A Record Year for the Pharmaceutical Lobby in ‘07: Washington’s largest lobby racks up another banner year on Capitol Hill
Source: The Center for Public Integrity

Washington’s largest lobby, the pharmaceutical industry, racked up another banner year on Capitol Hill in 2007, backed by a record $168 million lobbying effort, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of federal lobbying data. Among the industry’s successes: getting two controversial laws extended and thwarting congressional efforts to restrict media ads for prescription drugs.

The spending represents a 32 percent jump over 2006. Driven in part by a busy legislative calendar dominated by issues critical to the industry, the effort raised the amount spent by drug interests on federal lobbying in the past decade to more than $1 billion. Pharmaceutical, medical device, and other health product manufacturers, together, spent more than $189 million on lobbying last year, another record and nearly three times the $67 million they spent in 1998, the first full year for which complete records and totals are available.

More than 90 percent of the total was spent by 40 companies and three trade groups: the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association.

Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan (PDF; 1 MB)
Source: U.S. Department of Defense

The U.S. commitment to Afghanistan is unwavering. Success in Afghanistan is both crucial to global security and is a moral responsibility. Achieving that success will take time, effort, resources, and the sustained interest and commitment of the international community.

Moreover, success will never be achieved through military means alone, but through a comprehensive approach that involves all elements of power: military, diplomatic, and economic. Above all, it will require a sustained effort to continue to develop the capacity of the Afghans themselves. Where we have begun to apply such an approach, real progress is being made. It is critical that we continue to build on the momentum that has been achieved.

See also: United States Plan for Sustaining the Afghanistan National Security Forces (PDF; 376 KB)

Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor
Source: UN Development Programme (UNDP)

Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor is the new and groundbreaking report launched on 1 July by the UN Development Programme.

The first report of UNDP’s Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative and the first such one with such depth and local knowledge, Creating Value for All showcases 50 studies by researchers predominantly from developing countries. These case studies demonstrate the successful pursuit of both revenues and social impact by local and international small- and medium-sized companies, as well as multinational corporations.

Creating Value for All highlights five strategies used successfully to overcome the most common obstacles to doing business with the poor, as well as two new tools: a strategy matrix to help find potential solutions to common constraints and heat maps that identify opportunities by depicting access to water, credit, electricity or telephone service in a specific geographical area using color codes.

More inclusive business models recognize the poor not only as consumers, but also as drivers of growth. And when markets include more poor people, we all win.

Download in sections (PDFs) or as full report (PDF; 6.8 MB).

Hat tip: UN Pulse

Price Surge Driving Some Countries Close to Tipping Point
Source: International Monetary Fund

The impact of surging oil and food prices is being felt globally but is most acute for import-dependent poor and middle-income countries confronted by balance of payments problems, higher inflation, and worsening poverty, a new IMF study warns.

Analyzing the macroeconomic policy challenges arising from the price surges, the study argues that many governments will have to adjust policies in response to the price shock while the international community will need to do its share to address this global problem.

In advanced countries higher food and fuel prices are reducing people’s living standards and making it more difficult for governments and central banks to support growth while containing inflation. In emerging economies, and especially in some low-income countries, the stakes are even higher. For the very poor, high food prices can mean deep poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.

+ Food and Fuel Prices—Recent Developments, Macroeconomic Impact, and Policy Responses (PDF; 1.7 MB)

Understanding the Web browser threat: Examination of vulnerable online Web browser populations and the “insecurity iceberg”
Source: Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory, ETH Zurich; Google Switzerland GmbH; IBM Internet Security Systems, IBM ISS

Access to Google’s global Web server logs enabled the authors to provide the first in-depth global perspective on the state of insecurity for Web browser technologies. Understanding the nature of the threats against Web browser and their plug-in technologies is important for continued Internet usage. As more users and organizations depend upon these browser technologies to access ever more complex and distributed business applications, any threats to the underlying platform equate to a direct risk to business continuity and integrity.

By measuring the patching processes of Web browser user populations, we have been able to identify the potential global scale of Web-based malicious exploitation of browser technologies and prove how existing mechanisms such as Firefox’s auto-update can outperform more complex and less timely solutions.

Based on direct measurements of the adoption of new Web browser updates based upon available USER-AGENT major and minor browser software version numbers, and by combining that data with Secunia’s latest PSI local-host scanning results for plug-in patch adoption (even though sample sizes are radically different), we quantified the lower bounds of the Web browser population vulnerable to attacks through security weaknesses.

Unfortunately, just like a floating iceberg, we were only able to measure and accurately estimate the tip above the water. The tip of theWeb browser insecurity iceberg was measured to be 637 million (or 45.2%) Internet users at risk worldwide due to not running the latest most secure browser version. Meanwhile, hidden below the surface, the iceberg extends further encompassing users that rely on outdated vulnerable browser plug-ins. Due to an inability to passively enumerate the versions of any plug-ins hosts have installed (due to this information not typically being imparted in HTTP requests logged by Web servers), this was out of scope for our passive measurement based study.

To help combat existing and rapidly evolving threats such as malicious drive-by downloads, we have proposed the concept of a “best before” date for software and related mechanisms to tackle user awareness and provide a vehicle for online businesses to better assess the risk level of their customers’ hosts.

While none of the mechanisms proposed within this paper can guarantee to fully protect against exploitation, we are confident that widespread adoption and improvements of these technologies would dramatically reduce the dimensions of the insecurity iceberg”" and shrink the attack surface.insecurity iceberg”" and shrink the attack surface.

Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Improvement (PDF; 7.17 MB)
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
From press release:

Land degradation is intensifying in many parts of the world, according to a study using data taken over a 20-year period, FAO announced this week.

Defined as a long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity, land degradation is increasing in severity and extent in many parts of the world, with more than 20 percent of all cultivated areas, 30 percent of forests and 10 percent of grasslands undergoing degradation.

An estimated 1.5 billion people, or a quarter of the world’s population, depend directly on land that is being degraded.

The consequences of land degradation include reduced productivity, migration, food insecurity, damage to basic resources and ecosystems, and loss of biodiversity through changes to habitats at both species and genetic levels.

Hat tip: UN Pulse

Human Rights, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (PDF; 1.9 MB)
Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

This Fact Sheet has been prepared with the aim of strengthening understanding of the complex and multifaceted relationship between human rights and terrorism. It identifies some of the critical human rights issues raised in the context of terrorism and highlights the relevant human rights principles and standards which must be respected at all times and in particular in the context of counter-terrorism.

It is addressed to State authorities, national and international non- governmental organizations (NGOs), national human rights institutions, legal practitioners and individuals concerned with ensuring the protection and promotion of human rights in the context of terrorism and counter- terrorism.
Specifically, the Fact Sheet is intended to:

Raise awareness of the impact of terrorism and counter-terrorism on the enjoyment of all human rights;
• Provide a practical tool for practitioners dealing with terrorism, counter-terrorism measures and human rights;
• Provide guidance on ensuring compliance with human rights when countering terrorism;
• Illustrate specific human rights challenges in countering terrorism.

Hat tip: UN Pulse

Dell Ponemon Lost and Found Study (PDF; 100 KB)
Source: Dell and the Ponemon Institute
From Executive Summary:

Dell and the Ponemon Institute are pleased to release the findings of the first lost laptop and business traveler study of its kind. In the first half of 2008, the Ponemon Institute surveyed 106 United States airports and over 800 business travelers to understand the frequency with which laptops are lost in airports and the steps business travelers are taking to protect sensitive information on corporate systems. The results of the report are staggering:

• Up to 12,000 laptops are lost in United States airports each week
• Between 65 and 70 percent of lost laptops are never reclaimed
• Most laptops are lost at security checkpoints
• 53 percent of business travelers surveyed carry sensitive corporate information on their laptop
• 65 percent of those who carry confidential information have not taken steps to protect it while traveling
• 42 percent of respondents say they do not back up their data

Clean Energy Investments Charge Forward Despite Financial Market Turmoil
Source: UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Climate change worries, growing support from world governments, rising oil prices and ongoing energy security concerns combined to fuel another record-setting year of investment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in 2007, according to an analysis issued Tuesday July 1 by the UN Environment Programme(UNEP).
…
Over $148 billion in new funding entered the sustainable energy sector globally last year, up 60% from 2006, even as a credit crunch began to roil financial markets, according to the report, “Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2008,” prepared by UK-based New Energy Finance for UNEP’s Paris-based Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative.

Wind energy again attracted the most investment($50.2 billion in 2007), but solar power grew most rapidly:attracting some $28.6 billion of new capital and growing at an average annual rate of 254% since 2004, driven by the advent of larger project financings.

The picture since the end of 2007 has been somewhat subdued across the sector, with only mergers and acquisitions up as several substantial wind developers sold their portfolios-many realising that with the tightening up of the credit markets they could not finance the growth themselves-and the US ethanol industry undergoing restructuring.But in the second quarter of 2008 most areas of investment rebounded, even as global financial markets remained in turmoil. Sustainable energy venture capital and private equity in Q2 2008 was up 34% on Q2 2007, new build asset finance was up 8% and public market investment showing a strong recovery with the IPO of Portuguese utility EDP’s renewable energy business, EDP Renovaveis.

+ Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2008 Report (Free registration required to access Executive Summary, Full Report and PowerPoint presentation.)

Hat tip: UN Pulse

World Economic and Social Survey 2008: Overcoming Economic Insecurity
Source: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs

According to the 2008 World Economic and Social Survey, economic insecurity arises from the exposure of individuals, communities and countries to adverse events, and from their inability to cope with and recover from the downside losses. The risk and threats vary from community to community; in advanced countries, they have been associated with a significant rise in inequality, a hollowing out of middle-class lifestyles and reduced welfare protection. Elsewhere, economic shocks and premature deindustrialization have raised fears of an insufficiency of the formal sector jobs needed to accommodate an expanding urban population. In still other places, food insecurity has given rise to political discontent and increased levels of personal insecurity.

These local concerns have been compounded by new global threats. Unregulated financial markets and international capital flows are currently threatening economic livelihoods across the world economy. Climate change imposes the threat of greater local environmental damage and increasingly destructive natural disasters.

The attention brought to the presence of these heightened economic risks and compounded threats has often been met with the response that the forces behind them are autonomous and irresistible, and beyond our collective political control. The Survey offers a different perspective. What is needed is a strong “social contract” to help secure the spaces within which individuals, households and communities could pursue their day-to-day activities with a reasonable degree of predictability and stability, and with due regard for the aims and interests of others. This will require a more integrated and pragmatic approach to economic and social policy, one tailored to local threats and challenges, as well as more space for implementing counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies and greater international support for broader social protection schemes. It will also require a better link between approaches to local disaster management and development strategies, aimed particularly at the establishment of more diversified production structures for sustaining livelihoods in vulnerable countries. Dealing with economic insecurity in post-conflict situations requires radically different approaches to the provisioning of official development assistance and to the conduct of macroeconomic and social policies.

Download in sections (PDFs) or as full report (PDF; 4.2 MB).

Hat tip: UN Pulse

Review of Controls and Notification for Access to Passport Records in the Department of State’s Passport Information Electronic Records System (PIERS)
Source: United States Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Office of Inspector General (via C-SPAN)

In March 2008, media reports surfaced that the passport files maintained by the Department of State (Department) of three U.S. Senators, who were also presidential candidates, had been improperly accessed by Department employees and contract staff. On March 21, 2008, following the first reported breach and at the direction of the Acting Inspector General, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), Office of Audits, initiated this limited review of Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) controls over access to passport records in the Department’s Passport Information Electronic Records System (PIERS). Specifically, this review focused on determining whether the Department (1) adequately protects passport records and data contained in PIERS from unauthorized access and (2) responds effectively when incidents of unauthorized access occur.

As of April 2008, PIERS contained records on about 192 million passports for about 127 million passport holders. These records include personally identifiable information (PII), such as the applicant’s name, gender, social security number, date and place of birth, and passport number. PIERS offers users the ability to query information pertaining to passports and vital records, as well as to request original copies of the associated documents. As a result, PIERS records are protected from release by the Privacy Act of 1974. Unauthorized access to PIERS records may also constitute a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030).

According to CA officials, there were about 20,500 users with active PIERS accounts as of May 2008, and about 12,200 of these users were employees or contractors of the Department. PIERS is also accessed by users at other federal departments and agencies to assist in conducting investigations, security assessments, and analyses.

OIG found many control weaknesses—including a general lack of policies, procedures, guidance, and training—relating to the prevention and detection of unauthorized access to passport and applicant information and the subsequent response and disciplinary processes when a potential unauthorized access is substantiated. In some cases, Department officials stated that the lack of resources contributed to the lack of controls and to the Department’s ability to assess vulnerabilities and risk. OIG has made 22 recommendations to address the control weaknesses found.

See: Special Briefing On The State Department Inspector General’s Report on Passport Records Access (U.S. Department of State)

The Office of Acquisition Management Has Not Implemented New Contracting Policies in a Timely Manner (PDF; 330 KB)
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General
From Federal Computer Week story:

Acquisition officials at the Commerce Department have been slow in applying new contracting policies, letting some polices sit idle for more than a year, a report by the department’s inspector general’s office has found.

Commerce officials failed to tell its contracting officers about monitoring certain subcontracts, and they allowed training deadlines to slip by, Judith Gordon, assistant inspector general for audit and evaluation at the department, wrote in a report June 26.

In 2007, officials from Commerce and the Small Business Administration agreed to have Commerce’s contracting officers, instead of SBA, oversee to whom Alaska Native Corporations awarded subcontracts. The officers are to make sure the corporations comply with requirements regarding selecting disadvantaged small businesses for subcontracts, the report said.

However, Commerce officials didn’t tell their contracting officers about the extra supervision, even a year after entering into the agreement with the SBA, Gordon wrote.

Inspector General’s Testimony on Reauthorization of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act Before the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans (PDF; 92 KB)
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General

My testimony today will focus on three areas:

1. The National Marine Sanctuary Program faces many management challenges but is meeting objectives.
2. As part of reauthorization, Congress should consider providing the Secretary with the flexibility to establish sanctuary management plan time frames, providing the Secretary with the same authority for managing marine monuments as for managing sanctuaries, and establishing a title within the act that specifies protection of maritime heritage resources.
3. NOAA can take several steps to strengthen management of sanctuary enforcement.
   efforts.

“Spam”: An Overview of Issues Concerning Commercial Electronic Mail
Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS)

Spam, also called unsolicited commercial email (UCE) or “junk email,” aggravates many computer users. Not only can spam be a nuisance, but its cost may be passed on to consumers through higher charges from Internet service providers who must upgrade their systems to handle the traffic. Also, some spam involves fraud, or includes adult-oriented material that offends recipients or that parents want to protect their children from seeing. Proponents of UCE insist it is a legitimate marketing technique that is protected by the First Amendment, and that some consumers want to receive such solicitations.

On December 16, 2003, President Bush signed into law the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act, P.L. 108187. It went into effect on January 1, 2004. The CAN-SPAM Act does not ban UCE. Rather, it allows marketers to send commercial email as long as it conforms with the law, such as including a legitimate opportunity for consumers to “opt-out” of receiving future commercial emails from that sender. It preempts state laws that specifically address spam, but not state laws that are not specific to email, such as trespass, contract, or tort law, or other state laws to the extent they relate to fraud or computer crime. It does not require a centralized “Do Not Email” registry to be created by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), similar to the National Do Not Call registry for telemarketing. The law requires only that the FTC develop a plan and timetable for establishing such a registry, and to inform Congress of any concerns it has with regard to establishing it.
The FTC submitted a report to Congress on June 15, 2004, concluding that a Do Not Email registry could actually increase spam.

Proponents of CAN-SPAM have argued that consumers are most irritated by fraudulent email, and that the law should reduce the volume of such email because of the civil and criminal penalties included therein. Opponents counter that consumers object to unsolicited commercial email, and since the law legitimizes commercial email (as long as it conforms with the law’s provisions), consumers actually may receive more, not fewer, UCE messages. Thus, whether or not “spam” is reduced depends in part on whether it is defined as only fraudulent commercial email, or all unsolicited commercial email. Many observers caution that consumers should not expect any law to solve the spam problem — that consumer education and technological advancements also are needed.

+ Full Report (PDF; 144 KB)

Health Costs and Health Information Technology (PDF; 162 KB)
Source: Congressional Budget Office
From CBO Director’s Blog:

On Friday I participated in a briefing sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the effects of health IT. The video from the event is posted here.

During my remarks, I borrowed an analogy from Laura Adams of the Rhode Island Quality Institute, to the effect that wondering how we are going to achieve more efficiency in health care is like wondering why we don’t have buttered toast. Some people say the key is to plug the toaster in; others say we need to go to the store and buy the bread; other say the key is putting the bread into the toaster and pressing the lever down; and others say the most important step is the final one, applying the butter. (For those of you who like to eat healthy, imagine wheat toast and a high-protein spread instead.) Health IT is like plugging in the toaster — necessary but not sufficient by itself to produce the buttered toast. Obtaining some combination of higher quality and lower cost from health care will also require changing the way we use information and the incentives facing providers, among other steps. In other words, health care contains massive opportunities for efficiency improvements, and health IT can facilitate some of the steps that will be crucial to improving efficiency, but capturing those opportunities will generally require more than just expanded health IT.