InternetPolicy.net

Center for Pest Research

CNET's John Borland writes: "As Congress takes a more serious look at legislation to restrain spyware, a growing number of online companies are lining up to give consumers their own anti-spyware tools. The latest is security software company PestPatrol, which [yesterday] launched a new anti-spyware resource center, drawing together how-to articles, a large searchable database of spyware, adware and related 'pests,' and other information on the issue. The site focuses more heavily on spyware information than do similar sites at antivirus companies such as Symantec. But like those rivals, it aims to show the breadth of its creators' familiarity with the ever-evolving world of digital annoyances and, ultimately, persuade people to buy its software..."

That description is rather too cynical, we think. The Center for Pest Research responds to the need for more public understanding of malware that does not fit into the traditional categories of viruses and worms: keystroke loggers, trojans, pop-up ads, hijackers, etc. CPR offers descriptions of newly discovered pests, a pest encyclopedia, trends in pest proliferation, recommended countermeasures, in-depth research reports and white-papers, etc. The founders of the sponsoring company were early leaders of the National Computer Security Association (now called Truesecure), and PestPatrol was the first commercially available anti-spyware program, released in 2001. A most useful service.

Florida to tax home networks?

Michelle Delio writes in Wired News that "Florida state officials are considering taxing home networks that have more than one computer, under a modified 1985 state law that was intended to tax the few businesses that used internal communication networks instead of the local telephone company... In 2001, that law was expanded to make 'any system that is used for voice or data that connects multiple users with the use of switching or routing technology' taxable up to 16 percent...

"'The tax language is so broad that virtually any communication technologies in your home or office could be subject to this tax,' said Chris Hart, spokesman for ITFlorida, a not-for-profit industry organization for the state's technology professionals. 'It's difficult to imagine a more anti-technology, anti-business tax... Information on this issue is starting to reach the general public, and it probably isn't widely understood just yet,' [Hart] said. 'However, once people do realize how this tax could impact them on a personal level, they wake up very fast.'

"...Florida Gov. Jeb Bush...has said he isn't in favor of the tax, but many fear he may be swayed by city and county government officials. The tax would go, in part, toward school construction and other projects. Additional meetings on the proposed rules for the tax will be held in other locations around the state later in the year, Department of Revenue officials said.

"If the law is implemented, Florida would have the most wide-reaching state tax on technology... [Officials] estimate enforcement of the tax could bring in more than $1 billion a year in revenue for the state."

E-business continuity insurance

This could be considered a follow-up to our item about next month's Meltdown conference: later today, John Quarterman will speak at the Supernova conference in Santa Clara, California, on the need for new forms of insurance to reduce the financial impact of Internet outages, hack attacks and other disruptions of online commerce. Well-known as the publisher of the Internet Weather Report and the Quarterman Report, this expert on net metrics recently repositioned himself as the CEO of InternetPerils, Inc.:

"InternetPerils is the industry’s leading provider of Internet risk management products for insurers, financial institutions, banks, telecommunications providers, government, and enterprises that need to effectively manage their Internet business risks... Businesses that use the Internet need to deal with risks beyond their control through new risk management strategies, starting with Internet business continuity insurance. 'Such policies may be hard to find today,' said Peter F. Cassidy, Director, InternetPerils. 'But so was sea voyage insurance in the 17th century at the beginning of the great age of seafaring. It is time for businesses to demand insurance for faring on the global sea of the Internet...'"

US telecom research in disarray

Ashlee Vance reports for The Register from the SuperComm conference in Chicago (20-24 June):

"...The US tends to enjoy a position of prestige in most things IT. This, however, is not the case in telecommunications where major US corporations have been punished by a bust of magnificent proportions, a mess of wireless technology standards, and mediocre broadband adoption rates... The main worry is that the EU and Asian countries are outdoing the US with regard to the help they provide to advance telecommunications technology. The US tends to put the bulk of its research spending behind defense technology, biomedical research and high-end computing. This is due, in part, to the priorities the government has identified and a belief that a deregulated telecommunications market will take care of itself...

"[Peter Rooney, deputy director of the House Committee on Science] and others, proposed that the telecom sector adopt policies similar to those used by semiconductor companies. Chip makers tend to lay out very specific long range technology roadmaps... This type of focus helps the government out, letting it know where investment should be directed...

"'To have a roadmap, you need a way of getting together,' said Jeffrey Jaffe, president Bell Labs Research for Lucent... Jaffe argued that creating an entire communications infrastructure and guessing where it might go next is a tad harder than narrowing in on cramming more transistors on a processor. He then put the focus back on the government, pointing to the EU's Sixth Framework research model as something the US should consider...

"Al Vincent, director of the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, backed up the position on government spending, saying federal funding for telco programs has been 'increasing at a fairly decent clip.' The US currently spends 2.6 percent of its GDP on research as compared to the 1.9 percent spent by the EU, although the EU hopes to raise this total to 3.0 percent by 2010. 'The basic story is that the government side is slowly increasing, and the industry side has dipped and is slowly coming back,' Vincent said....

"'I think the telecommunications industry has been grossly ill-served by its early success (with the Internet and cell phones),' [said Preston Marshall, a program manager in DARPA's Advanced Technology Office]. 'It has made the telecommunications industry incredibly evolutionary with products that are two or three times better. Our threshold for funding is something that is 10 times better...' Marshall suggested that researchers would be really useful if they 'banned IP' from their minds all together and looked to the unknown.

"Overall, the government officials put a lot of pressure on the private sector and research bodies. The Feds won't fund any project that could harm current business models, because there's no sense in knocking our own companies. So they want the private sector and universities to come up with technology that will benefit everyone equally and that has no application today. Great. Get to it.

"Exactly how these telcos are to get together and agree on what these magic technology areas might be is difficult to imagine. With the antitrust regulators watching the telcos every move, it would seem a tad difficult to set up a meeting to discuss how they all might move forward as a collective." [Thanks to DeWayne Hendricks for the pointer to this article.]

File-sharing boosts CD sales say S Koreans

In South Korea, Chosun Ilbo's English-language digital edition reports that "Cetizen.com, a gathering (place) for mobile users, conducted a survey (of) 13,091 Internet users about their opinions on sharing MP3 files and announced its results Sunday. To the question, 'Do you think that your purchase of albums would have changed if MP3 files were not shared through the Internet?' 55.1 percent of the respondents answered that they would have purchased fewer albums because they would have lacked information about new albums and singers. 30.4 percent replied that there wouldn’t have been any differences and only 14.4 percent answered that they would have bought more albums if files were not shared. When asked if they used MP3 files to listen to free music, 75 percent answered yes. 35.9 percent answered that they used the MP3 files to check if the songs in the album were good enough to purchase. Meanwhile, about the appropriate way to charge for MP3 files, 36.7 percent replied that a fixed amount for one song would be suitable and 35.4 percent chose a fixed amount for each month. 18.7 percent answered that it would be suitable for producers of devices, such as MP3 players, to compensate the copyright holders."

Wi-Fi spreads in Latin America

"Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the title of 'world's first Wi-Fi-linked e-payments network' is claimed by The Mall of San Marino in Guayaquil, Ecuador," Andrew Burger announces in an article for E-Commerce Times entitled "Broadband Wi-Fi Spreads in Latin America." Burger goes on to describe other success stories elsewhere in the region.

Nortel accused of helping China catch dissidents

The headline of an angry but detailed essay in yesterday's Asian Pacific Post asks, "Why is Nortel helping China jail Internet users?" This question is amplified by Greg Walton, writing for China Digital News, who cites the APP article (in which he is quoted) and adds further accusations about secret subsidies from the Canadian government that alledgedly help Nortel sell data network equipment, software and services to China.

Dubai creates tax-free zone for outsourcing

"Dubai Internet City today announced the Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ), the world's first 'free zone' dedicated to the outsourcing industry. The announcement was made by Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, CEO of Dubai Internet City at Europe's biggest conference on outsourcing... DOZ's offering includes 100% exemption from taxes, arguably the world's most reliable technology and communications infrastructure, a one-stop shop of support services and the best possible working environment... Easy set-up, speedy incorporation and trade licensing, a fast-track 24-hour visa service to hire staff quickly and easily, as well as facilities management, hospitality and event management services enable companies to focus resources on value-adding functions..."

Asian Internet access revenues up 32% last year

"Internet-access revenues in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan grew 32 percent to 8.8 billion dollars in 2003, industry research house Gartner said Monday. The upturn largely reflected China's booming economy which saw broadband connections growing to a phenomenal 11 million in 2003 from 3.4 million in 2002... [Andrew Chetham, Gartner's principal analyst for the region] said the figures showed Internet and broadband access revenues were quickly becoming an important source of income for fixed-line telecom service providers faced with declining sales in the voice business segment..." (via AFP)

BusinessWeek's "Bang"

Stephen Baker and Heather Green have written a whirlwind tour of convergence entitled "Big Bang!" for BusinessWeek:

"For nearly two decades, industry sages have heralded the coming age of converging digital technology. But it remained an empty slogan. Now, thanks to faster chips, broader bandwidth, and a common Internet standard, technologies are quickly merging... That sets up a collision of three massive industries. In one corner stands the $1.1 trillion computer and software biz, with its American leaders. In another is the $225 billion consumer-electronics sector, with its strong Asian roots and a host of aggressive new Chinese players. The third camp is the $2.2 trillion communications industry, a behemoth that extends from wireless powerhouses in Asia and Europe to the networking stars of Silicon Valley. All three groups will have a hand in building the digital wonders that are headed our way. But none of these industries, much less a single company, can put all the pieces together. They all need help. For this they venture into adjoining territories, where they forge new partnerships and take on new rivals... 'This is going to be the most disruptive period in the past 50 years,' [says Hossein Eslambolchi, president of AT&T Laboratories]...

"Those who figure out how to reach through the networks to deliver customized information and services will be the architects and kings of the converged economy. Michael Moe, co-founder of ThinkEquity Partners LLC, a San Francisco investment bank, predicts that these people and companies will rise quickly. 'Five years from now, it will be over,' he says. 'The winners will be determined'..."