 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Making Space In New York
by Liza Porteus
As New York struggles to clear the debris from the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, Gov. George Pataki and companies in the city's Silicon Alley technology community are trying to help businesses displaced by the events.
Pataki has announced that CoStar Group, a real-estate information provider, is offering New York businesses access to its database of area leasing brokers and available office properties in the city. CoStar tracks billions of square feet of commercial real estate across the country, acting as an electronic information clearinghouse.
To access the database, users should visit the Empire State Development Web site and select the "NY Site Finder" link, then click on the link for listings of alternative space for businesses impacted by the disaster.
On Wednesday, meanwhile, Pataki announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to fund 100 percent of the costs associated with the ongoing recovery. Disaster victims may be eligible for business loans to fund repairs or replacements of real estate, equipment, inventory and other assets. Low-interest loans for working capital may be available to small businesses.
Pataki also encouraged New Yorkers and concerned individuals to donate to the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund over the Internet, by telephone or through the mail.
In Silicon Alley, businesses are opening their doors to city workers with no place to plug in computers or phones. Only a day after the attacks, BlueFly.com offered office space to companies. Silicon Alley Daily also opened temporary space, desks and a network on 36th Street and Eighth Avenue.
Silicon Alley Daily reports that the financial news publications TheStreet.com and The Wall Street Journal are continuing operations while their offices remain inaccessible.
The New York Software Industry Association (NYSIA) is providing online forms for alley companies to complete if they want to make donations or need office space. Companies that have offered space to displaced workers on the NYSIA site include: Boyle Software, Corsis Technology Services, Fusebox, Gyrate Software Solutions, Ilounge, Liberteks.com, Meta Group, Next Page, Qwest Communications, Visser Software Services and Winmill Software.
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce site has a "space bank," a "furniture bank" and a "skills bank" to help businesses recover. The space bank lists move-in ready and nearly ready office space in downtown Brooklyn and surrounding areas. The skills bank is an online registry of volunteers willing to provide technical assistance to businesses.
South Dakota Warns Of Investment Scams
South Dakota is warning consumers and businesses of investment scams tied to the terrorist attacks. Commerce and Regulation Department Secretary David Volk said to watch for scams similar to those associated with the Year 2000 computer bug.
Cold-calling telephone salesmen, advertisements or Internet postings that tout commodities, exotic financial products or supposed anti-terrorist technologies are a red flag for investors, Volk said in a statement. Investors should be especially wary of enticements to send their money offshore to "safe havens."
Volk is urging investors to: hang up on aggressive salesmen and ignore unsolicited e-mail or Internet chat-room talk about small companies with new anti-terrorist technologies; contact the South Dakota Division of Securities to determine whether sellers are licensed and their products registered; and request written information that fully explains investments.
Colorado Task Force Eyes Privacy Draft
The Colorado Privacy Task Force is moving closer to developing a comprehensive state privacy policy.
The task force met briefly Monday, when Valerie McNevin from the Governor's Office of Innovation and Technology answered questions on her office's privacy policy. Representatives from Faegre & Benson, which is advising the task force, also submitted their comments on the secretary of state's privacy policy, other states' privacy policies and the proposed state policy. Members have until Sept. 30 to send comments on the draft privacy policy to Denver-based Faegre & Benson.
Faegre & Benson is suggesting, among other things, that the state prohibit the use of "cookies" that track Internet use and that the policy extend to all information.
The draft recommends that Colorado recognize the role the federal government has assumed on financial and medical privacy and temporarily refrain from regulations that could impact e-commerce. It also recommends that each state department and agency adopt a privacy policy that addresses the FTC's privacy principles.
The Colorado legislature, meanwhile, cleared several tech-related measures this year. Gov. Bill Owens signed into law:
- S.B. 99, which makes the creation or sale of false trademarks a misdemeanor subject to a $1,000 fine. Concerns about technological advances that allow trademark counterfeiting prompted the legislation.
- S.B.109, which creates a database for identifying motor-vehicle insurance.
- H.B. 1025, a privacy law that requires people requesting motor-vehicle records to state how they will use the information and to agree not to sell the information to a third party.
- H.B. 1070, which requires the posting of campaign reports to the secretary of state's Web site and the development of a system to allow counties to file the reports electronically.
- H.B. 1081, which exempts tangible personal property used for research and development from state sales and use taxes.
- H.B. 1136, which creates a statewide database on fire-fighting resources.
- H.B. 1138, which requires the state Office of Innovation and Technology and Commission on Information Management to develop standards and policies for using e-signatures. The measure also creates a chief technology officer to oversee the implementation of e-signatures and to designate a chief information officer for the state.
- H.B. 1155, which requires the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to post online the names, addresses, physical descriptions and photographs of convicted sex offenders.
- H.B. 1163, which authorizes a grant program to help state schools integrate information technology education into the curriculum of public high schools.
- H.B. 1210, which allows the state Motor Vehicles Department to conduct its hearings via telephone or other electronic means.
- H.B. 1307, which requires the secretary of state to move toward computerized voter registration and election management.
- H.B. 1365, which creates a grant program to encourage students to take an interest in science and technology education.
Annapolis.com Launches
Maryland.com, a provider of information about Maryland, announced on Tuesday the launch of Annapolis.com, according to Potomac Tech Wire. The new site is aimed at both tourists and residents of Annapolis, Md.
The site will provide various listings, including movie and event postings, restaurant reviews, business news, apartment listings and traffic updates. Annapolis.com also will offer residents an opportunity to have e-mail addresses ending in annapolis.com.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
