Business
Accounting Board OKs Six-Month Delay On Stock Options
     The regulatory body responsible for setting accounting standards announced this week that it will delay for six months the date by which corporations must begin to count employee stock options as expenses on their balance sheets. At a meeting at its headquarters in Norwalk, Conn., the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) said that companies must expense stock options by July 1, 2005. The board also rejected a proposal by Cisco Systems, Genentech and Qualcomm for a different valuation model than the one approved by FASB for expensing stock options. The plan was set to take effect Jan. 1. FASB is a nonprofit organization that reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Critics of FASB's proposal took little comfort in the delay. "FASB's decisions today amount to nothing more than the postponement of a fundamentally flawed expensing standard that will grossly overstate the value of employee stock options," said Rick White, CEO of TechNet and chairman of a coalition against the FASB rules.

Broadband
New FCC Orders Aim To Stimulate High-Speed Services
     The FCC this week issued three orders designed to stimulate high-speed Internet access. The actions allow broadband-over-power-line (BPL) service to go forward, clear 45 megahertz of wireless spectrum and deregulate more fiber-optic cables. On BPL, the agency said electric utilities that modify their systems with technology to allow data traffic online may largely continue to operate under the FCC's liberal "unlicensed" rules. The FCC established "excluded frequency bands" for aeronautical and aircraft receiver communications, and BPL technology providers must "notch out" emissions within those bands. The spectrum order clears the federal government from 45 megahertz, freeing a total of 90 megahertz for auctions to cellular companies seeking to offer advanced wireless services like broadband. And the agency approved a petition to free fiber and copper lines from government rules. The order applies as long as those "fiber to the curb" deployments terminate within 500 feet of consumers' homes.

Telecom
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal Of Bell Victory
     The Supreme Court has rejected an effort by state regulators, AT&T and other telecommunications competitors to appeal their March loss over telecom rules in the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Without comment, the high court refused to take the case and let the appeals-court decision stand as the final word on whether the 1996 Telecommunications Act requires Bell companies to share elements of their networks with rivals at state-set rates. The appeals court said the FCC gave states too much power to require Bells to "unbundle" those networks and sell to competitors. The Supreme Court's refusal was expected, particularly after the Bush administration took the side of the Bell companies and decided not to seek an appeal.

Intellectual Property
Supreme Court Declines Case To Reveal File Swappers
     Verizon Communications declared victory when the Supreme Court declined to review an appeal of a case in which the recording industry sought to unmask the identities of the company's customers who swap music files. The federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Verizon last December when it overturned a lower-court decision that had favored the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The appeals court said that court-authorized subpoenas seeking the identities of Verizon's customers do not apply to Verizon because the company does not store copies of allegedly illegal music files on its computers. RIAA appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. "This decision means copyright holders and their representatives -- or identity thieves and stalkers posing as copyright holders -- will not be allowed to obtain personal information about Internet users by simply filing a one-page form with a court clerk," Verizon Associate General Counsel Sarah Deutsch said of the decision.

On The Hill
Sununu Reportedly Blocking Action On E911 Bill
     Sen. John Sununu last week thwarted action on legislation that would authorize funding for "enhanced" 911 service, or E911, according to aides to lawmakers following the issue. Sununu, R-N.H., used a procedural move to block a vote on a bill, S. 1250, that would authorize $250 million to ensure that 911 centers can pinpoint the locations of emergency calls made from mobile telephones. Sununu would be willing to release his "hold" if lawmakers agree to drop the authorization level to $100 million or if they include in the bill language to reallocate spectrum, said Ray Fitzgerald, a legislative assistant on telecommunications for Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. Late last week and early this week, though, lawmakers passed a number of technology-related measures that addressed issues such as Defense Department funding, high-end computing, DNA technology and devices for disabled students.

Campaigns
Kerry Seen As Active On Tech But Not A Key Player
     Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry portrays himself as a leader on high-tech issues who would spur job growth and stimulate innovation if elected. But industry observers say that the Senate record of Kerry, a senior member of the influential Commerce Committee, indicates that he has been active on tech issues but is not a key player. The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) scores Kerry at 83 percent for his lifetime voting record through the last Congress, meaning that his votes have reflected ITI's positions more than four-fifths of the time. But in the 107th Congress, he garnered only a 71 percent score. Jeff Lande, a senior vice president with the Information Technology Association of America, said Kerry "has generally been supportive of the tech industry's issues and concerns." TechNet President and CEO Rick White, a former Republican House member from Washington, added that Kerry is comfortable discussing technology, "but he hasn't really made that his niche in the Senate." And both Lande and White said tech companies worry about Kerry's opposition to outsourcing U.S. jobs to other nations.

Cyber Security
Techies Want Assistant Secretary To Address Cyber Security
     The technology industry stands behind its call for an assistant secretary for cyber security in the Homeland Security Department, even as confusion grows over what the department is planning. The department backpedaled on comments by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge that the cyber-security position would be elevated to an assistant secretary with responsibility over telecommunications. Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the department "believes the position needs to be elevated but is still working out the details and specifics." The different statements left techies confused and concerned. "We support the creation of an assistant secretary for cyber security," Information Technology Association of America President Harris Miller said. RSA Security CEO Art Coviello, meanwhile, cautioned congressional staff against moving quickly to regulate cyber security but said he supports efforts to elevate responsibility for the matter within the Homeland Security Department.