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Politics
Former Tech Candidate Calls For A Tech President
by Heather Greenfield
NEW YORK -- The founder of the Personal Democracy Forum on Friday challenged presidential candidates to talk about tech issues and become tech candidates by committing to policies like broader distribution of public wireless and high-speed Internet service.
Andrew Raseij, who in 2005 touted similar ideas in an unsuccessful bid to become New York City's public advocate, made the challenge before a roomful of new media strategists and bloggers who gathered here at the PDF conference named after his Web site.
Raseij, who is a co-founder of the group blog techPresident, offered six ideas for presidential candidates to endorse. First, declare the Internet a public good and commit to making it ubiquitous. He said dominant communications companies like Verizon Communications should not be allowed to talk politicians into policies that keep everyone from gaining Internet access.
Second, he said that to maintain free speech in the country, it is important to have wireless spectrum available for public use. Third, instead of the standards and testing education framework imposed under the 2002 federal law known as the No Child Left Behind, Raseij wants to see no child left unconnected to the Internet.
Firm support of network neutrality, which would prohibit broadband providers from charging some content providers more for faster speeds than competitors, also is on the list, along with more transparency of the democratic process and the creation of a national guard of technologists. Raseij said the Senate passed legislation last year to create a citizens tech core to help reconnect networks after a disaster, but the Bush administration has done nothing about it.
The conference featured numerous speeches and panel discussions.
Author Seth Gordin, who wrote "Permission Marketing," said the model that campaigns use to build popularity and raise money and ultimately votes needs to be changed dramatically.
Gordin said campaigns now use a funnel method of spreading information. They buy advertisements to get donations and to get elected, and then use donations from all that to buy ads and repeat the cycle. He said the strategy "can't be how to raise more money to reach more people who don't want to hear from us."
With the information overload of today's world, he said, people are getting better than ever at avoiding unwanted messages in the form of television commercials, e-mails or telephone calls at dinner time.
"The reason it's going to cost a billion dollars to elect a president is because the system doesn't work as well as it used to," Gordin said. He instead recommended that the way to win is to attract the geeks and nerds early with a message and then get them to spread the word.
Gordin said the question campaigns need to ask themselves is, "How do I stand for something that the geeks and nerds choose to talk about?"
Danah Boyd, a fellow at the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Communications and an expert on how youth engage in networks, said comments from politicians on Web sites is an underused feature.
She suggested that perhaps politicians should actively engage in "virtual handshaking" by leaving comments with "friends" at online social networks like MySpace and linking to their blogs.
For more on the PDF conference, visit our blog, Tech Daily Dose.
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Budget
Panel Backs Security Grants, Cuts Modernization Aid
by Chris Strohm
House appropriators on Friday approved a measure to fund the Homeland Security Department next fiscal year, voting to boost spending for state and local grant programs and cut funds for the Coast Guard's troubled fleet-modernization program.
The fiscal 2008 Homeland Security appropriations measure would allocate about $36.2 billion in discretionary spending, or about $2 billion more than the White House requested. The allocation also would be about $2.5 billion more than fiscal 2007 funding.
The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee approved the draft bill unanimously by voice vote. No amendments were offered during the debate.
Significantly, funding to help state and local emergency responders would be increased across the board. Appropriators voted to provide $400 million for port security grants, which is the amount established by congressional authorizers last year. The White House only requested $210 million, the same amount enacted for the current fiscal year.
The legislation also would provide $400 million for rail and transit security grants. The White House requested $175 million, the fiscal 2007 level. Appropriators also offered $800 million for firefighter assistance grants; $800 million for urban security grants; $500 million for state homeland security grants; and $400 million for law enforcement terrorism prevention grants.
The spending measure would create two new grant programs. One would provide $50 million to help states comply with the so-called REAL ID Act, which requires the states to issue secure and standardized identification documents to their residents starting in 2008. Another $50 million program would help fund communications equipment that could be used across jurisdictions.
But appropriators voted to provide only about $700 million for the Coast Guard's Deepwater program, which is about $450 million less than current levels and $140 million less than the administration's request. The program has been heavily criticized by government auditors and lawmakers for mismanagement and cost overruns.
Appropriators met the White House's request for $1 billion for the Secure Border Initiative and $462 million for the US-VISIT foreigner-tracking system. But they want to withhold the Secure Border Initiative funds until the Homeland Security Department submits detailed expenditure plans for all projects under it.
Democrats also inserted language that would require the department to issue a public notice and wait 15 days before waiving environmental restrictions when it comes to building fencing and infrastructure along the border. Subcommittee ranking member Harold Rogers, R-Ky., argued that the language "changes existing law, alters the intent of Congress, invites frivolous litigation and has the potential to severely inhibit DHS from addressing vulnerabilities along our borders."
The department also would have to get "support" from local communities before building infrastructure. Rogers said the requirement could provide "a local community with an effective veto over federal policy."
The spending measure would eliminate a cap on how many federal airport screeners. And it would give state and local governments the power to enact tougher laws on chemical security -- a provision heavily opposed by Republicans and the chemical industry.
Full committee debate is expected in June.
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Telecom
Rep. Gordon Wants A Mandate For 'Enhanced 911'
by David Hatch
Rep. Bart Gordon is drafting legislation to require Internet telephone companies to comply with FCC rules mandating the availability of "enhanced 911" emergency service, or E911.
The measure also would extend existing liability protections to Internet phone players and emergency centers in the event that E911 calls are misrouted by mistake. Wireless and wireline carriers already benefit from the legal protections.
A staffer to Gordon, D-Tenn., said Friday that the bill would be introduced in May or early June as a counterpart to similar legislation sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The Senate Commerce Committee approved that bill April 25.
Gordon is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which would have jurisdiction over his version. Staffers with committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., and Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey, who chairs the panel's Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee, were not immediately available for comment.
In 2005, Gordon authored related language that was added to major telecom legislation last year. The House easily passed the broader measure, but it stalled in the Senate.
The latest E911 bills would require the Bell phone companies -- AT&T, Qwest Communications International and Verizon Communications -- and other carriers to interconnect with voice-over-Internet protocol providers to route emergency calls to public-safety answering points, better known as PSAPs. The provisions are intended to address concerns that some VoIP providers have had difficulty obtaining permission from Bell companies to interconnect with their 911 systems or have faced other obstacles in routing emergency traffic.
"The FCC's order has proven viable and effective, and Congress should avoid steps that would upend it. We hope Congress will refrain from imposing new mandates or disrupting successful commercial relationships," said Allison Remsen, spokeswoman for the U.S. Telecom Association, whose members include AT&T and Verizon.
While Nelson has modeled such interconnection rights on arrangements governing wireless carriers, Gordon is adopting a technology-neutral approach.
The congressman's aide noted that forthcoming "hybrid" phones that can be used as wireline, wireless and Internet phone devices necessitate that interconnection privileges should not be tethered to one technology. Gordon's draft measure also seeks to ensure that the hearing-impaired could access E911 service by using text- and video-relay technology.
Yucel Ors, the director of legislative affairs for the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, said his group worked closely with Senate Commerce to ensure that Nelson's bill would not grant VoIP companies waivers from the FCC requirements. Carriers unable to offer E911 service still could seek exemptions but only from the FCC, not Congress. The FCC would accept public comment on the petitions, he said.
The Nelson and Gordon bills also would require Congress to explore moving toward an advanced 911 system that no longer would rely on today's outdated analog technology.
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Taxes
Sen. Wyden Expects Battle Over Internet Tax Ban
by Andrew Noyes
The sponsor of a Senate bill that would make permanent a moratorium on Internet access taxes predicted Friday that the issue could give rise to a tough battle six months from now.
The ban, whose permanence has been pushed by lawmakers and an array of industry groups for several years, expires in November. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told a Direct Marketing Association summit that some new members of the House and Senate need to be educated about the effort before lawmakers consider taking action on pending bills, S. 156 and H.R. 743.
State and local governments are "concerned about their financial pictures" and see the Internet as a "cash cow," Wyden said. "I'm stunned at some arguments for multiple, and what could be discriminatory, taxes on the Internet."
The ban, which was first enacted in 1998, is "vital to the tech sector," and industry must get involved to ensure that it remains, Wyden said. But an informal poll he took of attendees shows that either they are ill-informed about the issue or do not back the legislation.
When he asked the crowd how many people are prepared to call their lawmakers to voice support for the measures, a smattering of hands were raised. "This is going to be high-stakes stuff," Wyden said, urging them again to back his bill, S. 156.
Mark Micali, vice president of government affairs for DMA, took Wyden's comments to heart and during a morning coffee break began circulating a sign-up sheet for executives who are interested in supporting the bill.
The wireless trade group CTIA, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and the U.S. Telecom Association, all back Wyden's bill. Americans for Tax Reform, the Association for Competitive Technology and the Information Technology Association of America also support the ban.
ATF Federal Affairs Manager Scott LaGanga is optimistic for the moratorium's extension but said new members' old loyalties could cause trouble. The big question will be whether they "choose to side with their former state and local colleagues, who are chomping at the bit for new public finances ... or side with the taxpayers of their states?"
Wyden said representatives from the business community have worked with policymakers on extending the ban and various issues and "somehow have managed to get a number of policies right." But a "whole host of new concerns" have emerged as byproducts of successful American innovation.
One such problem is electronic waste. Products that may have had a 10-year lifecycle are now pushed aside in a year and "will end up in dumps, closets, garages and the like," Wyden said. He is encouraging states to "figure out a sensible way to recycle it."
The lawmaker also touched on the controversy over the proposed mandate of equal treatment of high-speed content on the Internet, known as network neutrality. Wyden introduced a bill to mandate such neutrality in the 109th Congress.
Continued success in the high-tech industry means making sure "that you don't have dumb taxation, dumb regulation and dumb monopolization," Wyden said.
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Intellectual Property
Web Innovator Challenges Smithsonian Over Images
by Andrew Noyes
Carl Malamud is at it again. After successfully challenging the C-SPAN public affairs network to loosen its copyright policy for congressional video footage earlier this year, the Internet watchdog has turned his attention to the Smithsonian Institution.
The founder of the Internet Multicasting Service is targeting an e-commerce Web site run by the museum's photographic office that includes thousands of images, ranging from the storied cyanotypes of Edward Muybridge to photos from aviation and natural history.
"If the Smithsonian Institution is our attic, these photos are our collective scrapbook," Malamud said in a memorandum posted on Public.Resource.org, a nonprofit organization he created to foster public works projects online. "Draconian limits" are placed on the government-run collection, he claims.
Since a majority of the images sold on the Smithsonian site appear to be in the "public domain," Malamud downloaded 6,288 of them and put them on the popular photo-sharing site Flickr. He also formatted the entire collection for printing as a free e-book.
The site's copyright notice, according to Malamud, would discourage any layman's use of the imagery. While personal, non-commercial use is allowed, a half-dozen clicks are required before an individual can download a low-resolution, watermarked image. A higher-quality image can cost as much as $200.
Restrictions go even further for some photos, Malamud said. Aviation images, for example, come from the National Air and Space Museum, which states that "even in the absence of copyright, Smithsonian still reserves all rights to image use."
Federal government works generally are in the public domain, he said. The Smithsonian was chartered by Congress to "increase and diffuse knowledge" and receives more than $650 million in federal funding annually, he added.
"We have received Mr. Malamud's letter and our general counsel is reviewing the matter, and I cannot comment further at this time," Smithsonian spokesman Samia Elia said.
Stanford University legal scholar Anthony Falzone lauded Malamud's action, saying "no one should be allowed to reintroduce copyright restrictions simply by taking a picture of them." "This material, and the Smithsonian itself, belong to the taxpayers. The Smithsonian has no business restricting the use of these images."
Yale University law professor Yochai Benkler said Malamud is "performing a very important public service" because the museum is basically "setting up fences around large swaths of American heritage."
But the Progress and Freedom Foundation's Solveig Singleton said his uploading of images and re-releasing them "does not enormously enrich the public," as compared to the work museums do to preserve and provide the historical context for images.
She said the Smithsonian's site is consistent with its mission to disseminate knowledge "even if it does not do so instantaneously or for free." Singleton said, "For-pay mechanisms in the long run offer a more sustainable economic basis for preservation of historical works."
In addition to its own image-selling site, Smithsonian and digital media provider Corbis have an unrelated partnership to provide widely recognized images from the museum's collections for editorial and commercial use through Corbis' Web site.
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Television
Trying To Define Violence Opens A Can Of Worms
by Winter Casey
There is no agreed upon definition for excessive violence on television and no convincing evidence that viewing violence actually leads to increased aggression, speakers said at a Capitol Hill policy seminar on Friday.
Henry Geller, a former FCC general counsel, said at a luncheon organized by the Progress and Freedom Foundation that in order to regulate such violence, a workable definition is needed. But responding to a recent FCC report that said Congress can regulate explicit violence without abridging the First Amendment, Gellar said such regulation could have chilling effects and create the possibility of self-censorship by content providers.
Robert Corn-Revere, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, said the final FCC report suggests that it is possible to define violence but argued that evidence points to the contrary. Even determining what should be studied in the violence arena is not easy, he said, citing examples such as whether the film "Schindler's List" about the Holocaust or sports violence should be considered.
Unless a working definition exists, there is no way to determine what types of violence qualify for regulation, Corn-Revere said.
Jonathan Freedman, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, said there is no convincing evidence that television violence leads to greater aggression. Supporters of legislation on the subject need to be sure they understand what the research shows, he said, and if the worst it shows is that after watching violent television, children are more likely to punch dolls, that may not be enough evidence.
In response to PFF's event, Melissa Caldwell of the Parents Television Council said that even if the social science is inconsistent, "Freedman never addresses recent research like brain scans and other medical research. He's still fairly isolated in his position."
The only research that fails to prove a connection between TV violence and increased aggression has been done by the entertainment industry, Caldwell said. Recent studies by the group have found that violence on prime-time broadcast television has increased by 75 percent since 1998.
Robin Bronk, executive director for The Creative Coalition, said her group supports teaching media literacy and for parents to provide guidance to their children. It is not the right of the government to go into people's homes and influence a family's remote, she said. "As consumers we have the power to demand" that less violence be shown on television.
The Parents Television Council supports the FCC's report and said parents cannot "rely on blocking technology to protect their children from inappropriate content."
In the April 25 report, the FCC recommended that the government assume a greater role in regulating violent video content because doing so would serve the government's interests in helping parents protect children. A Senate Commerce Committee is set to consider the FCC report, but a hearing may not occur until June.
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On The Hill
New Tech Bills Tackle Immigration And 'Botnets'
by Theresa Poulson
Technology-related legislation encompassed several controversial topics this week, ranging from immigration and electronic voting to computer threats known as "botnets."
In the Senate, a new bill, S. 1397, was introduced at the tail end of negotiations over immigration overhaul. The bill would increase the number of visas for highly skilled workers from 65,000 to 115,000 while targeting fraud and abuse of the system.
On the cyber-security front, a new House measure, H.R. 2290, would criminalize attacks by botnets -- software robots that remotely controls computers -- and broaden the criminal code on electronic data theft. Technology industry groups already have praised the measure.
The Senate, meanwhile, adopted a new resolution, S. Res. 205, that designate June as National Internet Safety Month.
Other tech-related measures introduced this week were:
-- H.R. 2316, which would require more disclosures in lobbying, including a provision to post travel and financial disclosure reports on the Internet. The legislation quickly won support from advocates of transparency in government, and the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill Thursday.
-- S. 1401, which would establish rules for accessing a student loan data system. Privacy advocates argue that there are not enough protections for borrowers built into the legislation.
-- H.R. 2377 and S. 1408, which would provide incentives for the implementation of health information technology; and H. Con. Res. 149 and S. Res. 202, which would support National Health Information Technology Week (see separate brief). The Senate resolution was adopted.
-- H.R. 2360, which would require states to meet federal e-voting guidelines. A federal Election Assistance Commission meeting on Thursday centered on the issue.
-- H.R. 2368, which would provide for updated and secure Social Security cards;
-- H.R. 2336, which would let the Patent and Trademark Office keep the fees it collects from applications rather than diverting funds to other government programs.
-- H.R. 2331, which aims to support efforts by local or regional broadcasters to provide essential public information after disasters;
-- H.R. 2342, which would establish a National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System to monitor and improve warnings of natural disasters. Language from the bill was incorporated into H.R. 2337, a package of energy and climate legislation.
-- S. 1427, which would establish the Federal Emergency Management Agency as an independent agency;
-- S. 1425, which would aim to enhance the defense nanotechnology research and development program;
-- H.R. 2389, which aims to help small businesses develop, invest in, and purchase energy-efficient technology;
-- H.R. 2352, which would require higher education institutions to develop an annual campus-safety response plan;
-- And H.R. 2301, which would create a national livestock identification system.
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Today's Feature:
Executive Summary
On the same day that a House panel approved the legislation, the Patent and Trademark Office and its parent department this week criticized portions of a bill that aims to overhaul the U.S. patent system.
Every Thursday, read the Executive Summary by K. Danny Glover.
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E-briefs
Labor: The Senate immigration deal that emerged Thursday includes a provision sought by high-tech firms to increase the annual cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000, with the option of moving to 180,000 if the market demands it. But CongressDaily reports that one tech lobbyist said the deal is "worse than the current situation," in which tech companies scramble for H-1B visas and the annual cap is quickly exhausted. This year, more than twice the available H-1B visa applications were filed on the first eligible day. Employers must wait until next April to file applications for skilled foreign workers who would begin work in October 2008. Tech companies also complained that the number of employment-based green cards would not grow until at least eight years after enactment of the deal. As one lobbyist put it, "They're clearing out the old backlog and immediately building up a parallel backlog."
Security: House Republicans on Thursday offered amendments to a housing bill that would require people applying for federal housing assistance to have identification cards compliant with pending nationwide standards. Reps. Steven King of Iowa and Tom Price of Georgia want the applicants to have ID cards compliant with the so-called REAL ID Act. Legislation has been introduced in both chambers of Congress to repeal the law, which some fear would create an invasive national ID system. Some states already have enacted legislation to reject it. In a statement, Tim Sparapani of the American Civil Liberties Union said the housing proposal ignores the anti-REAL ID rebellion. "Members of Congress knew two years ago that if REAL ID were openly debated, the American people would have rejected it," he said. "Whether it's two amendments or 200, it won't change the growing wisdom that REAL ID is a real nightmare."
Budget: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman on Thursday applauded Congress' approval of the fiscal 2008 budget resolution because it would restore funding for emergency responders that President Bush had proposed cutting. The resolution also would add $400 million for a grant program aimed at increasing compatibility among communications technologies and an additional $331 million for assisting states and urban areas in increasing such interoperability. The Connecticut independent said in a statement that the grant programs are designed to "help first responders talk to one another across jurisdictional and geographic lines at the scene of a disaster and will help state and local governments better prepare for all hazards -- whether a terrorist attack or a natural disaster."
E-Government: Human-resource professionals contend that the Senate draft immigration proposal announced Thursday would not strengthen employment verification of the right of immigrants to work in the United States. The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce has long advocated a modernized electronic system that checks worker identities with the latest technology. It also favors more background checks and, potentially, the use of biometrics. The group cited "serious problems" with the Senate's bill, including that it would: mandate the use of the current system without first ensuring the accuracy of the underlying government databases; and require all employers to re-check the eligibility of all employees. With more than 149 million American employees, the latter requirement would break the system, the group argued. "[A]t the end of the day, without reliable and secure employment verification, we cannot hope to ensure a legal workforce," said Susan Meisinger of the Society for Human Resource Management.
Cyber Security: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation needs to do more to secure its e-mail and information systems, according to an audit released Friday. The Government Accountability Office found that while the FDIC has taken considerable steps to improve its information security practices in recent years, its financial and information systems still have weaknesses. The audit credited the FDIC with implementing nearly all of the recommendations of a 2005 report that examined the same issues. GAO said it is critical for the FDIC to incorporate its New Financial Environment system into its information security program. "Until FDIC fully integrates the NFE with the information security program, its ability to maintain adequate system controls over its financial and sensitive information will be limited," the audit said.
Crime: Tighter security and vigilant theater employees have prevented 31 would-be movie thieves from recording "Spider-Man 3" in theaters around the world, the Motion Picture Association of America announced Friday. Additional preventive measures at overseas premieres and screenings kept the film out of the hands of movie pirates before its release, which helped the film break box office records during its opening weekend. Since the world premiere April 16 in Tokyo, bootleggers have been prevented from stealing the film from 22 theaters in Argentina, Germany, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Since the U.S. premiere May 4, camcorders have been nabbed in nine U.S. movie theaters in California, Florida, Indiana, New York and Texas. "Sometimes even superheroes need a little help fighting the bad guys," MPAA President Dan Glickman said.
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