White House
Science, Tech See Big Boost In Clinton Budget
     In his $1.84 trillion FY 2001 budget proposal, President Clinton called for tremendous boosts in science and technology research, digital divide initiatives and efforts to guard the nation's critical computer systems against cyberattacks. Under the proposal sent to Congress Monday, civilian R&D would comprise 51 percent of the federal government's spending on science and technology. Also, the National Science Foundation would receive $155 million — an $83 million increase — in funding for an initiative aimed at improving education in the areas of math, science, engineering and technology. While congressional Republicans called Clinton's budget proposal "dead on arrival," the administration's R&D funding proposals might survive since the House is expected to pass H.R. 2086, which would give $4.8 billion for IT research by 2004. In its funding request to Congress, the Commerce Department made the digital divide and e-commerce expansion its top priorities. The department asked for $175 million in funds to allocate to divisions handling the efforts.

Crime
Reno Plugs Cybercrime Plan In Wake Of Hacks
     Hackers flooded some of the Web's most popular e-commerce sites with "denial of service attacks" this week, spawning increased attention to Internet security issues. After sites such as Yahoo, Amazon, buy.com, E*Trade and eBay were flooded with so many "pings" by attackers that they were effectively shut down for hours, Attorney General Janet Reno named preventing cyberterrorism as one of her department's top priorities. President Clinton has called for a White House summit on Internet security and administration agencies from the Defense Department to the Federal Bureau of Investigations have launched examinations into the attacks. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-UT, and Rep. Bill McCollum, R-FL, a member of the crime subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, said they would hold hearings on the issue.

White House
Industry Warms To Cyberterror Plan
     The Clinton administration's proposals to protect the nation's critical computer networks are gaining favor among private sector computer security officials, who are preparing to discuss how they would detail the plan at a Feb. 22 meeting. The meeting, held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will bring together businesses working in one of nine "sectors" with the federal agency coordinating their efforts.

Privacy
Torricelli Introduces Privacy Bill
     Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-NJ, formally introduced privacy legislation Thursday, predicting that additional measures would likely follow from other lawmakers. The bill would mandate that Web sites obtain customer consent before collecting personally identifiable information or be subject to liability. It also would require the disclosure of software "cookies" when they are placed on a browser by a Web site. Unlike privacy legislation, S. 809, introduced by Sens. Conrad Burns, R-MT, and Ron Wyden, D-OR, which would require Web sites to allow customers to "opt-out" of data-sharing arrangements, Torricelli's bill mandates an "opt-in" requirement. This requires companies to get permission before they can use the data for other purposes.

Privacy
Caucus To Focus On Privacy
     Congressmembers announced the formation of the Congressional Privacy Caucus and the Senate Democratic Privacy Task Force, noting that privacy has become one of the highest priorities for the year. The Senate Task Force will be chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, who said his group will both help members understand privacy protection measures as well as potentially craft legislation. The Congressional Privacy Caucus will be co-chaired by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, Sen. Richard Bryan, D-NV, Rep. Ed Markey, D-MA, and Rep. Joe Barton, R-TX.

Business
Outlook Rosy For More Visas?
     Sens. Spencer Abraham, R-MI, and Orrin Hatch, R-UT introduced a bill Wednesday that would increase the cap on H-1B visas to 195,000 through 2002. It calls for exemptions for those working at research institutions or universities and those who have just recently graduated from U.S. colleges with masters or doctorate degrees. Industry groups such as the American Electronics Association and American Business for Legal Immigration commended the bill as a good beginning to solving the worker shortage that has plagued the industry.

Business
Abraham Says March To It
     Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-MI, said that he is committed to working with the House Commerce Committee on a compromise on digital signature legislation by March. An aide to Abraham said that staffers from the Senate and House Commerce committees would meet this week to discuss how the conference should be handled. But once congressional conferees are named, the process should progress quickly.

Taxes
Business Groups Flesh Out Internet Tax Proposal
     A group of business representatives from the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce issued what they billed as a compromise measure for the group debating the issues of tax collection on the Internet. Under the proposal, all sales of books, music, software and other products that can be digitized would be sold sales-tax free in both their electronic and tangible forms. The current three-year Internet tax moratorium would also be extended for five years. Staff from America Online, Time Warner, Charles Schwab, MCI WorldCom, AT&T and Gateway crafted the proposal, which has garnered criticism from local and state government organizations.

Trade
Industry Could Face Fight On Trade, China Deal
     Despite the failure of the World Trade Organization's meeting in Seattle, representatives of the high-tech industry urged the United States to move forward with efforts to ensure barrier-free trade, electronic commerce trade and reduce tariffs on high-tech products. In a separate post-mortem hearing Thursday mulling what went wrong at the WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle, Sen. Max Baucus, D-MT, foreshadowed battles ahead for getting permanent normal trade relations status for China. "A lot of members are concerned China won't live up to the deal," he said, adding that he plans to introduce a bill that would help monitor whether China is meeting its trade agreements. "Its track record is not good." Baucus also complained about China's intellectual property record, pointing to the nation's history of selling pirated software and other products.

Business
Goodlatte Says Crypto Regs Send Bad Message
     Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, blasted China on its new regulation that restricts the use of foreign encryption and requires companies using encryption in the nation to register with its government. Goodlatte, who is the chief sponsor of encryption legislation in the House, called on China to rescind the policy, saying that it sends the wrong message while pushing to enter the World Trade Organization.

Internet Access
Biden Offers Tech Boost To Nonprofit
     Sen. Joseph Biden, D-DE, plans to introduce legislation that would pump $20 million into the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to create technology centers in low-income communities. Biden's "Kids2000 plan" would authorize $20 million in funding for the Justice Department to distribute to the Boys and Girls Clubs over six years. The funding would cover teachers for the technology centers and any building upgrades needed to support the computer centers. PowerUP, a nonprofit group supported by America Online, Gateway, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft, among others, will provide computers, software and teacher training for the federally supported technology centers, Rooney said.

On The Hill
Dems Include Tech In Policy Agenda
     Touting the robust economy, Democrats unveiled their 2000 congressional agenda Thursday, highlighting some key technology-related issues such as privacy, expanding technology in education and bridging the digital divide. The plan calls for protecting data privacy, especially in the areas of medical and financial information. On education, the Democrats proposed wiring more schools for the Internet, improving teacher training on how to use technology and preserving the e-rate Internet discount program for schools and libraries. The plan also calls for boosting investments in research and development, promoting e-commerce growth and narrowing the digital divide, the disparity between those with access to technology and those without it.