July 2008

The Sunlight Foundation released a revised version of its model transparency legislation on Thursday that incorporates suggestions posted to PublicMarkup.org during the proposal's public review period since March. The group wants to make the collaboratively written document a reality on Capitol Hill and looks forward to working with members of Congress to move a bill forward, officials said.

The proposal updates existing congressional disclosure requirements for the Internet age. It specifies technological and reporting requirements to make more information about lawmakers and their influencers, the work of Congress and of the executive branch meaningfully accessible to the public, with an emphasis on publishing congressional information online.

"By posting the bill on PublicMarkup.org, we demonstrated a potent new advocacy model. Our hunch was right -- an open and public advocacy process is an effective way of evaluating ideas and influencing policy," Sunlight's John Wonderlich said in a press release.

Stakeholders who helped shape the language online raised policy questions like: Should Congressional Research Service Reports be public? How often should political action committees and candidates disclose their campaign finance receipts? How should the Freedom of Information Act be strengthened? In what ways should lobbying disclosure be expanded? Read more on the initiative here.

A high-level Commerce Department official wrote to the chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers on Wednesday offerings the Bush administration's views regarding how to improve "institutional confidence" at the international body charged with administering the Internet-addressing system.

In Acting Assistant Secretary Meredith Baker's letter to Peter Dengate-Thrush, she wrote that "while ICANN had made significant progress in several key areas, important work remains." Stakeholders believe ICANN should implement effective processes that will enable: long term stability; accountability; responsiveness; continued private sector leadership, stakeholder participation; increased contract compliance; and enhanced competition, she said.

An ICANN steering committee posted a series of interrelated documents in June that touch on several of those key areas "but ensuring continued private sector leadership, increased contract compliance and enhanced competition are minimally addressed, if at all." The department believes those issues require "affirmative and concrete actions" on ICANN’s part, Baker wrote. Read the rest of her letter here.

Legislation aimed at cracking down on counterfeiting and piracy has been added to the Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda for its Thursday mark-up -- but don’t hold your breath that anything will happen with the bill in the near term. Of course, it is possible that the measure introduced by Chairman Patrick Leahy last week could come up, but committee rules allow for any bill listed for the first time to be held over once.

Plus, a partisan spat over judicial nominees has made it hard for the committee to get a quorum and Republican members didn’t show at the committee's last business meeting. Ranking member Arlen Specter -- who cosponsored the bill with Leahy and Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio -- criticized the pace at which judicial appointments have been considered by the panel and the Senate on the whole.

The bill in question was a compromise among several intellectual property enforcement measures introduced this Congress. It would provide authorization for the attorney general to enforce civil copyright laws; improve civil intellectual property laws by only requiring registration of a copyrighted work before bringing a civil infringement suit; and eliminate other "unnecessary burdens" to launching infringement suits. It also would harmonize forfeiture provisions in criminal copyright infringement cases.

The FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center have received reports of recent spam e-mails spreading malicious "Storm Worm" software, officials said Wednesday. The e-mails, which contain the phrase “F.B.I. vs. Facebook,” direct recipients to click a link to view an article about the FBI and the popular social networking Web site. The Storm Worm virus has also been spread in e-mails advertising a holiday e-card link.

According to an FBI press release, clicking the link downloads malware onto the Internet-connected device, causing it to become infected with the virus and part of the Storm Worm "botnet," a collection of compromised computers under the command of a criminal “botherder.”

“The spammers spreading this virus are preying on Internet users and making their computers an unwitting part of criminal botnet activity," the FBI's Richard Kolko said. "We urge citizens to help prevent the spread of botnets by becoming Web-savvy. Following some simple computer security practices will reduce the risk that their computers will be compromised."

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was indicted Wednesday for failing to disclose thousands of dollars in services he received from a firm that helped renovate his home. The Senate Commerce Committee ranking member and the chamber's longest-serving Republican said he expects to be cleared of charges -- but it's obviously not a happy time for him or his colleagues.

So, Tech Daily Dose felt obliged to offer a bit of comic relief. Back by popular demand, the legendary Stevens "series of tubes" remix:

Here's an interesting, tech-savvy tactic to spur favorable coverage of the 2008 Republican National Convention… the RNC sent out an e-mail blast Wednesday offering a free trip to the big event and a day in presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's press pool to the winner of a Web video contest.

The deadline is Friday for contestants to upload a clip to the GOP convention's YouTube page describing "why you are a Republican in 2008?" Submissions must be less than two minutes. The public will select one out of five finalists next week and the producer of the winning segment will get a three-day trip to the convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn., where their video will be shown.

More details are available here.

Participatory online news network NowPublic.com unveiled it's second MostPublic Index, identifying the 50 most influential individuals in Silicon Valley/San Francisco. The rankings are a barometer of who's voices are most heard in the digital landscape as new channels -- Twitter, Facebook, Flick, YouTube and the like -- transform how media is created and spread.

Here's the top 10 list:

Blogger and tech visionary Robert Scoble
TechCrunch's Michael Arrington
Twitter's Jack Dorsey
Twitter's Biz Stone
Google's Matt Cutts
Mashable's Pete Cashmore
Blogging pioneer Dave Winer
Venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki
Entrepreneur Loïc Le Meur
Digg cofounder Kevin Rose

The AARP, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Public Patent Foundation and a handful of other nonprofit and public interest groups filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief in a lawsuit involving the Patent and Trademark Office's plans to implement new rules aimed at improving patent quality and reducing abuse of the system.

The PTO's regulations, which limit applicants to filing two new continuing applications and one request for continued examination, were challenged by drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline and an independent inventor, Triantafyllos Tafas. The case is on appeal before a federal appeals court after a district judge decided not to allow the PTO to move forward.

“The patent office has a duty to protect the public interest," CCIA President Ed Black said. "It should be allowed to close procedural loopholes being exploited by some patent applicants to game the system into awarding them broad, vague patents." Read the amicus brief here.

Legislation considered Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee would nullify rights consumers already have to record digital music, copyright "fair use" advocates at Public Knowledge said in written testimony submitted to the panel. The group said a bill introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would also unfairly impose restrictions on some types of digital music, but not on others. Additionally, Public Knowledge argued that argued that it is unfair for webcasters to pay fees to music labels while terrestrial broadcasters pay no performance royalties at all.

Meanwhile, the Copyright Alliance's Patrick Ross asked on the group's blog: "What’s the right rate for [fill in the blank] music service? Should we trust the Copyright Royalty Board? Should we let Congress decide? And if we let Congress decide, which Senate bill properly determines what is fair?" The fact, he wrote, is that there is no perfect answer to those questions. "A lot of heat was generated today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on music rates, but there was little light," Ross added.

Read full coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee's music royalties hearing in CongressDaily's AM Edition on Wednesday. Pictured: SoundExchange's John Simson, Pandora Music CEO Joe Kennedy, Geffen Records' Jeffrey Harleston; musicians John Ondrasik and Matt Nathanson.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama met with economic advisers on Monday -- including Google CEO Eric Schmidt -- for a closed-door conversation that participants described as wide-ranging and free flowing with an emphasis on the nation's immediate needs but also its longer term strategy for growth.

Former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., told reporters on a teleconference that the economy is at the top of Obama's agenda because "he recognizes that millions of Americans have been hurt by the economic policies of the last eight years and he intends to make a significant change."

Laura Tyson, who served as President Bill Clinton's economic adviser, said attendees discussed the current financial market uncertainty as well as what a new economic stimulus package might look like. Other topics included energy independence, education and healthcare. Also at the table were Warren Buffett; AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and others.

"The Internet economy is becoming a larger and more important part of the economy as a whole, so it's important that whoever becomes our next president understands the importance of keeping the Internet free and open," a Google spokesman said. Google agrees with Obama's goals of investing to expand broadband access and scientific research, he said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday will examine music royalties across digital distribution platforms. Witnesses include Geffen Records' Jeffrey Harleston; Pandora Music CEO Joe Kennedy; recording artists Matt Nathanson and John Ondrasik, and John Simson of digital royalty collector SoundExchange. Watch a brief Q&A with Nathanson above on the eve of his appearance. If you've never heard of him, click here.

National Music Publishers' Association President David Israelite wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee members on the eve of a Tuesday hearing on music royalties in the digital age, reinforcing a distinction that his group has made on multiple occasions -- that "performing" and "distributing" are two distinct rights granted to a copyright owner. As such, they require two distinct licenses, he said in the Monday letter.

"Congress must make it clear that any service distributing digital copies must obtain a Section 115 license for the reproduction and distribution of the musical work and compensate songwriters and music publishers," Israelite stated. Platforms like HD and satellite radio should be able to thrive and expand, but not at the expense of the creators of music, he said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who will preside at the hearing, introduced a bill early in this Congress requiring satellite, cable and Internet broadcasters to pay fair market value for the performance of digital music -- while mandating the use of piracy prevention technologies. Her bill strikes the right balance, Israelite added.

Reps. John Culberson, R-Texas, and Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, might be the most prominent Twitter users on Capitol Hill, but they aren't the only lawmakers utilizing the innovative social media platform to communicate with constituents. We uncovered a few other famous political faces who have posted short missives online -- some more recently and regularly than others (more screenshots after the jump.)

According to the Sunlight Foundation, other lawmakers appear to have Twitter accounts but it was unclear whether they actually update themselves -- like Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. The foundation's Let Our Congress Tweet campaign has received over 600 petitions since its launch a few weeks ago.

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- July 28, 2008 -- Cuil, a technology company pioneering a new approach to search, unveils its innovative search offering, which combines the biggest Web index with content-based relevance methods, results organized by ideas, and complete user privacy. Cuil.com has indexed 120 billion Web pages, three times more than any other search engine.

Cuil (pronounced COOL) provides organized and relevant results based on Web page content analysis. The search engine goes beyond today’s search techniques of link analysis and traffic ranking to analyze the context of each page and the concepts behind each query. It then organizes similar search results into groups and sorts them by category.
Read the full press release here.

Initial thoughts -- the main page took too long to load; the results are displayed in an interesting, un-search-engine kind of way. I'm not sold yet but will continue to tinker.

Surf on over to CongressDaily's TechCentral for a new "Issue of the Week." Here's a taste:

When Super Tuesday rolled around this past February, and Minnesota Democrats faced the prospect of caucusing for their U.S. Senate pick, many supporters of Democratic aspirant Al Franken were prepared.

They had already watched the campaign's instructional video online designed to explain the complicated process. What's more, the organization of the one-time "Saturday Night Live" comic had relied on its Web site to manage and recruit volunteer precinct captains to turn out voters in more than half of the 4,000 precincts in Minnesota.

"It's a really important part of what we do, and we use it to amplify our activities," said Franken spokesman Andy Barr of the campaign's use of the Web. He noted that, in the run-up to the caucuses, large numbers of volunteers were able to self-schedule their time and coordinate with staffers at the campaign headquarters by using a simple application on the Franken Web site.

Welcome to the 2008 congressional campaign, Web 2.0 style.

If you haven’t heard about the FCC clearing the XM/Sirius merger by this morning, you're late to the ballgame. Rather than write something original, Tech Daily Dose provides some helpful quotes and links so you can build your own story.

Sirius satellite radio announces equity offerings and related share borrow facility -- www.sirius.com

XM and Sirius confirm discussions to settle FCC enforcement matters -- www.siriusmerger.com

“Consumers will be better off than had the merger been granted without any conditions. At the same time, we eagerly await the details of the Commission’s order to see more closely the degree to which the conditions will serve the public interest.” -- Public Knowledge

"This sweetheart deal for Wall Street speculators is premised on a promise that a monopoly will provide consumers with lower prices, better service and more programming formats. Only members of the Flat Earth Society would buy into such specious nonsense." -- National Association of Broadcasters

"The FCC's approval of the merger of Sirius and XM undermines public radio and, in turn, the public's access to our services… The public interest is not being served in this decision." -- National Public Radio

BPI, which represents record labels in the United Kingdom, reached what the trade group called a "groundbreaking" agreement on Thursday with major Internet service providers and the government on measures to help significantly reduce illegal file-sharing. The organization signed a pact that places joint commitments on the signatories to continue developing consumer education programs and legal online services. For the first time ISPs will be required to work with rights holders toward a “significant reduction” in illegal content-swapping.

To achieve their goals, in the first year hundreds of thousands of informative letters will be sent by participating ISPs to customers whose accounts have been identified by BPI as being used illegally. In addition, under the auspices of the British government, the signatories will work to identify effective mechanisms to deal with repeat offenders. The deal represents "a significant step forward, in that all ISPs now recognize their responsibility to help deal with illegal file-sharing," BPI chief Geoff Taylor said in a press release.

Food for thought: A study by Entertainment Media Research found that simply sending letters should have a measurable impact on online piracy. A survey of 1,600 Brits found that 70 percent would stop unauthorized downloads if they received a warning from their ISPs. More than 60 percent said they would stop if they had a better chance of being caught.

Friday was the last installment of National Public Radio’s edgy, Web-savvy morning news show, “The Bryant Park Project.” It was a favorite of mine (and of many listeners around the globe) and it will be missed. The BPP staff posted a “WKRP In Cincinnati” inspired goodbye video, which you can watch here. They also created a music mash-up of the five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Listen to those songs here. The team will soon be posting its final “tweet” on its Twitter page here but the show lives on (kind of) at the BPP Diner here.

Senate Judicairy Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking member Arlen Specter joined Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, on Thursday to unveil a new bill aimed at thwarting intellectual property infringement. Read the full story in CongressDaily's PM Edition.

The Information Technology Industry Council, which has been spearheading the high-tech community's efforts to influence legislation aimed at creating a nationwide system of electronic medical records, cheered the House Energy and Commerce Committee's passage of their bill on Wednesday. The House could vote on the measure this fall while a companion bill in the Senate is also awaiting final approval.

"Health IT legislation is an essential step towards improved patient care and today¹s vote brings us closer to turning state of the art electronic medical record-keeping into a reality," ITI lobbyist Kara Calvert said in a press release. "I was happy to see the legislation pass unanimously out of the Energy & Commerce Committee and I thank the members for realizing how important this legislation is."

Health IT is one of the ITI's top priorities in the 110th Congress. The primary goal of the legislation is improving patient care and the efficiency of treatment, while also protecting patient privacy. Many industries have already moved to e-records but the medical field has resisted, the trade group said. Healthcare providers have argued that the expense of transitioning to digital environment could be burdensome.

A computer whiz-kid who used his smarts to pirate and sell software on popular auction site eBay was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison, three years supervised release and 150 hours of community service per year. Jeremiah Mondello of Eugene, Ore., was charged in federal court with identity theft, mail fraud and selling counterfeit programs. His personal computers and $220,000 in cash were also seized.

The Software & Information Industry Association, which initiated the action against the eBay pirate applauded the Justice Department and Homeland Security Department for tracking down the 23-year-old. “We are fortunate that he has been stopped, but there are hundreds more like him running illegal operations on eBay and other sites," SIIA Senior Vice President Keith Kupferschmid said.

On the heels of the Mondello news, SIIA announced six new lawsuits against Web-based sellers of illegal software. The trade group has filed 32 lawsuits in 2008 as part of its ramped-up effort to stop software piracy.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking member Arlen Specter will join Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, on Thursday in unveiling new legislation intended to boost government efforts to crack down on counterfeiting and piracy.

The bill is expected to reflect a compromise of a number of intellectual property rights proposals introduced this session and strengthen federal resources and authorities to combat IP crimes. The four will discuss the bill at a noon press conference.

Bayh and Voinovich introduced a measure early in the 110th Congress aimed at helping the United States work with other countries to identify and track IP criminals by creating a coordinating body with high-level representation by certain agencies and leadership from the Office of Management and Budget.

Leahy offered his own bill that hinged on giving the Justice Department the ability to bring civil actions against infringers and boosting Justice and FBI resources to combat IP theft.

Stakeholders in the great patent reform debate of the 110th Congress may/may not have done a double-take when they saw this headline. Sorry if I made a few lobbyists spit out their morning coffee in shock... but it's not what you think. The Senate on Tuesday night unanimously approved a bill to ensure the constitutional appointment of administrative patent and trademark judges.

The legislation, sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, who also championed the bigger and considerably more controversial patent bill this session, will next be considered in the House a where bipartisan companion measure was introduced last month. Leahy's bill was swiftly approved by the Senate after Leahy introduced this week with Judiciary ranking member Arlen Specter.

If enacted, the bill will bring the appointment of patent and trademark judges in compliance with the Constitution’s appointments clause, which requires that so-called “inferior officers” be appointed by the president, the courts, or department heads within the executive branch. Many have argued that the judges in question, who are currently appointed by the Patent and Trademark Office director, are included in this category. Under Leahy's bill, the Commerce Department secretary will appoint the judges.

Motion Picture Association of America chief Dan Glickman on Tuesday championed the need for intellectual property protections and the importance of bipartisanship to improve public policy. Hollywood's top lobbyist (and former Kansas congressman) spoke to the Bipartisan Policy Center at a luncheon, emphasizing the need for lawmakers to traverse party lines even during the partisan presidential election season.

“You have to look no further than the record-breaking box office success of The Dark Knight from last weekend to know that the appeal of American movies transcend political boundaries,” he said. “I believe the same can be true as we tackle the major issues facing our country and our world.”

Glickman has worked closely with policymakers from both parties, labor and a wide range of business communities to support efforts to broaden protections for copyrighted goods – from fashion and pharmaceuticals to music and movies. The MPAA has been part of a coalition supporting a bill awaiting action in Congress that the group believes would strengthen the U.S. economy and generate more jobs for American workers.

“I do believe we will see greater global cooperation on intellectual property,” Glickman added. “The more sophisticated work countries do in the global economy, the greater their own stake. And, same as any of these issues, the more it’s about all of us rather than some of us—the more progress we can make together.”

Some afternoon comic relief courtesy of the Boing Boing blog:

"How do you market a machine that automates using a pipette (an instrument used to transport a measured volume of liquid)? Romance, of course. Eppendorf is pushing its new epMotion machine with a video of a boy-band group of lab types singing a boy-band type of love song about how you deserve to have your pipetting done by a machine."

Pipetting all those well-plates, baby, sends your thumbs into overdrive.
And spending long nights in the lab makes it hard for your love to thrive.
What you need is automation, girl, something easy as 1-2-3.
So put down that pipette, honey, I got something that will set you free.
And it’s called epMotion (whisper: ‘cause you deserve something really great)

That's one hilarious music video. Take a look. (Thanks for the tip, GP).

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Monday asked three prominent Internet companies for an update on a voluntary code of conduct being written by the industry, academics and human rights groups to regulate businesses' activities in countries that restrict Internet use and content. The full story can be found in CongressDaily's AM edition.

While Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others involved in the rulemaking have until September to decide whether to sign on to agreed upon language, a Google spokesman offered me this much: "Promoting freedom of expression and privacy around the world are top priorities for Google and our users. We are actively working on the code of conduct with all parties and look forward to reaching a consensus."

Colin Maclay, managing director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, which is helping stakeholders reach a consensus, added in an e-mail on Monday night that "it's beyond unrealistic to think that the deadline could move up" because the behind-the-scenes work represents significant commitments by a multitude of Internet players. Even if companies, including European partners that went unaddressed, did speed things up, non-corporate entities would not be able to (nor have any incentive to do so), he said.

Those involved in the dialogue have come a long way in nearly two years, Maclay said. "The trust developed among all partners in this process - while still somewhat fragile - has been the biggest story," he said. Maclay also noted that negotiations "were not along a two-dimensional continuum -- rather the parties definitely sought (and reached) common ground along a third dimension in a number of areas."

A handful of prominent technology experts got together Tuesday morning to provide congressional staffers with some insight into their industry's varied policy interests and legislative priorities. Speakers noted that the sector is often puzzling to legislators and regulators because it is complex and fast-moving and because IT is so diversified. Stakeholders rarely speak with one voice, they said.

Getting beyond buzzwords like innovation, openness, jobs, or economic growth is sometimes difficult but when you peel back the rhetoric, most policy differences among IT companies are the result of competing business models. Examples discussed at the Association for Competitive Technology event included network neutrality, privacy and tech standards. The Cato Institute's Jim Harper, CompTIA's Chris Katopis and others took part.

ACT also released a report at the event called: "Understanding The IT Lobby: An Insider's Guide," which is intended to help lawmakers make more informed decisions on policies that impact industry, consumers and the overall economy. In it, the authors describe IT business models and examine lobbying tactics employed on Capitol Hill today.

Rock the Vote and communications giant Comcast have teamed up on a multimedia partnership to encourage young Americans to register to vote. The initiative will include a series of co-branded public service announcements and Internet outreach on Comcast’s family of networks, including E! Networks, VERSUS, The Golf Channel, TV One, FearNet, Comcast Sportsnet, PBS Kids Sprout, CN8 and G4.

Comcast and RTV will be registering young Americans online through these networks’ Web sites as well as at Comcast.net, OurTimetoVote.com, the Comcast voter outreach resource, and Comcast Latino, the Spanish language website at Terra.com, officials said Monday. Additionally, E! will provide behind-the-scenes coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions and will mention the Web sites leading up to the election.

The project builds on the cable industry's “Our Time to Vote” education and registration campaign, which Comcast helped launch last year. The latest announcement also comes on the heels of Comcast being named the official cable television and video on demand provider for the 2008 DNC, which will be simulcast in Spanish online for the first time at DemConvention.com.

Surf on over to CongressDaily's TechCentral for a new "Issue of the Week." Here's a taste:

Legislation intended to create a nationwide system of electronic medical records and to protect patient privacy in an age of digital information-sharing is expected to get a House Energy and Commerce Committee vote this week. But the bill's momentum could be slowed by several factors, including shared jurisdiction of the legislation with the House Ways and Means Committee and lingering concerns by some legislators and stakeholders about potential unintended consequences.

Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., announced at a June markup that his intention was to move the bill -- sponsored by Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell and ranking member Joe Barton -- out of committee, through the House and Senate, and to the White House this year. The subcommittee approved the bill by voice vote, and staffers have been negotiating language with industry and consumer advocates in the weeks since then.

But several individuals involved in those talks said the measure's prospects for success get slimmer with each passing day, as the target adjournment date for the 110th Congress gets closer.

The National Institute of Justice holds its annual conference in Arlington, Va. this week and the agenda includes several tech-centric sessions. Here's a quick rundown:

Cell Phone Forensics
With the ubiquity of the cell phone, today’s criminals are leaving behind evidence of their crimes on devices that they often carry with them. Evidence on these devices includes pictures, contact lists, global positioning system information and call logs. Panelists will present findings from two NIJ-funded studies that developed new ways for law enforcement to access evidence from mobile technology.

DNA Tools For Tomorrow
In recent years, scientific and technological research has advanced rapidly. But forensic scientists know that to take advantage of technological innovations, they must harness and adapt such innovations to use in the crime lab. Panelists will present NIJ's newest DNA research and development projects.

Crime Analysis & Policing: New Technologies
Technological innovations help law enforcement work more efficiently, but integrating new technologies is not always easy. Panelists will present results from a national survey about crime analysis/mapping and its integration with patrol.

The Republican National Convention has begun a series of Internet-based discussions each Friday about preparations being made in advance of the big event at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., Sept. 1-4. The "Lunchtime Chats" are transmitted via Ustream.tv, the convention's live video streaming provider and offer "informal, interactive, and live question-and-answer sessions with convention organizers," the RNC said in several e-mail reminders I've received.

This week's show, which I missed due to a scheduling conflict (stepping away from my desk to fight a long line at Subway) featured Matt Burns, the convention's communications director. From the looks of the comments submitted (see below), I didn’t miss much... but I'll try to tune in next time. Here's the archived video.

The American Civil Liberties Union has unveiled an online advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness about the lawsuit the watchdog group filed last week in New York federal court, which seeks a permanent injunction that would bar the U.S. government from conducting surveillance operations under a major revision of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

President Bush signed into law legislation that expands the authority for the government’s warrantless electronic spying activities and virtually ensures retroactive immunity for telecommunications firms involved in the program. “This law will play a critical role in helping to prevent another attack on our soil,” Bush said as he signed the bill, calling it “vital to the security of our people.”

Some have argued that the measure eroded checks on the power of government but the Bush administration said it needed the expanded authority to thwart terrorist attacks. The ACLU also ran an ad addressing the issue in The New York Times on Thursday.

The Recording Academy, best known for its annual Grammy Awards, has invited the FCC to test prototype "white space" devices at the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago next month. Academy Vice President Daryl Friedman wrote to the Commission on Thursday about its plan to open vacant portions of the television spectrum to unlicensed wireless products, reiterating his belief that the agency should proceed with caution before approving new technologies.

"The Recording Academy wants to extend its expertise and resources to the Commission as you set forth to execute your testing plans at an 'entertainment venue'" he wrote, suggesting the Aug. 1-3 rock extravaganza as an ideal test-bed. "We believe the test results from this festival would lend significant value and engineering insight for the Commission to consider in its subsequent deliberations on the final rules."

The concert, which will feature performances by Bloc Party, Butch Walker, Duffy, Radiohead and others, is sponsored by AT&T. Also of potential interest to the FCC -- a performance by VHS or Beta, a Louisville, Ky. band that fuses rock, French house and dance-punk.

Checking in with Capitol Hill's Twitter-savvy lawmakers:

From Rep. John Culberson's Twitter feed:

Read more here.

From Rep. Tim Ryan's Twitter feed:

Read more here.

CongressDaily's recent coverage of the issue:

Boehner Seeks To Stir Net Roots About Proposed Rule
Capuano: Boehner's Charges On Rule 'Laughably Inaccurate'
Rules Panel’s Foray Into Online Video A Bit More Collegial

Thursday was a bad day for Intel. European regulators announced new antitrust charges against the computer chip maker, accusing the firm of providing rebates to a prominent European retailer conditional on them only carrying Intel products. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition also accused Intel of providing rebates to a leading PC manufacturer to delay the launch of an AMD-based product line and rewarding the same company for stocking laptops exclusively with Intel-based products.

Intel is already under investigation by European regulators on charges it used rebates to discourage manufacturers from using AMD chips in PCs and low-cost servers. The EC had said earlier it would rule on those charges by September, though Intel will have two months to respond to these additional allegations. In the United States, Intel faces a civil suit in New York and an FTC investigation on whether the rebates were illegal.

Intel issued a statement saying it was disappointed with the news and will evaluate the Commission's complaint and respond fully. "It's clear that the allegations stem from the same set of complaints that our competitor, AMD, has been making to regulators and courts around the world for more than 10 years," the company said. "We are confident that the worldwide microprocessor market is functioning normally and is highly competitive in Europe and elsewhere."

But Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black said there is "now a clear pattern of ongoing and durable anti-competitive practices by Intel." “The European Commission has the reputation of being thorough yet fair,” he said. "Their judgment and findings will be very important because they will move us beyond current rhetoric and shed light on what is actually happening on many different levels."

Longtime AOL executive, Washington Capitals hockey team owner and certified gazillionaire Ted Leonsis launched SnagFilms.com on Wednesday -- a Web site created to address the bottleneck in distribution for quality documentaries that has left many films unable to reach their potential audience or to provide a viable financial return. The endeavor is also backed by AOL co-founder Steve Case and venture capitalist Miles Gilburne.

At launch, more than 250 films are available for immediate streamed playback, requiring no software downloads, sign-ups or waiting, and an additional 200 films, already under contract, will be added by mid-August. Films from the vaults of PBS, National Geographic, United Nations, Sundance Preserve, IndiePix, Peter Jennings Productions, Arts Alliance America, and many others will be available for viewing.

“There has never been a time when so many high-quality socially relevant documentary films have been made, yet even though tens of thousands of documentaries are submitted to film festivals every year, only a handful find theatrical distribution," Leonsis said. "Through SnagFilms, everyone on the Web can be a theater owner and a film distributor if they just donate their pixels and enable these incredible documentaries to be seen."

In related news, SnagFilms also announced that it has acquired indieWIRE, the leading news, information, and social networking site for the international independent film community. IndieWIRE will continue to operate as a standalone, independent site while also providing content for SnagFilms.com.

Earlier this week, National Public Radio announced that it was pulling the plug on "The Bryant Park Project," the network's weekday morning news program tailored for hip, younger listeners. I have been so busy on Capitol Hil in recent days that I neglected to mention this. I'm a few days late with the shout-out but felt compelled to give the BPP crew some serious props.

The show was a gigantic breath of fresh air and it will be thoroughly missed -- and not just because I appeared as a guest last week and hoped to do so again soon. The last broadcast of the Manhattan-based program, which the New York Times pointed out is tuned into by many at npr.org rather than over the air, is slated for July 25. The newspaper called the show "an expensive failure" with a first-year budget of $2 million plus. The article also points out BPP's robust Web presence -- blogging, online video, etc.

"We are still absorbing the news of our untimely demise. We will still produce new shows for the next two weeks, and we'll keep on blogging and twittering. We may also dip into the Best of the BPP, stuff we're really proud of," a staffer wrote on the BPP's blog. Rob Paterson on the FastForward blog also offered some thoughts on why the axe fell on what I consider a smart, super-fantastic show.

Meanwhile, listeners have flooded the show's blog to register reactions. "This is the worst news ever!" writes one commenter. "I love BPP, it needs more time to grow! I love it as is, though. This is not fair." A few cheered the show's ending, calling it "drivel" and "an embarrassment to NPR." Several asked whether there might be a way to save the BPP. One listener started a Facebook campaign, championed by the blog Radio Sweethearts.

A member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands has announced plans to introduce legislation this week modeled after a bill introduced this Congress by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., Smith said the proposals are, "a historic partnering, the quintessential example of transatlantic cooperation" and are "absolutely necessary to end -- or at least mitigate -- the complicity of [tech] companies with dictatorships like China."

During a media event, hosted by human rights organization Freedom House, EU MP Jules Maaten, the sponsor of the EU version of the legislation, called the parallel initiative a "collaborative effort to increase Internet freedom." Both bills would prohibit Internet firms from cooperating with repressive regimes that restrict Web speech and use personally identifiable information to track down and punish democracy activists.

Reporters Without Borders lauded the European effort, saying that "online freedom is not just threatened by Yahoo’s cooperation with the Chinese authorities. Some European companies are also the accomplices of online censors." Telecom Italia, for example, owns part of the Cuban telecommunications company ETECSA, the only ISP available in Cuba, the group said. The French ISP Orange is involved in China, Vietnam and Egypt, which are all on the watchdog's list of "Internet Enemies."

The Patent and Trademark Office is extending the duration, increasing the maximum number of applications, and expanding the scope of applications eligible to participate in its peer review pilot program. The initiative, launched in June 2007, encourages the public to review volunteered published patent applications and submit technical references and comments on what they believe to be the best prior art for consideration. The expansion and extension took effect Wednesday.

The program was initially restricted to patent applications in the computer-related arts but it has been expanded to include applications in the automated business data processing technologies, or business methods. Technical experts in the computer and business methods-related arts registering at peertopatent.org will review and submit information for up to 400 applications, up from 250 as first announced, officials said in a press release.

The pilot is being conducted in cooperation with the Peer-to-Patent Project, organized by the New York Law School’s Institute for Information Law and Policy. The pilot is extended for an additional 12 months and will end on June 15, 2009. To date, companies participating in the pilot include IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Intel, GE, Red Hat, Cisco, Yahoo!, and others.

An intellectual property enforcement bill championed by Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, has earned the support of the American Bar Association. The chair of the 400,000 member organization's IP contingent wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking member Arlen Specter on Tuesday calling the bill "a laudable attempt" to deficiencies in current anti-counterfeiting and piracy efforts.

Bayh and Voinovich's bill, which is aimed at helping the United States work with other countries to identify and track IP criminals, would create a planning and coordinating body with high-level representation by federal agencies with IP responsibilities. It would be headed by an Office of Management and Budget official. The ABA said the plan was "a constructive approach to avoiding interagency rivalry by creating a true coordinating body not situated in any of the constituent IP enforcement agencies."

Leahy has offered his own IP bill with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and is planning on introducing follow-up legislation in the near-term, sources said. Meanwhile, staffers for Bayh and Voinovich have been working with the Judiciary Committee to try to incorporate some of their senators' proposals in the legislation that will eventually be put up for a vote by the committee before it moves to the full Senate.

As the battle between presidential hopeful Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., kicks into high gear, the good folks over at JibJab.com have offered some new comic relief. The animated video satire Web site unveiled "Time for Some Campaignin'" (to the tune of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changin'") this week. It depicts McCain as a cranky old curmudgeon with a hunger for war and Obama as a unicorn-ridier stumping for change, change and more change.

President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and both Hillary and Bill Clinton are also featured prominently in the two-minute ditty. JibJab's opus ends with the politicians singing: We spend billions of dollars to make our points clear; To get you to step up and cast your vote here; Then we spin you around and poke you in the rear! Oh, it's time for some campaignin'!
Click here for a chuckle.

Scott Cleland, head of NetCompetition.org, which represents cable and telecom firms, wrote an interesting blog about post Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on the Google-Yahoo advertising partnership. In it, he explains what he believes is the significance of senators' questioning about a recent meeting involving Yahoo's Jerry Yang.

According to testimony by Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith, the Yahoo executive characterized the search market as "bi-polar" -- with Google on one pole and others on the other pole. Smith said Yang indicated that Yahoo was going to join the Google "pole" because the other pole was not viable. Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., said the revelation was "pretty explosive stuff." Read Cleland's full post here.

CongressDaily's coverage:
Members Ask For More Access To Web Deal's Specifics
Google-Yahoo Deal Gets Closer Look Pending DoJ Review

Check it out -- the House Judiciary Committee unveiled a spiffy new Web site this week. Three cheers for innovation!

About a dozen airlines have started using their expansive frequent flier databases for more than special offers on weekend getaways. The companies, including American Airlines, Delta, Northwest, United, and US Airways, are sending waves of e-mails to customers urging them to press Congress to pass legislation that would limit what they believe is rampant oil speculation.

The airlines are part of a broader business, labor and consumer coalition that launched the Web site StopOilSpeculationNow.com to fight the high cost of fuel. The companies' e-mail campaign launched last week and hundreds of thousands of letters have already been sent by airline customers to Capitol Hill. For past the two weeks, Northwest and Delta employees alone have also sent more than 20,000 messages to congressional leaders.

The e-mail states that crude oil recently hit a high of $146 and the climbing fuel cost is impacting customers, employees and the economy. Two decades ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators and today they purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, the letter states. Over time, regulatory limits have been weakened or removed and "enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight," the e-mail said.

Tim Carter, the founder of Askthebuilder.com, has gone from relative obscurity to congressional celebrity in a matter of weeks. The home improvement expert, who offers advice online and through a syndicated column, sat shoulder-to-shoulder with executives from Google, Microsoft and Yahoo at a Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. His testimony came on the heels of an appearance before the House Small Business Committee last month.

At both hearings, Carter spoke in favor of a controversial advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo and said Web surfers can decide for themselves what online tools to use. He added that not everyone swears by the two dominant companies. Additionally, if any senators on the dais had questions about wiring a light switch, Carter is their man. On the day of the hearing, his Web site featured a do-it-yourself video on that topic -- and many others.

Google unveiled a new gadget on Tuesday that only searches videos uploaded to YouTube's Politicians channels, which include content from the presidential campaigns of Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., as well as those from dozens of other candidates and politicians.

With the help of speech recognition technology, videos from the specific channels are automatically transcribed from speech to text and indexed, the company said on its corporate blog. Using the Google Elections Video Search tool, Web surfers can search not only the titles and descriptions of the videos, but also their spoken content. Additionally, since speech recognition notes when words are spoken, users can jump right to the most relevant parts of the videos.

Candidates can control the videos that appear in the gadget by managing the content they upload to YouTube and speech recognition is still a work in progress -- so Google warned that some of the transcript snippets available may not be 100 percent accurate. For a screenshot of the tool, click here.

A day before the antitrust panels of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees planned to hold hearings on the burgeoning Internet advertising business, House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, ranking member Joe Barton and Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey wrote to Embarq, regarding a test the firm recently performed with online ad service NebuAd to create profiles based on consumers’ Web browsing data.

The Monday letter to CEO Tom Gerke expressed concern that the company, which is the fourth largest local exchange carrier in the United States, may not have directly notified subscribers involved that their Web use was being analyzed and profiled. Embarq serves customers in 18 states with local, long distance, high-speed data and wireless services.

The trio asked the executive a number of questions about where the test was conducted and how the community was chosen; the number of subscribers involved in the test; and the method by which Embarq notified customers affected. They also asked whether the firm conducted a legal analysis of the plan in accordance with federal privacy laws. A response was requested by Monday, July 21.

After a year of consultations, the Distributed Computing Industry Association has launched a program to protect peer-to-peer users against the inadvertent sharing of personal or sensitive data. The program, which was launched over the weekend, was conceived by P2P companies and other technology sector participants along with federal regulators.

The guidelines begin with a glossary defining terms, such as "recursive sharing," "sensitive file type," and "user-originated file," as well as protective measures, such as "affirmative step." It then outlines seven steps that are required to be in compliance with the program. Adoption is a voluntary decision to be made by each P2P firm but DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty said he is "confident of wide acceptance." His group will encourage and monitor compliance, he said on his Web site.

George Searle, CEO of the popular but controversial P2P application LimeWire, said is company is "committed to providing a great file-sharing product that people love to use and that provides for their personal safety." His company and others, including Kontiki and Pando Networks, took part in the development of the program.

Although copyright and related laws are not the only obstacle to digital preservation, there is no question that those laws present major challenges, the Library of Congress concluded in a report released Monday by its National Digital Information and Infrastructure Preservation Program in cooperation with partners in Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Digital works are ephemeral, and unless preserved soon after creation, they will be lost to future generations, the study said.

The report includes recommendations for legislative reform and other solutions to ensure that libraries, archives and other preservation institutions can manage copyrighted digital information in a manner consistent with national and international laws. Specific recommendations include structuring national copyright laws to provide exceptions for
preservation institutions to proactively preserve at-risk copyrighted material in digital form, subject to measures appropriate to protect the legitimate interests of rights holders.

Recommendations in the U.S.-focused section of the report follow those outlined in by an independent Library of Congress study group in March. Recommendations from the other jurisdictions reflect each country's specific copyright laws. The four organizations worked closely together to develop joint recommendations for how copyright and intellectual property law might better accommodate digital content preservation.

A New York federal judge on Monday ruled that Tiffany and Co. could not prevent eBay customers from buying and selling the company's high-end jewelry (which typically comes in a light blue box) on the popular online auction Web site. The ruling was seen by NetChoice Coalition's Steve DelBianco as a victory for the Internet and for consumers. EBay, which boasted 1,017 Tiffany items for sale on the day of the decision, is a member of DelBianco's trade group.

In rejecting Tiffany's claims U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan pointed out that eBay had consistently removed listings of counterfeit Tiffany goods and had banned sellers found distributing them. Sullivan recognized that the case was never about counterfeits, DelBianco said. "This is about a luxury goods manufacturer wanting to control every marketplace in which its products are sold -- even at the expense of loyal and law-abiding consumers," he added.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute... The House Judiciary Committee's antitrust task force on Monday afternoon unveiled its witness list for Tuesday's hearing on online advertising and the state of Internet competition:

▪ Yahoo General Counsel Michael Callahan
▪ Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith
▪ Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond
▪ Seton Hall Law School professor Frank Pasquale
▪ AsktheBuilder.com founder Tim Carter
▪ Wunderman COO David Sable

Carter, Callahan, Drummond, and Smith will also testify earlier in the day before the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee where they will be joined at the witness table by Yellowpages.com exec Matthew Crowley.

The FTC on Monday released a staff report on an April roundtable discussion on "phishing," the use of fraudulent e-mail addresses or fake Web sites to obtain personal or financial information. About 60 experts from business, government, the technology sector, the consumer advocacy community, and academia met at the FTC to discuss strategies for outreach to consumers about avoiding phishing.

The report summarizes key themes that emerged from the talks and outlines next steps for increasing anti-phishing education. The report also includes a description of workshop participants’ efforts to fight phishing attacks and educate consumers, as well as ideas for increasing effective consumer education. The roundtable discussion revealed that phishers' practices are dynamic and evolving and educating consumers requires collaboration among members of the anti-phishing community.

The issue has also gotten attention on Capitol Hill. Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, joined Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in introducing a bill earlier this year aimed at curbing the enterprise. The proposal would set penalties ranging from $250 to $2 million per violation for state-initiated civil actions, and fines could be tripled if the violations were committed willfully and knowingly.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the New York Times in an interview published Sunday that he's learning how to use a computer but isn't an e-mail enthusiast. "I don't e-mail, I've never felt the particular need to e-mail," he said. "I don’t expect to be a great communicator. I don’t expect to set up my own blog."

McCain said he's "becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need including going to my daughter's blog." Meghan McCain, a recent Columbia University grad, writes McCainBlogette.com, which is taking a two-week hiatus to gear up for the fall campaign blitz. McCain also told the newspaper that his staff surfs the Web on his behalf.

The competition and consumer privacy implications of the burgeoning Internet advertising industry will be the focus of dueling hearings Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee and its counterpart: the House Judiciary Antitrust Task Force. The Senate Commerce Committee examined the issue last week, hearing officials from the FTC as well as Internet giants Google and Microsoft.

The latest hearings come in the wake of a recently announced advertising partnership between rivals Google and Yahoo. Some lawmakers have expressed concerns that the pairing would affect the collection, storage and use of data relating to an individual's online activity. Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and other executives from Yahoo and Google have been meeting with legislators and congressional staffers in an attempt to calm fears and answer questions.

Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee Thursday will examine what high-speed Internet providers know about their subscribers' Web use at a hearing on an online content analysis technique known as "deep-packet inspection" -- which involves the copying and analysis of customers' Web surfing habits. Critics have suggested that such tactics might run afoul of federal and state wiretap laws.

Read more about the week ahead at CongressDaily's TechCentral.

Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, fired off a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other chamber leaders on Friday slamming an effort that he believes would hamper lawmakers' freedom to communicate with the public in the Internet age. Culberson is an avid user of Twitter, a service that lets users post short messages on a Web site from their cellular phones or computers, and Qik, which streams Web video from a cellular phone camera.

Under the proposed changes, video posts would be restricted to "approved" Web sites that do not contain political or commercial advertising or commentary and might also require a disclaimer stating that the transmission is an official communication from an official federal representative. The revision would directly affect Qik video because it contains political opinions and speech, Culberson said in a statement posted on his Web site.

He fears Twitter, Facebook and other social networks "are the next targets of regulation." If guidelines move in that direction, any content a member posts on a blog, chat room or social network would be subject to edits, review and approval by the House Administration Committee, he warned.

This week's CongressDaily coverage of the issue:

Wednesday - Boehner Seeks To Stir Net Roots About Proposed Rule
Thursday - Capuano: Boehner's Charges On Rule 'Laughably Inaccurate'
Friday - Rules Panel’s Foray Into Online Video A Bit More Collegial

For those of you keeping tabs on the increasingly heated debate over changes to regulations on how members of Congress utilize Internet content, CongressDaily's AM Edition has an update. While much of the controversy this week has focused on the House, the Senate is also looking into the issue.

The Senate Rules Committee will soon consider its own Web video proposal but it appears that members on that side of Capitol Hill aren’t using the issue as a political football -- at least not yet. Senate Rules Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and ranking member Robert Bennett have gotten input from the offices of Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other members. The Senate Ethics Committee also weighed in with concerns.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered her two cents, saying in a letter to Minority Leader John Boehner that “inaccurate rumors have been circulated” that suggest non-video online communications would be affected. Boehner also blogged about the controversy, citing CongressDaily's coverage. Read his latest take on the Web whoopdeedoo here.

In response the public uproar over the House debate over revamping the chamber's Internet usage rules, the Sunlight Foundation has launched Let Our Congress Tweet -- an attempt to rally Internet support for lawmakers' ability to join in online conversations. And look who is promoting the campaign -- Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, an avid Twitter user. Read more on the Web saga in CongressDaily's AM Edition on Friday.

The blogosphere is not the only dynamic citizen-fueled community buzzing about a controversial new proposal aimed at revising the rules that House members must follow when posting content on the Internet. The topic caught the attention of the folks at National Public Radio's hip morning news show, "The Bryant Park Project." On Thursday morning, they interviewed Aaron Brazell, the author of the Technosailor blog, and chatted with yours truly about the hullabaloo. I blame the D.C. summer heat or pre-August recess / pre-convention jitters for this gathering storm, but who knows?

Read CongressDaily's latest coverage in the AM Edition. In the story, Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., who chairs the commission charged with updating rules on how members of Congress correspond with constituents, calls attacks on his proposal “laughably inaccurate” and outright lies. Zing! I'm ready for more fireworks.

I sat down for a lengthy chat on Wednesday afternoon with Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., -- a longtime proponent of technological innovation and one of Capitol Hill's best known champions of "fair use" of copyrighted content.

When I walked into his office, I quickly scanned the room for the latest, greatest gadgetry. A giant, wall-mounted flat panel Samsung caught my eye and so I inquired about it. "That’s an analog television," admitted Boucher, who has been keeping a close watch over preparations for the nation's digital TV transition next February. He said he got the TV four years ago and "it's on the edge of obsolescence."

"It's for sale if you want to buy it," Boucher joked. "Does it include the converter box?" I shot back. We laughed and the interview commenced. Oh, and follow the jump for a photo of what I found in his office waiting area that shows his commitment to "fair use" isn't just talk.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is using a new Columbia University report to advocate for legislation she sponsored that is aimed at stopping Internet pharmacies that sell controlled substances without a valid prescription. The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse study, which the California Democrat cited in a Wednesday press release, found 365 Web sites that advertise or offer to sell controlled substances -- 85 percent of which do not require prescriptions. The Senate passed her bill on April 1 but the House has yet to act.

Although only 11 percent of prescriptions written from storefront pharmacies are for controlled substances, 95 percent of drugs sold through Internet pharmacies are for controlled substances, the report found. "This report further emphasizes the need to take immediate action to stop rogue pharmacies on the Internet," Feinstein said. She and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., introduced the bill after learning about the death of a California teenager who died after overdosing on a mixture of pills he obtained online.

A Web fight is brewing in Congress. CongressDaily's AM Edition has details:

House Minority Leader John Boehner Tuesday implored online activists of all political persuasions to speak out against what he deemed “an attack on free speech” in the form of a proposed rule that would require Web sites like video-sharing service YouTube to comply with House regulations before members could post videos on them. Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, some other interesting tech policy news, also in the AM Edition:

Ahead of a scheduled House vote today, the White House threatened to veto a bill aimed at forcing the president and federal agencies to improve preservation of e-mail records. House aides said that while they expect the measure to get bipartisan support, it will be considered under regular rules because of the veto threat. The bill has generated some Republican opposition. Read the full story here.

After a restful Independence Day vacation, Tech Daily Dose is back with some tasty morsels of tech policy for you to chew on. First, take a peek at Monday's "Issue Of The Week" on CongressDaily's TechCentral site. The article examines the challenges that FCC commissioners will face this summer and fall as they deliberate on four petitions requesting tougher rules to prevent high-speed Internet services from acting as content gatekeepers.

Meanwhile, CongressDaily's PM Edition features a preview story about Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on privacy implications of Internet advertising, so click here later this afternoon for the goods. If you need something to whet your appetite beforehand, here is a sneak peek at some of the testimony that will be offered:

▪ The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Wayne Crews will warn lawmakers not to overreact to Internet-age privacy concerns with a one-size-fits-all bill. "Policy should recognize privacy is not a single 'thing' for government to protect; it is a relationship expressed in countless ways," he said in prepared testimony.

▪ The government can foster private sector innovation in numerous ways, Crews said, including focusing on computer criminals, not cyber-regulation. Plus, any legislative effort to regulate behavioral advertising gets complex quickly, he said. Oodles of questions arise like: If online privacy is regulated, what about offline? Should behavioral advertising be opt-in or opt-out? Who defines which advertising is behavioral?

IBM announced Wednesday that it is buying Platform Solutions, Inc., the high-tech giant's small but most significant competitor, which has sued IBM over anticompetitive business practices in Europe and in the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed but PSI's technologies, along with its intellectual capital, will become part of IBM. As part of the deal, both IBM and PSI dropped their respective claims against each other.

"We are pleased to become part of IBM, knowing IBM has the industry's most comprehensive vision for the future direction of enterprise computing, and has the requisite technologies to realize that vision," PSI CEO Michael Maulick said in a press release. "This acquisition makes the most sense for our companies -- to collaborate on future technology offerings and maximize our combined knowledge and skills for the benefit of IBM clients globally."

Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black (who has never been one to pull his punches) called the transaction "a Black Hole acquisition." "It sucks the life out of the market and destroys the matter. Transforming a market with latent potential for competition and innovation into a sector with little prospects for anything but complete domination by IBM," he said.

NetChoice policy counsel Braden Cox posted an interesting item on the group's blog about a bill that passed out of the Louisiana legislature last week that was created to deal with social networking and Internet safety. The bill demonstrates what NetChoice believes is a trend toward comprehensive legislation that addresses education, law enforcement and parental empowerment.

In his post, Cox wrote that the bill, now on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk, "was well thought through and not a knee-jerk publicity-friendly response." Most early attempts to take on Web safety "showed little understanding of how the social networking sites worked, how individuals interacted, and the realities of the threats of online predators," he said.

Measures that require age and parental verification are "unworkable and ineffective, and would have the unintended consequence of giving parents and kids a false sense of security," Cox wrote. States like Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, and Illinois have introduced such bills. All were scuttled.

Read his full NetChoice blog post here and for a full listing of Web safety measures that NetChoice supports, click here.

I'm at jury duty today, which couldn’t have come at a better time. Congress is not in session and there's not much "news" going on. But, just in case, I've set up my mobile office in the waiting room (see photo). My lengthier-than-expected stay at the Moultrie Courthouse in scenic downtown Washington, DC inspired me to search for some hot high-tech legal news. Here's a rundown:

C2 Technologies Settles Lawsuit Against Sprint
Typhoon Hits Apple with Touch-Technology Lawsuit
SAP To Pay i2 $83M To Settle Patent Suit
Acer, Apple, Dell, HP Sued For Patent Infringement
Company Snoops Ex-CEO's Yahoo Mail Account, Faces Suit

The Family Online Safety Institute is broadening its horizons by appointing Dave Miles as European development director. He will spearhead the international charity’s work in Europe and help make the online world safer for children and their families. Miles has been a board member of FOSI, formerly the Internet Content Rating Association, since 2002.

Before joining FOSI, Miles was the general manager for RuleSpace, a content filtering service, and has also been a member of the Internet Watch Foundation’s funding council and a participant in the UK's Home Office Internet Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet. FOSI's Stephen Balkam said Miles' "understanding of the challenges the ever-changing online world presents" makes him the ideal choice.

"The real challenge we face with online safety is that as the Internet rapidly evolves, so the challenges become ever more complex and demanding," Miles said. FOSI is "a critical driver in making the Internet a safer place because it creates a unique environment where people from government, regulators, law enforcement, not-for-profit and industry can come together to collaborate and innovate at both a technology and a policy level."