Administration
Homeland Security Lags In Appointing E-Security Czar
     Do you know where the nation's cyber security czar is? Neither do many people in the tech community. It has been nearly a year since Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the creation of a position for an assistant cyber security czar. Chertoff made the announcement as part of a six-point agenda on July 13, 2005. He identified elevating the position to an assistant Cabinet-level post as part of a strategy to "ensure that the department's policies, operations, and structures are aligned in the best way to address the potential threats." That position remains unfilled. Recently, the House inserted language in a bill to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency, requiring President Bush to nominate someone to the cyber czar job within 90 days. Adding to the pressure is the release of a year-long study this week by the Business Roundtable. The group concluded that if there were a major cyber disruption, the nation would not be able to restore or rebuild the Internet effectively.

Security
Officials To Distribute $400M For Infrastructure Protection
     Homeland Security Department officials announced that about $400 million in fiscal 2006 funding will be made available to protect critical infrastructure sites across the country. The effort covers transit systems, sea ports and chemical facilities through the Infrastructure Protection Grant Program. Officials made clear they have not made any changes to the grant program based on criticism the department received after its controversial announcement in May of anti-terrorism grants for urban areas. Those urban grant allocations included about a 40 percent reduction in funding for New York City and Washington. Thursday's infrastructure protection grant announcement revealed that the New York and northern New Jersey metropolitan areas will receive the largest share of funding for transit systems, with roughly $47 million for rail security and about $5.5 million for intra-city bus security. Some of the funding will go to programs specified by Congress. But other grants will be awarded through a competitive application process. Applications are due to the department Aug. 4 and all awards will be made by the end of September.

Defense
Defense Contractors Gear Up To Fight Foreign Metals Ban
     A high-stakes battle affecting the fortunes of the defense and electronics industries will intensify later this month when negotiators for the House and Senate Armed Services committees begin official conference talks on the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill. At issue is whether defense manufacturers can buy certain metals, such as titanium, from foreign contractors, or if they must rely solely on domestic suppliers for the in-demand products. Worried industry trade groups, whose member companies have long been able to circumvent a law requiring the content of specialty metals be 100 percent domestically produced, have been gearing up lobbying campaigns aimed at ensuring that any conference agreement will not change the status quo. The Information Technology Association of America is concerned that its member companies, including Intel and Texas Instruments, have little incentive to comply with the law. Creating separate chips with no foreign content for military use would be a costly endeavor. The group says it is is not likely worthwhile for a massive industry for whom the Defense Department is not the biggest customer.

On The Hill
Business Groups Press Lawmakers To Act On Data Bills
     The Chamber of Commerce is hoping that lawmakers can move on several pending data security proposals before they adjourn for the congressional August recess. Two members of the Senate Banking Committee late June introduced their long-awaited version of data security legislation. The bill, S.3568, covers financial institutions and their affiliates. It was introduced by Sens. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Tom Carper, D-Del. The proposed legislation would require financial services institutions and other covered entities to notify consumers of breaches if the companies themselves determine that the unauthorized access to their sensitive personal information would result in substantial harm. Congressional staffers and lobbyists have been waiting for the banking committee to weigh in on the subject before moving ahead with reconciling differences between the various proposals.

Intelligence
Senate Intelligence Sets Deadline for NSA Database Deal
     The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is pushing the National Security Agency to further open its databases of raw signals intelligence to a wider audience within the intelligence community. But the effort comes at a time when Congress, courts and the privacy community are closely scrutinizing the legality of the agency's surveillance activities. The committee ordered the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency to arrive at an agreement by the end of August to extend access to NSA's databases to more DIA analysts. Panel Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in the report that the committee is concerned that the intelligence community is not sharing enough raw information throughout its branches. The idea behind sharing such unprocessed information is that various branches of the intelligence community may be looking for specific information relevant to their investigations, according to the committee report. Privacy advocates have expressed concern about some of these recommendations because they have not been publicly debated.

Antitrust
Verizon Sues Maryland County Over Franchise Rules
     Verizon Communications has filed a federal lawsuit against county officials in one of Maryland's most affluent areas over video franchising rules the company claims violate antitrust laws. According to Verizon, Montgomery County officials have made "numerous unlawful demands" as the company has negotiated to obtain a franchise to deploy television service over a fiber-optic network it has deployed there. Verizon claims the county's requests that it provide 65 digital channels for public, educational and governmental programming and pay fees to cover county litigation costs have caused an unreasonable delay in the franchising process. The lawsuit, which was filed in a U.S. district court in Greenbelt, Md., requests a preliminary injunction to nullify the state's franchising rules. It also directs county officials to resolve Verizon's franchise request within 60 days. Montgomery County is the only jurisdiction in Maryland where Verizon has sought a video franchise and failed.