Cyber Security
The Administration Message On Cyber Security: 'We Get It'
     A security expert at the White House warned of the possibility of cyber attacks against U.S. infrastructure and called on the private sector to help bolster the nation's ability to deter such attacks. "My message today on behalf of the Bush administration is that we get it", retired Gen. John Gordon, head of the White House Homeland Security Council, said at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco. He noted that the Bush administration is implementing a cyber-security strategy in partnership with the technology industry. "We must recognize the possibility if not the likelihood of a strategic cyber attack against the United States," Gordon warned. Although the al Qaeda terrorist network has not attempted a cyber attack, he said, "they make good use of modern information technology systems, and they understand how much we depend on them." Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Department, which observed its one-year anniversary this week, unveiled a new 18-member science and technology advisory committee.

Labor
Lawmakers Grill Commerce Chief About Job Losses, Trade
     Trade and the movement of U.S. manufacturing and service-industry jobs overseas and dominated a hearing by a House Appropriations subcommittee with Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, who said that President Bush asked him to find more money for U.S. manufacturers. The administration proposes continuing from fiscal 2004 to the upcoming fiscal year a $40 million allocation to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Evans said, but he added, "We are in the process of leveraging existing monies for that partnership." Evans addressed questions from both Republicans and Democrats about jobs and trade, particularly as they relate to China and India. "Is it naïve to say [to CEOs] who are thinking of moving their company offshore to China that this really may not be a good idea?" asked subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf, R-Va. Asked by Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, for elaboration on the new funding possibilities for MEP, which is used by several technology companies, Evans said the president "called to my attention, 'Maybe there is funding in other places for MEP [applicants] to apply for grants in other agencies.'"

Telecom
Senators Debate Regulation Of Internet Telephony
     The pressing regulatory issues cropping up around Internet telephony are a prime example of why telecommunications law needs to be revamped, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee said. "We continue to regulate the telecommunications industry under the confines of an outdated statutory regime that has been rendered largely obsolete by technology," said John McCain, R-Ariz. Voice-over-Internet protocol, or VoIP, "is borne out of advances in technology -- something that is nearly impossible to legislate." Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., characterized the technology as the "last cash cow in the pasture," calling for officials to "tread lightly" when regulating the burgeoning industry of using computers to make telephone calls. As it uses existing high-speed Internet networks to function, "there is a chance to create many jobs as broadband is developed," he said. Meanwhile, several companies announced a new coalition to resist efforts aiming to regulate the broadband Internet telephone industry. The Voice On The Net coalition, which includes AT&T, Callipso, MCI, PointOne and Texas Instruments, among others, said it opposes any federal or state regulation that would subject VoIP services to traditional telecom regulations.

Telecom
Industry Sees Disaster In Proposed Chinese Wireless Standard
     A coalition of some of Washington's heaviest-hitting trade associations is leveling its best punches at a proposed Chinese wireless standard that they say would be disastrous for trade and illegal under global trade rules. "This has much larger implications for U.S.-China trade, and for global standards, which are the lifeblood of the global trading system," said Rhett Dawson, president of the Information Technology Industry Council. The standard is a "costly and inefficient barrier to the Chinese market." At issue is a wireless local-area network security standard to be implemented by China on June 1 that is not compatible with international standards upon which most wireless products are based. The globally common standard is known as 802.11i, or Wi-Fi. The proposed standard also would require that foreign firms co-produce the compatible products in partnership with domestic Chinese companies, which could put their intellectual property in the hands of Chinese competitors.

Net Governance
ICANN Meeting To Set Future Work In Numerous Areas
     Next week's meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will address a wide variety of issues in a way that will set the stage for future work to come, ICANN President and CEO Paul Twomey said. "I will be pleased if we get the next steps going forward," Twomey said. ICANN oversees the Internet-addressing system. The weeklong meeting in Rome will begin with various ICANN constituencies, including governments, the private sector, nonprofits and "at large" representatives of global Internet users, and will conclude with a decision-making session of the ICANN board. Some 500 participants are expected. Meanwhile, the Internet company VeriSign this week sued ICANN, accusing it of unfairly preventing VeriSign from developing new services for the Internet. The outcome of the case could shift the way people use the Internet, either to ICANN, a non-governmental organization that derives its power from an agreement with the U.S. government, or to firms like VeriSign that want more freedom to develop online products and services.

Antitrust
Oracle, PeopleSoft Deal 'Bad For Competition'
     The Justice Department's antitrust chief said his division's decision to try to block Oracle's proposed hostile takeover of its rival, PeopleSoft, is necessary to prevent higher prices, more consumer choices and further software innovation. "Under any traditional antitrust analysis, this is an anti-competitive deal," Assistant Attorney General R. Hewitt Pate said in a press briefing held after he and the attorneys general in seven states filed suit to block the proposed deal. Oracle and PeopleSoft are the second- and third-largest providers of the payroll, human resource and other database software used by large businesses and governments. The only other company in a position to compete in that marketplace is SAP, the German company that is the market leader, Pate said.