Encryption
Delay In Regs Deemed Necessary
     Industry officials and lawmakers generally were supportive of the Clinton Administration's decision this week to delay release of its encryption regulations by a month, saying they would prefer that more time be given to improving a draft released in November. The White House had promised to have the regulations implementing its shift on encryption export controls finished by Dec. 15. It announced in September that it would allow for the export without a license of "retail" encryption products of any strength and non-retail products of any strength destined for non-government users to all but seven nations. Exports of strong non-retail encryption to government users would require a license.

Export
There's No End In Sight
     The Commerce Department is still falling far short of completing all the congressionally-mandated end user checks on restricted exports of U.S.-made high-performance computers, the agency said this week. In its annual report to Congress, the department said that it had performed 240 checks on computers sent to the 50 so-called Tier Three countries, such as China, Russia and India, for the year ending in mid-November. While that's more than double the 101 such visits for the same period one year earlier, it is still well below the 700 checks required because of the expanding export market for U.S. machines in some countries.

Crime
Lawmakers Push To Fight Computer Crime
     With increased concern that criminals might take advantage of potential Y2K computer problems to hack into systems, Rep. Matt Salmon, R-AZ, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, sent a letter to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees urging them to quickly consider legislation that would increase the ability of law enforcement agencies to pursue computer crimes. The bills, S.1314 and H.R. 2816, both titled the "Computer Crime Enforcement Act," would authorize the Department of Justice to provide $25 million in grants to local enforcement agencies to buy equipment and train staff to investigate computer crimes. There have not been any hearings yet on the bills.

Taxes
The Ball Could Be In Congress' Court
     The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce agreed to put off any heavy lifting on Internet sales tax issues until its final meeting in March, as it wrapped up its meeting with members still sharply divided over the issue. Commission member John Sidgmore, vice chairman of MCI WorldCom, even suggested that the commission should take a pass and not recommend anything to Congress next year. Congress created the panel as part of the Internet Tax Freedom Act to recommend ways in which the current tax system should address electronic commerce.

Privacy
Intelligence Panel, NSA Resolve Eavesdropping Dispute
     The National Security Agency has resolved a closed-door disagreement with the House Intelligence Committee caused this summer by the agency's refusal to share information about its worldwide electronic eavesdropping programs. The disagreement — which has sharpened suspicions among privacy advocates about possible illicit eavesdropping — came when the NSA's general counsel refused to hand over some information to the committee, chaired by Rep. Porter Goss, R-FL. A statement from the committee said they had accommodated the counsel's privacy concerns, and added they have since received all the information they requested.

Crime
Taking A Byte Out Of Cybercrime
     The Justice Department announced it is providing almost $3 million in grants to expand a program to help local and state law enforcement crack down on the exploitation of children using the Internet. The funding will be used to double to 20 the number of local and state task forces aimed at curbing Internet-based crimes against children, such as distribution of child pornography and solicitation of children. The jurisdictions that will receive the grants include the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Utah, along with Las Vegas, Seattle, Knoxville, TN and Delaware County, PA.

E-commerce
Groups Seek Alternative For Online Fights
     BBBOnline and some U.S. companies are working on a proposal to establish a global alternative process for consumers to settle disputes with online merchants quickly and inexpensively, those involved in the project say. If a customer in Germany buys a product via the Internet from a U.S. company and is unsatisfied with it, the customer could seek redress through alternative dispute resolution (ADR), in which the company has agreed ahead of time to participate. ADR is a process designed to bring disputing parties together to settle their conflict through mediation.

Privacy
FTC Will Be The Judge Of That
     The Federal Trade Commission, which has long supported industry self-regulation of online privacy, announced that it would form an advisory committee to evaluate the industry's practices. The committee, which will be made up of about 30 members, will decide what is reasonable access to personal information and what security is needed to protect that information. The committee will also examine whether the extent of access Web sites provide should change with the level of personal information collected, if the costs of obtaining consumers' information should be considered and how individuals seeking access can obtain personal information.

Campaigns
Forbes Makes Privacy Part Of His Platform
     Republican presidential candidate and magazine publisher Steve Forbes harshly attacked the Clinton Administration's policy on medical privacy and then laid out a platform on how he would protect the privacy of individuals' personal information. Forbes' ten-point plan includes encouraging widespread sales of strong encryption products and software that would allow Internet users to block Web site operators from tracking their e-mail and their habits on the Web. Forbes also announced the appointment of a high-tech advisory committee.

Campaigns
Education On Their Minds
     Improving education was the overriding theme when high-tech CEOs met with Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush. About 75 company executives met for several hours with the Bush campaign in Austin this week and then asked the governor specific questions about his high-tech policy. Of the questions asked, many were about Bush's ideas on reforming education, an issue that plagues many executives who are having trouble filling jobs in their industry due a lack of skilled workers.

Telecom
Who Made The Grade?
     The end-of-year rankings are starting to roll in, and the United States Telecom Association issued its opinion on federal regulation and congressional action during the past session, giving the two arms an average grade of "C" for their work on issues such as promoting telecommunications competition and increasing technology deployment. The association, which represents telephone companies nationwide, released its legislative and regulatory report card for 1999 on Tuesday, giving the Federal Communications Commission the lowest grade of a "D" for "Deployment of New Technologies" and a high score of "C+" in "Reducing Regulation." Meanwhile, the Telecommunications Industry Association and the MultiMedia Telecommunications Association announced findings of their market review and forecast for 2000. Findings indicated that the telecom market grew more than 11.4 percent in 1999, with the fastest growing equipment categories including computer-telephone integration hardware and software, which went up 66.2 percent.

Y2K
Feds Face Y2K Head On
     With just days left before the Year 2000, the federal government scored near perfect on its Y2K preparedness, according to a report released by the Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday. It showed that 99.9 percent of the government's mission critical systems are prepared to pre-empt any problems that could be caused by the Year 2000 computer bug. Also this week, the Defense Department issued its final prognosis for the Y2K readiness of its mission critical systems, saying it is completely ready. Government and industry officials also said this week that they have established a national information center to disseminate information about potential problems and provide assistance.

Y2K
Report: Computer Glitch To Cause Moderate Impact Worldwide
     Numerous organizations around the world will experience problems from the Y2K computer bug, but the computer errors are likely to have only a moderate impact, according to a final report released by the International Y2K Cooperation Center.

We welcome your feedback; please e-mail comments to Managing Editor Sharon McLoone at smcloone@nationaljournal.com.