On The Hill
Bush Praised On Energy, Disappoints On Innovation
     President Bush didn't say much about technology in his State of the Union speech this week, but techies found reason for hope in his words anyway. Deborah Wince-Smith, the CEO of the Council on Competitiveness, said Bush's focus on developing energy alternatives is evidence that Bush still wants to pursue the competitiveness agenda he outlined last year. She said energy is a competitiveness issue for both innovators and users who face rising costs, including Internet companies that locate in lower-energy areas. Some techies also made the best of Bush's call for immigration reform and to "make sure our children are prepared for the jobs of the future, and our country is more competitive, by strengthening math and science skills." And Bush proposed a science component for national education standards.

On The Hill
House Commerce: John Dingell At The Helm Again
     Michigan Democrat John Dingell, the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has outlined an ambitious agenda for 2007. His priorities include: fresh telecom legislation with a more deregulatory focus; further examination of television "indecency;" and renewed efforts to overhaul the universal service fund that subsidizes telecom services in rural and impoverished areas. The second-ranking Democrat on Commerce, Henry Waxman of California, supports retaining and strengthening the FCC's limits on media ownership, which are now under agency review. Edward Markey, D-Mass., will head the panel's Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee. He is expected to continue pushing for a mandate to treat high-speed Internet content equally, and he opposes eased media-ownership limits. Get the scoop on the tech agendas and players of other key committees in a series that Technology Daily began publishing this week.

Privacy
Maine Fires First Shot Against Federal ID Standard
     Maine lawmakers fired the first shots in a state-level rebellion against a federal law mandating nationwide standards for driver's licenses and identification cards. They cleared a resolution to refuse compliance with the so-called REAL ID Act. Both chambers overwhelmingly adopted the proposal, which also calls on Congress to repeal the law. The non-binding resolution, authored by state Senate Majority Leader Libby Mitchell, cited concerns that REAL ID effectively creates a backdoor national ID system. The measure estimates that the law would cost taxpayers in Maine about $185 million to implement and would invite "theft of identity and invasion of privacy." Mitchell said she expects her colleagues will soon authorize legislation to prohibit Maine's secretary of state from complying with REAL ID. "I'm not trying to frighten anyone here, but the more we know about it, the more we find it appalling," the Democratic lawmaker said.

Crime
SEC Targets Man For Internet-Related Stock Fraud
     The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against a man for allegedly participating in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate stock prices through the unauthorized use of other people's online brokerage accounts. "This new and emerging fraud combines modern-day hacking and identity theft with the traditional pump-and-dump scheme," an SEC official said in a statement. "What historically required legions of con artists and days or even weeks of planning and execution was in this instance accomplished single-handedly or by a small group within only minutes." The SEC has charged Aleksey Kamardin with taking over online trading accounts at various broker-dealers and liquidating their equity. The commission said Kamardin used the resulting proceeds to purchase thinly traded stocks in order to create the appearance of trading activity and increase the stock price. He then sold all of his shares at inflated prices.

Lobbying
Latest Breach Revives Call For Action To Protect Data
     The Cyber Security Industry Alliance is calling on the new Congress to pass comprehensive data-security legislation after another massive data breach reported last week. The TJX retail company announced that hackers broke into a system that handles credit and debit transactions. The company has refused to say how many customers were affected. Liz Gasster, the president and CEO of CSIA, said the fact that the company is based in Massachusetts, one of 15 states without breach laws, highlights the need for national legislation. Various committees held hearings on the issue last year, but no legislation was enacted. "The real boogeyman for why data security didn't pass was jurisdictional issues," Symantec lobbyist Kevin Richards said. He said new House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., may pursue a task force of members from the committees to overcome the jurisdictional battles and pass legislation.

Lobbying
Internet Basics Should Be Congress' Focus, Group Says
     Internet censorship, consumer privacy and government surveillance are among the hot topics the Center for Democracy and Technology will be tracking in the 110th Congress. Jim Dempsey, CDT's policy director, said his group is emphasizing a "back-to-basics" strategy they hope lawmakers will follow. Policymakers must "recall the essential nature of the Internet and recall what made it so successful," he said. CDT Executive Director Leslie Harris added that too many lawmakers on Capitol Hill and at lower levels of government have taken the view that the Internet is "a problem to be solved rather than a valuable resource that needs to be grown and sustained." CDT already is opposing one bill that would require Web sites to label sexually explicit material and that would block access to social networks and chat room at certain publicly funded institutions.

Health
Sen. Clinton's White House Bid May Boost Health IT
     The entrance of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton into the 2008 presidential race could be a big boon for e-health reform. According to the Democratic senator's office, Clinton will push for quick action this year on health information technology legislation in the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, of which she is a member. Her bill would establish standards and quality measures, and authorize grants to guide the development of a nationwide health information network. "The senator's [presidential campaign] announcement is unmitigated good news for healthcare IT," said Scott Wallace, president and CEO at the nonpartisan National Alliance for Health Information Technology. Ticia Gerber of the eHealth Initiative added that "Clinton has unprecedented access to the American people ... through her innovative use of online citizen media tools, such as live Web chats to talk directly to potential supporters."

States
Sen. Clinton Promises To Help Mayors On Tech Issues
     If Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants to be president, it couldn't hurt to make friends with mayors across the country, and she made strides in that direction by vowing to help them push technology-related issues in Congress. In a speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting, the New York Democrat said her priorities are directly in line with the group's new 10-point plan on security, law enforcement, education, economic competitiveness and other areas. Clinton said it is imperative that Congress authorize funding this year for the development of infrastructure to let emergency responders at all levels communicate across jurisdictions. Clinton also called for cooperation in expanding the availability of high-speed Internet access. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the mayors that she, too, would fight hard on their behalf for tech-related issues.