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On the Road
Oracle and Wingcast — the Ford Motor and Qualcomm joint venture — said that all 2003 Ford vehicles will include technology that allows road warriors to access wireless e-mail, customer relationship management and sales force automation applications using voice commands.
Battle Brewing
A European Parliament committee last week voted to ban widespread Internet surveillance as part of its updates to the European Unions telecom privacy directive. The vote contradicts a council of telecommunications ministers proposal to allow EU member states to pass laws requiring ISPs to collect information about their customers surfing habits and hand the data over if asked by law enforcement agencies.
Napster Slapped
Napster was ordered to remain offline until it can prove that it is able to block access to all copyrighted songs on its network, and it will have to get court authorization to resume service. The company will comply with the order, but said it will appeal.
Peering Veers
The grand plan to change peering rules from barter to monetary settlements will be delayed, as the champion of the cause, CoreExpress, is exiting the wholesale bandwidth sales arena and laying off 70 percent of its work force.
Bring It On
Only about 8 percent of U.S. households today have broadband Internet access, but a study released by The Brookings Institution said if that number approaches the 94 percent penetration rate of the plain old telephone, the benefit to consumers and producers could reach $500 billion — through home shopping, reduced commuting, entertainment, voice telephony and telemedicine.