Cyberterrorism
Pentagon Investigates Attack
Rep. Curt Weldon R-PA sounded a warning call Friday that the United States is under cyber-attack as Pentagon officials confirmed that they are investigating a "major attack of our computer networks." Weldon chairs the House Armed Services Research and Development Subcommittee. The attack has not yet jeopardized sensitive military computer systems, it is believed, but it is much more sustained than the 60 to 100 "low-level" attempts at intrusion that occur every day at the Department of Defense, said a Pentagon spokesperson.

Antitrust
Gorton Lashes Out
Sen. Slade Gorton R-WA lashed out against Vice President Al Gore Thursday on the Senate floor, accusing the administration of using the Justice Department's antitrust suit against Microsoft as a tool to reap Silicon Valley dollars for Gore, a potential presidential candidate. Gorton reiterated his pledge to block Justice's request for more funding from Congress and plans to exercise his oversight authority into Justice's antitrust division. Gorton also had some harsh words for Orrin Hatch R-UT, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hatch held Judiciary hearings on Microsoft's business practices last year. A Gore spokesman responded to Gorton's speech by suggesting that Gorton "is suffering from his own Y2K bug" in an effort to turn the matter into a campaign issue in his own 2000 bid. The spokesman also said that Gore has long worked to support Washington's economy and high-tech industry.

Y2K
Millennial Battle In Senate Turf War
A territorial war has broken out between Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain R-AZ and Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch R-UT over their competing Y2K liability bills. But the war may be a case of mutually assured destruction; neither bill can win without bipartisan support. The Commerce Committee passed McCain's S. 96 along party lines Wednesday, and the Judiciary Committee Thursday postponed a vote on Hatch's S. 461, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein R-CA. Some sources indicated Hatch postponed the vote while seeking more Democratic support. While Fritz Hollings D-SC strongly opposed McCain's bill, saying, "it's a bad, bad deal and I hope we can kill it." Earlier in the week, Assistant Attorney General Eleanor Acheson at a Judiciary Committee hearing criticized the Hatch bill as stepping inappropriately into an arena best left to state lawmakers. Meanwhile, the House is taking a slower pace on its Y2K liability legislation, H.R. 775, introduced by Rep. Tom Davis R-VA. The House Judiciary Committee plans to take up bankruptcy and juvenile justice bills before it begins work on liability reform. When the bill was introduced last month, cosponsors Reps. David Dreier R-CA and Christopher Cox R-CA said they would try to put the measure on a fast track.

Pornography
Rep. Bob Franks R-NJ introduced legislation Tuesday that would require libraries and schools who receive e-rate funds for Internet connections equip their computers with software to filter out pornography. H.R. 896, the Children's Internet Protection Act, is similar to S. 97, introduced by Sens. John McCain R-AZ and Fritz Hollings D-SC. McCain held hearings on S.97 this week.

Privacy
Know Your Customers' Limits
Comptroller of the Currency John D. Hawke told a House Judiciary subcommittee Thursday that controversial Know Your Customer bank regulations should be scrapped. Chairman George Gekas R-PA called the hearings. The proposal, which would have required banks to generate financial profiles of each of their customers, generated heated opposition from both privacy and conservative groups. Meanwhile, Reps. Ron Paul R-TX and Tom Campbell R-CA offered their amendment, H.R. 10, the financial modernization bill before the Committee, that would gut the Know Your Customer rule. On Friday, Senate Banking Chairman Phil Gramm R-TX interrupted floor debate on the GOP's education flexibility bill to offer an unrelated amendment prohibiting implementation of the so-called Know Your Customer rules.

Privacy
How Do You Solve A Problem Like CALEA?
A strange coalition including Reps. John Conyers D-MI and Bob Barr R-GA has found common cause in seeking to ensure privacy rights for phone calls made over digital telephone networks. The pair has urged the FCC to break the deadlock between the FBI and telecommunications companies over the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, an Information Age wiretap law. "CALEA implementation is now more than three-and-one-half years behind schedule because industry and law enforcement failed to reach agreement on CALEA technical standards," legislators wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman William Kennard last week.

Cyberterrorism
Securing Telecommunications
The threat of cyber-terrorism has caught the eye of Sens. Pat Roberts R-KS and Bob Kerrey D-NE who want to increase research funding to develop a more secure national telecommunications system. They plan to introduce a bill later this month that would provide $100 million for information protection technology research at universities and other federal research centers.

Export
Regulating PCs
Commerce Undersecretary William Reinsch warned on Tuesday that if no changes are made to restrictions on high-performance computers, the United States soon will be regulating machines that are in the same class as personal computers. "If we do nothing, we will probably be back in the business of controlling PCs by the end of the year. It makes no sense," said Reinsch, who heads the department's Bureau of Export Administration.

Trade
The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' issued a vocal appeal for Congress to pass legislation to renew fast track authority for trade pact negotiation during a speech in before the Washington [State] Council on International Trade in Seattle. Gates said e-commerce would not reach its full potential unless "there are new trade agreements that eliminate the prospect of tariffs on electronic transfers and guarantee free market access for e-commerce providers." Gates is hoping fast track will be reinstated before the WTO meeting begins Nov. 30.

Education
Tax Incentives For Computer Donations
Sens. Spencer Abraham R-MI and Ron Wyden D-OR announced bipartisan support for legislation introduced Thursday to entice businesses with increased tax incentives if they donate computers to schools. The New Millennium Classrooms Act increases the age limit of computers eligible for donation from two to three years. It also provides a 30 percent tax credit of the fair market value of the equipment donated. The tax credit to companies increases to 50 percent if computer equipment is donated to schools located within designated empowerment zones, enterprise communities, or on Indian reservations. The bill is co-sponsored by nine other senators, including Minority Leader Tom Daschle D-SD, Conrad Burns R-MT, Slade Gorton R-WA and Orrin Hatch R-UT.

E-rate
USAC Doles Out Final Wave
The Universal Service Administrative Company has given more than $257 million in the tenth and final wave of e-rate funding for the year, bringing the total distributed to $1.66 billion. This final wave completes the first year of e-rate funding. However, of the 30,120 applications the e-rate program received, just 25,785 won funding, with many of those missing out in rural areas. The discrepancy has caused a war within the FCC over how the funds should be used.

Crime
Justice Looks Into Cyber-stalking
Vice President Al Gore has asked the Justice Department to investigate the extent to which "cyber-stalking" has become a problem, and how law enforcement can stop it. All 50 states have antistalking laws, but only a few have updated their laws to include harassment over the Internet.

Domain Names
Yes, ICANN
At a closed meeting in Singapore, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved a proposal for the structure of the Domain Name Supporting Organization, which will advise ICANN on such issues as whether to create new top-level domains. One of ICANN's chief goals will be to implement the guidelines they approved for accrediting companies that want to compete with Network Solutions to assign top-level domains. ICANN initially will choose five companies to participate in a test of the process. There was more controversy surrounding the DNSO's structure. Two proposals were submitted to ICANN, eventually pushing ICANN to choose the best features of each to forge a "statement of principles" that will be used by ICANN officials to draft rules for the DNSO's structure. Among the concepts approved by ICANN call for making the DNSO a "consensus-based body" that will be made up of "self-organized constituencies" and individuals with an interest and expertise in domain issues.

Contributions
AOL PACs Its Own Punch
America Online intends to file with the Federal Elections Commission to form a PAC within the next few weeks. AOL spearheaded the recent launch of the OpenNET lobby, which is pushing Congress to examine the cable industry’s entrance into the high-speed data market. The AOL PAC will be separate from the CapNet PAC which is forming to represent all Washington, DC, area technology companies. CapNet’s Republican political director is AOL Senior Vice President George Vradenburg.

Campaigns
Texas, Virginia Lasso The Loot
Texas roped in loot from the computer industry, which smiled on the Old Dominion as well, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records by the Center for Responsive Politics of industry donation recipients in the last election cycle. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison R-TX was the top recipient. The state's other senator, b R, walked away the second-biggest bag. In the House, Rep. Tom Davis R-VA was the largest recipient of computer company donations. The No. 2 man was Rep. Jay Inslee D-WA.

Associations
A Merger Of Convenience?
The Internet Alliance may join forces with another high-tech association, according to Internet policy organization sources. The IA, designed to foster consumer use of the Internet, has been in talks to merge with the Information Technology Association of America, the Software and Information Industry Association and the Direct Marketing Association.