Cyberterrorism
White House To Unveil Cyberterrorism Plan
     The Clinton administration's long-awaited national cyberterrorism protection plan was unveiled this week. The framework has been delayed since last spring as inter-agency turf battles slowed its completion and then concerns about civil libertarian rights bogged down its final release. The nation's first extensive plan to address cyber attacks includes a proposed $2 billion in spending next year to fortify the government's computer systems. It also seeks to bolster government research, create a team of information technology experts and establish alliances with the private sector.

Export
Group Pushes New Computer Export Policy
     A Clinton administration interagency working group has forwarded to the White House its recommendations on making further changes to the government's rules over the export of high performance computers. The working group, made up of officials from such agencies as the Commerce, State and Defense Departments, sent the recommendation last month, according to Commerce Undersecretary for Export Administration William Reinsch. When the administration announced in July it would loosen controls on computer export controls, officials promised to re-examine the rules in six months and make any necessary changes.

Trade
Congress Could Give Go To China, WTO
     President Clinton's national security adviser predicted that Congress will support China's entrance into the World Trade Organization, despite vocal opposition from organized labor and human rights activists. Sandy Berger made the forecast during a foreign policy speech at the National Press Club.

Business
Labor Department Rescinds OSHA Advisory
     In response to a barrage of criticism from lawmakers, the tech community and other business interests, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman this week rescinded an advisory requiring companies to ensure their employees who work at home operate in a safe environment. The advisory, sent to an inquiring business in November but only recently released publicly, required employers to "identify in advance possible hazards" associated with a home workplace and address those problems. Herman said she planned to consult with businesses, labor leaders and others about the issue and would host a national meeting on the topic in the near future. She also has asked the National Economic Council to establish a related interagency working group made up of officials from the Commerce Department, Small Business Administration and other agencies. High-tech leaders and others still say that they worry that the OSHA policy could re-emerge in a different form.

Business
Abraham Asks About INS Audit
     Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-MI, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration panel, is questioning the workings of an audit conducted by an outside firm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's H-1B visa program. In a letter sent late last month to Attorney General Janet Reno, Abraham said he is concerned the audit will focus on the computer problems that INS says are the cause of the miscount and not on other issues that may have contributed to the problem. The Justice Department oversees the INS. INS hired KPMG Peat Marwick after the agency revealed last year that it may have issued too many H-1B visas in fiscal year 1999.

Fraud
Online Pharmacies Appear On Lawmakers' Radar
     House lawmakers said that they are eyeing a proposal by the Clinton administration that calls for boosting the Food and Drug Administration's online pharmacy enforcement efforts and fining rogue Internet pharmacies, but said they weren't in a position to recommend concrete solutions for the issue. "Both they and we are in total areas of agreement on this," said Rep. Ron Klink, D-PA, who introduced legislation last year, H.R. 2763, that would require online pharmacies to post licenses and basic business contact information on their Web sites. "The administration is looking at my bill as a starting place."

Campaigns
You Gotta Have A Vision
     In their first major "vision" speeches of the century, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley devoted a major portion of his words to the Internet, while rival Vice President Al Gore, who has spent many hours crafting Internet policy, did not address it in his talk on leadership in the 21st Century. Former New Jersey Senator Bradley, who spoke in New Hampshire, noted that the United States is at the beginning of a momentous technological change that has connected the world, and the country must make sure that the digital divide is bridged so that everyone may benefit. To remedy the divide, Bradley said the education system needs to be "radically" improved and opportunities for continued learning must be made available.

Campaigns
McCain Touts Vote To Nix Net Porn
     Hoping to pique the interest of parents in South Carolina, the campaign for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, highlighted in a new television ad running in the state that McCain has voted to remove pornography from the Internet. In the ad, Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, says about McCain: "In Vietnam, John McCain and his fellow prisoners of war showed us what honor really means. He stood up for our families with a 17-year pro-life voting record, and has voted to take pornography off the Internet," according to The Washington Post.

On The Hill
GOP To Put Its Mark On Tech, E-commerce
     House Republican leaders laid out an agenda for 2000 that attempts to seize the high ground on traditional Democratic issues such as education and poverty while putting a GOP stamp on trade, e-commerce and taxes. House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-TX, cited the three "Ts" at the heart of the GOP agenda: tax relief, trade and technology.

Contributions
Book Says Tech Tops Gore Donors
     While high-tech companies do not contribute to campaigns at the level of the healthcare or tobacco industry, a new book, "The Buying of the President 2000," published by the Center for Public Integrity, shows that the high-tech industry played a prominent position in Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore's political career.

Lobbying
Big Blue, Microsoft Top Spenders In Congress
     IBM and Microsoft topped the list of spending on direct congressional lobbying expenditures for the first six months of 1999, continuing the trend of increasing high-tech prominence inside the Beltway, according to an analysis of Senate lobbying disclosure conducted by FEC Info, an independent firm that reviews and analyzes campaign and lobbying reports.

Lobbying
TechNet Names Indiana AG To Top Post
     The Technology Network named Indiana Attorney General Jeff Modisett as its new Democrat political director and general counsel, signaling a new direction for the industry's well-known bi-partisan lobbying organization. Modisett plans to bring his extensive background in consumer protection law and his experience as a federal, state and local legislator, rather than fundraising skills to TechNet. It is a move that is aimed at positioning the CEO-led organization into a policy making force, rather than just a money source for candidates.

Lobbying
Senate Uncloaks Lobbying Info Online
     The Senate is bringing its lobbying disclosure filing process into the 21st century by hiring a Netivation.com contractor, Public Disclosure, to build an Internet-based electronic lobby reporting system to be completed early this year.

Y2K
No News Is Good News
     Despite anticipation that the world's return to work Monday could trigger the Y2K bug's bite, the computer problem continued to make a lackluster showing and countries relaxed their Y2K monitoring operations. Bruce McConnell, director of the United Nations-backed International Y2K Cooperation Center said 135 countries have reported no computer bug-related calamities. Ten countries, including Japan and the United Kingdom, intend to ease their Y2K monitoring efforts. Overall, experts agreed that the nearly $100 billion spent by private businesses and the federal government in the United States to avert Y2K glitches was money well spent.

Fraud
SEC Sues Online Stock Scammer
     The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges against a Web celebrity stock picker who misled investors about stocks in which he had a personal interest. Tim Warren, associate regional director for the SEC's Midwest regional office, said there was nothing new about the scam, with the exception that Yun Soo Oh Park, known as Tokyo Joe, used the Internet to run his operation. Warren said that Internet enforcement has become a priority for the commission. The SEC action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Privacy
Online Auction Site Settles With FTC
     Internet auctioneer ReverseAuction.com agreed to settle charges raised by the Federal Trade Commission that the Web site violated consumers' privacy by skimming personal information from its competitor eBay and using it to solicit new business. The settlement, in which ReverseAuction.com does not admit any legal violations, bars the Web site operator from engaging in similar practices in the future, requires it to delete personal information of consumers who received unsolicited e-mail from the auction site but did not register as new customers, and requires the site to notify new customers who joined because of the spam of the FTC charges.

Internet Access
Qwest Lands $50 Million DOE Net Contract
     Telephone and Internet player Qwest Communications announced that it has received a $50 million Department of Energy contract to help create a high-speed network connecting DOE laboratories nationally. Under the seven-year contract, Qwest essentially will create a "virtual private network," Payne said, that would allow researchers to send research between lab locations and to develop new high-speed Internet applications.

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