Blog - Page 62

The Senate Commerce Committee approved a modified version of S. 687, a bill sponsored by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) which would target a variety of malicious practices that include: computer hijacking, spam zombies, endless loop pop-up advertisements and fraudulent software installation. A similar measure (H.R. 29) introduced by Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) and Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) has passed the House. The House has also approved H.R. 744, by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), which addresses criminal penalties and prosecutorial tools related to spyware. Spyware legislation is beneficial because it will promote consumer awareness and assist law enforcement. But technological solutions to the problem may ultimately prove more important. The industry Read More ›

It is already against the law in the U.S. to interfere with someone else’s computer or commit traditional crimes with the aid of a computer, however many countires have gaps in their criminal laws governing computer-related crimes and have become havens for cyber-criminals. Another problem is that electronic evidence of crime is difficult for law enforcers to locate and secure when it crosses borders. A treaty is awaiting final Senate approval that would fully criminalize computer-related offenses in other countries and require each country to have the power to quickly preserve and disclose stored computer data, compel the production of electronic evidence by ISPs, to search and seize computers and data, and to collect traffic data and content in real Read More ›

I spent last week in Beijing visiting with Nobel economist Robert Mundell, investor and all-around big thinker John Rutledge, other economists and scientists, and lots of everyday Chinese. It was an especially interesting time to be there right ahead of President Bush’s visit this week. -Bret Swanson

Although Mao Zedong’s presence still superficially dominates the main public space here in Beijing–his mausoleum at one end of Tiananmen Square and his portrait guarding the Forbidden City at the other–almost everything else in China’s capital city refutes Mao’s life, legacy, and ideas. Once ubiquitous, gray and brown Mao jackets have now been utterly replaced by a new national garment–colorful North Face ski jackets. The other place you’ll see Mao is on all the money, known as yuan or renminbi, or simply RMB. Hundred-yuan bills, 50s, 20s, 10s, ones–it’s all Mao. The irony is that Mao was not, shall we say, a terrific economist. Yet for the last 27 years, China’s management of its economy and this massive transformation of Read More ›

Microsoft’s work group server competitors claim they can’t keep up with the complexity of Microsoft’s product upgrades.

“We are, in many fields, ten years behind Microsoft. And the lag is growing with every new step Microsoft takes”

according to Volker Lendecke of the Samba Users Group, an organization dedicated to free software that anyone can copy.

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On the eve of a conference in Tunisia to discuss the management of Internet domain names, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development has issued a 276-page report highlighting the existence of a digital divide between developed and developing countries. The report makes some useful observations about how Internet connections are over-regulated and over-taxed in many developing countries.

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Patent applicants have contributed over $750 million to government programs that have nothing to do with processing patent applications. “It’s a tax on innovation,” observes Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). She’s right.

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A revised staff draft is circulating in the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The proposal is more deregulatory in several important respects and marks solid progress in the effort to promote investment and foster innovation. For example: Although competitors would still be required to file registration statements with the FCC, the agency is given far less latitude to pervert the requirement in order to limit or condition entry. Immediate access to public rights-of-way and compatible easements is guaranteed for Broadband Video Services (BVS) and, now, for Broadband Internet transmission services, as well. The definition of BVS has been simplified. The first draft contained a definition intended to push technology in a particular direction. That definition was reminiscent of the “Open Read More ›

Yuri Mamchur, Discovery Institute’s foreign policy fellow for the Future of Democracy in Russia and Eastern Europe program, has a post here about the Russian Duma banning cellphone companies from charging for incoming calls. The prime beneficiary appears to be Megafon, an upstart firm that (surprise!) has many powerful patrons and board members in the Kremlin, including President Putin’s wife Ludmila.

After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, we predicted satellite phones would finally emerge as a mainstream component in our communications infrastructure. According to this morning’s Wall Street Journal, it looks like we were right: What a change a Category 4 hurricane makes. A few years ago, demand for satellite phones was so tepid that the two largest U.S. manufacturers, Iridium and Globalstar LP, were forced to seek bankruptcy-court protection. But today satellite phones are among the hottest products in the telecom industry. Manufacturers have been deluged with orders since Hurricane Katrina revealed the weaknesses in the country’s land-line and cellphone systems. -Bret Swanson