August 2010

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2010

You can always find the latest Headlines here http://bit.ly/9flY9k

NETWORK NEUTRALITY/BROADBAND RECLASSIFICATION
   Members of Congress: 'Third Way' Vitally Important to Achieving National Broadband Goals
   Google's motives for abandoning Network Neutrality
   Just Like the Internet You See in the Movies

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   BTOP Grant for North Central New Mexico Economic Development District
   Fiber-to-the-Home Project Wins USDA Broadband Stimulus Award
   No broadband? No problem
   Verizon trials 1 Gb/s link over FiOS platform
   Bill seeks to make electronics accessible to blind, deaf

WIRELESS
   Data-gobbling Android users will likely see bandwidth capped

TELEVISION
   Do You Really Have To Pay For TV?
   Pay TV Distributors, Broadband and Programming Costs
   Consumer complaints on radio/TV broadcasting up 1,259%
   Broadcast TV Audience Aging FASTER Than US Population
   Radio, RIAA: mandatory FM radio in cell phones is the future
   Retransmission Volley: NAB Launches KeepMyTV Site

HEALTH
   HHS' new strategic plan emphasizes health IT
   ONC sets up NHIN 'governance' workgroup
   Computers driving the hospital of the future
   Agencies advance use of health IT

CYBERSECURITY
   Critical Infrastructure Protection: Key Private and Public Cyber Expectations Need to Be Consistently Addressed
   Experts Warn of a Weak Link in the Security of Web Sites
   Feds Strengthen Cybersecurity Workforce Plans
   Cyber Command still struggling to define cyber war

NONPROFITS
   Nonprofits Review Technology Failures

POLICYMAKERS
   Obama and Hollywood: State of their Union

GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
   White House issues second-quarter report card for agency open-government plans
   The Obama administration's attacks on the media
   Chilling assault on South Africa's press

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   RIM to Give India Messenger Service Access by Sept. 1
   For Some Countries, Skype Too Open, BlackBerry Too Closed
   United States Wins WTO Dispute with EU on High-Tech Products
   Google Rouses Privacy Concerns in Germany
   Obsessed Internet gamers in South Korea now have a league of their own

MORE ONLINE
   Innovate, Yes, but Make It Practical
   2010 Midterms Rise; the Gulf Spill Sinks

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NETWORK NEUTRALITY/BROADBAND RECLASSIFICATION

MARKEY, ESHOO, INSLEE, DOYLE LETTER TO FCC ON OPEN INTERNET
[SOURCE: House of Representatives, AUTHOR: Rep Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep Anna Eshoo, Rep Jay Inslee (D-WA), Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA)]
Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Anna G. Eshoo, co-authors of comprehensive net neutrality legislation in the House, along with Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA), released a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski to urge the FCC to take action to preserve the free, open nature of the Internet. The letter by the four lawmakers, all of whom currently serve on the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, follows a proposal by Google and Verizon that would result in significant changes to the way the Internet currently operates, including the potential that certain Internet content could be prioritized.
benton.org/node/40865 | House of Representatives | read the letter | The Hill | CongressDaily
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GOOGLE'S MOTIVES FOR ABANDONING NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Seth Weintraub]
It is now clear that Google underestimated the public's desire for true network neutrality over both wireless and wired services -- something the company quickly discovered after issuing a joint policy recommendation with Verizon last week. Google seems to be saying that it has been negotiating on the side of consumers for net neutrality and has found a good compromise. The public's reaction seems to be, "I didn't know that I elected Google to negotiate on my behalf and frankly I don't have to compromise with some huge wannabe monopoly whose only desire is to milk more profits out of me by offering less for more money." What happened? What is Google's motivation to cede wireless net neutrality? It has to do with Google's future ambitions. Google is a strong partner with Verizon now, but Google has products -- like GoogleTV -- in development that are going to need even more support, from all carriers. Now that Google is moving out of the data center into your house with devices and OSes and even wires, the priorities are realigned. It would be realistic to expect their stance on net neutrality to realign as well.
benton.org/node/40845 | Fortune
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

BTOP GRANT FOR NEW MEXICO
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced a $10.6 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investment to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs, and improve education and healthcare in New Mexico. The grant to the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District will fund the deployment of high-speed Internet infrastructure across the counties of Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, and northern Santa Fe, and to five Native American tribal communities. The project plans to directly connect more than 120 community anchor institutions to broadband service ­­ including public safety facilities, K-12 schools, community colleges, government buildings, healthcare providers, and libraries ­ which will support uses such as distance learning, telemedicine, and improved public safety communications. The project also intends to promote energy efficiency by enabling "smart grid" applications for regional rural electric cooperatives. In addition, local Internet service providers will be able to utilize the new infrastructure to deploy new or improved high-speed Internet service to consumers and businesses.
benton.org/node/40864 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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BIP AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein announced a $63.8 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act award. The Kit Carson Electric Cooperative Fiber-to-the-Home project will deliver affordable broadband service to 29 communities comprised of approximately 20,500 households, 3,600 businesses and 183 critical community institutions, two Native American Pueblos within a 2,951 square mile, rural underserved area in Taos, Colfax and Rio Arriba counties. The network spans 2400 miles. In all, $63.8 million in Recovery Act funds will be invested in the project. An additional $600,000 will come from private investment sources.
benton.org/node/40847 | Department of Agriculture
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NO BROADBAND? NO PROBLEM
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Dan O'Shea]
Is broadband Internet penetration supposed to be 100%? Federal regulators seem to think so, and many people who probably have no problem getting broadband would probably agree. Maybe there is a prevailing sense of guilt among the haves for not being a have-not. In any case, those in favor of having absolutely everyone plug into broadband and having the federal government help make that happen no doubt will take the news that broadband growth is slowing -- reported last week by the Pew research Center -- as further support for their arguments. The number of Americans who use broadband rose only 3% within the last year to about 66%, and some might say that's because those that need and want broadband can't get it. But aren't there at least two other viable alternative explanations for slowing growth? 1.) A difficult economy kept many people from signing up for broadband service and may have forced others who lost jobs or saw income dwindle to actually cancel broadband service. This is a temporary condition. 2.) Maybe broadband in the U.S. is approaching its own saturation point, one that isn't 100% but closer to 80% and about as good as it will ever get.
benton.org/node/40846 | Connected Planet
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VERIZON 1G NETWORK
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Verizon announced it has successfully completed a trial of 1 Gb/s connectivity over its FiOS infrastructure to an existing FiOS business customer. The trial was conducted in June in Taunton (MA) using existing gigabit passive optical network equipment from Motorola. That platform supports 2.4 Gb/s downstream and 1.2 Gb/s upstream to a neighborhood node, where it is split between multiple customers who share the total throughput. According to Verizon, the trial involved bringing a new fiber connection from an existing GPON system at the central office to a second optical network terminal (ONT) at the customer premises. The second ONT was provisioned for the new 1 Gb/s service tier, with the customer's existing FiOS service left in place. According to Verizon, throughput speeds over the test connection were measured at 925 Mb/s to a local server and more than 800 Mb/s to a regional test speed server located more than 400 miles away. The pre-existing FiOS connection showed no degradation in services, according to the carrier.
benton.org/node/40844 | Connected Planet
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ACCESSIBILITY BILL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Blind and deaf consumers, who have fought to make home phones and television more accessible, say they are being left behind on the Web and many mobile devices. Touch-based smartphone screens confound blind people who rely on buttons and raised type. Web video means little to the deaf without captioning. But legislation is in the works to put pressure on consumer electronics companies that revolutionized an earlier generation of technology for the vision- and hearing-impaired. "Whether it's a Braille reader or a broadband connection, access to technology is not a political issue -- it's a participation issue," said Rep Ed Markey (D-MA), the author of a House bill aimed at making the Internet more accessible to people with disabilities. "We've moved from Braille to broadcast, from broadband to the BlackBerry. We've moved from spelling letters in someone's palm to the PalmPilot. And we must make all of these devices accessible."
benton.org/node/40870 | Washington Post
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WIRELESS

ANDROID USERS LIKELY TO GET CAPPED
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Eliot Van Buskirk]
When Android is selling faster than iPhones, and Android users consume more bandwidth than their iPhone counterparts, other wireless networks have two huge incentives to begin metering Android wireless plans just like AT&T did with the iPhone, rather than continuing to allow Android users to download and stream unlimited data to their hearts' content. And such limits don't have to be reached in order to achieve their aim of reducing wireless bandwidth consumption; the fact that a limit exist is, in itself, enough to make users think twice before streaming a long video or using a data-intensive app. This development marks another distinction between the wired (as in DSL or cable) Internet, where users can generally do whatever they want with their connections, and the wireless Internet, where strict rules are enforced, where access providers—first AT&T and likely soon the rest—openly limit the amount of data you can suck down in a month, and where net neutrality may not apply. If you're contemplating the purchase of an Android phone, you should probably get a move on. Nothing is impossible, of course, and one of the Android carriers could somehow offer unlimited bandwidth forever. Nonetheless, the likelihood that Android users will continue being able to sign up for unlimited data contracts grows slimmer with each passing day.
benton.org/node/40863 | Wired
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TELEVISION

DO YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR TV?
[SOURCE: ConsumerAffairs.com, AUTHOR: Mark Huffman]
Today, most people get their TV from either a cable TV company or from one of two satellite providers, DishNetwork or DirecTV. They also pay increasingly higher bills for the privilege. In this new age of austerity, when consumers are looking for ways to cut corners everywhere, even diehard TV junkies are considering the once unthinkable ­ getting rid of their cable or satellite TV services. But for most, getting rid of cable doesn't mean going without TV. If you live in, or close to, a metropolitan area and have a high-speed Internet connection, there's a way you can still watch most of your favorite shows and not pay for it.
benton.org/node/40856 | ConsumerAffairs.com
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CONTENT GATEKEEPERS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
One of the biggest fears among pay-television distributors is that as more content becomes available on new platforms, consumers will cut the cord to their cable and satellite suppliers. That's why the cable industry is pushing "TV Everywhere," which is basically an authentication service that would require consumers to prove that they are cable subscribers before being able to watch their favorite television shows online. Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the nation's two biggest cable operators are the big drivers of TV Everywhere, but other distributors are also on board. Now the distributors are turning their attention to the iPad and other tablet devices. The distributors not only don't want consumers to cut the cord, they also want to make sure their programmers don't look to create their own platforms as well. After all, if Comcast is paying an FX or TBS good money to carry their channels, they don't get happy to see their shows available elsewhere. For now that's not really a risk. Programmers such as Time Warner's TNT and Discovery don't want to risk that revenue stream. But that doesn't mean programmers won't want more money from their distributors for letting them be the gatekeepers to the Internet, tablets and whatever other platforms and devices emerge in the years to come.
benton.org/node/40862 | Los Angeles Times
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CONSUMER COMPLAINTS UP
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Consumer complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on radio and TV broadcasting issues increased more than 1,259 percent in the first quarter of the year over the previous quarter, according to a report released by its consumer bureau. These complaints soared from 9,740 to 132,418 — that compares to an increase of just 9 percent in the cable and satellite category.
benton.org/node/40855 | Hill, The
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BROADCAST TV AUDIENCE AGING
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
For years, executives at ABC, Fox and NBC essentially stopped caring about television viewers once they had reached 50 years old. You don't hear that much anymore. The median age for viewers at those networks and CBS is now 51. The broadcasters' audience has aged at twice the rate of the general population during the past two decades, according to a new report. It's a quiet trend with a real impact on the way they do business. "It should be a concern, but it doesn't seem to be a concern at the moment," said Steve Sternberg, who wrote the report for Baseline Inc., an information source for the film and TV industries that is owned by The New York Times Co. "You don't want to have CBS, ABC and NBC all having median ages in their mid-50s." The risk in having a rapidly aging audience is the networks becoming less relevant to advertisers, the backbone of their business. Increasingly, that's a way of thinking that itself is getting old.
benton.org/node/40843 | Associated Press
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FM RADIO IN YOU MOBILE?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Music labels and radio broadcasters agree that Congress should mandate that FM radio receivers be built into cell phones, PDAs, and other portable electronics. The Consumer Electronics Association, whose members build the devices that would be affected by such a directive, is incandescent with rage. "The backroom scheme of the [National Association of Broadcasters] and RIAA to have Congress mandate broadcast radios in portable devices, including mobile phones, is the height of absurdity," thundered CEA president Gary Shapiro. Such a move is "not in our national interest." "Rather than adapt to the digital marketplace, NAB and RIAA act like buggy-whip industries that refuse to innovate and seek to impose penalties on those that do." But the music and radio industries say it's a consumer-focused proposition, one that would provide "more music choices."
benton.org/node/40842 | Ars Technica
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KEEPMYTV
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wayne Friedman]
In an promotional effort to help consumers during sometimes confusing retransmission battles, the National Association of Broadcasters has launched a new Web site: keepmytv. The site says it is "dedicated to empowering viewers to have the best options for their local news, entertainment and community programming." Keepmytv's overall thrust is to explain to viewers why cable networks and TV stations and cable operators get into business battles, which cause TV programs to be taken off the air during testy negotiations. Mostly, it pitches a point of view from TV station owners in its often contentious relationships with big cable operators: to pay TV companies.
benton.org/node/40841 | MediaPost | National Association of Broadcasters
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HEALTH

HHS PLANS EMPHASIZE HEALTH IT
[SOURCE: Federal Computer Week, AUTHOR: Alice Lipowicz]
The Health and Human Services Department is emphasizing adoption of health information technology and the fostering of innovation among its objectives for its new Draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2010-2015. The plan describes health IT adoption as being at the heart of efforts to transform health care through the use of data to improve the quality of care, reduce costs and paperwork, expand access to care, improve public health, and support reformed payment structures. Under the economic stimulus law, $20 billion was made available to providers and agencies to motivate them to adopt the technology.
benton.org/node/40858 | Federal Computer Week | HHS
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NHIN GOVERNANCE WORKGROUP
[SOURCE: GovernemntHealthIT, AUTHOR: Mary Mosquera]
The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has created a new workgroup to make recommendations on establishing a set of high-level rules-of-the-road for organizations participating in the nationwide health information network (NHIN). With creation of the "governance" panel, ONC wants to host discussions from the health IT community on what to include in a formal rulemaking on the issue planned for early next year. The first meeting of the workgroup ­ which will operate under the Health IT Policy Committee ­ is scheduled for Sept. 3, according to ONC officials. ONC said previously that it would publish a request for information in the Federal Register this month to obtain the public's feedback, but that process can take many weeks.
benton.org/node/40857 | GovernemntHealthIT
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HIT USE
[SOURCE: Federal Times, AUTHOR: Tom Spoth]
When a Native American military veteran who lives in Virginia goes to the doctor, it might be tricky to track down his medical records. This hypothetical patient probably has received care from both the Veterans Affairs Department and the Indian Health Service. He has beneficiary data on file with the Social Security Administration, and also has a medical history with MedVirginia, a network of private health care providers. To get this diverse group of entities to share data and en sure that the patient gets the best care is a difficult task, full of paperwork and phone calls. The Obama administration is trying to change all that with the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN), an ambitious project that aims to get federal agencies to use common standards to record and store health records electronically. What's more, the administration is investing billions to encourage private providers to do the same. NHIN "is able to take a process that manually might take several days and reduce that to several seconds," said Melissa Chapman, former chief information officer at the Health and Human Services Department and vice president of health solutions for the information technology firm Agilex Technologies.
benton.org/node/40832 | Federal Times
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CYBERSECURITY

CYBERSECURITY WORKFORCE
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: J. Nicholas Hoover]
Federal agencies are making some progress on developing and executing strategies for building a stronger cybersecurity workforce, but much remains to be done, government officials and industry representatives said. Coordinated efforts to spark improvements in the federal cybersecurity workforce, formerly part of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI), have been folded into a larger effort, the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), a broader national agenda, announced in April, which includes K-12 education and awareness campaigns as well as federal workforce efforts. In terms of government, NICE includes two tracks of work focused explicitly on improving the federal cybersecurity workforce -- one on workforce structure, and the other on training and professional development. Some of the work under these buckets had already begun when NICE began, but it's beginning to accelerate.
benton.org/node/40835 | InformationWeek
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NONPROFITS

FAILFARE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephanie Strom]
At a gathering last month over drinks and finger food, a specialist at the World Bank related the story of how female weavers in a remote Amazonian region of Guyana had against all odds built themselves a thriving global online business selling intricately woven hammocks for $1,000 apiece. The state phone company had donated a communications center that helped the women find buyers around the world, selling to places like the British Museum. Within short order, though, their husbands pulled the plug, worried that their wives' sudden increase in income was a threat to the traditional male domination in their society. Technology's potential to bring about social good is widely extolled, but its failures, until now, have rarely been discussed by nonprofits who deploy it. The experience in Guyana might never have come to light without FailFaire, a recurring party whose participants revel in revealing technology's shortcomings. Behind the events is a Manhattan-based nonprofit group, MobileActive, a network of people and organizations trying to improve the lives of the poor through technology. Its members hope light-hearted examinations of failures will turn into learning experiences — and prevent others from making the same mistakes.
benton.org/node/40866 | New York Times
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POLICYMAKERS

OBAMA AND HOLLYWOOD
[SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Ressner]
The usual gang of Hollywood A-listers will attend Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser August 16. With rising "wrong track" poll numbers and mounting criticism by donors and supporters over the administration's Afghanistan policy, compromises in the health-care bill and lackluster Wall Street reform, it's painfully obvious that many Hollywood natives are getting restless. President Barack Obama has not cozied up to the industry and, indeed, has told insiders he feels uncomfortable schmoozing with show business bigwigs -- a big departure from Bill Clinton. This marks only the fourth time Obama has visited Hollywood as president. Obama's best friends in Los Angeles are his old Chicago and Harvard Law School buddies.
benton.org/node/40859 | Hollywood Reporter
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

ATTACKS ON MEDIA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] It is a popular conservative myth to suggest that the "mainstream media" is a liberal lapdog to the Obama administration, that reporters favor the president and that he returns the admiration. In fact, this administration has pursued a quiet but malicious campaign against the news media and their sources, more aggressively attacking those who ferret out confidential information than even the George W. Bush administration did. It is understandable that the administration has secrets and wants to keep them. But this campaign to flush out sources has the feel of chest-thumping and intimidation. It is one thing to protect information that might put Americans in danger or undermine national security; it is another to bring cases against whistle-blowers and others who divulge information to spur debate and raise questions about public policy.
benton.org/node/40869 | Washington Post
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SOUTH AFRICA PRESS BILL
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Michael Skapinker]
[Commentary] South Africa's government is fighting off accusations that it plans to undermine the founding principles of the country's young democracy. The allegation came in a joint statement this month from 37 editors of local publications (including Business Day and the Financial Mail, which are partly owned by the Financial Times). The editors are deeply worried about two government initiatives that they say will severely restrict the freedom of South Africa's press. The first is a proposal, currently being considered by the ruling African National Congress, to set up a Media Appeals Tribunal, accountable to parliament and with the power to judge complaints against the print media. If this chilling bill passes into law, the consequences could extend beyond putting journalists behind bars. South Africa's newspapers have been assiduous in exposing corrupt practices and the granting of public contracts to government associates. A country in which cronyism can thrive unchecked is not one in which outside investors will find it easy to do business. South Africa's newspapers are not perfect, but they are playing a vital role in trying to stem the corruption that has severely hampered economic development elsewhere. This battle is not over. A few ANC figures have begun to speak against these proposals. It is time for other heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle to ask themselves whether this is what they fought for.
benton.org/node/40868 | Financial Times | Christian Science Monitor
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

RIM TO GIVE INDIA ACCESS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Santosh Kumar, Abhishek Shanker]
Research In Motion Ltd. will give India access to its BlackBerry messenger service beginning Sept. 1 to address the country's security concerns, two government officials said. The Canadian company will first give agencies access to messenger services on a manual basis, with information provided for individual phone numbers after government requests, said the officials who declined to be named because the discussions are private. RIM will provide a more automated solution to tracking BlackBerry smartphone messages by November, the officials said. Engineers from Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM will meet with technical staff from India's Department of Telecommunications August 17, the officials said. The company is also working on a solution to allow access to corporate e-mails, they said.
benton.org/node/40838 | Bloomberg
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SKYPE TOO OPEN?
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Mark Walsh]
Research in Motion isn't the only company facing government interference in the United Arab Emirates and other countries over its phone service. In its filing with the SEC to raise up to $100 million through an IPO last week, Internet phone provider Skype pointed out that "certain countries have made the use of one or more of our products illegal or are reported to have prohibited or blocked access to our website." Among these is the UAE and Egypt. Access to Skype's site and products has reportedly been blocked since 2006 for undisclosed reasons. Numerous VoIP sites have been blocked in connection with a national ban on such applications, according to an August 2009 report by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a partnership that tracks the Internet filtering and surveillance practices of countries worldwide. Skype's IPO filing also states that in March the Egyptian National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) announced it was banning Skype on mobile devices under a law that international calls must pass through a long-distance calling gateway controlled by an Egyptian company. Skype said it believes its services can still be accessed through fixed broadband and Wi-Fi connections in Egypt. But unlike RIM's BlackBerry platform, which the UAE, Saudi Arabia and India have recently threatened to ban because it's too closed, issues with Skype likely stem from the very openness of its peer-to-peer technology. Its system relies on the existing Internet connections of its 124 million "connected" users rather than its own network infrastructure.
benton.org/node/40837 | MediaPost
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US WTO WIN
[SOURCE: Office of the United States Trade Representative, AUTHOR: Press release]
United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced that a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel upheld the US claim that the European Union (EU) violated its WTO tariff commitments by imposing duties as high as 14% on three high-tech products. For all three products at issue ­ flat panel computer monitors, multifunction printers, and certain cable, satellite, and other set-top boxes ­ the Panel concluded that the EU tariffs were inconsistent with its obligations. The report helps ensure that U.S. producers of high-tech products will continue to be able to export those products to Europe duty-free as guaranteed by commitments made by the European Union following the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA). These products were included in the WTO's ITA, a major achievement of the post-Uruguay Round WTO that resulted in the elimination of duties on a wide range of high-tech products that Americans use every day, such as computers, peripherals, and telecommunications products. The EU claimed it could charge duties on them simply because they incorporate newer technologies or additional features. In effect, the EU is taxing innovation -- a move that could impair continued technological development in the information technology industry and raise prices for millions of businesses and consumers.
benton.org/node/40860 | Office of the United States Trade Representative | Reuters
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STREET VIEW PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: ]
Google's plans to launch its so-called Street View mapping service in 20 German cities by year's end has ignited a debate in Germany over how to reconcile the country's cherished privacy laws with the realities of the digital age. As companies such as Google and Facebook Inc. expand their reach, many Germans, scarred by a history of authoritarianism, say they are increasingly fearful of losing control of their personal information. With polls showing a majority of Germans opposed to having images of their homes included in Street View, which provides Internet users street-level views of public buildings and private residences, politicians have been scrambling to act, with some even calling for new legislation to curb the service. Google has taken pains to assuage German concerns, allowing people to opt out of the service before it goes live. So far, however, such overtures seem to have failed to quell many Germans' fears. The growing furor illustrates the myriad challenges technology companies face in offering one-size-fits-all services in international markets. Last week, South Korea's National Police Agency raided Google's Seoul offices as part of an investigation into whether the company collected and stored private information illegally while it prepared for the launch of Street View. Authorities in Italy, Spain and Australia are also investigating the service.
benton.org/node/40872 | Wall Street Journal
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SOUTH KOREAN GAMING
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Chico Harlan]
While South Korea's Internet game industry has grown into an entertainment force on par with television and film, Internet addiction has become a national social problem. Elite Korean professional gamers have loyal fans, lucrative salaries and signature celebration moves. A typical high school student, meanwhile, spends 23 hours a week playing Internet games. In the world's most wired country, the government faces a collision of interests concerning Internet game-playing. Some lawmakers say South Korea must fight Internet addiction by targeting the gaming industry, limiting the hours at which their games are available. Others see the industry as a still-growing moneymaker -- even a hallmark of Korean culture -- and they want it left alone. For at least five years, the government has tried to combat Internet addiction through education for parents, counseling, discussions about alternative activities.
benton.org/node/40871 | Washington Post
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