Energy efficiency standards for set-top boxes are gaining momentum internationally, with at least 3 countries weighing imposition near-term of mandatory limits on various boxes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In the U.S., NTIA has set a 2 w ’sleep’ standard for coupon- eligible converter boxes. Cal. has 1 w standby and 8 w operational limits that it offered to kill once NTIA acted (it has not done so); N.Y. is set to adopt the NTIA limits for all boxes.
Exports to China
In an apparent signal hijack, satellite TV viewers in S. China got antigovt. messages for 30-40 sec., then lost service nearly 2 hours, according to news reports. In the past, Chinese authorities have blamed such episodes on Falun Gong, a religious group, the reports said.
China Voice Holdings acquired StreamJet, which provides “instant arrival” streaming media services such as video and audio streaming, live event broadcasting and media asset management. China Voice projects $70 million yearly revenue, in part from new contracts with Chinese govt. agencies. No terms were provided.
GENEVA - Samsung is trying to raise interest in IPTV to mobile and wireless networks and is pushing for discussion on mobile IPTV for next-generation networks (NGN) during NGN meetings at the ITU here. Meanwhile, several other proposals have surfaced, and a disagreement is brewing on identity management, as Germany opposes “identity” in work on identity management.
A Tues. BlackBerry shutdown shouldn’t sap RIM market power despite short-term impact on industries and personal users. Even with a lag getting its e-mail backlog up to date worldwide, Research In Motion said Wed. that it was up and running. Wireless carriers called service back to normal.
A new govt. IT agenda began to emerge as officials laid out policy positions Tues. at the Computer & Communications Industry Assn. Washington Caucus. It includes mainstays like removing trade barriers and increasing math & science education spending, along with new points like energy independence. Speakers heavily emphasized bipartisanship in crafting the policy.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Tues. officially complained against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO), starting 60 days of consultations with China before the U.S. can refer the matter to a WTO dispute settlement panel, USTR said. The U.S. request for consultations on intellectual property protection rests on 3 points, USTR Susan Schwab said. The threshold for criminal prosecution for pirates recently was lowered from 1,000 to 500 infringed works such as CDs or DVDs, but that isn’t working, she said. Border enforcement must get tougher to suit WTO rules, she said. A framework of standards for customs administrations to fight counterfeiting and piracy and protect intellectual property rights (IPRs) will be considered in June by 171 member nations of the World Customs Organization (WCO), sources said. The framework is expected to have 60-70 legislative, regulatory, training and administrative measures. “The U.S. request for consultations on the market access barriers facing our film, music and publishing industries focuses on two additional problems,” Schwab said: (1) Ending exclusive authorization of state-owned companies to import films, DVDs, music, books, journals, and other publications. (2) Dismantling bars to distribution of publications and home entertainment video products. The 60- day consultation period is the first step in a WTO dispute. Under WTO rules, if parties don’t resolve a matter in those 60 days, the complainant may refer the matter to a WTO dispute settlement panel. Most consultations result in a dispute being launched.
BPL is getting a push in China from the Consumer Electronics Powerline Communications Alliance (CEPA) working with Chinese standards group Intelligent Grouping & Resource Sharing (IGRS). The groups will promote each other’s “value” worldwide, they said. As a first step, IGRS will set up a CEPCA certification center in China for joint certification and promotion of BPL-equipped products, they said. IGRS wants to ensure its products using power line communications don’t interfere with other products with a different BPL technology, said Pres. Sun Yuning. IGRS said it covers 50% of PCs, 80% of CE products and 50% of mobile phones in China.
The State Dept.’s communications policy coordinator said it’s “all great news,” however far down the U.S. ranks in broadband penetration per capita in the world, because that means lots of people overseas are gaining the benefits of high-speed Internet service in economic development, free information flow and social and eventually political change. “I think it’s terrific if we're not number one,” said David Gross, the U.S. coordinator for international communications & information policy, Mon. at the VON conference in San Jose. It’s good for the rest of the world, for instance, that China has more broadband users than any other country, he said. Meanwhile, “everyone” including Japan and S. Korea is “envious” of the broadband buildout and competition in the U.S., Gross said. Europe is full of complaints about not having enough facilities-based competition, he said. The U.S. promotes foreign adoption of broadband without crashing head-on into local cultures, in the kind of conflict seen at the World Symposium on the Information Society, he said. “Much of the world” doesn’t take for granted, as the U.S. does, that “the Internet is legitimate,” Gross said. Govts. like those of China, Brazil and Gabon need assurance about where complaints over security, names and addressing and reliability will be handled before they will come around, he said. Chinese govt. intrusion on Internet content is “getting worse” -- a switch from a period of improvement, Gross said, and the U.S. govt. has taken it to task. But “the good news” is that information is flowing into China more freely than ever before, he said. The U.S. doesn’t just push market control over govt. regulation, Gross said. “All countries see” a “series of tradeoffs,” and the outcome is “not one size fits all,” he said.” Technology helps solve problems that the Internet creates, but as with spam, it hasn’t solved them, Gross said. Govts. are bound to move against problems like spam, fraud and terrorists’ use of the Internet, and regulation isn’t necessarily bad, he said. But technology companies need to be involved with foreign govts., and widely -- “not just Brussels and Beijing,” Gross said. That’s because they're not well enough informed on technology, he said: “Governments by their nature will always be one, 2, 3 steps behind.”
China said it will launch Chinosat-9, a new DBS, in the fall, but it didn’t give a specific schedule. Chinosat-9 will replace Sinosat-2 that failed last year, a month after launch, said the Chinese news service. China has 12.6 million DTV subscribers and about 400 million TVs, “suggesting a huge potential market for satellite TV,” said the service.