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Campaign Battle Turns Ugly Online
An adversary of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, has co-opted colleague Sen. Barbara Boxer's, D-CA, name to protest Feinstein's campaign for re-election to the Senate.
Web sites barbaraboxer.org and stopfeinstein.com are registered by Curtis Stafford of Citrus Heights, CA. Both sites include statements on why Feinstein is "bad for America" and "bad for California."
Boxer spokesman David Sandretti said the site came to the senator's attention early last week, adding that "we're investigating our legal options…it's outrageous to use the senator's name that way."
Sandretti stressed that Boxer and Feinstein are a "very good team for California," with Boxer "wholeheartedly" supporting Feinstein's re-election campaign against Republican Rep. Tom Campbell. Campbell gave up his House seat representing Silicon Valley to challenge Feinstein.
Stafford's sites, however, are not the only negative jabs targeted to Feinstein, said her campaign manager Kam Kuwata.
"Obviously, one of the problems on the Web" is you can create a Web site and put somebody else's name on it, he said. "I have heard that people have got to look into this and maybe there needs to be some adjustment to the law" so people can own their own names, Kuwata added.
NCSL Turns To Web To Track State Races
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is going the extra mile to keep its members up to date by providing online state-by-state campaign coverage for next month's elections. NCSL's State Elections 2000 Web site highlights the hot topics of state races and what voters should look out for on Election Day.
The site tracks state ballot initiatives, the balance of power in state legislatures and the 11 governor's who are up for re-election.
Tax Reformers Meet Again
Members of the Streamlines Sales Tax Project (SSTP) met in Chicago Thursday to recommend proposals for how states could simplify their sales tax systems and to find a common way to apply that system to the Internet, as legislation to extend a moratorium on Internet-related taxes withers on Capitol Hill.
"There is much information being disseminated that state governments view the Internet and electronic commerce as a 'cash cow' and we, as state officials, are salivating for our prime cut. This is simply not true," Illinois State Sen. Steven Rauschenberger, who is also the co-chairman of the NCSL, said in prepared testimony at the Thursday hearing. "We are concerned about the unintended consequences of obsolete, discriminatory, or multiple taxes on this vital new technology."
The SSTP was organized six months after the congressional Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce failed to develop a consensus on how to handle sales taxes on the Internet. States have recently been criticized for wanting to collect taxes on Net sales, especially by those wishing to extend the current tax moratorium.
"NCSL will continue to oppose any federal action to preempt the sovereign and constitutional right of the states to determine their own tax policies in all areas, including telecommunications and electronic commerce," Rauschenberger said.
The SSTP currently has 39 states involved, 27 of which are considered voting participants, since their legislatures have enacted legislation or their governors have issued executive orders similar to SSTP's recommendations.
Key features SSTP's proposal include allowing states to determine what is taxable; giving sellers relief from "good faith" tax collection requirements by reducing their liability for uncollected taxes; and freeing sellers who participate in a certified SSTP technology model from audits. SSTP is encouraging states to test available technologies to see if they could be put to use to simplify the current sales that system and help apply that system for sales of online goods and services.
MI 'SmartZones' In The Works
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is currently in the review process of its SmartZones technology project.
Formerly known as Smart Parks, SmartZones will be established through amendments to the Local Development Financing Act. This amendment would allow municipalities to use tax increment financing for property acquisition, infrastructure, business incubators and other facilities, management and marketing. The initiative is what Michigan officials call the "first attempt by a state to put together a network of technology parks."
"The impressive number of full proposals proves Michigan's municipals share our excitement about this revolutionary program," said MEDC CEO Doug Rothwell, in a statement. "These technology clusters will bring to market the application of scientific and technological innovation to help drive Michigan's economic development strategy for years to come."
The plan would reinforce its high-tech clusters by creating SmartZones where business, research activities, training and support services would be in one location allowing easy collaboration. MEDC is currently visiting prospective SmartZone locations. Members of the MEDC staff and one consultant will designate up to four SmartZones by Dec. 31, with the remaining 6 to be designated over the next two years — based upon 9 pre-proposals and 9 proposals received by MECD.
On A Long Distance Qwest
Qwest Communications is the latest of the Baby Bells trying to break into state long-distance markets.
CEO Joe Nacchio promised a group of regulators gathered in Denver for a meeting of the Regional Oversight Meeting Monday that the company is eager to enter the $85 billion long-distance market. The committee is charged with creating standards to determine whether Qwest, which acquired Baby Bell US West, has opened its markets to competition in the 14 states it currently serves. Qwest gained 25 million local customers in the West and Midwest states after it merged with US West.
The Federal Communications Commission has not ruled specifically on line splitting, but bans Baby Bells from entering the long-distance market until they prove their local lines are open to competition.
In related Qwest news, the company announced last week that it's broadband Internet communications company will offer complete high-speed local broadband services, including DSL (digital subscriber line) access, to five California markets: San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. Through its local broadband initiative, Qwest is building local fiber rings in 25 major metropolitan markets to give customers direct, high-speed connections to its broadband network.
- by Liza Porteus
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