Piracy
Officials Weigh Merits Of E-Music 'Decoys,' Anti-Piracy Tools
     Members of a key House subcommittee appeared evenly split about whether a bill to exempt copyright holders from anti-hacking laws is necessary or ill considered. The measure would create a "safe harbor" for copyright holders who put "decoys" of their songs or "interdict" the transfer of digital files over file-sharing networks. California Democrat Howard Berman vehemently defended his bill, H.R. 5211, as did co-sponsors Bob Wexler, a Florida Democrat, and Republican Howard Coble of North Carolina. Rick Boucher, D-Va., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., all objected to the measure, although Goodlatte said he strongly supports copyright law. StreamCast Networks CEO Steve Griffin said if he had been invited to the hearing on the bill he would have said his company, which makes the Morpheus file-sharing software, is not responsible for consumers' copyright violations. Staffers had said Griffin was not invited to the hearing because they did not want to invite a representative from a company that enables piracy.

Privacy
Business Groups Favor Narrow Online Privacy Legislation
     Business groups endorsed one of Congress' least sweeping online privacy bills, even as the key sponsor said he would need to compromise with Democrats on the proposed strong pre-emption of state laws and a flat bar on new lawsuits. Six of the seven witnesses at a House subcommittee hearing on the bill, H.R. 4678, supported it. But Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, criticized the bill's proposed bar on privacy-related lawsuits, its pre-emption of state laws, and its lack of limitations on law enforcement's ability to access to personal data. Bill sponsor Cliff Stearns voiced the hope for a compromise with House and Senate Democrats, many of whom support a more restrictive privacy measure, S. 2201.

Cyber Security
Senate, House Staff In Final Talks On Cyber-Security Bill
     Congressional staffers are trying to resolve final differences over a bill that would authorize nearly $1 billion for cyber-security research in hopes of passage this fall, congressional and industry sources said. "The bills are very similar and we're very close to an agreement," said Heidi Tringe, spokeswoman for the House Science Committee. A Senate aide said staffers are "pre-conferencing the bill," a process designed to ease formal House-Senate negotiations before sending compromise language to both chambers. The House passed the bill, H.R. 3394, by a 400-12 margin in February. Competing Senate legislation, S. 2182, modified the House language to reflect two related measures, S. 1900 and S. 1901. The legislation would authorize $978 million for research work and fellowship programs related to computer and network security.

Security
NIPC Director Heralds New Era Of Interagency Cooperation
     Ron Dick, the director of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), said the FBI's new effort to partner with the U.S. Secret Service on investigating cyber crimes is aimed at marshalling resources. At the launch of the national cyber-security plan last week, the FBI and Secret Service announced a new pilot program on cyber crime involving the agencies' field offices. "If you look at what we've done with the InfraGard program and what they've done with the Electronic Crimes Task Force ... we can leverage the capabilities of both staffs," Dick said this week in an interview with National Journal's Technology Daily. InfraGard enables the private sector and federal government to share information about cyber crimes confidentially; the Secret Service task force in New York investigates electronic financial crimes. Dick also defended the administration's decision not to have regulations in the national cyber-security plan.

Security
Justice Department Formalizes Information-Sharing Guidelines
     Attorney General John Ashcroft released guidelines designed to formalize the way federal prosecutors share information, including data obtained from electronic surveillance, with the CIA and other intelligence officials. The guidelines flow from last year's anti-terrorism law, which empowered prosecutors to share information obtained through grand-jury testimony or through electronic, wire or oral interception of information. Previous law barred prosecutors from sharing such information with intelligence, law enforcement, immigration, defense or national security officials. Justice Department officials said the changes are designed to institutionalize a procedure for sharing information collected in the course of criminal investigations.

On The Hill
Senate Schedule Unraveling Over Homeland Security Bill
     Partisan clashes continued to stall Senate action on legislation to create a Homeland Security Department, and the slow pace of action prompted Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle to say he might halt the debate next week in order to move to other issues, including a resolution on war with Iraq and pension-reform legislation. Republicans, however, vowed to oppose the move until GOP senators get a vote they are seeking on controversial personnel rules for the proposed department. Republicans four times this week blocked moves to end debate on the bill. In dueling news conferences, Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the downfall of the bill, H.R. 5005.

Security
Biometrics Makers Urge Uncle Sam To Open R&D Spigot
     Technology industry leaders urged federal officials to release more research and development dollars for biometric innovations that could boost homeland security efforts. "At this moment in time ... venture-capital investment in biometrics is at an all-time low," said Joseph Atick, president and CEO of the biometrics firm Identix. He said a lack of resources is making it hard for small companies to address the challenge of implementing biometrics on a large enough scale to combat terrorist threats. Bruce Mehlman, the Commerce Department's assistant secretary for technology policy, said the $40 billion homeland security budget is likely to earmark more dollars for near-term technology solutions than long-term R&D projects. But Mehlman noted that the proposed fiscal 2003 budget calls for $112 billion for government-wide R&D spending.

Security
Immigration Official Vows On-Time Work For Database
     An official with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) told a congressional panel that the agency is on track to complete a new system for tracking foreign students. Janis Sposato, an assistant deputy executive associate commissioner at INS, said the agency will meet Congress' deadline to have the Internet-based system running by Jan. 1, the date mandated by the 2001 anti-terrorism law. "We are confident" of meeting the deadline, she told a House Education and Workforce subcommittee. Last week, a Justice Department official said the INS would not complete the system on time, a conclusion that Sposato said "we are on track to disprove."