Communications of the ACM
News Track
News Track
As companies and governments look to secure their most critical IT systems in the wake of 9/11, the worldwide security-software market is expected to grow to $4.3 billion this year, up 18% from 3.6 billion in 2001, reports Dataquest. Managed security services should grow even faster, according to market researcher IDC, which estimates network protection providers will take in $2.2 billion in 2005, up from $720 million in 2000. Identification systems, such as face recognition technologies and smart cards, should also get a boost from the focus on security.
"Government and defense will increase spending in reaction to public concern about the shamefully low scores received in security audits performed in reaction to increased concerns about the security of the government IT infrastructure."
Colleen Graham, industry analyst for Gartner Dataquest.
Line-of-Sight Laser Communication
In major cities where fiber optic cable connections can be difficult and costly, a handful of start-up companies are offering systems that use laser beams, carrying data at rates up to a billion bits per second, from one building to another, reports the New York Times. The beams travel from, say, one laser transceiver mounted behind a high-rise window, to another laser behind a window many blocks away, then on to other buildings, leapfrogging until the data reaches a site with a direct connection to the fiber backbone. The technology, called atmospheric laser transmission, or free space optics, is not new. It was tried in the 1960s, but the systems then were unreliable. The new generation of equipment is no longer prone to interference from snow, rain, or fog, and is designed to deliver a vast flow of data reliably, even when confronted with such urban obstacles as blinds and window washers. The lasers can be mounted on walls, roofs, and windows, but they must have one essential: a clear line of sight between the transmitting laser and its receiver.
Toxic Tech Exports
The global export of electronics wasteconsumer devices, computer monitors, and circuit boards, to name a fewis creating environmental and health problems in the third world, according to a report issued by five environmental agencies. The report, Exporting Harm: The Techno-Trashing of Asia, says 50% to 80% of electronics waste collected for recycling in the U.S. is sent to China, India, Pakistan, and other developing countries, where it is reused or recycled under largely unregulated conditions, often with toxic results. The National Safety Council estimates as many as 315 million computers have or will become obsolete from 1997 to 2004, generating a wide range of potentially toxic wastes. While there is no consensus on a solution, the report calls on countries to reduce exports of hazardous wastes and deal with their waste problems within their own borders, with manufacturers taking a "cradle-to-grave" approach.
Internet Not Ready for Public Elections
More than a year after the Florida presidential election controversy exposed a need for better voting technology, researchers say the Internet is not the answer. Citing malicious hacking and faking identification as just two potential problems, experts agree the Internetas it exists todaycan't sufficiently safeguard the privacy, security, and reliability of the voting process. But high-tech voting can still improve elections, say researchers, who recommend wider use of two technologies: optical scanning systems and direct-recording electronic devices, both of which allow voters more chances to verify or change their votes and provide improved audit trails.
"To set up any kind of blanket [government] policy that would require general pre-review of scientific publications would be extraordinarily cost-ineffective and would stifle the communication of important research findings."
Robert Rich, Emory University's Medical School, on U.S. restrictions on scientific information being made public
Chip Implant for Positive ID
A computer chip about the size of a grain a rice has been developed for human implantation. Applied Digital Solutions, Palm Beach, FL, seeks government approval for its VeriChip to market as an ID device via voluntary implantation. For high-security facilities, such as airports and nuclear power plants, the immediate benefits would be a closer-to-foolproof security system. Medical information, also encoded into the approximately $200 chip, is read with a special scanner. But privacy advocates warn the chip could lead to encroachments on civil liberties. "The problem is that you always have to think about what the device will be used for tomorrow," says a senior attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocacy group.
Clicking Overseas to the Movies
A Taiwanese Web site offering hundreds of movies-on-demand for just $1 each threatens Hollywood studios with their own plans for delivering similar services, raising the specter of a new round of international copyright battles, reports CNET News. Despite claims that their Movie88.com site follows all local copyright laws, the owners are drawing scrutiny from a wary U.S. film industry. Whereas the music industry had to deal with Napster and other file-swapping sites, film studios have been insulated partly by the enormous size of high-quality digital video files; the barrier has now deteriorated due to improved digital formats and streaming technology. Such sites are also a sign that many of the most critical copyright battles are shifting overseas, where different laws and court systems make it difficult for U.S. copyright holders.
Finland? How About Nokialand?
According to Finland's modern mythology, a company producing everything from paper to rubber boots was inspired to believe the future lay in cell phones, a technology that now binds Finns and a total of a billion people in an invisible web around the world and making Finland the world's most interconnected nation. That company is Nokia, named after a river town in southwest Finland. At its peak in March 2000, Nokia's stock was worth $300 billion, more than any other European company. The company's $25 billion in annual sales roughly equals the entire budget of the Finnish government, which finances one of the world's most generous welfare states. "Nokia has pulled us up from the bottom of the recession," says a Finn sociologist, adding "Nokia is a state within a state." However, there have been concerns of a Nokia pullout; a company executive cited slowing growth and the country's steep income-tax rate (59%). This would jeopardize the tax base supporting the state's extensive welfare benefits, along with approximately 22,000 jobs.
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