On The Hill
Open The Flood, Gates
     Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told Congress this week that there is plenty of competition in the software industry and the current model for U.S. antitrust law is "working." "The framework we have here in the U.S. encourages competition…I think the laws work very well," Gates told the Joint Economic Committee during a three-day summit on the high-tech industry and its impact on the economy. Gates was responding to a question by Sen. Charles Robb, D-VA, who asked him what his view was on competition and antitrust. Robb noted that he was not asking Gates about his view on the Justice Department's antitrust case against the software giant. "New technology companies are being created every day, and are generating incredible valuations overnight. The slew of recent mergers reminds us just how quickly the landscape of the high-tech marketplace is changing. That change will continue. In this industry in particular, the free market is working and working well," Gates said to the well-attended hearing.

Y2K
If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Y2K
     After months of wrangling, the Senate finally passed its Y2K liability bill, S. 96, by a 62-37 vote Tuesday, forcing the Clinton Administration to choose loyalties between the high-tech industry. The bill now faces a grinding conference process to iron out differences with the House version passed earlier this year, a veto threat from the White House, and a pledge by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, SD, to return to the floor within 24 hours with an alternative bill the president would be willing to sign. Daschle would not elaborate on how his alternative would be different from one he cosponsored with Sen. John Kerry, D-MA. Daschle made good on his promise by offering a list of eight principles for Y2K liability legislation. But the principles track closely to a Democratic alternative the Senate rejected last week 57-41. One Democratic leadership source said the difference between the Daschle plan and the Kerry amendment is that the details of the principles will be left to negotiation, while Kerry spelled out the steps needed to meet the goals.

Y2K
Federal Programs Don't Make Y2K Honor Roll
     While federal agency computer systems are nearly Y2K-ready, a number of health and welfare programs they administer are not, according to the eighth report card grading federal Y2K progress issued by Rep. Stephen Horn, R-CA. Horn, who heads the House's Y2K task force, looked at 43 federal programs and their ability to handle the 2000 date change.

Business
A Lott Of H-1B Visas
     Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-MS, says the Senate may take up legislation to increase the number of visas available for high-skilled foreign workers this year to address the high-tech industry's growing demand for workers. Noting that the cap on the number of H-1B visas available for fiscal year 1999 was officially reached Tuesday, Lott said in an interview that the problem is "going to be exasperated if we don't get a higher number." The high-tech industry waged a fierce battle in the 105th Congress to persuade Congress and the Clinton Administration to raise the cap on H-1B visas.

Export
IT's Out Of Control
     The Senate Banking Committee released draft legislation to reauthorize the Export Administration Act that aims to address concerns raised by high-tech industry officials and others about the current system that they say tries to control some products that are no longer controllable. Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, R-TX, urged high-tech industry officials who testified before the panel during a hearing on the issue to provide input on the draft bill before a markup tentatively set for June 29. Congress has launched several efforts to reauthorize the act, which expired in 1994, but lawmakers have been unable to find a workable compromise between national security and economic interests. The draft bill would establish an Office of Technology Assessment to determine if an item is a mass-market product by looking at factors such as whether it is sold in large volume and widely distributed. The legislation calls for removing controls on those items that are found to be mass-market products.

Encryption
Postman Rings Twice For Hastert
     The chairman of the select House committee that alleged China has tried to obtain U.S. technology to boost its nuclear weapons program says the panel's report should not be used as an argument against passage of legislation that would lift most controls on the export of generally available encryption. In a letter sent June 10 to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL, Rep. Christopher Cox, R-CA, expressed concern that some lawmakers have used his panel's report to bolster their arguments that the encryption bill H.R. 850, may harm national security and public safety.

Cyberterrorism
In The Meantime
     Congressional leaders are beginning to rally behind passing a bill that would delay for one year a requirement that chemical plants submit to the EPA worst-case disaster information by June 21. Republicans and Democrats disagree, however, about what should be done in the interim to ensure the information does not reach potential terrorists. A bipartisan group of senators has endorsed legislation that calls for the moratorium and would give the Clinton Administration authority to craft new rules for publicizing the information. Late Friday, House Republicans began circulating a similar bill. Meanwhile, House Democrats are nearing an agreement to endorse the delay, but to require Congress to create the new rules. An EPA plan - spawned by the Clean Air Act - would require publicizing data about thousands of chemical manufacturing facilities, including estimates of how many people would die from an explosion. Republicans believe the information would be a security threat if posted on-line.

E-commerce
Senate Gambling Bill On A Roll
     The Senate Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly supported legislation 16-1 that would ban online gambling, one day before a congressionally-appointed gambling commission is expected to recommend a similar ban. Internet service providers, however, still are concerned that a provision in S. 692 could hold them criminally liable for running advertising for legal gambling operations, such as casinos and hotels. ISPs are worried that ads for casinos could get them into legal trouble, although that remains unclear because of the way the bill is drafted. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, said she still would like to work with the bill's sponsor Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ, to resolve the issue. Feinstein had intended to offer an amendment to clarify the advertising issue, but instead decided to work directly with Kyl. "Internet service providers, including AOL, AT&T, Yahoo and MCI WorldCom have a major concern about advertising," Feinstein said. "Because they have the server, they don't want to be criminally liable for the advertising." But Kyl said online advertising is part of a larger issue that should be addressed in a different piece of legislation.

Net Governance
Abraham Boots Cybersquatters
     Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-MI, may introduce legislation to crack down on "cybersquatters," those who register famous domain names in the hope of extorting money from a trademark owner or to trick Internet users into visiting their Web site. The goal of the legislation is to extend trademark protection to domain names, according to a congressional aide familiar with the bill. The legislation would expand civil penalties for cybersquatting by allowing a trademark owner to recover statutory damages of $1,000 to $100,000 instead of actual damages. The legislation also would impose criminal penalties for those who are convicted of criminal use of a counterfeit trademark, which would involve registering or using a counterfeit trademark and acting "knowingly and fraudulently" or in bad faith.

Privacy
"Dead" Line?
     European Union and U.S. negotiators will not meet a June 21 deadline for concluding talks on the "safe harbor" privacy principles aimed at averting disruptions in data flows from Europe to the United States. Gerard de Graaf, first secretary for trade with the EU's European Commission delegation in Washington, said the two sides would not be able to tie up the remaining "loose ends" in time for the EU-U.S. summit later this month as they had hoped. Instead, they are aiming to finish the talks by the fall. Commerce Department Undersecretary David Aaron and EU negotiator John Mogg, the European Commission's director general for the single market and financial services, have been negotiating since last year on a way to ensure that U.S. companies can comply with the EU's data privacy directive, which bans the flow of personal information to third countries without adequate privacy protections. The goal is that those U.S. companies that abide by the safe harbor privacy principles would be viewed as having "adequate" privacy protection.

Telecom
Three Strikes For The Shot Clock
     The Senate Judiciary Committee again postponed actionon S. 467, a bill which would limit the role of the Federal Communications Commission in merger reviews. This is the second time consideration of the bill has been postponed, but committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-UT, said the panel could vote on the bill next week. Hatch is considering whether to incorporate language from a bill he and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-AZ, are considering that would take the FCC out of merger reviews altogether. A spokesman for the bill's sponsor, Sen. Mike DeWine, R-OH, said there have been no discussions with either Hatch or McCain on the issue. S. 467 would set time limits for the FCC to review telecom mergers. Bill cosponsor Sen. Herb Kohl, D-WI, likens it to a "shot clock" for the FCC. "It would keep the commission in the business of reviewing mergers but would get the commission out of the business of sitting on mergers for unreasonably long periods of time," he said in a statement. The McCain-Hatch plan, S. 1125, would leave merger reviews to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.

Internet Access
Free For All (Schools And Libraries)
     A company that launched a controversial Internet search service of government documents announced that it would provide the service for free to libraries and public schools. Cambridge, MA-Northern Light established the Web-based service last month in partnership with the Commerce Department's National Technical Information Service to provide users with easier access to documents on more than 20,000 government agency and military Web sites. The Web site, however, came under fire for charging a subscription fee for the service. Critics said Americans should not have to pay for government information. As a result, the Commerce Department announced shortly after the debut of the Web site, known as gov.search, that the service would be free while officials reviewed whether charging for it would violate government information dissemination practices.

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