A 'Scattershot Year' For Tech Policy?
That's what News.com thinks Congress gave the technology industry for Christmas this year. The story covers an array of topics, including:
1) Internet taxes. "Arguably the biggest victory scored by the high-tech industry -- although some would say it didn't go far enough."
2) Competitiveness. "There's no guarantee, however, that [President] Bush will approve the follow-up spending bills that would actually bankroll those programs."
3) H-1B visas. "Once again appears destined to fail, already a casualty of a divisive immigration bill that perished earlier this year."
4) Patent reform. "Proceeded further than ever before, with the House of Representatives backing the most significant revamp in decades. But the Senate hasn't acted yet amid lingering battles over the bill's approach."
5) Piracy. "The entertainment industry saw some action on its frustration with piracy on university networks."
6) Network neutrality. "A quiet year."
7) Tech mergers. Congress called "a number of technology-related companies onto the hearing-room carpet."
8) E-voting. "Post-election plans from the Democrats to require paper trails of all oft-maligned electronic voting machines used in federal races also appear to have collapsed."
9) Internet perils. Congress' activities covered cyber security, terrorists organizing online, file-sharing, sexual predators on social networks, and secretly installed computer spyware.
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