Lobbying
All We Want For Christmas Is The R&D Credit
     Leaders from more than a dozen high-tech groups this week urged Congress to renew the research and development tax credit during its post-election session. The United States was the innovator of the R&D tax credit in 1981. Now it has fallen behind other nations, and tech industry leaders said that could make U.S. innovation fall behind, too. William Archey, CEO of the tech group AeA, said Australia now spends the most on R&D, and China offers generous benefits for companies increasing R&D spending by 10 percent each year. Archey compared that to the 20 percent R&D tax credit the United States used to offer, but that expired this year. "We used to be number one. We're now sadly number 17," said Rhett Dawson, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council. Industry officials said the R&D credit should be something the lame-duck Congress can pass because it is not a partisan issue.

E-Government
Democrats May Give Voting Machines More Scrutiny
     Concerns about the security of e-voting systems might be given more airtime in Congress in the wake of last week's election, which vaulted Democrats into control. More than 200 House lawmakers have co-sponsored a bill by Rush Holt, D-N.J, that would require voting machines to produce paper trails. Holt spokesman Patrick Eddington said his boss plans to reintroduce the measure next session with only minor changes, if any. "It will be a different environment," Eddington said of the prospects for the bill under Democrats. Doug Chapin, the executive director of Electionline.org, also noted that John Conyers, D-Mich., who is likely to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has been active on the e-voting front. In the Senate, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is likely to take the leadership post on the Rules Committee. Feinstein this fall pledged to introduce a bill similar to Holt's, H.R. 550.

Civil Liberties
ACLU Urges Congress To Oppose Warrantless Wiretaps
     The American Civil Liberties Union called on lawmakers to oppose any efforts during their post-election session to pass legislation that would legitimize wiretapping of U.S. citizens without warrants or give telecommunications companies immunity if they help government eavesdropping efforts. President Bush and some Republican lawmakers tried unsuccessfully before the election to pass such legislation. The ACLU is concerned that the proposals will be resurrected during the next few weeks. "Let's face it, all rules get thrown out at the end of a Congress and during a lame-duck session," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's legislative office. As if on cue, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., introduced a bill to give domestic electronic surveillance efforts by federal intelligence agencies new resources. Fredrickson criticized it as an attempt by President Bush to "cover his tracks" while Republicans still control Congress.

Privacy
Shareholders Pressure AT&T Over Privacy Policies
     AT&T shareholders led by a corporate watchdog are seeking to pressure the company into strengthening its privacy policies after allegations that AT&T permitted surveillance without warrants by law enforcement. The telecommunications company has not confirmed or denied whether it shared customer records with the National Security Agency for anti-terrorism monitoring. "AT&T is fully committed to protecting our customers' privacy," spokesman Mike Balmoris said. "We do not comment on matters of national security." The upset shareholders are seeking a vote at the AT&T stockholders meeting this spring. Their resolution urges the company to detail its role in any surveillance and to establish new policies to safeguard customer data. As You Sow, a nonprofit that seeks to ensure that corporations and other institutions act responsibly, is spearheading the effort. Larry Fahn, executive director of As You Sow and an AT&T shareholder, said he anticipates more backers.

Telecom
House Panel Examines Bill To Curb Caller-ID Fraud
     A handful of lawmakers learned about the dangers of caller-identification "spoofing" at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on a measure aimed at curbing the practice. Bill sponsor Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican who testified at the hearing, pointed to a "serious and growing problem that allows the caller to hide [his] true identity to obtain someone's personal information for use in identity theft and scams." Criminals have used such fraud to swipe Social Security numbers, credit-card information and other sensitive data, he said. The measure, H.R. 5304, would make it illegal for anyone to purposefully disguise information with the intent to mislead the recipients of calls. It would punish violators with up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The House passed a related measure, H.R. 5126, earlier this year, but Murphy said it would not impose penalties. The Senate has not acted on either measure.

International
New Report Discusses Web Filters, Piracy In China
     Congress should prohibit U.S. companies from giving the Chinese government information about Internet users, according to an annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. If companies are legally compelled to provide information on Internet users, they should inform the U.S. government of their actions, according to the commission, which was created by Congress in 2000 to study the national security implications of U.S. trade with China. Companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo received attention this year from lawmakers and human rights groups for alleged compliance with China's Internet-filtering policies. The commission also found that China's adherence to its World Trade Organization obligations is far from satisfactory. Among other things, commission Chairman Larry Wortzel said the country "has fallen woefully short of complying with international rules that protect intellectual property."

Labor
Cap On H-1B Visas Hinders Innovation, Techies Say
     For the United States to maintain its lead in technology innovation, it must expand the H-1B visa program for highly skilled foreign workers, expand tax credits for research and development, and further encourage U.S. students to study engineering and the sciences, industry leaders said at a TechNet summit in Silicon Valley. "We have the crazy policy in the United States that smart people can't come here," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said. He cited the annual cap of 65,000 H-1B visas as a barrier and said raising that cap would help the U.S. maintain its innovation edge. Yahoo founder Jerry Yang also noted a decrease in the number of U.S. students majoring in engineering and sciences as those numbers increase abroad. "If we aren't able to fix education and maintain a talent magnet [in Silicon Valley and the United States]," Yang said, "that's a trend we won't be able to make up."

Business
TechNet Launches 'Green Technology' Initiative
     The United States must move to cap greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy use and create a carbon trading system, a panel of technology industry leaders said at the launch of a "green technology" initiative. "Changing course means reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That's a big problem and there's no single solution to it," said John Doerr, a partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which has actively been investing in green technologies. "It requires policy as well as innovation, and it's a very, very scary challenge." Doerr proposed a national carbon emissions cap and trading system similar to the one recently announced in California by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.