Competitiveness
House, Senate Take Action On Competitiveness Bills
     After years of talk about innovation and competitiveness, this week saw the most floor action since the president released his American competitiveness initiative and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced her innovation agenda. The Senate passed a bill, S. 761, that aims to address two of the four items in the competitiveness agenda long advocated by the tech industry -- more basic research funds and better mathematics and science education. The measure would authorize a boost in basic research funding at the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Energy Department's science office. It also would authorize more funding to improve science, math, engineering and tech education. The House passed two pieces of companion legislation. One bill, H.R. 362, would boost the math and science scholarship program at NSF. The other measure, H.R, 363, would authorize more funding for basic research and authorize early-career grants for scientists.

Budget
Scientists Fear Further Declines In Research Budget
     After weeks of poring over the Bush administration's fiscal 2008 budget proposal, scientists have concluded that federal research investment would continue to decline. Kei Koizumi, a researcher for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, briefed members of the Congressional Research and Development Caucus, saying the president's proposed increases for his American competitiveness initiative would be great for a few programs, but overall federal research dollars would decline. The total federal R&D budget amounts to $143 billion, according to the AAAS analysis. To reach that conclusion, Koizumi separated research dollars from development dollars and found that since 2003, there has been a sharp overall increase in development and an equally sharp decrease in research.

Television
FCC Casts Digital TV, Spectrum Votes After A Long Day
     The cable industry blasted the FCC for endorsing what the industry considers to be a form of dual "must carry" -- a policy the agency previously rejected twice. At issue is an item approved unanimously during an unusual evening meeting that seeks comment on ways to ensure that analog cable customers receive digital broadcast signals via pay television. Cable operators are worried that one idea under consideration amounts to an unofficial form of dual must-carry because it could result in carriage of both analog and digital versions of stations. Under existing rules, only broadcasters' primary channels must be transmitted. Kyle McSlarrow of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association complained that the proposal is a "completely unnecessary government intrusion into the marketplace." The FCC also negotiated separate rules for an upcoming spectrum auction. The regulators voted 5-0 to approve guidelines for bidding on the 60 megahertz in the so-called 700-megahertz band.

Broadband
Lawmakers Bemoan New Drop In High-Speed Ranking
     Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress raised concerns that the United States has dropped three spots in global high-speed Internet rankings. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, America has slipped from 12th to 15th in per-capita broadband penetration -- down from fourth in 2001. "While some will debate what, in fact, these rankings measure, one thing that cannot be debated is the fact we continue to fall further down the list," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce telecom subcommittee, added that "America's broadband penetration is stalling at dial-up speed while other nations have developed national plans and are moving ahead." Inouye announced plans for two broadband bills. Municipalities, meanwhile, are moving toward public-private partnerships instead of city-run broadband networks.

Intellectual Property
Vonage Wins Reprieve In Patent Spat With Verizon
     Hours after hearing arguments in a patent dispute between Vonage and Verizon Communications, a federal appeals court granted Vonage a new reprieve as it tries to overturn a lower court's injunction and fight a $58 million fine. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals decided to give Vonage a full stay of the lower court's order, allowing the company to keep adding new customers as it works on its appeal. Vonage won a temporary stay on the injunction earlier this month. The appeals court also set an expedited schedule for reviewing the case on its merits. Analysts with the investment firm Stifel Nicolaus said in an e-mail that they believe the briefs are to run through May 30, with oral argument set for June 25. On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, a House Judiciary subcommittee began picking apart a broadly sculpted patent overhaul bill.

Crime
Senate Panel OKs Bills On Caller ID, Terrorist Hoaxes
     Legislation that would punish people or companies that give false caller-identification information won approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel approved the measure, H.R. 740, by voice vote. The House passed a slightly different version March 21 on a 413-1 vote. Basically, the bill would make caller-ID spoofing a specific federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison plus fines. The committee also approved by voice vote a measure, S. 735, that would strengthen laws and penalties against hoaxers who make false claims of terrorist activity. Some hoaxes are made over the Internet. In other news, representatives from 17 federal departments and agencies issued a national roadmap to combat identity theft. It proposes new criminal penalties on information theft and steps to ensure that consumers can financially recover from data breaches. And the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board criticized Bush administration surveillance programs in its first report to Congress.

E-Commerce
Rep. Frank Seeks To Repeal Ban On Web Gambling
     House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank unveiled legislation to repeal last year's prohibition on processing payments to online gambling sites. The Massachusetts Democrat said the ban is intrusive and was motivated by a general disapproval of gambling. He argued that people who choose to gamble do not harm anyone else. The bill would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement system to license operators to accept online bets from within the United States. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network would oversee the licensing program. A senator who pushed for years to restrict e-gambling vowed to fight attempts to ease or remove the ban, and a House advocate of the ban said he does not believe his chamber has the votes to reverse it. Also this week, the universal service fund regained the telecommunications spotlight with an announcement of new legislation on the topic.

Campaigns
Clinton, Obama, Romney Get Most Tech Donations
     Presidential campaign reports submitted last show a real battle for technology industry dollars between Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. The reports also show that Mitt Romney has a big fundraising lead over other Republicans among tech company workers. Clinton led the pack, with $263,510 collected from computer and Internet employees during the first quarter of the year, followed by Romney with $216,427 and Obama with $202,067. Clinton and Obama often were close among companies. Obama raised $26,410 among Google workers, for instance, and Clinton raised $24,100. In other cases, the Obama-Clinton contest was not close. Among Cisco Systems employees, Clinton led with $38,450 to Obama's $10,950. Romney had plenty of small and big donations, including $137,450 from former co-workers at Bain and Company and Bain Capital, the venture-capital firm he started. Its companies include the DoubleClick advertising firm, which is a merger prospect for Google.