Courts
Supreme Court Declines Review Of Blackberry Dispute
     The Supreme Court this week refused to hear a case involving a multi-million dollar patent infringement fight between the makers of the Blackberry communications device and a Virginia patent holding company. Canada-based Research In Motion had asked the justices to decide whether U.S. patent law could apply to devices operating partially outside of the United States. The decision increases the pressure on Blackberry-maker RIM to settle its long-running dispute with Arlington, Va.-based NTP Holdings. It also could significantly increase the amount of money that RIM previously had agreed to pay, said one longtime observer.

Telecom
FCC Contender Could Spell Trouble for Bells
     The possibility of the White House nominating Republican lobbyist Robert McDowell to fill a remaining vacancy at the five-member FCC is drawing mixed reactions from the regional Bell firms. Company executives officially insist they would support McDowell, a lobbyist for an association representing competitors to the Bells, if appointed. But privately, some within the Bell community are grumbling that his sympathies do not lie with them. Sources confirmed that McDowell, senior vice president and assistant general counsel at CompTel, is under White House consideration. "I've suggested him and I would support him," Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, told reporters. Nothing is certain until President Bush makes an official announcement.

Telecom
Communications Bills Expected To Move This Year
     Congressional activity involving communications-related legislation will intensify during the second session of the 109th Congress. Several bills are in play, and more will emerge after the Senate Commerce Committee concludes an ambitious battery of telecom hearings in mid-March. The tech and telecom sector likely will see action on: telecom; digital television; universal service; indecency; video franchising; special 911 services; Internet telephony; and protecting cellular phone records. On the telecom front, House Energy and Commerce Committee lawmakers are negotiating a third draft of a telecom reform bill.

Telecom
Key Lawmaker Urges Due Telecom Diligence By Cities
     The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee has urged a group of mayors to work to stay in the loop on federal telecommunications legislation. Rep. John Dingell of Michigan warned a committee at the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors that a rewrite of the 1996 Telecommunications Act could hurt municipal interests, particularly regarding their authority over video franchising and property rights of way. Dingell did not offer a timetable for how quickly a bill would move, but he said municipal governments would be bypassed if they are not "quick afoot" defending themselves. The regional Bell telecom companies have argued that processes requiring them to obtain franchises from individual cities have slowed their entry into the video market and stifled competition.

Lobbying
Techies Ponder Best Way To Influence Powerbrokers
     As Congress mulls new lobbying restrictions, most government relations officials in the technology industry already have forsworn trips and meals. Many now wonder how to best influence lawmakers after the scandal connected to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The biggest change proposed by lawmakers is the end of industry-paid travel excursions. Both Democratic and Republican plans would ban the practice, but lobbyists said the trips are the best opportunity to educate staffers and lawmakers while gaining maximum face time. Even before Congress passes any new rules, many lobbying shops dropped congressional outings from their influence arsenal. Working lunches and dinners also are out, numerous association officials said.

On The Hill
Lawmakers Seek Details On Administration's Spying
     Pressure mounted on the Bush administration to provide lawmakers with answers on domestic spying activities. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., released a three-page letter with detailed questions to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the president's decision in 2002 to secretly authorize domestic wiretaps without warrants. Meanwhile, a group of Democrats sent a letter to President Bush asking him for specific changes in the law that he believes are necessary to permit effective surveillance of suspected terrorists. Gonzales countered Bush administration critics, and again offered detailed justifications for the administration's wiretapping activities without a warrant.

Privacy
ChoicePoint Data Brokerage Hit With A Record Fine
     The FTC levied a record-level fine against the Georgia data brokerage ChoicePoint. The agency also ordered the firm to implement a comprehensive security program. The commission announced that ChoicePoint will pay a fine of $10 million, in addition to $5 million in reparations to consumers harmed by the company's insecure data policies. The $5 million will be distributed to about 800 people affected by a data breach and the resulting identity-theft scam that ChoicePoint disclosed last year. ChoicePoint also will be subject to audits of compliance with the terms of its settlement for the next 20 years. In other news, the Center for Democracy and Technology has filed a complaint with the FTC against one of the world's largest Internet advertising software firms and its affiliate --saying the companies misled computer users.

Crime
Suit To Test New Anti-Spyware Law In Washington
     A prosecutor in Washington has announced the state's first lawsuit under a new statute designed to combat the proliferation of secretly installed computer "spyware." Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna filed suit in a U.S. district court in Seattle against Secure Computer, a New York-based company. The suit charges the company with sending unsolicited commercial e-mails that duped computer users into purchasing anti-spyware software applications that actually weakened their systems. In other news, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile said they are suing operators of Web sites that sell wireless customers' billing and call-log information.

Intellectual Property
Anti-Piracy Proposal To Impact Digital Tuner Makers
     Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said he would push his committee to impose the anti-piracy "broadcast flag" technology upon makers of digital television devices even if negotiations with public interest groups fail. Draft legislation released by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., would grant the FCC authority to impose the broadcast flag requirement upon all manufacturers of digital tuners. Smith's draft bill, which has not been introduced, would ratify the agency's October 2003 broadcast flag decision, and allow it to update the flag rules.

Labor
Labor Defines 'Applicant' In The Internet Age
     The Labor Department has issued a new rule to clarify what it means to be considered an applicant for a job with a federal contractor in the era of the Internet. The rule, which is set to take effect Feb. 6, will have a significant impact on both federal contractors and online job sites. The rule will require federal contractors to tailor their hiring processes according to a new definition of job applicant. This is the first time the definition has been updated since 1978.

E-Government
FirstGov.gov Launches Massive Search Overhaul
     The U.S. government's official Web portal announced a massive overhaul of its aging search engine. Touted as the "government's most powerful search engine," the new tool has the ability to pull information from federal, state, local, tribal and territorial documents. The FirstGov.gov initiative, widely hailed by the technology industry, was worked on by private sector partners Vivisimo and Microsoft.