Telecom
Panel Defeats Move To Impose Video 'Build Out' Rule
     The House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee this week rejected language that would have required Bell telecom companies to offer video services to all customers within chosen geographic areas. The 22-11 vote occurred on an amendment to telecommunications legislation. The bill would let Bells and other companies enter the market for video services nationwide, without the need to obtain municipal franchises. Cable operators currently must win franchises on the local level, and their agreements generally require "build out" rules that mandate video services in the entire areas they serve. Potential new entrants are seeking national franchises without build-out rules. The amendment would not have required any build-out for five years. After that, new national franchise holders would have had three years to offer service to another 20 percent of the households in their areas. The panel ultimately approved the underlying bill on a 27-4 vote.

Telecom
Democratic Change On 'Net Neutrality' Is Rebuffed
     Issues of equity between the unique but converging sectors of cable, telephone, satellite and Internet companies permeated the telecommunications debate in the House subcommittee. But "network neutrality" remained central to the debate. The issue of neutrality, or the requirement that Bell and cable companies provide parity to Internet companies sending data over their high-speed networks, emerged as a contentious point of debate. The panel rejected, by a vote of 8-23, an amendment designed to strengthen net neutrality provisions. The panel accepted language to slightly modify provisions giving the FCC the ability to adjudicate -- but not regulate -- disputes about Internet neutrality. But some panel Democrats and technology companies deeply disagreed with that approach. The Democrats' competing amendment would have granted the FCC clear authority to promulgate regulations on Internet neutrality and would have required Bell or cable companies to operate broadband networks "in a non-discriminatory manner." The House Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, is emerging as a key battleground in the neutrality debate.

Trade
U.S. Office Identifies Troublesome Trading Partners
     An Office of the U.S. Trade Representative report released last week identified 62 trading partners that it deems as imposing unfair barriers against U.S. exports of goods and services and to U.S. investment in foreign nations. The report also identified insufficient intellectual property protections. The 724-page annual report to Congress dedicated 71 pages to China. The report noted "serious problems" in areas such as intellectual property enforcement. USTR also said it continues to monitor subsidies to Chinese semiconductor manufacturers. Even though China has complied with the global Information Technology Agreement to reduce tariffs on computer equipment, semiconductors and other IT products, USTR added that China continues to adopt discriminatory policies against imported telecommunications equipment. The report further criticized intellectual property enforcement, e-commerce security and e-signatures in Argentina. And it highlighted concern over counterfeit software and anti-piracy devices entering Canada because of that nation's lax border control.

Intellectual Property
Educators Seek Right To Bypass Digital Encryption
     Officials from the Copyright Office discussed whether educators should be allowed to bypass anti-piracy technologies in order to make clip compilations from digital works for educational purposes. Every three years, the office must decide whether the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hinders access to certain "classes of works." The latest hearing was the third of four to examine the ability to make non-infringing uses of audiovisual works. The office looked at categories of works that are protected by anti-piracy measures, including audiovisual and digital content in the "public domain," meaning that they are not protected by copyright, and works housed in a library of a university's film or media studies department. As the use of digital formats replaces formats like VHS videotapes, some educators argue that encrypted digital formats are preventing them from efficiently and cost-effectively using films in the classroom.

Privacy
Critics Of IRS Tax-Return Proposal Urge Changes
     One of the nation's largest purveyors of tax-preparation software urged the Internal Revenue Service to enact rules that would ban the sale or rental of tax-return information. "The rule must clearly prohibit the sale or rental of tax-return information by a tax preparer to third parties," Intuit Chief Privacy Officer Barbara Lawler wrote. "This is a critical public policy principle that must be embodied by the final rule." Lawler was one of several representatives from the public and private sectors who weighed in during an IRS hearing. The discussion centered on a proposal to modernize rules governing the use of data in annual tax filings. The IRS wants to update the rules because they predate electronic filing and the Internet. Lawmakers, state attorneys general, companies such as Intuit and others charge that the rule would undermine consumers' confidential relationship with their tax preparers and would damage privacy rights.

Porn
World's Laws Against Child Porn Are Found Lacking
     More than half of the countries monitored by the world's largest international police organization do not have laws addressing child pornography, according to a new study. The report from the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children found that only 89 out of the 184 countries policed by Interpol have laws against child porn. Of the countries with statutes, the report found that 54 do not define child porn adequately in their penal codes, and 27 do not provide for computer-facilitated offenses. The study found that laws in the United States, Australia, Belgium, France and South Africa are strong enough to effectively curtail child-porn crimes. At a congressional hearing, meanwhile, a pediatrics expert said that children who are sexually exploited online will face problems unlike those who are sexually exploited through other venues.

E-Commerce
Poker Players Hope Congress Folds On E-Gambling
     A group representing thousands of poker players converged on Capitol Hill to oppose a federal ban on Internet gambling. The Poker Players Alliance is arguing that Republican-backed measures in the House and Senate would violate the civil liberties of millions of poker players and enthusiasts. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to examine one such bill, H.R. 4777. The measure would expand an existing federal law that criminalizes gambling over telephone wires, and it would punish financial institutions that support online gambling. In a panel discussion on the bills, PPA President Michael Bolcerek said the legislation would kill his sport and further the ability of the government to wrongly monitor the financial activities of consumers. Bolcerek also objected to provisions that would require Internet service providers to remove from their networks links to online gambling sites.

Budget
Latest 'Pork' Report Notes Money For Tech Projects
     Numerous lawmakers are "oinkers," according to the latest report on pork-barrel spending from the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste, and a significant amount of their budgetary earmarks are funding technology projects. The report shows that hundreds of examples of "pork" in the group's annual Congressional "Pig Book" are for technology projects. Just the 51-page summary of the 375 "juiciest" projects in the "Pig Book" noted about 30 tech-related projects. The book identifies 9,963 projects in the 11 appropriations bills that constituted the discretionary portion of the budget for fiscal 2006. The projects recognized in the report will cost taxpayers a total of $29 billion this year.