On The Hill
AOL, Time Warner Merger Prompts Debate On Net Issues
     America Online and Time Warner this week proposed to merge, sparking a flurry of debate over how the move would affect broadband access, antitrust issues and database privacy. Industry watchers said the marriage would do little to cool the ongoing fight over how to regulate new high-speed Internet services. The duo also creates a formidable lobbying power. Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike DeWine, R-OH, said that the Judiciary Committee intends to hold hearings to scrutinize the pending deal.

Encryption
Encryption Regs Would Loosen Controls
     After months of anticipation and negotiations, the Clinton administration released regulations that would dramatically loosen encryption export controls, possibly ending a multi-year battle over the issue. The initial response to the regulations from high-tech industry representatives was positive, though they say they want to see how the regulations work in practice.

Business
Davis Says Labor Move Could Hurt Tech
     Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA, sent a letter to Labor Department Secretary Alexis Herman warning her of the negative impact the Employment Standards Administration's Wage and House Division's recommendations would have on the high-tech industry. The WHP had submitted an opinion that calls for including stock options as part of an employee's base pay. "The Internet is a product of small business, created by individual companies who, in order to put more capital into development offer their employees that chance to share in future success in exchange for higher wages," the letter read.

Crime
Reno's Plan Connects Feds Online Around The Clock
     Attorney General Janet Reno has proposed a round-the-clock national computer crime network designed to aid law enforcement officials in combating crime on-line. "While the Internet and other information technologies are bringing enormous benefits to society, they also provide new opportunities for criminal behavior," Reno said Monday in a keynote address to a conference of the National Association of Attorneys General at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.

White House
White House Puts Bugs In Net
     The White House announced it would ask Congress for additional money to speed up the development of a disease surveillance network aimed at improving the flow of electronic information about infectious diseases between state and national health officials and doctors and health facilities. In its fiscal 2001 budget, the Clinton administration will propose spending an additional $20 million above the $44.3 million it currently receives for the development of a surveillance initiative in all 50 states.

Courts
Microsoft Tempts Fate With Temp Workers
     The Supreme Court's decision this week not to hear an appeal by Microsoft in a case filed by a group of temporary employees who claimed the company owed them some benefits leaves many high-tech companies without the clarity they need in making workforce decisions, industry representatives say. The high court denied without comment to hear Microsoft's appeal. The case involves some temporary Microsoft workers who sued the company to obtain benefits provided to permanent employees. The employees sought a broad range of benefits but federal district and appeals courts said they were only eligible to participate in the company's discount stock purchase program and retirement plan.

Privacy
Supreme Court Upholds Privacy Act
     In an unexpected decision that could pave the way for broader privacy legislation emanating from Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the 1994 Driver's Privacy Protection Act, legitimizing Congress' right to pass laws governing the privacy interests of United States citizens over the objections of states that administer the laws.

Privacy
Medical Records Privacy Gets An Extension
     With Clinton administration rules governing the privacy of electronic records facing a deluge of more than 30,000 comments, including requests from members of Congress and consumer organizations, the Department of Health and Human Services has extended the deadline for response to February 17 from January 3.

Privacy
It All Depends On The Lingo
     Stand-alone Internet privacy language may get a push in the forthcoming session from at least one high-tech company. Scott Cooper, manager for technology policy for Hewlett-Packard, said the computer services company might lobby this year for a breakout piece of legislation that would require all commercial Web sites to disclose their privacy policies in "clear and conspicuous" terms.

Education
More Tech Savvy Teachers Needed, CEOs Say
     Now that most schools are stocked with computers and are wired to the Internet, the Education Department and the CEO Forum on Education and Technology turned their attention toward training teachers to use the new equipment.The CEO Forum issued a self-assessment tool for teacher colleges and universities so they can see how well they are preparing future teachers to use technology in the classroom.

E-commerce
Postal Service Says Take A Hike
     Some marketing and Internet industry representatives are predicting that a proposed big hike in catalog mail rates may force many companies to rely more heavily on the Internet to promote and sell their goods. The U.S. Postal Service announced it has asked the Postal Rate Commission to allow it to increase the cost of mailing catalogs by as much as 13.8 percent. The postal service also requested hikes in other mail rates as well, including a big boost in priority parcel mail, which is often used by Internet companies to send products ordered by its customers, a postal service spokesman said. The commission may take up to 10 months to consider the rate hikes and are unlikely to go into effect until 2001.

Intellectual Property
AOL Might Challenge Copyright Court Decision
     America Online is considering joining the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations in challenging a recent Utah federal court decision that could severely limit the practice of Internet hyperlinking by holding a Web site liable for copyright infringements by a third party.

Campaigns
Internet Issues Surface At GOP Debate
     Underscoring the increasing prominence of Internet issues in the national political debate, Net taxation, pornography and the pending merger of America Online and Time Warner were discussed during the 90-minute Republican presidential debate in Michigan early this week. Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer advocated policy that would eliminate pornography from the Internet, while Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, and Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, who both chair congressional committees that oversee tech issues, strongly supported filtering software that would enable parents, libraries and schools to block pornographic material on the Web. Texas Gov. George W. Bush has not yet weighed in during the debates on the Net tax and content issue.

Campaigns
Bradley Makes A Banner Showing
     Former senator and Democrat presidential aspirant Bill Bradley, D-NJ, who has been successful in raising over $1.3 million online for his campaign, has launched an Internet banner advertising campaign to reach constituents in California, New Hampshire and Iowa.

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