Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wed. he didn’t know if the Senate could complete action this year on Sen. Sununu’s (R-N.H.) VoIP bill, but he hoped at least to mark it up in committee “to give us the opportunity to amend and debate and improve Mr. Sununu’s bill.” Speaking at the committee’s first hearing on the bill, McCain said he’s aware there are “difficult issues” associated with VoIP technology, such as universal service, public safety and CALEA, but Sununu “has introduced a very important, comprehensive piece of legislation.” McCain said he thought VoIP was a “technological breakthrough that will fundamentally change and simplify the ability of Americans to communicate,” but “since it is a breakthrough technology, there’s going to be a lot of china broken.”
Exports to China
Lack of respect for intellectual property (IP) rights and govt. control of the media hinder China’s relationship with the U.S. and don’t reflect commitments made when the country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), a bipartisan commission said Tues. The U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission created by Congress in 2000 submitted a 300-page report to Capitol Hill that said trends in China have “negative implications” for long-term U.S. security. Commission Chmn. Roger Robinson said the U.S. trade deficit with China was $214 billion in 2003, but would have been less if China had adhered to its WTO obligations. Vice Chmn. Richard D'Amato said that when China was admitted to the WTO, “certain assumptions were made,” including that China would have “new openness in information flows [and] enhanced respect for the rule of law.” IP rights and media restrictions were 2 of the 9 areas of the U.S.-China relationship examined by the Commission. One of the report’s key findings was that China has a poor enforcement record on IP rights protection, and it recommended Congress “press the administration to make more use of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and/or U.S. trade laws to redress unfair Chinese trade practices.” The report also found “there has in practice been no fundamental change in the Chinese government’s approach to controlling the media, including information available through the Internet.” Content monitoring goes beyond the Internet, the report said. For instance, China has 277 million cell phones that are used regularly by citizens, but the Chinese govt. is monitoring cell phone users’ text messages. The Internet “is a growing focus of China’s information control efforts,” the report said, with web sites blocked and content filtered. Combined with China’s continued control over traditional media, Chinese citizens receive a distorted image of the U.S. and its policies, the report said. The Commission recommended Congress increase funding for Bcstg. Board of Governors’ (BBG) programs “aimed at circumventing China’s Internet firewall through the development of anticensorship technologies.” The Commission specifically endorsed the Global Internet Freedom Act, HR-48 by House Select Homeland Security Committee Chmn. Cox (R-Cal.) and S-1183 by Senate Judiciary Technology Subcommittee Chmn. Kyl (R-Ariz.), which would create an Office of Global Internet Freedom in BBG to target China and other countries. The Commission also said the Commerce Dept. and other agencies should review export administration regulations “to determine whether restrictions are needed on the export of U.S. equipment, software, and technologies that permit the Chinese government to surveil its own people or censor free speech.”
Correction: TIA’s U.S.-China Telecom Summit June 17-19 will be at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, not McCormick Place (CD June 14 p14).
DSL had its 3rd straight record quarter ended March 31, with 9.5 million new subscribers, for 73.4 million world total, the DSL Forum said Wed. The U.S. still ranks 3rd in subscribers, but closed the gap on No. 2 Japan with 1.18 quarterly additions, for 13% growth. N. America has about 18% of subscribers, behind Asia and the EU. China added 2.85 million DSL users, for almost 14 million total, the world’s highest. France had the fastest growth, 35%, with just over 1 million additions.
BOSTON -- FCC Chmn. Powell Wed. opened a major international meeting here on ultra wideband with a plea for the group to move forward with an international agreement. In coming days, ITU’s Task Group 1/8 will try to hammer out a consensus on UWB in a rare meeting outside Geneva. Powell told delegates that while balancing interests presents major “challenges” for regulators “the promise of UWB technology is simply too great to do otherwise.”
Scott Sassa, ex-NBC, named CEO of Friendster.com… Jonathan Dolgen resigns as chmn., Viacom Entertainment Group… Michael Fricklas, Viacom exec. vp-gen. counsel and secy., joins Blockbuster board… Promotions at China Wireless: Pedro Racelis to pres.-CEO; Allan Rabinoff to chmn… Michael Cascio, ex-Animal Planet, named vice chmn. of ECMI Corp., parent of Stand-Up Comedy TV, set to launch in Jan. 2005.
Asia’s digital penetration rank (DPR) is 11.2%, despite rates of 2.9% in China, 0.2% in India and 0.1% in Indonesia, according to ASIAcom. DPR averages the penetration rates of a country’s broadband, digital terrestrial and cable TV and 2.5G and 3G mobile subscribers, ASIAcom said. South Korea led, scoring 35.7%, boosted by 70.2% broadband penetration and 53.1% 3G penetration, ASIAcom said. Japan followed with 25.8%, including broadband penetration of 29.7%. Hong Kong was 3rd with 21.3%, though that’s expected to increase by year-end as pay-TV firms increase subscription rates. Australia and New Zealand showed low DPR rates of 6.5% and 11.3%, respectively, according to ASIAcom.
Standards-setting bodies would face a reduced threat from federal antitrust suits under a bill that could go to the White House any day now. The House today (Wed.) is expected to approve the bill, its last hurdle before reaching President Bush for his expected signature. Beneficiaries would include CEA and the Telecom Industry Assn. (TIA). The legislation has bipartisan support in both houses but has taken 15 months to get through Congress.
The U.S. will find itself defending its stance on ultra- wideband against much of the rest of the world when the 3rd ITU-R Task Group International Meeting on UWB takes place in Boston starting June 9. A key U.S. objective will be ensuring others don’t subject UWB to regulation or get it on the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference agenda. The Boston meeting for the first time is expected to receive substantial input from UWB promoters on the technology’s benefits.
Openwave Systems and a high-tech coalition are taking spam matters into their own hands, according to executives at an anti-spam workshop Tues. Openwave runs mobile data and broadband services for companies such as AT&T Wireless, BellSouth, China Unicom, Cingular, Cox, Nextel, Sprint, Telecom Italia, T-Mobile, Telefonica and Verizon. Openwave helped form the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) in Dec. 2003, and members of the group said Tues. they're seeking technology solutions and industry best practices to reduce spam, even as the federal govt. seeks to enforce last year’s CAN-SPAM Act.