On The Hill
Dueling Wireless Bills Spark Confusion, Surprise
     Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens and Sen. George Allen view communication issues as paramount, but there appears to be a lack of communication between their offices. Each lawmaker's office announced separate wireless broadband measures in press releases e-mailed minutes apart on Feb. 17. But the chairman's staff strongly denied assertions by observers that Stevens, R-Alaska, sought to pre-empt the efforts of Allen, R-Va. The bills are intended to spur the deployment of wireless broadband by utilizing unassigned or unused broadcast television spectrum called "white space." The measures would let unlicensed service providers operate on the frequencies before and after the nation's transition to digital television. Commerce Committee Staff Director Lisa Sutherland noted that multiple bills with varying approaches on a subject are not uncommon. The bills differ on how they would tackle potential interference with TV signals, a key concern of broadcasters.

Telecom
E911 Advocates Seek Federal Technology Funding
     Advocates of "enhanced 911" emergency telephone service this week emphasized the need for federal government funding to spur implementation of the technology. The FCC has mandated that Internet phone providers offer location-based information to public-safety call centers when customers dial 911. The agency has required compliance by Nov. 28. "Funding is the critical issue because the [public-safety answering points] have stretched budgets. We all know that," said Paul Obsitnik, vice president at TCS, a Maryland-based wireless equipment company. Susan McGurkin, a government affairs specialist with the Intrado wireless solutions company, encouraged states to include E911 in their homeland security plans to trigger department funding for system upgrades. She said the 911 system has worked well for 35 years, but Internet telephony is causing a strain.

White House
White House Notes Failures In Hurricane Response
     The White House found failures in the federal and local government response to Hurricane Katrina and made recommendations for bolstering the nation's disaster response in a new report. The Bush administration issued its analysis and recommendations about the response several days after a special House committee released its own report. The administration's review found that the country needs to take steps to better prepare for emergencies. It offered 125 ideas for retooling how the government works then. The 228-page document was not as harsh as the House report. The first day of the next hurricane season, June 1, has been set as the deadline for completing 11 critical actions. Among them is a call for all available technology "to update and utilize the national emergency alert system."

Privacy
Report: Tech Adoption, Privacy Losses Are Intertwined
     Americans have paid for their love affair with modern technologies by surrendering privacy rights, and Congress, the courts and technology companies should take action to restore them, the authors of a new report said. "Our message is that technology changes have eroded privacy protections and require redress and new protections," said Jerry Berman, founder and president of the Center for Democracy and Technology. The group released a 40-page report on how technologies have eroded legal principles that previously protected American citizens from unreasonable government searches and seizures. The report focuses on the explosion in cheap storage technology and its impact on people's habits of saving data, on the government's ability to use "keystroke logging" to capture information typed on computer keyboards, and on location awareness technology that can track people via cellular telephones and other devices.

Security
State Department Unveils Trial Of Electronic Passports
     The State Department has started issuing electronic passports on a trial basis. Diplomats received the first e-passports with "contact-less chips" and facial-recognition technology in late December. Chips are embedded into the cover of the documents, which also include digital images of the travelers, as well as information like names and birthdates. The chips used in the e-passports can be read "at a close distance," according to the department. But privacy advocates have raised concerns about people nearby to passport holders using chip readers to "skim," or steal, personal information from passports. "The dangers of skimming already have been the subject of serious public concern," the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in April 2005 comments to State over its proposal to use radio-frequency identification chips in e-passports.

E-Government
Report Details Five States With Strong IT Profiles
     The Buckeye State scored best in the country on state and local government investments in security technology, according to a new report. The CDW Government State and Local Investment Curve listed Ohio, along with Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin, as the states that have the strongest information technology security profiles. The formula used to compile the report indexed "core" state and local purchases in network and security software, as well as hardware. It also looked at applications designed to curb unsolicited commercial e-mails and malicious "spyware" programs, which are installed on users' computers without their consent. Other states commended for their early investments in security included: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Oregon and New York.

Health
Policymakers Ponder Next Move To Fight Avian Flu
     As avian influenza spreads, Congress is beginning to prepare for the reauthorization next year of a bioterrorism measure aimed at addressing key public health initiatives. A 2002 law that aims to coordinate national monitoring, response and reporting in the case of bioterrorism or health emergencies is up for reauthorization in 2007. But since its enactment, the Homeland Security Department has been charged with the surveillance and detection of bioterrorism attacks. And in 2004, the Health and Human Services Department launched its health information technology initiative, which includes the monitoring of and response to public health emergencies. "We are trying to look at all of those [efforts underway] to determine how they are or are not integrated," Jennifer Bryning said during a Capitol Hill briefing, where experts also demonstrated tools for health emergencies. Bryning works on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Bioterrorism Subcommittee.

Domains
Latest .com Deal Spurs Outrage In Internet Community
     With a public comment period officially over, industry response to a revamped settlement between VeriSign and the Internet's governing organization for oversight of the .com domain is decidedly chilly. VeriSign and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers have been trying to reach a settlement that would end years of litigation over stewardship of the .com domain. But key provisions of the deal -- already renegotiated once -- continue to irk domain-name retailers known as registrars. Topping the list of complaints is language that would give VeriSign exclusive rights to run the lucrative .com domain in perpetuity. As well, critics are unhappy with an arrangement that would let VeriSign raise its prices over four of the six years of the contract.