Clips May 6, 2003

[Lillie Coney <lillie.coney@xxxxxxx>]

Clips May 6, 2003

ARTICLES

EBay Found Not Liable for Users' Statements
U.S. to Sell Series EE Bonds Via the Web
The movie industry fights off the pirates
G8 States Back High-Tech Passport Plan
The 50 States of the CIO 
Wyoming gets a new CIO 
Bush has videoconference link on Air Force One 
Senate panel demands merged terror watch lists 
Navy tests smart cards for logging on to NMCI 
Lawmakers question bioterror readiness of public health system 

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Los Angeles Times
EBay Found Not Liable for Users' Statements
A judge says the auction Web site isn't responsible for a seller's negative posting about a buyer.
By Hanah Cho
May 6, 2003

In a ruling that limits EBay Inc.'s responsibility for the actions of its users, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has dismissed a libel claim against the Internet auction site made by a shopper who was criticized by a merchant.

The dismissal last week by Superior Court Judge Thomas L. Willhite Jr. suggests EBay can't be held responsible for postings made by buyers and sellers on its site.

"As long as they're not the ones who provide the content, then they're okay," said Eugene Volokh, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who specializes in 1st Amendment issues.

Roger M. Grace sued EBay in January, claiming he was defamed on the site by a merchant who sold him six vintage entertainment magazines in December. Grace, a Los Angeles-based publisher of several California newspapers, said he received negative feedback from Tim Neeley, who sells Hollywood memorabilia. According to the court ruling, the feedback  a form of commentary that allows EBay buyers and sellers to leave messages regarding their transactions  said, "Complaint: Should be banned from EBay!!!! Dishonest all the way!!!" 

At issue in the case was whether San Jose-based EBay is responsible for what is posted on its feedback forum, as a newspaper could be for libelous quotes it publishes, or whether the site is simply a conduit for information, like a phone company or a bulletin board.

The judge ruled that EBay should not be held accountable for comments posted by users because the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996 says an "interactive computer service" provider is not the publisher of information posted by its users.

The decision "affirms the principle that EBay is not responsible for acts of third-party users, including the feedback area," said company spokesman Chris Donlay, noting that other recent court decisions have freed the company from liability for items sold on the site.

Grace, the editor in chief and general counsel for the Metropolitan News-Enterprise and other legal newspapers, called the ruling "erroneous." He contends EBay, unlike Internet service providers, is a publisher and should be held accountable for its content.

"I'm not concerned with some potshots taken by a local character," said Grace, who said he plans to appeal. "I'm concerned about EBay's arrogance in saying that no matter how clearly the matter is defamatory, we're protected by immunity."

In fact, there is uncertainty over whether companies that operate Web sites should be treated the same as Internet service providers, said Erwin Chemerinsky, a professor at the USC School of Law who specializes in constitutional issues. 

Should EBay "be regarded like a bulletin board that just provides a forum?" he asked. "Or should we regard them much more like a newspaper?" 

Experts say Grace has a stronger claim against Neeley, who posted the negative comments. Indeed, Grace said he has sued Neeley. Neeley could not be reached for comment.
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Los Angeles Times
U.S. to Sell Series EE Bonds Via the Web
Yields have tumbled as investors pour money into the securities amid bullishness on economy.
Kathy M. Kristof

The Treasury Department on Monday launched a program allowing savers to buy Series EE savings bonds over the Internet.

The move is part of an ongoing effort to reduce the cost of issuing, tracking and replacing the roughly 700 million individual savings bonds outstanding, said Peter R. Fisher, under secretary for domestic finance. 

Savers now can buy EE bonds by setting up an account through the TreasuryDirect program (www.treasurydirect .gov). The accounts can debit any bank checking or savings account.

Paperless EE bonds will differ from paper bonds in some ways that the Treasury hopes will make the electronic versions more attractive. For example, the electronic bonds will do away with specific denominations and "discounts."

Paper EE bonds are sold only in eight denominations  $50, $75, $100, $200, $500 $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 and are sold at a 50% discount to face value. In other words, a saver pays $25 for a bond that will be worth $50 at maturity. The bond matures when the interest accruals cause it to reach its face value.

Electronic bonds, by contrast, can be purchased in any penny increment above the minimum purchase price of $25, the Treasury said. 

Interest then is earned on the total amount invested at 90% of the average return on a five-year Treasury note. That rate is adjusted twice a year. The current rate, through October, is an annualized 2.66%, which is well above what many short-term savings accounts and money-market funds pay.

The Treasury had been selling Series I bonds (inflation-adjusted bonds) over the Internet since October. Conventional Treasury bills, notes and bonds have been available over the Net for several years.

Eventually, the government wants to make all savings bond purchases electronic and provide Web-based confirmations and management, Fisher said. By replacing the paper-based system the government could save roughly $130 million annually, he said.

Americans own about $195 billion in savings bonds.
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USA Today
The movie industry fights off the pirates
By Andy Seiler and Mike Snider, USA TODAY

If you are one of the lucky few invited to see an early screening of The Matrix Reloaded, beware: Big Brother is watching.

And you could be searched. You may have to walk through a metal detector. Expect your cell phones to be checked at the door. Got a tape recorder? You're out of there. And that's just what the movie studio is willing to reveal about the steps it is taking to prevent pirates from illegally getting their hands on  and making copies of  its impending blockbuster. (Related item: Music industry tries to stay afloat in tidal wave of downloading.)

No movie has been under tighter wraps than the $150 million Matrix sequel, the most anticipated movie of the summer and the second part of a trilogy that, ironically enough, glamorizes Internet hackers. It opens the evening of May 14.

Warner Bros., at the forefront of the entertainment industry's anti-piracy effort, does not want to see camcorded copies of its movie on the streets of Kabul before it opens in U.S. theaters, as the makers of last year's Spider-Man did. The studio also doesn't want copies of its film on the Internet before it opens, as happened to Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

And most of all, Warner Bros. and, for that matter, the entire movie industry, do not want to suffer the same fate as the music industry, which blames Internet piracy for much of the global music sales slump of about $1.7 billion each of the past three years. The Recording Industry Association of America says that sales of pirated recordings exceeds $4.2 billion worldwide  not counting losses due to Internet piracy.

Because movies take so much more time and space to download, the movie industry is less threatened than the music business, says David Davis, senior vice president of the Los Angeles-based investment banking firm Houlihan, Lokey, Howard and Zukin. He advises studios on piracy questions.

But Davis, who has studied the problem in Asia for studios, says that's just temporary: It could be as easy to download a movie as it is a song within five to 10 years.

If not sooner. Richard Doherty, director of the Envisioneering Group market research firm, says the movie business could take an even bigger hit than the music industry. "The studios and the Motion Picture Association of America failed to forecast the rapidly declining cost of portable digital media that could carry a theatrical-quality film," such as $100 pocket-size disk drives.

The MPAA is beefing up its forces. It has hired David Green, former Department of Justice deputy chief of computer crime, as its vice president and counsel to aid anti-piracy efforts.

"Piracy prevention is our No. 1 priority, and we are working to combat it on all fronts," says Warner Bros. spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti. But she would prefer that the specific techniques remain a mystery. "We were very effective on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and will employ some of those same practices with The Matrix Reloaded, so I am not going to share those with your readers."

Though the costly blockbuster hopefuls The Matrix Reloaded, X2: X-Men United,2 Fast 2 Furious and The Hulk have the most to lose this summer, the studios are zealously protecting all their films.

At a recent screening of The Lizzie McGuire Movie for critics, Disney security employees wore military-style night-vision goggles to scan the crowd for recording devices. They could see the crowd with the greenish tint familiar from night-time war footage shot in the Middle East.

Protect No. 1 export

It's an appropriate image, because this is a home-front battle to protect the USA's No. 1 export product: movies.

Pirated movie files routinely appear on the Net within hours of a premiere  or before, if pirates can sneak mini-camcorders into early screenings meant for theater owners and the media.

College students for whom Napster is nostalgia use their schools' powerful broadband capability to download and upload feature films in less than an hour, or pirates make copies on DVDs or VHS tapes and sell them.

Though this is troublesome to the industry, it's not the biggest worry. The picture and sound quality, in most cases, is still so poor that it can't compare with the theater experience.

"We have been able to hold analog piracy"  copying from video to video  "to about $3 billion a year (in lost revenue)," says Jack Valenti, president of the MPAA.

The group hasn't been able to quantify losses from digital piracy, copying from actual film reels, from the Internet, from DVDs or with high-quality digital camcorders. Because digital files are pristine and don't deteriorate from copy to copy, digital piracy can manifest itself in an endless stream of high-quality images.

And demand could rise as more consumers get high-speed Internet access.

"Eight years ago, it took 10 minutes to download a three-minute song," says Ron Wheeler, who is in charge of content protection issues for Fox. "The Internet is constantly evolving to faster downloads and the ability to handle larger and larger files in exponential fashion. Unless something is done, it's going to be a very serious problem for the film industry."

The studios' concern has spread to the theater owners, says John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

"In the earlier days, when piracy was something that happened later in the release of the movie, after it had already made money in our theaters, theater owners weren't that concerned," Fithian says. "Now the pirates are more sophisticated, and it is impacting our business directly."

Still, Fithian says, piracy before a movie's release will never hit theaters as hard as the piracy that comes later.

"It's never going to be the same kind of issue for us as it is for the studio people who sell licensed DVDs or videos. I mean, let's face it: Every dollar spent on a pirated DVD is a dollar not spent on a legitimately licensed DVD."

But most experts believe that as revenue and profits are skimmed off by illegal copies of movies sold on street corners and over the Internet  and increasingly downloaded from the Net  the ripple effect could be felt along the entire popcorn-and-Twizzler chain.

"We compete against Warner Bros. and Paramount and Universal and the people who did My Big Fat Greek Wedding," says Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment, which includes X-Men studio 20th Century Fox. "But we can't compete with somebody stealing. We can't compete with free. This is an industry, and people are going to lose their jobs."

Hand deliveries, watermarks

Sound like hyperbole? Consider the additional lengths to which studios are already going to protect their latest releases:

Hands on. Although the studios won't confirm it, messengers are hand-delivering prints of top summer movies X2: X-Men United and The Matrix Reloaded to theaters with phony labels. Reportedly, some messengers are armed. Still, prints of some films have been disappearing.

Hands off. Studios have cracked down on even their beloved test-market screenings of works in progress. Last summer, Men in Black 2 director Barry Levinson complained that Sony wouldn't let him try his film out on audiences. If he'd known the mere sight of Michael Jackson would get the biggest guffaws of the picture, Levinson gripes, he would have edited in a few seconds of silence so that Jackson's dialogue, which was intended to be funny, could be heard.

Secret markings. Just as DNA is used in CSI to identify criminals, some films have watermarks, specially created digital data unseen by the human eye but serving as a unique fingerprint so content creators can identify illegal copies of their films. A watermark will be reproduced in any copies that are made, and investigators can track the stolen goods. Studios are even embedding watermarks into unfinished movies and film segments to protect them as they are shuffled between post-production houses.

"There are innovative techniques that use these forensic markings to identify things went to certain places or this print played in a certain theater on a certain day," Fox's Wheeler says.

But those markings only go so far. Sending authorities after those who make pirated copies that are transmitted and shipped all over the world is "kind of like trying to catch grains of sand falling through the hourglass, and there are millions of grains," says Talal Shamoon, CEO of InterTrust Technologies, which licenses its digital-rights-management technologies.

Open eyes. Night-vision goggles are being employed to catch hidden camcorders in theaters. In a noted case, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles charged a man last month with camcording movies at screenings for critics. The man, Johnny Ray Gasca, 33, had 11 VHS recorders at his home and used a camera attached to his belt to tape films such as The Core and 8 Mile. He told authorities he was making $1,000 to $4,500 a week selling illegal films.

"This fellow was caught videotaping premieres, and the FBI got him, and we'll continue to do that," Valenti says. "That'll send a message."

Studios also are screening guest lists for early showings and requiring attendees to pass through metal detectors.

Adjusting the calendar. International release dates are edging closer to U.S. dates. The Matrix Reloaded will unspool nearly worldwide within nine days of its May 14 U.S. date. Only in Japan will it open later, June 7. That is still much quicker than is common; most films stagger openings through the world over several months. Ideally, films would open the same "day and date" around the world, eliminating the window during which pirated copies are in demand.

But, says Kevin Westcott, a partner in the media and entertainment practice at global tech-consulting firm Accenture: "Even with day and date (release) around the world, there are still 10 days where my prints are in flight. That gives anybody a chance to take those prints and do a telecine (film copy), and all of a sudden there's a master that can be used to start printing DVDs."

Education. The MPAA's Valenti has toured colleges and universities demanding that students and schools act ethically, urging schools to adopt codes of conduct and implement disciplinary action for those caught downloading.

More high-tech strategies also are in the works.

The Sarnoff Corp. and digital video security firm Cinea are developing a method of encoding film to confuse camcorders but be invisible to moviegoers.

Other tools will help studios and other content creators sniff out illegal content online. Macrovision and Websense, a San Diego-based Internet management firm, are developing a "sniffer" that looks for and corrupts illegal files on networks. (The MPAA already has deployed a similar "Internet bloodhound" called Ranger, Valenti says, that can identify college students uploading and downloading movies.)

Also being tested are methods of delivering movies for screenings in different formats that would be playable only on approved devices, ones that pirates would not have. These discs "are pressed like a DVD but only play on certain players," Westcott says.

Another strategy being tested: degrading copies that are used for screenings, so that "after three playbacks (they) can't be used anymore," he says.

Some say a digital distribution system eventually could solve the piracy problem. While some argue that movies beamed around the world via satellite would be sure targets for pirates, experts say that the sheer amount of the data  along with military-level encryption  could thwart thieves.

Culture makes piracy cool

Yet there is a real possibility that all these efforts to stem the problem could fail.

After all, there is a huge disconnect between the young people doing most of the Internet piracy and the well-paid honchos of Hollywood. Even at the media companies themselves, some younger employees enjoy piracy.

Take, for example, Joel Stein, a 31-year-old employee of AOL Time Warner who writes for Entertainment Weekly and Time magazines. He may work for the same media giant as Warner Bros.' Brogliatti, but he's singing a different tune.

"I'm a big piracy guy," says Stein, who says the very notion of being a "pirate" is appealing. He likes to copy CDs and borrow the pirated DVDs that his friends make.

"If they can get something for free, you can't stop people," Stein says. "We know TV is free, and borrowing people's albums is free, and listening to the radio is free. It's hard to convince people that a metaphysical thing should be paid for."

Shamoon says Hollywood needs to continually remind consumers of the value of its wares. Newer stadium-seating theaters with cushy seats, better sound and better food help. And the studios are testing Movielink, a Web site where they provide recent movies that can be downloaded for a fee.

But Shamoon says Hollywood needs to find "new, cool ways to get content to people."

"The current movie-distribution system is based on a business model of acetate films made and delivered to movie theaters," he says. "Hollywood needs new devices and new business models to access movies. I think there are enough smart people working on the problem that I feel very good about it."
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Reuters
G8 States Back High-Tech Passport Plan
Mon May 5, 7:56 PM ET
By Jon Boyle 

PARIS (Reuters) - G8 states agreed on Monday to develop a new high-tech passport to help the fight against terrorism, but Britain warned against rushing to meet a U.S. deadline of October 2004. 

   

The identity documents could include fingerprints and details of the bearer's iris, as well as a photograph. 


G8 states Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia say the technology would make it difficult for criminals or terrorists to steal identities. 

British Home Secretary David Blunkett expressed concerns, however, that trade and tourism could be affected if the project was handled badly in the haste to introduce the new passports. 

Despite a deep rift over Iraq (news - web sites), France and the United States agreed to work together on the project, saying they would jointly chair a commission to work out the details of the chip-driven identity papers. 

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) attended the meeting, becoming the most senior Bush administration official to visit France since the Iraq war. 

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said there were differences on what technique to use but said a common approach should be settled by the end of the year. 

"We are all agreed that there's an urgent need to act," he said. "But we all said the same thing -- let's do big scale field tests and adopt the system that is the most effective. 

"Mr. Ashcroft indicated it was not a tragedy that we were not all agreed on the same technique. The main thing was that we are moving toward documents that are not easily forged. 
"Our American friends have set a deadline for the passports which, if memory serves me right is October 2004." 

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS 

Blunkett said fingerprint information could be included in the first-wave of the so-called "biometric" identity documents, with other details added later. 

But he warned against rushing the process: "We do need to know where we're going, otherwise...(it will) have a detrimental effect on the speed of travel, on trade and commercial arrangements, as much as on the holiday travel arrangements of individuals." 
A Canadian diplomat who asked not to be named said G8 states agreed biometric passports were the best way forward but said it was unclear if the U.S. deadline applied to passports or just visas. 

"That's exactly why we need a high level group to have a discussion to move it along," said the official. 


While U.S. officials say security cooperation with France has been excellent since September 11, 2001, strains in the fight against terrorism remain. 


French Justice Minister Dominique Perben expressed concern to Ashcroft over the plight of six French nationals held without trial for almost 18 months as "unlawful combatants" at a U.S.-run camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 

The United States accuses the six and some 600 others of being unlawful combatants. Most were captured in Afghanistan (news - web sites) during the U.S.-led war against al Qaeda and the former Taliban government, launched after the September 11 attacks. 

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Washington Post
The 50 States of the CIO 
State Technology Officers Face Tight Budgets, Institutional Barriers and a Steep Learning Curve 
By Cynthia L. Webb
Monday, May 5, 2003; 8:25 AM 

Virginia's $1 billion annual budget for information technology doesn't come close to what the federal government or bigger states spend on computer equipment and systems. But with a fiscal crisis that's not expected to improve in the short term, the state's leaders are embarking on a technology program aimed at doing more with less.

The state's first step is to cut $100 million in annual information technology spending. The job of making that happen falls to George C. Newstrom, a former EDS executive who now serves as the state's secretary of technology. Newstrom has been on the job for only a little more than a year, but he has already launched an effort to consolidate technology-related agencies and functions under a plan approved by the General Assembly in February. 

"We have 91 agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia, all running their own technology procurement, ... their own strategic plans. That in itself causes duplication," Newstrom said. "What I have said to [Gov. Mark Warner (D)] and ... to the legislature is we are not a good user of technology. We are not efficient. We don't leverage our buying power."

The plan, which goes into effect on July 1, is slated to take 18 months to two years to complete.

Technology leaders from other states are closely watching. Late last month, Newstrom's office held a conference call to talk about the plan. He expected 25 people to dial in, but more than 60 actually did, many of them from the offices of other state chief information officers. 

Virginia has proven an exception to the rule that many states are behind the times in getting their CIO shops in order. Compared to the federal government, where every major agency has a specific manager for technology strategy, plenty of states still are institutionalizing their CIO positions. Budget problems have forced many states to put CIOs in the back of the line for funding, behind more pressing needs like schools, roads and health care.

CIO 101
Recognizing that state CIOs need advice and support from their peers, the Council for Excellence In Government, a Washington-based think tank, created a special outreach program this year. The Chief Information Officers -- Senior Advisors to Government Executives (SAGE) program links former and current CIOs from the federal and state levels. SAGE teams have already met with officials in Massachusetts and South Carolina to discuss ways to improve their CIO operations.

Not surprisingly, the council's experts already have identified significant bureaucratic and political hurdles to improving technology management in the states, said Dave McClure, the council's vice president of e-government.

"All states virtually are in fiscal [freezes]. They are all asking questions about whether their technology investments can be put off and if so, what are the pros and cons of that," he said.

The long ramp-up cycle for many technology projects creates even more tension between technology managers and the politicians who control their budgets. For state CIOs, who regularly need the blessing of lawmakers for funding, it can become a difficult political dance to obtain funding for IT projects that won't have a return on an investment for several years.

"I think it would not be unfair to say that many elected officials see it initially as a very risky proposition," said Matthew R. DeZee, the former CIO for South Carolina who now serves as a a member of the SAGE team.

Phillip J. Windley, an IT consultant and former CIO of Utah, said another stumbling block is that many state legislatures operate part-time, making it harder to get legislators' attention to educate them on the pros and cons of funding IT projects. 

Gerry Wethington, president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and CIO of Missouri, said change is often hampered by the traditional ways legislatures operate.

"The way we appropriate money, whether it is in the federal space or the state space, is based upon decades-old appropriations practices and you appropriate into these agency silos," he said.

This was a major challenge for Windley, who left his post as Utah's CIO in December. 

Utah, like other states, has been working on assembling all business registration data and forms into one online spot for citizens, he said. But the process is hard to unravel since so many agencies control bits and pieces of data.

There's a "lack of real understanding by the legislators who have created the silos in the first place ... about why it is a problem," said Windley.

Overhauling IT operations often means getting several distant agencies to cooperate, a challenging process since there are physical and bureaucratic borders to cross.

"The government doesn't like to admit this. They will do whatever they think is best for their organization, so it's a real challenge to go to these independent organizations and say, 'Here is something I am trying to do. Do you want to become a player?' And essentially, rightfully so, they have to look at it as what's best for their agencies," said DeZee, who now works for Fairfax, Va.-based American Management Systems.

California's CIO faces a unique political problem. Clark Kelso is operating in limbo after the statute authorizing the state technology department and its CIO office expired.

"We are in a rather unusual interim period," said Kelso, who wears additional hats as a law professor at the University of the Pacific and as interim director of California's Department of General Services, a post he took on in March. "The uncertainty surrounding [the statute] is a little bit of a challenge," he said, but topping the list is the state's massive budget problems.

Kelso added that the state's priority now is its nearly $35 billion budget deficit.

"We can use the budget crisis as a time for us to regroup on some of those strategic issues. The other thing we are doing is looking at how you can design IT processes and pricing so that we are not having to spend money up front," Kelso said, referring to the state's further reliance on performance-based contracts to meet IT needs.

Homeland Security Hits Home
The professionalization of CIOs at the state level is one result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as homeland security efforts seek to link local, state and federal information databases.

According to FSI/Federal Sources, a McLean, Va.-based public sector marketplace consultancy, $1.1 billion in homeland security-related IT funding is expected to flow to states and localities in both fiscal years 2003 and 2004. In many cases, to qualify for the funding, states will have to adopt some of the CIO management reforms already in place at the federal level.

"The [Department of Homeland Security] is going to be an important touchstone for the states in developing a common understanding ... and figuring out how to work together," said Raymond Bjorklund, FSI's chief knowledge officer and vice president of market intelligence.

Once the funding flows, it will often require matching grants from states -- funds that many of them don't have, Bjorklund said. "Despite all of these funding problems, there seems to be a general recognition, particularly in the more progressive states, that it is still a very, very important investment."

But it's still a tough sell for some states. "When the federal government starts talking about sharing data, the response is we would love to share data with you, but we don't have the money," former Utah CIO Windley said.

While most homeland security funds allocated so far have been directed to so-called first responders (the police, fire fighters and other emergency personnel), state CIOs are hopeful that funding will trickle down soon to help states shoulder other loads. 

"I think we will see some money come down," Wethington said. 

However, he cautioned that the situation "is kind of like robbing Peter to pay Paul," since some funds formerly allocated for fire fighting, for example, might now be earmarked as state or local homeland security funds. "The total dollars in terms of what the expectations [are] and what is actually flowing down, there is a pretty big gap," Wethington said.

Federal-State e-Collaboration
States and federal agencies are already collaborating on some small information technology projects outside of homeland security, offering another opportunity for states to be exposed to federal CIO reforms.

The Recreation.gov Web site, which includes state and federal information, is one example. Other federal-state e-government projects now underway include streamlining how birth and death records are shared across agencies and creating a one-stop Web site for business owners to get licensed. Meanwhile, a GovBenefits.gov site puts data on different government benefits online for citizens. 

"These two [latter] projects are being led by the federal government. We are making sure they are in touch with similar people that are leading projects in the state," said Elizabeth Miller, executive director of NASCIO. The association also has a multi-year grant with the Department of Justice to develop models to help states and the federal government share crime statistics, Miller said. The project could help create a blueprint for other information sharing projects.

Virginia's Newstrom said finding ways for the government to be more efficient, such as setting up one-stop access points for citizens online, is a key role of state CIOs. "[Citizens] literally have access to all of their accounts 24-by-7, with one exception: In many cases, government ... still makes you come to my building, under our working hours to stand in line."

At the federal level, Mark Forman at the Office of Management and Budget has been the leader in overhauling how the government manages its IT operations, including putting more government services online through various e-government initiatives. Forman, the OMB's associate director for e-government and information technology, has pushed federal CIOs and other government executives to streamline their organizations and make business cases for why certain IT projects are worth funding -- a campaign that is impacting the states as well.

"Mark is essentially the federal CIO. Having one point to go to with our concerns is really serving a leadership function for all those agencies and charging them with developing standards as they work with the states. He has been invaluable (but) there is certainly a lot more work to do," Miller said. 

NASCIO's Wethington said it is important for CIOs to focus on how technology can be used to improve state business processes. Another goal is to find ways to share costs and applications between different state departments and agencies to meet some of these efficiency goals outlined by the OMB and others. He calls this aim a "virtual restructuring of government."

Meanwhile, the professionalization of the CIO position in the states aims to produce bureaucratic and management reforms that will make government more responsive to citizens.

"I think what many state decision makers are realizing is that they can no longer view separate agencies as separate silos of information," said DeZee, the former South Carolina CIO.
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Government Computer News
05/06/03 
Wyoming gets a new CIO 
By Trudy Walsh 

In 1974, Larry Biggio started working for Wyoming?s Data Services Division as a computer programmer. Almost 30 years later, Biggio became Wyoming?s CIO, appointed late last month by Gov. Dave Freudenthal. 

Sometimes it pays to hang in there. 

?Larry certainly has demonstrated both the skills and the personality to make it work,? Freudenthal said. 

Biggio replaced Bill Campbell, a former Marine, who was appointed CIO by Gov. Jim Geringer in September. Campbell left because of the change in administration when Freudenthal became governor, said Lara Azar, the governor's press secretary. 

Most recently, Biggio was the finance director for the state?s Education Department, a job he had held since 1997. 

A certified public accountant, Biggio was the chief financial officer for the Wyoming Family Services Department from 1987 to 1996. 

He had also been a financial systems analyst and supervisor and later was the Audit Division director in Wyoming?s Auditor?s Office. Biggio has a bachelor?s degree from the University of New Orleans and a master?s degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
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Government Computer News
05/06/03 
Bush has videoconference link on Air Force One 
By Dawn S. Onley 

The Defense Information Systems Agency last month installed a secure videoconferencing link on Air Force One that lets President Bush communicate with administration officials and military brass as he travels. Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege Jr., director of DISA, said the videoconferencing system is quick, at 512 Kbps, and has a high-resolution picture and high-fidelity sound. 

"This offers top-secret security," Raduege said. He spoke today at TechNet International 2003, a conference in Washington sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. 

The goal is to make the systems on Air Force One comparable to those in the Oval Office, Raduege said. Upgrading the systems available aboard the president?s chief aircraft has increased exponentially since the war on terrorism began because Bush has traveled much more than he did before the Sept. 21, 2001, attacks, Raduege said. DISA also set up videoconferencing links for Defense Department units to communicate with NASA and other agencies on the Saturday in February when the Columbia space shuttle crashed. "The U.S. Northern Command required VTC at 23 different sites," Raduege said. Although it was a tough feat to achieve under tight time constraints, DISA pulled it off, he said. 

The command needed to communicate with NASA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies. Command chiefs gave DISA a list of people who needed videoconferencing service. "This underlies the critical nature of where we're going in the future," Raduege said.
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Government Computer News
05/06/03 
Senate panel demands merged terror watch lists 
By Wilson P. Dizard III 

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week unanimously approved an intelligence authorization bill for fiscal 2004 that calls for increased information sharing and data consolidation. 

The committee met in a secret session to approve the bill. ?The bill provides the funding necessary to establish a single, governmentwide terrorist watch list. It also increases funding to standardize databases to facilitate access to information,? according to a committee statement. 

The committee said it wants to encourage ?all-source fusion? of intelligence by requiring the CIA to launch a pilot giving its intelligence analysts access to raw information from databases run by other agencies that gather intelligence. 

Some of these agencies include the National Reconnaissance Office, National Security Agency, National Imagery and Mapping Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency. 

The committee?s chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), said he was particularly pleased by the panel?s May 1 passage of the bill because it emphasizes information sharing and ?the restoration of the [intelligence] community?s analytical function.? 

Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.), the committee?s ranking minority member, said his ?goal with this bill is to take the first step in improving information sharing, collaboration and domestic intelligence.? 

The General Accounting Office last week issued a report calling for a coordinated terrorist watch list and detailed hurdles to creating a single database. (Click here for GCN story) 

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has identified a consolidated list as a priority IT project at his department. (Click here for GCN story) A factor that has led to the proliferation of lists is that a lot of terrorism information comes from law enforcement agencies, not intelligence agencies, said James Lewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 

?That is why everybody has their own list. Another problem is, if you have a single list, who is going to own it?? Lewis said. 

The bill is ?the Senate select committee staking out who is going to lead on list management,? he said.
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Government Computer News
05/06/03 
Navy tests smart cards for logging on to NMCI 
By Jason Miller 

About 30 employees in the Navy?s CIO office this week began a second round of tests using Common Access Cards to log on to the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet. 

Robert Carey, chief of the Navy?s e-business and smart-card policy programs, said the test, using cards issued by the Defense Department, will run 30 days. 

Participants will use their cards, along with passwords and personal identification numbers, to access NMCI during the first two weeks of the test. Then they will use only their cards for the final two weeks, Carey said. 

?We overtly kept this to a manageable number of people,? he said last week at a conference sponsored by Input of Reston, Va. ?We are working on a larger rollout plan that will include the card reader and authentication as part of the normal desktop equipment, as more NMCI seats are rolled out.? 

This test will help the Navy set a servicewide rollout plan. An earlier test at the Navy Air Warfare Center in Patuxent River, Md., showed the Navy potential problems to work out before all NMCI users shift to CACs to access applications. 

In the first pilot, 30 employees at the warfare center used their CACs to log on to NMCI. The test revealed extra staff may be needed to update cards to make them NMCI-ready, to help employees keep track of their PINs and to install card readers, said NMCI?s deputy director, Capt. Chris Christopher. 

Carey said the Navy also is finishing up smart-card and digital signature policies. The smart-card policy will define the use of a public-key infrastructure. Carey said Navy CIO David Wennergren is expected to sign the document ?imminently.?
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Government Executive
May 6, 2003 
Lawmakers question bioterror readiness of public health system 
By Shawn Zeller
szeller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Members of a House Government Reform subcommittee on Monday expressed their concern that while the country?s public health system has come a long way in preparing for a bioterrorist attack, it still has a long way to go. 


Subcommittee members repeatedly queried panelists, including Dr. David Flemingthe deputy director for public health science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlantaabout whether legislation might be necessary to establish a clear chain of command in the event of a bioterrorist attack. They also asked whether legislation was needed to ensure that the CDC makes progress in implementing a nationwide system for public health officials to report suspicious diagnoses and symptoms.


The Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, headed by Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., heard testimony from Fleming and Dr. David Tornberg, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Clinical and Program policy, as well as local public health officials.


Fleming tried to allay the panel?s concerns, arguing that the current public health system is not broken, and usually does a good job at detecting disease outbreaks. He painted a picture of a state-based system where state public health officials collect information on diagnoses and reports on symptoms from health care providers. State public health officials then report the information to the CDC.


But Fleming admitted that a bioterrorist attack might prove more than the current system could handle. The current ?largely paper-based system is burdensome both to [healthcare] providers and health departments, often resulting in reports which are not complete or timely,? he said. In addition, he added, the ?volume of paper reports and the need to enter the information collected into various systems leads to errors and duplication of efforts.?


To help correct the problem, Fleming said the CDC is developing the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System. That system will ensure that local public health departments are able to provide the CDC with timely, computerized reports on diagnoses and symptoms. The CDC is allowing states to either use CDC-developed software, or to create their own compatible systems. Currently, 30 states have requested installation of the CDC system, while 20 are developing their own software.


Tornberg said that the Defense Department?s Essence system, or Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics, offers hope that a nationwide system could succeed. Implemented in 1999, the Essence system aims to catch an outbreak of disease in the Washington area. It collects diagnoses at 100 Defense clinics within 50 miles of the White House each day.


Members of the House subcommittee, however, repeatedly asked witnesses about what they could do to help get the national reporting system up and running more quickly. They also debated whether legislation mandating progress might prompt a quicker turnaround at CDC. ?I think [the current public health system] is far worse than some of our colleagues at CDC think it is,? said Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D. 


Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas, also expressed concern that the Bush administration has proposed a flat budget for CDC, and asked Fleming whether the agency has enough funds to implement the national disease surveillance system. Fleming said the CDC was currently working with the Office of Management and Budget to determine how much it will cost to put the system in place. 
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