Electronically-signed documents have to be securely archived for long periods of time – 30 years in the health care field, for example.

With the ArchiSoft software platform being introduced at CeBIT, companies can fulfill such requirements efficiently and cost-effectively.

Patient histories, deed registries, personnel data or insurance contracts must be archived for decades.

Regulations in Germany require health-care documents to kept on file for up to 30 years, personnel data in some instances as long as 40 years and deed registries for 80 years or longer.

For the first time in four years, Sweden is no longer the top ranking nation in IDC’s Information Society Index (ISI), which measures the abilities of 53 nations to participate in the information revolution.

This year, Denmark has displaced Sweden in the number 1 position. Additionally, the U.S., Switzerland and Canada displaced the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland to round out the top 5.

One Year Before the Broadcast Flag Locks Up DTV Signals, EFF Announces Plans for a "Build Your Own DTV" Cookbook

One year from today, on July 1, 2005, an FCC regulation known as the Broadcast Flag will lock up your digital television signals.But EFF's "DTV Liberation Project" aims to help the public keep over-the-air programming free.

The Broadcast Flag, which places copy controls on DTV signals, attempts to stop people from making digitally-perfect copies of television shows and redistributing them. It also stops people from making perfectly legitimate personal copies of broadcasts. More disturbing, the Broadcast Flag will outlaw the import and manufacture of a whole host of personal video recorders (PVRs), TiVo-like devices that send DTV signals into a computer for backup, editing and playback.

Internet civil libertarians are raising red flags over parallel bills in the California stat legislature that would punish file traders of copyrighted materials with up to a year in jail, US$2,500 in fines or both if the users do not provide their real names and address with the title of the work.

Point Topic's latest analysis of the World DSL market, produced in conjunction with the DSL Forum,†shows that 2003 was an exceptional year for DSL growth.

Worldwide, DSL operators added nearly 28m lines, 65% more than in 2002.
Total DSL lines increased by over 30% in the second half of the year, reaching 63.8m by 31 December 2003, and giving 78% growth for the year as a whole.

Les dÈbats de ce matin ont dÈmontrÈ, s'il Ètait nÈcessaire, au moins une chose : la convergence est un phÈnomËne bien engagÈ. Nous en avons des exemples trËs concrets avec la TV sur ADSL ou la voix sur IP. C'est parce que la convergence est aujourd'hui une rÈalitÈ et qu'elle est source de services innovants que la rÈgulation se devait de la prendre en compte en respectant le principe de neutralitÈ technologique. C'est d'ailleurs l'objectif des directives europÈennes, dites paquet tÈlÈcom, en cours de transposition, et notamment de la directive " cadre " dont l'un des buts est de rÈpondre aux mouvements de convergence technologique dans le secteur des rÈseaux et services de communications Èlectroniques.

New report addresses video content on mobile devices: predicts big push in 2004, provided partnerships are made and if phone users accept paying for it.

A new report published by the Wireless Internet Applications service of Strategy Analytics investigates the state of video content delivery to mobile phones.

By 2008, the publication estimates that 150 million users worldwide will be consuming a range of video clips delivered wirelessly, generating $4.7 billion USD of revenue.

A report from the European Commission finds that the communications sector is stabilizing. The report points to renewed business and consumer confidence, saying that broadband and mobile communications are the main drivers of growth. Overall, the European telecom sector has grown faster in 2003 than the overall rate of growth of the EU economies.
The rate of growth in telecom revenues is expected to reach between 3.7% and 4.7% for 2003, compared to an estimated 0.8% for the EU's overall GDP for 2003.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released a report on Aug. 15 on the present situation and problems regarding use of open source software in Japan. Its aim is to promote the use of open source software.

METI said in the report that the ministry brought to light some important talking points through discussions that were made for the first time among various experts on the matter.
The discussions included a wide spectrum of issues relating to Japanese patent law or copyright law, jurisdiction, and so on.

Highlighted in the report is the explanation of the outline of licenses, such as the "GNU General Public License (GPL)," under the light of the patent or copyright law and judicial precedents.

Spam cost EU businesses Ä2.5 billion last year, according to the European Commission which today announced its plans to wage war against the e-mail menace, through a mix of enforcement action, technical measures and consumer awareness.

Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, outlined today in Brussels how the Commission is planning to address the proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mail.