Labor
H-1B Visa Petitions Flood Into U.S. Immigration Offices
     Federal immigration offices were flooded early this week with applications from technology companies seeking special visas for highly skilled foreign workers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting applications on Monday for the 65,000 H-1B visas available for fiscal 2008, and the window for applications was closed by Tuesday evening. USCIS spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan said more than 150,000 H-1B petitions had been received by service centers in California and Vermont by the close of business on Monday. Applications will be manually entered into a computer system that will randomly select which ones to evaluate for approval, Rhatigan said. The overflow of applications means that it will be a toss-up as to whether even the applications that were received the moment the filing process opened will be approved. Companies throughout the technology sector are looking to use the visas to fill vacancies for highly skilled jobs with foreign workers.

Trade
U.S. Faults China On Protecting IP Rights
     The United States has resolved several trade disputes with foreign trading partners but continues to face a list of barriers and problems headed by China's failure to enforce intellectual property laws, according to a Bush administration report released Monday. The successes and continuing disputes were described in the 2007 version of the National Trade Estimate Report, which is submitted each year to Congress. The report states that the long-simmering dispute with China over intellectual property rights is infringing on exports of a variety of U.S. products ranging from films, music and published materials to numerous other consumer and industrial goods. With continued U.S. complaints over the scope and pace of China's efforts to address the issue, speculation has been rampant that the United States will eventually file a case with the World Trade Organization. "We've been in consultation with China for quite a while on [intellectual property rights]," said Office of Trade Representative General Counsel Warren Maruyama in a conference call with reporters. "If the issues aren't solved, all options are on the table." And in other trade news, the Bush administration concluded a free trade agreement late Sunday with South Korea.

Security
Homeland Security Panel Demands Plan For US-VISIT
     The House Homeland Security Committee demanded in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that the Department of Homeland Security describe what system and technology will be used to determine when foreigners leave the country or overstay their visits. The lawmakers said they want a strategic plan by next Monday for the US-VISIT foreigner tracking system, including cost estimates and timelines for an exit component. The lawmakers said Congress has been waiting on the plan for almost two years, even though more than $1.3 billion has been spent on VISIT to date. By law, the department is required to use biometric identifiers, such as digital fingerprints, to verify that foreigners leave the country. But building an exit component into VISIT has vexed the department since it was created four years ago. According to a December GAO report, Homeland Security Department officials have concluded that installing a biometric exit capability at land ports of entry would cause major disruptions and come with a huge price tag. In their letter, the lawmakers said they are worried the department might try to build an exit system into VISIT that does not use biometrics -- a move that would be contrary to the law.

Antitrust
Commission: Tech Antitrust Rule Reform Unnecessary
     A bipartisan commission charged with examining U.S. antitrust law concluded in a report released Tuesday that new or different rules are not needed for industries in which innovation, intellectual property and technological innovation are core components. The 12-member Antitrust Modernization Commission worked for three years to review antitrust rules as well as the Justice Department and FTC's ability to implement and enforce them. Antitrust tenets are general in nature and have been applied to a variety of sectors to protect free-market competition over time, despite changes in the economy and the swift pace of technological advancement, the Justice Department's Antitrust Division said in a statement supporting the findings. Ed Black of the Computer and Communications Industry Association said he was pleased that the panel rejected claims that the tech sector should either be exempt from standard antitrust laws or treated differently than others. Other reactions were mixed.

Television
FCC Set To Approve Report On TV Violence
     All five FCC members will vote to approve a controversial report to Congress that could pave the way for regulating violent television content, government sources confirmed Monday. The report, which says graphic images must be curbed and that there is a constitutional way to achieve that goal, is likely to be issued the week of April 9, putting it on a collision course with the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, from April 14 to 19. Television outlets vehemently oppose such regulation, arguing that it violates their First Amendment rights and amounts to government censorship. But Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-WVa., is poised to reintroduce legislation to clean up the airwaves in late April or early May, with the Senate Commerce Committee expected to hold a hearing next month. FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell on Wednesday said final edits are being made to the report and he will vote for it, though he appears to have reservations.

Telecom
Bell Companies Request FCC Maintain Content Rules
     Regional Bell companies seeking to compete directly with cable television systems asked the FCC on Monday not to eliminate rules designed to ensure the widespread availability of content. The 1992 "program access" rules limit the ability of cable operators to cut exclusive programming deals and were designed to foster the growth of satellite television and other nascent services. The FCC granted a five-year extension until October 2007 and is considering whether to sunset the restrictions or retain them for another five years. "Vertically integrated cable programmers still have the incentive to withhold content from cable's competitors in the multichannel video market," warned the U.S. Telecom Association. Vertical integration refers to ownership of content by video providers. But National Cable and Telecommunications Association countered that the restrictions are outdated now that direct broadcast satellite has morphed into a major competitor and cable companies own a decreasing percentage of channels.

E-Government
Firms Defend E-Voting Security, Reliability In Court
     The nation's largest e-voting firms all have been spending a lot of time in court lately. Diebold Election Systems, Election Systems & Software, and Sequoia Voting Systems each have cases pending where courts are being forced to determine the security and reliability of the companies' machines. Democrat Christine Jennings has challenged the results of the House race she lost in the state's 13th District last year, claiming e-voting glitches may have been responsible for as many as 18,000 missing votes in Sarasota County in the southwest section of the state. The voting in her race was conducted on a fleet of ES&S touch-screen devices that were not backed up by paper trails. Meanwhile, Diebold has asked a state court in Massachusetts to overturn a $9 million contract offered to a competing firm and Sequoia is locked into a legal dispute in New Jersey, where it provides the voting machines by almost every county.