Taxes
E-commerce Commish Winds Down With A Whimper
     The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce wrapped up this week with a whimper, leaving its final meeting without a consensus that would have sent Congress a strong message on what to do with the Internet tax issue. The business, state and federal government factions tried to put a positive spin on the end result, saying the nine-month endeavor was successful since they all agree that state and local sales tax systems need to be simplified and that Internet access should remain tax-free. But all sides are split over the details of how to meet those goals. At issue is nexus, or the rules that determine when a business is required to collect sales tax on behalf of a state. The Clinton administration was criticized for abstaining from voting on any measure before the panel.

E-commerce
McCain Introduces Internet Tax Bill
     With contention among members of the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce indicating that consensus on Internet taxes is unlikely, Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, introduced legislation that would extend the current moratorium on new Internet taxes through 2006. The current moratorium expires mid-2001. Although McCain continues to support S. 1611, his prior legislation that would enact a permanent ban on Internet taxes, he has "become convinced that we need more time to determine how state and local governments will be affected," he said.

E-commerce
Feds Need To Give Net Pharmacies A Check Up
     Foreign Web sites could become a vehicle for illegal drug distribution unless the federal government bolsters its enforcement efforts against unlicensed Internet pharmacies, Commissioner of Food and Drugs Jane Henney warned the Senate. Speaking before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the subject of "Who Regulates Internet Pharmacies," Henney argued the threat posed by online pharmacies demanded approval of the Clinton administration's $10 million request for permanent FDA monitoring of online pharmacies. New legislation requiring U.S.-based drug stores to post information about their ownership and state licenses also is needed, she said.

Privacy
Privacy Bill Would Create FTC Approval Seal
     Attempting to assuage consumer concerns about online privacy without imposing mandates on Web businesses, Rep. Tom Campbell, R-CA, and Rep. Tom Udall, D-NM, have drafted a bill creating a government-sanctioned seal of approval for Web sites that protect privacy.

Cyberterror
Let's Foil Cyberattacks By Sharing
     Virginia Reps. Tom Davis, R, and James Moran, D, are expected to introduce legislation this week aimed at encouraging business interests to share information about cyberattacks with other industry representatives and government officials by providing some legal protection. The legislation would provide an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act for companies that agree to share information about cyberattacks with government officials. Some companies have indicated that they may be reluctant to provide sensitive information to the government if there is a chance that proprietary information could be made public under FOIA.

E-commerce
Lawmakers Roll Anti-Spam Plans Into One Package
     A bipartisan group of lawmakers agreed to join forces and combine their separate anti-spam bills into one legislative package aimed at stopping unsolicited commercial e-mail, as the House Commerce Committee's telecommunications panel took up the issue this week. Reps. Heather Wilson, R-NM, Gary Miller, R-CA, and Gene Green, D-TX, all introduced separate, but similar, bills last year. The new combined bill, H.R. 3113, wraps the consumer protection provisions from Wilson's bill, the Internet service provider protections from Miller's bill and the fraud measures from Green's bill into one large attack on spam.

Telecom
Lawmakers Look To Broaden Broadband In Rural Areas
     Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, and Olympia Snowe, R-ME, announced they plan to introduce legislation that would create a tax credit for expanding broadband telecommunications services into rural areas. Tax credits would be available for investments in broadband local access facilities and services in areas that are more than 15 miles from any town with more than 25,000 people. The area also must be in a county with a population density of less than 500 people per square mile. Companies willing to invest in the most powerful broadband facilities would receive an even larger tax credit.

Labor
In The Name Of The Worker
     The Clinton administration appears intent on moving forward with its proposed ergonomics regulations despite the storm of criticism from business interests and others, a key lawmaker said. Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-NC, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee's Workforce Protections panel, said he met with Charles Jeffress, assistant secretary of the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Hazards Administration, last week who indicated the agency is still determined to release regulations this fall, requiring businesses to minimize physical or ergonomic stresses associated with certain jobs.

Business
Duo Calls For Delay On Accounting Standards
     House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley, R-VA, and Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA, asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to tell the nation's accounting umpire, the Financial Accounting Standards Board to delay any action on proposals to change certain rules that could have a negative impact on the high-tech and financial industries. Bliley and Davis also asked the SEC, which has jurisdiction over FASB, to undertake a one-year study to determine the benefits of mergers and acquisitions to the U.S. economy and the effects of different accounting treatments on mergers and acquisitions activity.

Digital Divide
Lawmaker Wants To Bridge Digital Divide One House At A Time
     Low income families needing home computers to reinforce computer skills learned at school and in worker training programs could get a boost from legislation introduced that would offer them a maximum $500 tax credit. "To truly bridge the digital divide, we must build a public-private partnership to bolster these efforts and, more importantly, extend technology access to every home in America," said Rep. William Jefferson, D-LA.

E-commerce
Electronic Stock Exchanges Seek Regulatory Parity
     The Internet's transformation of the stock market will be able to continue only if Congress pushes the Securities and Exchange Commission to treat electronic communication networks on par with more established stockbrokers, a panel of online brokers and ECN representatives told the Senate. "The future of finance does not have a Wall Street address," said John Schaible, president of NexTrade, an ECN in Clearwater, FL, told the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities. "It has an Internet address." ECNs now handle one-third of all stock trades and many are pressing the SEC to let them become stock exchanges.

Net Governance
CDT To Help Clarify ICANN Mission
     The Center for Democracy and Technology has been given a grant by a private foundation to develop a bill of rights of sorts for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to better define the group's mission and limits. With money from the Ford Foundation, which provides grants and loans for projects aimed at strengthening democracy and other causes, CDT will examine how the public interest can be best represented in new Internet government structures. They include groups such as ICANN, chosen in 1998 by the U.S. government to take over the technical administration of the Internet, the World Wide Web Consortium, which develops common protocols for the Internet, and the Internet Engineering Task Force, which is focused on Internet architecture issues and the smooth operation of the Internet.

- by Sharon McLoone