Telecom
FCC Decisions Expand Market Freedom For Wireless Firms
     Wireless companies should have more freedom, flexibility and spectrum to provide high-speed Internet connections and other services to consumers as a result of FCC decisions. The FCC approved an order that will allow current holders of spectrum licenses to lease "any amount of spectrum in any geographic area and for any amount of time during the term of the license," said Paul Murray, an attorney in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Even though firms hold licenses to use certain spectrum, much of that bandwidth goes unused. The new rules will give firms the opportunity to lease portions of spectrum to companies that want to use it provide wireless service. The commission also began a review of the regulatory treatment of long-distance telephone services provided by the regional Bell companies.

Taxes
Senate OKs Tax Cuts, Includes Tech-Related Provisions
     The Senate passed a $350 billion tax-cut package that includes a different plan for cutting taxes on corporate dividends than the approach sought by President Bush. The final vote was 51-49, with three Democrats voting for it and three Republicans against it. The Senate adopted, on a 51-50 vote, a temporary elimination of taxes on dividends. The bill now goes to a conference with the House, which passed a substantially different package. Senators also voted to prohibit firms such as Qwest Communications and MCI from collecting tax refunds on fraudulently reported revenue, and to give companies with overseas operations a boost by allowing them to return overseas earnings at a lower tax rate of 5.25 percent.

E-Commerce
House Committee Approves Net Gambling Bill
     A plan to curb gambling over the Internet squeaked by the House Judiciary Committee by a single vote, 16-15. The panel approved the bill, H.R. 21, to make it a crime for gambling sites to accept credit cards or other financial instruments. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., was the only Democrat to vote with 15 Republicans. Two Republicans, Chris Cannon of Utah and Jeff Flake of Arizona, voted with the Democrats. Cannon won approval of an amendment that eliminated an exemption in the bill for states that allow in-state gambling on such things as horse racing, dog racing, jai alai and Keno. Some outside conservative groups argued that the exception for state gambling laws could have expanded Internet gambling rather than curbed it.

Cyber Security
Georgia Senator Calls For 'Aggressive' Intelligence Gathering
     Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., called for more "aggressive" counter-terrorism intelligence gathering to prevent cyber attacks and stem illicit global financing structures. This includes fostering risk-taking attitudes among information managers who know they can depend on the support of the executive branch if things go awry, he said. And it means building a way to conduct aggressive operations independent of foreign liaison services, extending those to the war on terrorism, he said. Speaking before a homeland security conference sponsored by McGraw-Hill, Chambliss also said he would consider new legislation to better enable public-private information sharing.

Cyber Security
Agency Chiefs Defend Pace Of Research On Cyber Security
     Members of the House Science Committee challenged top Bush administration officials on their efforts to improve the nation's cyber-security research and development. "The nation quite simply has been under-investing woefully in cyber-security R&D, and as a result we lack both the experts and expertise we ought to have in a world that relies so heavily on computers and networks for the necessities of everyday life," said committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y. He said it appears that "not nearly enough" has been done since the enactment last fall of both the cyber-security R&D bill that he authored and of the bill that created the Homeland Security Department. Boehlert warned that the hearing "is only the beginning" of Congress' review of the issue. "We better damned well get serious about [cyber security]," he said.

Cyber Security
White House Defends Importance Of Homeland Cyber Official
     A senior White House official sought to dispel weeks of industry criticism about the Bush administration's lack of a high-level official dedicated to cyber security, but he acknowledged that many questions remain. "What is clearly important is that [the person overseeing the new center] has the ability to bring resources together," said Paul Kurtz, special assistant to the president and senior director for critical infrastructure protection. The person in charge of it will be a "sort of director" but will not be considered the federal government's sole person in charge of cyber security. For instance, Mark Forman of the White House Office of Management and Budget will continue to be responsible for information security at federal agencies, he said. Nevertheless, the center is "going to be focusing and maximizing resources in one place," Kurtz said. He said the center should be announced in the next few weeks.

E-Government
New Voting Machines Could Offer Cyber-Security Risk
     The electronic voting machines being adopted by states are at risk of cyber tampering until a standard governing them has been developed, a senior Bush administration official said. At a House Science Committee hearing on cyber security, National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Arden Bement said the lack of standards is a cyber-security risk. Responding to a question from Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., Bement said, "The interface between software and hardware [in voting machines] leaves plenty of room for cyber attack." He said resources are needed to address the problem and told the committee that eliminating e-voting flaws is a high priority.

Net Governance
Children-Only Internet Space Available By September
     A children-only Internet space will be available by September, according to NeuStar, the manager of Internet addresses that end in .us. NeuStar announced that as part of the "back to school" season, it plans to launch a system for registering domains with content that is safe for children younger than 13. The .us Web registry is one of hundreds of domain suffixes assigned to countries. Under legislation approved last year by Congress, NeuStar, which contracts with the Commerce Department to manage .us domains, must monitor for inappropriate materials and filter all Web sites that will be registered under the suffix .kids.us. Individuals or firms that want to register such domains must ensure that content meets NeuStar's child-friendly guidelines.