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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Week Of August 2, 1999
In his Politechs column, Rory J. O'Connor asks if the public was too quick to find fault with FIDNET. People follows the rush to join the Bush campaign. The Issue of the Week rakes through the grassroots campaigns sprouting up on Capitol Hill. And the State Roundup follows state attorneys general who are rallying against e-commerce uniformity.
Taxes
High-Tech Gets Five, Suffers Setback
High-tech companies suffered a setback in their quest for a permanent R&D tax credit when House and Senate conferees included a five-year extension of the credit in their final tax-cut package. The conferees' decision to opt for the five-year extension of the tax credit, instead of the 10-year extension in the Senate bill, was a particular disappointment to the industry, given the high-profile pledge made by a group of Senate Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-MS, to push for a permanent extension in negotiations with the House. Democrats were quick to point to the Senate Republicans' failure to follow through on this promise. "Republicans should acknowledge that they should do what they say and quit pandering to the high-tech community," said Jack Pannell, spokesman for Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-NV. But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-TX, told National Journal's Technology Daily that the decision to go with only five years came down to money, saying it would have cost $14 billion to provide an additional five years.
VA-HUD Includes IT Funds
The House Appropriations Committee added some of the provisions included in legislation to boost information technology research funding sponsored by the chairman of the House Science Committee to its fiscal year 2000 veterans affairs and housing spending bill. The committee added the provisions as part of a broader amendment it adopted to its veterans and housing spending bill, which was approved by voice vote by the panel on Friday. The move means that the appropriators have agreed to go along with the information technology research priorities outlined in Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, R-WI,'s bill, H.R. 2086, instead of an initiative outlined by the Clinton Administration. Business
GOP Continues Push For More H-1Bs
Even as some lawmakers are calling on Congress to once again raise the cap in the number of temporary visas available for high-skilled foreign workers, critics argue that many of the questions that surrounded the debate around last year's increase have yet to be answered. Long-time critic Rep. Lamar Smith, R-TX, was among those who raised the issue during a hearing on these visas, known as H-1Bs, before the House Judiciary Committee's immigration panel, which Smith chairs. In response to pleas from the high-tech industry that they could not find enough skilled U.S. workers to meet their needs, Congress raised the cap on H-1B visas in 1998, boosting the number available for 1999 and 2000 from 65,000 to 115,000. But even with this increase, the Immigration and Naturalization Service reported that the cap had been hit in June — more than three months before the next fiscal year. Encryption
McCain Turns To House For Encryption
Acknowledging that he may not have the votes to move his own encryption bill through the Senate, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-AZ, says potential passage of a more aggressive House bill will put pressure on the Clinton Administration and the Senate to act on the issue. "I'm not sure we can get enough votes" to move his bill, S. 798, McCain told National Journal's Technology Daily. The bill would increase the strength-level of encryption products that can be exported without a license from 56 bits to 64 bits and establishes a system for allowing much stronger products to gain approval for export. McCain's committee approved the legislation in June. But McCain said even if his own bill doesn't go anywhere, he thinks passage of legislation that the House is likely to take up when Congress returns from its August recess will pressure the Senate to act on the issue. The Clinton Administration opposes both S. 798 and the House measure, H.R. 850. "The more pressure the better," McCain said. Meanwhile, supporters of H.R. 850, which would lift most controls on generally available encryption, are working on a strategy for assuring the bill's passage on the House floor without major changes. Five committees approved the bill, with the Intelligence and National Security committees adding amendments opposed by industry and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, the bill's sponsor.
Exports
Reid's Got Time On His Hands
A proposal to decrease the time Congress has to review administration changes to computer export rules was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday, a companion measure to one in the House. Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-NV, introduced the bill, S. 1483, which would cut from six months to one month the time Congress has to review certain changes to export control rules on high-performance computers. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-CA, has introduced similar legislation, H.R. 2623. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department issued regulations implementing most of the changes the Clinton Administration announced in July to loosen controls on the export of high-performance computers. In response to pleas from the computer industry, the administration announced last month it would be increasing the performance level on computers subject to government review before they can be exported. In some cases, the allowable performance levels have more than tripled under the new rules. Countries are divided into four tiers for the purpose of computer export regulations. Exports to countries that pose the most serious security concerns are placed in Tier 4 and are virtually banned from receiving U.S. high-performance computers, while exports to Western European countries and other strong U.S. allies are in Tier 1 and face few restrictions. E-rate
E-rate Makes Some Lawmakers I-rate
A federal appeals court upheld a $2 billion program to fund technology discounts for schools and libraries, saying the FCC reasonably interpreted the sometimes "ambiguous" 1996 Telecommunications Act . The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said e-rate funds can be used to pay for Internet services and internal wiring, and to support non-telecommunications carriers that provide Internet services. Phone company GTE argued that the FCC exceeded its authority by allowing e-rate funds to support Internet services rather than basic telecommunications services. The court said that the 1996 law did not specify Internet services, but it didn't prohibit them either. "Although we agree with GTE that the statute and its legislative history do not support the FCC's interpretation, the language of the statute is ambiguous enough," said the opinion. Education groups expressed relief in the court's support for the program that the FCC agreed to fully fund this year at $2.25 billion. But Sen. Conrad Burns, R-MT, and Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-LA, introduced legislation earlier this year — S. 1004 and H.R. 1746 — that would revamp e-rate funding and support it through a telephone excise tax. E-commerce
ISPs Toast House Vote On Online Alcohol
House lawmakers voted 310-112 to shield Internet service providers from lawsuits involving online businesses that run afoul of state liquor laws, as part of a larger bill, H.R. 2031, that would cap online alcohol sales. "It allows states to protect children from interstate bootlegging over the Internet," said the bill's chief sponsor Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-FL. "The only e-commerce this will destroy in the 21st century is illegal e-commerce." Opponents to the bill said it could stifle electronic commerce and could lead states to tax alcohol sold online. But supporters were quick to note that they support the Internet and states' rights to enforce alcohol laws. The issue, however, has been part of a larger fight between liquor wholesalers and distributors and independents that sell directly to consumers online or by mail. The House unanimously supported an amendment offered by Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, Christopher Cox, R-CA, and John Conyers, D-MI, that would limit the liability of ISPs in cases in which states head to federal court to stop out-of-state businesses from shipping alcohol into their states. E-commerce
Divided They May Fall
An act designed to foster e-commerce throughout the nation may hit some roadblocks from state attorneys general and consumer groups who say the legislation, if passed, favors a small number of licensors at the expense of other businesses and consumers. Last week, the National Conference on Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) signed a bill that would standardize commercial laws governing the licensing of intellectual property and software products. Although current laws govern the sale of tangible goods such as cars and appliances, the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA) sets guidelines for licensing information products. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, along with 24 other attorneys general, sent a letter dated July 23 to NCCUSL, saying the proposed act would trump existing state consumer protection laws. The act is strongly backed by high-tech companies. Crime
The Site's Safe With Senate
The Senate unanimously cleared the House's amended version of a bill that would limit the release of "worst case scenario" information about chemical plants, an environmental safety issue that transformed into a debate about the available of information over the Internet versus guarding against the threat of terrorist attacks. The Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act, S. 880, places a further one-year restriction on access to information about so-called "worst-case scenarios," and allows the Clinton Administration to set rules governing the future availability of the information in electronic form. The law amends a portion of the Clean Air Act of 1990 that had required the nation's 66,000 toxic chemical plants to compile and release such information to the EPA by June 21, 1999. On The Hill
High-Tech Hoopla Surrounds Task Force Plan
The Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force unveiled an "Action Package" that showcased what members said is their support for technology companies, highlighting six recently-passed bills and another five measures they plan to pass this year, in addition to other legislation they hoped to work on in the 106th Congress. Most of the package contained bills that already had been introduced, except for a worker training bill expected to be introduced later this week by Sen. Bill Frist, R-TN, and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-AZ. Like the House GOP "e-Contract," introduced last month by House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-TX, the package represented a culling together of legislation rather than presentation of new priorities. That legislation includes the Y2K bill, the R&D tax credit extension, federal investment in R&D, intellectual property protection and a tax credit for computer donations to schools. Bills the Republican senators expected to pass this year include digital signatures, S. 761, an Internet filtering bill, S. 97, an anti-cybersquatting bill, S. 1255, an increase in H-1B visas, S. 1440, and Frist and McCain's worker training bill. E-commerce
Where Nobody Worries About Penmanship
The House Commerce Committee unanimously approved an electronic signature bill this week. A substitute version of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, H.R. 1714, sailed through the committee, and Chairman Tom Bliley, R-VA, predicted it could be on the floor by early September. Bliley said the bill would facilitate more commerce on the Internet because it would create a legal national framework for accepting e-signatures in commercial transactions. E-commerce
Thanks, But No Thanks
Fearing that small businesses could be left out of the Internet revolution, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, wants the Commerce Department to oversee a new program to help those businesses get online. But one small business association said the entrepreneurial spirit is already moving small businesses from Main Street to the Internet without any help from the government. "We don't believe it requires a government role," said Kristy Simms, legislative affairs manager for the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses. "We're a little leery every time they set up a new government program." S. 1494 would set up an e-commerce extension service, similar to the Agriculture Department's Cooperative Extension Service for farmers, to provide impartial advice to small business owners looking to open shop on the Web. E-commerce
Like A Kid In A Candy Store
Online pharmacies should not be run like virtual candy stores, said Rep. Ron Klink, D-PA, on Thursday as he unveiled legislation that pushes for more stringent guidelines for that industry. Klink, joined by Reps. Gene Greene, D-TX, and Bart Stupak, D-MI, has introduced the Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act. The bill requires that an online pharmacy list the name of its principle practitioner, provide the telephone number and address of its place of business, and document in what states the pharmacy and pharmacists are licensed to practice.
Lobbying
Getting Cozy In The Chamber
The nation's largest business lobby, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, fresh from its success with the Y2K bill, is working on a strategy to coax the new information technology sector to join the blue chip organization in lobbying on other business issues. Toward that end, within the next several weeks, the chamber expects to announce an e-commerce advisory panel, with representatives culled from a mix of telecommunications, computer manufacturing, information technology, Internet and biotech companies. The panel would help the organization identify the policies it wants to lobby on, provide expertise, and communicate with the rest of the industry.
We welcome your feedback; please e-mail comments to Managing Editor Sharon McLoone at smcloone@nationaljournal.com.
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