White House
Industry Pleased Despite Few Tech Details In Bush's Speech
     There were only a few brief references to technology issues during the State of the Union speech President Bush gave this week, but they were enough to draw praise from some technology industry groups. The president touched on trade, reform of the class-action legal system and health technology during the hour-long speech before a joint session of Congress. "We feel like he mentioned several of our top priorities and set the tone for work this year on the high-tech agenda," Information Technology Industry Council spokesman Adam Kovacevich said. Also this week, the Senate confirmed Alberto Gonzales as attorney general and Samuel Bodman as the Energy Department secretary.

On The Hill
Senate Panel Plans 'Listening Sessions' On Telecom Reform
     Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens said he is "in no rush" to rewrite the 1996 Telecommunications Act, although he and the committee's ranking Democrat said that task is one of three top priorities. The only piece of telecom legislation that might cut ahead in the queue is anticipated legislation to permanently exempt the universal service fund from government accounting rules. At a committee organizational meeting, Stevens, R-Alaska, referred to ranking Democrat Daniel Inouye of Hawaii as "co-chairman," and both have announced plans for a series of briefings with committee members and staff. Stevens announced that the full committee will consider communications issues and that the Communications Subcommittee will be eliminated. He also announced four new subcommittees, including one that will address technology, innovation and competitiveness. John Ensign, R-Nev., will chair that panel while also remaining chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force.

Digital Television
Key Panel Chairman Sees Passage Of Bill Mandating Firm Date
     The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee predicted that the House will pass legislation to cease analog broadcasting by Dec. 31, 2006, because it plans to count spectrum auction revenues in next year's budget. Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Michigan Republican Fred Upton, chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, said legislation forcing the deadline to the digital transition will be on a faster track than another bill to revise the 1996 Telecommunications Act that the committee will write. Upton said the DTV bill will be ready for House and Senate passage by May. Barton and Upton said the broader telecom bill will not be ready to move to the House floor until at least July.

Security
Dispute Erupts Over Vice Chair's Spot On Security Panel
     House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young literally may be the thorn in the side of Homeland Security Committee Chairman Christopher Cox this year -- or maybe not. Young's office announced that he would serve during the 109th Congress as vice chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, where he would sit in the seat next to Cox during committee meetings. However, Cox's office refuted Young's announcement. "The chairman has not made a decision about the vice chair position," said an aide to Cox, R-Calif. But Young's office said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., appointed Young, R-Alaska, as vice chairman during a GOP Steering Committee meeting. Young's office pre-empted Hastert and Cox by announcing the post before the completed roster was made public.

On The Hill
Lawmakers, Administration Officials Discuss Tech Agenda
     Congress faces critical votes on trade and technology policy in the 109th Congress, top Bush administration officials told lawmakers. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Josette Shriner, a possible successor to outgoing USTR Robert Zoellick, said lawmakers will engage in critical debates about the country's membership in the World Trade Organization, the president's authority to negotiate trade agreements with other countries and a trade agreement with Central America. Shriner said she hopes lawmakers will have more votes in favor of the president's power to negotiate trade agreements than it had in 2001, when the authority was granted by one vote. "[Congress] was voting into a void last time," she said, arguing that the Bush administration since has garnered a positive track record on trade agreements.

Taxes
Industry Ponders Wisconsin's Stance On Internet Tax Ban
     The office of Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, announced that the state will continue imposing a 5 percent sales tax on part of the fee Internet service providers charge for Internet access. A federal Internet tax moratorium has been in place for years, but states like Wisconsin have been exempt because they were collecting the taxes before the ban first took effect. A recent federal law calls for Wisconsin to stop collecting the tax by Nov. 1, 2006. The move is "one thread of what is becoming a tapestry of regulation and potential taxes, and it really is about convergence of age-old telecom taxes and statutes and the programs that they have subsidized and maintained over the years," said Thomas Santaniello, the public policy manager for the Computing Technology Industry Association. Tom Walker, director of government affairs for the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, said bluntly that Wisconsin officials are "really trying to pull a fast one."

Broadband
Group Warns Cities Against Providing Broadband
     Municipalities should not get into the business of providing high-speed, wireless Internet connections because doing so will drain cities' coffers and blunt private-sector competition, a group of experts concluded. In a report and a conference call hosted by the New Millennium Research Council, six telecommunications analysts and scholars slammed the growing move by cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, San Francisco and New York, to consider municipal Wi-Fi networks. Philadelphia plans to start its network in 2006. "When it comes to municipal broadband networks, it is important to say that the emperor is not wearing any clothes," said David McClure, CEO of the U.S. Internet Industry Association and a contributor to the report. "A government-controlled Internet, operated at government expense, is a really bad idea."

Telecom
SBC, AT&T Merger Approval Could See Regulatory Snags
     The merger proposal that SBC Communications announced with AT&T could fundamentally alter the balance of power affecting telecommunications law and policy in Washington, and could hit snags on the way to regulatory approval. SBC, one of seven regional Bell companies created with the antitrust divestiture of AT&T in 1984, would emerge as the nation's dominant telecom provider if the deal is approved. The new company could be well-positioned to push for the deregulation sought by the remaining Bells, including BellSouth, Qwest Communications International and Verizon Communications. But in near term, the proposal is likely to stall the push for telecom reform. Consumer groups and major cable operators have cautioned against quick approval of the deal.

Lobbying
Public Broadcasters And Cable Industry Announce Alliance
     Public broadcasting stations and the cable industry have announced an agreement to carry all publicly funded television stations, including multiple program streams, on almost all cable systems. The contractual agreement runs for a 10-year period and includes carriage of public broadcasting stations (PBS) both before and after the transition to digital television. Each PBS and other public station will be able to transmit up to four multiple-channel digital programs -- also called "multicasting" -- on cable systems. The association negotiated the agreement with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association over an 18-month period. The National Association of Broadcasters is not included.