Cal. regulators ordered 5 more unlicensed Internet escrow companies to stop selling services in the state, bringing the total to 38 shutdown orders since May. The companies are Safely-trade.net, Express-transfers.com, Escrow-tripledeals.com, Escrowac.com and Eurosafedeals.com. The last 2 are European companies.
Carlos Gutierrez’s nomination to be Commerce Secy. won 22-0 Senate Commerce Committee approval, as expected. Gutierrez’ nomination is subject to approval by the full Senate, which is in recess until Jan. 20.
SBC is ignoring poor Chicago neighborhoods as it rolls out new high-speed Internet and video services, a group of local ministers charged. The Ministerial Alliance Against the Digital Divide (MAADD) said SBC is ducking franchise agreements in an effort to tap only affluent areas of the city. “This is nothing short of digital redlining,” said James Demus, co-dir MAADD. “SBC is planning to deprive poorer customers of access to $6 billion in vital new technology. We urge municipalities to stand firm and demand that SBC sign contracts that require it not to cherry-pick customers.” SBC officials couldn’t be reached for comment by our deadline.
Officials in Canada’s Liberal Party have begun drafting an executive order to ban the exportation of prescription drugs, which would devastate a multi-million dollar Internet industry. Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, long opposed to the practice, is reportedly working with Prime Minister Paul Martin to draft an “Order in Counsel,” a legal maneuver the executive branch can make to avoid vetting by the House of Commons in Ottawa. David McKay, Exec. Dir. of the Canadian International Pharmacy Assn. (CIPA), said “this is Big Pharma’s last stand,” and because the U.S. is the last developed country that doesn’t fix drug prices, pharmaceutical companies have put pressure on the Canadian govt. to ban the practice of reimportation. McKay said CIPA will now focus on “enlightening Canadians and Americans about the genesis of this problem,” misinformation about drug shortages, R&D considerations, and unsafe drugs. A source in the Liberal Party said the draft would be ready for the end of this month, and Martin’s cabinet could take steps to make it official by the end of Feb. The source added that possible trade concessions were offered to Canada in exchange for banning the practice when President Bush visited last month.
“Tahiti” is the code name of TiVo’s next-generation service strategy, elements of which will be rolled out this year and next, the company said Thurs. at the CES in Las Vegas. Tahiti will combine portability, the integration of broadcast and broadband functionality and the 2006 introduction of a CableCARD-ready HD PVR, TiVo said. CEO Mike Ramsay said the customer requirements to use Tahiti will be a TiVo Series2 set-top box or DVD recorder, subscription to the TiVo service, a PC and home network, and a broadband connection. He said 80% of current TiVo subscribers have broadband and 60% have a home network. Responding to our question, Ramsay gave no timing for rollout of the service combining TiVo and Netflix functionality but said Netflix was “a good example” of how broadband could be integrated into the next-generation Tahiti. As for the CableCARD-ready HD PVR, Ramsay said it represented TiVo’s statement at CES that it was committing to CableCARD as a key element of next-generation growth. It’s “vital” that the FCC resist cable industry pressure to extend the July 2006 integration ban and force cable operators “to use the very CableCARD technology they developed,” Ramsay said. Like CEA Pres. Shapiro (CED Jan 5 p1), Ramsay said the NCTA’s latest bid for a high-level summit with FCC Chmn. Powell on the CableCARD issue was “a delaying tactic” to forestall Commission action unlikely to go the cable industry’s way.
LAS VEGAS -- An almost apologetic SBC CEO Edward Whitacre Thurs. said in a speech to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) it has taken his company too long to make a major appearance at the show. The CEO said SBC was correcting that with a series of announcements leading up to the unveiling of the new U-verse brand for its video platform.
Legislation calling for an asst. secy. for cybersecurity at the Dept. of Homeland Security has been reintroduced in the House. Reps. Loffgren (D-Cal.) and Thornberry (R-Tex.) sponsored the bill to create the position within DHS’s Information Analysis & Infrastructures Protection Directorate. “It is imperative that Congress work with a sense of urgency to revisit this bill to elevate the position … so we can make sure that the top government cybersecurity personnel have the access and authority to get the job done,” Lofgren said in a statement.
China has become the world’s 2nd largest source of spam, after the U.S., the Internet Society of China’s (ISC) antispam team said Wed. ISC said 180 of 400 IP addresses blocked by the International Anti-Spam Organization in Nov. 2004 were Chinese. ISC also said too many IP sites are blacklisted and blocked by the International Anti-Spam Organization, affecting China’s e- mail.
ISPs were sharply critical of a proposal from the Business Software Alliance suggesting changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In a paper released Thurs. called Intellectual Property in the 21st Century, BSA suggested amendments are needed to compel ISPs to turn over identifying information on illegal file sharers.
Top federal officials will speak at a Ky. broadband development conference Jan. 12, Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) announced. Presenting at the Bucks for Broadband Summit in Frankfort will be FCC Comr. Kevin Martin, NTIA Administrator Michael Gallagher, Rural Utilities Service Administrator Hilda Legg and Appalachian Regional Commission federal Co-Chair Anne Pope. The conference for state legislators, county judge executives, mayors and community economic development organizations “will help empower communities in every part of Kentucky to tactically plan for high speed Internet access and improved computer adoption,” Fletcher said. “More importantly, the summit will support local leaders by providing critical information for funding broadband and general technology investments.”