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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JUNE 09, 2003 DHS Announces National Cyber Security Division Internet Tax Ban Circumvented by Some States EU to Charge Overseas Retailers Internet Tax No Consolation in New Data on Spam Intel and Sun Agree to Standards for Mobile Products DHS ANNOUNCES NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY DIVISION Tom Ridge, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced Friday the creation of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) to secure government and private sector networks from Internet-based attacks. The 60-person NCSD falls under the Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate (IAIP), which consists of several agencies including the FBI's former National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the Department of Commerce's Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, and the General Services Administration's Federal Computer Incident Response Center. The NCSD will follow the approach outlined in the National Strategy to Secure Cyber Space report, spearheaded by former White House security advisor Richard Clarke. Clarke resigned when the security board he headed was dissolved and its duties absorbed into the DHS. The new division aims to respond to major incidents, issue warnings, assist with major recovery efforts, and conduct ongoing cyberspace research. Internet News, 9 June 2003 http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2218761 INTERNET TAX BAN CIRCUMVENTED BY SOME STATES To address budget shortfalls, at least eighteen states are collecting taxes on Internet access, in apparent violation of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, a law first enacted in 1999 that bans taxes on Internet access and any "discriminatory" taxes targeting the Internet. Many states have circumvented the Internet tax moratorium, which is set to expire this fall, by classifying DSL broadband service as a telecommunications service rather than Internet access. Other states require Internet service providers to pay significant taxes on the bandwidth they use for Internet traffic, a cost which Internet service providers AOL and EarthLink have passed on to consumers. U.S. telephone companies and wireless providers are pushing for Congress to rewrite the law to ban taxes on Internet access, including DSL service. Washington Post, 9 June 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33787-2003Jun9.html EU TO CHARGE OVERSEAS RETAILERS INTERNET TAX Members of the European Union (EU) will end a loophole that many businesses said gave non-EU companies an unfair advantage. Businesses within the EU pay value added tax (VAT) on goods and services sold to consumers in other EU nations, and the VAT has also applied to online sales within the EU. Companies outside of the EU, however, have until now been exempt from paying the 15 to 25 percent tax. British ISP Freeserve estimates that AOL, for example, has saved almost $250 million in VAT over the years. Companies such as Amazon and Ebay will now be required to pay the tax. David Melville, general counsel to Freeserve, said that the exemption from the VAT "gave non-EU companies a leg up during a very crucial stage in the development of the market." ZDNet, 9 June 2003 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-1014519.html NO CONSOLATION IN NEW DATA ON SPAM A recent survey by Symantec finds that significant percentages of children are exposed to spam regularly, often outside the scope of parental supervision. According to the survey, 47 percent of kids between the ages of 7 and 18 have received pornographic spam, and 21 percent read spam. Nearly a third said they do not know if spam is good or bad, and 22 percent said their parents have not talked to them about spam. Forty-six percent said they give their e-mail addresses to friends or to Web sites without parental permission. Separately, the Radicati Group released new estimates for the monetary costs of spam. According to the group, if nothing is done to curb the spread of spam, by 2007 there will be more than 33 billion corporate spam e-mails per day, costing businesses nearly $200 billion annually. The group projects that spam could account for 49 percent of all corporate e-mail traffic by 2007, compared to 24 percent in 2003. Internet News, 9 June 2003 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/2219211 INTEL AND SUN AGREE TO STANDARDS FOR MOBILE PRODUCTS Rivals Intel and Sun Microsystems are partnering to increase the compatibility of their mobile products over the next few years. The partnership will benefit global cell phone providers, who hope to boost profits by selling downloadable software to their subscribers, a service that's popular in Asia but slow to catch on in the United States. Sun's Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) for wireless devices is the top choice for carriers that sell downloads, and Intel's Xscale processors are used inside handhelds from many vendors, including Palm, Dell Computer, and Hewlett-Packard. Intel will get an inside look at Sun's Java programming for wireless devices and tweak its Xscale processors so Java applications will run faster and more efficiently. CNET, 9 June 2003 http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-1014657.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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