Y2K
Capping Liability Damages
House Science Technology subcommittee chair Connie Morella R-MD said she plans to sign on to a liability bill spearheaded by Reps. Tom Davis R-VA and David Dreier R-CA that would cap damages and limit attorney fees to $1,000 an hour for Y2K cases. Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch R-UT and Sen. Dianne Feinstein D-CA added another Y2K liability bill to the mix. Hatch's plan would cap punitive damages at $250,000 and require a 90-day waiting period before a Y2K-related lawsuit could head to court. Hatch's bill does not include a cap on attorney fees. Morella said Friday the odds are only about "50-50" that Y2K litigation reform bill will pass Congress.

Y2K
Horn Report Grades Agencies
Federal agencies received a collective C+ ranking for Year 2000 readiness from Rep. Stephen Horn R-CA, only a slight improvement from the D the lawmaker gave the executive branch last fall. Eleven agencies, up from three during the last grading period, received A's from Horn's seventh report card on federal Y2K preparedness. Despite progress, Horn flunked the State and Defense departments and the Agency for International Development.

Y2K2000-EZ At The IRS
A slew of Y2K-related hearings commenced this week. Federal officials told House lawmakers Wednesday that eleventh-hour testing and delayed development of Y2K contingency plans could put the IRS at risk for a millennial meltdown. But IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti told the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday that any problems that the agency has encountered have not impacted taxpayers.

FCC
The Telecom Act A Pandora's Box For Some
Sen. Conrad Burns R-MT said he'd rather continue pushing the Federal Communications Commission to deregulate the telecom industry than reopen the 1996 Telecommunications Act. "Now is not the time," he said Thursday. "We're going to continue on forcing this access to broadband as much as we can without reopening the law." Burns said he's committed to ensuring that high-speed data services are made available to rural states and underserved urban areas. One way to do that without reopening the Telecom Act, Burns hinted, is through an FCC reauthorization bill slated for later this year.

Privacy
Web Site Operators and ISPs Alike
Rep. Bruce Vento D-MN is preparing to withdraw his Internet privacy bill and re-introduce an expanded version that would force Web site operators to adhere to the same privacy restrictions that his older version slapped onto online service providers. The current version of the Consumer Internet Privacy Protection Act was introduced last month.

Privacy
CDT Complains About Intel
The Center for Democracy and Technology filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging "unfair and deceptive trade practice[s]" by Intel's marketing of the Pentium III. The Electronic Privacy Information Center and Junkbusters launched a boycott of the Pentium III after the company revealed its plans to include a Processor Serial Number — a unique identification number analogous to a Vehicle Information Number for cars — with each processor.

Encryption
SAFE: Once More, With Feeling
Supporters of the so-called SAFE encryption legislation re-launched the bill Thursday, hoping changes atop the House Rules Committee and backing by much of the House leadership will improve the bill's prospects this year. The bill's sponsor Rep. Bob Goodlatte R-VA and chief cosponsor Rep. Zoe Lofgren D-CA were joined at a news conference by House Majority Leader Dick Armey R-TX, House Minority Whip David Bonior D-MI and House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier R-CA, all of whom are co-sponsors. The bill, which Goodlatte introduced Thursday, has 204 original co-sponsors — about four times as many as it had when introduced in the 105th Congress.

Encryption
Moderate Dems Focus on High-Tech
Two of the top policy priorities for the New Democrat Coalition — a group of 61 moderate House Democrats — are supporting a permanent extension of the R&D tax credit and passing legislation to lift export controls on encryption products. Leading the coalition are Rep. Cal Dooley D-CA, Rep. Jim Moran D-VA and Rep. Tim Roemer D-IN. The group stands united behind the permanent R&D tax credit bill introduced by Rep. Nancy Johnson R-CT and Rep. Robert Matsui D-CA on Wednesday. They also are likely to support the encryption legislation introduced by Rep. Robert Goodlatte R-VA and Rep. Zoe Lofgren D-CA Thursday.

Digital Signatures
UN Group Seeks Consensus
A United Nations commission has agreed to continue working on international rules for using digital signatures and other forms of electronic authentication in business transactions, despite wide differences of opinion between countries on the best approach to take. The UN Commission on International Trade Law's e-commerce working group met in Vienna for the past two weeks to discuss draft rules relating to digital signatures and other methods to ensure that parties are who they say they are when conducting online business transactions. Meanwhile, back in the States, Sen. Spencer Abraham R-MI said he is working in with the committee to draft digital signature legislation.

States
A Taxing Situation Brings Together Politicians
The National Governors' Association approved a policy position Tuesday that asks states to streamline their tax procedures in anticipation of dealing with the issue of taxation of e-commerce transactions. With language that also includes Internet sales, it urges states to adopt a one-rate, one-state approach to sales tax. Also on the Internet tax issue, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott R-MS and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt D-MO agreed to work on concerns about the composition of the tax commission, which critics insist is light on Main Street business and consumer interests. Lott promised to help improve the commission, but admitted the commission may "not wind up being tilted the way you would like it." Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert R-IL announced the creation of a Republican group to work with governors. The group will include Rep. J.C. Watts R-OK, Rep. Michael Castle R-DE, Rep. Rob Portman R-OH, and Rep. George Radanovich R-CA.

TechNet
Silicon Valley's chief lobbying arm will press for two research-related policies in Washington this year, one in taxes and the other in higher education, its top executives said Tuesday. The group, made up of chief executives of information tech, biotech and venture capital firms, plans to pursue its agenda with Vice President Gore and Congress. And it has hired a trio of bipartisan Washington veterans to lobby on its behalf. TechNet's first priority is to see the R&D tax credit made permanent. The group's other goal is for the federal government to drastically increase its spending on R&D projects at the university level. That fits with the goals of a presidential commission report that was released Wednesday, prepared by a panel that included some TechNet members. In the report, the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee recommended increasing investment in IT research and development by an additional $1.37 billion by 2004, about twice as much as is being spent now.