Technology Daily and Tech Daily Dose will not publish Monday, July 2 through Wednesday, July 4 due to the Independence Day holiday. We will resume publication on Thursday, July 5. To celebrate, take a look at JibJab's latest video, a remixed version of the Star Spangled Banner. Enjoy!
Technology Daily broke the news in Thursday's PM Edition that royalty collector SoundExchange was planning to extend what it sees as an olive branch to large Internet radio providers who are worried that a forthcoming fee hike could harm their industry.
On Friday, SoundExchange made the offer official in a press release that proposed a cap on minimum fees charged against royalties for sound recordings played by webcasters like America Online, Pandora and Live365. The $2,500 ceiling would apply to regulations (due to take effect July 15) that requires services to pay a $500 minimum fee “per station or channel” regardless of the overall number of stations or channels they stream.
There was plenty of confusion over how the minimum fee set by the Copyright Royalty Board would apply, said John Simson, the group's executive director. "We certainly don’t want anybody to get unduly hurt by the minimum fee, but there is a value to music and a cost to administering the digital royalty program, and we wanted to ensure that everyone was treated fairly – artists, webcasters and record labels," he said.
SoundExchange reached out to the Digital Media Association this week to discuss the offer but DiMA has not formally responded. Simson's organization is also negotiating with small and noncommericial webcasters such as public radio and college stations to provide below-market rates for what they will pay to artists and record labels.
"We are in this together," Simson said. "We want to see artists and labels fairly paid for the music they provide and we want to see Internet radio grow and flourish."
*UPDATE* DiMA responds to SoundExchange
DiMA Executive Director Jonathan Potter said his group would agree to a $2,500 per-service cap for the entire term of the royalty board ruling (through 2010), but not the partial-offer presented to us in writing, which would terminate in 2008.
"Any offer that doesn't cover the full term is simply a stay of execution for Internet radio," he said in a statement. "The looming 2009 billion-dollar threat is destabilizing and inhibits investment and growth." Potter added that he was "disappointed to have to issue this statement" because he would rather negotiate important issues "directly with our counterparts rather than through press releases.”
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers wrapped up its conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Friday with a board meeting and a briefing with reporters. ICANN President Paul Twomey said this meeting was "very intense" and "very busy," thanks in part to the tropical surroundings.
"People were more relaxed and they got more done," he said on an afternoon conference call. ICANN Board Chairman Vint Cerf joked that the group's good spirits could be attributed to one of the U.S. territory's most important economic engines -- rum.
"I can't confirm that, but I still can't remember what happened last night," Twomey laughed, hinting that the potent alcoholic beverage was prominently featured at after-hours social gatherings.
Meanwhile, ICANN made progress this week on the issue of domain name "tasting" and "kiting." Read more in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
Some die-hard techies in Washington camped outside of AT&T stores, hoping to get first dibs on Apple's new iPhone, which goes on sale Friday at 6 p.m. Several local TV stations ran stories on their morning news about the frenzy. At the AT&T store in Chevy Chase, some people had been in line since midnight.
"We have phones here, we don't discuss quantities of phones at our locations," AT&T Sales Manager Colin Martin told NBC 4. Some VIPs, like lawmakers and professional athletes, tried to get early access to the iPhones but they were told to get in line like everyone else.
Here's coverage from NBC 4 and Fox 5 News.
Cross-posted at Beltway Blogroll
Rep. George Miller is getting some bipartisan blog love for a new interactive campaign against the Iraq war that is engaging voters via blogs, online social networks, podcasts and Web video.
Both Republican new media strategist David All and self-avowed "lefty" Colin Delany of e.politics mentioned the effort, as did the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.
Technology Daily is on top of the story, too, thanks to our e-government/Web 2.0 expert, Aliya Sternstein. You can read her story from yesterday PM Edition in the extended entry.
Frustrated by an alleged liberal bias on YouTube and Wikipedia, Republicans have teamed up to launch conservative alternatives to the popular sites.
But the GOP-friendly QubeTV and Conservapedia haven't exactly impressed comedian Lewis Black. In a guest spot on "The Daily Show" this week, Black blasted the idea that YouTube and Wikipedia, sites that accept contributions from anyone, are part of a vast liberal conspiracy.
To make his point, he noted that nearly all of the videos on QubeTV, including one comparing Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, are also on YouTube. "In other words, the conservative alternative to YouTube is YouTube," Black said.
The disrespect is mutual, apparently. The entry for "The Daily Show" at Conservapedia says the comedians "show a liberal bias" and notes that "some believe" that host Jon Stewart demeans conservative positions on gun rights, abortion and Christianity. It also claims that Stewart "often mocks" the war in Iraq -- an accusation that surely isn't a laughing matter. -- Michael Martinez
Civil liberties and high-tech watchdogs spoke about "the state of American freedoms" on Thursday at a Capitol Hill forum organized by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers. The Michigan Democrat said the event, which may become an annual affair, was appropriately scheduled days before the Fourth of July.
Greg Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology argued that as technologies advance, citizens need "more and not fewer privacy protections." When the Constitution was written, there were no telephones or e-mail, he pointed out, and the Internet age has changed everything.
"E-mail lives on," Nojeim said. "The thing that you thought was a private thing, the thing that you wrote that was a private thought, is living out of your control and that's something that you have to come to grips with." Federal laws also need to reflect that reality, he said.
But the current White House has not trended in that direction, Nojeim said. "While more privacy protections are being called for, the administration wants Congress to move in the opposite direction." He was referring indirectly to Bush's hope that lawmakers will revamp a 1978 intelligence law in ways that worry privacy and civil liberties advocates.
Meanwhile, this week's unveiling of the CIA's so-called "family jewels," 703 pages of documents that the agency fought to keep secret for three decades, underscores the need for greater safeguards, he said. When left to their own devices, law enforcement and intelligence officials "do what they think is appropriate for them to carry out their mission, which is not necessarily thinking about and protecting civil rights," he said.
Continue reading Hill Panel Examines 'State Of American Freedoms'.
Sixteen leading conservative groups sent a letter to Senate and House leaders on Thursday condemning a pair of patent bills currently moving through the chambers.
Signatories included Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum; Kevin Kearns, president of the U.S. Business and Industry Council; J. William Lauderback of the American Conservative Union; Jim Backlin of the Christian Coalition of America and others.
The bills, H.R. 1908 and S. 1145, will "severely hamper U.S. competitiveness and threaten American businesses -- along with the jobs they create -- by undermining intellectual property rights," they wrote. The measures "will cripple most of America's smaller inventors and even the larger industrial firms that depend on patents, as well as research universities."
Overseas interests, which are "trying to slow America's innovation engine… will be happy with the proposed changes," they said. That’s why, for example, Chinese computer giant Lenovo, backs the bill, the letter stated.
No word on whether major liberal organzations are getting fired up over this legislation...
On Thursday morning, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing on the heated debate over a forthcoming Internet radio royalty hike and -- surprise -- the most interesting exchange revolved around lemonade. It's a hot, humid day in Washington and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., couldn't help but work in a tortured metaphor.
For the purposes of this blog post, record labels and artists produce the citrus-flavored beverage. Webcasters manufacture the bottles and packaging. So, here we go…
Johnson said everyone loves lemonade on a hot day but you can get that lemonade from a glass or bottle or jug (a variety of sources) -- it's the lemonade that matters. "Why shouldn’t a person who produced the lemonade get paid as opposed to those who put together the packaging the lemonade is in?" he asked.
Children's musician Cathy Fink, who supports the fee increase, said: "I want to get paid for my lemonade because it costs me something." Country artist Joey Allcorn, who sides with webcasters, retorted: "If you put the people who made the cup out of business, what are you going to put your lemonade in?" Fink snapped back that if she didn’t make the lemonade, the bottler wouldn’t exist.
Read more about the great lemonade… er… Internet radio debate in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
The Digital Freedom campaign, led by the Consumer Electronics Association, New America Foundation, Public Knowledge and others, is looking to spread its message of protecting consumer rights in the digital age by holding a pre-Independence Day celebration on Thursday night.
The invitation-only event will include music from live bands and is expected to be well attended by policymakers, media and industry representatives. The campaign also announced Thursday that it will offer its first digital rights management-free download on DigitalFreedom.org. The group, which has been routinely criticized by content creators, recently expanded its online presence.
The following bands will be performing at the Digital Freedom showcase: Jonathan Coulton, Baumer and Exit Clov. The question remains: Were the invitations to the Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America lost in the mail?
Following news Thursday that European negotiators had reached a provisional deal with the United States on how to share information about trans-Atlantic air passengers that Washington says is necessary to fight terrorism, the European Union released a statement on what has transpired.
The EU said the U.S. has addressed its members' data protection concerns and set conditions concerning the handling of personal data originating from the European Union.
European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini welcomed the move. "The EU and its most important strategic partner in the fight against terrorism, the USA, have to join forces in this fight… These activities should be done in full respect of fundamental rights, including notably data protection rights and the right to privacy of EU citizens," he said.
-- Winter Casey
Clarification: The quote from Franco Frattini below was included in a release concerning a separate deal the European Union made with Washington for using bank-transfer data in terrorism investigations. However, an EU spokesman said Frattini's comment would apply to how he views the passenger agreement, too.
No big surprise here. Online analytics firm Hitwise reported this week that the volume of U.S. searches for the term “iphone” increased 583 percent in the past four weeks leading up to the June 29 launch date. The market share of U.S. visits to the Apple iPhone Web site increased 185 percent in the same time period, officials said. The most popular queries containing the term were focused on price, recent news, reviews and the release date.
Meanwhile, “iphone” was the 131st most searched for term sending traffic to all U.S. Web sites for the four weeks ending June 23, Hitwise said. The term was the fifth most popular search term sending visits to the AT&T Wireless Web site. AT&T will be the exclusive service provider for the long-awaited gadget. Read more here.
The FTC on Wednesday urged caution on imposing so-called network neutrality regulations designed to prevent high-speed Internet providers from potentially acting as content gatekeepers. A 170-page report states that some proprietary deals and data prioritization could actually benefit consumers.
There are more details in Technology Daily’s PM Edition. But for now, let’s focus on the reactions that flooded our inboxes shortly after the document was released...
Mike McCurry and Christopher Wolf, co-chairs of the Hands Off the Internet coalition, said: “Once again, independent experts have looked at the net neutrality issue and asked, ‘Where’s the beef? There’s an explosion in broadband deployment in America now, which is creating jobs and making high-speed connections more affordable.”
Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said the report “wisely recommends continued cautious monitoring of broadband development in the U.S.” and suggests that policymakers should consider unintended consequences of regulation on broadband services.
Steve Largent, president of the wireless trade group CTIA, said: “The Internet regulation scheme has forever been built on a hypothetical, ‘what-if’ scenario and today this flimsy theory has met yet another round of cold, hard, real-world facts that render it unworthy of our nation’s attention and resources. The facts about this debate have never been more clear. When it comes to the competitive and innovative broadband marketplace the consumer sits in the driver’s seat.”
National Security Archive Director Tom Blanton will appear on "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central Wednesday night to talk about the CIA's recently publicized "family jewels." It will be "national security discourse like you have never seen it before," an archive spokeswoman said in an e-mail. The humorous news program airs at 11:30 p.m. ET.
The CIA fought to keep the intelligence records -- nicknamed "the family jewels" -- secret for more than three decades but released hundreds of them on Tuesday. The papers show intelligence abuses of the Cold War, including assassination plots against foreign leaders and illegal efforts to spy on Americans.
Blanton's archive made the full 703-page collection available as a searchable PDF document on its Web site. Happy reading!
This week's Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico drew 33 more international voices than previous gatherings, thanks to the group's trial global fellowships program.
The fellows were chosen from 125 applicants (65 percent of the fellows and 68 percent of applicants had never attended an ICANN meeting), the group said in a press release. Ten more fellows were approved but opted to take part in ICANN's upcoming Los Angeles meeting instead.
Fellows have their hotel rooms and airfare to the meeting paid for, as well as a $300 stipend to cover incidental expenses. According to ICANN, the cost of the fellowship project for San Juan was roughly $95,000 -- but I'm sure the opportunity to witness Internet policy being shaped was priceless.
Reprinted from June 26 PM Edition of National Journal's Technology Daily
Thousands of Internet radio providers that silenced their audio streams Tuesday to draw attention to a recently proposed hike in music royalties got what they wanted -- an outpouring of support from listeners. The online advocacy platform that lets visitors to the grassroots group SaveNetRadio access contact information for their congressmen could barely handle the flood of hits received.
According to a SaveNetRadio spokesman, Web traffic reported by Capitol Advantage's Capwiz program by late morning was "far more" than the back-end service provider had ever experienced in a single day. The firm reportedly was "diverting all the resources they have to handle this traffic," the official said.
Capwiz is considered one of the most robust Web-based advocacy services in Washington and works with about 1,500 organizations. "It's definitely the highest traffic we've seen in a long time for any sort of single issue," said Mark West of Capitol Advantage.
Not surprisingly, digital royalty rights collector SoundExchange had some serious heartburn on Tuesday over the Internet radio "day of silence," during which thousands of webcasters turned off their music streams to protest the Copyright Royalty Board's recent decision to hike fees paid to artists and record labels.
Richard Ades, a spokesman for the organization that supports the board's ruling, told Technology Daily that he listened to some of the special programming being played in between pockets of dead air. "It's pretty amazing that they talk about how much they love music and how important it is to stream music, but you don’t hear them talk about the people who create the music," he said.
On one webcast, Ades heard someone claim that legislation, introduced in the House and Senate to stop the fee increase, is fair to artists. "The bill on the Hill would not only vacate CRB decision but would cut rates by 75 percent from what the old rate was. That’s their idea to fairness to artists? That's an insult," he said.
"If there's no music, then there will be no radio stations. It’s the artists and labels that create the music and there will be no music for them to build their businesses on," Ades said. "Why they don’t want their musicians and recording artists to have a fair share of the pie is mind boggling."
Current U.S. government policy on managing the potential health and safety risks of nanotechnologies, which are created from the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular levels, is not advancing with the speed of advancements in technology, a scientist said Monday.
The government has been “approaching 21st century technologies with a 20th century mindset," said Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Chief Scientist Andrew Maynard before the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Maynard would like the government to develop a goal-driven risk research strategy to provide decision-makers -- including regulators, industry and consumers -- with scientific information on how to handle nanotechnologies as safely as possible, according to a statement from the Woodrow Wilson International Center. He is also seeking an increase in research funding for agencies responsible for oversight and related research, more government coordination and an increase in government-industry cooperation.
The agencies include: the Environmental Protection Agency, Food & Drug Administration, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. -- Winter Casey
(Source: KCRW)
"This will give Americans a small taste of what could happen if we don't pass legislation or have the parties negotiate a solution. It'll be a bitter pill that the 70 million Internet-radio listeners won't want to swallow."
-- Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., sponsor of the Internet Radio Equality Act
"Jilting consumers by shutting down their businesses for a day does nothing to change the fact that artists and labels should be fairly paid by webcasters who build their businesses on the hard labor of artists."
-- SoundExchange spokesman
For more about the protest, click here. For a partial list of participants compiled by SaveNetRadio, follow the jump.
Doug Brent, chief operating officer for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, shared some impressive budget statistics at the group's meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Monday.
He said ICANN has net revenue of $46.6 million and expenses of $41 million -- but it looks as if revenue will actually be more like $50 million, ICANN board member Susan Crawford pointed out on her blog. Click here to see Brent's presentation.
But what's driving spending? About $1.6 million on new generic top-level domains; $1 million on the At-Large Advisory Committee and outreach; almost $1 million on internationalized domain names; roughly $800,000 on compliance; $700,000 on legal; $530,000 on registrar data escrow; $400,000 on economic assistance, Crawford wrote.
Internet radio provider Last.fm, which was recently acquired by CBS, will not take part in Tuesday's webcaster "day of silence." Thousands of online music streams will be switched off to protest a recent royalty rate hike.
Last.fm co-founder Felix Miller wrote on the company blog that "it's in no one's interest to let online radio die. But people want to make money from their music. And we want to pay artists for the music we play. It's only fair."
He pointed out that his is a social platform -- not just a radio station -- and unlike many webcasters, "people spend a lot of time using the site without ever switching on the radio." Read his entire post here. Meanwhile, Tech Crunch explains why Last.fm should participate in the protest.
The American Civil Liberties Union launched a Web page Monday to keep tabs on the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation into the Bush administration's domestic electronic eavesdropping program. On Thursday, the panel voted to authorize the use of subpoenas to obtain documents related to the National Security Agency initiative.
The Subpoena Watch page will list items and testimony that the organization feels must be obtained and will monitor the progress of the committee's work. ACLU top lobbyist Caroline Fredrickson said the page aims to "ensure that the committee does not back down from its requests and that a full and public investigation is completed."
Subpoena Watch includes mug shots of individuals who may or may not be subpoenaed. Vice President Dick Cheney, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller top their list. The CEOs of telecommunications firms, which have reportedly cooperated with the NSA, are also depicted with a clipart image of several suit-wearing silhouettes.
Might a series of maps make the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers more transparent? The group, which oversees the administration of Web addresses announced it is in the process of illustrating some basic geographic details.
The data being mapped includes: the number of accredited registrars and the countries in which they are located; board and staff representation by nationality; country-code top-level-domain (ccTLD) agreements; the general location of root servers based on publicly available information; root zone "Whois" information; support for internationalized domain names at TLD registries and more.
"This is a further example of making information about ICANN more accessible so that people can understand clearly how, why and what we do," ICANN Vice President Paul Levins said in a press release.
The ICANN community is meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico this week. Read more in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
Reprinted from June 21 PM Edition of National Journal's Technology Daily
Web Radio Plans 'Day Of Silence' To Protest Rates
By Andrew Noyes
Webcasters around the country are planning to silence their audio streams Tuesday to draw attention to a recently proposed hike in music royalties that they believe could harm their industry if implemented.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based KCRW was among the first to announce its involvement in the "day of silence." The station will pre-empt its online channels to loop a one-hour special about dangers posed by the Copyright Royalty Board's March ruling, General Manager Ruth Seymour said.
The public radio station's program, called "D-Day for Webcasters," will give listeners information about the industry's fight against the rate hike, which takes effect July 15. They also will trumpet a bill introduced by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., that would reverse the board's decision.
The protest "will give Americans a small taste of what could happen if we don't pass legislation or have the parties negotiate a solution," Inslee said. "It'll be a bitter pill that the 70 million Internet radio listeners won't want to swallow."
Every four years, National Journal magazine goes behind the scenes of Capitol Hill, to examine often-anonymous but always crucial senior aides and staffers. In this year's "Hill People" issue, we feature more than 330 such profiles.
Staff members from Technology Daily as well as folks from The Almanac of American Politics, the Hotline, CongressDaily and NationalJournal.com helped produce the issue, which was unveiled Monday morning. So, take a break from your trashy romance novels and bring us along when you hit the pool or beach over the July 4 holiday. You won't regret it!
Read more about "Hill People" here.
I missed a few concurrent early afternoon sessions at Friday's Digital Media Conference because I was busy hammering out an article from an interesting morning panel for Technology Daily's PM Edition.
Unfortunately, my company has not figured out how to clone me, so here is a rundown of the panels I could not attend:
What’s Next in Web 2.0? Innovators, creators and thought leaders look ahead at what consumers can expect in the years to come. KickApps Senior Vice President Mike Sommers; Electric Sheep Co. Producer Damon Taylor; and Digital Media Wire CEO Ned Sherman.
Digital Evolution of the Music Business. Pricing, online and mobile music product offerings; next generation devices; and the future of digital rights management. OneHouse LLC Managing Director Jim Griffin; ItsHipHop.Tv CEO Timmy Grins; Nettwerk Music Group's Brent Muhle; Clear Channel Radio Vice President Eric Siebert; Motorola's Dave Ulmer; and WRNR radio host Stacie Griffin.
Advertising 2.0: New Opportunities for Marketers. U.S. News Ventures CEO Eric Koefoot; Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Vice President Keith Tomatore; Swivel Media founder Erik Hauser; Clearspring Technologies CEO Christopher Marentis; and PayPerPost Vice President Randy Mountz.
In Technology Daily's PM Edition: The battle over webcasting royalties heated up at the Digital Media Conference. Panelists included SoundExchange's Michael Huppe; AccuRadio's Kurt Hanson; Matador Records' Dick Huey; Digital Media Association Executive Director Jonathan Potter; National Public Radio Vice President Michael Riksen; and Recording Artists Coalition's Jay Rosenthal. Attorney David Oxenford, who represents small webcasters, moderated the discussion.
The creator of widely acclaimed yet controversial films like "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" told the Digital Media Conference on Friday that Internet distribution and online activism has forever changed the way he does business.
Filmmaker Robert Greenwald and his company Brave New Films are now creating viral video campaigns focused on sociopolitical change that are shared for free, via the Web, e-mail, by partner organizations and through earned media. He began producing the shorts in January and has distributed nine to date.
Recent productions like "Fox Attacks" and "Impeach Gonzales" attracted millions of viewers in a matter of days. Hundreds of thousands took action on the issues they addressed. Not bad for a self-admitted non-techie (who once considered using the "reply all" feature on his e-mail account a breakthrough).
Greenwald's earlier longer-format releases also benefited immensely from the Web. He previously partnered with liberal activism site MoveOn.org to publicize one of his films. He expected to sell about 2,000 copes through the site. Instead, nearly 30,000 movies were sold and $1 million was raised. "That was the first education for all of us that there was an audience and the audience could be reached," he said.
Executives at Friday's Digital Media Conference representing companies with a huge stake in online content revealed their favorite Web site (that isn't their own). Sadly, Tech Daily Dose was not among them. I guess we still have some outreach to do.
WashingtonPost.com Executive Editor Jim Brady loves the Internet Movie Database, best know by its acronym IMDB. So does Ted Cohen, chairman of Mobile Entertainment Forum Americas. Bruce Campbell, president of digital media for Discovery Communications, can't live without ESPN.com.
Deloitte's Product Innovation Director Ed Moran favors bargain hunting site DealNews.com and National Geographic Digital Media President Betsy Scolnik adores celebrity gossip site TMZ and video-sharing site YouTube. Moderator David Card of Jupiter Research said he turns to Wall Street Journal's Web site daily.
The "MySpace ecosystem" extends far beyond the popular social-networking site itself, high-tech analyst John Barrett told the Digital Media Conference on Friday. The interconnected Web of relationships built on MySpace also extends to Friendster, Facebook and other community sites, he said.
People that have profiles on one platform usually also have a presence on several others, said Barrett, who is research director for Parks Associates. "The MySpace thread runs through all social networks" and layered on top of that are YouTube videos and digital photos from Flickr, he said.
Barrett also spoke about how consumers, namely younger ones, are taking in media. His main message was that many are top-notch multitaskers. Individuals are increasingly on their computers while listening to music and/or watching TV. "It's no longer one screen and two eyeballs," he said.
The analyst also said the bubble will "begin to bust" for many Web 2.0 start-ups. Five to 10 million unique monthly visitors are needed for a site to have solid footing in the new Internet economy, he said. Most new sites "don't have that kind of scale."
A major difference between the dot-com boom of the late 1990s and today is that the Sarbanes Oxley Act made initial public offerings too expensive for budding Web firms, Barrett said. That's why start-ups rely on investments from venture capitalists and other "angels" to save the day, he added.
The fourth annual Digital Media Conference kicked off Friday with a handful of analysts gazing into their high-tech crystal balls to predict top trends to watch in the months and years to come. Consumer Electronics Association Research Director Joe Bates had some interesting insight.
On the continuum from physical to digital, the vast majority of consumers are still purchasing content in a physical manner, Bates said. In one study, only 20 percent of respondents said they preferred to digitally download content, he said. Among early adopters, just 30 percent said they would prefer to acquire media digitally.
The convenience of buying and playing CDs and DVDs, as opposed to going online, buying music or a movie and uploading it, still wins out, Bates said. A number of consumers believe there are fewer restrictions in place with physical media, he said. Physical media is also easier to copy or share with family and friends, he added.
Bates' bottom line: "We have a long way to go. We'll continue to see growth in online distribution but it's going to be slow and it will take time."
An online petition aimed at the head of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is generating some buzz on YouChoose.net, a new cause-oriented social-networking site. The letter urges ICANN President Paul Twomey to crack down on "cybersquatting." Nearly 600 users had signed the petition as of Friday morning.
The letter begins: "We, the undersigned, are concerned about domain name parking abuse and request that ICANN revisit the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and the Trademark Cyberpiracy Prevention Act to ensure that a domain names that are parked would be available for sale at a price tag that would not be considered extortion."
Read more about the campaign here. Meanwhile, ICANN will host a meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico next week. Click here for the conference site.
Cable channel MTV has joined the crusade against the forthcoming Internet radio royalty hike, Tech Daily Dose has learned. The network is owned by media conglomerate Viacom and airs a variety of music, pop culture and reality shows aimed at young adults.
MTV has a prominent Web presence with news, podcasts, video clips and audio streaming services. The network's sister channels VH1 and CMT also offer online radio. Viacom owns Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, BET and other valuable entertainment assets.
The network joins major firms like America Online, Yahoo and Microsoft; small commercial webcasters; and noncommercial giants like National Public Radio in protesting the March ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board. The rate increase will begin July 15 unless Congress or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit block the decision.
A number of webcasters involved in SaveNetRadio, including MTV, will take part in a "day of silence" on Tuesday to protest the changes, which they say could threaten Internet radio's livelihood. Read more about that effort in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
Wireless power to recharge laptops and mobile phones could soon become a reality according to a U.S. team of physicists. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown how power can be transmitted without wires.
The scientists demonstrated the idea using copper antennas, a light bulb, and an electricity supply. They believe that "scaled-down versions of the system could be made for portable devices without sacrificing efficiency. This might also enable the design of electronic medical implants that do not need cumbersome wiring," according to the Institute of Physics.
The concept of wireless power has been entertained since the early 1900s. At that time the Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla envisioned a world of wireless power using a network of high-voltage coils and large electric fields. Tesla's idea was held back by safety concerns.
More recent proposals have transmitters emitting in all directions, which has been inefficient, and unidirectional transmitters have been impractical for most applications because they need a clear line of sight between transmitter and receiver, the institute said. Using certain electromagnetic waves that generally tend to decay quickly as they extend from an antenna could be the solution to past problems, MIT researchers noted.
To get a little bit geeky, the scientists "thought that if the receiver could resonate with the transmitter, the evanescent field would instigate a current between the two. In this way, non-resonant objects placed in the field would neither interrupt the signal nor absorb much of the field's energy." -- Winter Casey
The cultural obsession with all things tech received several prods in this week's edition of The Onion. The satirical newspapers highlighted the debut of Apple's new iPhone with a rundown of its features. It snidely noted that the highly anticipated gadget includes an "exclusive link to Google Street View so you can watch yourself using your iPhone at all times."
Google got additional treatment in The Onion's weekly installment of "American Voices," which documented the reaction of three pedestrians on the recent report rating the Internet giant's privacy practices as the worst among search firms. One fictional observer quipped, "This news has definitely made me think twice about providing my credit card number along with each search query." -- Theresa Poulson
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., unveiled a new Web page on Wednesday urging citizens to "Write Congress To Right Justice." The site was launched in response to the growing number of Justice Department career lawyers and others who have raised concerns about politicization in the agency.
The page provides a secure method for Justice employees to communicate what they know to his committee, which is investigating the issue. The panel will protect the confidentiality of those who come forward, a press release said.
The Progress and Freedom Foundation unveiled a report Wednesday that surveys the litany of tools and methods available to protect children from content deemed objectionable (See Technology Daily's PM Edition). But a day earlier, the Kaiser Family Foundation released some statistics that shed new light on the topic.
More than 1,000 parents of children ages 2-17 were polled along with a series of six focus groups held with parents across the country. The study found that 65 percent of parents said they "closely" monitor their children's media use, while 18 percent said they "should do more."
Since 1998, the proportion of parents who said they were "very concerned" that their kids are exposed to inappropriate content has dropped, from 67 percent to 51 percent for sexual content; from 62 percent to 46 percent for violence; and from 59 percent to 41 percent for adult language, KFF reported.
According to the report, parents are particularly confident in monitoring their children's online activities. About 73 percent said they know "a lot" about what their kids are doing online. Most parents whose children surf the Web said they check their kid's instant messaging "buddy lists" (87 percent); review their kids' profiles on social networking sites (82 percent); and review what sites they have visited (76 percent).
Continue reading Study: Parental Controls' Successes & Challenges.
CHICAGO -- General Electric's Bob Wright, who heads NBC Universal, took the dais at the NXTComm show here today before CNBC's Maria Bartiromo and played pretend journalist for a moment.
"I have some news," Wright said, bragging that he was scooping Bartiromo. "AT&T and Verizon are going to merge. The new company will be called AT&V."
That got a big laugh from the crowd of more than 2,000, as the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon Communications had just completed their remarks on the digital future. -- Gene J. Koprowski, for Technology Daily
The American Association of Independent Music, also known as A2IM, celebrated its second anniversary on Tuesday. The trade group, which represents independent record labels, has made some major strides since its inception.
A2IM established that independent labels collectively account for over 30 percent of the music industry’s Soundscan share. The group has been working to ensure that the sector is treated fairly with that market share in mind, officials said in a press release.
Over the past 36 months, the association has called for fair and uniform change between radio and music labels and consulted with the FCC on a proposed set of universal “rules of engagement” that were formally adopted in early 2007 with major radio companies.
“The music industry finds itself at a crossroads,” A2IM President Rich Bengloff said. “With physical sales diminishing while digital music sales grow both online and in the mobile marketplace, A2IM has become a strong voice for independent labels.”
The CEO of digital download community BurnLounge resigned this week in the wake of an FTC investigation into the company's business practices. Alex Arnold is out; Grant Johnson, a board member and entertainment industry veteran, is in.
"This change in management is a first step towards a reinforced focus on building the entertainment company we’ve always envisioned,” said BurnLounge co-founder Stephen Murray in a press release. Co-founder Ryan Dadd said Johnson is "absolutely the right addition to our team."
Earlier this month, the FTC filed a complaint in a federal court alleging that BurnLounge is operating an illegal pyramid scheme. The firm believes the filing "does not reflect the reality or substance of our business." The court denied the agency's request for a temporary restraining order and BurnLounge is working with the FTC to resolve the case.
Read more about the FTC's complaint here.
(Photo Credit: Ian Martinez)
The Telecommunication Industry Association's blogging machine Ian Martinez snapped a series of photos at the NXTComm conference in Chicago of exhibition hall booths that caught his eye. There were some architecturally stunning ones to be sure, but I bet he didn't capture a shot of Elvis with a coffee maker (from my CES blogfest).
Key members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees received a letter on Tuesday from more than 200 national organizations and businesses that oppose portions of a pair of patent reform bills currently under consideration.
In addition to the Innovation Alliance, signers of the letter include the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, the Small Business Technology Council and others. The letter was also endorsed by small and large businesses, venture capital firms and multiple universities.
The letter states that H.R. 1908 and S. 1145 will: "hinder innovation across the diverse sectors of the American economy we represent, including academia, agriculture, alternative energy, biotechnology, chemicals, electronics, environmental technology, financial services, information technology, life sciences, manufacturing, nanotechnology, and telecommunications."
Read more about the opposition here.
Grassroots activism has become a multiplatform venture, said media panelists at the 2007 Take Back America conference. Collaborations between bloggers, filmmakers, and Web sites combined with the efforts of local activists on the ground were responsible for the spring shutdowns of two presidential debates Fox News sought to host. The debates were controversial for Democrats due to arguments over whether or not Fox News could be an unbiased host, and whether it should be considered a legitimate news source, panelists said.
“The victory you just saw described could not have happened without various groups, sometimes with different agendas, coming together to fight the good fight,” said panelist Robert Greenwald, director of the film “Outfoxed” and creator of Brave New Films, which is currently focusing on the production of political viral videos that have become prominent on YouTube.
The collaboration between Greenwald’s company, MoveOn.org, African-American political organization ColorOfChange.org and Air America created “mutually reinforcing activism,” said Adam Green, communications director for MoveOn Civic Action. “This is what movement activism really is,” he said. -- Sarah Myers
Consumers, including corporate and banking executives, appear to be targets of a bogus e-mail purportedly sent by the FTC but actually sent by parties trying to install spyware, the agency said Tuesday.
The scam e-mail poses as an acknowledgment of a complaint filed by the recipient, and includes an attachment. Consumers who open the file unleash harmful software onto their PC, the FTC said in a press release.
The hoax e-mail is personalized, and contains the name of the recipient and their business. The message explains how the complaint will be used, who will have access to it and states: “Attached you will find a copy of your complaint. Please print a hard copy of the complaint for your records in the upcoming investigation.”
An FTC spokeswoman would not reveal know how the agency first became aware of the spyware scam or which law enforcement entities might be helping track down the perpetrators.
CHICAGO -- The morning session of the NXTComm conference here today was lively and full of humor -- much of it at the expense of the presenters.
Randall Stephenson has been chairman and CEO of AT&T for just more than two weeks now, and he said he has learned a major lesson during that short period of time. "The chairman still has to take out the trash at home and feed the dog," he said. "I learned that the hard way!"
At another point in the conference, Matt Ross, the group chief technology officer at BT, polled attendees about whether they have voice-mail systems on their home telephones, personal mobile phones, work mobile phones and office phones. When nearly 2,000 folks in the audience said yes to all of the above, Ross said, "I suggest counseling."
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, meanwhile, appeared at the show by live video conference and looked quite haggard . The reason he could not make it to the prestigious event in person? His wife is expected to deliver the couple’s second child today in Washington.
Telecom executives here joked that being the dutiful dad, Martin did not want to miss the "latest rollout" in his family.
-- Gene J. Koprowski, for Technology Daily
The voters have spoken -- and Celine Dion and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will now officially join forces.
Clinton, D-N.Y., asked the Web for help in choosing a theme song for her presidential campaign earlier this spring. After weeks of intense competition, Dion's "You and I" edged out the other tunes on the ballot, which included hits by uber-popular groups like U2 and the Dixie Chicks.
Our friends at the Hotline wisely called attention to the fact that Dion is Canadian. The ballot was actually pretty well-stocked with foreigners. U2 is famously Irish. KT Tunstall is Scottish. Smashmouth hails from California -- but their song that was up for consideration, "I'm a Believer," was originally recorded by The Monkees, another U.K. outfit.
It should also be noted that Clinton teased the announcement of the winning song with a salute to the finale of "The Sopranos." In a video posted on her campaign site, she recreated the series' final scene, complete with a star acting turn by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
It didn’t end with the couple eating onion rings, but it did feature Journey's 1981 power ballad "Don't Stop Believin," a ditty that rocketed into the top-20 on iTunes this month thanks largely to its now-infamous role in the final moments of the show. -- Michael Martinez
After more than four years of peer-to-peer applications dominating network bandwidth, HTTP (Web) traffic has outpaced P2P and continues to grow, according to new research from by Ellacoya Networks, which sells broadband service optimization solutions.
The firm surveyed about a million broadband subscribers in North America to find that HTTP accounts for 46 percent of all network traffic -- thanks mainly to streaming audio and video sites. P2P claimed 37 percent and newsgroups held onto 9 percent. Non-HTTP video streaming, gaming and Internet-based telephony were the next widely used applications.
The company's findings revealed that traditional Web page downloads (text and images) represent 45 percent of all Web traffic; streaming video represents 36 percent and streaming audio held onto 5 percent of all HTTP traffic. YouTube alone comprises roughly 20 percent of all HTTP traffic, Ellacoya said.
"The way people use the Internet is changing rapidly -- from browsing to real-time streaming," said Ellacoya's Fred Sammartino in a press release. "We expect to see new applications over the next year that will accelerate this trend."
Michael Moore's next documentary could possibly be on intellectual property laws, blogger Ann Althouse speculated. Technology Daily noted in Tuesday's AM Edition that Althouse observed he may tackle IP after viewing a video of Moore saying he supports free sharing of copyright-protected material.
We wonder how Moore would feel about the recent take-down of a full-length copy of his new documentary on the healthcare industry from the video-sharing site YouTube. AP reported that administrators removed the unauthorized copy of "Sicko" Monday after Lionsgate and distributor Weinstein Co. complained.
Moore had told Reuters on Saturday that he would not prosecute those circulating the bootleg copies after the film surfaced on the Internet over the weekend. He added: "I'm happy for people to see my movie. I'm not a big fan of the copyright laws in this country."
Perhaps someone inside the Beltway could question Moore about it on Wednesday if he attends the Washington screening of the movie, to which he has invited health care industry lobbyists whom he plans to film via webcam. -- Theresa Poulson
If you're not in Chicago for the NXTcomm conference, Ian Martinez would be happy to show you what you're missing. The Telecommunication Industry Association spokesman posted a pretty cool video on his trade group's blog on Monday -- a behind-the-scenes peek at the exhibition hall before attendees arrive. In the self-shot video, Martinez is assisted by what he calls his "SNFATBC" or Superstar Nerd Fest All-Terrain Blogging Cart.
Conference keynoters include Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers; FCC Chairman Kevin Martin; Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg; AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson; General Electric Vice Chairman Bob Wright; and Motorola CEO Ed Zander. Read more about NXTcomm here.
Miss America Lauren Nelson has partnered with software security company Symantec Corp. in hopes of alerting children and parents about Internet dangers. Nelson will travel cross-country in a tractor trailer with representatives from the company, highlighting the latest in digital technology.
An official announcement about the campaign will be made Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., will receive awards at the event for their efforts in promoting Internet safety.
Tech Daily Dose previously wrote about Nelson when she attended a fundraising gala for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; helped "America's Most Wanted" catch online predators; and received training at the Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Center. Nelson sure is keeping busy during her reign!
-- Sandra Gonzalez
Internet giant Google launched a public policy blog on Monday, adding to the growing list of tech firms in our wonky little Web neighborhood. Verizon, Cisco and others have begun blogging in the past year or so.
Andrew McLaughlin, the company's director of public policy and government affairs, wrote that his team is "seeking to do public policy advocacy in a Googley way." "We want our users to be part of the effort, to know what we're saying and why, and to help us refine and improve our policy positions and advocacy strategies," he said.
Interestingly, the blog launched with two months worth of posts. Why? The site launched internally in April so "we could limber up our blogging muscles," McLaughlin said. "Now that we've gone public we thought it'd be fun to share our earlier internal posts." It looks like Jamie Brown, Pablo Chavez, Adam Kovacevich, and Richard Whitt will also pitch in.
In the weeks and months ahead, they will weigh in on issues like network neutrality, censorship, innovation regulation, immigration, R&D, national security and trade. The blog has enabled comments too, so the posts "will promote real conversation," McLaughlin said. We'll definitely be adding this site to our bookmarks!
When I got a press release from the Commerce Department on Friday afternoon congratulating the 2005 National Medal of Technology Laureates I thought it was a typo since it happens to be 2007. I asked an agency spokeswoman about it and she explained that the White House determines the timing for such announcements and the ceremony dates.
In any case, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez congratulated the recipients. "Invention and innovation are the hallmark of our 21st century knowledge-based economy," he said. "We honor these pioneers in their pursuit of new knowledge and its application to improve the human condition here in the United States and around the globe."
Award-winners include: Alfred Cho, a semiconductor researcher at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs and Dean Sicking, a civil engineering professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A team award was given to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, whose researchers were honored for the development and manufacturing of a vaccine to prevent the deadly and disabling consequences of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections in children.
Late afternoon news on a Friday is my favorite (sarcasm noted)… but this item from the Electronic Frontier Foundation is worth blogging. Marcia Hofmann, a staff attorney for the watchdog group, reports that a federal judge has ordered the FBI to process 2,500 pages of records about its abuse of National Security Letters by July 5 and another 2,500 every 30 days thereafter.
The ruling was in response to EFF's Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit filed earlier this year, Hofmann said. More evidence of abuse was uncovered by the Washington Post this week and EFF urged the court to act. Read the judge's order here; EFF's supplemental memo here; and the Post article here.
I've heard some wacky analogies in my day but this one takes the cake… or the salad as it were. During a Friday roundtable on reforming a section of copyright law that pertains to digital music, music licensing expert Bob Kohn compared so-called "limited downloads" addressed in the Copyright Act's Section 115 to what presumably would be his lunch later in the day.
Kohn, who founded pioneering MP3 site eMusic in the late 1990s, told attendees at the Copyright Office-sponsored event that limited downloads, like salad, can be served in different ways. One option is to send the entire file to a user, then automatically delete it when the song ends. Another model is to allow multiple listens to a technologically protected track for a set period of time, he said.
From a technical perspective, it is more efficient to have the file sent in "batch mode" and let users consume it on their own time, Kohn said. Similarly, it is easier to pass around a bowl of salad and let diners take as much as they wish, rather than giving them a leaf at a time. "It takes a lot more servers to stream the salad to everyone," he said.
Read more about the event in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
Technology Daily's parent company, National Journal Group, announced an expansion of its partnership with NBC News/MSNBC/MSNBC.com on Friday as the 2008 presidential campaign season heats up. The two media outlets began sharing content last year with the creation of a politics portal on MSNBC.com.
Beginning this summer, a cadre of campaign reporters will blog and file video, audio and text dispatches from the trail for NBC News, National Journal, The Hotline, CongressDaily, MSNBC, MSNBC.com, NBC Mobile, NBC Radio and Telemundo.
The “Decision 2008” scribes will each serve as their own mobile campaign bureaus (reporter, producer, cameraperson and blogger), armed with the latest technology for both video and text, according to a press release.
National Journal Publisher John Fox Sullivan said having the reporters embedded with campaigns will provide political junkies with inside stories and interesting tidbits that they otherwise would not get.
"There is nothing like being there, up close and personal, when it comes to covering a presidential election, and this allows us to be there in a very big way," NBC News President Steve Capus added.
Want to know how the 2008 presidential candidates stack up when it comes to their broadband communications policies? Visit the Wireless Communications Association International's virtual Candidate Broadband Forum. The trade group launched the site this week in conjunction with its annual convention in Washington.
"WCA sees an enormous educational opportunity in assembling the most relevant news and opinion on these hot topics, and providing the option to comment," WCA President Andrew Kreig said in a press release. The site will be updated regularly, he said.
Technology Daily sent its enterprising new intern Sarah Myers to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's counterfeiting and piracy briefing Thursday morning where she got some face-time with Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman and NBC Universal General Counsel Rick Cotton.
Here's what they had to say about their latest attempts to curb intellectual property infringement:
TD: How will industries play a role in your efforts to combat piracy?
Glickman: Largely it’s been movies and music that have been the driving force, but the manufacturers and labor groups have now picked it up and they represent dozens of relations. It now has a better chance to get through Congress than entertainment piracy [legislation] alone does, which is a part of the issue. There hasn’t been one bill that merges all of these interests, but a series of individual efforts.
TD: How will state and local governments play a role in the process?
Glickman: The state attorneys general are very much involved in enforcement within their own states, and I expect we will be working with them. As for local governments, New York City is a good example. Mayor Bloomberg got the New York Police Department to work specifically on movie and music piracy, since it’s a center for entertainment piracy. One of the purposes of the bill is to get better federal coordination [with state and local governments], so I expect you’ll see that as a part of the package.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy unveiled an aggressive crime-fighting plan on Thursday that they hope will be worked into future legislation. Technology Daily's PM Edition has more.
The proposal included the following recommendations:
(There are more, but I didn’t feel like providing all the gory details).
- Designate a chief intellectual property enforcement officer within the White House, with broad responsibility to oversee the coordination of relevant agencies.
- Raise anti-counterfeiting and piracy responsibilities to senior levels at the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department.
- Fund additional agents and increase IPR training in both Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- Improve effectiveness of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.
- Increase information sharing with rights holders; develop “special scrutiny” database to flag suspect shipments; identify low-risk shippers.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois must be on the right track with his proposed policies. At least, this "Obama Girl" seems to think so. "You're into border security/let's break this border between you and me/universal health care reform/it makes me warm," she croons.
Personally, nothing gets my engine revved like network neutrality, but we each have our preferences. The pool of other candidates have extensive plans too, which makes us wonder whether anyone will ever sing about their crush on GOP contender Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
-- Sandra Gonzalez
The National Association of Broadcasters' opposition to the proposed merger between satellite radio services Sirius and XM kicked into high gear this week when the group unveiled a new Web site -- www.xmsiriusmonopoly.com -- where individuals can learn more about the $13 billion transaction currently under scrutiny by the FCC and Justice Department.
NAB hung a giant banner from its headquarters in Washington directing passersby to the site. The banner reads: "Do the Math: XM + Sirius = Monopoly." No word yet on whether XM will fight back with its own signage at its office building across town.
From Technology Daily's People column by Senior Writer Heather Greenfield:
John Edwards netted more than expected from an online offer of a secret pie recipe from his mom in exchange for a donation of $6.10 or more in time for his birthday June 10. A YouTube video to go with the campaign featured campaign aides Jonathan Prince and Joe Trippi attempting to bake Edwards his favorite pie for his birthday.
The 2-1/2 minute video has been viewed more than 35,000 times and raised $268,713.75 from 10,568 donors. Elizabeth Edwards appears at the end to say she did not approve of Trippi's burnt pie but that others could successfully make it. Trippi's mom didn't approve of the burning, either. Trippi told Technology Daily that the video didn't exactly help his image, but the recipe offer was a successful fundraiser for the campaign.
I'm not sure how I missed this yesterday, but legendary TV science educator Don Herbert, better known as Mr. Wizard, has died of cancer. He was almost 90 years old. A message alerting fans about Herbert's death was posted on the Mr. Wizard Studios Web site on Tuesday.
"We all feel extremely lucky to have had him in our lives and to have known and worked with Don over the years. We have also been tremendously honored to carry on his legacy," the note said.
Herbert conceived and wrote the "Watch Mr.Wizard" show that first aired on NBC in 1951 and won a Peabody Award for his work. The show was cancelled after more than 500 episodes. In 1983 Herbert developed "Mr. Wizard's World" for cable channel Nickelodeon.
There's no doubt that one of YouTube's most popular videos -- the geyser that errupts after dropping a few Mentos in a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke -- was inspired by Herbert's work. I propose a 21-bottle salute in his honor.
The Patent and Trademark Office and U.S. Chamber of Commerce kicked off an educational tour in Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday designed to raise awareness of the dangers of counterfeiting and piracy. The initiative also aims to give businesses the resources needed to protect themselves. The tour will include stops in Detroit, Mich., San Antonio, Texas, Seattle, Wash., Portland, Ore., and Burlington, Vt.
"Counterfeiting and piracy have real implications for local economies and consumers. They are threatening jobs, stealing tax revenue, and putting families at risk," Caroline Joiner, executive director of the Chamber's Global Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative, said in a press release.
Counterfeiting and piracy cost the U.S. economy more than $250 billion a year and result in the loss of 750,000 jobs, recent statistics show.
Shaggy haired 1980s rock icon Eddie Money is back in the public eye (sort of) and he's taking on Internet piracy. The man whose songs "Take Me Home Tonight" and "Two Tickets to Paradise" once blared on my boom box has joined the fight against illegal file-sharing.
"Music piracy is illegal and extremely detrimental to all of those who make a living creating original musical works," Money said in a press release on Tuesday. His new album, "Wanna Go Back," was released in March. "If you truly like music, don't steal it. Support the industry by downloading your music legally," he said.
SafeMedia Corp., which develops software to thwart peer-to-peer transmissions, sent out the release. Oh, and if you're in the mood to hear some classic Money, click here and here. Thanks YouTube!
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, was not too happy with a handful of Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans who have requested that a patent reform bill, S.1145, be further examined before the panel votes on it.
"There have been a number of hearings, briefings, and meetings about these issues over the past four years," said Berman, who introduced a companion bill, H.R.1908. "We've heard from representatives of all the interested parties -- from independent inventors, universities, bio-technology, pharmaceutical, software and financial services industries. Now we need to make some of the hard decisions because all of these parties claim to agree that the time has come to reform the patent system."
A spokeswoman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., echoed Berman's statement. She said her boss and the bill's GOP co-sponsor, Orrin Hatch of Utah, "have held hearings on this issue for several years now." They plan to mark up S.1145 this summer, she said.
Read more about the letter sent by Republican members of Leahy's committee in Technology Daily's P.M. Edition.
Now that online communities are becoming popular vehicles for political campaigns, perhaps a map would help some less technology inclined candidates navigate the Internet. MySpace, Facebook, SecondLife, Wikipedia and other sites are all accounted for. Note the "Gulf of YouTube" and "The Blogipelago."
The creator of the Strange Maps Blog believes the geography is not randomly assigned. Area and position are significant, thus each community’s geographic area represents its estimated size.
The drawing, originally posted at a Web site called xkcd, which is described as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language," is now being sold as a poster. Click here for a larger view of the map.
(Thanks to Ian at TIA for the heads up on this item.)
When the YouTube video-sharing site co-hosts its first presidential debate with CNN in about six weeks, Tech Daily plans to be in Charleston, S.C., to cover it. For a glimpse into how the debate will be structured, here's an excerpt from an article in Advertising Age:
As CNN's Anderson Cooper put it to viewers, "I'm going to host it, but, basically, it is going to be your questions and your YouTube videos the candidates are going to have to sit through and watch. So make them creative."The Time Warner-owned network is expected to make an announcement this week about the format of the first Democratic National Committee-sanctioned debate, asking users to upload their questions to YouTube with the promise that several of them will be put to the candidates that evening.
Republican new media consultant David All, whose company just last week started offering video production as a service to clients, has some tips designed to help candidates use, and keep from misusing, YouTube and other video-sharing sites:
1) Two-camera strategy at all times.
2) Watch the footage. Archive well.
3) Monitor opponent’s channel / organic search results.
4) Prepare known hit responses early / “flood the zone.”
5) Several different campaign YouTube accounts.
Visit All's blog, From The Trenches, for detailed explanations of the tips.
-- Danny Glover (via Beltway Blogroll)
(AP Photo via Washington Times)
Looking at this photograph, Tech Daily Dose wonders which interested the Albanians more: touching President Bush during his weekend visit to their country or capturing his photo on their cellular phones. Say cheese!
-- Theresa Poulson
The Huffington Post's list of contributors is getting longer and more diverse. Now they've recruited Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, to blog about technology and economic issues. His first post, titled "Broadband Blues," deals with whether the United States is losing the global race to offer citizens high-speed Internet access. Atkinson writes in detail about varying perspectives on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's broadband rankings and related issues. It's worth a read.
In other news, the recently founded Copyright Alliance has snagged Gayle Osterberg, former spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America, to handle the group's PR. Osterberg left MPAA several weeks ago to launch her own shop called 133 Public Affairs.
Tech Daily Dose has been quiet for a few days because I slipped away for a long weekend of R&R -- but I found out pretty quickly that it's hard to leave Washington behind no matter how far you travel from Capitol Hill.
Imagine my surprise when I wound up completely engrossed in a lengthy conversation about ins and outs of the current patent reform debate while gazing out at the white sandy beaches and crystal blue waters of the Riviera Maya.
The stranger with whom I spoke, while sipping first-rate margaritas, will remain nameless but the conversation with this Beltway outsider was captivating because I was exposed to viewpoints I had never heard before in my scores of hearings, briefings and interviews.
It's easy to lose sight of how pertinent policy issues impact those who do not frequent the halls of Congress. It's also enormously gratifying to see that folks who do not deal with this set of issues daily still follow this very important news story… even while on vacation at a secluded tropical destination.
The CEOs of Live365, Pandora, Real Networks, and Yahoo sent letters to Congress late Wednesday in hopes of drumming up support for legislation that would repeal the Copyright Royalty Board's recent ruling to hike royalty rates that webcasters pay the music industry.
The new rate structure will "cause immediate bankruptcy of the majority of the Internet radio industry when it becomes effective July 15, and will actually reduce royalties to record companies and artists as services go dark and royalties are never paid," they wrote.
The impact on what the executives called "a nascent, growing, competitive industry" is contrary to what Congress intended when it first legislated a sound recording performance royalty or enacted a royalty-setting calculation for Web radio.
"The future of music, of technology and innovation, of small artists and independent labels and millions of music-loving consumers is at stake," the CEOs wrote.
Governments can survive in the online community of so-called Web 2.0 if they adapt written policies and technical infrastructures first -- before experimenting with the online alternate universe, Gartner Research analysts said on Wednesday.
Thriving in the new virtual landscape requires governments to change their mindset about serving the public, said Andrea Di Maio, a vice president at Gartner Research.
At present, the government wants to establish its Web site as the portal of choice for all citizen services and inquiries -- and is struggling to do so. A one-stop shop for services is not the right approach, Di Maio said.
When people move into a new home, they eventually need the government to change their postal address, but, in the midst of the big life change, that is the last item on their checklist.
"The first thought is: I need electricity and gas and water," Di Maio said. Agencies should link their Web services to other popular Web sites, like those belonging to utility companies, to better accommodate citizens. In this manner, private sector Web sites act as an intermediary in delivering government services.
Di Maio described Web 2.0 as both a blessing and a curse at the G-Con Gartner Government Conference on Wednesday.
In the next 18-24 months, McAfee analysts are anticipating "more challenges than we've seen in the last 20 years combined" when it comes to cyber security problems, CEO Dave DeWalt said at a breakfast with reporters on Wednesday. That means more viruses, more malware and more cybercrime, he added.
"We're on a pretty hard ramp in terms of challenges," DeWalt said, emphasizing the need for legislation and industry cooperation. He lauded a recently introduced bill, H.R. 2290, that would criminalize attacks by botnets -- software robots that remotely controls computers -- and broaden the criminal code on electronic data theft.
DeWalt was in Washington with a handful of other Silicon Valley honchos lobbying on behalf of the Business Software Alliance. Read more about their efforts in Technology Daily's PM edition.
The Talking Points Memo blog reported on Monday that Fox News Channel broke the story of Rep. William Jefferson's indictment with footage of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers greeting Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at a recent hearing. Eek!
When the network issued its on-air apology for using the wrong video, it did not personally apologize to Conyers. So, the Michigan Democrat sent out this scathing statement:
"Fox News has a history of inappropriate on-air mistakes that are neither fair, nor balanced. This type of disrespect for people of color should no longer be tolerated. I am personally offended by the network's complete disregard for accuracy in reporting and lackluster on-air apology."
FNC mistakes Conyers for Jefferson [watch video]
FNC apologizes [watch video]
Adam Thierer at the Progress and Freedom Foundation has kicked off a 10-part series of essays that coincide with National Internet Safety Month. His musings on the PFF Blog are condensed from a forthcoming special report "Parental Controls and Online Child Protection: A Survey of Tools and Methods," which will debut June 20.
Part 1: Online Safety Metasites
Part 2: Internet Filters & Monitoring Tools
Part 3: Operating Systems and Web Browser Controls
Part 4: Website Labeling and Metadata Tagging
Part 5: Search Engine Filters and Portals for Kids
Check the PFF Blog for upcoming posts that will focus on the importance of online safety education; a voluntary online code of conduct; social networking safety; online predation and law enforcement efforts; teaching proper online etiquette and informal household media rules.
Dell will reduce the carbon intensity of its global operations by 15 percent by 2012, the company announced Tuesday. Chairman Michael Dell said in comments marking World Environment Day that Dell is asking customers for their ideas in building the "greenest PC on the planet." Dell also requested that its primary suppliers begin reporting greenhouse gas emissions data.
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on June 5, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. Meanwhile, another computer giant was expected to make an energy-related announcement Tuesday afternoon. -- Winter Casey
That's the day the highly anticipated Apple iPhone hits store shelves. It's $600 and only compatible and with AT&T wireless service. It also still requires that pesky two-year service plan. Although the price may be a hindrance for some, high-tech influentials won't think twice about handing over the dough -- and the mobile phone industry will be forced to react. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. In the meantime, watch Apple's latest soothing iPhone ad. It almost makes you forget the price tag.
Fears concerning the amount of information Google stores on consumers is best "mitigated by markets, not government mandates," according to analysis released Monday by Cord Blomquist of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
"Google’s Web 2.0 offerings are just that, offerings. No one has been coerced into using Gmail or posting pictures with Picasa. Privacy advocates could immediately protect consumers from data collection dangers by encouraging them to turn on, tune in, and log out. This is getting easier as increasingly savvy users avoid being locked into proprietary services—they don’t travel down any one-way streets," Blomquist said.
"In addition to opting out of services, spreading your Web activity across several search engines is a less costly and more effective privacy strategy than trying to place laws on something as untamable as online information, "added Blomquist. "For those still convinced that the Googleplex has its all-seeing eye is focused on them, there are proxy services and onion routers to run your Web traffic through dozens of servers worldwide, making it nearly impossible to unravel the origin of data."
According to the report, Google is not a monopoly because "big search companies are poised to take it on" and the "assault on Google isn’t limited to search" but "coming from anywhere there’s an online ad dollar to be made."
It is not necessary for the government to intervene to protect consumers from Google, Blomquist argued: "The real solution to increasing online privacy and competition isn’t in expanding government regulation, but making sure that regulation doesn’t stop the next silicon savants from expanding beyond the garage." -- Winter Casey
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is upset that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed the right of entertainers Cher and Nicole Ritchie to use the swear words "f---" and "s---" on broadcast television -- but not so upset that Martin refused to use the words himself, repeatedly, in chastising the court.
In a statement issued via e-mail, Martin used the f-word three times and the s-word twice. One example: "I find it hard to believe that the New York court would tell American families that 's---' and 'f---' are fine to say on broadcast television during the hours when children are most likely to be in the audience."
Using the words once to explain the ruling might be necessary (though readers certainly can get the point from hyphens as inserted in this blog entry). But repeating them multiple times is overkill. I wonder what Martin will think if broadcasters read his statement on the air this evening in reporting the court's ruling and the reaction.
The keynote presentations at Monday's Gartner IT Security Summit were interesting (see Tech Daily's PM Edition coverage), but I had to take a moment before returning to the press room to stroll through the expansive exhibition hall to see the gadgetry on parade.
One thing I noticed immediately is that the tchotchkes being given away at booths were plentiful -- so it must have been a good quarter for the computer security sector. Disclaimer: I picked up a few pens, a notepad and a tin of breath mints.
While I was wandering, I realized that this must be the year of the "mini-mouse." VeriSign and several others were handing out those little buggers, which have retractable cords and plug into laptop USB ports. Handy for business travelers I guess.
Meanwhile, SurfControl was passing out Etch-A-Sketch key rings and intrusion prevention provider Snort had a barrel full of squishy pig-shaped stress relievers that employees were stuffing into the hands of anyone who came near the booth.
The giveaways certainly don't stack up to the stellar conference goodies I remember when I attended events during the dot-com boom, but I'm sure attendees were pleased with the loot. It's like trick-or-treating for adults. Who could resist?
From Ars Technica:
June is Great Outdoors Month. It's also Dairy Month, National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, Turkey Lovers' Month, and National Adopt-A-Cat Month. Is it any wonder that, given the fierce competition, National Internet Safety Month isn't better known?
For the last several years, Congress has passed resolutions naming June National Internet Safety Month. This year's resolution was agreed to only weeks ago on May 16… In response to parental worries, Internet safety now gets to share the month of June with the turkey lovers. Don't say that government has never done anything for you.
Read the entire story here.
The Internet Engineering Task Force has given a preliminary green light to a new technology designed to detect and block fake e-mail messages, the U.S. Internet Industry Association reported Monday in its weekly bulletin.
The technology, called DomainKeys Identified Mail, is supported by Yahoo, Cisco Systems, Sendmail and PGP Corporation among others. The draft specification "harnesses the power of cryptographically secure digital signatures to thwart spam," USIIA said.
Read more about the IETF draft standard here.
During a visit to Silicon Valley last week, presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her high-tech innovation agenda. Unfortunately, when the New York Democrat spoke to 200 industry insiders, the banner behind her read: "New Jobs for Tommorrow." Oops.
(Courtesy: SF Gate Politics Blog)
Duffy Jennings, spokesman for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, told the San Francisco Gate that the Clinton campaign was responsible for the typo.
Robin Gibb, best known as a member of the disco trio the Bee Gees, told BBC News that he plans to campaign for a change to copyright laws on behalf of musicians in the United Kingdom. Performers there receive royalty payments for 50 years, at which point their work enters the public domain.
"Artists should be getting royalties for the records that they make for life," Gibb said in an interview. The singer has just been named president of CISAC, a group representing creative artists around the world.
The 57-year-old singer wants to launch a record label for U.K. artists, giving them easier access to digital download stores like iTunes. "There are still many major writers who still don't own their catalogue," he said. "It's a moral issue that people should get a bigger piece of the pie."
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