September 2010

Texting caused total 'distracted driving' deaths to rise, study finds

Texting while driving likely caused more than 16,000 road fatalities between 2002 and 2007, a new study finds. The study, which public safety officials say is yet another wake-up call about the dangers of cellphone use in automobiles, was released Thursday by the American Journal of Public Health. It comes on the heels of the US Department of Transportation's second annual Distracted Driving Summit, during which Secretary Ray LaHood called for even more action to combat what he called a "unsafe, irresponsible, [and] devastating" behavior. Distracted driving, Sec LaHood said at this week's conference, "is an epidemic. It's an epidemic because everyone has a cellphone - and everyone thinks they can use it while driving. They can't."

Agencies aim to bolster cybersecurity

The White House is reviewing whether to ask for new authorities for the Defense Department and other government agencies to ensure that the nation's critical computer systems are protected in the event of a major attack, the commander of the Pentagon's new Cyber Command said.

If an adversary were to penetrate the U.S. power grid or other critical systems with an "unknown capability," those systems probably would "shut down," Gen. Keith Alexander told members of the House Armed Services Committee. The Cyber Command is tasked with protecting only military computer networks. "It is not my mission to defend, today, the entire nation," Gen Alexander said. Deciding who should execute what role in defending the nation against cyberattack is a thorny issue, complicated by the fact that the agency tasked with assisting the private sector - the Department of Homeland Security - lags behind the Defense Department in personnel, resources and capabilities.

Warriors in the battle for cyberspace

They were Air Force fighter pilots, Army Rangers and Marine tank commanders. There was even a Navy fighter jet radar officer who had been taken prisoner during the Persian Gulf War. Warriors all. But in 1998, they fought in a different realm, their weapons bits and bytes, their foxholes temperature-controlled computer operations rooms. In the new battleground of cyberspace, they battled shadowy foes whose computer attacks were given such names as Moonlight Maze and Titan Rain. These were the men and women of the Joint Task Force Computer Network Defense, 24 tech-savvy war fighters who were part of the pioneering group tasked with protecting the Pentagon's computer networks - vital for everything from directing troop movements to passing intelligence to issuing commands to fire missiles.

Telecoms fear impact of EU regulation

Senior European telecoms executives reacted coolly to the European Union's proposals on regulating the next generation of broadband Internet networks, warning that excessive regulation could make large-scale investments less likely.

Stéphane Richard, chief executive of France Telecom, said he was "not fully comfortable" with the proposals, released on Monday by Neelie Kroes, EU telecoms commissioner. They will extend the obligation for large telecoms operators to provide their competitors with cheap access to their infrastructure. Many network owners - often former state monopolies - had hoped they would be able to shed the regulatory regime, which is currently used on legacy copper telephone networks, as an incentive for them to invest the €300bn ($400bn) they say is needed to upgrade Internet connections throughout Europe. "If the underlying philosophy of the European Commission is to look at networks like a commodity, or a utility . . . [next-generation internet] is not the best investment case we can offer our shareholders," warned Mr Richard at a conference organized by the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association in Brussels. Franco Bernabè, chief executive of Telecom Italia, said he feared that European networks could be turned into "dumb pipes" with little opportunity to profit from innovative web applications delivered by the likes of Google, Skype or Facebook.

YouTube Can't Be Liable on Copyright, Spain Rules

A Spanish court sided with Google in a dispute with the broadcaster Telecinco, saying Google's online video-sharing service, YouTube, did not have to screen television clips for potential copyright violations before posting them on the site.

The decision, by a commercial court in Madrid, follows a similar ruling in the United States in June, when a judge rejected copyright infringement claims against YouTube by the media company Viacom. Like the American court, the judge in Madrid said YouTube was not liable as long as it removed copyrighted material when notified by the rights holder. "This win confirms what we have always said: YouTube operates within the law," Google said. Telecinco, a subsidiary of Mediaset, the Italian media conglomerate controlled by the family of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said it would appeal the Madrid decision, noting that the judge had recognized the company's need to protect its copyrighted material.

Discounted E-Books Spark Outcry From French Shops

In France a 1981 law prohibits the sale of books for less than 5% below the cover price, a move to protect independent booksellers from the narrow profit margins that big chains could absorb if they discounted books heavily. But e-books, not covered by the 1981 law because it refers to "printed volumes," typically sell for 25% less than printed works.

Now France is considering how best to stop big Internet retailers, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc., from hurting smaller bookstores and publishers with heavily discounted offers on e-books. Sen. Jacques Legendre this month proposed a law that would allow publishers to set the retail price of e-books. In France, a publisher typically offers bookstores a profit margin of between 30% and 40% depending on, say, the size of a bookstore and its sales record. If, for example, a publisher lists a retail price of $10 for a book, it is sold to the bookstore at $6 to $7. But if booksellers have to compete with deep discounts on e-books, the stores' profit margins shrink, a particular problem for small stores. Legendre's aim is to prevent the combination of discounting that undermined compact discs. "Do we want what happened to the music industry to happen to the book business?" he asked.

Obama: We will support a free and open Internet

On Sept 23, President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly. He said, "Civil society is the conscience of our communities and America will always extend our engagement abroad with citizens beyond the halls of government. And we will call out those who suppress ideas and serve as a voice for those who are voiceless. We will promote new tools of communication so people are empowered to connect with one another and, in repressive societies, to do so with security. We will support a free and open Internet, so individuals have the information to make up their own minds. And it is time to embrace and effectively monitor norms that advance the rights of civil society and guarantee its expansion within and across borders."

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, said "I commend President Obama for his strong statement before the United Nations General Assembly that communications networks can and must play a vital role in advancing economic development, freedom, and human dignity around the globe. It is essential that we preserve the open Internet and stand firmly behind the right of all people to connect with one another and to exchange ideas freely and without fear."

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell raised concerns about the reaction of the international community in his statement on the same net neutrality order, saying he had talked with international regulators who were "waiting for the U.S. to assert more government authority over the Internet to help justify an increased state role over Internet management internationally." He said that the FCC needed to be careful of unintended consequences and not inadvertently [set] a precedent for some foreign governments with less pure motives to use in justifying stricter Internet regulation."

US Initiative to Keep Internet Open for Innovation

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced the official launch of an initiative aimed at preserving the global, free flow of information online to ensure that the Internet remains open for commercial opportunity and innovation. The Commerce Department will publish a Notice of Inquiry (NOI), developed by its Internet Policy Task Force, which will seek public comment on the extent to which evolving policies from governments around the world may be restricting information on the Internet and inhibiting innovation and economic growth for US companies. The NOI will seek input from all stakeholders to better understand the types of emerging government policies that restrict online information, how they are adopted, and what impact they have on innovation, job creation, economic development, global trade and investment.

Chairman Waxman may move without full consensus on network neutrality bill

Full consensus may not be the end game of an effort by House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) as he crafts a bill on network neutrality, according to House aides involved in the process.

Chairman Waxman may move forward with a bill that does not get full agreement from all sides in the debate but that seems to have enough support to pass the House, three aides said. As Congressional staffers weigh input from public interest groups and cable, phone, and Internet companies, their consideration has in part turned to whether moving without the approval of certain major stakeholders would sink the bill, the aides said. Chairman Waxman "is a master legislator. He prevents the perfect from becoming the enemy of the good," one aide said. "That's not always easy -- when you're talking to everyone -- for everyone to swallow."

Two of the aides said they do not anticipate support from public interest groups no matter how the draft is written.

More Hostile Environment For Network Neutrality After Nov Elections

With Republicans poised to make gains in both chambers of Congress, President Obama's campaign promise to preserve the Internet's openness should face a more hostile reception after the midterm elections.

If Republicans take control of the House, either Rep Fred Upton (R-MI) or rep Cliff Stearns (R-FL) would likely chair the House Commerce Committee. Rep Upton opposes government regulation of the Internet as favored by advocates of net neutrality and has called FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan to reclassify broadband under a more stringent regulatory regime a "blind power grab." Rep Stearns has been an outspoken critic of government regulation of the Internet and went so far as to introduce a bill aimed at prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission from subjecting broadband to a heavier government hand.

Benton

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