MaSSSoftech

BEIJING (Reuters) - Schools in Beijing are quietly removing the Green Dam filter, which was required for all school computers in July, due to complaints over problems with the software.

China last month formally backed down on a plan to preinstall the Internet filter software on all new computers sold in the country after July 1 after an international and domestic outcry.

But schools were still ordered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to install the web filter, which Chinese officials said would block pornography and other unhealthy content. Critics said it could be used to spy on Internet users and block politically sensitive sites.

Nonetheless, some schools have chosen to uninstall it.

"We will remove all Green Dam software from computers in the school as it has strong conflicts with teaching software we need for normal work," said a notice carried on the home page of the Beijing No.50 High School (www.bj50.com), dated Sept 1.

A technology director, surnamed Wang, confirmed Tuesday that the software had been taken off most computers.

"It has seriously influenced our normal work," he said.

The software had proven incompatible with most of the software used for the school administration, he said.

"We have received many complaints from schools about the problems in the software," an official surnamed Sun at the Chongwen District Education Commission, which is in charge of the school, told Reuters.

"It is really a contradictory situation for us," Sun added, saying the commission was caught between central authorities' directions to install the software and the school complaints.

Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, said in August that schools, Internet bars and other public places must still install the Green Dam software. But he said no ordinary consumers would be forced to install it.

The software, developed by Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co, has been condemned by the technology industry as badly designed even for those looking to protect children.

During the Green Dam test phase, an outcry from school computer administrators and teachers throughout the country triggered hot discussions on the Internet about its flaws. The software must be installed on each computer, not from a central server, and can cause other programs to crash.

Earlier this month, some newspapers reported that the Beijing City Education Commission had agreed to let schools uninstall the Green Dam softwares. An official reached by Reuters Tuesday said he knew nothing about the new decision.

CVR Energy Selected as a Top Technology Innovator




MONARCH BEACH, Calif., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CVR Energy, Inc.
(NYSE: CVI), a refiner and marketer of petroleum fuels and a nitrogen
fertilizer manufacturer, today announced that it debuted at No. 223 on the
2009 InformationWeek 500, an annual listing of the nation's most innovative
users of business technology. CVR Energy was recognized for its advanced
approach to information access and content management within its organization.


(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071203/CVRLOGO)

"Our IT organization has worked diligently to focus on innovation and drive
real value for our business," said Mike Brooks, CVR Energy vice president and
chief information officer. "One area of our focus is on managing the many ways
our employees are communicating. Important data now exists in e-mail, instant
messages and voicemail--places that traditionally have been hard to manage
with information access solutions. We've stayed ahead of the curve by
implementing a technology system that can handle these new forms of data
intelligently."

To manage the growing volume of information within the enterprise, CVR Energy
implemented Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL), award-winning software
from Autonomy Corporation. The software allows CVR Energy to analyze data
across its eight offices to find trends and patterns in an efficient and
cost-effective manner.

"For more than 20 years, the InformationWeek 500 has honored the most
innovative users of business technology," said InformationWeek's
Editor-in-Chief Rob Preston. "Year after year, InformationWeek 500 companies
harness new technology to improve efficiency, boost productivity, drive
revenue, and establish a competitive advantage. We applaud this year's
winners, and the CIOs and other executives whose ingenuity and risk taking are
at the center of business technology innovation."

InformationWeek identifies and honors the nation's most innovative users of
information technology with its annual 500 listing, now in its 21st year, and
also tracks the technology, strategies, investments and administrative
practices of America's best-known companies. The InformationWeek 500 list is
unique among corporate rankings as it spotlights the power of innovation in
information technology, rather than simply identifying the biggest IT
spenders. Additional details on the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at
www.informationweek.com/iw500/.

About CVR Energy, Inc. (www.cvrenergy.com)
Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, CVR Energy, Inc.'s subsidiary and
affiliated businesses include an independent refiner that operates a 115,000
barrel per day refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., and markets high value
transportation fuels supplied to customers through tanker trucks and pipeline
terminals; a crude oil gathering system serving central Kansas, northern
Oklahoma, eastern Colorado, western Missouri and southwest Nebraska; an
asphalt and refined fuels storage and terminal business in Phillipsburg, Kan.;
and through a limited partnership, an ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate
fertilizer business located in Coffeyville, Kan.

About TechWeb (www.techweb.com/aboutus)
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative
business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and
marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media
brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million*
business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created
around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and
VoiceCon; online resources such as the InformationWeek.com, Light Reading,
Intelligent Enterprise, bMighty.com, and Advanced Trading; and the market
leading, award-winning InformationWeek and Wall Street & Technology magazines.
TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation
performance marketing, integrated media, market research, and analyst
services.

TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization
of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections
across TechWeb brands.

Aflac Earns a Spot on 2009 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology
Innovators Across America
Insurer's Client Central 2.0 Application Improves Customer Relations
Experience




COLUMBUS, Ga., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aflac, the leading provider
of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States, today announced that
it has been named to the 2009 InformationWeek 500 list of the nation's most
innovative users of business technology. The 2009 InformationWeek 500
companies were revealed Sept. 14, at an awards ceremony at the St. Regis
Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California.

Aflac, which is committed to providing the best service possible in response
to the more than 12 million annual calls received at its customer service
center, was nominated for its Client Central 2.0 application, a .Net-based,
rich-client application that integrates information from several systems in an
innovative graphical user interface (GUI) experience. The application allows
Aflac's customer service representatives to quickly review customer
information, policy data, recent claims and calls to effectively answer
policyholders' questions.

"We are honored to be included on this prestigious list for the seventh time,"
said Gerald Shields, Aflac senior vice president and chief information
officer. "It just shows that great things can happen when you consistently
hire talented people, provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs
and give them the freedom to be creative. With Client Central 2.0, we can
capture, track and analyze customer retention data to better identify
potential lost customers and avoid revenue loss. This is significant for our
business, but ultimately Aflac's customers are the winners."

"For over 20 years, the InformationWeek 500 has honored the most innovative
users of business technology," said InformationWeek Editor-in-Chief Rob
Preston. "Year after year, InformationWeek 500 companies harness technology to
improve efficiency, boost productivity, drive revenue and establish a
competitive advantage. We applaud this year's winners, and the CIOs and other
executives whose ingenuity and risk-taking are at the center of business
technology innovation."

InformationWeek's annual 500 list identifies and honors the nation's most
innovative users of information technology. Now in its 21st year, the list
also tracks the technology, strategies, investments and administrative
practices of America's best-known companies. Top winners have included Conway,
National Semiconductor, Kimberly-Clark, Hilton Hotels and Unum. The
InformationWeek 500 rankings are unique among corporate rankings because they
spotlight the power of innovation in information technology, rather than
simply identifying the biggest IT spenders.

Additional details about the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at
www.informationweek.com/iw500/.


About Aflac (http://www.aflac.com)

For more than 50 years, Aflac products have given policyholders the
opportunity to direct cash where it is needed most when a life-interrupting
medical event causes financial challenges. As the number one provider of
guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and the number one
insurance company in terms of individual insurance policies in force in Japan,
Aflac insurance products provide protection to more than 40 million people
worldwide. In 2009, Aflac was recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the
World's Most Ethical Companies for the third consecutive year and was also
named by the Reputation Institute as the Most Reputable Company in the Global
Insurance Industry for the second consecutive year. In 2009 Fortune magazine
recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for
the eleventh consecutive year. Fortune magazine also ranked Aflac No. 1 on its
global list of the Most Admired Companies in the Life and Health Insurance
category. Aflac appears on Hispanic Enterprise magazine's list of the 50 Best
Companies for Supplier Diversity and on Black Enterprise magazine's list of
the 40 Best Companies for Diversity. Aflac was also named by Forbes magazine
as America's Best-Managed Company in the Insurance category. Aflac
Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com.


About InformationWeek Business Technology Network
(http://www.informationweek.com/)

The InformationWeek Business Technology Network provides IT executives with
unique analysis and tools that parallel their work flow -- from the defining
and framing of objectives through to the evaluation and recommendation of
solutions. Anchored by InformationWeek, the multimedia powerhouse that looks
across the enterprise, the network scales across the most critical technology
categories with online properties like DarkReading.com (security),
IntelligentEnterprise.com (application architecture), Network Computing
(networking and communications) and PlugintotheCloud.com (cloud computing).
The network also provides focused content for key IT targets, such as CIOs,
developers, and SMBs with Dr. Dobb's InformationWeek Global CIO and
bMighty.com, as well as vital vertical industries with InformationWeek
Financial Services, Government and Healthcare. With content at the nucleus of
our information distribution strategy, IT professionals turn to our network of
expert voices, research and communities to stay informed, get advice and
research technologies to make strategic business decisions.

About TechWeb (http://www.techweb.com/aboutus)
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative
business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and
marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media
brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million*
business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created
around our global face-to-face events Interop; Web 2.0; Black Hat and
VoiceCon; online resources such as the InformationWeek.com, Light Reading,
Intelligent Enterprise, bMighty.com, and Advanced Trading; and the market
leading, award-winning InformationWeek, and Wall Street and Technology
magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from
next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, market research and
analyst services.
TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization
of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections
across TechWeb brands.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090422/CL03654LOGO )

Media Contact:
Tim Turner
Public Relations Analyst
706.243.5594
trturner@aflac.com

Software Complies with Updated Interoperability Requirements

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Certification Commission
for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT(R)) today announced that
gloStream's product gloEMR version 5.0 is a CCHIT Certified(R) 08 Ambulatory
EHR additionally certified for Cardiovascular Medicine and Child Health and
meets the Certification Commission's electronic health record (EHR) criteria
for office-based use. Ambulatory EHRs are designed for physician offices and
clinics where most Americans get their healthcare. The Commission - a private,
nonprofit organization - is the recognized certification body in the United
States for certifying health information technology products.

"Two key new areas of interoperability are required to achieve 08
certification," said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., chair, CCHIT. "First,
ambulatory EHRs must be capable of advanced electronic prescribing functions
so physicians can qualify for bonuses under Medicare's new incentive program.
Second, EHRs must be able to send and receive an electronic patient summary.
These and other new criteria will ensure that certified health IT products
help improve quality, safety and efficiency while protecting the privacy of
health information."

In the third year of the program's operation, the criteria and testing have
been significantly updated again to provide physicians with more assurance
that certified products will meet their needs for functionality,
interoperability and security. The Commission added 19 criteria to the 200
required in 2007. Those changes were focused on the ability to exchange
patient information with other systems. A CCHIT Certified 08 Ambulatory EHR
ensures:

-- Additional electronic prescribing features: access to the
patient's medication history, formulary, and eligibility.
-- Better and safer medication dosing, adjusted for patient weight and
other factors.
-- Better ability to prevent adverse reactions due to drug interactions
or
allergies.
-- Use of standard formats to exchange basic patient information for
continuity of care.
-- Enhanced ability to view X-rays and other diagnostic images.
-- Better management of patient consents and authorizations.

-- Increased use of standard formats when receiving and storing
laboratory
results.


As a CCHIT Certified product, gloEMR has been tested and passed inspection of
100 percent of these new criteria.


We're thrilled to have achieved certification each year that CCHIT has been in
existence and we're committed to maintaining the highest standards for product
functionality, interoperability and security," said Mike Sappington,
gloStream's CEO. "As the only Microsoft Office-embedded electronic health
record and practice management solution supported by a network of local
technology partners, gloStream is the best choice for doctors seeking a
flexible and easy-to-use system that they can customize to the way they
practice medicine."

The CCHIT Certified "seal of approval" for EHR products provides a
consensus-based, government-recognized benchmark for ambulatory EHR products.
By looking to products with the CCHIT Certified seal, physicians and other
providers can reduce their risk in selecting an EHR product, allowing them to
focus their evaluation on the special needs of their practices.

About gloStream
gloStream provides physicians and healthcare facilities with certified
electronic medical record and practice management solutions delivered and
supported through a nationwide network of local technology partners. gloStream
products are secure, easy-to-use applications and the only EMR and PM
solutions on the market embedded with Microsoft Office. Through a simple user
interface, robust voice recognition technology, and single-click access to all
patient information, gloStream products help doctors improve patient care by
streamlining workflow and creating efficiencies in office administration. For
more information, visit www.glostream.com or call 1-877-456-3671.

About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT(R))
is a private, nonprofit organization that has been named by the federal
government as the Recognized Certification Body for health information
technology. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of health information
technology by creating a credible, sustainable certification program. The
certification requirements are based on widely accepted industry standards and
involve the work of hundreds of expert volunteers and input from a variety of
stakeholders throughout the health care industry. More information on CCHIT
and CCHIT Certified(R) products is available at www.cchit.org and at
www.ehrdecisions.com.

"CCHIT(R)" and "CCHIT Certified(R)" are registered marks of the Certification
Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.

M edical detective work may have just gotten a lot easier.

Just how difficult it is gets highlighted every time an infectious disease sweeps the globe, as the new strain of swine flu did earlier this year. Current methods of testing for disease-causing microbes are pretty effective at discovering whether an infected fluid or tissue sample contains a known virus or bacteria. But trying to detect previously unknown organisms is a whole different story.
To address this problem, David Ecker, co-founder of Ibis Biosciences Inc., and a team of researchers developed a sensor able to quickly detect and identify all the pathogens in a given sample.

The equipment promises not only to alert health officials to new disease strains, but also to guard against bioterrorism and enable hospitals to identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Abbott Laboratories and its Ibis Biosciences unit, which developed the Ibis T5000 sensor, took the Gold in this year's Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards.

The Silver award went to Touch Bionics Inc. for its i-Limb artificial hand, which features bendable fingers and a rotating thumb. The hand uses sophisticated motors and computer controls to grip objects and move in ways that traditional prosthetic hands can't.

Vihaan Networks Ltd., an Indian telecommunications company known as VNL, won the Bronze award for a solar-powered base station to bring cellphone access to remote rural villages. The inexpensive base station can be quickly assembled and set up by unskilled villagers, and can run entirely on the built-in solar panels and batteries.

For the ninth annual Innovation Awards, a Journal editor reviewed nearly 500 entries, sending more than 180 to a team of judges from research institutions, venture-capital firms and other companies. Judges considered whether innovations were truly groundbreaking and—new this year—looked at whether their application would be particularly useful in a time of economic hardship.
And the winners in each category are…
Computing Systems

Capturing real-life motion to use in computer animation can be complicated. Typically, actors are filmed wearing bodysuits covered with glowing dots or embedded with sensors that trace their movements, then high-powered computers use that data to help create characters that move realistically.

New York-based Organic Motion Inc. won in the computing-systems category for developing a motion-capture system that doesn't require bodysuits or markers.

The core of the system is technology that uses sophisticated software to produce a digital clone of a person being filmed. Fourteen video cameras capture images simultaneously and send them to a standard computer with a high-end programmable graphics card, making the system far cheaper than the specialized equipment used in movie special-effects shops.

Organic Motion systems are being used in the creation of virtual environments for training coal-mine rescue personnel and for helping returning military veterans readjust to civilian life. Andrew Tschesnok, the company's chief executive and founder, says future versions will work with next-generation game consoles for more-lifelike game experiences.
Consumer Electronics

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI, won in the consumer-electronics category for its work developing a paper-thin, flexible speaker.

Researchers at ITRI, a nonprofit organization, devised a way to create arrays of tiny speakers that can be combined to produce high-fidelity speaker systems of almost any size.

Because the fleXpeaker is lightweight and consumes little power, it could be attractive for use in cellphones or in car sound systems. Other possible applications include giant banners that could be used to deliver public-service announcements in train stations or advertising messages in shopping malls.

ITRI is seeking to license the technology or create a spinoff ­company to commercialize the ­product.
Energy

SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, based just outside Munich, won in this category for developing small, lightweight fuel cells that can be used by soldiers instead of much bulkier, heavier batteries to power communications and navigation devices and other battlefield equipment.
One advantage of the SFC fuel cells is that they produce power from methanol. Many fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen. But hydrogen is highly explosive, so it needs to be stored in special heavy-metal cartridges. Cartridges for the SFC fuel cells are less expensive, lighter and less bulky.
Environment

Serious Materials Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., was recognized in this category for its EcoRock drywall substitute, which is made with recycled material and, the company says, requires 80% less energy to make and produces 80% less carbon dioxide than standard gypsum-based drywall. EcoRock, which is also termite- and mold-resistant, will be priced to compete with premium drywall products. Serious Materials has been selling limited test quantities of the product to a few contractors since early this year and plans to expand production and distribution over the next two years.

Though some judges wondered if a relatively high price would limit how widely the product is used, it is a "novel solution to a basic problem that has enormous impact," says Darlene Solomon, chief technology officer of Agilent Technologies and an Innovation Awards judge.
Health-Care IT

DataDyne.org, a Washington-based nonprofit, and its co-founder, Joel Selanikio, won in this category for EpiSurveyor, free software for mobile devices designed to help health officials in developing countries collect health information.
In developing countries, gathering and analyzing time-sensitive health-care information can be a challenge. Rural health clinics typically compile data only in paper records, making it difficult to spot and to respond quickly to emerging trends.

With EpiSurveyor, developed with support from the United Nations Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation, health officials can create health-survey forms that can be downloaded to commonly used mobile phones. Health workers carrying the phones can then collect information—about immunization rates, vaccine supplies or possible disease outbreaks—when they visit local clinics. The information can then be quickly analyzed to determine, say, whether medical supplies need to be restocked or to track the spread of a disease.

The software has been rolled out in more than 20 African countries.
Materials and Other Base Technologies

Light fixtures based on light-emitting diodes—semiconductors that glow brightly when charged—promise long-lasting, low-energy illumination. But there's a problem: The light produced is harsh and bluish in color. Special filters can be added to produce warmer tones, but they can make the fixtures less efficient. Devising a way to make warmer-colored, high-efficiency LEDs is seen as essential to their widespread adoption.

QD Vision Inc. of Watertown, Mass., won in this category for inventing a way to dramatically improve the color quality of LED lights by using quantum dots—tiny semiconducting nanocrystals. QD Vision quantum dots can also be used to make energy-efficient flat-panel and other displays that can deliver purer, more intense colors.

The U.S. government has gone on a wireless shopping spree, buying off-the-shelf equipment, services and software to meet its changing communications needs.

In the past, many federal offices handed out smart phones, like the BlackBerry or devices running Windows Mobile software, only to their top executives. Rank-and-file employees either were tethered to office-based computers running on private networks or, if they were in the military or other critical field operations, used expensive, specialized wireless devices.
Now, with an increasingly mobile and tech-savvy work force, government and disaster-relief agencies are embracing off-the-shelf wireless devices and commercial high-speed networks for tasks previously handled by specialized systems.

This year, the U.S. government will spend $70 billion on information technology, including wireless devices, service contracts and applications, according to Warren Suss, president of Suss Consulting Inc., a Jenkintown, Pa., company that advises government agencies and the companies that supply them. An increasing proportion of that spending is on commercial equipment and services.

The shift is being driven by the desire to make government workers more effective and efficient by giving them access to critical information wherever they are, and by the need to cut costs—private networks and proprietary devices are expensive to develop and require specialized staff to maintain and update.

The government's embrace of telecommuting to lessen the need for office space has accelerated the trend. And it has been facilitated by a streamlined purchasing process that eliminates much of the negotiating each government agency had to do to buy wireless technology.
Information At Hand

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, a support agency for the federal court system, first considered using hand-held devices for its probation and pretrial-services officers because of budget cuts. The agency's clerical staff was being cut, making the devices attractive because they would allow officers to enter information directly into the agency's database, rather than submit reports to be input by someone else.

But the agency, which uses Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry devices, has found many other uses for them. Officers can use online programs to direct them to a parolee's house, or set a calendar application to remind them to administer a drug test. They can also tap a secure Federal Bureau of Investigation database for mug shots and other information on people with criminal records.

"I can show an offender's picture from my device to a victim or a police officer," says Frank Fuller, senior U.S. probation officer for the Western District of Virginia.

Off-the-shelf products also made it practical for the agency to pursue a major technology initiative. It developed an application to store data securely on officers' hand-held devices, so that the information can be accessed amid natural disasters, in remote areas and in other situations where wireless coverage is unavailable or compromised. "With the associated complexity and expense, this project never would have gotten off the ground without using available devices and networks," says Nick DiSabatino, chief of technology for probation and pretrial services at the agency.
Providers Prosper

The shift in government spending has been a boon to providers of wireless devices and services. AT&T Inc., for example, has generated $800 million in federal contracts in two years under the Networx Universal program, the initiative that streamlined technology purchases by government agencies.

In the past year alone, AT&T has announced contracts for $292 million to build a data network for the Department of Homeland Security, for $120 million to provide data networking services for the 1,300 offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs, for $80 million to supply a backup data network for the Social Security Administration, and for $50 million to supply BlackBerry devices, push-to-talk cellphones and wireless data cards for laptops for field workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The company declines to reveal the total of its federal contracts, but Don Herring, senior vice president, AT&T Government Solutions, says it is a multibillion-dollar business.

Another beneficiary of the new government focus on cost-cutting and efficiency is Research In Motion. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration now uses BlackBerry devices for communications among its employees, partly as a way to minimize its purchases of equipment, since they provide a single substitute for pagers, cellphones and in some cases laptops.

The fastest-growing pool of government spending is on applications, according to Mr. Suss, of Suss Consulting, with contracts going to companies like Citrix Systems Inc. that host applications for users to access from whatever device they are using. The use of public networks also requires the government to spend on encryption and other security software to protect sensitive information.

At the end of this month, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Information Technology will pull the plug on dial-up Internet, a fitting death knell for an outdated technology. Though around 15 percent of Americans continue to use phone lines and chattering modems to bring e-mail and the World Wide Web into their homes, the era of dial-up is long gone. Its reign as the Internet conduit for the masses was, like most technologies in the Information Age, brief.

It is tempting to wax poetic about how dramatically the Internet has changed since the mid-1990s, when 28.8k was the standard, Web 2.0 marvels like YouTube and Gmail were hardly thought possible, and Facebook was just a gleam in Mark Zuckerberg’s pre-teen eye. Instead, we should reflect on how far we have to go, since complacent communications companies and outdated technologies still prevail.

The United States may have invented the Internet (although the credit doesn’t go to Al Gore), but our great nation recently ranked 28th in Internet connectivity according to a recent study by the Communications Workers of America. If that wasn’t enough, the study also claimed that the average Internet speed has only increased by about 30 percent in the last two years. This might seem like a big improvement on first glance, but really it’s far from noteworthy in an industry where things tend to double every two years.

The United States does have a significant geographic disadvantage when compared to tiny countries with faster networks, like Sweden or the Netherlands. Stringing high-speed access to rural areas is much easier when your entire country is the size of Illinois. But while a significant access gap exists between urban and rural America, even the fastest regions of the U.S. (the northern Atlantic states) can’t crack the 10 megabits per second mark. South Korea’s average connection speed is over twice that fast.

What are we doing wrong? European countries have been able to achieve faster speeds by forcing telephone companies to rent lines to local Internet service providers for use with broadband DSL. The Federal Communications Commission attempted to do the same during the middle of the decade to allow competition, but it had to back down from this practice after phone companies threatened to sue. Worse, the FCC and the courts allowed SBC to buy both AT&T and Bellsouth in 2005 and 2006, creating a huge monopoly that rivaled AT&T of the 1980s. Lack of competition in the U.S. broadband market has lead to huge profits for companies like Comcast and Verizon, making U.S. Internet not only slow but also among the most expensive in the world.

President Barack Obama has pledged to put broadband in every home through the use of tax credits. His plan stands in contrast to President George W. Bush’s deregulatory approach and harks back to the push to bring electricity and indoor plumbing to rural America in the mid-20th century. The goal is admirable, but may not yield much progress. Top ISPs have responded with a plan to simply redefine FCC’s definition broadband at a lower speed and introduce a three-tiered access system that could force consumers to pay more to receive the same connection speeds. Some providers have made efforts to provide bundled communications, which include telephone, television, and Internet, via fast fiber-optic cables in major cities, but rural Americans are still by and large left behind.

It is no surprise that market-only solutions have failed, because monopolies have little incentive to change, and the benefits of high-speed Internet are somewhat unclear to low-income Americans. The FCC and the courts need to stand up to the established telecommunications companies if they hope to put consumer and business interests first.

Providing widespread Internet access that is both fast and affordable has benefits that extend far beyond creature comforts like downloading movies. A recent report from the World Bank Group found that a 10 percent increase in connection speeds is correlated with a 1.3 percent increase in economic growth. The faster the Internet becomes, the more purposes it can serve; high-speed Internet is the basis for many local IT businesses that generate jobs and exports. Expanding the high-speed Web to rural areas and increasing speeds in developed areas will also make long-distance learning easier and expand the possibilities of telemedicine.

Although the U.S. has demonstrably fallen behind in terms of Internet access, there is still time to catch up. A few years of good policy would create drastic improvement. Further, any claim that the U.S. is losing its edge is nonsense. A huge digital divide still exists between the industrialized countries in the West and East Asia and those of South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In India, for instance, only around 10 percent of the population has Internet access at all.

As Harvard students, we have even less to worry about. Those using the university’s wireless connection can expect a download rate of around 20 megabits per second when communicating within the country, according to an assessment using speedtest.net. That is, unless you happen to be a FAS affiliate still connecting to the Harvard network using dial-up. In that case, I can only say: Your days are numbered.