January 2011

Amazon won't go out of its way to collect sales taxes

Amazon is no fan of collecting state sales taxes, and it's ready to play hardball once again in its attempt to avoid the levy.

An e-mail sent from the company to all of its Illinois affiliates warns that, should Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL) sign a just-passed tax bill, Amazon is cutting off every affiliate in Illinois. Illinois wants Amazon to collect 6.25 percent sales tax and send it back to the state. Under current law, only companies with a physical presence in the state have to do this, but the new bill declares that even having affiliates in Illinois counts as "presence." The change shouldn't affect tax revenue in Illinois, since residents who purchase from Amazon and other online, out-of-state vendors are required to pay a "use tax" each year that replaces the lost "sales tax." The bill simply shifts collection from the individual Illinois buyer to companies like Amazon. But of course that's not what happens. Few Illinois residents actually pay the tax, and the state has no way of knowing how much any particular person should owe. In practice, then, buying from Amazon comes at a discount over buying from a local store.

Republicans Take Fresh Aim At Defunding Public Broadcasting

Rep Doug Lamborn (R-CO) has reintroduced legislation to defund public broadcasting.

He introduced similar legislation in June 2010 with no luck, but after National Public Radio fired Juan Williams over comments about Muslims last fall, GOP Whip and House Majority Leader-elect Eric Cantor (R-VA) revived that effort for a vote in the lame duck session after it won an online poll for programs surfers would most want to cut. That effort also failed to gain traction again in the lame duck session still controlled by Democrats. Rep Lamborn, now in the House majority, is reintroducing the legislation. He indicated in a statement this week that he thought the funding of both NPR and PBS should be cut. "Government-funded broadcasting is now completely unnecessary in a world of 500-channel cable TV and cell phone Internet access," he said, pointing to the fact that "over 99% of Americans own a TV and over 95 percent have access to the Internet."

Sen. Merkley to FCC's Genachowski: Don't let Comcast-NBC Deal Affect NBA Programing

Sen Jeff Merkley (D-OR) wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, expressing concerns from "Oregonians" about Comcast's plan to buy a majority share of NBC Universal. In the letter, Sen Merkley urged Genachowski to consider four concerns: high prices in rural markets, increased prices in the future, the ability to watch the Portland Trailblazers, and network neutrality.

NATOA Praises Comcast Broadband Pledge

The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) gave Comcast a shout-out for its commitment to provide low-cost broadband to low-income households and boost deployment to schools and libraries. While NATOA said it would like to see more specific commitments to Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) programming, NATOA commended Comcast for its pledge to improve broadband employment and adoption.

Edward Burns: Comcast/NBCU Good For Indies

Filmmaker/actor Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, Entourage) has given a shout-out to the Comcast/NBCU merger, saying it would actually be a boon to independent productions.

That's according to a letter to the Federal Communications Commission signed "Edward Burns" and attributed by the FCC to Marlboro Road Gang Productions, which produced Burns' films. "It will be good for independent filmmakers because it will drive new distribution opportunities for our work," he wrote. Burns says in the letter that as an independent filmmaker who has worked with Comcast, he has seen its commitment to independent film. "Comcast has showed me that they want independents to succeed and because of our recent collaboration, I hope you will strongly consider allowing this deal to move forward."

IPhone In-App Purchases Almost Equal To Download Revenue

App analytics firm Distimo shows that 2010 was the year of mobile in-app purchases, reporting that 49 percent of the revenue on iPhone apps came from in-app purchases in both free and paid apps.

Treat Communities as Markets for Broadband

[Commentary] The broadband discussion suffers from a case of mistaken identity. The mix-up could be costing communities lost opportunities in economic development, improved health-care delivery, better education and other significant benefits. It’s time you turn this situation around.

Many communities — large and small, urban and rural — have watched the industry define “market” almost exclusively as being incumbent telcos, service providers and vendors. “Market,” in the industry world, is code for “companies.” You often hear them say, “Let the free market take care of broadband. Whatever companies do to make a buck that shortchanges communities is generally a-OK because in the end, ‘free markets’ serve the public’s best interests.” Can't get any provider to deliver broadband to an area? No problem, because the free market has decided it’s not worth the effort. Only have one choice for service, and that service is overpriced and subpar? Not to worry — that’s the market at work. The giant telcos’ definition of market is smothering the national broadband goals that official Washington, D.C., says it wants. It’s time for communities to step up and embrace the market in its true form.

Gartner raises IT spending forecast for 2011

Gartner raised its global IT spending forecast to $3.6 trillion in 2011, up 5.1 percent from 2010. Gartner’s previous outlook called for IT spending growth of 3.5 percent for 2011. Meanwhile, Gartner said the official global IT spending tally for 2010 was $3.4 trillion, up 5.4 percent from 2009. Is it all clear sailing? Not quite. Gartner said that devaluation of the U.S. dollar has boosted its forecast. Gartner noted that it had projected IT spending growth of 3.2 percent for 2010. Of the 2.2 percent spread between its forecast and what actually happened with IT spending, 1.6 percent of boosted by the weak dollar against other currencies.

Military and government data breached 104 times in 2010

Military and government agencies mistakenly exposed the personal data of thousands of citizens in at least 104 incidents in 2010, up from 90 such data breaches the previous year, according to a new study.

Yet, far fewer personal records were released as a result -- 1.2 million in 2010, well under the 79.4 million exposed in 2009. The study by the nonprofit Identify Theft Resource Center found that there were 662 breaches reported nationwide in 2010. The center defines a breach as an event in which an individual's name and other identifying information, such as a Social Security or driver's license number, banking or medical data, are put at risk in electronic or paper format. Of the 622 total breaches reported in 2010, 15.7 percent involved data handled by state and federal agencies and the military. Sixty-two percent of all breaches resulted in the exposure of Social Security numbers. One of the biggest breaches involved the exposure of 207,000 records of Army Reservists in Colorado. Businesses accounted for the largest percentage of data breaches -- 42.1 percent. Medical and health care facilities accounted for 24.2 percent, followed by educational institutions at 9.8 percent and the banking industry at 8.2 percent.

A National Program Office for Enhancing Online Trust and Privacy

The Commerce Department will host a National Program Office (NPO) in support of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC).

As I've written previously, the NSTIC fulfills one of the action items in the Cyberspace Policy Review and is a key building block in our efforts to secure cyberspace. We have a major problem in cyberspace, because when we are online we do not really know if people, businesses, and organizations are who they say they are. Moreover, we now have to remember dozens of user names and passwords. This multiplicity is so inconvenient that most people re-use their passwords for different accounts, which gives the criminal who compromises their password the “keys to the kingdom.” We need a cyber world that enables people to validate their identities securely, but with minimal disclosure of information when they’re doing sensitive transactions (like banking) - and lets them stay anonymous when they’re not (like blogging). We need a vibrant marketplace that provides people with choices among multiple accredited identity providers – both private and public – and choices among multiple credentials.

For example, imagine that a student could get a digital credential from her cell phone provider and another one from her university and use either of them to log-in to her bank, her e-mail, her social networking site, and so on, all without having to remember dozens of passwords.

Such a marketplace will ensure that no single credential or centralized database can emerge. In this world, we can cut losses from fraud and identity theft, as well as cut costs for businesses and government by reducing inefficient identification procedures. We can put in-person services online without security trade-offs, thereby providing greater convenience for everyone. This is the world envisioned in the NSTIC. We call it the Identity Ecosystem.

Benton

Search