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Sending A Signal About Theft
by Maureen Sirhal
More state lawmakers are voicing concerns over a model law backed by Hollywood studios and cable firms that seeks to guard online content by expanding the scope of "signal theft" laws.
Committees in the Tennessee and Texas legislatures this week held hearings on measures that the Motion Picture Association of America is pushing in order to prevent hackers from accessing movie studios' emerging Web-based content services.
In Texas, members of the House Regulated Industries Committee also began raising questions about the legislation on Tuesday. Committee members agreed to delay consideration of the bill, H.B. 2121, until consumers' concerns about the measure are allayed, according to observers.
Some consumer advocates charge that the language in the original measure is so broad that it would prohibit individuals from using Internet services in any way not expressly approved by their service providers. There are a "wide range of perfectly innocent activities that users can do that could be construed as prohibited," said Adina Levin, a software executive who is working on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation to amend the Texas measure.
"One of the questions that has to be answered ... is, 'How does this improve upon the laws that are currently on the books?'" said Mike Godwin, general counsel of Public Knowledge. The group has been sending letters to state legislators to urge them to oppose the legislation.
The Tennessee House Judiciary Criminal Practice and Procedure Subcommittee and the Senate Judiciary Committee considered separate bills, H.B. 457 and S.B. 213, that would ban the sale, development and possession of technology devices that are designed solely to steal communications and Internet services.
The Nashville Tennessean reported on Wednesday that members of both legislative panels sparred with the bills' sponsors over potential unintended consequences of the measures. "Are you making it illegal for me to tape the Tennessee-Florida game?" state Rep. Frank Buck asked Rep. Rob Briley, who is sponsoring H.B. 457.
Republican Sen. Mark Norris, meanwhile, dubbed the Senate bill "problematic" and said "people don't understand'' much of the measure's content, according to the Tennessean. The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed action for two weeks, but the House panel agreed to move the House legislation to the full committee.
Measures similar to the Texas and Tennessee bills are pending in several states, including Massachusetts, Florida and Oregon. Lawmakers in Arkansas and Colorado approved similar bills, but the states' governors have yet to take action on them.
Kansas, Nevada Address Broadband Deregulation
Missouri's House last week overwhelmingly passed legislation to deregulate high-speed Internet services, the Kansas City Star reported.
The measure, H.B. 142, seeks to limit the ability of the Missouri Public Service Commission to regulate broadband. Backed by regional Bell telecommunications firm SBC Communications, the bill would forbid the commission from forcing dominant providers like SBC to share access to their high-speed networks with rival broadband firms.
SBC argues that the legislation would encourage broadband deployment by giving the firm the "regulatory certainty" necessary to invest in broadband infrastructure. Consumer advocates and utilities commissioners, however, maintain that the measure would decrease competition.
Nevada's state Senate has approved a similar measure, S.B. 400. It also has SBC's backing.
Report Outlines Aid To 'First Responders'
The Justice Department said this week in a new report that state and local governments received more than $2 billion in federal grants last year to help law enforcement organizations meet new security mandates.
The Office of Justice Programs awarded roughly $2.51 billion to police and other groups to help them buy new equipment, hire additional personnel and fund training programs. Another $647 million was designated for counter-terrorism initiatives, such as training for "first responders" to emergencies and money for communications devices and other counter-terrorism technologies. First responders also could direct some of the funding toward research and development.
Meanwhile, the Homeland Security and Energy departments announced this week that they have transferred refurbished radiological detection equipment to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Los Angeles Port Authority and the San Francisco Health Department.
The departments are providing the equipment, valued at $60,000, under a pilot project called the Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program, which seeks to give first responders tools to increase homeland security. So far, the departments have provided similar equipment to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Detroit.
Under the program, Homeland Security's Office for Domestic Preparedness identifies equipment needs for first responders and Energy ships the recycled detection devices to the state and local groups at no charge. To date, the program has redeployed more than 1,500 radiological detection instruments valued at more than $700,000.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge called the program "an excellent example of federal agencies working together to address a critical homeland security issue."
Budget Crisis Impacts Educational Technology
A new survey of California school districts reveals that the state's budget crisis is forcing school administrators to freeze or cut spending on information technology equipment and staff.
The survey, conducted by the educational technology firm Lightspeed Systems, polled 50 superintendents and board members of California school districts and found that 36 percent plan to delay IT purchases. Another 27 percent said they likely will cancel equipment purchases, and 33 percent reported freezes or cuts in the hiring of technology staff.
School administrators reported that the decrease in IT spending will hurt classrooms. Forty-one percent of survey respondents said, for example, that they expect the teaching of advanced computer skills to suffer.
"California has made great strides in using technology in education," Jeff Jennings, director of Lightspeed Systems, said in a statement. "The concern is that some of California's children are being left behind."
In other news, a North Carolina technology association will receive a $250,000 grant to help wire a public elementary school. Thanks to the efforts of two of the state's congressmen -- Republican Rep. Brad Miller and Democratic Sen. John Edwards -- the North Carolina Electronics and Information Technologies Association received the funds as part of their "technology demonstration project." The group will provide funds to Oak Lane Elementary School to pay for new equipment and other services under the school's five-year technology plan.
Ohio Extends Biometrics Contract
Officials at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles have extended a contract with the biometrics technology provider Viisage to manufacturer digital driver's licenses and state identification documents. The extension is worth $2.9 million, the firm said in a statement.
The ID cards and driver's licenses store facial images and other data that can be used to verify the cardholders' identities. Viisage is providing its facial-recognition technologies to 19 states.
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