Category: Government

Pfizer Gets Hard On Viagra Spammers

Research undertaken by Pfizer has prompted the pharmaceutical company to take legal action against the hundreds of spammers selling fake or generic Viagra on the internet. A survey revealed that 25% of men thought that the emails actually came from Pfizer. If that really is the case, then I’d say that erection problems aren’t their only problem – they need to buy some clever pills too.

There is no such thing as generic Viagra (known as sildenafil citrate) because the drug has not be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US – makes you wonder what it is these people are buying.

Pfizer are now working with US law enforcement agencies and the FDA to track down and prosecute those illegally selling, or claiming to sell, Viagra. They already have organisations and 24 websites targeted. Alongside all of this legal activity, they have a new public awareness campaign to educate the public on the dangers of buying random, unprescribed pills off the internet.

“Pfizer is taking these steps to help raise consumer awareness about the problems posed by illegitimate online ‘pharmacies’ and to directly address the source of these problems,” said Jeff Kindler, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Pfizer. “We want it clearly known that Pfizer does not send or support the sending of spam, which comes from websites that illegally use the Viagra name to promote and market unapproved ED products that may contain ingredients that either do not provide optimal efficacy or may pose health risks.”

Research shows that younger men are now taking Viagra recreationally as a lifestyle drug, and this coupled with the fact that some people are still stupid to buy things they read about in spam, means that there will be no quick end to impotence-related emails any time soon.

Worryingly, Pfizer have just lost patent protection for Viagra in China, so look forward to a sudden flood of legal sildenafil spam coming from there.

Pfizer

FCC Approves TiVo Content Sharing

The Federal Communications Commission has approved TiVo’s new content sharing facility, TiVoToGo. Possibly the ugliest neologism I have ever seen TVTG (I’m not typing it again), allows TiVo owners to share recorded programming with a limited number of approved associates and friends over the internet. The FCC has approved the security features that only last week were causing the MPAA and NFL to throw their toys out of their prams.

The FCC is now satisfied that digital broadcast television is adequately protected by TiVo, and that content should be made conveniently available to users – but without indiscriminate distribution all over the internet.

TVTG limits sharing to nine other users, who must have a certificate and be registered with the host TiVo before they can view content.

The MPAA is still disappointed though – they’d like to see tighter controls as programmes can be streamed to users outside the intended market: “technologies that enable redistribution of copyrighted TV programming beyond the local TV market disrupt local advertiser-supported broadcasting and harm TV syndication markets.”

A breakthrough for consumers? Not so fast. Even if the FCC has approved the technology there are still plenty of opportunities for the MPAA or anyone else who doesn’t like TVTG from reaching the market, or crippling it when it gets there.

TiVo on the FCC news

FCC Votes to Wiretap VoIP

The Federal Communications Commission has voted 5 – 0 to subject voice over IP communications to the same laws that apply to eaves dropping over conventional telephone calls.

Whilst VoIP is cheap alternative to making standard telephone calls, especially over long distance, it is rather difficult to tap. The vote means that VoIP is now subject to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), and that assistance is basically a requirement that your VoIP chat has a back door in it so that federal law enforcement agencies can listen in without telling you.

FCC chairman Michael Powell said: “Our support for law enforcement is unwavering. It is our goal in this proceeding to ensure that law enforcement agencies have all of the electronic surveillance capabilities that CALEA authorizes to combat crime and terrorism and support homeland security.”

The FCC’s statement

EU: Interactive TV Standards Will Wait

The European Commission has stated that it will not make a decision on imposing interactive TV standards until the end of 2005. Currently, there are several platforms in use throughout Europe, though the Commission does not see this as a problem, instead promoting interoperability on a voluntary basis. As some of the platform proponents are competitors, it remains to be seen if this will be successful.

Whilst the Commission hopes that everyone will share and get along, they are strongly advocating the Multimedia Home Platform. MHP is currently employed by RTL in Germany.

Developing for multiple interactive TV platforms does no-one any good – content has to be rewritten and retested for every platform and each system has different capabilities. As final content has to work on all platforms it is likely to encounter, it is often as simple and demanding as possible – stifling innovation.

There are five interactive APIs in use across Europe today, deployed in 25 million set top boxes, yet the Commission does not see this as a problem:

“In view of the complexity of the technological and market environment, the very different perceptions of interoperability held by market players, and the fact that interactive digital TV has not yet taken off on a larger scale in many Member States, we felt that the digital television market should continue to develop unhindered for the present” commented Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Olli Rehn, “Digital television networks (satellite, terrestrial and cable) have the potential to offer delivery of multi-media information Society services, alongside 3G mobile and other networks, and we welcome all future investment in this important technology. We will however revisit the issue at the end of 2005 in order to see to what extent market developments have contributed to interoperability and freedom of choice for users.”

Europa Press Release

UK Digital Switch-over to Cost UK£1 billion

The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five have had a series of meetings to discuss the UK’s switch-over to digital broadcasting. High on the agenda has been the total cost of the operation, from promoting the switch-over to public to popping round to old peoples’ houses to install a free set top box.

So far the estimate is about UK£1 billion (€1.5 billion), but like a hen party in a Indian restaurant, there’s still quite a lot of squabbling left over who needs to pay for what.

The three commercial broadcasters are quite keen on the government and BBC picking up the majority of the bill. Indeed, ITV hopes that most of its expenses will be offset by a reduction in the cost of the broadcast license that it pays for currently.

New broadcast licenses will be issued by Ofcom in September, and switch-over will feature prominently in them.

Many of the forthcoming costs are likely to go down – digital receivers are becoming more popular and are falling in price, so the installed base will rise rapidly on its own. By 2012 many of the households currently refusing to switch to digital may well have adopted digital television themselves as they become more accustomed to it.

Ofcom’s Digital Switch Over Report

Ofcom’s Renumbering Plans

Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has published their plan for renumbering Greater London’s telephone system.

Under Section 56 of the Communications Act, Ofcom is required to publish a National Telephone Numbering Plan and review it when required. Telephone numbers have been revised three times over the last fifteen years, and usually the public’s response is one of groans and howls, followed by trips to the printers to get all the stationery redone, and the tiny tapping on phones and PDAs to input the new codes.

There’ll be none of that this time – Ofcom is assuring residential and business customers that they will not need to change their numbers. The major change is the release of the 020 3 code for new numbers in Greater London, though 020 7 and 020 8 will stay the same.

A campaign to inform the public will begin in Q3 2004, and it is expected that the new numbers will start appearing next summer.

Ofcom’s plan

Curfews for Gamers in LA

Looks like those teenage Everquest players have been getting out of hand – after a report found that 86% of people arrested in cybercafes were juveniles, the city of Los Angeles has cracked down hard with a curfew.

New city ordinance, to come into effect in two months, bans kids under 18 from the city’s 30 or so cybercafes after 10pm on weekdays – and they won’t be allowed in between 8.30am and 1pm either.

Los Angeles is also looking to regulate the growing cybercafe business, and now requires premises with five PCs or more to have a police license, and video cameras for security.

The new legislation is the result of a review instigated after a brawl in a cybercafe last year. Two groups of kids got out of hand after a particularly energetic bout of Counter Strike. Evidently, the post-match recriminations went a bit further than just typing “omfg i pwned u!!!!! i r0x0r!!!111!” to their victims.

Dennis Zine – the councillor responsible for the law

UK Analogue Radio Switch-Off Date Announced This Year

UK Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has said that she will be reviewing digital radio adoption with the view to switching off the analogue service. The date for the switch-off is expected to come later this year. The statement came in the foreword to new report published by the Digital Radio Development Bureau.

The analogue TV signal is due to be switched off in 2010, but the government is yet to give any indication of the date that it expects to switch off the analogue radio signal.

Digital radios have enjoyed a strong growth in the UK, with sales up 444% this year – 600,000 have been sold this year already, and prices are set to fall to around £50 for some sets, with the development of new chips.

Many listeners are also enjoying radio through their internet connections, and indeed some sources estimate that, rather than a dying past-time, radio listening is set to grow by 10% over the next five years.

The Independent on the analogue radio switch off

Siemens to Buy BBC Technology

Siemens Business Services (SBS) has been announced as the BBC’s single preferred bidder for its Technology division. There are a few hurdles yet to go – the deal is still subject to approval by BBC governors, the Secretary of State for Culture, media and Sport and needs to be cleared by the European Commission under EC Merger Regulations.

Once approved, the contract will run for ten years and is worth up to UK£2 billion (€3 billion).

The BBC is hoping that SBS will provide skills and expertise to reach its goals over those ten years, as well as substantial cost savings, estimated to be at least UK£20 – 30 million (€30 – €45 million). The corporation has been considering selling off its technology division for at least the last ten years, and, having finally done so represents a further slimming down of the corporation. The last big sell off of this type was a few years ago when the BBC disposed of properties to Land Securities Trillium – this of course gave rise to the Legend of the £50 Lightbulb Replacement Fee.

With a staff of 1400 and turnover of UK£230 million (€344 million), BBC Technology has a number of high-profile customers outside the corporation, including BSkyB, DirectTV, ESPN and Hutchinson 3G.

BBC Technology

Siemens Business Services

UN: We Can Beat Spam in Two Years

The United Nations has decided to tackle spam – and it thinks it can do it within two years by standardising legislation around the world. The International Telecommunications Union is hosting a meeting on spam in Geneva bringing together regulators from 60 countries, the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organisation.

Hopefully their anti-spam strategy will be to get them all in one room and crack their heads together until they agree to do something for a change. Yes, I have had a lot of spam today, thanks for asking.

“(We have) an epidemic on our hands that we need to learn how to control,” Robert Horton, the acting chief of the Australian communications authority, told reporters: “International cooperation is the ultimate goal.”

The UN intends to provide examples of anti-spam legislation for countries to adopt, to make prosecution and cross-border co-operation easier. How this will be regarded in countries that make a profit from sending spam is yet to be seen.

“If we don’t work together,” said Robert Shaw, Internet strategy expert with the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU), “we may see millions of people abandoning the Net entirely, out of frustration and disgust.”

You’ve got that right, Bob. I’ll be back in two years to see if the UN’s strategy worked.

The ITU estimates that 85% of all email is now spam, compared to “just” 35% last year, and that anti-spam protection now costs computer users US$25 billion (€20.2 billion) a year. Roughly enough to feed everyone on the planet.

ITU