Cisco
Government Affairs E-Update
Volume
1, Issue 20
29
June 2001
Brought
to you by Cisco Government Affairs Online: http://www.cisco.com/gov
NEW UPDATED
FACTS AND STATS!!!!
For hundreds of Facts & Stats on the Internet,
the Internet Economy and Internet related processes go to Cisco Government
Affairs Facts and Stats page. http://www.cisco.com/gov/factsNStats/index.html
What’s In Cisco
Government Affairs E-Update?
I.
Cisco@Washington,
DC
II.
Cisco@International
III.
Cisco@U.S. States
IV.
Government Affairs
High Tech Community
V.
Facts and Stats
of the Week
VI.
Other High-Tech Stories of the Week
VII.
Cisco Government
Affairs@2001
This Week@Cisco in Government
Affairs
I. CISCO@WASHINGTON, DC
Appeals
Court Overturns Microsoft Breakup Order
The U.S. Appeals Court, District of Columbia, on June
28, 2001 reversed in part the proposed break-up of Microsoft Corp.
for alleged violations of antitrust law. In a ruling that upheld some
parts of the order and disagreed with others, the appeals court also
rebuked Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's earlier handling of the case,
citing an 'appearance of partiality.'
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cmp/20010628/tc/iwk20010628s0006_1.html
II. CISCO@INTERNATIONAL
Global Entertainment
And Media Industry To Reach $1.2 Trillion By 2005, PwC Predicts
Economic Uncertainty and Internet Sector Volatility
Won't Hinder 7.2% Compound Annual Growth for Industry, New Book Forecasts
NEW YORK, 6 JUN 2001 -- Buoyed by the growing importance
of the Internet as a distribution medium, and overcoming the 2001
U.S. economic slowdown, the global entertainment and media industry
will reach $1.2 trillion by 2005, growing at a 7.2 percent compound
annual rate. These predictions will be published on June 6th in the
latest edition of the annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment
And Media Outlook: 2001-2005, a leading industry forecast.
Notwithstanding the recent drop in Internet sector
market values, the OUTLOOK finds the Internet to be as compelling
a distribution medium in 2001 as it was in 2000. Growing consumer
demand for online music, books, newspapers, and magazines, coupled
with increased broadband
Internet access, will allow online distribution of
filmed entertainment to become a reality. Over its five-year forecast
period, the OUTLOOK sees the industry developing new business models
that will stimulate the conversion from free distribution to paid
Internet subscriptions, while solving copyright issues.
http://www.pwcglobal.com/extweb/ncpressrelease.nsf/DocID/467048A56C41D78D85256A6B0063E5B8
Swedish success at telecom meeting in Luxemburg
June
28, 2001
On
Wednesday the Ministerial Council moved appreciably closer to a decision
on a Community framework for electronic communications.
With today's decisions, we have moved still closer to meeting the
challenge issued by the European Council in Stockholm and Göteborg
to adopt the entire package of regulations before the end of the year,
commented Björn Rosengren, Minister of Industry, Employment and Communication,
who was chairman of the meeting.
This has been a high-priority issue for the Swedish presidency
and I am delighted that we have made as much progress as we have.
In July last year, the Commission proposed a new regulatory framework
for electronic communications with the aim of updating and adapting
existing regulations. The package contains five directives and a decision
which will replace the 20-odd existing directives and decisions in
this area. The present framework will be brought into
line with prevailing conditions in a market exposed to growing competition,
where dealing with old monopolies is no longer the principal concern.
The new framework will also take account of the ongoing convergence
of telecom, datacom and broadcasting. When convergence has been achieved,
traditionally separate networks will be able to carry each other's
services, thus allowing Internet access via the cable television network,
television broadcasting over the telecommunications network and telephony
over the Internet. The new regulatory framework means that all types
of infrastructure - telecommunications, computer and broadcasting
networks, etc. - will be regulated in the same way. The regulatory
framework is thus intended to be technologically neutral.
The
package will now go through its second reading in the European Parliament
and it is hoped that the framework can be adopted in its entirety
before the end of the year. The regulations are expected to come into
force during 2003 after transposition by the Member States.
III. CISCO@US STATES
HEAD OF THE CLASS
In
Georgia, there's a new way to match teachers with classrooms. The
state's all-purpose teaching Web site, www.TeachGeorgia.org,
serves as a clearinghouse for prospective teachers needing jobs and
school administrators looking to fill positions. Applicants can post
their resumes online to be viewed by employers statewide, or can look
up job openings and contact specific schools. The site also includes
general information on salaries, certification and school report cards.
www.teachgeorgia.org
http://governing.com/webwatch.htm
Internet Tax Freedom Act Should Be About Tax Simplification,
Fairness
June
26, 2001
Washington, D.C.- Testifying on behalf of the nation's governors and
the National Governors Association (NGA) today, Michigan Governor
John Engler warned Congress against intruding into state sovereignty
by placing restrictions on state revenue sources.
Governor Engler, who serves as NGA's Vice Chair, expressed governors'
support for establishing a procedure that would encourage states and
localities to continue to develop and implement a simplified and streamlined
sales tax system, officially known as the Streamlined Sales Tax Project.
Currently, states are prohibited from collecting existing use taxes
from remote, online sellers. States can only require sellers that
have a physical presence or "nexus" in that particular state
to collect these taxes. This patchwork of roughly 7,500 state and
local tax jurisdictions jeopardizes
Main Street bricks-and-mortar retailers and state revenues and is
extremely cumbersome to businesses in today's new economy. A University
of Tennessee study showed that the inability to collect sales and
use taxes on remote sellers would cost states more than $20 billion
per year beginning in 2003.
http://www.nga.org/nga/newsRoom/1,1169,C_PRESS_RELEASE^D_2231,00.html
LINES ONLINE
In Massachusetts and Virginia, drivers now can go
online to find out how long they'll be waiting in line. In those two
states, the wait times for specific motor vehicle branches are available
on the Web. In Massachusetts, the information is also accessible through
cell phones and wireless computers. Officials are publicizing the
information in an effort to reduce wait times, so people will avoid
doing transactions when the lines are longest. The wait times are
also useful within the department, so workers know which sites need
extra personnel.
Massachusetts: www.state.ma.us/rmv/branches/
Virginia: www.dmv.state.va.us/exec/csc/alpha.asp
http://governing.com/webwatch.htm
NET EXPERIENCE IS BEST TEACHER
In Evanston, Illinois, the Center for Learning Technologies in Urban
Schools (LeTUS) is working to face the difficulty in implementing
technology in school by providing teachers with the training they
need to develop technology-based curricula for their classes. Funded
by the National Science Foundation, LeTUS is a joint effort of Northwestern
University, the University of Michigan and the public school districts
of Chicago and Detroit. "We're a story about challenge as opposed
to a story about technology," said executive director of LeTUS
Louis Gomez, who is also a Northwestern University professor. "Technology
turns out to be a really cool way to get kids to do ambitious things.
If you put tools in the hands of kids and give them the power to analyze,
they get jazzed." LeTUS has trained over 200 teachers in 65 schools
in Chicago and Detroit cities over the past four years.
SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR, Katie Dean
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,44869,00.html
IV. GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS HIGH TECH COMMUNITY –
Issue of the week: Broadband Deployment
- It is estimated that 2.5 BILLION hours were wasted
with people accessing the Internet via dial-up. Broadband access,
or always-on, high-speed internet, allows productivity increases,
standard of living increases and new applications that haven't even
been thought of. Broadband can be delivered via satellite, wireline,
wireless, cable, fibre and technologies are being tested for access
through electical wires. Broadband is the future of the internet and
the future of communications. What are some examples of the ways broadband
has added to your productivity?
Add
your thoughts at Cisco’s High Tech Community - http://forums.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Community/HtCom?page=main.
V. FACTS
AND STATS OF THE WEEK:
For more Facts and Stats on the New Economy, visit
our Facts and Stats page.
Also, see our special State of the Internet report on this
page.
For
daily, topical Facts and Stats visit our Hot In Tech page.
VI. OTHER TECH STORIES OF THE WEEK
Seven Trends
Technology breakthroughs have developed at an incredible
pace in the last ten years, and show no signs of slowing down. These
advances are driving product proliferation, and creating new markets
— and new competitors. Currently the main shift is from PC to network;
but the current wireless trend will expand many new horizons.
http://www.pwcglobal.com/Extweb/mcs.nsf/docid/0296FD79E989678885256A3B00640600
INDIA
TO COMPUTE ON THE CHEAP
Indian computer scientists have invented a "simple inexpensive
mobile computer," or "Simputer," that may revolutionize
the ability of Indians to benefit from the information technology
revolution. In a country with a population reaching 1 billion, there
are only 2 million personal computers because most people are too
poor to afford a computer. The Simputer costs $200, and it will allow
multiple users to rent the machine for some 20 cents an hour, and
save their own work on a smartcard reader that individuals can
purchase for around $1 to $2. Because most Indians in rural areas
are illiterate, the creators developed the Information Markup Language,
referred to as the "Illiterate Markup Language," that understands
several Indian languages, converts the text to speech and reads the
screen to the user. Swami Manohar, co-creator of the Simputer,
is hoping the Indian government will purchase the device and distribute
it so that even remote communities will have access to at least five
Simputers.
SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Swaroopa Iyengar
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,44642,00.html
UK Govt protects
right to spam
By Tim Richardson
Posted: 28/06/2001 at 09:08 GMT
The British Government once again voiced its commitment
to the wired economy by attempting to talk its European partners into
overturning their commitment to outlaw spam.
The Government, it seems, is happy for Net users to
be bombarded with junk email containing all manner of pornographic
filth, scams, frauds, deceptions and get-rich-quick schemes that prey
on the vulnerable.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/23/20029.html
Charting the
Course for eBusiness
29 June 2001
By Steve Butler
Although the current economic slowdown in the United
States may have led many companies to
tap the breaks on their technology spending, it has
certainly not derailed internet commerce. As eMarketer finds in its
newly-released eCommerce: B2B Report, most companies are taking a
long-term perspective with their e-business strategies. The recent
slowdown amounts to nothing more than a small bump in a five to ten
year road.
http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/ecommerce_b2b/20010629_b2b.html?ref=dnaa
VII.
CISCO GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS@2001
Cisco’s top policy areas for 2001 are the areas of Education,
Broadband Deployment and eGovernment. To read or listen to our thoughts on these issues, please visit
our Government Affairs home page,
or visit our multimedia section .
E-UPDATE ARCHIVE
To
view past issues of Cisco’s Government Affairs E-Update, visit our
E-Update Archive page . http://www.cisco.com/gov/archive/eupdates/index.html
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in articles and papers from outside sources are in no way endorsed
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on topics of interest to our audience to further the debate on the
issues that are important to high-tech.
To view our positions on the policy matters that we care about,
please visit our Government Affairs homepage. – http://www.cisco.com/gov
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