Telecom
Fractious Election Panel Backs Draft Rules For The Internet
     The Federal Election Commission this week approved proposed rules to govern online election-related communications. The draft rules would give the writers of independent Web logs, or blogs, a substantial exemption from campaign-finance disclosure laws, and would leave most of the reporting requirements to campaigns and candidates who pay for Internet advertising. During a somewhat tense hearing, commissioners were defensive, frustrated and bemused at times, but there was general consensus about the need to keep the proposed regulations as narrow as possible to avoid quashing politically related speech online. The rules are the result of a federal court order requiring the FEC to include Internet communications in the so-called McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law of 2002. FEC Chairman Scott Thomas hinted at the difficulty that the commission had in crafting the rules, and one news report indicated that the agency abandoned its first draft after an outcry from bloggers who feared regulation.

Telecom
FCC Official Resigns As Internet Phone Case Is Withdrawn
     Rural telecommunications companies and the dominant Bell companies scored a major victory when Bells competitor Level 3 Communications withdrew its request that the FCC declare that Internet telephone companies need not pay long-distance access charges when they connect calls to traditional telephone networks. At the same time, Jeffrey Carlisle, who assumed the Wireline Competition Bureau chief position last August, submitted his resignation to new FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Carlisle's bureau had submitted a draft decision on the Level 3 matter. Agency sources said the bureau would have effectively granted the Level 3 request. Had Level 3 not withdrawn its petition, the commission would have needed to deny it by Tuesday, 15 months from its date of filing, or it would have been deemed granted. "Friday's change in FCC leadership placed the commission in the difficult position of confronting a statutory deadline while managing a leadership transition," said Jim Kohlenberger of the VON Coalition.

Courts
Top Court Backs Law Requiring DNA Samples Of Convicts
     The Supreme Court let stand a 2004 decision that upheld the constitutionality of a federal law requiring parolees to provide blood samples to the FBI so that it can archive the material in a centralized database. The high court ruled without comment. A 2000 law requires federal authorities to take and analyze DNA samples from people convicted of federal crimes. As of January 2005, the FBI's National DNA Index System contained more than 2 million profiles of convicted offenders, according to statistics provided by the FBI. The case involves a former Navy seaman who robbed a bank and was convicted to 97 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. He was asked to submit a blood sample but refused the request, citing his constitutional Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law is constitutional.

Security
Lawmakers, Techies Want Final Rule On Security Liability
     Congress and the technology industry are giving the Homeland Security Department more time to implement a final rule on liability protection for makers of security technologies, despite frustration that the rule is a year overdue and the department has made little progress. The rule provides limited liability protection if products or services fail to prevent terrorist attacks. When Congress created the department two years ago, it included the new program to speed the deployment of critical technologies. Since then, the program has operated under an interim rule and the department has approved only six technologies, according to a House Judiciary Committee aide. Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, said his association may request a legislative fix but hopes discussions with officials under new Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff prove beneficial before then.

Privacy
New Alliance Aims For Changes To Anti-Terrorism Law
     An alliance of mostly conservative organizations coalesced to urge Congress to review some provisions of the 2001 anti-terrorism law known as the USA PATRIOT Act that the group argues infringe upon constitutional rights. Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, which is chaired by former Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, includes the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, American Civil Liberties Union, American Policy Center, Americans for Tax Reform and Second Amendment Foundation, among others. The alliance's goal is to urge Congress to address the deficiencies of the act, he said. The group has focused on three areas of the law that Barr said infringe upon the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and the Fourth Amendment right against illegal search and seizure.

Privacy
ACLU, Rep. Sanchez Urge Delay In Passenger Screening
     The top Democrat on a House Homeland Security subcommittee joined a leading civil-liberties organization in calling on the Bush administration to delay the summer launch of a system to screen airline passengers because they said the system is not ready. The American Civil Liberties Union and Rep. Loretta Sanchez of California said they expect a report from the Government Accountability Office, which is scheduled to be released Monday, to say that the system will not meet the criteria established for it under a fiscal 2005 appropriations law. The law that funds the Homeland Security Department outlined 10 different criteria, such as allowing passengers to appeal decisions barring them from flying and to correct errors about themselves.

Telecom
AT&T Chief Touts Merger Plan, Discusses Telecom Policy
     AT&T's decision to merge with SBC Communications was driven by changes in technology and regulation, AT&T's CEO has said, adding that the new entity would lead to "healthy and sustainable competition" that benefits customers. AT&T Chairman and CEO David Dorman said his company's merger proposal, as well as the likelihood that MCI will be acquired by a regional Bell company besides SBC, means that "undoubtedly we are going to see more competition. ... These mergers will drive another level of competition in business services. It is necessary and inevitable to deal with the post-bubble meltdown we have seen" Dorman said at an American Enterprise Institute conference. The proposed merger between AT&T and SBC is pending before the Justice Department's antitrust division and at the FCC. Dorman said that because AT&T exited the consumer business in July, there is no need to impose antitrust conditions on the merger, including any rules that might require SBC to offer its competitors access to its digital subscriber lines to sell high-speed Internet service.

Security
Nebraska Plans System To Check Authenticity Of Licenses
     Nebraska's Department of Motor Vehicles has been awarded $260,000 for the creation of a test program that will help verify the authenticity of state driver's licenses, Gov. Dave Heineman announced. "We will soon have the ability to help protect against financial fraud and identity theft, prevent access to age-sensitive products, and aid law enforcement agencies in homeland security efforts," the Republican governor said in a statement. Funding for the project was awarded by Oregon-based Digimarc, which received $1 million from the U.S. Transportation Department to help law enforcers authenticate driver's licenses.