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PA e-Comm News FEBRUARY 22

Basically Useless Information – What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? (Answer later).

Not all the flowers and greeting cards popular with web users are free nowadays. This became painfully clear this Valentine's Day. A recent report from Jupiter Media Metrix indicated that visitors to some of the most popular greeting card sites declined after some sites started charging customers to access and send network cards. But, free greeting card providers, such as Yahoo! Greetings and Hallmark.com saw their traffic grow significantly over the same period last year. Traffic to online flower sites rose significantly in the Valentine period, as did online jewelry sites.

According to a recent study, January was a record month for visits to online travel sites, actually accounting for 30 % of the worldwide Internet audience. Travelers in the United States are also more likely to remain wary of air travel since the Sept. 11 attack than those from other countries. Britain is the biggest online travel market in Europe followed by Germany and France. 

As those of us with children and grandchildren know, the video game market continued its hot pace in 2001, with hardware, software and accessory sales increasing 43 % over 2000. The industry saw three new major system releases last year: Nintendo's GameCube and Game Boy Advance and the Microsoft Xbox. These new systems led the hardware sales increase over 2000. Many industry experts expect the future growth in games to occur within the Internet market, if broadband access expands, rather than with PC gaming and handhelds.

One of the major stumbling blocks to effective taxation of Internet sales in this country is the myriad of taxing jurisdictions and rates which sellers would encounter. Now the European Union is considering establishing a taxing mechanism whereby Internet purchases by European customers from European companies would be taxed at a flat rate while non-European companies’ sales would be taxed by customer location. Thus, European companies would charge tax based on the location of their headquarters but American companies would be required to charge tax based on where the buyer lives.

American Pop Corn Company will pay $10,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children on its "Jolly Time" Web site without obtaining parental consent. While the dollar amount is small, the FTC hopes it sends a strong message to operators of Web sites directed to children that the FTC intends to enforce COPPA rigorously. The COPPA Rule applies to operators of commercial Web sites and online services directed to children under the age of 13, and to general audience Web sites and online services that knowingly collect personal information from children. Two aspects of the rule are the requirement that Web sites get verifiable consent from a parent or guardian before they collect personal information from children and that sites cannot condition a child's participation in an activity on the child's disclosing more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in such activity. In this specific case, the FTC alleged that APC maintained a Web site with a "Kids Club" section of games, crafts, contests, and jokes directed to children under the age of 13. Without obtaining parental consent, the company collected personal information, including names, e-mail addresses, and home addresses, from children who went to the "Kids Club" section and conditioned participation in certain prize offers on children providing more information than was necessary to participate in the activity.

Now couples planning to wed can open a wedding registry at Amazon.com., where selections include kitchenware, electronics, tools and other products the company carries. 

ANSWER: All invented by women. 

TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The following is a listing of recently published technology procurement opportunities with various governmental entities. We hope our readers take the opportunity to investigate these postings and increase their business. 

GSA - Federal Technology Service (FTS)
Technical Services Division (4TRF)
70 -- DecisionSTream Software
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/FTS/4TRF/4TEF21026520/listing.html

USAF - Air Force Materiel Command
ESC - Electronic Systems Center
D -- ASSESSMENTS AND STUDIES OF MAINTENANCE AUTOMATED INFORMATION - CORRECTED SYSTEM (AIS) Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/ESC/F01620-02-R-0013/listing.html

USAF - Air Force Materiel Command
ASC - Aeronautical Systems Center
D --Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) Enterprise Business System (EBS) Phase I File 36, File 37, File 38 http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/ASC/F33601-02-R-9002/listing.html

TREAS - Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
National Office Procurement (A:P)
D -- Maintenance and Software Upgrades
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/TREAS/IRS/NOPAP/Reference-Number-W2W11FPA01/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D -- Dept of Defense Video Teleconferencing Systems Maintenance Services & Support Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/DCA200-02-R-5002/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-19-Feb-2002/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-18-Feb-2002/listing.html

ODA - National Imagery and Mapping Agency
Washington Contracting Center (ACW)
D -- IT Services for the enhancements of the NIMA Financial Management Tools. Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/ODA/NIMA/PCWD-6/NMA40100F0023/listing.html

USN - Naval Supply Systems Command
FISC NORFOLK HAMPTON ROADS
70 -- Traveling Audit Licenses for Internet scanners
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USN/NAVSUP/N00189/N00189-02-T-0331/listing.html

USN - Naval Supply Systems Command
FISC NORFOLK DETACHMENT PHILADELPHIA
R -- Acquisition Knowledge Management, Information Technology, Financial, and Program Management support Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USN/NAVSUP/FISCDETPHILA/N00140-02-R-0591/listing.html

GSA - Federal Technology Service (FTS)
Federal Technology Service (5TF)
D -- Automated Data Capture Software/Image Storage and Retrieval Software and Maintenance Support Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/FTS/FairviewHeightsIL/5TC5702C154/listing.html

DOC - Office of the Secretary
Commerce Acquisition Solutions, Office of the Secretary Business Solutions R -- A-76 MANAGEMENT AND WORKFLOW Company Summary Spreadsheet 01, Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOC/OS/OAM-OSBS/RAJ002Amendment2/listing.html

For more information, visit www.eps.gov


The following items concerning Internet security tools from the SANS Institute have come to the attention of NIPC, and are forwarded for Informational purposes only:

1. SNMP self-testing tool (free): identifies which systems may be running Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and are therefore subject to the recently announced critical vulnerability in that program. To get a description and instructions on downloading a copy, email snmptool@sans.org. This tool works on Windows but tests all kinds of devices. Current version limited to 10,000 systems per scan. (In Request for Evaluative Comments 02-001, NIPC recently advised InfraGard members that it was tracking vulnerabilities in SNMP version 1, which is widely used and includes an extensive number of potentially affected products. To date, vulnerabilities still have not been fully identified.)

2. Router Audit Tool (for Cisco IOS routers): checks security settings in the configurations of Cisco IOS routers, reports problems it finds, and gives each router an overall score. It also provides the precise methods to fix the problems. Further information can be obtained from www.sans.org.

THE FOREGOING IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT OF THE PRODUCTS BY THE NIPC.

NEWS & NOTES is a service of the PA e-Commerce Association. Please forward this e-mail to anyone else who might be interested in the content or in learning more about the Association. Remember to visit our website @  www.paecomm.org or call 717-238-9366.

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