E-Commerce
Consumers Not Ready For Check-Clearing Law, Advocates Say
     A federal law that aims to improve check processing and reduce costs for banks took effect this week, but consumer advocates said the act will leave consumers off guard and will not sufficiently protect consumer rights. The new law, known as Check 21, requires that banks be capable of accepting "substitute," or truncated, checks, but it does not mandate electronic processing. Consumer advocates criticized banks for not doing enough to inform their customers about the law. But a banking industry official said the change "will be a non-event because it will be gradual," with most large banks not adopting electronic check-clearing systems until the middle to end of 2005. Customers will see two main changes, said John Hall, an American Bankers Association spokesman: the introduction of substitute checks, and no "float" time between when checks are received and when they clear the bank.

Telecom
FCC, Justice Approve Cingular Bid For AT&T Wireless
     The FCC and Justice Department antitrust division approved the acquisition of AT&T Wireless by Cingular, but each imposed several conditions of divestiture upon the combined company. Though the FCC approved the deal, it will require Cingular to divest itself of cellular telephone operating units in 16 markets and to sell 10 megahertz of spectrum in two large markets. Justice consented to the merger but is requiring the new company to divest other assets in 13 markets. FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the merger and the conditions for it mean that "Cingular will emerge a stronger competitor with better coverage, improved customer service and a renewed commitment to innovation. This will not only be true in the voice market but also increasingly for data." The telecommunications industry and government officials, meanwhile, said increased investment is key to the spread of high-speed Internet access.

Spectrum
Officials: Airwaves Auction Is Threatened By Senate Inaction
     Officials from the Pentagon, the Bush administration and the cellular telecommunications industry said it is imperative that the Senate pass a bill designed to help the military relocate from electromagnetic spectrum slated for auction. If the Senate fails to act on the House-passed bill, H.R. 1320, the FCC will have to further delay a May 2006 auction of 90 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum that the cellular industry wants. Of that 90 MHz, 45 came from the military. The FCC has the authority to auction both the military's 45 megahertz and the spectrum in the 2110- to 2155-MHz range. But under current law, commercial bidders for the spectrum also would have to pay the unpredictable cost of relocating military and other users to new frequencies.

Telecom
Political Factors Complicate Telecom Debate, Experts Say
     Telecommunications laws are at the breaking point, but the politics surrounding the current structure complicates reform efforts, panelists said. Most agreed on the need to deregulate much of the sector and to pre-empt states from much regulation, particularly economic regulation of new communications-based technologies. "It is a mad, mad telecommunication world out there," said Randy May, senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation. "We obviously need to change our regulatory model. The current model needs to be eliminated" because such rules "don't make sense in a digital world." The event was hosted by the New Millennium Research Council, which is supported by regional Bell telephone companies. Also this week, Thomas Rutledge, a co-author of a major telecom study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, concluded that the United States' failure to craft an intelligent approach to telecom regulation is jeopardizing the country's technological and economic leadership.

Broadband
FCC's Democrats Decry U.S. Falling Position On Broadband
     Two Democratic FCC commissioners said the decline in the United States' level of high-speed Internet penetration compared with that in other countries is unacceptable. "Just two-and-a-half years ago, we were number four," Commissioner Michael Copps said at the National Summit on Broadband Deployment. "How the mighty have fallen in such a short period of time." In other news, a new group of technology companies, municipalities and real-estate developers seeking to advance the penetration of fiber into consumers' homes found that fiber-optic technologies are the surest way for America to accelerate the benefits of high-speed Internet access. "This organization will unite fiber-optic communities from urban, rural, and suburban settings with the aim of propelling America into the next generation of communication," said Max Kipfer, founder and president of the group, Fiber Optic Communities of the United States.

Lobbying
Latest Tech Voting Guide Shows Support For Industry
     A leading technology industry group released its latest voting guide, showing that industry lobbying paid off on issues important to the industry in the 108th Congress. The guide from the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) grades how members of Congress voted on 10 House bills and 12 Senate bills. It also includes a life-time voting percentage for each lawmaker. ITI has conducted the study biennially for eight years. The data shows that 106 members from both chambers voted with ITI on all the votes it viewed as important to tech companies. Congress has not cleared some of the bills. The report provides some interesting statistics. For instance, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential nominee, scored 74 percent over the eight-year life of the study but 0 percent for the 108th Congress because he did not vote on any of the ITI-picked bills. And Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, who could become the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, received a 91 percent score for the 108th Congress but only 69 percent over eight years.

Business
Groups Agree On E-Recycling, Differ On Who Should Pay
     Groups that filed comments with the Commerce Department on recycling electronics products appear to agree that there is a need for a national e-recycling solution, but they disagree over who should bear the financial burden. The agency received 36 responses from environmental conservationists, local governments, manufacturers, retailers and waste-management companies from Oct. 15 through Oct. 27, a result of an e-recycling roundtable in September. Many said e-waste is becoming unmanageable and burdensome to municipalities. Federal legislation should "create a set of uniform rules that would pre-empt state and/or local programs to ensure a level playing field for all participants," Hewlett-Packard wrote. Some observers, however, favor a front-end fee on consumers to pay for e-recycling efforts, while others support an end-of-life model that would share the burden among manufacturers, retailers and consumers.

Culture
Council For Disabled Urges Universal Design For Technologies
     Today's market lacks universally designed technologies that both able-bodied and disabled consumers can use, according to a study released by the National Council on Disability. Companies have tried to keep their disabled customers in mind when designing products, the report concluded, but in most cases they tend to design technologies for the disabled that will be used separately from the rest of the population. The report said attention to the subject is critical because "we are in the window of opportunity for implementing Section 508, a mandate requiring federal agencies to eliminate barriers to using information technology.