Telecom
FCC Vows To Pre-empt Wireless Spam Problem
     The FCC decided to take action on several proposals, including preventing unsolicited e-mail to mobile telephones and assessing the deployment of advanced telecom services across the country. Chairman Michael Powell compared the increasing use of junk e-mails on electronic media to "cockroaches" that need "exterminating from America's electronic living rooms." The commission will seek comment in response to a congressional mandate requiring the FCC to protect consumers from unwanted e-mail messages on wireless devices. On deploying high-speed Internet services, the commission adopted its fourth "notice of inquiry" to assess how effectively and efficiently consumers are receiving the service. The agency also addressed the "do-not-call" registry allowing consumers to halt telemarketing calls to their homes, long-distance service charges and international pricing regimes.

Budget
House Science Democrats Issue Views On Bush's Budget
     Democrats on the House Science Committee issued their "views and estimates" on the president's fiscal 2005 budget request, criticizing it for proposing too little spending in key science areas. Led by ranking Democrat Bart Gordon of Tennessee, the lawmakers called for a 5 percent increase in civilian research and development spending in the areas of science and energy. They also said the request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should be reallocated to strengthen the agency's existing programs. Finally, the report urges full funding for several manufacturing and innovation programs, including the Manufacturing Extension Partnership that assists small businesses and the Advanced Technology Program that helps companies finance experimental research and development. The Democratic report is not binding.

Security
Security Official Agrees To Review Local Grant Rules
     Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson agreed to a congressional request to review minimum requirements that are attached to federal grants to local "first responders" to emergencies. Testifying before the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, Hutchinson, who heads border and transportation security at the Homeland Security Department, also said that millions of dollars in federal security grants remain unused by the states and that the states themselves are the problem in disbursing the aid. Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., reacted by saying that if states are the problem, Congress might consider bypassing them to directly fund local first responders. Hutchinson committed the department to provide some degree of review of the requirements within 30 days. Separately, the General Accounting Office issued recommendations to Homeland Security on how it invests in information technology.

Labor
Greenspan Cautions Against Wave Of 'Protectionism'
     Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan told a House committee that a "new round of protectionist steps" to shield American firms or their workers against foreign competition would worsen matters for the United States. It "would make matters worse rather than better. They would do little to create jobs; and if foreigners were to retaliate, we would surely lose jobs," Greenspan told the Education and the Workforce Committee. "As history clearly shows," he said, "our economy is best served by full and vigorous engagement in the global economy. ... Over the long sweep of American generations and waves of economic change, we simply have not experienced a net drain of jobs to advancing technology or to other nations." Separately, in a speech to the Consumer Assembly, Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson said he is drafting legislation to safeguard the privacy of personal information used by companies engaging in the "outsourcing" of data-processing jobs.

Education
Teacher Recruiters Promote Need For Math, Science Boost
     The United States must have a steady supply of quality math and science teachers for its schools and should stop viewing teaching as a second-rate profession, witnesses told a House subcommittee. Representatives of teacher-recruitment programs told Ohio Republican Ralph Regula, the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Education Department, that efforts to recruit teachers from undergraduate science programs and mid-career professionals from other disciplines have met with substantial success. Gaynor McGown, executive director of the Teaching Commission, said a recent commission study found that "quality" teachers make a substantial difference in how students learn, boosting knowledge by a full grade. The study found, however, that quality teachers can be undermined "by inadequate, one-size-fits-all compensation, flawed teacher preparation, ineffective leadership and poor working conditions."

Intellectual Property
Copyright Interests Examine Role Of 'Mechanical Licensing'
     Technology companies, recording companies and the Register of Copyrights agreed that the "mechanical licensing" provisions of copyright law are broken and need to fixed, perhaps with a dramatic rewrite by Congress. The lone dissenter from the consensus was the National Music Publishers' Association, which represents the songwriters and music publishers who receive a fixed rate of 8.5 cents per song whenever a recording company presses a compact disc or licenses a song to online services like Apple's iTunes. Texas Republican Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, said the panel remains open to rewriting the license, which dates to 1909. "I am concerned that laws and procedures first designed in the piano-roll era may not be adequate for the digital era," he said.

Intellectual Property
European Parliament Passes Strong Anti-Piracy Directive
     The European Parliament passed a stronger anti-piracy law in the face of harsh criticism from civil libertarians and Internet service providers who say it would give too much power to the owners of intellectual property. The directive aims to harmonize intellectual property laws of European Union countries, and the vote was applauded by the European Commission, the EU regulatory body that initiated the bill. A coalition of 14 rights-holders groups, including the Business Software Alliance, Motion Picture Association and International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, also praised the decision.