u.s

iPhones not on House 'must-have' list

Reports of the iPhone's imminent arrival in Washington appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

Jordan Golson of the Industry Standard has debunked a report last week by TheHill.com suggesting that the U.S. House of Representatives was seriously considering switching its mobile computer of choice from the BlackBerry to the iPhone based on strong demand. Golson followed up with Jeff Ventura, director of communications for the Chief Administrative Officer of the House, and Ventura said that the CAO is merely testing a small number of iPhones to see how they might fit into the organization.

That's not … Read more

Former 'cyberczar' goes corporate

On Wednesday, HBGary announced that Andy Purdy has joined their advisory board.

Purdy, while a member of the White House, co-drafted the 2003 edition of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, then joined the Department of Homeland Security. There, he served on the tiger team that helped to form the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). He went to head both organizations and was dubbed by the media as the "cyberczar" of the United States until DHS appointed Greg Garcia as assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications.

In 2006, Purdy … Read more

Pro-IP senators concerned anti-counterfeiting treaty may be too broad

Two senators known for their support of stringent intellectual property enforcement expressed concern on Thursday that an anti-counterfeiting treaty currently being drafted may be too far-reaching.

Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) sent a letter on Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab saying that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement currently under negotiation "could limit Congress's ability to make appropriate refinements to intellectual property law in the future."

The speed of the negotiations and their lack of transparency compound the risk that the treaty will unnecessarily constrain Congress, the letter says.

Leahy and Specter authored … Read more

Pandora, Webcasting see victory in Senate

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday afternoon passed the Webcaster Settlement Act, the legislation that lays the groundwork for Web radio stations to negotiate reduced royalty rates for the songs they stream over the Web.

The bill passed through the House of Representatives on Saturday and is now headed to the White House, where President Bush is expected to sign it.

"I'm relieved, optimistic, and grateful to our listeners," said Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, a Web radio station and music-suggestion engine.

Webcasters have long complained that the royalty rate to stream music is too high for … Read more

Bush administration defends secrecy over anti-counterfeiting treaty

WASHINGTON--An anti-counterfeiting treaty being negotiated by the U.S. government has come under criticism from liberal groups for being negotiated "in secret" and for potentially criminalizing peer-to-peer file sharing.

On Monday, the Bush administration responded by holding a public event designed to allay fears about the so-called Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a multilateral deal that the federal government hopes to have finished by the end of the year.

A draft of the agreement has not been released publicly, said Stanford McCoy, assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for intellectual property and innovation, because none exists yet. The United States … Read more

'Democracy Challenge' comes to YouTube

To mark the United Nations' first-ever International Day of Democracy, the U.S. State Department launched a YouTube-based video contest on Monday.

Called the Democracy Video Challenge, the contest encourages the submission of three-minute videos that define the concept of democracy.

"The Democracy Video Challenge asks budding filmmakers, democracy advocates, and the general public to create video shorts that complete the phrase, 'Democracy is...'," the contest's official Web site explains. While they don't require entrants to be professional filmmakers, it's pretty clear that they're looking for something more high-end than sitting in front of … Read more

Indecent Exposure 20: Informative excursion

All the news that fit to yak about. Plus Lori goes on (and on and on) about her U.S. Open shooting experience, hoping you'll learn from her mistakes.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Episode 20

Army recycles PackBots to sniff out chemicals

The U.S. military has been working on a new use for old PackBots that will save soldiers time and aggravation, though not replace them completely, when it comes to chemical warfare.

With new Foster-Miller Talon and 510 PackBot models being introduced, the old PackBot models will be rotated out of use in combat.

The Department of Defense ordered that the older models be put to good use. Through a program towards that end, the 95th Chemical Company at Fort Richardson in Alaska has been testing out modded PackBots since 2005.

The new/old PackBot, called a Chemical, Biological, Radiological … Read more

As hurricane protection goes, so goes New Orleans' future

NEW ORLEANS--When I wrote Wednesday that large parts of this city are still severely damaged from Hurricane Katrina and, in some cases, potentially beyond recovery, I didn't want to leave the impression that nothing is being done to protect against the next big hurricane.

In fact, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is putting large sums of money and significant effort into helping to reduce the risk that a future storm of Katrina's magnitude will inundate New Orleans.

All told, the Corps of Engineers here are working to fix and/or replace 220 miles of levees and … Read more