Television
Clash Between Cable, FCC's Martin Is Not Finished
     The cable industry won a major battle this week by fending off a series of new regulations, but it still faces challenges in its war with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. While Martin failed to garner support for a finding that cable operators have reached a market-penetration level that warrants re-regulation, the agency approved a plan to collect additional data to determine whether the threshold has been met. The cable industry asserts that the chairman's real goal is to create a regulatory environment that would force systems to offer per-channel pricing, which operators strongly oppose. The firestorm surrounding Martin's recent determination that cable had surpassed the so-called 70/70 benchmark resulted in a nearly 12-hour delay of the FCC meeting. Under the rule, the government can impose new restrictions if cable service is available to more than 70 percent of households and serves at least 70 percent of them.

Broadband
Markey Seeks To Revive Network Neutrality Debate
     Rep. Edward Markey plans to introduce legislation in December to set the stage for congressional debate in 2008 on the ability of telecommunications companies to restrict content carried over their wireline and wireless high-speed Internet networks. The Massachusetts Democrat's network neutrality measure would be part of a multi-pronged effort to shift the issue back into the spotlight. Watchdog groups are urging the Senate Commerce and House Judiciary committees to convene January hearings, and the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee that Markey heads already plans to hold additional sessions next year. The legislative push is being fueled by recent flare-ups over net neutrality involving AT&T, Comcast and Verizon Communications, sources said. They noted that the online activist group MoveOn.org is urging Markey to revive the issue so it resonates more loudly on the presidential campaign trail.

Civil Liberties
Advocates Decry Bill Aimed At Homegrown Terrorism
     Several privacy and civil liberties groups are taking aim at legislation targeted at preventing violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism inside the United States. They fear that it could lead to the criminalization of beliefs, unconstitutional restrictions on speech, racial or religious profiling, and Internet censorship. The House-passed bill would create a commission to examine the causes of ideologically based violence and would make legislative recommendations. Opponents say the language could lead to dangerous recommendations. "We are unable to envision a reformulation of this bill that would allow an organization dedicated to the principles of freedom of speech to offer its unqualified support," the American Civil Liberties Union said. California Democrat Jane Harman, a key architect of the bill, responded by saying, "This makes me wonder why you took the time to suggest changes ... and, frankly, whether anything I and committee members have been saying for months is being heard."

Health
Physicians Oppose Ratings Plan In Health IT Bill
     Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee leaders are negotiating changes to a health information technology bill in order to assuage physicians' groups who are objecting to a proposed physician ratings system based on federal claims data. A senior Republican aide said language being added would require that before the ratings are publicly released, the formula would be adjusted to consider patients' health conditions. The negotiations also are attempting to involve healthcare providers in preparing quality measurement reports to ensure they account for patient risk factors, the aide added. The bill is aimed at jumpstarting a nationwide program of e-health records. John Hedstrom, assistant director of government relations for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, said the new language is not enough because federal claims data do not allow adjustments based on patients' health conditions or risk factors.

E-Commerce
Toy Story: Toward A Safer Holiday Season Online
     The start of the holiday shopping season has reinvigorated calls from federal and state lawmakers for Internet-based retailers to enhance their consumer protections, particularly for toy sales. Legislation sponsored by Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, includes hazard-labeling provisions for online and catalogue toy and game sales. The bill, approved by Rush's panel, would require companies to include an "appropriate cautionary statement" to be displayed on or immediately adjacent to an advertisement in a "clear and conspicuous manner." A similar Senate consumer-safety measure has been approved by the Commerce Committee and includes language on Web sellers and catalogues. "Internet sites just aren't stepping up to the plate the way they should," said bill sponsor Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

E-Commerce
Supreme Court Hears Views On Web Tobacco Sales
     The Supreme Court heard arguments in a dispute over a Maine statute aimed at preventing children from having tobacco purchased over the Internet delivered to them. The 2003 state mandate requires shipping companies to determine whether packages contain tobacco; accept packages only from licensed retailers; and release them only to people old enough to buy the product. Concerned that the law would hurt business and slow delivery, trucking groups sued the state, claiming that the law conflicted with a 1994 law that deregulated the package-shipping industry. "This is a situation where if the state doesn't act, we have a regulatory void," said Paul Stern, the attorney for Maine. "Maybe Congress wanted a regulatory void," Judge Antonin Scalia quipped. Also this week, the high court declined to hear an appeal of a trademark case brought against the media company Viacom by a small California software firm

Politics
Debate Is Driven By Technology But Lacks Tech Talk
     Technology may have fueled the CNN/YouTube Republican debate, but tech questions failed to make the short list posed to candidates -- aside from one question dealing with a space mission to Mars. Mike Huckabee turned that query into one about the importance of basic research. He said the technology developed from federal research makes its way into people's everyday use in the form of new medical devices, flat-screen televisions, computers and global positioning systems. Other candidates made indirect references to technology. Ron Paul noted how his team recently spent nothing but raised more than $4 million online in a day. Rudy Giuliani said technology could help cut federal spending by having "one person doing the job of two or three." And asked about a vice president, John McCain said he might seek someone with "more expertise in telecommunications, on information technology, which is the future of this nation's economy."

Campaigns
Voters, Especially Younger Ones, Care About Privacy
     Presidential candidates courting young voters may want to publicize their privacy stances on their Web sites. A new survey from the Ponemon Institute shows that privacy issues could impact voting choices in the 2008 race -- especially for voters younger than 30, whether Democrats or Republicans. More than 40 percent said government protection of their privacy rights is either an important or very important issue in choosing a presidential candidate. "Forty percent is not a trivial result," said Larry Ponemon, director of the institute. He was really surprised by the response of young voters. They may broadcast their personal lives and accompanying photographs at online social networks like Facebook, but privacy still matters to them. Among 18- to 28-year-old voters, 52 percent ranked privacy as important or very important in determining which candidate to support.