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China Releases Digital TV Standard
by Winter Casey
The Chinese government has released its digital television standard for terrestrial transmission. The mandatory standard, which has been in the works since 2001, was approved Aug. 18 and released last week. The final standard combined proposals from Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Digital broadcasting can occur via cable, satellite or terrestrial service. China is mainly following international standards for cable and satellite, China Daily reported. Currently, cable broadcasting is the only significant transmission format that has been deployed in China, and satellites for direct broadcasting have not been launched.
In 2005, roughly 4 million Chinese households had access to digital cable. The number for 2006 is forecast to reach close to 10 million. The digital TV market is speculated by China's state-approved news to be worth more than $125 billion.
Wang Xiaojie, the director of the technology department for State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said those that fail to comply with the new standard will be banned from the marketplace, according to the Chinese state press.
Also in China, the government plans to deliver 1,200 digital movie machines to eight provinces in October, with the goal of giving rural audiences the ability to watch movies for a low cost.
And a survey released this month and sponsored by the China Electronic Commerce found that e-commerce in China is being hampered by a lack of user confidence. According to the research, 36.3 percent of Chinese companies with experience in online trading lack confidence in the technology.
Apple Responds To China's Labor Charges
Apple has responded to concerns raised by media reports of poor working and living conditions at the company's manufacturing facility in China where iPods are assembled.
The company conducted a self-audit of the manufacturing site and found that the location violated some aspects of Apple's code of conduct for suppliers, which requires them to follow rules that seek to safeguard human rights, worker health and safety, and the environment.
"We found the supplier to be in compliance in the majority of the areas audited," the company said in late August. "However, we did find violations to our code of conduct, as well as other areas for improvement that we are working with the supplier to address."
This week, the Chinese iPod supplier Foxconn Technology Group reportedly withdrew a defamation lawsuit it had filed against two Chinese journalists over claims of labor abuse.
In other China news, the country plans to launch three small disaster-monitoring satellites in 2007. Wang Zhenyao, director of the disaster relief department at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said China also will build a satellite constellation system for disaster forecasting and monitoring, and plans to launch five more satellites.
Group Concerned By WIPO Broadcasting Treaty
A broad group of technology representatives released a statement Tuesday against a pending World Intellectual Property Organization treaty. The accord would extend copyright protection from 20 years to 50 years while granting broadcasters and distributors of Internet content the same rights.
The group, which includes the American Association of Law Libraries, the wireless group known as CTIA, the Broadband Service Providers Association, Free Press and Hewlett-Packard, said the current WIPO broadcasting treaty would harm economic and public policy interests. The group also argues that there is no need for a treaty.
"Creating broad new intellectual property rights in order to protect broadcast signals is misguided and unnecessary, and risks serious unintended negative consequences," the statement said. "To the degree that the treaty leaves room for implementing states to create broader rights or protections beyond protection against intentional signal theft, then we believe that a mandatory set of limitations and exceptions must be included."
The group added that under the current draft, "the broad scope of the proposed rights, combined with proposed additional rights regarding technological protection measures in connection with these rights, raises questions about whether (broadcasters) would gain the ability to control signals in the home or personal network environment."
The group also said it is concerned that "network intermediaries would face the threat of direct or secondary liability for infringement of the broad rights granted under the current treaty draft."
Survey: Europe To Increase R&D Investment
European companies expect to increase their global research and development investment by roughly 5 percent per year over the next three years, according to a survey of more than 400 companies released in August by the European Commission. Last year, companies invested less than 1 percent in R&D.
The study also found that companies prefer to do R&D in their home countries. Within the European Union, the highest concentration of R&D activities occurs in Germany, the United Kingdom and France. According to a European Commission release, the next hottest R&D locations for EU companies are the United States, China and India.
Labor costs rank lower than access to highly skilled workers and markets in company R&D strategies, the survey found. On average, companies were found to outsource 18 percent of their R&D activities to other nations.
The European Union has said its goal is to invest 3 percent of the area's gross domestic product in R&D. Janez Potocnik, the European commissioner for science and research, said the commission will be looking this fall for more ways to improve R&D in Europe.
In other news, the German chip maker Infineon said in August that it has won a U.S. government contract to provide security chips for an e-passport system. And in the United Kingdom, the Home Office said Aug. 30 that under new laws announced by Minister Vernon Coaker, it will be illegal to possess pornographic images depicting scenes of extreme sexual violence whether the material is located online or offline.
ID System For South African Refugee Deployed
The biometric identification companies BIO-key International and Biometric Technologies South Africa have deployed a fingerprint identification system as part of the South African Department of Home Affairs' refugee program.
Under an agenda launched by the South African government, five centers have been opened to enroll an initial 100,000 refugees. The system has been running for more than a year as part of a pilot program monitored by the U.N. high commissioner for refugees.
Many refugees lack identification that can be recognized by the government under the current system. "One of the challenges we face is updating the existing records for 46 million people into a single database accessible to all authorized governmental organizations such as the criminal justice system, the population records of births, deaths, marriage passports, driver's licenses, etc.," Edwin Dreyer, Biometric Technology's managing director, said in a statement.
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, South Africa's Home Affairs minister, said the software "provides us with the ability to quickly and efficiently capture the identity of refugees as part of our commitment to clear the backlog of refugees who have applied for asylum."
In other news, Canada's telecommunications regulator said last week that local telephone service is seeing increased competition, and he voiced support for a decision that reaffirms voice-over-Internet protocol as a telephone service.
"We are actively monitoring market conditions and reacting quickly in order to minimize the lag between market developments and the process of deregulation," Charles Dalfen, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, said in a statement.
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