Monthly Archives: November 2003

eVoting: flawed systems moving forward

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

A recently released Congressional Research Service (CRS) report suggests eVoting isn’t quite ready for primetime, despite its rapid embrace, which has been partially funded (to the tune of almost $4 billion) by The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA, P.L. 107-252).

… there appears to be an emerging consensus that in general, current DREs [direct recording electronic systems] do not adhere sufficiently to currently accepted security principles for computer systems, especially given the central importance of voting systems to the functioning of democratic government.

Concurrent with this announcement, one of the major equipment manufacturers is in federal court this week, battling the release of internal documents which, on the surface, support the CRS security caution.

Using the mantle of intellectual property, Diebold has sent cease-and-desist orders to ISPs and students who have published links to internal documents which raise security concerns about America’s wholesale rush to eVoting.
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Calling Dick Tracy!

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Sprint has announced cellphone TV, courtesy of technology developed at Berkeley. Called MobiTV, this effort by Idetic Inc is the latest attempt to convince us that we really want our phones to be “Swiss Army Knife-like” gadgets.

The video is displayed at one-two frames per second, considerably slower than the 30 frames per second we are accustomed to for TV broadcasts.

The $10 per month service is touted as (yet another) source for late-breaking news such as sports scores.

Links: San Francisco Chronicle; Seattle PI – AP; Cellular News

Seattle radio station takes NY prize

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

The Seattle Times reported today that Nathan Hale High School’s radio station has received the Village Voice award for best high-school radio station in New York.

A Seattle station wins a New York award? How can that be, you might ask. Web-broadcast is the answer.

Station manager Gregg Neilson said, “… with 40,000 listeners each month by Internet, this is the future and the present in broadcasting.”
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Microsoft v EU – Day 1

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Update (11 Nov). The Associated Press reports that Microsoft’s testimony involved a “stultifying” Powerpoint presentation as it defended itself today against charges of anticompetive behavior in both server and media player markets.

In addition, the European Union is reportedly exploring possible violations associated with other bundling issues: instant-messaging, e-mail and hand-held devices such as mobile phones. The EU first investigated Microsoft in 1993.

It’s important to note that in April 2000, US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft guilty of violating US antitrust law.

The European Union began its investigation into the firm shortly thereafter.
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Media ownership and democracy

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

If the issues raised by my media partners story hit your hot button, you need to check out Mark Cooper’s new book, Media Ownership and Democracy in the Digital Information Age, which is available as a 313-page PDF (free! under a Creative Commons license).

Lawrence Lessig noted today that the book is now available from Amazon for $20.

No one has yet reviewed the book at Amazon. It links economic analysis and the First Amendment to demonstrate the need for media ownership limits. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tried to relax ownershp rules earlier this year. The action was met by unprecedented grassroots protest.