January 2010

Denmark Leads the Way in Digital Care

Denmark began embracing electronic health records and other health care information technology a decade ago. Today, virtually all primary care physicians and nearly half of the hospitals use electronic records, and officials are trying to encourage more "telemedicine" projects. Several studies, including one to be published later this month by the Commonwealth Fund, conclude that the Danish information system is the most efficient in the world, saving doctors an average of 50 minutes a day in administrative work. And a 2008 report from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society estimated that electronic record keeping saved Denmark's health system as much as $120 million a year.

Now policy makers in the United States are studying Denmark's system to see whether its successes can be replicated as part of the overhaul of the health system making its way through Congress. Dr. David Blumenthal, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School who was named by President Obama as national coordinator of health information technology, has said the United States is "well behind" Denmark and its Scandinavian neighbors, Sweden and Norway, in the use of electronic health records. Denmark's success has much to do with the its small size, its homogeneous population and its regulated health care system — on all counts, very different from the United States. As in much of Europe, health care in Denmark is financed by taxes, and most services are free.

'Baby Einstein' Founder Goes to Court

A co-founder of the company that created the "Baby Einstein" videos has asked a judge to order the University of Washington to release records relating to two studies that linked television viewing by young children to attention problems and delayed language development. "All we're asking for is the basis for what the university has represented to be groundbreaking research," the co-founder, William Clark, said in a statement Monday. "Given that other research studies have not shown the same outcomes, we would like the raw data and analytical methods from the Washington studies so we can audit their methodology, and perhaps duplicate the studies, to see if the outcomes are the same." Clark said that he had been seeking the information for years, but that the university had either denied his requests or failed to be fully responsive.

Adventures of the 'Wolverine' Leaker

On March 31, someone posted a "work print" — an unfinished copy — of the film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" on a Web site. It was a full month before the movie, starring Hugh Jackman as the famous mutant, was to open in theaters. Hollywood analysts called the leak unprecedented and speculated whether its free, albeit brief, availability to the public — and the unkind buzz that followed — would dampen its box office draw. Mr. Jackman himself was said by the studio to be "heartbroken." "The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the studio behind the movie, 20th Century Fox, said the day it appeared online. Eight months later, on Dec. 16, Gilberto Sanchez was awakened by a knock at 6 a.m., and opened the door to F.B.I. agents, who placed him under arrest. He was charged with violation of copyright law, arraigned in federal court in Manhattan and allowed to return home. He faces the possibility of prison time, maybe in California, where his indictment originated.

Founding Prodigy Chief Created Online Services for Consumers

After selling and manufacturing some of the first business computers, Theodore Papes helped create one of the earliest online services for consumers. Papes, who died Jan. 8 at the age of 81, led the development of Prodigy Services Co., a digital enterprise that provided online news, email, shopping and other services years before the World Wide Web. A joint venture of International Business Machines Corp. and Sears Roebuck & Co., Prodigy was meant to introduce online services to a mass audience. Founded in 1984 and rolled out regionally starting in 1988, Prodigy caught on with the help of intensive marketing. In 1991, it passed the million-subscriber mark. But not long after, it began to flag in the face of competition from rivals such as America Online.

Broadband Mapping Grants for 10 More States

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded grants to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas under NTIA's State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. The program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will increase broadband access and adoption through better data collection and broadband planning. The data will be displayed in NTIA's national broadband map, a tool that will inform policymakers' efforts and provide consumers with improved information on the broadband Internet services available to them.

Connecticut: NTIA has awarded the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control approximately $1.3 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and nearly $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a two-year period in Connecticut, bringing the total grant award to approximately $1.8 million. The Department of Public Utility Control is the designated entity for the state of Connecticut.

Hawaii: NTIA has awarded Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs approximately $1.4 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Hawaii, bringing the total grant award to approximately $1.9 million. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is the designated entity for the state of Hawaii.

Kentucky: NTIA has awarded the Commonwealth Office of Technology approximately $1.6 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Kentucky, bringing the total grant award to nearly $2.1 million. The Office of Technology is the designated entity for the state of Kentucky.

Maine: NTIA has awarded the ConnectME Authority approximately $1.3 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and nearly $440,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Maine, bringing the total grant award to nearly $1.8 million. The ConnectME Authority is the designated entity for the state of Maine.

Mississippi: NTIA has awarded the Mississippi Office of the Governor approximately $1.5 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Mississippi, bringing the total grant award to approximately $2 million. The Office of the Governor is the designated entity for the state of Mississippi.

Nebraska: NTIA has awarded the Nebraska Public Service Commission approximately $1.6 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and nearly $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a two-year period in Nebraska, bringing the total grant award to approximately $2.1 million. The Public Service Commission is the designated entity for the state of Nebraska.

New Mexico: NTIA has awarded the New Mexico Department of Information Technology approximately $1.4 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in New Mexico, bringing the total grant award to approximately $1.9 million. The Department of Information Technology is the designated entity for the state of New Mexico.

Oklahoma: NTIA has awarded the Oklahoma Office of State Finance approximately $1.6 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and nearly $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Oklahoma, bringing the total grant award to approximately $2.1 million. The Office of State Finance is the designated entity for the state of Oklahoma.

Pennsylvania: NTIA has awarded the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development approximately $1.7 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Pennsylvania, bringing the total grant award to approximately $2.2 million. The Department of Community and Economic Development is the designated entity for the state of Pennsylvania.

Texas: NTIA has awarded Connected Nation approximately $2.5 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and nearly $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Texas, bringing the total grant award to approximately $3 million. Connected Nation is the designated entity for the state of Texas.

An Interstate Fiber Utility

(IFU) is a nationwide fiber optic cable infrastructure deployed without electronics (dark fiber) in the national highway system rights of way. It is specifically designed to be leased at the individual fiber strand level by public purpose entities, entrepreneur and business entities, carriers and any other public or private entity for any public or private purpose. An IFU will set the stage for a new age of global communication and American economic growth. Creating an abundance of dark fiber is "fundamental" for providing broadband services, and an IFU will drive the cost of a new fiber infrastructure to a fraction of what is spent today.

In sum, an IFU will:

Provide for the logical and efficient use of highway rights of way by "digging once"
Allow multiple access points to users for simplified networking
Share essential fiber infrastructure among many users thus spreading costs and ultimately reducing prices for services
Enable Public Purpose Networks by connecting community anchor institutions, allowing libraries, community centers, public safety agencies, schools and health care institutions to share resources and become part of the world community
Enable Entrepreneur and Enterprise Networks by allowing the provisioning of alternative infrastructure for vertical "Intranets" dedicated to various sectors of the economy, thus creating jobs in existing companies and new jobs in entrepreneurial companies
Enable the focus of private sector Carrier Network construction to be on last mile connections allowing them to provide more and better services based on lowering the cost of "fundamental" inputs/infrastructure for their products, as well as providing a huge increase in the availability of wireless backhaul, thus speeding the adoption of truly expansive, high speed wireless access
Remove the "distance penalty" for rural areas thus encouraging the spread of economic development to rural areas of the country and connecting all areas of the country regardless of location
Make America the world leader in open access, dark fiber infrastructure

Google to Stop Censoring China Results, May Shut Site

Google plans to stop censoring results on its Chinese site, Google.cn, a move that may lead to shutting down the service.

The company said it will discuss the plan with Chinese authorities and is willing to close the site, according to a blog post today. Google also said it has evidence that an attack on its China Web site was aimed at accessing Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists.

"Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all," the company said. "We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China."

Google has clashed with authorities since it started a censored version of its site four years ago in China, which leads the world in Internet users. The company said today that attacks on its site and surveillance of users prompted it to review its business operations in the country.

The move signals that Google is hewing closer to its "Don't be evil" motto, said Heath Terry, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.

Additional links:

Google, Citing Attack, Threatens to Exit China (NYTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/asia/13beijing.html?ref=todayspaper

Google Warns of China Exit Over Hacking (WSJ)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126333757451026659.html#mod=todays_us_pa...

Google threatens to leave China after attacks on activists' e-mail (WashPost)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR201001...

Google may leave China in wake of hacker attacks
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-google-china13-2010jan13,0,5678657...

Google to defy China over censorship (FT)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f65a4ba6-ffd7-11de-ad8c-00144feabdc0.html

Citing cyber attacks, Google threatens to pull out of China (SJMerc)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_14176175

Google May Exit China After Ending Self-Censorship (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aU43JmiuDJaQ

Google's investment arm to grow partner ranks

Google's venture capital arm, Google Ventures, is bringing more partners on board as the $100 million fund seeks to build upon the eight investments it has made in companies since its launch last spring. Managing Partner Bill Maris said the fund had quietly begun to bulk up its ranks and is in the process of refining an investment strategy that has seen Google Ventures back start-ups in markets as diverse as biotech, cleantech and consumer Internet technology.

Losing the Internet as We Know It

How much have you already used the Internet today? We don't think twice about how much we rely on the Internet. Imagine not being able to map directions on Google or check the weather online. A business that doesn't have a Web site? Forgettable. Or rather, unsearchable. Remember when we didn't have e-mail? Would you want to go back to those Dark Ages? Me neither. The Internet is in the very fabric of how we communicate, learn, shop, conduct business, organize, innovate and engage. If we lost it, we'd be lost. But did you know that we're at risk of losing the Internet as we know it? Millions of Americans don't know that a battle over the future of the Internet is being played out right now in Washington. How it ends will have deep repercussions for decades to come.

R.E.M.: Everybody Hurts (without network neutrality)

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission this week, rock band R.E.M. recounted the bad old days in Athens (GA) stuffing envelopes and mailing out issues of their fan newsletter a few thousand copies at a time. "These were the days of Xerox copies and homemade fanzines, self-addressed stamped envelopes, carbon sheets in triplicate, brother typewriters and desk calendars," said the band. "From the standpoint of communication, they were good only in that one had nothing with which to compare them." Then came the Internet, and R.E.M. collectively felt like shiny, happy people; the new distribution was a wake-up bomb, exploding all the old ways of doing business and enabling a much closer connection to fans. "Today, just like every band in the second decade of this millennium, R.E.M. is armed to the hilt with the latest of the requisite Web-based tools, which makes communication with fans not only easy but also fast. It's a structure dependent on bandwidth, website hits, downloads, Twitter accounts, blogs, fansites, RSS feeds, Facebook and Myspace pages, apps, You Tube channels, Feedjit, and HTML newsletters."

How does this relate to net neutrality? "Minus open access to the convenience and immediacy of the Web-based social networking tools, it's not so hard to imagine a return to a time when they weren't around," writes the band.

Benton

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