Internet café operators binalaan sa pornograpiya

Mariing binalaan ni Presidential Assistant on Youth and Sports Arnold "Ali" Atienza ang mga internet café operators sa lungsod na ipasasara ito sa sandaling mapatunayang nagtataguyod ang mga ito ng pornograpiya.

Sinabi ni Ali na ipasasara aniya ng pamahalaang panglungsod ang kanilang operasyon sakaling mapatunayang pinapayagan nila ang mga nagrirentang kabataan na mag-surf sa mga pornographic site.

Inihayag ni Atienza ang babala matapos makatanggap ng mga reklamo na maraming kabataan lalo na ang mga estudyante, ang nalululong sa internet hindi lamang para maglaro ng mga on-line games kundi para magbukas na rin ng mga pornographic site.

Kasabay nito, umapela na rin si Atienza sa mga operator ng internet café na i-monitor ang mga kabataang nagrirenta sa kanila nang sa gayon ay mapagbawalan ang mga ito sa pagbubukas ng mga pornographic sites.

"Mas mabuti siguro kung i-block na nila ang mga pornographic site upang hindi na mabuksan pa ng mga kabataang nagrirenta sa kanila," dagdag pa ni Atienza.

Maaari pa rin anyang mailayo ang mga kabataan sa pornograpiya sa tulong na rin ng kanilang mga magulang, paaralan at estado. (Gemma Amargo-Garcia - Pilipino Star)

Gov’t’s IP agency completes digital database of IP cases

The government agency in charge of safeguarding intellectual property in the country announced that it has completed a digital library of cases in the Philippines.

The IP Case Database, to be formally launched on February 22, has been turned over by Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) to its partner agencies in the National Committee for Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR).

The IP Case Database is a Web-based application that provides real-time updating of IP violation cases filed with the Department of Justice (DoJ) by law enforcement agencies, and document tracking for the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Optical Media Board (OMB), Bureau of Customs (BoC), the DoJ, and IP Philippines.

"The IP Case Database is a central repository of data and information on intellectual property cases for strategic and tactical decisions of NCIPR members. We have embarked on this project in the interest of transparency in government operations," Adrian Cristobal Jr. director general of IP Philippines, said in a statement.

The creation of the IP Case Database forms part of the nine-point directive of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her November 17, 2006 memorandum to the NCIPR, "IP Philippines shall maintain a database and enforcement monitoring system, and consolidate information and reports from other agencies."

In the PNP and NBI module, authorized users can search for existing warrants, draft new files of cases, and access the case master list. The general information field in the module contains details of warrants of arrest, and status or report content that require data from the users.

Some of the information fields that are being accomplished include the complainant or plaintiff, the defendant or accused, search warrant number, enforcement area, seized items, estimated commercial value of the confiscated pieces, and the type of violated law and charged offense.

Similarly, the OMB and BoC module contains the same fields for the input of information with the inclusion of inspection details. Authorized users of the four agencies forward the new cases to the DoJ, which then completes the required fields and submits the accomplished form to the lower courts for appropriate action.

IP Philippines can likewise upload new cases to the database. It can also generate a master list of complainants and defendants, and the list of cases listed by the six agencies.

After the completion of data uploading from the agencies scheduled late February, the Intellectual Property Case Database (http://ipcdl.ipophil.gov.ph) can be accessed by IP owners.

The IP Case Database will be unveiled during the first meeting of the Public Private Partnership Council for Intellectual Property Rights (P3CIPR) in 2007. The council was established in 2005 to serve as a venue for consultation, coordination and cooperation between the government and private sector in strengthening the IP system.
By MELVIN G. CALIMG - Manila Bulletin

NTC readies rules on telco interconnection

By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes - The Philippine Star

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is preparing a set of rules that will govern interconnection agreements among telecommunications companies, a move which the NTC expects will fasttrack interconnection and take away the inequality of bargaining positions between the interconnection seeker and interconnection provider.

The reference interconnection offer (RIO) model will provide the minimum terms for interconnection which an interconnection seeker can demand from the provider. At present, interconnection agreements are essentially bilateral, with all the terms of the interconnection left to the determination of the parties. The model will apply to all carriers, including landline and cellular service providers.

In telecommunications, interconnection refers to the physical linking of a carrier’s network with equipment or facilities belonging to another network. Without interconnection, a mobile subscriber of Smart Communications cannot send text messages to or call a subscriber of Globe Telecom and vice-versa.

Interconnection agreements are presently commercial arrangements between the two carriers, involving matters such as how much is one carrier supposed to pay the other for terminating calls to the other’s network. Interconnection is mandated by law, although the NTC mandates interconnection only when bilateral negotiations fail.

But NTC Deputy Commissioner Jorge Sarmiento explained that there had been many instances where the negotiations for interconnection agreements have been delayed, mainly because there are no parameters to guide such bilateral talks and no model for interconnection agreements to follow.

"The minimums will all be in the RIO model so that when the party seeking interconnection goes to the other party, the seeker can just rely on the model. If the seeker thinks it can get better interconnection terms, then it can negotiate with the provider. But if the seeker feels that it would be useless to negotiate because of the inequality of bargaining power with the provider, then the seeker can ask the NTC to mandate the interconnection," he told The STAR.

The RIO was part of the competition policy framework which the NTC has prepared. The draft policy framework provides for certain obligations which a telecommunication company possessing significant market power (SMP) has to meet, in order to prevent such company from using its power to curtail competition.

According to Sarmiento, since the competition policy framework might take time to work out, "we have decided to concentrate on low-lying fruits that we can readily pick."

He emphasized that since interconnection agreements will still be bilateral agreements, the draft rules will provide the minimum basis for such discussions.

Justifying its plan to impose SMP obligations, the NTC noted that the telecommunications sector is an industry where strong network effects, combined with significant scale and scope economies, confer tremendous market advantage to one with a sufficiently large network.

It noted that inequality in market power is evident in the Philippine telecommunications sector where the largest two among 73 local exchange carriers account for 75 percent of subscriber base, while the biggest two cellular operators control 96 percent of the mobile service market.

NTC pointed out that a large supplier who owns and controls essential facilities, such as infrastructure that are too costly to duplicate, could eliminate competition by denying rivals access to its facilities that the latter require to provide services.

It added that an incumbent supplier with vertically integrated facilities may also be able to cross subsidize its services and engage in predatory practices in market segments threatened by competition.

"Under this scenario, a policy is needed to check on the conduct of suppliers whose market power is so extensive that it could not be restrained by competitive processes. That policy entails imposing competitive behavior on suppliers with significant power to protect their weaker rivals and to achieve effective competition," the NTC said.

But the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) group has warned the NTC to observe "extreme care and caution" in preparing a competition policy that would govern the information and communications technology sector, to avoid dampening incentives for investments.

"Market dynamics are best suited to ensure continued growth and innovation in this sector. The industry has done exceedingly well in contributing to the broad national objectives and any further regulation should be limited to only necessary minimum to allow the market to reward those who choose to bear risks in investment and innovation. The continued successful development of the sector should not be put at risk unless there is a clear, proven case," the group emphasized.

PLDT, Smart Communications, and Pilipino Telephone Inc. (Piltel) in a joint position paper noted that rapid innovation in the sector, falling prices in real terms, and robust competition among players, are not to be taken for granted and can be easily disrupted by well-intentioned but ill-advised policy interventions.

AsiaPac IT study reveals interesting notes on RP

By MELVIN G. CALIMAG - Manila Bulletin

A new report by XMG, a research firm based in Victoria, Canada but is focused on the Asia Pacific region, has revealed its top ten predictions for 2007 with the Philippines getting a large dose of citations.


XMG, founded by Filipino Lauro Vives, said in its report that the following trends will likely to dominate the ICT market in the region:

-- the top concern of Asia Pacific CIOs will be to minimize risks in ICT investments

-- the Asia Pacific ICT market will breach 0 billion and will continue to experience double digit growth

-- China, India, Korea, Australia and Pakistan are the countries with the propensity to spend on ICT in 2007

-- offshoring in Asia Pacific countries will slow down due to manpower constraints

-- hiring to step up for IT, call center, and BPO

-- demand for more service provider transparency in telecommunication agreements will rise

-- video-conferencing to become a major driver for adoption of 3G

-- Business Intelligence will give way to Business Process Management to drive Enterprise Intelligence

-- Linux on the desktop will take traction among SME Asia Pacific users

-- Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) will still predominate

The research firm said the Asia Pacific market will experience an estimated 11 percent digit growth rate driven by both foreign and domestic consumption of ICT services in the region. Japan will continue to have the bulk share of the Asia Pacific market, with China and India in distant second and third, respectively.

In terms of ICT spending, XMG said that countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia, although attractive on the surface due to the global outsourcing industry, will see relatively flat growth rates as compared to its other Asia Pacific counterparts (e.g. Vietnam, Malaysia) due to lack of government support and incentives in growing the local ICT economy, scarcity of qualified and skilled resources, lack of established local venture capital funding, and the lack of IT maturity among several large organizations.

The global market for outsourced ICT services is also projected to slow down slightly in 2007, the report said, with volume estimated to reach between 5 and 2 billion by end 2007.

"The slowdown in growth is mainly due to manpower supply constraints in offshore locations such as the Philippines and India, which account for a significant portion of offshore demand for outsourced ICT services."

While economic indicators in Asia Pacific point to a solid job market for IT, call center and BPO services, organizations will have to compete with service providers in the war for the recruitment and retention of talent, it added.

"This is more so evident in the Philippines where further workforce development and deployment has been highlighted as an operational risk due to limited resource pool.

"Adoption of ‘best practices’ will no longer be sufficient as employers target the same talent pool through 2010. The adoption of ‘best methods’ suited to employer characteristics and market conditions will separate the winners from the losers."

Another important development that is also expected to happen this year is the proliferation of OpenOffice software among Asia Pacific countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand "where software piracy is high and the cost of Microsoft Office products have been considered cost prohibitive."

"Although Openoffice.org does not compare to Microsoft Office’s ‘industrialstrength’ stature in the marketplace, Openoffice.org will fill in the gaps in the enterprise marketplace not covered by the big four (IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Oracle), particularly in the SME (Small and Medium-scale Enterprises) market segment," it said.