Global Policy and Government Affairs (GPGA)

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BREAKING AMERICA'S GRIP ON THE NET — After troubled negotiations in Geneva, the US may be forced to relinquish control of the internet to a coalition of governments. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,16376,1585288,00.html

TEXT OF SEN. STEVEN'S SPEECH ON HARD-DATE FOR DTV TRANSITION— http://commerce.senate.gov/newsroom/printable.cfm?id=246916

MUNICIPAL BROADBAND: DIGGING BENEATH THE SURFACE— Report from telecom consultants Balhoff and Rowe. http://www.balhoffrowe.com/pdf/Municipal%20Broadband--Digging%20Beneath%20the%20Surface.pdf

GAO: GOVERNMENT MUST DEFINE "TELEWORKERS"— To increase the number of teleworkers in federal agencies, Congress should promote a consistent definition governing which employees are qualified to work away from the office, the Government Accountability Office recently recommended. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=32480&dcn=todaysnews

COMMISSION ENDORSES PUBLIC FUNDING FOR BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS IN MIDLANDS AND SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND— http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1231&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN

GOLFERS TO GET THEIR OWN BROADBAND— Thousands of golfers in the UK are to get their own tailor-made broadband service. The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) has hooked up with Viatel as part of a three-year deal to supply golf pros and players with high speed net access. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/06/golf_viatel/

BROADBAND UNITES REMOTEST SCHOOLS— Pupils at Britain's two remotest schools are enjoying closer links with a new broadband access. Five Islands School in the Scilly Isles and Baltasound Junior High School, on the northern tip of the Shetland Islands were "twinned" 40 years ago. Now pupils at the two schools will use broadband technology to stay in touch and share experiences. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/4318784.stm

AOL MAKES NEW BROADBAND PUSH INTO FRANCE— Internet service provider (ISP) AOL on Thursday launched a fresh push into the French broadband market, with new products aimed at securing its place in Europe's most competitive high-speed Internet environment. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2005-10-06T125242Z_01_HAR646343_RTRUKOC_0_US-TELECOMS-FRANCE-AOL.xml&archived=False

KT STARTS TRIAL SERVICE OF CONVERGED NETWORK— KT has kicked off a trial run of its ultra-high-speed Internet service that combines communications, broadcasting and the Internet.The company held a launching ceremony for its broad convergence network in Seoul attended by over 200 dignitaries from the IT industry.The trial run is the third of its kind in the country, following similar service by a consortium led by Dacom, the country's second largest fixed-line carrier, and SK Telecom, the nation's top mobile phone carrier. http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=185088

HK MUSIC FIRMS WANT TOUGHER LAWS VS. PIRACY— Universal telecom service will remain an important part of China's information industry development plan in the next five years, a government official said. The Ministry of Information Industry official added that the government is also looking at giving telephone services to more than 95% of administrative villages throughout the country at the end of 2005. http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=183264

CALIFORNIA TO CONNECT RETIREES TO TELEMEDICINE— About 90,000 members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) who live in rural areas will soon be able to receive medical advice from specialists via a telemedicine network operated by Blue Cross. http://govhealthit.com/article90967-09-30-05-Web

STUDY FINDS AMERICANS FALL INTO THREE INTERNET GROUPS— Americans have split into three classes - a sophisticated group surfing the Internet at broadband speed; a group that doesn't use the Internet at all; and the rest, people who dial up to get online occasionally or live with a more avid Internet user. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/100505dnbusinternet.c5aa024c.html

CITIES BYPASS BROADBAND PROVIDERS TO PUT EVERYONE ON THE WEB — Philadelphia is to become the first big "wireless city" next year with a scheme for web access for all its citizens, putting the wind up cable, telephone and internet companies.The city's decision to engage Earthlink, America's fourth- biggest internet provider, to blanket the 135-square-mile city with wireless fidelity (wi-fi) is seen as the harbinger of a revolution that could void billions of pounds of technology infrastructure investment http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1813012,00.html

NATION'S FIRST CITYWIDE BROADBAND-OVER-POWERLINE SITE INAUGURATED — The nation's first citywide broadband-over-powerline (BPL) installation was formally inaugurated Wednesday in Manassas, Va., and the builders of the service presented it as a model for other municipalities. http://206.190.35.122/s/cmp/20051006/tc_cmp/171203271

BROADBAND NETWORKS ARE VULNERABLE TO INSIDER ZOMBIE ATTACKS: SURVEY — Philadelphia New research from Sandvine Inc. indicates that as many as 12% of port scanning attacks on any given broadband service provider network originate on the network, often from zombie PCs. The findings of the study contradict the conventional wisdom that virtually all scanning attacks are off-net and, according to Sandvine, they suggest that service providers can no longer be content to secure the borders between internal and external networks. http://206.190.35.122/s/cmp/20051006/tc_cmp/171203152

MCI SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE VERIZON TAKEOVER— MCI shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve an $8.4 billion acquisition by Verizon, despite some lingering shareholder resentment over the company's rejection of a higher bid.The merger would create a powerful combination of Verizon's residential presence in landline, wireless and DSL service with MCI's business clients and global Internet backbone. http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=185092

REVENUES FROM IP-BASED VIDEO SERVICES SEEN GROWING— Revenues from IP-based video services in Asia will grow 78% from 2004 to 2010, a report from Research and Markets said.While the growth momentum of other broadband value-add services markets remained stagnant, the Asia Pacific IP video services market has reached $131.5 million in 2004, the report said. http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=185095

ALCATEL SAYS THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR IPTV— Experts from Alcatel believe Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) will soon be a reality as consumer demand grows and advances in technology facilitate the delivery of content over digital lines.In fact, the same spokespeople argue that the Middle East could be an early adopter, as a rapidly liberalising telco market means incumbents and new entrants are looking for services that set them apart from their rivals. http://www.itp.net/news/details.php?id=18152&category

US ISP SUES FOR DEFAMATION— US-based Eagle Broadband Inc has filed a defamation lawsuit against 25 unnamed net users for allegedly posting misleading information about the company. In a lawsuit filed with the Superior Court of California the company alleged that the postings on bulletins boards and website were done to "drive down the value of its stock in order to reap profits for themselves". http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/06/eagle_broadband/

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