SANTA CLARA, Cal. -- The Dept. of Homeland Security will shuffle the National Cyber Security Div. and National Communications System in the next few months, said an official of the cyber security unit Wed. The reorganization will reflect convergence technologies such as VoIP that have scrambled traditional boundaries between communications and IT and the separate structures of federal law affecting them, said Joe Jarzombek, the Div.’s software assurance dir.
SANTA CLARA, Cal. -- The Dept. of Homeland Security will shuffle the National Cyber Security Div. and National Communications System in the next few months, said an official of the cyber security unit Wed. The reorganization will reflect convergence technologies such as VoIP that have scrambled traditional boundaries between communications and IT and the separate structures of federal law affecting them, said Joe Jarzombek, the Div.’s software assurance dir.
Financial and technical barriers -- and ignorance of the technology’s benefits -- are preventing all but the earliest adopters from using electronic health records (EHRs), according to a study sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. If doctors and patients don’t embrace this technology more fervently, the nation may miss President Bush’s 2014 target for total EHR adoption, the study’s authors said Wed.
CyberHome stopped making DVD players in an apparent bow to pressure from Philips for patent royalties, sources said. The Taiwan-based company’s battle with Philips peaked in June (CED June 15 p4) when Cal. and U.S. agents seized 20,000 allegedly unlicensed CyberHome DVD recorders, valued at $2 million, in L.A. Philips claimed it was owed $22 million in royalties. In Aug., CyberHome stopped shipping DVD recorders to the U.S., although the CH-DVR 1500 progressive scan DVD+RW deck was listed Wed. on Amazon.com at $80.
The Journal of Commerce Online reports that the Secretary of Homeland Security has said that federal security officials will have "zero tolerance" for port terminal operators who violate cargo search requests. The article notes that new port security funding legislation gives DHS the authority to go after terminal operators who intentionally or mistakenly allow suspicious cargo to leave the docks. (JoC Online, dated 10/03/06, www.joc.com.)
Broadcasters Mon. moved closer to updated broadcasting protections as delegates to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly in Geneva voted to hold a diplomatic conference Nov.19-Dec. 7, 2007. A week-plus of wrangling (CD Sept 29 p5) produced a compromise broadcasters and consumer representatives both claimed as a victory, but which left a host of sticky issues unresolved.
TIA welcomed passage of emergency alert legislation, part of a port security bill passed last week. The Warning, Alert & Response Network Act establishes a national emergency alert system, allotting it $106 million. The bill will underwrite an effective system to warn Americans of war, terror attacks, disasters and other hazards, said TIA Pres. Matthew Flanigan. CTIA Pres. Steve Largent applauded the bill, saying it will create an “effective partnership between the wireless industry and the federal government to provide the most practical means of emergency communication.”
GENEVA -- A proposed compromise on broadcast copyright rules was floated here Thurs., but the issue remained delayed (WID Sept 28 p3) by U.S. insistence on an escape clause, said officials. The compromise addresses issues raised in the WIPO debate on holding a diplomatic conference on the broadcast treaty. A consensus seems to be emerging, but it is not mature, said WIPO Gen. Assembly Chmn. Enrique A. Manalo.
European countries must move from “talk to action” on Internet security, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding said Thurs. at an i2010 conference in Helsinki. In May, the EC launched a new security strategy -- an approach Reding soon will update in regard to spam, malware, spyware and cybercrime, especially enforcement and international cooperation, she said. The European Information & Network Security Agency (ENISA) should start creating a multilingual data-sharing and alert system and one for gathering and analyzing EU-wide data on security incidents, Reding said. Software makers and ISPs should provide adequate security, Reding said, noting movement in that direction by software makers. The EC plans to require e-communications services providers to notify users of security breaches, and may give relevant national authorities the power to require specific security measures, Reding said, citing momentum in other information technology areas: (1) An RFID consultation that ends this month, with EC proposals due Dec. 31. (2) Growing auto industry interest in eCall, the automatic emergency call system, despite slow response from govts.
GENEVA -- A proposed compromise on broadcast copyright rules was floated here Thurs., but the issue remained delayed (CD Sept 28 p5) by U.S. insistence on an escape clause, said officials. The compromise addresses issues raised in the WIPO debate on holding a diplomatic conference on the broadcast treaty. A consensus seems to be emerging, but it is not mature, said WIPO Gen. Assembly (GA) Chmn. Enrique Manalo.