 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Texas Walkout May Impact Tech Bills
by Maureen Sirhal
A walkout staged by Democratic lawmakers in Texas' House may have delayed movement on anti-piracy legislation and hampered the approval of economic development measures tailored to aid the high-tech industry, industry observers said this week.
On Monday, the Democrats fled the state capital of Austin across the border to Oklahoma to protest a move by Republicans to redraw the state's legislative districts. Although state police have sought to force the lawmakers to return, Democrats have said they will not return to finish legislative work unless the redistricting effort ceases.
The House cannot pass legislation without a quorum, and because the lawmakers are out of state, authorities cannot compel them to return to work. That is causing some concerns that enactment of tech-related measures and the fiscal 2004 budget will be delayed.
"It's likely if the Democrats in the House don't come back ... [that] every bill that's in the House will die," said Vans Stevenson, senior vice president of state legislative affairs at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), a group that represents Hollywood's largest studios.
MPAA backs two measures, S.B. 1116 and H.B. 212, that would expand the prohibitions on the theft of cable and telecommunications services to include new Internet-based content services, such as online music and movie offerings. The measures also would ban the sale and development of technologies used solely to pirate such services. Opponents said the language is so broad that it could outlaw the way consumers use certain electronics devices.
If the House lawmakers fail to return before the session ends, the House version of the measure would die. "We still have the bill pending on the Senate side, which has gotten out of committee and likely will come up for a vote in the next few days," Stephenson said, but that measure also would have to be cleared by the House.
The House has passed other tech bills, including one that would allow high-tech workers to use the title "engineer" without licenses. But that and other issues of keen concern to the tech community may get "caught in the crunch" of the end of the legislative session, said Steven Kester, director of legislative and public affairs at the Texas chapter of the tech group AeA.
Additionally, lawmakers still need to pass a budget, which contains spending on school initiatives and economic development, including the Texas Enterprise Fund. That proposal would allocate millions of dollars to some high-tech interests to help spur growth. Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, likely will call for a special legislative session to address outstanding issues that may lapse because of the walkout in the House, industry sources said.
MPAA hopes the pending anti-piracy measure will be cleared despite the delays. Stevenson said the measure was amended to allay concerns of Verizon Communications and other Internet service providers (ISPs), which feared that they would be held liable for violations of the proposed law. The new language "basically says that ISPs are ... exempt [from liability] as long as they are acting lawfully as a communications services provider," Stevenson said.
Mixed Signals About 'Signal Theft'
The MPAA-backed drive to expand laws against "signal theft," meanwhile, continues in other states. In Tennessee, Senate lawmakers are slated to hold a hearing a bill, S.B. 213, similar to the ones on the agenda in Texas.
Massachusetts lawmakers will debate their version of the legislation later this year, while other bills are awaiting either signatures or vetoes from the governors of Colorado and Florida.
Two measures pending in Georgia and South Carolina are not likely to be addressed this year, however, Stephenson said. Georgia's legislature adjourned at the end of March, and South Carolina's session is slated to end at the beginning of June.
Ohio Braces For Cyber-Stalking Ban
Ohio lawmakers have cleared legislation that would ban online stalking, the Dayton Daily News reports. State senators this week approved an amended version of bill, S.B. 8, which would prohibit stalking or harassing someone via electronic mail or online message boards.
Posting false information on the Internet that causes another person to stalk an individual also would be illegal, according to the legislation. Depending upon the nature of the messages, violators could be charged with a felony, which would be punishable by six to 18 months in jail and fines of up to $5,000 in some circumstances -- such as if the victim is a minor or was threatened with physical harm, or if the stalker has a history of violence.
Similar bills have been enacted in 40 other states. The measure now moves to Gov. Bob Taft for his signature or veto. A spokeswoman said Taft plans to closely review the legislation.
Maine Defeats Financial Privacy Measure
Financial institutions are relieved that the Maine Senate failed to pass a measure that could have led to new rules on sharing consumers' financial information.
The American Insurance Association (AIA) on Wednesday applauded the rejection of a bill, L.D. 661, that would have forced financial services firms to obtain consumers' permission before sharing financial data. Under current federal regulation, financial firms may share that information unless the consumers directly "opt out" of the practice.
"The bill would have called for a referendum in November, and the way the referendum was worded, it would have been fairly conducive to creating an opt-in system" for sharing financial information, AIA spokesman Michael Moran said. He added that the proposal would have exceeded the conditions of federal law and of similar laws in other states.
A joint insurance and financial services legislative committee issued a report recommending that the measure not pass. Although House lawmakers approved that recommendation, some senators moved to substitute a minority version supporting the bill. The Senate rejected that move and later declared the bill dead, Moran said.
AIA and a coalition of other businesses argued that an opt-in regime would have imposed new costs and decreased consumer choices.
Kentucky Police Win Grant On Internet Crimes
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced that it has awarded nearly $300,000 to the Kentucky State Police Department as the agency assumed the leadership of a regional task force on Internet crimes against children.
"The Office of Justice Programs is pleased to provide the Kentucky police and prosecutors with the tools, technology and training they need to keep Kentucky's children safe by intercepting these cyber predators and bringing them to justice," Assistant Attorney General Deborah Daniels said. "Since few cyber crimes begin and end in a single jurisdiction, these funds also allow local task forces to coordinate their efforts with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies."
Justice launched a program to support such task forces in 1998, and 36 of them now exist nationwide. As of September 2002, task force operations throughout the country had led to more than 1,100 arrests, forensic examinations of more than 5,000 computers, and training for more than 39,000 law enforcement officers and prosecutors.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
