Campaigns
Lieberman Unveils Economic Plan, Wins Tech Endorsements
     Democratic presidential candidate and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman this week unveiled an economic plan that prominently spotlights the technology industry as a sector that needs government help. On the same day, a dozen executives from high-tech companies such as Broadcom and Cisco Systems, and from the Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers, publicly endorsed Lieberman's candidacy for his support of economic policies that they believe would boost the sector's growth. Although Chris Greene, CEO of Greene Engineers, said the Democratic field has some excellent candidates, he added that Lieberman is the only one "with an understanding of the new economy broadly ... who has made it a primary focus of his career rather than one of several stands." Lieberman's economic plan would provide tax incentives designed to spur growth in the high-tech sector, provide more funding to increase the number of science and engineering graduates, and try to accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet services.

Lobbying
New Democrats' E-Agenda Faces More Hurdles Under Bush
     For the fifth consecutive year, the New Democrat Coalition has released its annual technology agenda -- a set of policy goals that co-Chairman Rep. Adam Smith said has become harder to achieve under the Bush administration. The comprehensive agenda, which includes ideas for boosting the economy, improving education, promoting innovation and ensuring that the nation continues its leadership in technology, has not changed drastically since the inaugural agenda, the Washington lawmaker said. However, the policy implementation has become more challenging because the White House does not voice its tech ideas to the same extent as the Clinton administration. Phil Bond, undersecretary for Commerce Department's Technology Administration, said: "We have a lot of things that we'll work with New Democrats on" but the war on terrorism has affected the issues of focus for Bush.

Business
Banks Prepare To Comply With Customer Identity Rules
     Banks will be required to ask for and verify the identities of every customer under rules against money laundering issued last month by the Treasury Department, and a top federal regulator said banks must comply in writing. Under the rules, which were called for in a 2001 anti-terrorism law, banks must implement a system to verify identities, although federal financial regulators permit banks flexibility in how they implement the process. "We have asked you to verify ID, not particular pieces of information," said Pamela Johnson, senior anti-money-laundering coordinator with the Federal Reserve System. The policies "must be in writing and approved by the board of directors," including its everyday procedures, auditing and ongoing employee training. The rules will require that banks keep closer tabs on their customers -- and are expected to lead to greater monitoring in the future, when financial institutions are asked to check the names of customers against government "watch lists" of potential terrorists.

Security
Investment Firm's Study Gauges Risks For Security Contractors
     Only nine of the 12,500 companies that proposed homeland security technologies for the Defense Department after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks received funding, demonstrating just how risky investments in that market may be, according to one investment firm. To help venture capitalists and corporations determine how to better target their dollars in the market, the Washington, D.C.-based homeland security investment firm O'Gara Company on Wednesday unveiled a guide for determining where federal dollars will be spent and where the likely growth areas in the sector are. "We wanted to understand what was driving this market, and so we created a roadmap to understand what the opportunities may be," said Tom O'Gara, founder and chairman of the firm. The report identifies the areas most likely to provide the highest investment returns for corporations and venture capitalists as cargo-screening technology, equipment for "first responders" to emergencies, multi-model cargo security for tracking and authentication, aviation screening technology and physical security upgrades.

Security
Experts Call For Uniformity In Anti-Terrorism Alert System
     The Emergency Alert System should be uniformly implemented throughout the country to provide terrorism warnings, an industry working group told the FCC and homeland security officials. The FCC, Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Weather Service share oversight of the alert system, which enables federal, state and local officials to warn the public about emergencies via broadcast, cable and wireless systems. Participation in national EAS alerts is mandatory for those communications providers but voluntary for states and local communities. "It's an existing infrastructure, and it is used effectively, for example, in [child-abduction] alerts and hurricane and tornado warnings but not uniformly across the country," John Eck, chairman of the working group on public communications and safety, told the FCC's Media Security and Reliability Council. "Its capabilities should be reviewed."

Business
Budget Official Predicts Savings From New Procurement Rules
     White House budget officials said new procurement rules aimed at encouraging competition between the private sector and federal employees will yield significant savings. The revisions to government outsourcing procedures are designed to increase competition for more than 425,000 jobs, which include everything from making eyeglasses to providing information technology services. "We believe that the product we're releasing today will open much wider the door to those businesses and their workers who can seek to provide to the American taxpayer a better value and a better price," White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mitchell Daniels said.

Business
Microsoft, AOL Settle Lawsuit, Team On Digital Media
     Microsoft agreed to pay $750 million to AOL Time Warner to resolve a long-running dispute and agreed to collaborate in the development of Internet and media technologies. The deal marks an end to a 16-month legal battle that followed the Justice Department's antitrust settlement with Microsoft. Under the agreement, America Online may use Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser technology for seven years without paying royalties. Microsoft also will distribute AOL's online-service software with Microsoft's Windows computer-operating software. The firms also pledged to try to make their competing instant-messaging services compatible.