Cisco Government Affairs E-Update

Volume 1, Issue 35

19 October 2001

Brought to you by Cisco Government Affairs Online: http://www.cisco.com/gov

LIBERTYUNITES.ORG – Along with our friends and partners at AOL Time Warner, Amazon.com, E-Bay, Microsoft and Yahoo, Cisco is participating in a website to help the United States begin the healing process after the September 11 tragedies. As the rubble is cleared, the rebuilding process for the survivors and their communities is only just beginning. From medical and rehabilitation needs to psychological assistance and financial support for the families of the victims, the burdens on charitable organizations will be staggering. Please visit www.libertyunites.org and see what you can do to help.

This Week@Cisco in Government Affairs

Cisco's E-Update keeps you up to date on the major policy news of the week. Focusing on broadband, education and e-government areas, but covering high-tech and telecom in general, the E-Update is a great source of information for state, federal and international policymakers. To subscribe, send a message with “subscribe” in the subject line to “Subscribe-eUpdate@cisco.com

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This Week@WASHINGTON, DC

CONGRESS WILL ALLOW BAN ON INTERNET TAXES TO EXPIRE - In a move that will allow a ban on Internet taxes to expire this weekend, Congress declined today to extend it, remaining mired in a dispute over how state sales taxes should apply to billions of dollars in electronic commerce. Analysts and lawmakers say it is unlikely that state and local governments will rush to impose new taxes after the moratorium expires on Sunday. But given enough time and an increasing need to raise revenue, that could change. "Starting Monday, there's an opportunity for considerable economic mischief," said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon. There is concern that tax officials around the country could begin interpreting a variety of their tax laws as applying to the Internet. Some lawmakers say that would drag down a major economic engine, adding to the nation's economic problems. "This is no time for Congress to permit a new onslaught of taxes on the consumer, or on the tech sector," said Representative Christopher Cox, Republican of California. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/19/technology/19INTE.html

FCC TO HOLD 700 MEGAHERTZ AUCTION IN JUNE - The Federal Communications said this week it will hold in June a much-delayed auction of valuable airwaves currently used by broadcasters but coveted by wireless telephone companies eager to offer wireless Internet, data and video services. The auction, originally set for May 2000, now is scheduled for June 19, the agency said on Monday. Twelve licenses will be awarded in the June auction. The FCC said the spectrum would be suitable for high-speed data services, and for fixed-wireless service in more remote areas. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011016/tc/telecoms_auction_dc_1.html

FCC COMMISSION MICHAEL COPPS SPEECH “IN DEFENSE OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST” – He stated that the terrorist attacks of September 11 mean that the FCC should explore expanded regulatory authority, particularly with respect to the Internet. http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Copps/2001/spmjc105.html

GOVERNMENT TECH SPENDING PROJECTED TO JUMP 65 PERCENT IN FIVE YEARS - The federal government will ratchet up spending on information technology products and services by 65 percent in the next five years, according to a report released Wednesday by INPUT, an IT analysis and marketing services firm in Chantilly, Va. The report predicted that the government’s total IT budget for products and services would rise from $36.4 billion in fiscal 2001 to $60.3 billion in fiscal 2006. That forecast represents a significant increase over the firm’s predictions last year, which said that spending would rise to $40.3 billion in 2005. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1001/101701h1.htm

PRESIDENT FORMS CYBERTERRORISM PANEL - President Bush formed a new panel Tuesday to fight cyberterrorism, noting that the nation's information systems are vital to business, government and national defense. The President's Critical Infrastructure Board will be charged with preventing disruptions of ``critical infrastructure,'' Bush said in an executive order.

He noted an array of entities that rely on information networks, including water, telecommunications, financial and transportation systems, health care and emergency services and manufacturing.

Protecting the networks is vital to protecting ``the people, economy, essential human and government services and national security of the United States,'' Bush said.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011016/pl/attacks_bush_cyberterrorism_1.html

White House Executive Order: Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Information Age -

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/print/20011016-12.html

ACCORD SEEN WITH F.C.C. ON LICENSES OF NEXTWAVE - Federal officials and several of the nation's largest wireless communications companies may announce as early as today a settlement in a dispute over who owns more than 200 valuable licenses to provide wireless service, according to people involved in the negotiations. Under the settlement, NextWave Communications, a bankrupt wireless company in Hawthorne, N.Y., agreed to pay what it owes for the licenses before it went out of business, as well as interest on that amount and related taxes. In exchange, NextWave would get the money raised when the government auctioned the licenses after the company had failed to pay for them. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/16/technology/16NEXT.html

GAO FINDS VOTING PROBLEMS NATIONWIDE - More than half the voting jurisdictions nationwide experienced problems conducting the 2000 election that involved problems with equipment, poll workers and procedures for overseas ballots, the General Accounting Office said yesterday. The GAO said the problems were widespread, occurred in every area of elections and affected 57 percent of voting jurisdictions nationwide. Half had at least some difficulty finding sufficient numbers of poll workers, and many poll workers had little or no training. "There was a wide range of problems, from inaccurate voter registration lists to difficulty in recruiting workers, to making polling places accessible, to needing more voting assistance for military and overseas voters, to a lack of guidance on how to handle mismarked ballots," said David M. Walker, U.S. comptroller general and head of the GAO.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64788-2001Oct16.html

GAO Report: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-02-3 (Adobe required)

'GOVNET' WOULD BE COSTLY, PRONE TO FAILURE - Creating an independent U.S. government computer network that is separate from the Internet would be costly and fail to create a safe haven from hack attacks and viruses, security experts said on Monday. Last week Richard Clarke, the presidential adviser on cyberspace security, proposed that the U.S. government establish its own network-- dubbed Govnet -- that would be less vulnerable to malicious attacks amounting to a kind of ``digital Pearl Harbor'' Clarke and others have warned could cripple key systems. While the concept is theoretically feasible, experts said it would be very difficult to execute. ``The idea is sound, to physically separate services that do not require access to the Internet or that have sensitive information,'' said Elias Levy, chief technology officer at SecurityFocus.com. ``Of course, no separation is ever 100 percent.'' http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011015/wr/tech_govnet_dc_1.html

SECURE NETWORK PROPOSAL STIRS DEBATE AMONG TELECOM COMPANIES - The Bush administration’s proposal to create a super-secure voice and data network for federal civilian agencies has left potential contractors with more questions than answers. Last week, the administration sent national telecommunications companies into a flurry of activity when it released a request for information (RFI), which vaguely outlined a network that would be impervious to cyberattacks. Called GOVNET, the network would be free from threats posed by viruses, worms and denial-of-service attacks. According to the request, GOVNET would be a private network that is not attached to the Internet or other public networks in any way. Such a network is not unprecedented. The Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS) is a classified network with no links at all to the public Internet that is used by intelligence agencies. Building such a network is very expensive. As such, telecommunications companies are wondering how to create it within reasonable cost constraints. Telecom insiders were uncertain how the proposed network would work. A JWICS-style network is at one end of the security-and-cost spectrum, while a virtual private network operating over the nation’s public telecom infrastructure, or backbone, is at the other. The RFI “leaves lot of room for interpretation,” said Tony Cira, AT&T’s vice president of defense programs. The RFI states the Bush administration wants a private network, Cira said. But the question becomes “how private?” he asked. If the government decides it must own the network fiber, Cira said, GOVNET would be very private and very costly. Such a move would include operating fiber in the “last mile,” the link between local telephone service and the national backbone “It’s do-able,” Cira said, “but it is very expensive.” http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1001/101501j1.htm

POSTAL SERVICE URGED TO CREATE 'INTELLIGENT MAIL' - The Postal Service should invest in the technology and infrastructure needed to transform mere letters into “intelligent mail,” according to recommendations released Monday in a new report on the postal system. The Mailing Industry Task Force, established last year by then-Postmaster General William Henderson, recommended that the Postal Service and mailing industry develop so-called intelligent mail in its new report, “Seizing Opportunity: The Report of the 2001 Mailing Industry Task Force.” By imbedding mail with bar codes and other identifiable devices, the Postal Service and mailers would be able track every piece of mail in circulation, according to the report, released Monday at the National Postal Forum in Denver. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1001/101501w1.htm

NEW U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WEBSITE LAUNCHED THIS WEEK - HTTP://WWW.ED.GOV/

This Week@INTERNATIONAL

INTERNET USE IN EUROPEAN SCHOOLS GROWING - Internet use in European schools growing, but wide differences remain The European Commission today presented the findings of two Eurobarometer surveys on the use of computers and the Internet in European Union schools. Carried out between February and May 2001 as part of the eEurope Action Plan benchmarking, the findings indicate that new technologies have made significant inroads in schools in all member States, and that teachers are overwhelmingly open towards the Internet. However, there are significant discrepancies in the pace of take-up between different EU countries. http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/01/1392|0|RAPID&lg=EN

BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS ON THE RISE IN EUROPE: COMMISSION STUDY - The European Commission recently released a new independent study on the development of broadband Internet access platforms in the European Union. According to the study, cable modem and ADSL will rapidly become the leading technologies used to access the Internet at high-speed. However, the study also emphasizes that there will be considerable differences in the pace of broadband take-up between Member States. http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/01/1386|0|RAPID&lg=EN

CHINA LINES UP OVERHAUL OF TELECOMS SECTOR - China plans to develop its booming telecommunications sector around four main domestic companies, setting the stage for a protracted period of mergers among the nine groups, industry sources said on Tuesday. The main element of the shake-up, which will affect the fortunes of Hong Kong-listed China Mobile and China Unicom, advocates splitting state-owned China Telecom - a virtual monopoly in the fixed-line business - into two, according to a China Telecom official. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3CN150WSC&live=true

WATCHDOG CAPS BT CHARGES - Telecoms regulator Oftel has capped the fees that British Telecom can charge its competitors for using part of its telephone network. The regulator's tougher approach is the latest in a string of measures aimed at boosting competition in telecoms markets. The measures are in particular aimed at speeding up the growth of broadband internet services, which offer high-speed access and a permanent connection. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1606000/1606482.stm

FRANCE EXTENDS 3G MOBILE LICENCES - Shares in telecoms companies have risen after the French government eased the financial costs of third-generation mobile phone licences. French telecoms companies have welcomed an extension of third-generation, or 3G, mobile phone licenses from 15 to 20 years and a cut in the initial fees. The extension will dramatically ease the financial burden on the country's indebted telecoms firms and increases pressure on other governments to follow suit. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1603000/1603216.stm

UK REOPENS AUCTION OF WEB ACCESS SPECTRUM - Last year's disastrous auction of radio spectrum for high-speed internet services was reopened by the UK government - which immediately came under fire for failing to alter the conditions significantly. http://tm0.com/sbct.cgi?s=166389374&i=405649&d=1902217

FINLAND IS THE MOST COMPETITIVE ECONOMY IN THE WORLD, despite its rigid labour markets, powerful unions and high tax rates, according to the Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum. It displaces America from last year's top slot. Of the 75 countries included, Zimbabwe, experimenting with a more extreme form of socialism, languishes in last place.

http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gcr/Launch_Press_Release.pdf (Adobe file)

SPAIN'S NEW TELEPHONY OPERATORS HAVE IT HARD COMPARED TO THEIR FRENCH AND GERMAN COUNTERPARTS - The consensus in the Spanish telecoms sector is that three years into liberalisation, something is not working. According to figures from the Spanish telecoms regulator (CMT), former monopoly telephony company Telefonica had a 91.57 per cent share of the Spanish fixed telephony market last year, just 2.7 points down on 1999. http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=011019002149&query=telecom+OR+mobile+OR+phone

EU TELECOMS PACKAGE - EU Presidency intends to reach agreement on the "Telecoms Package" with the European Parliament by the end of the year. (in French only) http://ue.eu.int/Newsroom/LoadDoc.cfm?MAX=1&DOC=!!!&BID=87&DID=68049&GRP=3843&LANG=2

EUROPE CLOSING TECHNOLOGY GAP WITH US - Europe is catching up with the US in implementing e-commerce initiatives, according to a report released by Accenture. The study concludes that the gap between the two regions - traditionally 18 months - has narrowed to about 12 months and could shrink further. http://tm0.com/sbct.cgi?s=166389374&i=406584&d=1913052

E-VOTING IN AUSTRALIA - Electronic voting could meet its match this weekend when Australian voters test an electronic system under some of the most fiendishly complex voting rules in the world. On Saturday, 220,000 voters in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the national capital, will select members for their legislative assembly. Of the ACT's 80 polling places, eight will offer voluntary electronic voting, allowing voters to fill out ballots on a computer screen instead of using pencils to mark paper ballots. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,47658,00.html

This Week@US STATES

VIRGINIA'S ANSWER TO ENROLLMENT BOOM: 'VIRTUAL' UNIVERSITY - Virginia officials are planning a new "virtual" university that would let students earn degrees by stringing together online and traditional course work from several colleges across the state. The new institution -- designed to help accommodate a projected boom in enrollments statewide -- would open by July 2003, under a plan approved by state higher education officials yesterday. Yet many details of the new institution remain uncertain, and state officials said they must still hammer out agreements with the numerous colleges they hope will cooperate. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5267-2001Oct16.html

OKLAHOMA'S PIONEER STATE WEB SITE OFFERS 24-HOUR INFORMATION - A first-of-its-kind state Web site could soon have Oklahomans renewing their driver's licenses at midnight and filing permit applications 24 hours a day. The site -- youroklahoma.com -- was launched Monday. The site combines information from every state agency into one online location. Visitors can search for an agency or by subject. Oklahoma is the first state to create such a site. http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=768365&pic=none&TP=getarticle

BROADBAND USERS STILL MORE ACTIVE ONLINE - According to Jupiter Media Metrix, 41% of wired US households (35.1 million) will connect to the internet via broadband by 2006 -- up from just 9% (5.2 million) in 2000. Jupiter mentions that as of May 2001, broadband users are more likely than dial-up users to do a number of online activities. They are more likely to download music -- 46% versus 26%, respectively, watch video -- 36% versus 18%, respectively, conduct personal banking -- 48% versus 30%, respectively and finally they are more likely than dial-up users to execute stock-related activities online -- 35% and 23%, respectively. http://www.emarketer.com/estatnews/quickestats/welcome.html?ref=ed#Broadband

BROADBAND USER GROWTH SLOWS AS HIGHER COSTS PROVE OBSTACLE - High-speed connections will link 41% of all online households to the Internet by 2006 compared with 9% last year, even though growth of broadband services in the short term has been damped by economic and other factors. According to a new forecast from Jupiter Media Metrix, the number of households with broadband access will almost double this year to 10 million from 5.2 million in 2000, and then continue rising to 35.1 million by the end of 2006. Most of these users will "graduate" from slower dial-up connections, according to Joe Laszlo, a Jupiter senior analyst. He says Jupiter doesn't expect any net growth during the next two years in the number of households accessing the Internet over traditional telephone lines, as broadband migrants offset new dial-up customers. Overall, Jupiter is projecting that growth in the online population will slow to a compound rate of 7% a year between 2001 and 2006, when Mr. Laszlo says 86.3 million households, or 76% of all U.S. homes, will be linked to the Internet, compared with 62.8 million or 59% this year. A 7% growth rate is well below the roughly 19% annual rate Jupiter is projecting between 1999 and 2001. Broadband will cannibalize dial-up because of its speed and the fact that broadband lines are "always on," eliminating busy signals and dial-in time. Broadband hook-ups also allow users better access to bandwidth-hungry features such as Webcasts of audio and video. http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1003364005852375680.htm (Paid Subscription required)

E-COMMERCE SPENDING STILL RECOVERING FROM ATTACKS - The tremors from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were still being felt in the e-commerce sector in the first week of October, according to a new study. ComScore Networks, a company that tracks transaction data across e-commerce sites, said total online consumer spending plunged 25 percent from average levels in the four months preceding the attacks to the week of Sept. 11 to 16. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171192.html

IT'S ROLE IN US ECONOMIC GROWTH CAST INTO DOUBT - Improved management at Wal-Mart probably played a bigger role in America's productivity "miracle" of the late 1990s than all the expensive investment in high-speed computers and fibre-optic cable by businesses, according to a challenging new analysis of US economic performance published on Wednesday. McKinsey Global Institute, research arm of the management consulting group, says the US did indeed experience a sharp improvement in its underlying economic performance between 1995 and 2000, but says the change can be accounted for by growth in just a handful of business sectors and was not principally the result of the surge in investment in information technology experienced over the same time. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3SBZR4WSC&live=true

MISSISSIPPI - NEW VOTING MACHINES GET OK – Hinds County to spend $1.4 million on touch-screen models - Election day woes caused by breakdowns in old voting machines could be a thing of the past by next year, Hinds County officials said. On Monday, supervisors unanimously voted to spend $1.4 million to replace the county's 360 outdated lever-voting machines with new touch-screen models. http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0110/16/m01.html

FLORIDA - BROWARD OFFICIALS CAST VOTE FOR TOUCH-SCREEN BALLOTING - Broward County voters will cast ballots next year on state-of-the-art touch-screen voting machines rather than marking choices on punch cards or filling in ovals on paper ballots. Tuesday's decision by county officials to acquire the ATM-style machinery for about $16 million came despite concerns that nothing -- not even election reform -- will be safe next week when the state Legislature tries to solve its largest budget crisis in at least a decade. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cvoting17oct17.story?coll=sfla%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

ONLINE GRADE BOOKS TELL PARENTS WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CLASSROOM - Robert Wilkoff likes to keep an eye on how his children are doing in school. But last year he got almost more than he bargained for. His daughter's teacher set up a Web site and e-mail system to alert parents to everything that was going on in class, including each homework assignment, a schedule of tests and the latest rundown on the child's grades.

"You could go to the homework board and check to see whether you were getting a truthful answer or not," said Mr. Wilkoff, whose daughter Hannah is in eighth grade at Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, Md. "This is much more dependable than hoping your kids bring something home in their backpack." http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/18/technology/circuits/18HOME.html

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS HIGH TECH COMMUNITY – Broadband Deployment – It is estimated that 2.5 BILLION hours are 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, fiber and technologies are being tested for access through electrical wires. Broadband is the future of the internet and the future of communications. What does broadband mean in your life? Add your thoughts at Cisco’s High Tech Community - http://forums.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Community/HtCom?page=main.

FACTS AND STATS:

FRENCH SAY ‘OUI’ TO THE INTERNET - The French Association of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) reports that as of October 2001, there are 6.2 million active internet users in France -- up 15.5% from about 5.3 million in December 2000. The Association also mentions that there are 351,000 high-speed internet subscribers as of October 2001.

2001 HOLIDAY SPENDING TO REMAIN STRONG - A survey conducted between September and October 2001 by Advertising.com found that 75% of US consumers plan to spend the same amount of money in the 2001 holiday season that they did during the 2000 holiday. In fact, 15% report that they will spend more. The study questioned 1,010 consumers and found that 50% say they will spend between $100 and $300 online during the holiday season and 25% plan to spend over $300 online.

CHINA LOVES THE CELLPHONE - According to the Wireless World Forum, by the end of 2001 there will be 111 million cellphone users in China, an increase of 42 million from 2000. As of October 2001, China's user base is roughly 40 million less than that of the US. By mid-2002, however, Wireless World Forum believes that China will be the top mobile phone market worldwide.

SCHOOLS LOGGING ON - A study from the European Union, conducted between February and March 2001, reports that 90% of schools in its member countries are connected to the internet and 80% of students have access to the 'net on a regular basis. The report also found that while 33% of Europe's schools use dial-up modem access, only 6% have cable modem access and 5% use digital subscriber line (DSL) connections. Finland ranks first when it comes to internet access where there is a national average of 3 pupils per internet personal computer. For further information on the eEurope action plan, please consult the following web address:

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope

For 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.

MODERN WARFARE MEANS EMAIL FOR U.S. SAILORS - Somewhere in the Arabian Sea, one of the most heavily protected ships in the U.S. Navy is sending out around 30,000 emails a day as everyone from captain to deck swabber keeps in touch with the folks back home. ``We don't limit who they send email to,'' said Deb, who manages the U.S.S. Carl Vinson's computer system. ``We educate the crew on the kind of things they can't discuss, for instance the location of the ship and what kind of operations we're involved in.'' The ship's library is fitted with a dozen internet terminals which are occupied almost constantly by sailors squeezing in a few minutes in a busy day to write home and check on the news. Http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011018/wr/attacks_carrier_internet_dc_1.html

SPEED IS CRUCIAL IN “INFORMATION WAR” - Military sources and analysts say that a critical part of the war in Afghanistan is reducing to 10 minutes or less the time it takes to find, identify and order attacks on so-called "targets of opportunity." The need to process this intelligence information and get it to the people the military calls "trigger pullers" has seldom been more important to success on a battlefield, experts say. Being able to send video and digital data "significantly reduces the time that it takes to (find a target) and allows pilots to get a richness of information that you can't get with voice" communications, says John Garstka, a civilian technology officer. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/10/19/info-war.htm

ANTHRAX WORRIES FIND ANSWER IN E-MAIL - Use of e-mail could skyrocket as an ever-widening anthrax investigation turns "snail mail" into a suspicious and potentially lethal form of communication. From corporate America to Congress, executives and regulators concerned about the growing number of letters infected with the deadly bacterium are urging people to communicate through e-mail instead of sending letters through the U.S. Postal Service. On Tuesday, the Arizona Daily Star announced that the Tucson newspaper would no longer accept regular postal mail addressed to "Letters to the Editor" and other popular feedback forums. Instead, editor and publisher Jane Amari told readers, the paper is asking people to send all correspondence by e-mail, fax or through an online calendar. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5098382,00.html?chkpt=zdnnp1tp01

WORRIED WORKERS TURN TO TELECOMMUTING - Telecommuting is in vogue again. Employees concerned that the workplace could be a target of anthrax-tainted mail or another terrorist attack are staying away and using technology to get the job done. But the surge in interest is a new challenge for employers. Some are relaxing policies or launching telecommuting arrangements for the first time, while others are wondering when the fear will subside enough to return jittery employees to the workplace. http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20011017/3545003s.htm

SPEAKING OF VOICE RECOGNITION - If companies like Microsoft, Intel and Cisco have their way, future cellular phones, PDAs and television sets won't come with any buttons. Instead, people will navigate using their own voices --twangs, impediments, accents and all. "Speech will become the primary interface, especially in mobile computing," said Intel VP Howard Bubb, at the Microsoft campus in Mountain View. "The (computer's) processors are becoming tailored to human interaction." Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Comverse, Philips and SpeechWorks are working together to develop speech-enabled software that will let users call up any website on any device without having to click a button. http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,47545,00.html

MICROSOFT AIMS AT AOL WITH NEW MSN, BROADBAND OFFER - Microsoft Corp. on Monday said it will revamp its MSN online offerings later this month and has signed new deals with major telephone companies to offer high-speed Internet access as the software giant goes head to head with rival AOL Time Warner Inc.. Microsoft will offer MSN over digital subscriber lines (DSL) through partnerships with Verizon Communications, BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. , Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told a conference call. The new deals will offer high-speed access to 90 percent of DSL-capable U.S. homes by early next year, Ballmer said. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011015/tc/tech_microsoft_msn_dc_2.html

SET-TOP BOX MARKET IS READY TO EXPLODE - Despite the current economic slowdown, demand for set-top boxes that turn phone lines or televisions into high-speed Net connections or link video games consoles to online content is poised for explosive growth over the next five years, according to a new study. The study, by market research firm Cahners In-Stat Group, predicts the number of set-top boxes purchased will jump from 6.9 million in 2000 to over 74 million in 2005. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171136.html

CORPORATE R&D GROWTH RATE - The growth rate for investment in research and development nearly doubled for corporations headquartered in the United States in 2000, according to a report released Tuesday by the Commerce Department's Office of Technology Policy. R&D investment rose by 9.3 percent over the 1999 level, from $145.6 billion to $162.7 billion, the report said. The increase reversed a five-year downward trend in the R&D growth rate. R&D investment increasingly is dedicated toward information and electronics manufacturing, which saw the largest growth, and toward medical substances and devices. Together they accounted for 67 percent of investment in 2000. R&D funding for the aerospace industry, chemical manufacturing, and basic industries and materials sectors dropped to 13 percent.

http://www.ta.doc.gov/reports.htm

INFORMATION SHARING: PRACTICES THAT CAN BENEFIT CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION – GAO Report - http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-02-24 (Adobe File)

CISCO GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS@2001

Cisco’s top policy focuses 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 our visit our multimedia section . http://www.cisco.com/gov/multimedia/index.html

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

DISCLAIMER

Positions in articles and papers from outside sources are in no way endorsed by Cisco Systems' Office of Government Affairs. We offer articles 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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