Ford ads every week, which are presented on the show and the judges "can't say anything about it because their mouths are full of Coca-Cola," he said.

"This is a level of corporate pressure that impinges on free expression over the airwaves," Rosenthal said. Writers' creative rights are impacted by this trend as are the actors, who are subjected to "forced endorsement," he added.

This blog post has been brought to you by Altoids "Curiously Strong" chewing gum and delicious Starbucks coffee… but that's only because the author has consumed both this morning.

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YouTube Exec Testifies, Shows Odd Video

Internet visionary Chad Hurley, who co-founded video-sharing site YouTube, seemed nervous as he testified before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on Thursday. "Hopefully I won't mess this up because if I do, it could end up on YouTube," he joked.

He began with a video he said Chairman Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., would enjoy -- a political attack ad by preschooler Jimmy Jones.

For a second, I thought he might show Sen. Ted Stevens' now-infamous "series of tubes" remark. Here's a techno remix of the Alaska Republican's statement made last year in the thick of the network neutrality debate.

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A Congressional First, Coming Soon To YouTube

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., made what he believed was congressional history on Thursday by shooting a brief video of a House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Internet hearing, which he planned to post on YouTube.

During his opening statement, Markey said the footage would be the first-ever YouTube clip of a hearing from the chairman's perspective. Then, Markey whipped out his video camera and asked the panel of witnesses to wave in his direction. He panned the room, soliciting waves from his colleagues, lobbyist-laden audience and press corps.

The hearing, which focused on the future of video, featured YouTube CEO Chad Hurley; Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian; MediaFLO President Gina Lombardi; Benjamin Pyne, president of affiliate sales and marketing for Disney and ESPN Networks; TiVo CEO Thomas Rogers; and "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator Phil Rosenthal.

Once Markey's clip is on YouTube, I'll be sure to post it on Tech Daily Dose. Stay tuned!

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China's Shopping Spree To Ease Trade Tension

China kicked off its latest “buying spree” in the United States on Wednesday with a commitment to purchase $4.3 billion in U.S. technology and equipment, according to Thursday reports from the country’s state press. China has at times come to the United States to demonstrate the country’s eagerness to import more U.S. goods and services.

The purchases are generally made in the computer software, semiconductor and telecommunications industries from companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard. According to Chinese statistics gathered by Xinhua News Agency, China's trade surplus with the United States increased to a record $144 billion last year.

The news service said China has become an increasingly hot market for the makers of high-tech products. Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and her delegation are reportedly planning to visit the United States later this month to discuss trade and economic issues with U.S. President Bush. -- Winter Casey

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Stakeholders Discuss Broadcast Treaty

A public forum on Wednesday afternoon at the Library of Congress focused on key questions about the U.S. government's position on a proposed treaty, currently awaiting action by the World Intellectual Property Organization, which would institute a copyright-style protection for TV broadcasts.

"The proposed treaty has been rife with controversy from the beginning," former Technology Daily writer Drew Clark wrote on the Technology Liberation Front blog. "One reason is that it is being promoted as an update to the 1961 Treaty of Rome, which the U.S. never ratified." During negotiations last year, the U.S. promoted extending the treaty to cover webcasters but other countries did not agree, he said.

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Jazz Musicians Slam New Music Royalty Rates

A group of Jazz legends on Tuesday threw their support behind SaveNetRadio, a grassroots coalition opposed to the recent royalty rate hike that they fear would bankrupt some online broadcasters. The endorsement came on the heels of New Orleans' annual Jazz Fest, which ended last weekend.

In a letter to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, clarinet whiz Michael White, trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, jazz phenom "Trombone Shorty" and other influential musicians called on Congress to block the Copyright Royalty Board's ruling. "Internet radio is one of the precious few outlets we have to reach Jazz audiences and build new ones. If Internet radio dies, the future of Jazz could die with it,” the musicians said.

David Freedman, general manager of the Big Easy's WWOZ radio station, weighed in on the new fee structure. He said the changes "directly affect New Orleans artists and musicians throughout the country that depend on Internet radio for air play and to reach new fans." The rate change would limit WWOZ's own ability to stream songs online.

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Attorney General And Miss America Attend NCMEC Gala

The hottest dinner ticket in D.C. on Tuesday night was the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's gala. The black-tie fundraiser, held at the Ritz-Carlton in Foggy Bottom, featured an appearance by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who has been a tireless advocate of child safety since he unveiled his Project Safe Childhood initiative last year.

Miss America Lauren Nelson, who most recently helped a team of cops on "America's Most Wanted" bust accused online predators, reportedly wowed the crowd by belting out a couple of songs. The native Oklahoman has dedicated her reign to promoting Internet safety for kids and is an Honorary Deputy Sheriff in the city of Bedford, Va. (a distinction also held by NBA star Shaquille O'Neal).

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Lack Of Radio Airplay Has Musicians Turning To Web

Reprinted from May 2, 2007 PM Edition of National Journal's Technology Daily

E-Commerce: Lack Of Radio Airplay Has Musicians Turning To Web
By Andrew Noyes

Up-and-coming artists are making inroads in American culture by furnishing tracks for hit television shows like ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and attracting fans on the Internet, but "the one place they're not getting exposure is through mainstream radio," Rep. Mike Doyle told a music policy conference Wednesday.

Only about 10 percent of music on traditional radio stations is independent, while that number is closer to 40 percent on Web radio services, the Pennsylvania Democrat said at the Future of Music Coalition's annual summit. Rapidly merging media outlets add to the problem, and he finds the trend "disturbing on a number of levels."

Corporate consolidation further homogenizes what is transmitted over the airwaves and has reduced the diversity and independence of the broadcasts, he said. "We have to talk about how we make sure that innovative and aspiring musicians have potential to earn a living from their art," he added.

Doyle, vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee, wrote a letter to the FCC in February, urging the agency to carefully consider the unintended consequences of loosening limits on media ownership.

He said another factor that could hamper musicians' exposure is a recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board that would change how webcasters pay royalties to recording labels. The March decision set a uniform fee structure that applies retroactively to 2006 and rejected a percentage-of-revenue model proposed by some stakeholders.

Doyle said musicians should be paid for their work but worries that the policy shift "might cause some webcasters to turn off their music streams," silencing new and undiscovered artists.

The rate changes "may have gone too far," Doyle said, but he stopped short of endorsing a bill introduced by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., that would reverse the royalty board's decision. Congress must ensure compensation for everyone in the music creation and distribution chain without "killing the goose that lays the gold records," he said.

The ongoing debate over network neutrality, the concept of mandating equal treatment of Internet content, is another topic that interests Doyle. "Without a net neutrality fix, researchers at Pitt [the University of Pittsburgh] or kids in a dorm room at Carnegie Mellon" might not get venture capital buy-in for potentially innovate technologies, he said.

There are various ways the federal government can level the playing field, Doyle said. One good example is the concession AT&T; made to win FCC approval of its merger with BellSouth. AT&T; pledged not to prioritize its Web content and services or degrade the high-speed offerings of competitors using AT&T;'s network.

"In my opinion, net neutrality advocates are on the side of the angels in this debate," Doyle said. "But as in so many other public policy debates, the angels and devils are in the details."

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Name Game: Diebold Runs For Mayor

Republicans in Newark, Ohio voted on Tuesday to put Bob Diebold on the ballot in the city's mayoral race this fall. Diebold's name also will be on the touch-screen voting machines used to conduct that contest.

A 10-year member of the Newark City Council, Diebold defeated Mike Blowers in a primary to win the GOP bid to challenge incumbent Democrat Bruce Bain. The Newark Advocate has the scoop on the primary results.

Diebold has no connection to Diebold Election Systems, the Ohio-based company that manufactured the machines used in Newark. The Columbus Dispatch reported last week that elections officials in Newark's jurisdiction sought advice from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on whether it would be prudent to allow the machines to display Diebold's name because candidates in Ohio are not allow to display their names within 100 feet of polling places.

Brunner gave the Licking County Elections Board permission to cover up the name -- Diebold said he'd donate the duck tape to do it -- but the board decided against it. Blowers told the Dispatch that no one had complained about it, and that he "wasn't going to lose any sleep over it." -- Michael Martinez

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Fox Flubs Headline On Web Usage Stats?

An article posted on Fox News Channel's Web site on Monday featured a bold headline that read: "Nearly 50 Percent of Americans Have Little Use for Internet and Cell Phones, Survey Finds." That didn’t sit well with Morgan Elliott at the Cisco High-Tech Policy Blog who decided to do some digging.

The new Pew Internet and American Life Project study referenced in the story actually showed that out of 4,000 people surveyed, 85 percent use the Web or cell phones, with most using both. Fox's 50 percent figure came from the Pew press release, which states “half of adults have a more distant or non-existent relationship to modern information technology.”

The reason the statistics seem to conflict, Elliott hypothesizes, is that the Internet and certain devices have become so persuasive that folks don't spend time thinking about them. Findings that support the theory include: 67 percent of respondents didn't feel overwhelmed with information; 48 percent believe technology gives them more control over their lives; and 73 percent use the Internet/e-mail at least occasionally.

Update: In response to the kafuffle, Pew project director Lee Rainie told Tech Daily Dose: "We invite people to read the full report and the questionnaire and make up their own minds about the most important and meaningful elements of our findings… We're happy to have people find the most noteworthy and relevant material for them."

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REAL ID Will Be Abused, Security Expert Says

Security expert Bruce Schneier told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that a proposed system for national driver's license standards will be "much less secure and much less valuable" than proponents believe. The REAL ID Act, which requires participating states to offer new cards by May 2008, has been panned by a variety of critics who worry about privacy implications and cost.

Even though Janice Kephart, the former counsel to an anti-terrorism commission, said the new system would discourage fraudsters, Schneier said "REAL IDs will be forged." Nearly every ID card can be copied with the right expertise and equipment, he said. Since a REAL ID will be "incredibly valuable," the incentive to create fakes will be greater, Schneier added.

Technology Daily's PM Edition has full coverage of the hearing. On a related note, the Information Technology Association of America released a white paper that sings REAL ID's praises. The report is available here.

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Senator Launches Online Map-Journal Of Iraq Tour

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., unveiled a Web site on Friday that allows users to comment on his recent trip to Baghdad. The site was mentioned in Technology Daily's AM Edition on Monday.

“Each time I travel to Iraq I learn more about the obstacles and opportunities confronting the country and our soldiers," Nelson said in a press release. “Using technology to share these lessons with people back home is important to me and I hope my Iraq map-journal is as informative and impacting for visitors as the four-day tour was for me.”

The map-journal, which features stories, photos and video of Nelson’s trip, incorporates Google Earth technology to bring a glimpse of the reality of the situation in Iraq to Web users. Nelson has previously used his Senate Web site to post video and card greetings from Nebraskans to troops.

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Pennsylvanians Who Puff Pay More Online

Last month Pennsylvania's Revenue Department mailed letters to 4,329 people asking them to pay state taxes on cigarette purchases made over the Internet.

"Unfortunately, many Web sites falsely advertise that cigarettes can be purchased tax-free," Acting Secretary of Revenue Thomas Wolf said in a statement. "In fact, in Pennsylvania and most other states, people who purchase cigarettes from another state are required to pay cigarette taxes to their home state," he said.

The letters, mailed on April 18, were sent to people who purchased at least 100 cartons of cigarettes from out-of-state sources since January 2005. The department said it estimated that the state is owed about $9.3 million in cigarette taxes and another $1.1 million in sales and use taxes from these purchases.

At least 13 other states, including neighboring New Jersey, Ohio and New York, have also been using the federal information to collect cigarettes taxes, according to the department. -- Winter Casey

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YouTube Crusader Unveils Web Reality Show

Brandon Fletcher, the 20-year-old "netrepreneur" who generated a buzz on the Internet when he documented his recent trip to YouTube headquarters in Silicon Valley, has unveiled the idea he was pitching to the popular video-sharing site.

His new Web reality series called "Date: Unknown” features the unpredictable first dates of singles who meet online via social-networking sites. Fletcher funded the project himself and filmed and edited every episode. Then he embarked on the gutsy mission to get the project featured on YouTube.

“Date: Unknown” will be hosted on YouTube and www.dateunknown.com, where viewers can watch QuickTime versions of each video. The site will be updated several times a week with new episodes and outtakes, Fletcher said in a press release.

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New Light Theory Could Revolutionize Computers

University researchers have released a new theory on light that could revolutionize what future computers may accomplish. Scientists from Australia's University of Melbourne and the U.K.'s University of Cambridge have discovered that light can behave like a solid.

"Solid light will help us build the technology of this century," said Andrew Greentree of the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne. “Solid light photons repel each other as electrons do. This means we can control photons, opening the door to new kinds of faster computers," he added.

According to Greentree, "any real-world problems in quantum physics are too hard to solve with today’s computers. Our discovery shows how to replicate these hard problems in a system we can control and measure.”

Photons of light do not normally interact with each other but electrons used by computers strongly repel each other, the researchers found. The idea is to engineer a phase in protons that would cause them to repel each other.

Funding for the project came from the Australian Research Council, Australian government, U.S. National Security Agency, the U.S.-based Advanced Research and Development Activity, Army Research Office and the U.S. National Science Foundation. -- Winter Casey

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Maple-Leafed MySpace

Our northern neighbors now have their very own MySpace community. Monday's debut of the Canadian social networking site, which is available in both French and English, marked MySpace's fifteenth localized launch.

"There is an incredible creative community in Canada, and with this launch we will be better able to showcase the artists, comedians, and video content that our users are most passionate about, while creating a truly Canadian home for our users online," said MySpace's Travis Katz.

MySpace boasts more than 100 million member profiles worldwide according to comScore Media Metrics, with nearly six million users in Canada alone.

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Dell Joins Microsoft, Novell Alliance

Microsoft and Novell announced Monday that Dell will be the first major systems provider to join the companies' business collaboration, announced in 2006, focused on making their products work better together, among other objectives.

As part of the agreement, Dell said it will purchase SUSE Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft and form a services and marketing program to move Linux users to the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server or Novell’s Linux-based server solution. The deal targets Linux users that are not Dell Linux customers.

The companies said the alliance is a response to consumer demand for increased interoperability among products and vendors as well as greater intellectual property confidence.

"Dell's embrace of the Novell-Microsoft agreement reflects a growing market reality: The two platforms of the future are Linux and Windows, and customers want them to work better together," Novell Vice President Susan Heystee said in a statement. -- Winter Casey

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Web Pros Gather For Washington Forum

Experts from Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, Fleishman-Hillard, Ketchum, Ogilvy Interactive and other new media and public relations outfits were slated to rendezvous at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington on Monday for a conference called World Wide Web Washington.

There's no policy angle, so the event's chances of getting ink in Technology Daily are slim, but there are some interesting discussions planned. Session titles include: "Why Interactive Media is Vital in Business Today," "Rich Media: Grins of Delight and Genius Design," and "Interactive Media Impact in Washington" (a look at how interactive media will impact the nation's capital in 2007 and beyond).

Posted by Andrew at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Officials Respond To Deadly Cell Phone Threat

The power of a rumor that was spread last month in Pakistan that warned of death due to cell phones grew so rapidly the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority issued a statement to dispel the hysteria and phone companies urged people to remain calm.

According to the Chicago Tribune the text message, spread from one cell phone to the next, warned of a virus. This virus would kill the recipient of phone calls from certain numbers instantly.

As a result of the message, many cell phone users turned off their phones to be better safe than sorry and others grew frustrated that the prank’s message was being heeded. Media outlets received endless questions from concerned consumers.

“For Pakistanis who treat cell phones as a necessary appendage, this was serious … Even the skeptical seemed to know someone who knew someone who died from answering a cell phone or who had read about someone who died,” the paper reported.

According to the Tribune, even a respected Pakistani newspaper ran a story which reported that two people were seriously hurt when they answered the bad phone numbers—one started spurting blood from the ears. AP also reported last month that many Afghans had turned off their phones as rumors of a deadly cell phone virus spread. -- Winter Casey

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Friday Funnies

There's no one on staff at Technology Daily named Tina, but by the looks of things, she could be a valuable addition to our blogging team. Tina, have your people call my people, ASAP.

(Thank you, Dilbert)

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Of Seashells, Snowflakes And Computer Chips

IBM researchers looked to the natural pattern-creating process that forms seashells, snowflakes, and enamel on teeth in order to build next generation computer chips, the company said.

The natural pattern process was what enabled researchers to "form trillions of holes to create insulating vacuums around the miles of nano-scale wires packed next to each other inside each computer chip." Using this technique, electrical signals on chips can flow much faster and consume less energy.

It was this observation of nature, that led to the company's announcement this week of the "first-ever application of a breakthrough self-assembling nanotechnology to conventional chip manufacturing." -- Winter Casey

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NJ Mag: Patent Reform, Pending

Subscribers to National Journal magazine may be interested in a lengthy story in the May 5 issue (p. 56) that dissects the patent reform debate, largely from the lobbying perspective.

Here's an excerpt:

As Congress prepares to rewrite the nation's patent law, lobbyists from dueling industries are trying to elbow one another aside in their eagerness to steer legislators through the controversial process. The jostling lobbyists hired by rival sectors -- including giant computer software and hardware companies, small information-technology firms, and pharmaceutical manufacturers -- are focusing, for now, on the House and Senate Judiciary committees. Looking to bolster their clout further, companies have linked up in industry coalitions that are trying to shape the reforms.

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Food For Thought: CCIA On Patent Reform

Even though quite a few of the Computer and Communications Industry Association's members are part of the Coalition for Patent Fairness, the trade group has some interesting ideas that set it apart from the pack on patent reform.

CCIA believes in tailoring patent protection to reflect the diversity of innovation environments (like having slightly different patents for IT than for pharmaceuticals). Raising the basic threshold to eliminate the "ordinary" from patent law would also help, the group said.

Additionally, documentation of infringement claims (given the number of bogus lawsuits) should be on file at agencies like the FTC, CCIA said. Conditioning full fee-funding on Patent and Trademark Office accountability is another idea the group wants policymakers to consider.

Reengineering patent institutions "to promote innovation, preclude capture and reduce costs," is another step in the right direction, CCIA said in an e-mail. "Shouldn't the PTO perform patent searches in the interest of all of us, not just those of the patent specialist?"

Posted by Andrew at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Webby Winners: OpenSecrets.org, FactCheck.org

OpenSecrets.org, the Center for Responsive Politics' repository for tracking campaign dollars, has won the 2007 Webby Award for being the world's best political site. It's the center's fourth Webby in the contest's 11 years. The Annenberg Public Policy Center's FactCheck.org will take home a trophy in the "People's Voice" category.

Other nominees for best political site included Public Agenda Online, Truthdig and Wearetheweb.org. Incidentally, Truthdig won the Webby for best political blog.

Other notable Webby winners include National Public Radio (Podcasts), The New York Times' "Dealbook" (Business Blog), Blip.tv (Broadband) and Wikitravel (Travel). Additional "People's Voice" honorees were Facebook (Social/Networking) and Save the Internet (Activism).

Winners of the inaugural Webby Film and Video Awards range from major networks like NBC's "The Office Webisodes" (Comedy-Short) to upstart Eepybird.com's "Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiments" (Viral).

For the full list of Webby winners and nominees, click here.

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Happy Press Freedom Day; Merry Free Trade Month

Wednesday was World Press Freedom Day and at 1:19 p.m. the White House sent out a statement saying President Bush was saluting the free press for its dedication to providing information.

"I salute those in the press who courageously do their work at great risk. No independent media are allowed in countries such as Cuba and North Korea, and those who attempt to report are often imprisoned. Repressive laws severely restrict journalists and freedom of speech in countries such as Belarus, Burma, Iran, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe," Bush said.

"We condemn the harassment, physical intimidation, and persecution that journalists, including bloggers and Internet reporters, have faced in China, Egypt, Tunisia, and Vietnam; and the unsolved murders of journalists in Lebanon, Russia, and Belarus," the president added.

Bush said "bringing unfiltered information, news, and facts to the people and accountability to their governments is the hallmark of the fourth estate."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Thursday that it was joining a number of organizations to commemorate May as World Trade Month. The chamber has launched a Web site on how trade affects Americans. -- Winter Casey

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Digg Battles Takedown Notice

News-swapping Web site Digg said earlier this week that it would delete a number of articles referencing a cracked digital videodisc encryption key that could circumvent certain technological protection measures. The firm received a cease-and-desist letter from the consortium that owns rights to the key that had been cracked.

But Digg members did not appreciate the move, which they saw unnecessary censorship. After receiving thousands of comments, the site decided not to remove the stories containing the code, founder Kevin Rose said on the site's blog.

He summed it up this way: "You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be. If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying."

Will Digg end up in court? Stay tuned...

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Is Patent Reform Good For Small Firms?

A story in Wednesday's Technology Daily about small tech firms' lobbying efforts on patent reform ruffled the feathers of other stakeholders in the debate. I received a few calls and e-mails about the coverage, which is encouraged because I always appreciate getting feedback from readers.

The article explained how members of the Innovation Alliance were urging lawmakers to proceed with caution as twin patent bills move through the House and Senate. They feel their voices are being drowned out by groups like the Coalition for Patent Fairness (which is backed by Apple, Cisco Systems, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft).

But the coalition argues that the legislation is good for the little guys. "Small businesses rely on patents to protect their latest innovations, which are often the foundation of their company," a coalition one-pager states. "By strengthening and clarifying the process for obtaining and enforcing patents, and ensuring fair and even-handed treatment in the courts, small business owners and inventors will again be able to focus on developing new products and remaining competitive."

A spokesman pointed out that the Information Technology Association and Computing Technology Industry Association, which represent a number of small- and mid-sized tech firms, are members of the coalition and support the bills. ITAA and CompTIA officials testified at a House Small Business Committee hearing on the topic in March.

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Zipcar To XM: It's Over

Zipcar, a popular do-it-yourself car rental service in Washington and other urban areas, is dropping XM Satellite Radio. My occasional trips to Tysons Corner and around town will never be the same.

"Though we know that so many of you love XM's tuneage and ad-free format, we've made the difficult decision to break ties with XM while things get sorted out in the satellite radio industry," Zipcar wrote in an e-mail to customers. The firm is referring, of course, to its pending merger with competitor Sirius Satellite Radio.

At least the split seems to be amicable. XM is giving Zipsters access to subscription deals through friends and family discounts. Meanwhile, XM radios will be removed from all Zipcars over the next few months.

"Rest assured, we're checking out new ways to make your Ziptrips just as rockin' (or jazzin', or, well, you get the picture) as always," Zipcar's e-mail said. Until then, I'll have to remember to pack my iPod when I need to rent some wheels.

Update: There are two sides to every story and XM has a very different perspective on its breakup. A spokesman told Tech Daily Dose on Thursday that the satellite radio firm elected to end its relationship with Zipacar and the e-mail sent to subscribers "miscommunicated the facts." "We made an investment in the receivers that we were no longer willing to make… It was a business decision," the official said.

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Smoking Hazardous To Internet2 Health

Folks at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers are always talking about ensuring the safety and stability of the Internet -- a heady task to be sure. But what about keeping the Web safe from blackouts caused by homeless men tossing lit cigarettes onto mattresses under bridges?

That's what knocked out Internet2 service between Boston and New York on Tuesday night, according to Network World. Chris Robb, an engineer who works on the next-generation Web, said cables on the Longfellow Bridge (which connects Boston and Cambridge across the Charles River) were torched in the bum-induced blaze.

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Shameless Self-Promotion

Well, here's another bookmark for your Web browser, courtesy of National Journal's ever-expanding online portfolio. A new blog called The Gate has launched and it's almost as delicious as this one, but without the tangy tech aftertaste. The goal, according to its editor's introductory post, is to provide readers with "easy and direct access to the news that matters most, from inside the Beltway to around the world."

The blog will point readers to news as it happens. It will also round up top stories in the morning and revisit them in the afternoon. In between, writers will highlight "the most interesting, relevant or unique news we find from across the Web or from right here within our own valuable publications." So, take a peek and if you like what you see, tell your friends.

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FMC: Net Neutrality, Yadda Yadda

The Future of Music Coalition assembled an all-star panel to squabble over network neutrality at its policy summit on Wednesday. Speakers included NetCompetition.org's Scott Cleland; Media Access Project Assistant Director Parul Desai; Public Knowledge Persident Gigi Sohn; and rock band R.E.M.'s longtime adviser Bertis Downs.

In my humble opinion, none of them really advanced the ball beyond what has already been said (over and over again) in recent months. Sohn cheered legislation to ensure a level playing field for online content and Cleland said the last thing that highly competitive network providers want to do is block anyone from accessing cool Web tools. Next topic please.

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FMC: Satellite Radio's Fate Uncertain

Satellite radio providers Sirius and XM may spend a lot of time fretting over whether their multibillion dollar merger proposal wins approval from the Justice Department and FCC but there are bigger fish to fry, Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro told the Future of Music Coalition conference on Wednesday.

If the recording industry wins its copyright infringement lawsuit against XM, the satellite music firm could be responsible for fines adding up to "trillions of dollars," he said. The suit, filed in 2006, is based on recording capabilities built into some recently-introduced XM receivers like the Pioneer Inno.

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Penn., also mentioned the XM-Sirius merger in his morning keynote. "If both are at full capacity right now, what artists and music are going to be cut to make room for Howard Stern on XM and for baseball at Sirius?" Stern is Sirius's marquee entertainer and Major League Baseball is one of XM's most valued offerings.

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World’s Largest Patent Database Debuts

The world's largest database of patent documents has been published online, according to the online news service provided by the European Union's official research and innovation information service known as CORDIS.

According to the German organization FIZ Karlsruhe, the database contains more than 63 million patent documents from 80 patent organizations around the world. The information bank was created by merging and revising two existing European Patent Office databases, the group said.

The database includes patent information dating back to the 19th century in some countries and 1944 in Japan. -- Winter Casey

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FMC: Dems Plan For Baseball Victory

Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle had already had a busy morning before giving the keynote speech at the Future of Music Coalition's annual intellectual property summit on Wednesday. The Pittsburgh Democrat said he came to the event from baseball practice.

His team is gearing up for its annual game against the GOP, which takes place June 25 at RFK Stadium. The Republican team has experienced a winning streak lately but Doyle says this year's match-up could be different since his party took control of the House and Senate. "This year, we've got a lot of new players and they don't," he joked.

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Senate Passes Valenti Resolution

The Senate approved a resolution on Tuesday honoring the life of former presidential adviser and movie industry titan Jack Valenti. He died last week at age 85. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced the language.

“Jack Valenti was a larger-than-life man and an innovator who built the Motion Picture Association of America into a great institution,” Feinstein said. “More than that, he was a friend who is truly missed." For other reactions to Valenti's passing, click here.

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Artic Ice Melting Too Fast For Computers

The ice in Antarctica is melting faster than even the most advanced computer models can project, the National Center for Atmospheric Research said Monday.

Scientists from NCAR and the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center have found the Arctic's ice cover to be disappearing more rapidly than estimated by any of the 18 computer models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when preparing its 2007 assessments.

The study, "Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Faster Than Forecast?" was set to be published Tuesday in the Geophysical Research Letters. The research was led by Julienne Stroeve of the NSIDC and funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The paper's authors compared model simulations of past climate environments with observations by satellites and other instruments. "The study indicates that, because of the disparity between the computer models and actual observations, the shrinking of summertime ice is about 30 years ahead of the climate model projections. As a result, the Arctic could be seasonally free of sea ice earlier than" has been projected, according to NCAR.

The report's authors also believe it is possible that the computer models may not capture the full impact of increased carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. -- Winter Casey

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Wiley Rein's 'BlackBerry Bonus'

The American Lawyer unveiled its 2007 list of the hundred biggest law firms ranked by revenue. The Wall Street Journal's law blog points out that K Street telecommunications and high-tech powerhouse Wiley Rein made the AmLaw 100 thanks to its "BlackBerry Bonus."

The firm broke the record for the highest profits per partner ever recorded by the magazine -- a whopping $4.4 million. Attorneys there represented patent-holding business NTP in its lengthy court battle with BlackBerry handheld manufacturer RIM, and earned more than $200 million in fees from the case. So, take an extra long lunch at McCormick and Schmick's today, boys -- you deserve it.

Posted by Andrew at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

USIIA Paper Examines 'Exabyte' Internet

A new paper from the U.S. Internet Industry Association warns that a data "exaflood" may endanger the Web by surpassing available capacity. Although the so-called "Exabyte Internet" promises to bring new services, applications and opportunities to consumers and businesses, it will not do so automatically, the report states.

USIIA says several general policies are needed to assure the necessary growth of the Internet: a better understanding of the data; a more realistic view of the Internet infrastructure; a “light hand” regulatory approach; and a focus on investment as the national priority. The report is available here.

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