The 463: Inside Tech

Counter Spy(ware)

George Hulme of Information Week asks here whether new laws can have any impact on defeating the spyware scourge.   Clearly spyware makes users lose trust of the Internet, and are in fact driving some to take a step backward and make the move from broadband to dial-up says Joe Menn of the Los Angeles Times.  But, as we've all seen with the Can-Spam act, some technological issues can't be solved  by the blunt instrument of legislation.  Policymakers should make the effort to protect citizens and drive trust of commerce (be it Internet, main street or mail order) and communications networks, but, at the same time, expectations should be set that legislation on an evolving technology has massive limitations and no one should be looking toward Capitol Hill or their state legislations for a panacea to their Internet troubles.  Otherwise, blame might get deferred to those trying to solve the problem (however clumsily) and away from those causing it.   

Internet Caucus Conference

Tim Lordan of the Congressional Internet Caucus is letting folks know about the quickly coalescing conference that the Caucus is putting on next month:

The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host the first annual Internet Caucus State of the Net Conference on Wednesday, February 9, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill (7:30 am -- 4:30 PM). Senator Ted Stevens will deliver the opening keynote address followed by policy debates and congressional staff panels on three issue tracks A) Trust, Privacy & Security, B) Intellectual Property and Innovation, and C) Media Convergence and the Telecom Act.  Industry leaders such as Stratton Sclavos, CEO, VeriSign, will also deliver keynotes. A full agenda is online here.

PFF European Events in February

The Progress & Freedom Foundation hold their first ever events Europe next month. The European outreach is envisioned as the first of an annual series of events with European policy leaders.              

The first event will be February 11th in Milan. The Foundation has organized an all-day conference on interoperability and open standards.  On February 15, PFF will co-host with the Centre for a New Europe a luncheon for European Parliament members and their staff.

Siberian Valley

AP reported this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin "announced a plan to diversify Russia's economy and develop its high technology sector by creating special zones where high-tech companies would enjoy tax breaks and other incentives.... The special economic zones would nurture high-tech companies by offering them lower tax rates, favorable customs regimes, less of the red tape that stifles businesses and fosters corruption, and state aid in funding infrastructure." 

Paper Kills

Former House speaker and firebrand Newt Gingrich is on another warpath. He's the founder of the Center of Health Transformation and is calling for a "total transformation of the healthcare industry" powered by informations technology says Danielle Belopotosky at National Journal's Technology Daily (subscription site).

Gingrich says that "electronic health records and the ability of healthcare technology systems to share information are keys to minimizing errors, reducing inefficiencies and improving care."

"Paper kills.  Show me a paper system and I'll show you a person dying needlessly," said Newt.

FASB's Impact on Start-Ups

Lots of ink has been spilled on how expensing options might impact big public companies,  But, what about smaller venture-backed private firms?  Yesterday's Boston Globe takes a peek...

Tech: Helping Solve the Health Care Crisis?

National Journal Technology Daily's Danielle Belopotosky  today reports on what may be one of the bigger technology policy issues in the next decade:  Creating a standardized information technology system for the health care industry that allow all key parties to communicate and share information.

Think about it.  Technology has transformed key drivers of the economy like financial services, education and manufacturing, but it has barely made a dent in making our health care system more productive.

Stratton Speaks

VeriSign CEO, Stratton Sclavos dove deep with both San Francisco Chronicle and CNET editors recently in an outreach effort to underline how the company's intelligent infrastructure services bring together disparate elements like RFID, VOIP, Internet commerce, security and the .com and .net registries.  Today's Chronicle article is here and the CNET Q&A here.  In the Chronicle interview, Sclavos says this about ICANN...

"I think a strong ICANN, well run, would be a good thing. I think that if you can create self-regulation, that is always the best model, versus legislation or country-by-country mandates. But ICANN was created in a time when the Internet was booming, domain names were growing fivefold a year, there was just total chaos. And so the reasons for which it was created no longer exist.

"At the same time, they have been, in our opinion, interfering with our business, against what our contractual terms are, and so we're in a legal dispute with them to get some clarity around what we can and can't do."

PC World Makes Tech Policy Bets

Did you know that PC World is running a monthly column on tech policy?  Me neither.  But we look forward to reading more from Senior Editor Anush Yegyazarian.  In the January column that reviews 2004 congressional accomplishments (or the lack, thereof, for better or worse).  Anush bets:  "Only spyware (with a side of phishing), digital copyright, and VoIP will see any real action in 2005."

CES is the new Comdex

Yet, CES is getting more policymakers to Vegas that Comdex ever did.  From a New York Times piece on the real, live convegence between consumer technology and the digital world...

"And such is the lobbying power of the Washington-based sponsor, the Consumer Electronics Association, that 150 members of Congress and government regulatory officials, including the Federal Communications Commission chairman, Michael K. Powell, are expected to attend the event. It will be fact-finding, Las Vegas-style."

Full story here.