Privacy
Lawmakers Strike Deal On Privacy Provisions
     Working through Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday, Republican and Democratic lawmakers reached a deal on the controversial community-lending provisions tucked inside the broader financial services reform bill. Without reconciliation on those elements, the White House had threatened to veto the bill, which also includes several provisions related to privacy that are being closely followed by the high-tech community. On the verge of a final conference committee vote late Thursday afternoon, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, declared that he would vote against the Financial Services Modernization Act, H.R. 10, because it lacks strict privacy protections. Shelby made no apologies for his stance, even if that meant that his vote could defeat a bill whose basic principles enjoy broad bipartisan support. He noted that he was bucking enormous pressure from the powerful financial services industry which desperately wants the bill. The status of the privacy provisions after the final negotiations was unclear as of deadline.

Civil Liberties
Justice Department Could Hamper FOIA
     The Department of Justice is cultivating controversial plans to avoid or repeal portions of the Freedom of Information Act because of concerns the law might keep businesses from playing a crucial role in the Clinton Administration's computer network security plans. Department of Justice official Steve Mitchell said that in discussions with businesses over the administration's plans to protection critical information infrastructure in the United States, FOIA emerged as a major obstacle to their participation. The businesses are afraid that their proprietary information could be made public under FOIA if they partner with government agencies.

Cyberterrorism
The Double-edged Sword Of IT
     Spurred by the rising threat of hacking attempts, the Pentagon is rethinking its approach to network security by requiring top-secret security clearances for all system administrators. The Pentagon also will roll out a system of authentication for all the agency's computer users, according to the Department of Defense's chief information officer. Increasingly, information that is considered "sensitive" but not officially classified, such as hospital records, aircraft dispositions and research laboratory findings, has become a vulnerable part of the Defense Department's arsenal of information. That's because of the ability of outside computers to assemble snippets of apparently harmless material into a valuable dossier, according to Arthur Money, Defense Department CIO and senior civilian official in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense.

On The Hill
Computer Security Could Get Boost
     A House Science subcommittee approved bipartisan legislation to help federal agencies better protect their electronic information systems. The Computer Security Enhancement Act of 1999, H.R. 2413, which quickly cleared the Technology Subcommittee by voice vote, would modify the Computer Security Act of 1987. The 12-year-old law requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to provide federal civilian agencies with standards and guidelines for guarding sensitive but unclassified electronic data. The bill would require NIST to promote the use of commercially available encryption products, in order to reduce the costs and increase the availability of data protection technologies for federal agencies.

Campaigns
Bush Unveils Export Policy
     Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. George W. Bush endorsed congressional efforts to overall the nation's export administration process, changes that would make it significantly easier for high-tech companies to sell their products overseas. Bush made the proposal during a dinner speech at the "Agenda 2000" conference, a high-tech community gathering in Scottsdale, AZ. "Our current technology export system just doesn't work. The administration seemed to concede this last month when, after years of talk and delay, it reversed itself on the sale and export of encryption technologies," said a draft of the speech. At the same conference, Vice President Al Gore blamed the Republican-led Congress for blocking looser export controls on mass-market computer products, telling computer executives that the Administration has been proactive about easing export control policy.

Exports
Lawmakers Say Export Process Secure
     The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee released a report that they say provides evidence the current export control process for high-performance computers ensures powerful machines do not end up in the wrong hands.

Taxes
Bill Extends R&D Tax Credit In Short Term
     Dashing the business community's hopes for a long-term extension, the Senate Finance Committee approved legislation to reauthorize the research and development tax credit and other expiring tax provisions for a year and a half. By voice vote, the committee approved the $8.5 billion package that would extend some expiring tax benefits including the R&D tax credit until Dec. 31, 2000. This "extenders" bill also would extend a provision, favored by high-tech companies, that would allow workers to receive up to $5,250 a year in tax-free financial assistance from their employers for undergraduate and graduate education. The current provision, which is set expire May 31, only applies to undergraduate courses.

Taxes
Wireless Tax Bill Could Influence Net Taxes
     A new bill radically simplifying the way taxes are collected on wireless communications could provide a framework for taxing the Internet, officials said this week. Sens. Sam Brownback, R-KS, and Byron Dorgan , D-ND, unveiled their Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, which would eliminate multiple jurisdictions placing taxes on the same wireless phone call. The legislation has received support of the National Governors' Association and its chairman, Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt, who suggested that the same framework may be considered by the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce.

E-commerce
Congress Tucks Tax Commish Funding Into Approps Bill
     Just when it looked as if Congress would refuse to pay for its own creation, House and Senate lawmakers allotted $1.4 million for the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, quietly tucking it into a compromise funding bill for the Commerce, Justice and State departments approved early this week. The funding was handwritten into the notes from the conference committee, and tagged as a "new item." The House, Senate and President Clinton would then all have to approve the appropriations bill before the commission's funding kicks in. A spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee said that he could not identify who requested the commission's funding.

Taxes
Battle Rages Over ISP 'Modem Tax'
     House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-TX, fired another round in the war of words between Capitol Hill and the Federal Communications Commission Wednesday, when he sent another letter to FCC Chairman William Kennard demanding to know whether the agency was considering new fees for Internet service providers. Armey was responding to reports that a staff member from FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth's office had told the United States Telecom Association that the agency is dealing with the issue this year.

Taxes
You Say Tax, I Say Tariff
     An international group said late last week it has widespread support among its 29 member countries for tariff-free e-commerce, bolstering the chances U.S government and business will get a highly coveted moratorium on e-commerce tariffs at the November World Trade Organization meeting. During a meeting of international leaders, business representatives and consumer interest groups in Paris this week, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development got consensus that the current ban on e-commerce tariffs should be extended and eventually made permanent, said Rachel Thompson, an OECD official.

E-commerce
Online Wine Provisions Totters Toward Passage
     House and Senate lawmakers are moving closer to approving provisions within a juvenile justice bill that would protect Internet service providers from liability from a proposed prohibition of online alcohol sales. But the uncertain future of the juvenile justice legislation — numerous concerns remain about its gun provisions — could tank the ban on online alcohol sales for this year. "Our posture right now is to wait for juvenile justice," said Dan McFaul, senior legislative assistant for Rep.Joe Scarborough, R-FL. "If juvenile justice doesn't pass, they may pursue it through" a bill in the Senate drafted by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-UT.

E-commerce
Goodlatte Drops Online Gambling Bill
     Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, formally introduced legislation that would prohibit most online gambling.The as-yet-unnumbered bill builds on legislation Goodlatte offered last year, H.R. 2380, and a bill pending in the Senate, S. 692, offered by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ. Goodlatte's bill would ban all online gambling with the exception of closed-loop horse and dog racing, state-sanctioned lotteries and fantasy sports leagues.

Cyberporn
COPA Rules Strike Balance
     The Federal Trade Commission unveiled its final data-sharing rules under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which pleased both privacy advocates and Web business interests. COPPA, passed last year with widespread support from a coalition of on-line businesses called the Online Privacy Alliance, mandates that certain commercial Web sites obtain parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children less than 13. The final rule adopts a "sliding scale" for verification requirements. It permits Web sites that only collect information for internal use to obtain consent by sending e-mail to parents after a child attempts to register for a site. For sites that plan on disclosing personally identifiable information to third parties, or making it available through chat rooms or interactive activities, operators must obtain consent via mail, telephone, or fax machine.

Cyberporn
Full House For COPA Commission
     A commission charged with figuring out how to keep children away from sexually explicit material on-line is now fully staffed — a mere two days before the law establishing the group is set to expire. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-MO, on named his choices to fill the last slots on the 21-member Commission on Child Online Protection — George Vradenburg, senior vice president at America Online; Larry Shapiro, executive vice president at Disney's Buena Vista Internet Group; and C. James Schmidt, chief information officer at San Jose State University — were named nearly one year after the October 21, 1998, enactment of the Child Online Protection Act.

Budget
Budgeting Big Bucks For Science
     The Senate late last week cleared a measure that would provide a $126 million increase in funding for information technology activities for fiscal year 2000, sending the legislation to President Clinton, who is expected to sign it. The Senate, on a 93-5 vote, cleared the conference report accompanying a bill, H.R. 2684, that would provide more than $90 billion in funding for the departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and several independent agencies, including the National Science Foundation.

Campaigns
Net Amendment Could Become Bill
     Sen. Bob Bennett, R-UT, along with co-sponsor Sen. Conrad Burns, R-MT, plan to offer legislation to define how election laws apply to the Internet, after their efforts to attach such language to the campaign-finance reform bill failed. They initially planned to offer the legislation as an amendment to a campaign finance reform bill, but parliamentary procedures have prevented it from being attached to that bill. In response, Bennett and Burns have said they will offer it as a freestanding bill. The bill will allow individuals who are not associated with a campaign to express their views about candidates on the Internet, including chat rooms and Web sites, without having to file these actions as campaign contributions with the Federal Election Commission. However, if an individual solicits campaign contributions for a candidate, the current FEC laws would still apply.

Net Governance
ITU Wants In On Net Governance
     The International Telecommunications Union has joined the ranks of those who want to oversee the governing of the Internet. Speaking in Geneva, ITU Secretary General Yoshio Itsumi said the organization would work to promote technical standards for telecommunications, narrow the gap between the countries with poor Internet access and join the debate over domain name registration.

Domains
U.S. Frozen Out Of First Three ICANN Seats
     Intellectual property interests have been assured a direct voice on the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, with the election Tuesday of Canadian lawyer Jonathan Cohen. But the election of Cohen to a one-year term means that the United States has been frozen out of the first three elected seats available on the board of ICANN, an organization chartered by the U.S. government last year to take over administration of the Internet. The two other representatives chosen by the Names Council to serve three and two-year terms respectively on the board are Alejandro Pisanty, director of computing academic services at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Amadeu Abril i Abril, a law professor at Spain's Ramon Llull University.

Privacy
House Panel Postpones Cyberstalking Vote
     The House Judiciary Committee postponed consideration of legislation that would broaden the definition of stalking crimes to include "cyberstalking" cases in which offenders use the Internet to send threatening e-mail messages across state lines. The committee now plans to take up H.R. 1869 on Monday, after the bill's sponsor Rep. Sue Kelly, R-NY, has a chance to review proposed amendments from the panel's Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bill McCollum, R-FL.

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