Several recent high-profile corporate data breaches and the leaking of personal information by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (WID May 23 p7) focused the govt.’s attention on information security, an OMB official said: Yet, too much planning, not enough action and lack of communication among various security and privacy personnel impede progress.
Having hit House Commerce, Judiciary and Small Business committees with competition concerns, opponents of VeriSign’s proposed .com registry contract said they plan to air grievances with the House Homeland Security Committee on a new angle: Cybersecurity. An “expert report” commissioned by prime critic Network Solutions (NS) said ICANN hasn’t ensured “adequate security safeguards” in the .com, .biz, .info and .org top-level domain registry agreements. But VeriSign shot back that the report was “very basic” and more concerned with swaying Congress than improving registry security.
The bipartisan Congressional E-Waste Working Group doesn’t envision introducing legislation soon, an aide told us: “I don’t think that is the route.” The group began working toward consensus legislation with a meeting Wed. of representatives of industry, CE companies, state govts., environmental groups, retailers and retailers. The lawmakers have begun a listening exercise, the aide said, and will hold a series of meetings to flesh out the concerns of those interested.
GENEVA -- WIPO’s standing committee on copyright and related rights (SCCR) recommended a diplomatic conference be convened during the summer of 2007 to conclude negotiation of the treaty on protection of broadcasting organizations, despite continuing lack of agreement on what the treaty should contain.
The U.S. has no plan for dealing with a major Internet attack, witnesses told the House Telecom Subcommittee Wed. Balking at mandatory controls, witnesses urged authority be centralized and communication among agencies improved to avoid a “Hurricane Katrina” of cyber-disasters.
GENEVA -- WIPO’s standing committee on copyright and related rights (SCCR) recommended a diplomatic conference be convened during the summer of 2007 to conclude negotiation of the treaty on protection of broadcasting organizations, despite continuing lack of agreement on what the treaty should contain.
GENEVA -- Tech companies and civil liberties groups lobbied for a broadcast signal piracy-only treaty at a Tues. meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR) here. The signal-theft approach, wide supported not only by those groups but in the U.S. and developing nations, is opposed by broadcasters and the EU, which want a rights- based accord aligning broadcast protections with earlier WIPO author and phonogram treaties (CD Sept 11 p10), Michelle Childs, Consumer Project on Technology’s (CPT) head of European affairs, said.
FCC Chmn. Martin tried to reassure dubious Senate Democrats during his renomination hearing Tues. that the agency will take a fresh approach to its media ownership rulemaking. He won points for scheduling the first of 6 planned field hearings in Cal. -- a nod to Senate Commerce Committee member Boxer (D-Cal.) who has been critical of the agency’s pace in taking up the proceeding (CD Sept 12 p4).
GENEVA -- Tech companies and civil liberties groups lobbied for a broadcast signal piracy-only treaty at a Tues. meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR) here. The signal-theft approach, wide supported not only by those groups but in the U.S. and developing nations, is opposed by broadcasters and the EU, which want a rights- based accord aligning broadcast protections with earlier WIPO author and phonogram treaties (WID Sept 11 p4), Michelle Childs, Consumer Project on Technology’s (CPT) head of European affairs, said.
BOSTON -- FCC Comr. Tate made a surprise Mon. visit to the VON conference, asking VoIP industry help in guarding kids from inappropriate video programming. Tate told the group she was at the conference “in a listening and learning mode.” But since VoIP providers’ entry into video is a conference theme, maybe the industry “could help us provide tools for parents as you get into video,” she said. Tate knows the issue hadn’t been raised with industry, but it’s important to keep in mind in considering provision of video, she said.