February 14, 2007
Security Chief Defends Federal ID Mandate
Security
Homeland Security Chief Defends Federal Identity Mandate
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Tuesday defended a federal law that mandates nationwide standards for driver's licenses and identification cards. The Washington Times reports that Chertoff told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that he is “pretty adamant” that the so-called REAL ID Act can be implemented properly before a May 2008 deadline. “We don't want to keep kicking the can down the road," he said. Panel ranking Republican Susan Collins of Maine, who last week announced plans to introduce legislation that would give states two extra years to comply with the law, criticized Homeland Security for taking so long to issue guidance to the states for compliance. Chertoff said his department has taken so long largely to address privacy concerns. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said he is concerned about the financial burden of the law on states.
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Department Shelves RFID For US-VISIT System
Security
Department Shelves Tracking Tags For Immigrant System
Radio-frequency identification tags for tracking immigrants will not be used in the so-called US-VISIT system, which records fingerprints for all foreign visitors. Government Computer News reports. The Homeland Security Department determined through testing that systems to read the RFID tags did not reliably detect them while embedded in I-94 documents during a test. In other news, The Washington Post reports that Maryland Del. Doyle Niemann recently proposed legislation that would tag children with global-positioning chips as part of a truancy-reduction plan. Niemann, a Democrat, said, "It's going to be done unobtrusively. The chips are tiny and can be put into a hospital ID band or a necklace."
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Lawmaker Criticizes VA Over Data Security
Privacy
Rep. Buyer: VA Still Takes Lax Approach To Data Security
The ranking member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on Monday said that recent comments by a mid-level Veterans Affairs Department official are a sign of a management culture that still fails to take data security seriously enough. GovExec.com reports that Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., publicized a recording of the comments made at a meeting in early January in response to the VA's latest data breach. Joseph Francis, the acting deputy chief research and development at VA, telling told his staff members that they did not need to "do an A-plus job" in responding to a congressional request for information on where the department keeps sensitive data. "If you want to know what's the real purpose of the data call, read Machiavelli. It's about power; it's about Congress saying, 'VA, you're accountable to us,'" Francis said. "We're not asking people to do an A-plus job on this report."
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Rep. Jefferson Sued Over Alleged Bribes
Crime
Rep. Jefferson Is Sued Over Alleged Role In Bribes
A former stockholder in a technology company on Tuesday sued Rep. William Jefferson, his wife and a former business associate, claiming that they engaged in a scheme to defraud stockholders by using business funds to pay bribes. CongressDaily reports that the suit alleges that the Lousiana Democrat, his wife Andrea, and Vernon Jackson, the former chief executive of the telecommunications firm iGate, engaged in an illicit scheme to funnel money to Jefferson, his family and foreign officials. IGate stockholder Daniel Cadle filed the suit in U.S. district court in Louisville, Ky., and is seeking unspecified damages on behalf of all iGate stockholders. The allegations mirror those in an ongoing federal investigation of Jefferson and his business dealings. Jackson is serving seven years in federal prison. Jefferson has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing, but court records and the lawsuit indicate that the FBI caught Jefferson on videotape taking a $100,000 cash bribe.
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Former CIA Official Is Indicted In Fraud Case
Crime
Former Third-Ranking CIA Official Indicted In Fraud Case
The CIA's former No. 3 official and a defense contractor were charged Tuesday with fraud and other offenses in the corruption investigation that sent former Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham to prison. CongressDaily, The Washington Post, The New York Times and AP report that the indictment named Kyle (Dusty) Foggo, the executive director of the CIA until he resigned in May, and his close friend, San Diego defense contractor Brent Wilkes, according to two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because grand-jury proceedings are secret. In a separate indictment, Wilkes was charged with conspiring to bribe Cunningham, R-Calif., in return for government contracts. A man who was described as a co-conspirator in Cunningham's 2005 plea agreement, John Michael, also was charged.
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Candidates Wage Online Advertising War
Campaigns
Presidential Candidates Wage Online Advertising War
Presidential candidates of both parties have taken their campaigns -- and their advertising war -- to the Internet, The Wall Street Journal reports. Candidates are buying space on search engines, Web logs and other popular Internet sites. On the Democratic side, John Edwards, has been a very aggressive online campaigner. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican, has run ads on conservative sites, including Townhall.com and National Review's "The Corner" blog. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took out ads this week on conservative blogs, including Captain's Quarters and Outside the Beltway. Candidates also are placing ads on Google and campaigning for online support. In other news, The New York Times reports on Intrade, a Web site that lets people bet on presidential campaigns and other current events.
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FTC Urged To Increase Internet Oversight
Broadband
Consumer Advocate Wants More FTC Oversight Of Internet
The president of a nonprofit group that focuses on communications law has called on the FTC to increase oversight of telephone and cable companies that offer Internet access, AP reports. Gigi Sohn, the president of Public Knowledge, said at a workshop assembled by the FTC that her group wants the FTC to ensure that Internet providers are not discriminating against certain providers of video and other Web content. She also said regulators should require more disclosure from telephone and cable companies about the Internet speeds they say they will give consumers. Sohn's points concern the long and heated debate over network neutrality, or the concept that all online traffic should be treated equally by Internet service providers. Robert Pepper, an executive at the networking equipment company Cisco Systems, said "new, detailed ... regulation would be counterproductive and instead the FTC should play a leadership role in protecting consumers and competition by exercising its authority ... on a case-by-case basis."
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Senate Panel Delays Vote On Security Bill
Security
Senate Panel Delays Vote, Fine-Tunes Security Bill
The Senate is planning to move legislation to implement unfulfilled recommendations of the commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attacks, but with provisions that appear to put the chamber on a collision course with the House, CongressDaily reports. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee was scheduled to debate its sweeping bill Wednesday, but Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., on Tuesday night delayed the vote until Thursday. Although Lieberman blamed inclement weather for forcing the delay, aides are likely to use the extra time to fine-tune the draft. The bill addresses homeland security intelligence and information-sharing, grant funding for emergency responders, and efforts to create emergency communications equipment that works across jurisdictions.
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Experts Analyze Copyright Ruling Against Google
Intellectual Property
Experts Gauge Impact Of Copyright Ruling Against Google
A legal setback suffered by Google in Europe this week may influence courts in other countries examining similar cases, according to copyright experts. News.com reports that some legal analysts expect Tuesday's ruling in Belgium that Google cannot display snippets from certain newspapers on its news and search sites could affect the company’s legal standing in other countries. "Google has a very aggressive approach toward copyright law. ... The ruling should be a serious message to Google to rethink that approach,” said Lee Bromberg, a copyright and trademark attorney at of Bromberg & Sunstein. However, legal experts agreed that the ruling is not likely to affect Google’s operations in the United States, where caching of articles is permissible under copyright law.
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FBI System Tracks Wiretapping Requests
E-Government
FBI Launches System To Track Wiretapping Requests
The FBI is now using a new system to track requests for wiretaps to be reviewed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which meets in secret, Government Computer News reports. Surveillance requests come from the bureau’s 56 field offices at different classification levels. In order to streamline the vetting process, the new system created by High Performance Technologies lets users access different levels of information based on their security clearances and decreases the processing time from 120 days to 60. An FBI official said of the previous system, "To give you an idea of their idea of connectivity, it was called Oasis [and wasn’t connected to anything]."
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Judge Orders Documents Back To Drug Firm
Courts
Drug Company Wins Fight Over Disputed Documents
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered that confidential marketing documents of a best-selling schizophrenia drug that were leaked to a reporter and posted online be returned to the manufacturer. The Washington Post reports that U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein demanded that internal documents on Eli Lilly’s drug Zyprexa, which were leaked to a reporter at The New York Times, be returned to the firm. A court last week refused a request by Eli Lilly to ban Internet sites that had obtained the internal documents from publishing them. Eli Lilly has agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by 26,000 of the drug’s users.
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N.Y. Mayor Proposes E-Health Records
Health
N.Y. Mayor Sees Technology As Way To Health Revolution
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed using electronic health records, or EHRs, as a way to help keep costs down and to provide more preventive care, Government Health IT reports. This plan would extend beyond the city and state of New York, as he wants every hospital in the country that accepts Medicaid and Medicare to have EHRs, which could cost as much as $20 billion. He said he wants the records to be used to track patients’ health trends and treatments, as well as doctors’ performances. Bloomberg said using IT "gives you the right prescription for our ailing health care system." New York City is currently spending $43 million toward establishing EHR systems for doctors who treat New Yorkers at public expense.
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Risk Of ID Theft Increases In Some Cities
Privacy
Risk Of ID Theft Jumps In New York, Other Major Citiest
The risk of identity theft has increased in major U.S. cities such as Detroit, Los Angeles and New York, according to ID Analytics, a company that provides fraud intelligence services to businesses. News.com reports that people in Vermont, Montana and Wyoming have the lowest risk of identity fraud. "Moving is a very dramatic way to reduce your identity risk," Stephen Coggeshall, ID Analytics' chief technology officer, said in an interview. "It is more appropriate for people to understand the risk of their area and to take the appropriate precautions." Coggeshall said his company's research, which is slated to be published Wednesday, seeks to provide information for law enforcement. Complaints of ID theft accounted for 36 percent of the total 674,354 complaints submitted to the FTC and its external data contributors last year.
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Business Network Hit By E-Mail Scam
Cyber Security
Firms In Better Business Bureau Get Malicious E-Mail
Thousands of firms belonging to the Better Business Bureau network were hit by an e-mail "spoofing" scam Tuesday. The Washington Post reports that thousands of businesses received e-mails encouraging them to download a malicious computer program. The firms received e-mails that were doctored to look as if they were coming from the Better Business Bureau in order to notify them of a consumer complaint. Council of Better Business Bureaus spokesman Steve Cox said the program accessed the address books of the computers it infected and distributed the e-mail to more recipients. "It is the first time in recent memory where we've had an attack on this scale," Cox said. The e-mails were traced to a marketing firm in Georgia that had no prior affiliation with the organization.
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Cuban Defends Country's Internet Restrictions
Civil Liberties
Cuban Official Defends Country's Internet Restrictions
A senior Cuban official has defended his country's Internet restrictions, AP reports. Cuban Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes called Cuba's Internet policies, which include putting computers in schools but restricting anti-government material, both rational and efficient. He voiced concern about U.S. security measures and news reports that technology firms like Google and Microsoft have cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies. Valdes also said Washington is hurting Cuba's access to the Internet while U.S. military and intelligence services use it to attempt to undermine Cuba's government. Internet technologies "constitute one of the tools for global extermination," he argued. However, the technologies "are also necessary to continue to advance down the path of development."
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Finland Boasts High Tech Penetration
International
Finland Boasts High Levels Of New Tech Penetration
Most citizens of Finland have access to the high-speed Internet and half use so-called third-generation mobile technology, according to a new study published by the country's communications ministry. Australian IT reports that 96 percent of those in Finland have broadband access and more than 75 percent of people regularly or occasionally use the Internet, including 100 percent of those younger than 40. In Finland, four out of five municipalities offer broadband connections, and there is more than one mobile phone per person in the country of 5.2 million inhabitants, according to government statistics. In other news, BBC reports that a new rule in the United Kingdom that takes effect Feb. 14 will make it easier for customers to switch broadband providers.
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'Open Source' Companies Form New Group
Business
New 'Open Source' Group Will Focus On Compatible Products
A number of companies that favor "open source" software is expected to announce Wednesday that they have formed a new group aimed at making products that can work together, News.com reports. Open-source products have code that can be viewed and altered by users. Founding members of the new Open Solutions Alliance include Centric CRM, EnterpriseDB, JasperSoft and SpikeSource. The group is looking to better meet the offerings of competing products from companies such as IBM, Oracle and Microsoft. "Some of the big proprietary vendors have a notion of full-blown suites and some promise of interoperability," said Michael Harvey, chief marketing officer of Centric CRM and one of the people who helped form the alliance. "None of the open-source application companies has fully built-out suites. We're going to work together to try to recreate some of that value for the user."
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Steve Jobs Annoys The Music Industry
Piece Of Mind
Steve Jobs: The Music Industry's 'Pain In The Neck'
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs is the music industry's "biggest pain in the neck," the Los Angeles Times said in an editorial.
His company's refusal to charge more for new tracks at the iTunes e-music store and less for old ones has caused executives frustration in the past, and then last week Jobs asked major recording companies to stop putting electronic locks on their downloadable songs.
Competing anti-piracy tools "could stunt the growth of the downloadable music business," the paper said. "Locks on 99-cent downloads are not the way to deter piracy" and such locks hurt e-music consumers, the Times argued. It said the industry should "concentrate instead on developing compelling new ways to discover and enjoy music."
The Times also opined on bloggers and presidential campaigns this week.
"By trying to gin up support from the blogosphere, candidates are bringing lots of folks into the campaign who've left long trails of (often intemperate) commentary online," so in addition to other Internet-related worries, candidates "may have to distance themselves from what their employees said before coming onboard," according to the paper.
A Boston Globe editorial, meanwhile, said safety questions related to nanotechnology should prompt more caution by industry and government.
The commentary was prompted by plans in Cambridge, Mass., to force companies that make or use nanoparticles to report the activity and known health risks. "Both the federal government and industry should heed the United Nations' urging and increase investment in [finding] the potential downside of super-downsizing," according to the paper.
Finally, a Baltimore Sun column argued that Congress should dump a requirement that states use their driver's licensing authority to combat illegal immigration and enforce a national identity program. The proposition could undermine both objectives, the column said.
-- Compiled by Winter Casey
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February 13, 2007
Editor's Note: Tech Daily AM Will Be Here Tomorrow
Due to the threat of inclement weather overnight, Wednesday's AM Edition will be published remotely to this blog. Unless the federal government closes, the full AM Edition will be posted to the regular Technology Daily site later in the day.
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