With data-breach scandals fading in public memory, data brokers and federal officials Thurs. came to the defense of the industry as crucial for investigations and massive efforts such as Hurricane Katrina relief. They spoke on the first day of 2 of a workshop by the Dept. of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Privacy Office. Civil liberties groups and technology experts countered their arguments, ranging from skepticism of the usefulness of young data- mining technologies to criticisms of federal agencies’ implementations of decades-old Privacy Act provisions in contracting with data brokers.
A nonprofit publishers group continues to attack Google’s Print Library Project. In an statement last week, the Assn. of Learned & Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) said that “in cases where the works digitized are still in copyright, the law does not permit making a complete digital copy for such purposes.” ALPSP voiced willingness to work with Google but said Google’s proposal to pause its digitization program until Nov. 1 isn’t an appropriate response (WID Aug 15 p2). ALPSP, whose members publish more than 8,000 journals, says Google should get permission before digitizing copyrighted work and including it in the program. Collective licensing agencies in the U.S. and U.K. might simplify the permissions process, ALPSP CEO Sally Morris said in the memo. ALPSP wants to keep discussing an opt-in solution with Google, saying it wants to avoid litigation. Meanwhile, the group is telling members that if they're unsure about Google’s venture, they should exclude all their works for now.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Intel announced Wed. a major push into home entertainment, including creation of a Centrino- style PC brand for the purpose: “Viiv,” pronounced as in “five.” The machines should be available starting first quarter 2006 from multiple system makers “worldwide” in “various shapes and sizes to fit different styles and sizes of homes,” the firm said at the Intel Developer Forum here. They will be suitable for games, movies, music, photos and other media, Intel said.
TiVo’s motion for summary judgment that its PVRs don’t violate Pause Technology patents was granted correctly, the U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, ruled Tues. The appeals court said the U.S. Dist. Court, Boston, was right to construe the “circular storage buffer” and “time interval of predetermined duration” PVR limitations central to TiVo’s defense.
The U.S. Dist. Court, Boston, correctly granted TiVo’s motion for summary judgment that its PVRs don’t violate Pause Technology patents, the U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, ruled Tues. The appeals court said the lower court was right to construe the “circular storage buffer” and “time interval of predetermined duration” PVR limitations central to TiVo’s defense. Pause sued TiVo for patent infringement in Sept. 2001. TiVo countersued, seeking a declaratory ruling that it wasn’t guilty of infringement.
There’s no need for legislation to change the nation’s antitrust laws, USTelecom, formerly USTA, said in comments filed late Fri. with the Antitrust Modernization Commission. The Commission was formed under a 2002 law to determine if antitrust laws should be changed. Four of its 12 members were appointed by the White House, 4 by the Senate and 4 by the House. USTelecom submitted testimony by former DoJ antitrust officials and a former FTC chmn. For example, James Rill, ex-DoJ antitrust chief, said it’s not only unnecessary but “unwarranted and unwise” to introduce legislation to modify the effect of the Trinko decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court said violations of the Telecom Act aren’t antitrust violations. Rill said Trinko was “entirely consistent with fundamental antitrust principles and strikes the right balance between antitrust and regulation.” Ex-FTC Chmn. Timothy Muris said it would be wrong to legislate rules against companies offering discounted bundled services. The history of antitrust enforcement “should give one pause about formulating aggressive rules against what is, at bottom, an important form of price competition,” Muris wrote.
A data broker snarled in a high-profile breach earlier this year has won a 5-year Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contract. ChoicePoint said Mon. the $20 million deal gives the IRS access to its custom data solutions. The award is for batch processing, which involves automated delivery and processing of data files, cutting the need for human intervention and enabling clients to generate relevant data on large populations in a timely fashion, ChoicePoint said. More than 25 federal agencies use ChoicePoint batch solutions to support their daily activities. The company in Feb. revealed the possible disclosure of data on more than 100,000 individuals in a breach, after which thieves defrauded numerous victims. Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.) called the deal “especially galling right now to be rewarding firms that have been so careless with the public’s confidential information.” ChoicePoint’s recent breach was scrutinized in recent Judiciary Committee hearings Leahy requested. “The dust has not yet settled and the investigations are incomplete on ChoicePoint’s lax security practices,” he said. “We should at least take a pause before rewarding such missteps with even more government contracts.” The senator added that Congress needs to study these contracts and the adequacy of their provisions to protect security and privacy and their penalties for failures. Leahy said the contract highlights the need for the legislation he and Chmn. Specter (R-Pa.) have drafted. The bill would place privacy and security front and center in evaluating whether data brokers can be trusted with govt. contracts that involve sensitive information.
A tuner module that can receive Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) shortwave as well DAB and analog AM/FM radio was announced by U.K. software developer RadioScape. It described its RS500 module as the basis for the affordable, integrated, multistandard digital radio receivers. The module builds on RadioScape’s radiOS architecture, which enables reuse of applications and features developed for the company’s RS300L DAB/FM module. Many features of the RS300L are in the new module, such as the PVR-like ability to pause and rewind radio and record to a memory card, as well as the ability to display and use electronic program guide data. DRM is the only global standard for the terrestrial digital broadcasting in the AM short, medium and long-wave frequency bands. It provides near-FM quality and covers great distances using lower transmission power and smaller amounts of spectrum than the analog AM frequencies. More than 20 broadcasters already are transmitting DRM, including the BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, RTL Group, Radio Netherlands, and TDF. Receivers have been scarce, though, at least at affordable prices. “This is the breakthrough that DRM has been waiting for,” said Peter Senger, DRM chmn. and Deutsche Welle COO. “Until now there have only been a limited number of DRM receivers available. This new module from RadioScape will open up the market with easy to use, consumer priced, multistandard receivers in the same way that the company helped open up the DAB market.” Sample modules will ship in Aug., with volume production shortly after, RadioScape said. It forecast multistandard, multiband receivers based on the RS500 could be on the market for holiday at retail prices below $250 -- about 1/4 those of DRM receivers now.
Public TV stations will do what is necessary to preserve their editorial integrity, Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS) Pres. John Lawson said. But “we have a very strong interest in not allowing this current controversy to become a partisan issue because it is not,” he told us, weighing in for the first time on the debate.
Microsoft is working with leading programmers -- “the Disneys, ESPNs, HBOs” -- on new advertising forms for IPTV, said Dir.-Partner Business Development Phil Corman. The forms will offset the risks to advertisers from viewers’ growing freedom by exploiting the constant detailed monitoring of their consumption to insert personalized ads during paused programs, offer infomercial-style long-form ads, and close sales immediately using interactivity, he said. “It’s not the death of advertising -- it’s the rebirth of new forms.” Corman also said IPTV will evolve from use of set-top boxes to systems on a chip that OEMs and CE makers will build into TV sets, but not for a few years because there’s no standard chipsets multiple vendors can deliver. “To make this happen, we need as many standards as possible.” Along the way, set-tops will move to retail and “get these off the RBOCs’ balance sheets and into Best Buy,” he said. Further along, various devices could serve as set-tops, including Microsoft Xbox’s and Media Center PCs, Corman said.