|
Cisco Government Affairs E-Update
Volume 2, Issue 15
05 April 2002
Brought to you by
Cisco Government Affairs Online: http://www.cisco.com/gov
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
This
Week@WASHINGTON, DC
TECH GROUPS BACK BABY
BELLS ON MANDATORY HIGH-SPEED NETWORK SHARING - Six leading trade organizations
have formed the High Tech Broadband Coalition to support the Baby Bell
telephone companies fight regulations forcing them to share their high-speed
networks with competitors. Many groups are lobbying to make high-speed
Internet access a national priority, but this is the first group to
support the Baby Bells in their quest to ease existing regulations.
The coalition believes that removing the restrictions would encourage
the phone companies to build more high-speed networks resulting in increased
sales of networking gear and software. Grant Seiffert, vice president
of external affairs and global policy at the Telecommunications Industry
Association, a member of the new coalition said, "We are the value chain
of the broadband space-the arms merchants...and right now we're not
selling any product." Many other industry associations such as
the Information Technology Association of America are supporting the
local exchange carriers and argue that lifting the regulations would
create an anti-competitive environment. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/2993942.htm
Newsbytes story: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175612.html
ITAA Press release:
http://www.itaa.org/news/pr/PressRelease.cfm?ReleaseID=1017863611
REMARKS BY COMMERCE
SECRETARY AT NTIA SPECTRUM SUMMIT - About 50% of long-term economic
growth in the United States since World War II resulted from technology
innovations. Roughly two-thirds of the productivity growth we were blessed
with in the late 1990s came from the communications and information
technology sector alone. Spectrum-related products and services
have been an important part of this growth. Wireless phones and data devices have
spurred business efficiency and productivity. Broadcast television and radio have kept
people better-informed and entertained.
Wireless links provide critical communications support to national
infrastructures like telephone and cable systems, electrical and water
supply systems. And today,
more than ever, we are conscious of the importance of spectrum-related
technology to our national defense and homeland security.
But the spectrum that allows us to enjoy these and other technologies
is a finite and already fairly crowded resource. Take a look at this chart behind me: 96%
of spectrum use is in less than 10% of the spectrum (the spectrum below
3 GHz). That 10% is so
popular because of its superior technical quality.
http://osecnt13.osec.doc.gov/public.nsf/docs/Evans-Spectrum-remarks
SPEECH: TECHNOLOGY-LED
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT in the Post-Bubble, Post-9/11, Post-Enron America
- Remarks by Bruce P. Mehlman, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy,
United States Department of Commerce - As we enter the 21st century,
America leads the world in developing and commercializing new technologies.
One reason why so many observers identified the 20th Century as "the
American Century" is because the United States pioneered so many scientific
discoveries and research breakthroughs during the last 100 years. This
progress continues all around our nation every day. From information
technology to biotechnology to nanotechnology and so many things in
between, U.S. scientists and high tech workers are generating new products
and trailblazing revolutionary discoveries every day. Technological
innovation is critical to our nation for many reasons. First and foremost,
technology fuels sustainable economic expansion - creating high-wage
jobs, world-class exports and productivity growth so critical to our
long-term global competitiveness. Innovations also improve our quality
of life... from new drugs and cures that help people live longer and
healthier lives, to agricultural advances that permit more bountiful
harvests with less herbicides and pesticides. Advances in technology
are vital to our efforts to protect our homeland, hardening our infrastructure,
detecting dangers and empowering our defenders.
http://www.ta.doc.gov/Speeches/BPM_020404_EconDev.htm
RETHINKING ACCESS
TO PUBLIC LANDS AND RIGHTS-OF-WAY - At the end of March, NTIA Assistant
Secretary Nancy J. Victory gave an address at the third annual James
H. Quello Communications Policy and Law Symposium. She discusses the
various issues the Administration has been focused on in their desire
to increase broadband access. Four areas were identified as places where
rights-of-way regulation could impede the construction of broadband
facilities. They included lengthy application processes, unreasonable
fees, duplicative regulations, and discriminatory treatment. It was
also pointed out that local officials have voiced concern that decreasing
regulation could create an anticompetitive environment. Victory calls for a collaborative effort
amongst federal, state, and local officials to remove impediments to
delivering competitive voice, two-way, high-speed data and video services.
She states that the FCC is working with its Local State Government Advisory
Committee to find solutions for rights-of way access issues. Additionally,
the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)
has established a committee to provide recommendations on the rights-of-way
issue. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/2002/quello32602.htm
LEAVE OPTIONS ALONE
– OP-ED by Kleiner Perkins Partner John Doerr and FedEx CEO Frederick
W. Smith - Political leaders in Washington are casting about for measures
to ensure that the Enron debacle will never be repeated. Unfortunately,
one of the main ideas being considered — requiring companies to treat
stock options as expenses on financial statements — addresses an issue
that not only had nothing to do with Enron's failure but is, in fact,
not a problem at all. The proper purpose of any reform should
be a clearer, more accurate picture of a company's financial health.
Instead, counting options as expenses — "expensing" them — would actually
distort and confuse that picture considerably. It could also prevent
millions of workers from sharing in the success of their firms through
employee ownership. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/05/opinion/05DOER.html
STOCK OPTIONS AND THE LEVIN-MCCAIN
DOUBLE STANDARD - Senator Carl
Levin (D-MI) has revived a bill he introduced (as S.576) in 1997 when
it died from lack of support. The last time the bill's key issue—tax
deductibility of stock options—came up for a vote was in May 1994, when
a Senate resolution rejected Senator Levin's position by 88 to 9. Today,
as in 1997, Senator Levin's "Ending the Double Standards for Stock Options"
bill (S.1940) is co-sponsored by John McCain (R-AZ) and a couple of
other Senators. On June 20,1997, Senator Joe Lieberman
wrote to Treasury Secretary Rubin, "the McCain/Levin bill could have
the double effect of asphyxiating individual drive and undermining innovation."
Michael Mares of The American Institute of Certified Public Accounts
(www.aicpa.org/) put his finger on the fundamental flaw
of the original Levin-McCain bill. He said it would destroy "the parity
between the income inclusion and deduction that ensures income is taxed
only once." http://www.ipi.org/ipi/IPIPublications.nsf/PublicationLookupFullText/CC9D804CEC67524386256B91005B9A45
COMMENTARY - STOCK OPTIONS KEEP THE ECONOMY AFLOAT By BURTON G. MALKIEL
and WILLIAM J. BAUMOL - Mr. Malkiel is a professor of economics at Princeton
University. Mr. Baumol is a professor of economics at New York University.
- The fallout from the Enron accounting scandal includes an invigorated
crusade against the use of employee stock options as a method of compensation.
Critics see such options as a device to enable managements to cheat
their stockholders. Yet, if properly managed and adequately reported,
their role is precisely the opposite. They are the prime incentive for
management to dedicate itself to the promotion of stockholder interests.
The opposition is growing stronger. Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.)
has now joined with Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and others to introduce
a bill that would require firms to charge the "expense" of stock options
against reported earnings. This legislation may erase millions of dollars
of corporate profits and push many high-tech companies into the red.
That's fine with Warren Buffett, another consistent critic. He puts
it this way: "If options aren't a form of compensation, what are they?
If compensation isn't an expense, what is it? And, if expenses shouldn't
go into the calculation of earnings, where in the world should they
go?" http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB101788696771580240,00.html?mod=opinion%5Fmain%5Ffeatured%5Fstories%5Fhs
(paid subscription required)
ABERNATHY
AFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR ACCESS PARITY - Federal Communications Commission member Kathleen Abernathy
-- a critical vote in deciding whether cable operators are forced to
carry competing Internet-service providers -- affirmed her support Wednesday
for Internet-access rules that apply equally to cable operators and
phone companies. 'It would be hard to justify significant difference
in the regulatory treatment when you categorize both of them as information
services,' Abernathy told reporters in her office. The FCC has classified
cable-modem service as an information service and tentatively concluded
that digital-subscriber-line service provided by phone companies is
also an information service. Traditionally, information-service providers
have not been regulated under Title I of the Telecommunications Act.
http://www.tvinsite.com/multichannelnews/index.asp?layout=story&doc_id=79612&display=breakingNews
FCC’S POWELL WANTS
DIGITAL TV - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell
yesterday exerted new pressure on the television industry to speed the
rollout of digital television, challenging it to meet a set of comprehensive
deadlines. In 1997, Congress mandated that most broadcasters
convert to digital signals by 2006 and granted them an estimated $70
billion worth of new television spectrum to do so. But the promise of
digital TV -- sharper pictures, better sound, more channels and interactive
capability -- has been slow to materialize, with broadcasters and TV
makers blaming each other for the sluggish pace of the changeover. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63600-2002Apr4.html
AMERICANS LOVE E-GOVERNMENT
- More than a quarter of Americans use government Web sites to gather
information, mostly on popular tourist sites, school projects, and health
or safety information, according to a study released today by the Pew
Internet & American Life Project.
The study - based upon the responses of nearly 2,400 Internet
users who visited government Web sites in the past six months - found
that roughly 77 percent used the online resources to gather information
about popular tourist attractions.
Almost as many - 70 percent - said they used government Web sites
to gather information for school projects, while nearly half of those
who visited e-government Web sites did so to glean health or safety
information, the survey found. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175615.html
Full Pew Report: http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Govt_Website_Rpt.pdf
(Adobe document)
PLUG AND PLAY – BUSH ADMINISTRATION
APPROACH TO E-GOV - The Bush
administration has proposed an intriguing approach to e-government:
Rather than leaving each agency to develop its own applications, why
not have some agencies develop basic components that can be used by
others? This concept of plug-and-play e-government, called component-based
architecture, is the latest effort by the Office of Management and Budget
to shape a more cohesive, cross- government approach to technology management.
Last month, OMB released component-based architectural models for the
24 cross-agency e-government initiatives. The models will help agencies
decide what technology they need to complete their e-government projects
and will also help agencies work better together. The models reflect
the idea of build once, use many — in other words, capitalizing on what
one agency has done to serve many agencies' needs. For example, software
that handles online payments or manages online grant applications could
be applied to more than one e-government initiative. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0401/cov-arch-04-01-02.asp
GOVNET PROVIDES HARSH
LESSONS FOR FEDERAL-CONTRACT 'NEWBIES'- In the wake of last September's
terrorist attacks, the Bush administration unveiled an idea called Govnet.
It would be a new, secure communications channel for the federal government
itself. Almost immediately, 167 companies responded with ideas for building
this next-generation system for a post-terrorist world. Some executives
at Level 3 Communications Inc. saw a bonanza of as much as $1 billion
in business in the next year; the new two-man government sales force
of the Broomfield, Colo., fiber-optic network operator had to try to
calm headquarters executives down. Six months later, Govnet is still
a fuzzy idea with no budget; even senior government tech officers say
they aren't sure what it is supposed to do. The one Govnet contract
released so far is for $5 million -- to keep track of the staggering
volume of proposals. Govnet's lesson is a harsh one for tech companies
hoping that homeland-security needs would become their post-recession
savior: They have found even the U.S. government is capable of producing
something that looks a bit like "vaporware." http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1017611654474629840,00.html?mod=technology%5Ffeatured%5Fstories%5Fhs
(Paid subscription required)
BUSH HOPES TO TEMPER STEEL
TARIFFS WITH FREE-TRADE MEASURES
- A month after infuriating many conservatives by imposing stiff tariffs
on imported steel, President Bush will begin trying to reestablish his
free-trade credentials today. Bush will ask the Senate to follow the
House's lead and give him new power to negotiate international trade
agreements. The authority would allow the administration to negotiate
deals that could not be changed -- only approved or rejected -- by Congress.
Senate Democratic leaders say they support the measure, but only
if it is coupled with a plan to provide assistance to workers who have
lost their jobs because of global trade.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58183-2002Apr3.html
WORLDCOM GETS NETWORK
CONTRACT FROM D.O.D. - Nine months after the Defense Department rescinded
a high-profile fiber optic network contract awarded to now-bankrupt
telecommunications firm Global Crossing, the department announced Thursday
that telecom giant WorldCom has been awarded the work, which is valued
at up to $450 million. The
contract, known as the Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN),
is for a high-speed Internet link for more than 5,000 Defense scientists
and engineers across the country. Controversy has surrounded competition
for the contract ever since some of the nation’s biggest telecom firms
alleged that Defense had unfairly awarded the contract to Global Crossing
in July. The losing bidders, AT&T, Sprint, WorldCom and Qwest Communications,
charged that the department relaxed the contract’s terms so that Global,
a relative newcomer to the government market, had a winning advantage.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0402/040502h1.htm
GAO REPORT: ELECTRONIC
GOVERNMENT - Challenges to Effective Adoption of the Extensible Markup
Language - This
report responds to your request that we review the status of Extensible
Markup Language (XML) technology and the challenges the federal government
faces in implementing it. XML is a flexible, nonproprietary set of standards
designed to facilitate the exchange of information among disparate computer
systems, using the Internet’s protocols. Specifically, we agreed to
assess (1) the overall development status of XML standards to determine
whether they are ready for governmentwide use and (2) challenges faced
by the federal government in optimizing its adoption of XML technology
to promote broad information sharing and systems interoperability. The
report recommends that the director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) take steps to improve the federal government’s planning
for adoption of XML. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02327.pdf
(Adobe document)
This Week@INTERNATIONAL
ITALY PUSHES E-GOVERNMENT
- Since the wealthy Group of Seven nations and Russia made the "digital
divide" between rich and poor countries a priority at the group's summit
meeting in Genoa last year, there has been much talk but little action.
Now, if a former IBM executive turned government minister has his way,
that is about to change. Lucio Stanca, 61, spent 33 years at International
Business Machines Corp., finishing his career a year ago as the Paris-based
chairman of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa. Since last summer, he
has been the Italian minister for technology and innovation, charged
with digitalizing the government's paper-heavy bureaucracy and using
the tools of e-government - a system of online procurement and electronic
databases aimed at bringing more transparency to the public sector -
to send a wake-up call to the country's notoriously lethargic public
administration. At the
Genoa meeting, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi persuaded his partners
to let Italy spearhead the G-7's e-government initiative as a way of
creating new forms of aid for developing countries. Stanca since then
has pushed hard with fewer than a hundred staffers to launch a global
"e-government for development" initiative that next week could yield
its first results. On Tuesday in Palermo, Sicily, Stanca
will bring together delegates from 76 countries along with King Abdullah
II of Jordan; Berlusconi; prime ministers from several developing countries;
James Wolfensohn, the president of the World Bank; officials of the
G-7 Digital Opportunities Task Force; top-level officials from the United
Nations; ministers from two dozen countries; Erkki Liikanen, the European
commissioner for the information society, and top executives from Cisco
Systems Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc., IBM and McKinsey Co. http://www.iht.com/articles/53307.html
E-BUSINESS BOOSTS PRODUCTIVITY - E-business doesn't mean using the Internet
to sell stuff, rather it's the primary technology tool to increase productivity
and profitability, says the co-chair of the Canadian E-Business Initiative.
Too many people confuse E-business with E-commerce -- using the Internet
to sell goods and services, says Pierre-Paul Allard, president of Cisco
Systems Canada, who was named co-chair of EBI last week by Industry
Minister Allan Rock. "Using the Internet as a technology to
get to customers, whether they're businesses or consumers, ... that's
only a small element, actually a by-product, of how we implemented E-business
systems at Cisco,'' Allard said in an interview Wednesday. Allard, who
co-chairs the private-public partnership to promote E-business, with
Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Nancy Hughes Anthony, says increasing
productivity -- not sales -- is the main goal of EBI. "It's not about
E-sales and how you move product through the Internet. It's about how
you take a business apart and look at what it does -- customer service,
manufacturing, managing your finances -- and then reconstructing all
those processes in a Web-centric fashion.'' http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/info/markets/
COULD TECHNOLOGY SPENDING
SPUR RAPID RECOVERY FOR EU'S ECONOMY? - With the U.S. economy poised
once again to come out of recession quicker and stronger than Europe,
politicians here are once again wondering what it will take for Europe
to catch up. Could more spending on technology be the cure? Even as
technology companies in the U.S. continue to struggle after last year's
downturn, there's little doubt that many products developed by those
companies continue to keep the U.S. in the forefront of innovation.
Some economists even believe that technological innovations introduced
in the past decade made the U.S. more flexible, enabling the economy
to escape with only a mild recession last year. In the early 1990s, Washington fretted
that the U.S. was losing the technology race to Japan, which prompted
the Clinton administration to boost spending somewhat on commercial
technology. More importantly, industry made massive investments in research
and development. The results were legendary. Europe's problems run deeper
and require sweeping changes. "For Europe to advance technologically,
the problem is more political than technological," says European Union
research chief Philippe Busquin. Fundamentally, the U.S. is a single
market; Europe, for all its hype, isn't. The EU is a collection of 15
nations that trade freely with each other, but regard each other as
competitors technologically. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1017615869896445040,00.html?mod=Page+One
(Paid subscription required)
SLOVENIA - IDENTIFICATION
OF COMMON GOALS - The State
Secretary responsible for applications at the Ministry of Information
Society, dr. József Györkös gave a speech titled Current Developments
and Challenges in the Republic of Slovenia on 21 March at the Conference
& Exhibition titled "Információs Magyarország" (Hungary in the Infomation
Society) organised by Government Commission for Informatics and under
the aegis of dr. I. Stumpf, Minister.
http://www2.gov.si/mid/mideng.nsf
AUSTRALIAN BROADBAND
ADVISORY GROUP - The membership and terms of reference for the Federal
Government’s premier advisory body on broadband – the Broadband Advisory
Group - were recently announced by the Minister for Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston. ‘The Federal Government is examining the
way ahead for broadband in Australia, including possible policy solutions
to current and future challenges and the opportunities presented by
emerging technologies and new business models,’ Senator Alston said. ‘The Group will provide high level advice
to the Government on broadband development in Australia, and provide
a vehicle for fostering communication between stakeholders on both the
supply-side and demand-side of the broadband issue.’
The Membership of the Group is: Bronte Adams, Ros Hill, Tom Kennedy,
George McLaughlin, Mike Miller, Rosemary Sinclair, Phil Singleton, Ziggy
Switkowski, Jeffrey Tobias and Terry Walsh (Cisco Systems). ‘The Government has already laid the foundations
to capitalise on the opportunities presented by broadband through the
open and competitive telecommunications regime and specific initiatives
such as the $52.2 million National Communications Fund, the $37 million
Advanced Networks Program and the $2.1 million Digital Content Fund,’
Senator Alston said. ‘This
Group brings together leading thinkers in the broadband arena in Australia
who will consult with experts overseas to gain further perspective and
experience in this area.’ – Release from Office of Minister Alston.
WIRELESS BROADBAND TERMS
OF REFERENCE - The Minister
for Communications, Information Technology (IT) and the Arts, Senator
Richard Alston, today released draft terms of reference for consideration
by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts in its inquiry into wireless broadband
technologies. The Standing Committee, chaired by MHR
Christopher Pyne, has been asked to conduct an inquiry into the current
and potential use of wireless technologies (including wireless LAN,
3G, Bluetooth, LMDS and Wireless Local Loop) to provide broadband communications
in Australia. Broadband
technology is widely considered to be a crucial driver in ensuring that
Australia derives maximum economic and social benefit from the information
economy. http://www.dcita.gov.au/nsapi-graphics/?MIval=dca_dispdoc&ID=6326
DEAF KAZAKH PUPILS
GO ONLINE - Across Central Asia, an ambitious program to introduce the
online world to the deaf and hearing impaired is taking hold. Organized
through the US State Department's Internet Access and Training Program
(IATP), the program is in operation in all of the former Soviet Union
and other regions. Most recent to the program is the Almaty School for
the Deaf in Kazakhstan. IATP sent a deaf trainer to the Almaty School
for the Deaf in November 2000. Since then, faculty and students have
been diligently pursuing grants and donations to set up a computer lab
for deaf students. Teachers from the school are impressed with how the
Internet has increased the children's vocabulary, made them more curious
about the world and given them career aspirations far and above what
they had before. Several of the school's students are participating
in an Internet training course for deaf teenagers and adults. "The whole
training was fascinating, exciting, amazing, I cannot even express it
in words," said one of the students, Elena Pegina. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1879000/1879158.stm
SETBACK FOR HONG KONG HIGH-TECH
DEVELOPMENT - Hong Kong's dream
of becoming a regional technology hub has suffered an early setback
with fewer tenants than expected signing up for the first phase of the
government's flagship Cyberport development, an office and residential
complex pitched at high-technology companies.
Only three companies, General Electric Information Services,
a unit of General Electric, Finnish telecommunications company Sonera,
and the developer Pacific Century Cyberworks (PCCW) have committed to
lease space in the project. Of 15 companies that originally signed
letters of intent to become anchor tenants, none had yet signed leases,
the government said. They included Cisco, CMGI, Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
Microsoft and Oracle. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT396T0XMZC&live=true&tagid=ZZZC00L1B0C
This
Week@US STATES
INDIANA GOVERNOR O'BANNON
SIGNS E-COMMERCE BILL - Governor Frank O'Bannon signed Senate Enrolled
Act 329 recently that essentially keeps certain state services open
24 hours a day - thanks to the Internet.
SEA 329 allows each state agency to accept online electronic
payments for services through accessIndiana, the official web site of
the State of Indiana. Previously, only a handful of state agencies were
authorized to accept electronic payments.
Online vehicle registrations, for example, are an outstanding
example of how citizens can step out of line at their local license
branch, and purchase their renewals when it's convenient for them.
"The ability to accept online electronic payments will further
help all of state government participate in e-commerce and enhance the
ways state agencies make services available to all Hoosiers," O'Bannon
said. http://www.ai.org/serv/presscal?PF=gov&Clist=4&Elist=51303
CISCO PARTICIPATES
IN SACRAMENTO ADVOCACY TRIP - On Tuesday April 2 and Wednesday April
3 Cisco Systems participated in the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group's
Sacramento legislative advocacy trip. The trip brought together
Silicon Valley companies and members of the Santa Clara County Board
of Supervisors and Santa Clara County Cities Association to meet with
members of the California State Senate and Assembly to advocate for
quality of life issues facing Silicon Valley. Issues that were
discussed this year were education, housing, transportation, and the
environment. Cisco would like to thank the staff at the Silicon
Valley Manufacturing Group for organizing such a successful event.
N.C.: STATE TECHNOLOGY
CHIEF TO STEP DOWN - The state's top technology official is retiring
from his post after less than two years on the job.
Ronald P. Hawley will step down as chief information officer
for the Office of Information Technology Services on May 1 to take a
job with SEARCH, a nonprofit organization based in Sacramento, Calif.
SEARCH helps law-enforcement organizations across the country with technology
and statistics. Gov. Mike Easley has not determined yet
who will replace Hawley, spokeswoman Cari Boyce said. http://www.newsobserver.com/tuesday/news/Story/1108526p-1106546c.html
VERIZON EXPANDS WIRELESS
NETWORK - Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless operator,
said Monday it will launch its advanced wireless service, capable of
high-speed Internet connections, in Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis
on Tuesday. The company, which also plans to announce Tuesday the launch
of the service in 10 more cities, which it did not name, first rolled
it out in January in areas from Boston to Virginia on the East Coast,
and the Silicon Valley, Salt Lake City and San Francisco Bay area in
the West. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&u=/nm/20020401/tc_nm/telecoms_verizonwireless_dc_5
SURVEY: SILICON VALLY
“MOST WIRED” - Silicon Valley still rules the wired world, but Boston
and Salt Lake City made huge strides in an annual survey of America's
most Internet-savvy cities.Boston jumped 12 places to No. 4 on this
year's list, published in the May edition of Yahoo! Internet Life magazine.
Salt Lake City jumped 23 places to sixth, though the magazine said it
could be a one-time spike caused by the recent Winter Olympics.
San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas, maintained
their grip on the top three spots, which they've held in all but one
of the five surveys. The issue hits newsstands April 16.
Don Willmott, the magazine's technology editor, said the biggest
news may be the fact that numbers were up almost everywhere, despite
the recession. It took a score of 36 out of 40 to win this year, up
from 33.3. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&u=/ap/20020402/ap_on_hi_te/wired_cities_3
WIRING IOWA FOR THE FUTURE
- Iowa lawmakers are following an age-old model to boost Internet use
in Iowa. Early in the last
century Iowa decided to get "out of the mud" and authorized the farm-to-market
road system to ensure their economy. Today, state officials see high-speed
Internet access as a new farm-to-market
system. "Iowa's long-term competitiveness in the new economy
will be driven in part
by how well we can provide access to affordable high-speed telecommunications
to all businesses in the state," said Governor Tom Vilsack. "Access
means capacity for Iowans to work from anywhere [in the state]
with anyone in the world." A recent study commissioned by the Iowa Alliance
for Advanced Communications Services determined that 70 percent of Iowans
have Internet access at home or at work. More than 60 percent of households
are connected and more than half of Iowa businesses are connected. The
problem now is in deploying a high-speed network. It's expensive and,
according to Mike Eggley, CEO of net INS, that cost is generally passed
on to the consumer. The Iowa Department of Economic Development is responding
by committing marketing dollars to educate Iowans about the benefits
of high-speed access, conducting workshops, and talking to chambers
of commerce and economic development groups. http://www.businessrecord.com/businessrecord/myarticles.asp?P=504629&S=584&PubID=8859&EC=0
CALIFORNIA TO REGULATE
DSL - Dissatisfied DSL customers in California now have a state authority
to turn to. The California
Public Utilities Commission announced last week that it will take regulatory
oversight for high-speed DSL (digital subscriber line) Internet services
in the state. The decision is seen as a small win for consumers who
have suffered through service failures, high prices and other frustrations
from companies including BellSouth and Verizon Communications.
Some consumer advocates see California's decision paving the
way for other state PUCs to step in and fill the regulatory gap.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-873091.html
CYBER SCHOOLS DRAW
FLAK OVER FUNDING AND METHODS - Though outwardly peaceful, Bonnie Oliphint's
pale-green bedroom is part of an educational battlefield. The reason:
the computer in the corner. Bonnie received the machine from the publicly
funded Einstein Academy, one of a growing number of "cyber schools"
that aim to bypass traditional classrooms and take teaching directly
into the home. After home-schooling their daughter for
years, Bonnie's parents, a housewife and a seminary professor, signed
up with Einstein last fall hoping to get their 12-year-old additional
contact with other students and more-sophisticated instruction. Now,
the outgoing seventh-grader studies from virtual books and joins classmates
and teachers in online chats that can involve anything from swapping
Indian-tribe trivia to questioning Cleopatra, in Latin, with an Einstein
teacher logging on as the ancient Egyptian queen.
"I can't get over the amount of material she has been exposed
to," says Peggy Oliphint, Bonnie's mother. But administrators at the suburban Cheltenham
Township School District can't get over the $8,000-a-year that Einstein
wants them to pony up for Bonnie. She lives within Cheltenham's boundaries
-- but Einstein belongs to another school district. Under state laws
set up to encourage competition, a district that loses a student to
a school chartered by another district is mandated to make payments
for the child's education. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1017956771773469560,00.html?mod=Page+One
(Paid subscription required)
NEW TOOLS FOR SCHOOL:
EDUCATORS DREAM OF LAPTOPS FOR ALL STUDENTS - After years of debate,
many educators have become advocates for the benefits of using laptops
and handheld computers in the classroom. In Silicon Valley, students
use handheld devices to graph math problems, learn economics and map
out science experiments. Bill Richter, principal of Lynbrook High
School said, "The curriculum is the same...It's just a different way
of access that allows kids to be more creative and more in control of
how they learn." Around 15 percent of school districts nationwide have
some type of laptop initiative and proponents of the programs say that
it is the next step in giving students essential technical skills for
future success in the workforce. Critics of the laptop programs
have said schools are not discussing the hazards of handheld devices
and laptops. Distribution of the equipment and teacher training
can be very expensive for schools and students must be taught about
privacy and using the tools responsibly. The largest laptop program
is San Jose's East Side high school district.
Superintendent Joe Coto is planning on giving every student in
the district a laptop to bring technology into the homes of about 100,000
people who would not normally be able to afford it. "The digital
divide has been around a long time, and we think our kids deserve this.
We believe it will improve academic performance, increase understanding
of future careers in technology, and bring greater involvement and communication
with parents. And we think it will be an important step for our students
who don't speak English." http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/2994121.htm
TECHNOLOGY JONES -
An ex-AT&T executive, Alicia Jones, has founded Youthlinks USA,
a nonprofit computer training center in Detroit targeted at teaching
computer skills to the working poor, school dropouts, senior citizens,
and the learning disabled. Jones is hoping to provide the training and
support these groups need to increase their earning potential and succeed
in today's workplace. While several computer programs teach
similar skills in the Detroit area, none are as large as Youthlinks
USA. Jones hopes to partner with other organizations around the
country to bring the program to community centers, churches, and after-school
programs. In describing the structure of the program Jones said,
"We demystify technology for them. It doesn't make sense to sit a child
in front of a computer and teach him technology and they can't read.
This isn't just a technology program, we target the whole child." http://www.detnews.com/2002/detroit/0204/03/s04-454614.htm
OTHER TECH STORIES OF THE
WEEK
BROADBAND SLOWED BY
HIGH PRICES - Cable modems will continue to dominate the high-speed
Internet access market for the next few years, beating out telephone
companies in delivering broadband services to residential customers,
according to new research. But unless cable operators narrow the price
gap between dial-up Internet and high-speed access, broadband will have
a tough time cracking the mainstream market. IN AN UPCOMING report on
the residential broadband market, the Yankee Group is projecting that
high-speed Internet access will grow from 10.3 million subscribers in
2001, or about 15 percent of the current total online population, to
41.4 million subscribers in 2007. By the end of 2002, only about 15
million to 16 million U.S. households will be using a broadband connection
— out of roughly 66 million homes with Internet access. http://www.msnbc.com/news/732945.asp
AT&T, COMCAST
TO STOP HIGH-SPEED CABLE INTERNET FEE - Many subscribers of high-speed
Internet service via cable will see their bill decrease slightly starting
this month, because two operators said on Monday they will stop charging
a local franchise fee. Companies like AT&T Broadband, Comcast Corp.
and AOL Time Warner Inc. pay local governments up to 5 percent of their
gross revenue, or about $2.5 billion annually, for access to public
rights-of-way to offer service. Many have paid the fees on revenue from
the Internet service as well and the law allows companies to pass along
the fees to their customers. However, last month the Federal Communications
Commission concluded revenue from that service should not be included
in calculating the maximum franchise fee cable operators can be required
to pay. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&u=/nm/20020401/tc_nm/media_cableinternet_fee_dc_2
INTERNET MAKING STEADY
ROADS INTO HEALTHCARE - When Internet pioneer Jim Clark took his third
brainchild public in 1999, he boldly pronounced that Healtheon would
fast become the world's biggest company and "fix the U.S. health-care
industry" in the process. While he may have helped launch the Internet
revolution with Netscape, Clark's grandiose design to gain control of
the $1.5 trillion health-care industry via the Internet proved a pipe
dream and his former firm, now WebMD , has yet to show a profit. "We
were probably a little naive in how quickly we expected to inject ourselves
into the process ... thinking we could come in and be a bull in a china
shop and alter the whole terrain in short order," admits "Kittu" Kolluri,
a key member of Clark's team at both Silicon Graphics and Healtheon.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&u=/nm/20020331/tc_nm/health_internet_dc_4
AN END TO DIGITAL
PIRACY? - Jack Valenti is the Hollywood blockbuster of Washington lobbyists.
As the chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America,
he talks in apocalyptic terms unmatched by lesser lights in Hollywood's
executive suites. Belying his genteel drawl, his pronouncements are
the equivalents of celluloid fireballs, warning of catastrophe for the
industry. A former aide
to U.S. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, he joined the movie industry's
trade association in 1966 and has led the group ever since, turning
it into one of the most powerful forces on Capitol Hill. For the last several years, Valenti has increasingly
focused on the dangers of Internet piracy, offering dire predictions
that Hollywood's products--America's most visible export--are at risk
of being cannibalized. He pulls no rhetorical punches, saying that file
swappers are "terrorizing" his industry.
But the stakes have been raised. After studio heads complained
about a lack of support from the technology industry, a bill was introduced
in the Senate last month that would force Hollywood, tech companies
and consumer-electronics companies to figure out a universal way to
protect digital content against piracy. If the three groups can't figure
it out on their own, federal regulators would step in to mandate an
anti-piracy plan. http://news.com.com/2008-1082-875394.html
FILM
STUDIOS JOIN TO PROMOTE DIGITAL STANDARDS - Seven major U.S. film studios
said Tuesday that they have joined forces to promote standards for digital
cinema technology. The core members of the new venture include Walt Disney,
20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures
Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. The studios said they
aim to improve the digital movie experience through various initiatives,
including adopting open technical standards that would help make competing
digital formats compatible and interoperable. The studios said they
also hope to spur the use of digital projection equipment in movie theaters.
"It's a necessary step in the evolution of filmmaking," said Jarvis
Mak, a senior analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings. "When these movie studios
come together, it's not like they're competing against one another...Their
interests in coming together to form a standard are all to benefit the
whole industry." http://news.com.com/2100-1023-874267.html
ROYALTIES PROPOSAL
CASTS SHADOW OVER WEBCASTERS - Earlier this year, Onion River Radio,
an Internet radio station that describes itself as "classic rock, singer-songwriter,
with slightly granola leanings," was optimistic about its chances of
surviving as an alternative to the usual broadcasting available in its
home market of Montpelier, Vt. Its audience was growing fast, and advertisers
were slowly beginning to take an interest. Then in February, a panel
appointed by the United States Copyright Office recommended music licensing
rates that would compel Onion River, along with thousands of other fledgling
Webcasters, to pay more than half its revenue in royalty fees to the
recording industry. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/01/technology/ebusiness/01RADI.html
(free registration required)
NEW
HOTLINE CONNECTS CEOs TO WHITE HOUSE - A high-security communications
network linking government leaders to some of technology's biggest names
in the event of a national disaster will be unveiled early next month,
officials say. Inspired by the breakdown in communication on Sept.
11, when frantic calls overwhelmed phone lines, the so-called CEO Link
will be used to shuttle high-priority news between government officials
and executives. "We would
discuss recovery and response efforts first," said Ila Brown, director
of Interagency Communications at the Office of Homeland Security. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-875176.html
COMPUMENTOR HELPS
NON-PROFITS GET WIRED - CompuMentor, a nonprofit created 15 years ago
to bring together tech volunteers and charities has since grown to 54
employees, a $5 million budget, and status as a leading national technology
broker for non-profits. The
San Francisco organization's services include face-to-face consulting
and TechSoup.org, an online resource portal filled with technology advice,
resource lists and articles. CompuMentor's newest endeavor is
DiscounTech, an online store offering computers and software to non-profits
at 10 percent of the products' retail value. Microsoft, CompuMentor's
largest corporate supporter, will be donating $25 million of software
in fiscal year 2002 to be offered through the store. CompuMentor executive
director Phil Ferrante-Roseberry said, "Non-profits are desperately
in need of technology
but they can't afford
it...Tech companies see their philanthropic opportunities as donating
products. Its what they do, its what they know, and frankly, it's cheaper
for them than giving cash." http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/2986805.htm
AN OPTIMISTS VIEW OF TOMORROW’S
TECHNOLOGY - By 2007, 70 per cent of the world's computer programming
activity will be in developing countries. Companies such as Accenture,
EDS and International Business Machines will go out of business unless
they adapt, by farming out their programming to countries such as India
and China and concentrating on high-value project management work. George Colony, chairman and chief executive
of Forrester Research, delights in such challenging predictions. He
founded Forrester in 1983, with a brief to examine new aspects of computer
technology and how they would affect business. "Our main quality is
courage, not being afraid of making decisive statements, as long as
we can back them up," he says.
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3DCH7HIZC&live=true&tagid=ZZZC00L1B0C
MICROSOFT PRESIDENT
TO STEP DOWN - Richard Belluzzo, who has been the president and chief
operating officer of Microsoft for little more than a year, will step
down next month and leave Microsoft in September, the company said yesterday. The departure of Mr. Belluzzo, 48, is
part of a reorganization that is intended to give the heads of Microsoft's
business divisions greater independence. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/04/technology/04REDM.html
Microsoft release: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2002/apr02/04-03BelluzzoPR.asp
FACTS AND STATS:
MAJORITY OF SWEDES
ONLINE - Europemedia reports that 70 percent of Swedes now have access
to the Internet. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905357786&rel=true
US CANDIDATES NOT
USING THE NET - Newsbytes reports that the majority of political candidates
in the US aren't using the Internet as a campaign tool. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905357785&rel=true
UK SENIORS TAKE TO
THE NET - The number of older people going online in the UK has increased
by nearly 90 percent since 2001, according to a new report from NetValue. http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905357796&rel=true
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.
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
CISCO.COM/GOV AND E-UPDATE
FEEDBACK
As we continue to
build out Cisco’s Government Affairs web site, as well as this service,
this E-Update, we welcome comments, criticisms, praise and suggestions.
Please send any feedback to John Earnhardt at jearnhar@cisco.com.
To contact any member
of the Government Affairs team, please visit our “Contact Us
” page. http://www.cisco.com/gov/contact/index_ext.html
SUBSCRIBING/UNSUBSCRIBING:
You are receiving
this update because you requested it. If you no longer wish to
receive this update, send a message with “unsubscribe” in the subject
line to Subscribe-eUpdate@cisco.com.
If you received this
message because it was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe to
this weekly E-Update, please send a message to Subscribe-eUpdate@cisco.com
with “Subscribe” in the subject line.
Or, visit our Government Affairs homepage (www.cisco.com/gov)
and click on the “Subscribe” button in the lower left-hand corner.
There are over 550
subscribers to Cisco Government Affairs’ eUpdate.
|