Washington Update

Today the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) held a panel discussion and debate, titled "Are Broadband Markets Competitive Enough?" Panelists included Ev Ehrlich, Jeff Eisenach, and John Windhausen. For the record, Windhausen has worked very closely with EDUCAUSE in developing a national big broadband policy. At times a lively debate, Ehrlich and Eisenach both argued that the U.S. broadband market is competitive, while Windhausen said much improvement is needed.

The following is a quick summary of each speaker's initial talk:

Washington, DC- I'm starting to read Jonathan Zittrain's The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It, a book that came out earlier this year. Recently, Zittrain was in town, promoting his book's message at an event sponsored by the New America Foundation. During his discussion, he warned that "as the Internet becomes more popular, it starts to shake on its way up."

Hat-tip to Jim Burger of Dow-Lohnes for this good news from Brussels:

In June, 2007, the Belgian society of authors, composers, and publishers, known as SABAM, convinced a court in Brussels to order a Belgian ISP ("Scarlet") to install filtering software to prevent its customers from accessing SABAM content via unauthorized P2P transmission. The English translation of the decision is available here. Additional background can be found here and also from our good friend Google.

Back in July, an ominous headline in the Chronicle of Higher Education caused a flurry of discussion on the lists and blogs: "New Systems Keep a Close Eye on Online Students at Home". The opening paragraph is classic FUD:

Tucked away in a 1,200-page bill now in Congress is a small paragraph that could lead distance-education institutions to require spy cameras in their students' homes.

The article was thoroughly and quickly debunked (see, for example, here), but the malady lingers on. Just yesterday I received this question:

In journalism there's a phenomenon called "burying the lead", where the writer relegates the most important part of the story to the middle of the article. Example from yesterday's news: In a Guardian item headlined "Survey sees hope for music against pirates", the quotable quote is hidden in the third paragraph:

"Despite the ubiquity of free music, there's a real willingness by consumers to pay for music products if the package is right."

The speaker is Alexander Ross, partner in the UK entertainment-industry law firm Wiggin LLP. They helped produced the survey, whose results are reported in Digital Music Report 2008.

The people buying this report could have gotten the same advice for free nearly two years ago from Disney CEO Bob Iger:

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding “Enhancing the Security and Stability of the Internet’s Domain Name and Addressing System”. The NOI begins with the following background:

The Department of Commerce (Department) notes the increase in interest among government, technology experts and industry representatives regarding the deployment of Domain Name and Addressing System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) at the root zone level. The Department remains committed to preserving the security and stability of the DNS and is exploring the implementation of DNSSEC in the DNS hierarchy, including at the authoritative root zone level. Accordingly, the Department is issuing this notice to invite comments regarding DNSSEC implementation at the root zone.

The NOI seeks comments in response to the following general questions:

New federal regulations to address identity theft go into effect November 1, 2008, and are likely to affect colleges and universities in nuanced ways. Compliance will require careful study and collaboration among business officers, human resources, legal counsel, student services, IT, and other affected campus units. The rules require users of consumer reports to develop reasonable policies and procedures to apply when they receive a notice of address discrepancy from a consumer reporting agency. They also require that institutions develop and implement an Identity Theft Prevention Program for combating identity theft in connection with new and existing accounts.

Citing that “the number of data security breaches at colleges and universities increased over 67 percent from 2006, and the number of educational institutions affected increased over 72 percent”, H. Con. Res. 425 was submitted as a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress of “the need to pass meaningful legislation to protect commercial and government data from data breaches.”  While the reported aim is to protect “commercial and government data”, the resolution acknowledges that data breaches occur in a wide range of institutions, including government, military, education, health care companies, banking, and credit and financial services.

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas) and Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez (D-Texas), highlights a number of facts to underscore the importance of action before the adjournment of the 110^th Congress.  For example: 

In a letter sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Universities, EDUCAUSE joins others in urging the two presidential candidates to appoint a science advisor by the time they are sworn into office. It also asks that they upgrade the status of that advisor, given the importance science plays in many of the challenges facing America. See the letter text below:

"To Senators John McCain and Barack Obama,

The next President of the United States will face a wide range of domestic and international challenges, from financial and regulatory reform, to healthcare and rising energy costs, from global climate change to ensuring U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. These challenges share one thing in common: long-term solutions that will be impossible without groundbreaking scientific and technological advances. It is therefore critical that the next President seek out and rely upon sound scientific and technological advice early and often in the new Administration.

Before you can fix the problem, you must diagnose it.

On Tuesday, September 30, Congress passed the final version of S. 1492, the Broadband Data Improvement Act. It is expected that President Bush will sign the bill into law. The legislation requires the government to keep track of who has quick access to the Internet in the United States. Specifically, it requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect consumer surveys on broadband access in rural, urban, and suburban locations. Furthermore, the surveys would also cover small and large business markets.

The FCC will use the surveys to draw up a list of those locations that lack broadband service. They will include population and income level statistics with that information as well.

The lead sponsor of S. 1492, Sen. Daniel Inouye, is a supporter of greater access to broadband. He says you must measure the problem before you can manage it. Ostensibly, this bill takes the first step in completing the senator's mission.

In anticipation of an administration change following the next presidential election, the Homeland Security Advisory Council has issued a report entitled Top Ten Challenges Facing The Next Secretary of Homeland Security. The report concluded:

The key challenges and recommendations follow:

Congressman Jim Langevin (Dem.-RI), Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology, has announced the creation of a House Cybersecurity Caucus. The purpose of this Caucus is to raise awareness and provide a forum for Members representing different committees of jurisdiction to discuss the challenges in securing cyberspace. 

“Congress plays a key role in the future of cybersecurity policy,” said Langevin.  “Just as this Administration has not spoken with one voice, however, committee jurisdictional squabbles threaten to divide the attention and focus of Congress on these issues.  That is why this Caucus is so important.” 

Langevin said the caucus "has already received great support from a number of members" and he looked forward to hosting a kick-off event in January.