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October 31, 2007
ICANN Celebrates Vint Cerf At Los Angeles Gala
Hundreds of members of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers community celebrated the tenure of longtime chairman Vint Cerf on Tuesday night at Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles. Cerf, who also serves as Google's chief Internet evangelist, leaves his ICANN post later this week.
"Vint was very much a part of the ICANN model's creation. No individual, no country, no company controls the Internet. Instead, it is the Internet community that drives the ICANN agenda," ICANN President Paul Twomey said.
"People may not realize that Vint, like all members of the ICANN board, serve the ICANN community as volunteers. It's an incredible sacrifice made in the name of a stronger and better single globally interoperable Internet. That model works," he added.
Twomey led a series of tributes at the gala, which included speeches from Ira Magaziner, who oversaw the Clinton White House policy on the Internet that led to the creation of ICANN, and Steve Crocker, chair of ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee and Cerf's life-long friend.
Read more about Cerf's time at ICANN in Technology Daily's "Issue of the Week" on Monday.
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Mike Huckabee's Stance On Net Taxes
President Bush is expected to sign a bill that would extend the moratorium on Internet taxes until 2014, and The Club For Growth no doubt thinks that's a good idea on the off chance that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee becomes president.
Huckabee currently ranks low among the Republican presidential candidates but has been gaining ground in some polls and has been the subject of favorable media coverage lately. Today, Club For Growth President Pat Toomey, a former House Republican from Pennsylvania, issued a "memo to the media" designed to remind people of Huckabee's record, and Internet taxes is one item in the memo.
This is the last item on the list, but it's there nonetheless: "Internet Taxes, 2004: Huckabee opposed a congressional moratorium on state taxation of Internet access (Bond Buyer, 02/24/04)."
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October 30, 2007
Harry Potter Attends ICANN Meeting?
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' 30th meeting in Los Angeles this week drew a broad cross-section of stakeholders from the United States and around the world -- and apparently a fictional storybook character or two.
A quick scan of ICANN's published list of 623 pre-registered attendees, which the group posted on its conference Web site, includes an entry for "Harry Potter" from the U.K. whose affiliation is listed as "Hogwarts."
Potter is the main character of a series of fantasy novels written by British author J.K. Rowling that have been remade for the big screen. The stories about the adolescent wizard are largely set at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school for young wizards and witches.
Posted by Andrew at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
Another Bout With Random Spam
Oh good, now I can retire.
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ICANN On Ice & 'Constituency Day'
An ice sculpture of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' logo wowed guests at a Monday night reception. Read more about ICANN's meeting in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
Tuesday is “Constituency Day” where the different elements of ICANN’s supporting organizations hold their own meetings to discuss the latest developments and their positions on matters likely to be raised later in the week. There will be an evening gala at Sony Pictures Studios with a special tribute to outgoing chairman Vint Cerf.
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House Clears Seven-Year Net Tax Moratorium
The House on Tuesday cleared to President Bush a bill that would extend the moratorium against taxing Internet access until 2014, capping a flurry of activity on the issue in October.
Under current law, the prohibition is set to expire Thursday. Lawmakers voted 402-0 to add seven years to the moratorium -- more than double the three-year periods approved in 1998, 2001 and 2004 -- and to clarify the services covered under the statute.
The action came five days after the Senate voted to expand the four-year moratorium that the House had passed earlier this month. "It's high time that Congress passes this important legislation and gets it to the president's desk for his signature," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.
Read this afternoon's edition of Technology Daily for more details on today's debate.
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October 29, 2007
A Vote Against Net Taxes, For Competitiveness
By Mike Platt, Guest Blogger
There are just two days left until the current Internet tax moratorium expires. Collectively, until it is extended, we will all have to endure more bad Halloween jokes predicting the looming specter that awaits us if Congress doesn't complete its work.
But this issue isn’t a joke. Extending the moratorium is a global competitiveness issue. The Internet must remain free of regulatory barriers that could adversely impact our U.S. companies as they try to compete internationally.
The legislation passed by the Senate on Thursday night is an improvement over the previously passed House legislation. First, it's a seven-year extension versus a four-year extension. And second, the Congressional Research Service voiced concerns that the House-passed language didn't adequately exempt certain services, like instant-messaging, from taxation.
The leaders in the Senate, and also Sens. John Sununu, R-N.H., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are to be commended for bringing this legislation to a vote on Thursday night. Now the House needs to pass this bill and send it to the president.
Platt is the vice president of government and political affairs for TechNet.
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ICANN Meeting Photos
If you can't be in Los Angeles in person for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' meeting, check out our Flickr photostream here. I'll be posting photos for the next few days.
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ICANN Meeting Kicks Off
Vint Cerf, the longtime chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers kicked off the group's 30th meeting in Los Angeles on Monday by lauding members of his international community for their continued efforts to engage in a "rich, candid and respectful dialogue."
There is a "great deal of passion and energy to be found" among ICANN's ranks and Cerf said he has "been impressed by the maturing of ICANN dialogue into an increasingly thoughtful and substantive discussion." Cerf will step down from his post at the end of the week-long assembly.
Meanwhile, ICANN President Paul Twomey made the gathering a family affair. During the morning coffee break, I had a quick chat with his father who flew in from Sydney, Australia for the event.
The good-humored elder said that coming to the conference was an intriguing proposition but this would be his "first and last" ICANN meeting. A leg ailment limits his mobility and compulsory sightseeing over the weekend didn’t help the situation much.
Read more about the ICANN meeting in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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ICANN Meets In La-La Land
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers meets in Los Angeles this week. Stay tuned for coverage in Technology Daily and on Tech Daily Dose. For now, enjoy a few scenic photos.
Posted by Andrew at 02:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
October 27, 2007
The Senate Strikes a Compromise
By Jeffrey Arnold, Guest Blogger
The Senate worked its traditional magic of compromise Thursday as it passed legislation to extend the Internet Tax Freedom Act for seven years.
As it did so, it attempted to address the ridiculous assertion of Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that e-mail and like services are likely to come under attack by greedy state and local tax authorities. Okay, a compromise is a compromise, but when you look at the language it may be more restrictive than intended. It's a solution looking for a problem.
Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., passionately believes that the Internet Tax Freedom Act should be made permanent. On that point we are crystal clear. He was willing to compromise on a seven-year extension to move the matter forward and protect Internet access from taxation. Good for him.
But, a seven-year extension puts the matter squarely in an election-year cycle. Is that a good idea? Shorter is better.
The U.S. House will have to carefully examine the Senate's work and make some choices between the two bills. Local government fully supports the House-passed bill and would like to see that prevail, but this is Washington, D.C., and we all know that something will get worked out.
Hopefully, it's in the best interest of all the people, and the state and local governments that represent them.
Arnold is the deputy legislative director for the National Association of Counties.
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October 26, 2007
'Fair Use' Flap: Fox News v. McCain
Technology Daily on Friday reported on Fox News Channel's copyright complaint against Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, who used a snippet from last week's GOP debate in a campaign advertisement.
The Arizona senator claims that the "fair use" principle of copyright law entitles him to use the video from the Fox-sponsored event and his team said it will not stop running the 30-second spot.
Read more about the controversy in the PM Edition and follow the jump to read the cease-and-desist letter sent to the McCain camp by Fox.
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October 25, 2007
RE: COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTIFICATION:
CEASE AND DESIST
Dear ------- :
Please be advised that Fox News owns all rights and title of every kind in and to the GOP Debate which took place in Orlando, Florida on October 21, 2007 and which was telecast on the Fox News Channel, (the "Fox News Debate"). Fox News’s rights include, but are not limited to, the sole and exclusive right to broadcast, telecast, publish and otherwise disseminate the Fox News Debate in any and all media.
John McCain 2008 is hereby put on notice to cease and desist immediately from any further dissemination of any kind of the advertisement referenced below in any and all media, including on the website located at www.johnmccain.com/tvads (the "Website"), which Website is running a video campaign advertisement in support of John McCain entitled “Tied Up” and which advertisement includes an unauthorized clip from the Fox News Debate (the "Ad").
John McCain 2008 is also committing copyright infringement pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). As stated above, the Fox News Debate is the copyrighted material of Fox News, and Fox News believes in good faith that the use of the Fox News Debate is not authorized by Fox News, its agents, or the law and that it is an infringement of Fox News’s exclusive rights under section 106 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. Section 101, et.seq. Fox News demands that John McCain 2008 immediately cease and desist from any further use of the copyrighted material and that access through the Website to the Ad, the Fox News Debate or any portion thereof, and/or any other Fox News materials, be immediately disabled, and that an authorized representative from John McCain 2008 inform the undersigned of same in writing immediately.
The information in this letter is accurate and the undersigned is authorized to act on behalf of Fox News, the sole and exclusive copyright owner of the Fox News Debate.
Please understand that Fox News anticipates the full and immediate cooperation of John McCain 2008 in this matter. Also, please understand that Fox News does not hesitate to enforce its rights in these situations.
This letter is not intended to be a complete statement of the position, rights or remedies of Fox News. Further, nothing contained herein should be deemed to be a waiver of any of Fox News’s claims, rights or remedies, all of which are expressly reserved.
Sincerely,
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The Art of Drudge
In the latest issue of National Journal magazine, William Powers has an interesting column on one of the Internet's most popular news-breakers and noisemakers -- Matt Drudge. Here are a few snippets:
Read the full story here.
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602b Anyone? The E-Mail Tax Comes To Life
By James L. Gattuso, Guest Blogger
Remember Bill 602b? That legislation, which you probably heard about in a message forwarded to you by a well-meaning relative or friend, would have placed a five-cent tax on e-mails.
It was a hoax, of course. No such bill ever existed. But now comes word that the Internet tax bill just passed by the House actually would allow such taxes to be imposed.
According to a Congressional Research Service memo sent yesterday to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the bill’s definition of "Internet access" would allow taxation of "many more products and services" than the existing moratorium. Including, CRS said, taxes on e-mails.
E-mail and other Internet services are included in the prohibition now, even though they are not actually "access" services. However, they would be covered under the new language only if they are "incidental" to Internet access service.
As News.com explained: "That means, by the CRS' analysis, that if I'm a Verizon broadband subscriber but opt to get my e-mail service through, say, Yahoo's premium offering, the e-mail service is potentially taxable because it'[s not directly offered by the provider of my Internet connection."
No one, apparently, is actually planning an e-mail tax. The 602b hoax probably killed any chance of that. But who knows which of those "many more products and services" could end up being taxed?
It’s amazing what you can find in the find print of legislation. Thank goodness someone read it.
Gattuso is a senior research fellow in regulatory policy at the Heritage Foundation.
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Security Information Wants To Be Shared
This story was originally published in Tuesday's PM Edition of Technology Daily.
By Heather Greenfield
A House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee spent Tuesday afternoon reviewing government and private-sector efforts to secure the nation's Internet infrastructure. The House Homeland Security Committee held a similar hearing last week.
The attention comes in part because the Homeland Security Department has declared October as Cyber Security Awareness Month, but the hearings are timelier after a recent video leak to the media. It showed an experiment at one of the national laboratories in which a researcher hacked into a power-plant control system and set fire to it with the click of a mouse.
Getting a grasp of the history of improving cyber security is a challenge in part because the threat has changed. Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, said in prepared testimony that as America has moved from vulnerabilities that might have taken months to exploit to the current era of immediate attacks, "just getting information is no longer nearly enough."
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Greg Garcia assured lawmakers that the department has been holding regular meetings with the private sector over the last several years to strategize on how to better secure critical infrastructure like the Internet. But he said the department's role is more leadership and it cannot force companies to adopt preferred security practices.
A Government Accountability Office report released last week said that despite all the talk about cyber security, more action is needed to better coordinate overall strategy among various federal agencies and the private sector. The report also said that until Homeland Security addresses weaknesses in information-sharing about threats, it will not be able to effectively address vulnerabilities between the public and private sectors.
Since the department's creation, the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team, or US-CERT, has taken over information services that trade groups like the ISA had provided through contracts and non-disclosure agreements to its members.
Clinton offered recommendations that industry wants government to make to improve its approach to information-sharing.
"The traditional model is to withhold information and disclose if necessary," Clinton said. "The lack of sharing of information and government requirements for treating corporate information once disclosed is one of the major reasons that the necessary trust environment has not been established, and the information-sharing regime is widely held to be inadequate by all sides."
Clinton said the US-CERT information is useful but not all that is needed. "Treating cyber security just by providing information is like treating a staph infection with a Band-Aid."
He said the good news is that the private sector is taking the problem seriously, and there is an emerging consensus on how to formulate an effective government-industry partnership. But he acknowledged, "We have yet to see much in the way of concrete actions to make that system a reality."
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October 25, 2007
ICANN Meeting Will Proceed Despite Fires
Next week's meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers in Los Angeles will go on as planned, despite the massive wildfires in southern California, officials said this week on the conference Web site.
"These fires are on the outskirts of the city and are distant from the meeting venue. There is no likelihood of an impact," organizers wrote after being contacted by a number of meeting attendees. "We understand the challenges, personal stress, and loss these fires are causing in the region, and our thoughts are with our neighbors."
ICANN's 30th international meeting will take place at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport and I'll be there filing reports for Technology Daily's PM Edition and Tech Daily Dose. Stay tuned...
Posted by Andrew at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
SoundExchange/NPR Deal Coming Soon
The digital music royalty collector SoundExchange is making progress in its negotiations with noncommercial Internet music services like National Public Radio, the group's executive director, John Simson, told Tech Daily Dose.
His comments came Wednesday after a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the future of radio. The Copyright Royalty Board's controversial rate hike for webcasters was one of several hot topics discussed by witnesses and lawmakers.
Simson said he expects to have a resolution with NPR and other noncommercial song-streamers by the end of the year. Officials from both sides were expected to meet this week to continue their negotiations.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Potter, whose Digital Media Association represents America Online, Pandora, Yahoo and other large webcasters, said he still awaits details on the rate that SoundExchange wants his members to pay.
DiMA and SoundExchange reached a deal in late August to cap the Internet radio "$500 per channel minimum royalty" at $50,000 per service. The groups also agreed that beginning in six months webcasters will provide SoundExchange with a full census of songs performed.
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October 24, 2007
Keeping Up With the Joneses
Thursday is shaping up to be a busy day for lobbyists and spin doctors employed by fans and foes of patent reform legislation. Stakeholders from both sides of the debate have scheduled press briefings on Capitol Hill.
A late morning event includes officials from the venture capital, nanotechnology, biotechnology and medical technology industries, all of whom oppose current versions of S.1145, which awaits a Senate vote and H.R.1908, which already passed the House.
A short time later, the Coalition for Patent Fairness, which supports the legislation, has scheduled a lunchtime gathering for reporters. The general counsels of six member firms will sing the bills' praises. Stay tuned...
Posted by Andrew at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
NAB Radio 'Tax' Talk Questioned
The National Association of Broadcasters' campaign to characterize a music industry royalty collection effort as a "performance tax" appears to have hit a snag. At least one member of the powerful trade group's board does not agree with its nomenclature.
After using NAB's wording in his testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, Russell Withers, who owns 30 radio stations and six TV stations, said he believes the verbiage is inaccurate.
"I disagree with 'performance tax.' It's a 'performance fee,'" he said in response to a question from New Hampshire Republican John Sununu. The NAB has released a flurry of documents that portray the campaign to pay musicians for songs played on AM and FM radio as a "tax."
Nevertheless, Withers upheld NAB's argument that radio and record labels have "always enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship -- free music for free promotion." He called the music industry effort an attempt to compensate for "slowing sales and a flawed business model for the digital age."
Read more about the hearing in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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Clinton Is Ready To Filibuster Over Spying Bill
This is the latest report from the National Journal/NBC reporters embedded with the campaigns of top presidential contenders and in two key states.
DENVER -- New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she could not support a bill to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in its current form and would support a filibuster if changes are not made.
The Senate Intelligence Committee approved the bill last week and has sent it to the Judiciary Committee for consideration. The legislation would allow the government to begin wiretaps of foreign targets before seeking approval from the secret FISA court and would grant immunity to telecommunications providers facing lawsuits for helping the government wiretap terrorism suspects without warrants.
Clinton, currently the leading Democratic presidential contender, said she is "troubled" by reports about the Intelligence Committee's bill.
"I haven’t seen it, so I can’t express an opinion about it, but I don’t trust the Bush administration with our civil rights and liberties," she said at a brief news conference after a rally here. "So I’m going to study it very hard, and as matters stand now, I could not support it and I would support a filibuster absent additional information coming forth that would convince me differently." -- Athena Jones
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Why Congress Keeps Voting On Internet Taxes
By James L. Gattuso, Guest Blogger
As the days tick down to Halloween -- and the formal expiration of the Internet tax moratorium -- there’s a strong feeling of deja vu in Washington. It’s like we’ve all been through this before.
We have. In 2004. And 2001. The periodic last-minute extension of the moratorium has become a regular feature of Washington’s political life. Which leads many to wonder: Why not just make the tax ban permanent?
The arguments for restrictions on state and local taxes are strong (they are summarized in a new Heritage Foundation paper just released this week). But still, policymakers seem reluctant to take the plunge toward permanence, with the House voting last week for yet another temporary extension.
Opponents -- such as Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander -- have argued strenuously against anything more long-lasting. With the Internet changing so quickly, it doesn’t make sense to write Internet tax policy into stone, they argue.
But it’s hard to believe that many are actually convinced by this. After all, with nine years’ experience with the moratorium, this is hardly an experimental policy. And Congress always keeps the option of changing things if the needs arise. Just look at the amount of tinkering that goes on with the rest of the tax code.
So why so much support for yet another temporary suspension? It’s certainly not because Internet taxation is popular -- there just aren’t a lot of voters out there demanding more fees on their DSL lines.
Strangely, the problem may be the opposite: The idea of taxing the Internet is unpopular, and members get a boost from voting to ban them. And temporary extensions let them vote to ban them again and again and again. A permanent ban would stop the fun.
Far-fetched? Perhaps. But it wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened. For years, Congress put off indexing income taxes for inflation -- preferring instead to pass grand income tax "cuts" every few years. Finally, in 1981, indexing was adopted, and the game was ended.
But Congress may be playing it again with Internet taxation. If so, it leaves some interesting strategic choices for advocates on both sides of this issue. Should proponents start arguing that Internet taxation is popular? Will state tax collectors be heard explaining that voters want them to keep their hands off the Internet?
Not likely. But the possibilities are interesting.
Gattuso is a senior research fellow in regulatory policy at the Heritage Foundation.
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'Pandora On The Go' Demo
The Senate Commerce Committee was treated to a snippet of a song by legendary crooner Ella Fitzgerald at a future of radio hearing on Wednesday. During his testimony, the founder of online music service Pandora demonstrated a mobile streaming application that his firm rolled out earlier this year.
Lawmakers seemed to be pretty impressed with Tim Westergren's "Pandora On The Go" service, which works with a handful of Sprint handsets. The offering is free for 30 days, then costs $2.99 per month.
At the start of the hearing, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., admitted that she did not know what Pandora is or what it does. Now, at least she has a bit of an idea. Read more about the hearing in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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October 23, 2007
NBC/MSNBC Debuts High-Tech Studio
NBC News and MSNBC flipped the switch on their new, merged world headquarters on Monday and the place sure is sleek and shiny. The effort took six months and more than 200 miles of cable. The 8,500-square foot space features 280 high-definition monitors and six high-definition projectors.
"NBC News has always been a world-class news organization, and today we cut the ribbon on a world-class facility to match, located in the media capital of the universe," NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said. "It is, quite literally, the newsroom of the future."
The next phase of the network's facelift includes long-term plans to create a state-of-the-art, high-definition West Coast news center and TV production facility in Los Angeles. That build-out will be modeled after the snazzy 30 Rockefeller Plaza redo. Take a peek at the news operation's new digs here.
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Persistent Patent Reform Foes
Senate leaders on Tuesday got a letter bearing the names of more than 400 organizations and companies that oppose a bill to overhaul the U.S. patent system, which is currently awaiting a vote by the full chamber.
S.1145 already passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and a companion bill was approved by the House -- but resistance to the bill persists. The letter was signed by stakeholders in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia in a variety of fields.
The letter claims the current version of the bill "contains provisions that will create uncertainty and weaken the enforceability of validly issued patents." The criticism comes as executives from major high-tech firms, which support S.1145, arrive in Washington to meet with key senators and their staffs.
Posted by Andrew at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Tough IP Talk From Berman & Bono
Rep. Mary Bono, who co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Intellectual Property Promotion and Piracy Prevention, has zero-tolerance rule for counterfeit goods -- just ask her staff. The California Republican recently fired one of her aides when she learned that the staffer bought a fake designer purse while visiting China on a work trip.
Bono told the story at a Tuesday briefing on Capitol Hill, where she appeared alongside U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and a handful of other IP caucus members (Read more about the event in Technology Daily's PM Edition).
Fellow Californian Howard Berman, who chairs the House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, joked that a forthcoming IP enforcement bill will set an even higher penalty for purchasing a bootlegged Louis Vuitton.
Bono's staffer would not have just lost her job, "she'd be executed," cracked the Democrat who represents Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Berman's staffers better hide their pirated music collections, ASAP.
Update: A spokesman for Bono clarified that the aide in question was not fired for her purchase -- she left "in good graces" to pursue another job. The congresswoman's remark was "just a good punch-line" at the IP event.
The office does, however, have a strict policy when it comes to IP protection. If an employee is found using business resources in an inappropriate way, "that person would be reprimanded," he said. "When it comes to individuals' actions outside of the office, we don’t try to police them. We do not want to play big brother."
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Rockies Fever Prompts Ticket Site Hacking
Fans of the Colorado Rockies must have expected that scooping up World Series tickets would be difficult. But they may not have thought computer hackers would have much to do with it.
Team officials said Monday that their computerized ticket selling system was whacked by an "external malicious attack," AP reports. Team President Keli McGregor said there were roughly 8.5 million attempts to connect with the system in the first 90 minutes of sales, which forced the organization to shut it down completely. Sales will resume at noon Tuesday.
Red Sox Nation, meanwhile, isn't being forced to break the bank quite as badly as it did for tickets in 2004. The Boston Globe reports the online ticket resellers StubHub.com and AceTicket.com claim prices are down considerably from three years ago, when the Sox snapped their 86-year championship drought.
A StubHub spokesman said the average selling price this year is $1,465, a $300 drop from 2004. That's still a pretty penny. But if you think it's unreasonable, check out how much Hannah Montana tickets are going for these days. -- Michael Martinez
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October 22, 2007
China Blocks YouTube During Major Political Event
The 463 Blog reports that "in celebration of the Chinese Communist Party's 17th Congress this last week, leaders there apparently decided that preventing people from seeing cats flush toilets would make the choreographed proceedings run all that much smoother." Read more here.
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Patent Reform Push Ramping Up
Major high-tech firms represented on Capitol Hill by the Coalition for Patent Fairness will try to drum up more support for a patent overhaul bill this week. The top lawyers for Adobe, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and others plan to meet Thursday with several senators and their staffers to push for passage of S. 1145.
The coalition will also be sending a letter to each member of the Senate signed by over 100 companies and associations -- representing leading innovators and patent holders -- to reiterate their belief in the importance of passing the measure, the group said Monday.
The House passed its patent bill (H.R. 1908) in September and the Senate version, which was approved by the Judiciary Committee in July, is still "a work in progress," industry stakeholders said at a morning briefing. Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and patent licensing players are providing plenty of pushback.
Read more about the patent reform feud in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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Draft Trade Bill Spurs Jobs Debate
Reprinted from the Oct. 16, 2007 edition of National Journal's Technology Daily
Draft Bill Spurs Talk About Trade-Related Job Aid
By Aliya Sternstein
Draft legislation intended to aid employees left jobless due to international trade has garnered the admiration of the U.S. technology industry but strikes some tech workers as inadequate.
On Friday, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee released a discussion draft of a bill that would overhaul the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to, as they say, better meet the needs of those affected by globalization.
The bill would expand coverage to service-sector employees, including workers in the high-tech and telecommunications industries. Today, TAA only offers income support and training to workers who are involved in producing goods. Most programmers and other tech professionals are excluded -- even though some of their jobs also are being moved abroad.
Roger Cochetti, the U.S. policy director of Computing Technology Industry Association, said Tuesday that the bill responds to all the concerns his organization has expressed about assistance for information technology workers in the 21st century.
"The adverse political impact of more open trade in services would be significantly reduced" under the bill, thereby helping the U.S. tech industry grow, he said. And U.S. tech workers would get training to make them more competitive in the job market.
The bill also would bolster unemployment insurance, wage insurance and healthcare benefits. "The core problem is that the legislation is very ambitious," Cochetti said. "The expansion is only as useful as the funding it receives."
Officials at the tech group AeA have not read through the 111-page draft yet but said it appears the measure would benefit IT service workers affected by trade.
As for the proposal's effect on the overall U.S. IT workforce, AeA believes the employment numbers are healthy already. A recent AeA report found that unemployment among electrical and electronic engineers was only 1.9 percent in 2006.
John Miano, a founder of the Programmers Guild, which represents IT workers, said the bill does not address the root of the problem.
The "cause of the technology job losses is the Congress and the president, not the economy," he said. "They have enacted laws that have been intended to put U.S. technology workers on the unemployment line. It is ironic to have a national policy to replace U.S. technology workers with lower-paid workers from overseas, then to provide government money to retrain those workers who were put out by those policies."
Others say the proposal would not go far enough but is moving in the right direction. "IT professionals who have had their jobs outsourced will finally be receiving the economic body armor that the TAA has long offered their manufacturing counterparts," said Donna Conroy, a former technology professional who now directs a grassroots campaign to counteract claims that Americans cannot do science and technology.
But tech workers will have a hard time getting that protection, she said. "Unlike manufacturing workers, few of them are represented by unions or professional associations ready to aggressively pursue [Labor Department] certification of job loss [due to trade]."
She added, "Some, like myself, would use the training to leave the industry."
Posted by Andrew at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
October 19, 2007
Friday Funnies: Judge Rader Tells Jokes
If Judge Randall Rader of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ever gets tired of hearing patent cases, he could fall back on a stand-up comedy career. Rader kicked off a luncheon keynote on Friday by telling a few jokes.
Humor that is paraphrased on a blog post is not nearly as gut-busting as hearing Rader's tales at the American Intellectual Property Law Association summit, but I'll give it a shot.
He said he recently tried a case in Oakland, Calif. and the jury was selected after a "painful process" of listening to excuses from potential jurors as to why they could not participate. An attorney in the case told Rader: "It's hard to be a trial attorney. My client's life and my future depend on 12 people who are not smart enough to avoid jury service."
The judge responded: "I thought you were going to say your future depended on a trial judge who'd never tried a criminal case before." Quickly, the lawyer fired back: "Your honor, if I'd known that, I would have selected a better jury."
He followed up with a blonde joke, but to avoid offending any goldilocks in the audience, he selected Patent and Trademark Office Solicitor John Whealan as his target. Whealan, who is blonde, was temporarily assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year to assist with patent reform legislation.
For the purpose of Rader's joke, Whealan gets on an airplane to Beijing and tells the flight attendants: "I’m blonde, I'm beautiful and I'm flying in first class." They check his ticket and he is assigned to coach, yet he insists on flying up front.
The pilot is summoned and he explains that his wife is blonde and he could handle the situation. He whispers in Whealan's ear and the PTO official quietly takes his seat in coach. The pilot then says that he told Whealan that "first class isn't going to Beijing."
After the punch-line, Rader turned to Chief Judge Paul Michel, who was seated beside him, and said: "I think I just gave away our damages provision… at least interlocutory appeals just went out the window."
Read about the rest of Rader's speech in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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Internet Institute Causes Broadband Policy Stir
A storm is brewing over at George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet's decision to invite telecommunications giant Verizon to engage in a discussion next Friday on broadband deployment.
The think tank got an avalanche of e-mails from folks on its subscription list -- and not all were RSVPs. There were "a number of angry, outraged writers, some of whom question the integrity of IPDI for hosting a big, bad company like Verizon for a discussion about broadband," the group said.
IPDI is answering those complaints individually but also addressed the collective concerns of the e-mails on the blog. The institute said it offers a forum, "open to everyone, regardless of his or her political beliefs, religion, nationality, ethnicity, actions or employer." Last month, IPDI hosted Google and now it's Verizon's turn.
Future events will look at the role of censorship and ways in which the technology community can engage citizens in policy discussions. Excluding Verizon from the conversation would be "anti-intellectual," the group said.
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October 18, 2007
Grudge Match: Shapiro v. Dobbs
Consumer Electronics Association chief Gary Shapiro has challenged CNN anchor Lou Dobbs to a live debate on the impact of international trade on the U.S. economy. Shapiro wants to go toe-to-toe on Dobbs's program.
CEA launched a free trade initiative earlier this month to push Congress to pass pending free trade agreements. Some see Dobbs as "a chief propagator of unbalanced, ill-informed protectionist sentiments," according to an e-mail from the group.
A recent Zogby poll conducted for CEA indicated that 78 percent of respondents believed a news anchor who speaks out against international trade while his network promotes his show overseas and garners foreign ad revenue can be labeled a "hypocrite."
Oh, man. It's on now. I've seen Dobbs get angry and this could be a biggie. I'm not a betting man, but I know Shapiro is younger, more agile and a really good talker. Then again, Dobbs can steamroll over just about anyone with his heated diatribes.
Will Dobbs accept the challenge? Stay tuned...
Posted by Andrew at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
National Mall: Sunny-Side Up Homes
If you're in search of cool weekend plans and you happen to be in Washington, head over to the National Mall to ogle at entries in the Solar Decathlon 2007 -- a competition where 20 universities are vying for the most brilliant sun-powered home.
The competition, which ends Saturday, was developed by the Energy Department five years ago and now part of President Bush's 2006 Solar America Initiative. Each team is given $100,000 and two years to design and build their project house.
(Photo Credit: Richard King/Solar Decathlon)
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Can IP Lawyers Boogie-Oogie?
Members of the American Intellectual Property Law Association are in Washington this week for the organization's annual conference and they expect to get down and funky on Friday night. That's when the famed Pointer Sisters will perform for attendees.
The Grammy-winning group is best known for the classic dance song "I'm So Excited." IP lawyers are best known for being insanely smart, subdued and (and in this increasingly litigious, IP fueled economy) busy. This will give them a much-needed opportunity to let their hair down and cut a rug.
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A Political Glimpse Inside The Romney Home
This is the latest report from the National Journal/NBC reporters embedded with the campaigns of top presidential contenders and in two key states.
Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney today launched its first Internet advertisement. Titled "Our Home," the ad features Romney's wife, Ann, talking about raising five sons and her devotion to her family.
"Mitt says there's no work more important than what goes on within the four walls of the American home," Ann Romney says in the ad. "And that's the way it was in our home."
The ad will be featured on AnnTV at AnnRomney.com. "Our Home" also will begin airing as part of the campaign's rotation in Iowa within the next week.
"Our Home" further will be aired on user-generated online video sites. The Boston-area company ScanScout will overlay "Our Home" on relevant videos targeted through real-time content scanning. The Romney campaign is the first to use this new form of contextual video advertising. -- Erin McPike
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Thai Counterfeiting Sting Sours
Shane Berry, a former FBI intellectual property protection official who now heads clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch's brand protection team, told a disheartening tale at the fall meeting of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition on Thursday.
He relayed a story about a recent counterfeiting sting in Thailand that involved the mass production of knock-offs of his designer label. After halting the bootleggers, police officers and local media (invited to cover the crackdown) began gobbling up the goods "like it was Christmas morning," he recalled.
"It was the most defeating moment in my job so far to understand the enormity of the problem," Berry said. "It's not just a resource issue in the U.S. government, it's apathy and ignorance on a global level."
Read more about the conference in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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New Patent Litigation Stats Released
The law firm Fulbright & Jaworski released the findings of its 2007 edition of its litigation trends survey this week. This year's poll notably included a new section on patents and trademarks, Peter Zura pointed out on his blog.
Respondents said that patent infringement claims are rising. Over the last 3 years, more than one-third of U.S. respondents believe patent infringement claims have increased; two-thirds of U.K. respondents agree.
About 68 percent of U.S. companies have not had any patent infringement claims asserted against them over the last three years, the study showed. Nearly 20 percent reported 1-5 claims, 8 percent claimed 6-10, and 5 percent claimed 11-20.
Three industries were identified as those most likely to have received patent claims in the past three years. They include manufacturing, retail/wholesale and technology/communication.
Two-thirds of respondents felt that recent developments in patent law had made no impact on infringement claims. Over the past three years, only 27 percent of U.S. respondents said their firms filed patent infringement claims against others.
The lengthy report is available here.
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October 17, 2007
Competitiveness Makes Pelosi's Checklist
Remember that competitiveness bill techies have wanted for so long, the one President Bush signed into law a little more than two months ago? Well, it's now part of the checklist of items that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi uses to tout all that is right with the 110th Congress.
You can see the checklist at her blog, The Gavel, where the California Democrat included it in a post that bashed Bush for comments he made in a press conference today. The "innovation agenda promoting 21st-century jobs" is No. 4 on the list.
The competitiveness law also is a talking point in Pelosi's pitch about the "New Direction Congress."
Posted by Danny at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Sirius/XM 'Merger Mania' Puzzle
What's a 12-letter word for a purported Sirius-XM "merger advantage for consumers" or the six-letter name of a former FCC chairman that supports the pending deal? How about an 11-letter description of what the National Association of Broadcasters allegedly fears?
Find out by playing "Merger Mania," a new crossword puzzle offered on the companies' merger Web sites -- www.SIRIUSmerger.com and www.XMmerger.com. Hats off to the satellite radio rivals for injecting some "fun" into the increasingly volatile debate.
No word yet on whether anyone at NAB, which opposes the $14 billion pairing, has tried their hand at the game. You can play along here.
Update: NAB Vice President Dennis Wharton told Tech Daily Dose that "it probably won't be long before XM and Sirius are claiming that crossword puzzles and hopscotch serve as competition to satellite radio."
"For the numerous consumer groups and more than 80 member of Congress who oppose this proposed monopoly, merging two fierce competitors with a history of breaking FCC rules is not a game," he added.
Posted by Andrew at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
A Shield For Bloggers -- Or Maybe Not
[Cross-posted from National Journal's Beltway Blogroll]
The House yesterday passed a bill aimed at shielding journalists and some bloggers from having to disclose their anonymous sources to the government. Technology Daily reported on the development this morning. Here's our summary of the news as reported in other publications:
The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed legislation to shield reporters from federal prosecution for refusing to divulge their news sources or information except in a few circumstances. CongressDaily (subscription required), The Washington Post, News.com and the Los Angeles Times report that the vote was 398-21.
Under the bill, journalists engaged in news-gathering activities, including bloggers, still could be compelled to disclose information on sources if needed to prevent an act of terrorism. The House adopted language to let judges consider the public interest in forcing disclosure in cases involving leaks that could be harmful to national security, not just criminal cases.
But the bill has too many restrictions to please Matt Stoller of Open Left. He said the requirement that a "substantial portion" of a blogger's livelihood come from gathering and publishing news will exclude most bloggers, including himself.
"I have no opinion as to whether shield laws are a good idea or not," Stoller said, "but it's worth noting that this law doesn't cover amateurs, consultants like me, people like Steve Clemons [of The Washington Note], diarists on [Daily Kos] or [bloggers] who derive most of their income from other sources. I don't understand why 'gathering and publishing news and information for dissemination to the public' isn't a good enough standard."
UPDATE: Add Duncan Black of Eschaton and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of Daily Kos, two of the left's top bloggers, to the list of skeptics about the House-passed bill. "Boo defining journalism based on whether it makes you money," Black said.
Kos was a bit more circumspect, acknowledging that there are legitimate concerns about people "availing themselves of these shield protections by merely throwing up a quick fake blog." But he said the Senate could improve the bill "by changing 'substantial financial gain' to something along the lines of 'substantial publishing history.' Or by giving authors protection only from suits arising from legitimate published materials."
What he apparently does not realize is that the Senate may be even less inclined than the House to offer legal protection to bloggers. Earlier this month, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that does not specifically mention bloggers.
Posted by Andrew at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Yang, Negroponte Added To CES Line-Up
The Consumer Electronics Association is gearing up for its annual Las Vegas extravaganza. The trade group announced late Tuesday that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the One Laptop Per Child project and the MIT Media Lab, will speak at the January conference.
The world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow takes place Jan. 7-10, 2008. Yang will kick off the Consumer Electronics Show's "Industry Insider Series" with an address slated for the first day of the show. Negroponte's address is scheduled for Jan. 9.
For more information on CES, go here. Technology Daily will be there again this year, providing thorough coverage of all the news that's fit to print for the tech policy community. Stay tuned!
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October 16, 2007
Mistaken 'No' Vote On Net Tax Ban
The House voted 405-2 on Tuesday on legislation to extend the federal moratorium on Internet access taxes by four years but Tech Daily Dose has learned the tally should have been 406-1.
The bill, H.R. 3678, would bar states and localities from imposing such fees until Nov. 1, 2011. The dissenting votes were cast by Democrat Anna Eshoo of California, who authored a bill for a permanent ban, and Republican Michael Turner of Ohio.
A spokesman for Turner confirmed late in the day that his boss supports the bill and accidentally voted "no" on the legislation. "He has to go to the House floor and correct the record," said the staffer, who called the accident "regrettable."
Turner may have been distracted by a particularly busy day on Capitol Hill. He appeared at a midday ceremony to honor an Eagle Scout, whose flag request led to the Architect of the Capitol reversing his policy and deciding to allow "God" on flag certificates.
Posted by Andrew at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Free Press Unveils 'Whack-A-Murdoch'
Media advocacy group Free Press unveiled a new, politically driven online distraction on Tuesday. It's a game called "Whack-A-Murdoch." The animated novelty came as News Corp., which is run by mogul Rupert Murdoch, launched its new Fox Business Network.
"As Murdoch’s latest venture is making headlines we hope to frame the issue around [media] consolidation and attract a new population of potential activists," Campaign Director Tim Karr said in an e-mail. "Hopefully, this will draw more attention and people to the issue as the FCC is weighing a decision that could further unleash the floodgates to consolidation."
Posted by Andrew at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
ACLU Polls Voters On Government Spying
The American Civil Liberties Union, an outspoken opponent of the Bush administration's agenda to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, recently commissioned a poll from the Mellman Group.
The survey of 1,000 likely 2008 general election voters showed:
- Sixty-one percent of voters favor requiring the government to get a warrant from a court before wiretapping the conversations U.S. citizens have with people in other countries.
- Fifty-one percent “strongly” support the requirement for warrants.
- Thirty-five percent support warrantless wiretaps of Americans’ international conversations.
- Twenty-four percent strongly support warrantless wiretaps.
"We're hoping that Congress will start listening to its constituents and begin to finally hear something beyond the echo chamber of the Beltway," the ACLU wrote in an e-mail to reporters. "This poll makes it pretty clear that Americans care much more about the Constitution than many of their elected officials would believe."
Posted by Andrew at 04:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
A Temporary Fix But Still A Fix
By Mike Platt, Guest Blogger
Bravo Rep. Anna Eshoo! She was just on the House floor saying that the House of Representatives could do better.
Rep. Eshoo has led the bipartisan charge to permanently extend the Internet tax moratorium on Internet access taxes, and prevent the imposition of duplicative and discriminatory taxes on e-commerce. If this extension were allowed to expire, broadband penetration in the United States would likely suffer.
TechNet member companies know that our country must strive to maintain a competitive landscape that allows their quick response to address global challenges. Keeping the Internet free of regulatory barriers to competition is important for our competitiveness. If Eshoo's bill were to be called up -- which we would strongly support -- it would no doubt pass by huge margins, as it did in previous votes in the House.
That being said, the moratorium expires on November 1. The high-tech sector would rather have an extension than risk the moratorium expiring. The members of the House Judiciary Committee are to be commended for moving this legislation forward.
It is our hope that the U.S. Senate will act quickly on this bill and then send it to the president for his signature before the moratorium expires.
Platt is the vice president of government and political affairs for TechNet.
Posted by Danny at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
When Good Interviews Go Bad
"The Bryant Park Project," National Public Radio's new morning show for a younger, hipper set recently aired what co-host Luke Burbank said was "possibly the worst interview in the history of electronic media."
Since I'm obsessed with BPP these days, I thought I would link to the video of the Q&A with Icelandic band Sigur Ros here. The folks at BPP obviously have a good sense of humor (they blogged about the interview's badness).
Watching it made me feel a little uneasy. We've all had our share of tough interviews. But I think Burbank (who is admittedly a big fan of the band's music) can take comfort that there may be one interview that trumps his.
Yes, that's right everyone. I'm drudging up the ol' Holly Hunter video on ABC News Now. Enjoy!
Posted by Andrew at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
A Ban That Is Clear, Flexible And Does No Harm
By Jeffrey Arnold, Guest Blogger
It was interesting to listen to the debate over H.R. 3678 on the House floor this morning because the arguments for a permanent ban on Internet taxes were so shallow and misinformed.
The bill under consideration does three important things: It is clear, it is flexible, and it does no harm. It’s clear because the new definition more accurately reflects the Internet of today, not the Internet of 1998. It is flexible because we cannot predict the Internet of 2011 and we need the ability to review that new world at that time. It does no harm because it does not remove existing taxes that generate millions of dollars for the states that were grandfathered (there are very few local jurisdictions that impose such taxes).
Per the debate this morning, there is no evidence that taxes on Internet access have had any effect on adoption of broadband. Does anyone really believe that an additional dollar on a $30 bill from an Internet access provider is going to keep customers from getting the service?
The world of the Internet is about NOW, and decisions about investment in the Internet or physical plant to provide access, or the services carried over the Internet are not going to be affected by taxes on access even if they were imposed.
State and local government associations have shown a willingness to compromise on this matter and negotiate with telecom interests over the definition of Internet access. They have moved away from an insistence in eliminating the moratorium outright. This bill gives all of us a chance to revisit this in a few years and make better choices for the future.
Arnold is the deputy legislative director for the National Association of Counties.
Posted by Danny at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Welcome To Our Virtual Debate About Net Taxes
Earlier today, the House voted overwhelmingly for a bill that would extend the moratorium on taxing Internet access for another four years. We'll have a full story on that in our PM Edition shortly, but the vote also is a great news peg for lauching a new, short-term feature here at Tech Daily Dose.
We're calling the feature Net Tax Talk, and the idea is to engage our audience in a virtual debate about one of the hottest technology-related items on Congress' agenda at the moment.
Consider former Mercury News columnist Dan Gillmor the inspiration for this feature. A few years ago, he wrote a book called "We The Media" and that gave voice to the idea that readers actually know more than we journalists do. That couldn't be more true than at an inside-the-Beltway publication like Technology Daily, where our readers are key players in the stories we write.
That being the case, we have decided to open the blog so those sources can go beyond the snippets of insight and wisdom from them that we are able to share in our regular editions.
The Internet tax moratorium is set to expire Nov. 1, and as Congress debates whether to extend it four, six or eight years, to make it permanent, and to extend or curtail certain exemptions, we will be asking stakeholders in that debate to share their thoughts here.
We've reached out to a few potential guest bloggers already -- the first will go online later today -- but others are welcome. If you are a player in this debate and have some insights or opinions to share, you can contact me at dglover@nationaljournal.com.
We're looking forward to taking this debate about the Internet to the medium that inspired it. -- Danny Glover, Editor
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A Few Questions For The Would-Be AG
The Senate Judiciary Committee will convene Wednesday for a hearing to consider Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey. The White House's pick to fill the chair vacated by Alberto Gonzales is a less controversial figure, but policy watchers still want some tough questions asked.
Progress and Freedom Foundation Senior Fellow Adam Thierer, for example, wants to know if the former federal judge plans on pursuing aggressive new data retention mandates on communications, cable and Internet service providers. If so, how long would the information be kept, he wonders.
Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller tried to work with Internet firms and privacy advocates on the weighty issue last year but no guidelines for preserving the records were agreed upon.
Fellow PFFer Thomas Sydnor added that he would like to know what Mukasey plans to do to bring " the moral authority and enforcement powers of the Department of Justice to bear on the pervasive Internet piracy that threatens the future of our world-leading creative industries."
For more questions that stakeholders want asked at Wednesday's confirmation hearing, read Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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October 15, 2007
Funnyman Carey To Host Web Documentaries
Comedian and game show host Drew Carey has entered the world of journalism by fronting a series of Internet-based documentaries for the Reason Foundation that examine issues like immigration, eminent domain, drug laws and traffic congestion.
"We need Reason to help fight the stupid drug laws, the stupid immigration laws, and stupid big government in general," Carey said in a Monday press release. The foundation's president, David Nott, hopes the former sitcom star's "unique perspective and creativity [will] enliven the country's policy debates."
The videos can be seen on Reason.tv, a new online community. In the first video called "Gridlock," Carey, who recently became the face of "The Price Is Right," investigates the country's traffic problem. The documentary can be viewed here.
Posted by Andrew at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
OK Go Says 'Thank You'
As I mentioned here last week, rock band OK Go was not able to make it to the Public Knowledge awards ceremony honoring its members and several other tech crusaders. But thanks to the power of YouTube, you can watch the band's acceptance speech above.
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Study: Online TV Watchers On The Rise
Nearly 16 percent of American households who use the Internet watch television broadcasts online and the number of entire episodes or shows viewed on the Web has doubled in the past year, the Conference Board said Monday.
Nearly 73 percent of online households use the Internet for entertainment purposes on a daily basis and an additional 15 percent search for entertainment several times a week, the board's study found. Viewers polled cited convenience and avoiding commercials as their top reasons for watching Web video.
Four out of five online viewers said watching shows online has not changed their traditional TV viewing habits, but a small percentage said time spent in front of the television has decreased.
Top methods for viewing broadcasts online are streaming and free downloads, officials said. Consumers also enroll in pay-per-download and subscription services, but the practice is less prevalent. About two-thirds stream online content and more than 40 percent download content for free.
The popularity of watching TV online will have "a huge impact on the way brands and advertisers communicate with viewers," said Shari Morwood of market research firm TNS, which helped prepare the report. "If advertisers can effectively leverage the online video platform, we should see much more interactivity and emotional connection between brands and the online TV viewing audience."
Read more about the report here.
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Web Analysts Gather In Washington
Web marketers, statisticians, Internet analysts and other tech-savvy types have convened in Washington this week to discuss the future of doing business effectively online. The four-day eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit kicked off on Sunday.
Conf