Taxes
House Votes To Extend Internet Tax Ban Four Years
     The House this week easily passed legislation to extend the federal moratorium on Internet access taxes by four years. The vote was 405-2. The measure, H.R. 3678, would bar states and localities from imposing such fees until Nov. 1, 2011. Democrat Anna Eshoo of California, who authored a bill, H.R. 743, for a permanent ban, cast a dissenting vote. The chamber acted as the Nov. 1 expiration of the moratorium fast approaches. Members who back a permanent fix grumbled that Democratic leaders limited debate and barred amendments. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hailed the vote and said the bill would "promote innovation, affordable Internet access, and broadband services for American consumers and businesses." She urged the Senate to pass the measure by Nov. 1. But on the House floor, Eshoo was highly critical. She emphasized that few bills garner as much support as hers, which has 238 co-sponsors.

Security
House Pulls Spying Bill As Senate Strikes Deal
     House Democratic leaders pulled an anti-terrorism surveillance bill from the floor after Republicans made a last-minute procedural move that appeared to split Democrats. CongressDaily reported that Republicans immediately claimed credit for throwing the House into disarray over what they said was an ill-conceived bill to overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Some Democrats were said to be ready to support a last-minute GOP motion to send the bill back to committee. The motion would have stipulated that the bill does not prohibit the nation's intelligence community from conducting surveillance needed to thwart dangerous suspects. In the Senate, meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties reached an agreement with the White House to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that participate in the surveillance program. But Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, a presidential candidate, later blocked action on that bill.

Telecom
Mobile Sector's Practices, Competitiveness Questioned
     Lawmakers and panelists voiced concern about a perceived lack of competition in the wireless industry and about the sector's business practices. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on consumer wireless issues, Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he is concerned about "the explosion of deceptive charges that now appear on wireless bills." "If the industry were so competitive, one would expect that these deceptive line charges would have evaporated," Rockefeller said. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson said less competition in the cellular phone industry "makes it more difficult for consumers to shop around for the best service at the lowest rates." The panel is weighing legislation, S. 2033, that would require wireless carriers to give consumers information on their service quality and to curtail charges and fees.

Labor
Draft Bill Spurs Talk About Trade-Related Job Aid
     Draft legislation intended to aid employees left jobless due to international trade has garnered the admiration of the U.S. technology industry. The House Ways and Means Committee released a discussion draft of a bill to overhaul the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. The bill would expand coverage to service-sector employees, including workers in the high-tech and telecommunications industries. Most programmers and other tech professionals currently are excluded -- even though some of their jobs are being moved abroad. Roger Cochetti of the Computing Technology Industry Association said the bill responds to all the concerns his organization has expressed about assistance for information technology workers in the 21st century. "The adverse political impact of more open trade in services would be significantly reduced" under the bill, thereby helping the U.S. tech industry grow, he said. Officials at the tech group AeA said it appears the measure would benefit IT service workers.

Television
Criticism Of DTV Move Continues Despite Ad Blitz
     Democratic lawmakers sharpened their critique of the shift to digital television signals despite an announcement by broadcasters to air public-service messages valued at nearly $700 million. "First and foremost, there must be government leadership," Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., said during a hearing before the panel's Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is implementing a program to help consumers buy equipment needed to keep analog sets functioning after Feb. 17, 2009, and Dingell said the FCC needs to be working with NTIA and others to coordinate the transition. Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., praised recent federal efforts but said they are not enough. He compared FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. "You are the nation's DTV quarterback, and we will be counting on you," Markey said.

Intellectual Property
Department Raises Concerns About Anti-Piracy Bill
     Legislation that would let law enforcers work together globally to track and prosecute intellectual property criminals faces resistance from the Justice Department. In a 13-page letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Justice Department argued that the legislation could require the department to share information that is part of an ongoing criminal investigation and also took issue with the bill's designation of the White House Office of Management and Budget as a project lead. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said passing his measure "will be an uphill battle," but he added that IP theft "has harmed our country for too long. I think the only way we're going to get this done is by convincing Congress this a priority item for the American people." He said Leahy wants to pursue an IP enforcement bill after finishing work on patent legislation.

Intellectual Property
Lawmakers Urge FTC Focus On File-Sharing Risks
     Members of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee urged the FTC to probe recent disclosures of inadvertent file-sharing on peer-to-peer networks and to include those risks in the agency's efforts to curb identity theft. The lawmakers sent the letter on the heels of a July hearing on the topic. The panel requested answers from the FTC by Nov. 1 about whether plans are afoot to incorporate P2P warnings in its work. The commission held a workshop three years ago where P2P firms announced the industry would adopt a voluntary code of conduct. In May 2005, the FTC said file-sharing companies had made progress in conveying risk information to consumers. But earlier this year, the Patent and Trademark Office reported that inadvertent file-sharing still might be a major problem. In the letter, the House lawmakers asked whether the agency has followed up with P2P distributors.

Campaigns
Obama, Clinton Lead Fundraising In Tech Corridors
     Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton may have raised $23 million to the $20 million of rival Barack Obama for the primary this quarter, but Obama still raised slightly more in the San Francisco Bay area and nearly twice as much in western Washington state, another technology corridor. Presidential candidates filed details of their contributions from the quarter running from July 1 to Sept. 30, and Obama raised $1.1 million in the Bay area, compared with $932,023 for Clinton. From the tech corridor near Seattle, Obama raised $282,319, compared with $109,643 for Clinton, according to Federal Election Commission documents. Democratic candidate John Edwards raised nearly as much from the Bay area as the top Republican fundraiser -- $278,146, compared with $299,074 for Mitt Romney. Other GOP numbers from the Bay area: Rudy Giuliani, $166,116; John McCain, $143,261; and Fred Thompson, who entered the race last month, $62,254.