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Global Body Develops Internet TV Standards
by Winter Casey
The International Telecommunication Union announced Tuesday that it has developed the first global standards for Internet-protocol television, which uses high-speed Internet connections to deliver video programming.
The ITU said the standards were built with technical contributions from leading service providers and manufacturers from the information technology sector.
"Standards are crucial for IPTV to reach its market potential and global audience. They are necessary in order to give service providers -- whether traditional broadcasters, [Internet service providers], cable operators or telecom service providers -- control over their platforms and their offerings," said Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. "Standards here will encourage innovation, help mask the complexity of services, guarantee quality of service, ensure interoperability and, ultimately, help players remain competitive."
Virginia Williams, director of technology and standards at the Consumer Electronics Association, called ITU's work "potentially very significant" because IPTV "will drastically change the kinds of video services that are coming and further change the landscape of TV service providers."
Kevin McGuire, vice president of business and technology at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said "conceptually what IPTV needs are standards to take the next step forward as a technology."
IPTV provides a two-way digital broadcast signal that can allow viewers to receive movies on demand and other programming.
Williams said CEA had been anticipating the news for months. "To ITU's credit they have been very inclusive in this work, which will help accelerate global standards. ... This high-level architecture is a good start, but there are still many aspects that need the details filled in," Williams said.
The Dutch Approve 'Open Source' Plan
The Dutch Parliament appears to be going forward with a government plan that would give a preference to "open source" software and the Open Document Format in the Netherlands.
The plan would require "all Dutch public administrations and semi-public institutions to purchase and use only technology that implements a limited subset of open standards," said The Initiative for Software Choice, which includes Microsoft as a member. It said the plan would require public authorities to offer an explanation if they fail to use open standards, which make the underlying software code accessible and easy to share.
The software coalition claims that such a plan would slow technological evolution. "Thankfully, the clear majority of the world's governing institutions have rejected similar legislation or concepts. ... We urge the Dutch government to reject the action plan and keep the Netherlands on a path to innovation," the coalition wrote.
The ODF Alliance, however, said the "transition to [Open Document Format] is one of the main points of a long-awaited action plan defining the open standards and open-source policy for the Netherlands. All Dutch political parties enthusiastically supported the action plan."
In Denmark, meanwhile, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Helge Sander launched a timetable for the future use of open standards in his country. Sander said Denmark is ready to introduce mandatory standards.
"With regard to standards for document interchange, the timetable states that two standards will be mandatory for an initial test period of one year from Jan. 1, 2008," the ministry stated. "During the test period, public authorities must be able to receive both standards [Microsoft-developed Open Office XML and the International Standards Organization's Open Document Format], and new procurements must be able to handle at least one of the two standards."
A column in The Inquirer, based in London, argued that the "the Danish ministry's view of what it regards as a so-called open standard appears corrupted by a stealthy and unwarranted bias in favor of Microsoft." Open XML "is neither open nor a standard," according to the column.
Mark Blafkin of the Association for Competitive Technology, a trade group that includes Microsoft as a member, said that even though Microsoft, along with ODF supporters IBM and Sun Microsystems, get most of what they want in the Danish proposal, "there are many ways to solve those problems and mandating the use of so-called open standards is rarely the best one."
"Unless the government liberally uses the clause that allows it to ignore the open-standards mandate whenever necessary," Blafkin said, the Danish government may be forced to stop using several technologies. Among the technologies that he said could be affected include Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth, Internet telephony provider Skype, DVDs and electronic photo formats.
"Hopefully, as wrong-headed policies like this are passed and governments are forced to live [with the] repercussions, the faulty logic will become evident and other governments won't make the same mistake," Blafkin added. "Open standards are a great thing, but they aren't a panacea."
China To Use More Military Technology
The Chinese government announced Tuesday that it will invest about $51 million to transform military technologies for civilian use in 2008, Xinhua News Agency reported. It would be a 20 percent increase from what the government allocated in 2007.
The Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said the funds will go toward energy and information technologies. The commission has encouraged defense manufacturers to develop more dual technologies and products that can be used by both the defense sector and for civilian purposes.
Also in China, the government on Monday launched a campaign aimed at reducing the number of online advertisements for illegal sex-related health supplements, drugs claiming to cure sexually transmitted diseases and sex toys. China Daily reported that STD hospitals will have their licenses revoked if they advertise online without approval.
"Companies that use sexually suggestive advertisements to promote sex drugs face having their businesses suspended," and "agencies that design, make and release 'vulgar' advertisements will be dealt with in accordance with the law on advertising," China Daily wrote.
The Chinese government has attempted to make print and broadcast media free of advertisements related to sex, drugs and STD remedies.
U.S., Vietnam Reps Meet To Discuss Trade
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the chairman of Vietnam's Office of Government, met Monday to discuss trade and investment issues. The officials also considered Vietnam's implementation of its World Trade Organization commitments.
"We are pleased with Vietnam's progress to date in implementing its WTO commitments and domestic reform agenda, which have generated striking economic gains and steadily enhanced Vietnam's regional and global economic competitiveness," Schwab said.
During the meeting, Schwab urged Vietnam to take additional steps to improve its enforcement of intellectual property protection. The officials also discussed telecommunications issues and Vietnam's requests for technical assistance to support its reform efforts.
"Two-way goods trade between the United States and Vietnam totaled $10.2 billion during the first 10 months of 2007, an increase of 25 percent over the same period the previous year," according to Schwab's office. The United States and Vietnam signed a trade deal in June 2006.
In other news, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said last week that a free-trade agreement with South Korea will be a priority for 2008.
"An ambitious and comprehensive FTA with South Korea is not just commercially significant, it will mean an important upgrading of the bilateral EU-Korea relationship," he said in a news release. "It is also recognition of the engagement of the EU on the Korean peninsula, and in the region. In a wider sense, it is part of our wider commitment to ensuring that EU trade policy in Asia is keeping up with the dramatic development of that region and securing the benefits in terms of jobs, growth and growing trade for both sides."
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