President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to preventing communications giants from dominating the Internet by blocking or degrading broadband service during a major speech on Friday where he unveiled a report summarizing a 60-day assessment of how the government responds to cyber attacks. During a White House event, Obama said: "I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the Internet as it should be -- open and free." Craig Aaron, senior program director of Free Press, cheered the mention, saying it made clear Obama considers net neutrality "an essential component of his administration's sweeping Internet agenda." "The president's words send a strong message to Congress and the Federal Communications Commission -- as well as the phone and cable companies -- that now is the time to end the stalemate on this crucial issue and secure the open Internet for future generations," he said.
Earlier this month, FCC Acting Chairman Michael Copps said telecommunications and cable providers of broadband service that block or degrade Internet content for anti-competitive reasons could soon be hit with tough penalties, including fines. Speaking after a speech at a daylong policy summit sponsored by Free Press, he said the strict enforcement would be part of a fifth principle his agency plans to add to net neutrality guidelines governing an accessible Internet. The Democratic commissioner said the plank would be modeled on requirements the commission imposed on the 2006 merger of AT&T and BellSouth. Industry players consider an anti-discriminatory requirement unnecessary and warn it could dissuade future investments in high-speed Internet technology. Read more in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers hopes some star power will help drive support in Detroit for legislation he has championed that would end a long-standing royalty exemption granted to AM and FM radio. Conyers and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, will host a town hall meeting on Tuesday at Wayne State University where a chorus of prominent music industry representatives will lend their voices to the cause. Conyers has invited Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas, Duke Fakir of The Four Tops, Sam Moore of Sam & Dave. Also scheduled to appear are musician Ralph Armstrong, Rhythm & Blues Foundation Executive Director Kendall Minter, Industry Ears co-founder Paul Porter, American Federation of Musicians Local #5 President Gordon Stump, Metro Detroit AFL-CIO's Saundra Williams and Tony Gray, president of Gray Communications.
The Performance Rights Act, which passed the House Judiciary Committee recently, has been panned by the National Association of Broadcasters and was the focus of protests by black radio stations in Conyers' congressional district. On Capitol Hill, he has stressed important carve-outs in his bill aimed at minority owned and small radio stations. The changes earned Conyers the support of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the NAACP and a number of unions. Now his aim is to "set the record straight" about his legislation outside of the Washington echo chamber. Earlier this month, the Michigan Broadcasters Association vowed to defeat the legislation, claiming it could cost stations in the state more than $63 million annually. Radio One founder Cathy Hughes wrote an open letter arguing the bill would "murder black owned radio."
The globalization of criminal networks and advances in technology have made international criminal organizations a significant threat to the safety and security of the nation, Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday upon announcing the creation of a new International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center. The IOC-2 will marshal the resources and information of nine U.S. law enforcement agencies, as well as federal prosecutors, to collectively combat the threats posed by global gangs to domestic safety and security. Holder made the announcement in Rome at the G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial. "We are answering that threat by developing a 21st century organized crime program that will be nimble and sophisticated enough to combat the danger posed by these criminals for years to come," he said.
Understanding that international criminal rings are profit-driven, IOC-2 will establish a team of financial experts to serve as consultants and identify opportunities and strategies to employ forfeiture as a means of disrupting targeted criminal organizations. The team will coordinate multi-jurisdictional forfeiture strategies and assist agents in the field in obtaining the necessary resources, such as financial auditors, investigators and forfeiture attorneys, to employ the strategy, according to a DOJ press release. Holder also emphasized the importance of continued cooperation with foreign law enforcement through existing police-to-police and mutual legal assistance mechanisms. The creation of IOC-2 will make the United States a more effective partner for joint investigations and prosecutions, he said.
President Obama's remarks on his administration's cybersecurity review on Friday in the East Room of the White House:
We meet today at a transformational moment -- a moment in history when our interconnected world presents us, at once, with great promise but also great peril. Now, over the past four months my administration has taken decisive steps to seize the promise and confront these perils. We're working to recover from a global recession while laying a new foundation for lasting prosperity. We're strengthening our armed forces as they fight two wars, at the same time we're renewing American leadership to confront unconventional challenges, from nuclear proliferation to terrorism, from climate change to pandemic disease. And we're bringing to government -- and to this White House -- unprecedented transparency and accountability and new ways for Americans to participate in their democracy.
In conjunction with President Obama's release of a report on his administration's cybersecurity review on Friday, the White House unveiled this video, which stars technology experts and government officials engaged in the issue. Among those featured include Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, New York Chief Cybersecurity Officer William Pelgrin, Symantec Chairman John Thompson, Center for Democracy and Technology President Leslie Harris and Jeannette Wing of the National Science Foundation. This White House Web page also provides a long list of papers from a variety of groups that informed the review team's deliberations.
President Obama hopes he can utilize the Internet as successfully to build support for his pick for the Supreme Court as he did during his campaign for the White House. The Democratic National Committee's "Organizing For America" initiative has launched an online action center at MyBarackObama.com to generate favorable buzz around 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor amid criticism from conservatives. On the site, citizens can add their names to a public list of supporters; write a letter to newspaper editors; look up numbers for senators; download posters and more.
Read more here.
The Obama administration is bringing out the big guns to unveil the results of its 60-day cyberspace policy review. Expected attendees at Friday morning's event in the East Room of the White House include:
Energy Secretary Steven Chu
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
National Security Advisor General James L. Jones
Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn
Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin
National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers
Federal Aviation Administration Acting Administrator Lynne Osmus
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff
Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairman Michael Copps
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz
Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman James Cartwright
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller
White House Office of Science and Technology Director John Holdren
Director of National Intelligence Office Lieutenant-Gen. John Kimmons
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security John Brennan
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley
House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon
House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Peter King
William Pelgrin, Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center
National Governors Association Public Safety Director Heather Hogsett
The Obama administration's release Friday of a report on the federal government's cybersecurity posture will not offer specific recommendations for action, sources who reviewed the document told CongressDaily on Thursday. The paper will call for the creation of a cybersecurity coordinator who would be housed in the National Security Council but report to the National Economic Council as well, they said. The report does not state how senior the individual will be within the White House or to whom the official would report. The roughly 40-page document emphasizes the importance of building public-private partnerships to safeguard communications networks and creating incentives for threat information-sharing between government and industry entities, sources said. The report includes language intended to sharpen the government's IT procurement processes to drive greater security; underscores the need for more federal cybersecurity R&D; and calls for the cultivation of a highly skilled cybersecurity workforce in and outside of government. The paper will be unveiled at a White House event attended by an impressive list of tech execs.
Read the full story in CongressDaily's PM Edition.
House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., will hold a June 4 hearing to examine the future of the U.S. government's relationship with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit California-based entity that administers the Internet addressing system. Subcommittee staffers will be briefed on the topic a day earlier, sources told Tech Daily Dose on Thursday. A witness list has not yet been finalized. Boucher has previously expressed interest in holding an ICANN hearing, particularly since a joint project agreement that has allowed Commerce Department oversight of ICANN is slated to sunset on Sept. 30 amid accountability and transparency concerns.
Earlier this month, Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Bill Nelson, D-Fla., wrote to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, urging him to be a prominent player in finding a permanent accountability mechanism as the Commerce-based National Telecommunications and Information Administration seeks public comment on ICANN. Separately, Snowe and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., pressed Assistant Secretary-Designate Larry Strickling to pay close attention to the issue. "Regardless of whether the JPA is terminated, modified or extended, it is my belief that NTIA will continue to be an active participant in ICANN," said Strickling, who awaits Senate confirmation. Read more recent coverage on this topic in CongressDaily here, here, and here (subscription required).
The intellectual property policy parlor game of guessing who the next Patent and Trademark Office director will be has zeroed in on several names in recent months -- Q. Todd Dickinson, who already ran the agency under former President Bill Clinton; David Kappos, who is vice president and assistant general counsel for IP at IBM; and Jim Pooley, a Silicon Valley lawyer who was recently nominated to become deputy director of the World Intellectual Property Organization. But with Pooley effectively out of the mix, another name has bubbled to the surface: Doug Luftman, associate general counsel for Sunnyvale, Calif. smartphone manufacturer Palm.
Luftman has at least one cheerleader in Congress, Rep. Michael Honda, D-Calif, vice-chair of the House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee, who wrote to the White House director of presidential personnel recommending him for the job. Although the letter was not made public, a spokesman for Honda said his boss believes Luftman's key asset "is his knowledge of the patent process from idea to product." Luftman has followed the product development process from the industry viewpoint at Palm and before that as general counsel of Caspian Networks; at CIENA Corp., and at Intel. He also worked for Fenwick & West's Silicon Valley office. Honda's aide said Luftman "recognizes the disarray" of the PTO and has management experience that could help.
CongressDaily's PM Edition on Wednesday reports...
The United States' 35-year-old federal privacy law and related policies should be updated to reflect the realities of modern technologies and information systems, and account for more advanced threats to privacy and security, according to a report sent today to OMB Director Peter Orszag. In its 40-page paper, the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board calls for Congress to amend the 1974 Privacy Act and provisions of the 2002 E-Government Act to improve federal privacy notices; clearly cover commercial data sources; and update the definition of "system of records" to encompass relational and distributed systems based on government use of records, not just its possession of them. The panel included technology experts from industry and academia.
The panel wants heightened government leadership on privacy and suggests the hiring of a full-time chief privacy officer at OMB and regular Privacy Act guidance updates from the office. Chief privacy officers should be hired at major agencies and a chief privacy officers' council should be created, much like the Chief Information Officers' Council that is chaired by OMB's e-government and IT administrator. The federal government's cookie policy, which depends on "bureaucratic speed bumps to protect user privacy," should be updated to let visitors to a government Web site decide whether a cookie is set. One option is to employ a "remember me" check box common on many commercial sites, the report said. Read the full report here.
In anticipation of the release of a White House cybersecurity report later this week, Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, urged the Obama administration on Wednesday to create an Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor within the Executive Office of the President. The proposal is part of legislation they introduced earlier this year intended to improve the nation's safeguards against high-tech attacks. The advisor "must serve as the lead official on all cyber matters -- reporting directly to the President and coordinating with the intelligence community, government agencies, Congress, and the private sector," they said in a press release.
Rockefeller and Snowe also pressed Obama to create state and regional cybersecurity centers for small and medium sized businesses; increase federal cybersecurity R&D programs at the National Science Foundation; and require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish measureable cybersecurity standards and best practices that are applicable both to government and the private sector. Additionally, they called for the creation of an information sharing clearinghouse where government and industry work together in real time to identify cyber threats; and the creation of a cybersecurity advisory panel of experts from industry, academia, non-profits and civil liberty organizations to advise the president.
"The Obama administration has been hard at work on a comprehensive review of the cyber threat and we applaud their effort," Rockefeller and Snowe wrote. "We have learned the hard way in recent years that 'stovepiped' national security systems and failures in coordination can leave us vulnerable to attack, and that bureaucratic confusion can cripple our response to a disaster. We must apply these lessons to the threat of cyber attack. There is no room for error." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that the report, which caps off an expansive 60-day probe, will be released Friday.
Time is almost up for the first part of the White House's consultation to build a framework for President Obama's open government initiative. A public online brainstorming session, which began last week and is hosted by the National Academy of Public Administration, ends Thursday. Team Obama wants citizens to submit ideas, discuss and refine others' ideas, and vote the best ones to the top. The themes deemed most important will provide the basis for two more stages of interaction: a discussion phase, when officials will deepen the conversation about compelling topics raised during the brainstorming, and a drafting phase, when the public will again be asked to collaborate on draft recommendations through the use of a wiki. Here's a rundown of several of the most popular ideas proposed during the brainstorming session:
• Support a mandatory 72-hour public review period on all major spending bills.
• Require all government meetings subject to federal open meeting laws to be webcast.
• Provide an online, visually interactive, one-stop-shop, federal budget Web site.
• Use visual recording and mini animations to convey complex ideas.
• Ask federal agencies to adopt "core principles for public engagement."
• Centralize petitions to Congress and the president.
• Create an online citizen participation portal.
• Public FOIA archive on every agency Web site.
Business Forward, a new trade group backed by AT&T, Facebook, Hilton, IBM, Microsoft, Pfizer, Time Warner and others, is hitting the ground running with the launch of its Web site and radio advertisements this week in Indiana and Arkansas promoting health care reform. The ads encourage industry leaders in those states to work with the Senate to help shape the debate and underscore the need "to bring down skyrocketing health care costs, and protect a patient's right to choose his or her own coverage plan and physician," according to the organization whose goal is to promote President Obama's economic competitiveness agenda. Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., "are leading the fight for health care reform, and Business Forward is encouraging business leaders in their states to learn more and get involved," said Jim Doyle, the group's executive director.
The ad buy marks the start of Business Forward's small business recruiting effort outside of Washington as it seeks to build business support toward major changes in health care, education, energy and the environment. The group plans to brief business leaders on key issues, hold conferences and press events, issue policy briefings and engage in other public advocacy initiatives, according to a press release. In addition to Doyle, Business Forward is led by former Viacom lobbyist David Sutphen, whose sister is Obama's deputy chief of staff and former Obama media consultant Erik Smith. Others involved include former Obama campaign staffer Julie Andreeff Jensen; and Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Tuesday the results of the Obama administration's 60-day review of the federal government's cybersecurity posture will be released Friday. The probe, begun shortly after Obama took office, is expected to make broad recommendations for protecting public and private sector networks from high-tech attackers. The report's release has been delayed due to internal disagreements about where a cyber czar would be housed and what kind of power that official would wield, non-administration officials familiar with the report said.
Melissa Hathaway, a top adviser to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair who managed the audit, told the RSA security conference last month that it is "the fundamental responsibility of our government to address strategic vulnerabilities in cyberspace and to ensure that the United States and the world can realize the full potential of the information technology revolution." That responsibility transcends the jurisdictional purview of individual departments and agencies because no single agency has a broad enough perspective to match the sweep of the challenges, she said at the San Francisco gathering. Hathaway also said dealing with tech threats requires "leading from the top" -- from the White House, to departments and agencies, state, local, tribal governments, the "C-suite," and to the local classroom and library.
CongressDaily's David Hatch writes in TechCentral's latest Issue Of The Week that officials have released an historic government plan to spend tens of billions of dollars constructing a nationwide, state-of-the-art broadband network featuring speeds 100 times faster than today's technology. The new infrastructure would reach every citizen, delivering affordable connections at taxpayer-subsidized rates, boosting access to education and telemedicine. Proponents promise myriad opportunities for online businesses and enhancements to energy efficiency, media distribution and public safety. Haven't heard about this yet? That's because the announcement was made last month in Australia.
Before you dismiss the approach as a radical idea that could never be implemented here, consider this: it's being touted by a high-level White House official who reports directly to President Obama. Susan Crawford, special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy and a member of the National Economic Council, recently said she is "personally intrigued" by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's ambitious goal. Even with this year's $7.2 billion cash infusion from Congress to stimulate domestic broadband investment, experts acknowledge that gaps in availability and bandwidth will remain, with pockets of the United States left with no service or antiquated technology.
Read the full story here.
U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whom President Obama named as his nominee for the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, has a background in intellectual property litigation -- as an associate and partner at the Manhattan law firm Pavia & Harcourt and as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. As a district court judge in 1997, Sotomayor heard a case brought by a group of freelance journalists who claimed various news outlets including the New York Times and Time Inc. violated copyright laws by reproducing their work on electronic databases and archives such as Lexis-Nexis without first obtaining their permission. Sotomayor ruled against the freelancers, arguing that the publishers were within their rights under the Copyright Act.
The appeals court reversed Sotomayor's decision, siding with the freelancers, and the Supreme Court upheld the appellate ruling 7-2. Justices John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer dissented, siding with Sotomayor's position. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority's opinion, saying: "If there is demand for a freelance article standing alone or in a new collection, the Copyright Act allows the freelancer to benefit from that demand; after authorizing initial publication, the freelancer may also sell the article to others. It would scarcely "preserve the author's copyright in a contribution" as contemplated by Congress... if a newspaper or magazine publisher were permitted to reproduce or distribute copies of the author's contribution in isolation or within new collective works."
President Obama's Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra views the administration's open government initiative, which formally kicked off Thursday, as one leg of a three-legged transparency and accountability stool. In his first interview after being confirmed by the Senate, he told Tech Daily Dose that the interactive public consultation on principles to frame the initiative will culminate later this summer in OMB guidance to agencies. "We're certainly not standing still waiting for the recommendations," he said, pointing out that on his first day in office, Obama called on cabinet agencies to get involved immediately. The White House has already provided what Chopra called a menu of open government criteria that departments have begun to put into practice. Early results of their work can be found in an "innovation gallery" at WhiteHouse.gov/Open. "As you can see, our employees aren't waiting on memos on what policy directive there should be. They're embracing principles that the president has outlined and working within their leadership structures to make them effective," he said. "Our challenge as leaders is to help support and nurture their enthusiasm."
Another component, which Chopra believes is potentially the most important, is the mandate that he work with Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, the General Services Administration and others to distill the components of a successful open government initiative and provision them in a manner that can be reused by anybody in government through the GSA or other means. One example is Obama's online town hallin March, which attracted more than 100,000 participants who submitted and voted on topics he would address in a live Internet event. "We need to figure out what components allowed him to be successful in that experiment and carry them across government," he said. Then Chopra introduced his new favorite buzzword: "productize." "We have to productize the components that have been deemed successful in our 120 days and take it from there."
President Obama wants everyone's input on his plan to increase transparency, accountability and responsibility in government -- even ideas from his political opponents. Hours after the White House launched its Open Government Initiative forum to solicit opinions form the public on Thursday, House Minority Leader John Boehner weighed in. In an idea, which his office said is leading in votes by a wide margin, Boehner asked the White House to support a mandatory 72-hour review period for all major spending bills and follow through on their yet-unfulfilled promise to allow five days of public comment on all bills before signing. Groups that support that proposal include the Sunlight Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council. "As the remainder of the process unfolds, it's our hope that the White House and Congressional Democrats will take notice and work with us in holding the federal government more accountable in how they spend taxpayer money," Boehner's New Media Director Nick Schaper said in an e-mail.
President Obama's e-government agenda took a major leap forward Thursday with the launch of several initiatives aimed at increasing openness and accountability but transparency watchdogs, while largely content, wonder if officials are moving too fast and may not get meaningful public feedback. The administration simultaneously unveiled its online hub to build Obama's open government directive, which he outlined on his first day in office; Data.gov, a Web site intended to "democratize data" by giving the public raw feeds of government information; and announced proposed overhauls to Regulations.gov to make searching and commenting on federal rules easier.
In a Web video, Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett called the initiative "an unprecedented process for public engagement in policymaking" and urged citizens to brainstorm ideas and discuss the most promising ones. On the front lines of the effort are Vivek Kundra, OMB administrator for e-government, and a team at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy led by federal CTO Aneesh Chopra, who was approved by the Senate late Thursday to serve as OSTP's associate director. The confirmation of another tech player, Larry Strickling, who would head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration stalled when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid failed to get unanimous consent, a Reid aide said.
Sunlight Foundation Executive Director Ellen Miller called the open government site "fascinating" and Data.gov "path-breaking." She said the initiatives represent "a dramatic demonstration of the administration's intent to use technology to create a more transparent and collaborative government." But others like OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass tempered their excitement with skepticism. He worries the open government brainstorming phase that ends next week and the mid-June timeline for drafting recommendations for Obama is too fast. He is also concerned that questions the White House posed to spur the online dialogue are too basic and letting Internet users vote on the best ideas will let "cool" but ultimately flawed concepts prevail.
The top executive at Bonneville International, which owns WTOP in Washington and a number of radio stations in other markets, will chair the search committee to find the National Association of Broadcasters' new leader. Other members of the NAB's executive committee will join Bonneville's Bruce Reese on the panel. It is unknown whether NAB will employ assistance from outside the organization. They hired search firm Spencer Stewart to find former NAB chief David Rehr, who stepped down earlier this month after three years on the job. Rehr joined the NAB in December 2005 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association, where he had been CEO. While the search committee does its magic, NAB Chief Operating Officer Janet McGregor has assumed day-to-day duties. The trade group is searching for its next captain amid choppy seas. The industry faces a number of critical and thorny public policy issues, including the digital television transition (slated for June 12) and a feud with the music industry over royalty fees for AM and FM radio.
President Obama isn't the only federal government official taking advantage of YouTube these days, the video sharing site's news and politics guru Steve Grove pointed out in a Friday blog post. Dozens of official federal YouTube channels exist where Internet users can access footage from NASA, the State Department, the FBI, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more. "It's all part of making Washington, D.C., more transparent and accessible than ever before -- and helping you easily navigate government information that's relevant to your life," Grove wrote. There's more to come in the months ahead. For now, go to the U.S. government's hub on YouTube and see what it has to offer.
The Senate late Thursday confirmed President Obama's choice to become the nation's first chief technology officer. Aneesh Chopra sailed through the Senate Commerce Committee a day earlier. National Telecommunications and Information Administration administrator-designate Larry Strickling did not advance on the Senate floor. At his hearing, Chopra said he would help "harness the power and potential of technology and innovation to advance our nation's goals" in the 21st century. Read more about the Tuesday confirmation hearing here (subscription required).
House Judiciary Committee members Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced legislation Thursday to restrict filing patents to protect tax strategies. Last Congress, a more expansive patent bill approved by the House included the language but a companion Senate bill that did not include the provision stalled. This time around, neither patent bill includes the text, which Boucher and Goodlatte believe is critical. "When one individual or business is given the exclusive right to a particular method of complying with the tax code, it increases the costs and complexity for every other citizen or tax preparer to comply," Goodlatte said. A situation could arise where taxpayers are forced to choose between paying a royalty in order to reap the best tax treatment, and complying with the tax code in another, less favorable way, he said.
In recent years, many individuals have been granted patents that protect tax planning methods, or strategies used by taxpayers and tax advisors to develop plans to reduce, minimize or defer tax liability, the pair said in a press release. Despite abiding by the letter and spirit of tax laws enacted by Congress, unknowing taxpayers and certified public accountants who advise clients on tax plans may be infringing on these patented tax strategies. The infringement could result in payment of damages, attorneys' fees, and other remedies. As of April 1, there were 77 patents for tax planning methods, with 125 tax planning method patent applications pending, officials said. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the larger patent bill in April.
A Web video featuring President Obama's senior advisor Valerie Jarrett welcomed visitors Thursday to the online hub for the administration's open government initiative. Watch the video above and learn more about the project to increase transparency, accountability and responsibility at WhiteHouse.gov/Open. In related news, Regulations.gov proposed a new design intended to make it easier to navigate, search and comment on federal regulations. A two-minute video found here walks citizens through the proposed changes officials plan to implement this summer.
President Obama's federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra has launched Data.gov. In March, he announced he was working on the Web site intended to "democratize data" by giving the public raw feeds of information from a range of agencies. Kundra, who previously served as the District of Columbia's chief technology officer, said the site will build on successes like the National Institutes of Health's publication of Human Genome Project data and the Defense Department's release of satellite data. The former revolutionized personalized medicine, while the latter led to the commercialization of GPS devices, he said at a government IT summit. "We need to make sure that all that data that's not private, that's not restricted for national security, can be made public," Kundra said.
The Copyright Alliance, which represents NBC, News Corp., Time Warner and other companies with a huge stake in intellectual property protection, launched a new non-profit charitable arm Thursday that will develop educational programs aimed at helping America's next generation of creators succeed. The foundation's projects, already underway, include: development and distribution of a copyright curriculum for educators; and a partnership with the West Potomac Academy of Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, to refine Alliance curriculum materials and supplement them with information important to arts education. Alliance Executive Director Patrick Ross will serve as the foundation's chairman and Gayle Osterberg, who has managed public relations and education initiatives for the group, will serve run the foundation.
"Our nation has reaped the rewards both culturally and economically of the principle and practice of copyright," Ross said in a press release. "This system has served us well for centuries - so much so, that it has become an invisible underpinning in our country's prosperity. Now, as a new generation of creators populates today's classrooms, we must ensure that principle is not taken for granted and continues to be a foundation for creative success." The group's "Think First, Copy Later" pilot curriculum for teachers has been distributed to 5,000 librarians and media specialists this spring to gauge usefulness. Schools including West Potomac Academy will provide more detailed feedback. The materials will be distributed more broadly prior to the 2009-2010 schoolyear.
Since his appointment in March as federal chief information officer, Vivek Kundra has had a full plate. Also the e-government administrator at the Office of Management and Budget, Kundra has taken on the formidable task of increasing the transparency of government data and oversight of information technology investments. In addition, he's faced personal scrutiny when the FBI launched an investigation into bribery charges at his former office with the District of Columbia government, where he was chief technology officer. Nextgov's Gautham Nagesh spoke with Kundra this week about the challenges of his new position and what he hopes to accomplish in this administration's era of open government.
In the interview, he talks with Nagesh about his vision for Data.gov, which a senior official recently revealed could go live by the end of the week: "We recognize the power of tapping into the ingenuity of the American people and recognize that government doesn't have a monopoly on the best ideas or always have the best idea on finding an innovative path to solving the toughest problems the country faces. By democratizing data and making it available to the public and private sector ... we can tap into that ingenuity. Data on Data.gov will be available in multiple machine-readable formats, including XML, that will allow people to slice, dice and cube data sets. [Users can] visualize information, create applications and find value at the intersection of multiple data sets."
Read edited excerpts of the Q&A here.
Ahead of a comprehensive Obama administration review of the U.S. government's cybersecurity posture, consulting firm Gartner said Thursday that the country needs to take a more operational approach toward the problem rather than focusing on strategies to drive higher spending or higher visibility for security. Although there is a definite role for government to play in accelerating progress toward higher levels of cybersecurity, it will be more akin to trying to deal with global warming than dealing with telephone, banking, or automotive industry policies, Gartner Vice President John Pescatore said. "Different approaches are required to ensure reliable and secure services in cyberspace than on old telecom networks, and the development of public policy has to proceed very differently, as well," he said in a press release. Government policy that attempts to force top-down solutions onto an inherently peer-to-peer problem will always fail, he said.
Pescatore said a national cybersecurity strategy should not be aimed at having the government seek to control the level of security on the Internet or issue legislations to mandate solutions. Rather, the strategy should focus primarily on using public policy and the government's buying power to accelerate progress in eliminating vulnerabilities that enable attacks versus simply driving increased reporting of attacks. "A successful national cyberscurity strategy will look more like a hurricane preparedness strategy that mandates redesigning structures or building higher levees versus the deployment of more water gauges," Gartner said. In a new report, analysts said several key elements should be the focus of U.S. government strategy for cybersecurity. One notable recommendation is for the administration to establish a federal chief information security office, not a federal cybersecurity czar. Read more recommendations after the jump...
After more than a month of fine-tuning, a new trade group called Business Forward is launching with the goal of promoting President Obama's economic competitiveness agenda. The organization tried to woo big high-tech firms like Cisco Systems, Google, IBM, and Microsoft as members, a source involved in the effort told CongressDaily in March. The New York Times reported Thursday morning that initial members include AT&T, Facebook, Hilton, IBM, Microsoft, Pfizer and Time Warner. Rather than lobbying, Business Forward's initial aim will be hosting events around the country to focus on maximizing funds in the $787 billion economic stimulus package. "There are very few platforms for the administration and Congress to engage the business community," the official told CongressDaily.
It will be led by political operative Jim Doyle; former Viacom lobbyist David Sutphen, whose sister is Obama's deputy chief of staff; former Obama media consultant Erik Smith; former Obama campaign staffer Julie Andreeff Jensen; and Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America. Business Forward's founding members will pay up to $75,000 per year for a membership, while smaller firms will pay $1,500 in annual dues. One organizer rejected the notion that the group is the Democrats' answer to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business. It won't compete with progressive think tanks like the Center for American Progress or grassroots group MoveOn.org, the organizer said.
"You know what you get with all the existing organizations around town," the official said. "They all have a role to play. This isn't an 'either-or' endeavor. It's an 'and.' "
Larry Strickling, President Obama's pick to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said his agency should develop metrics "to accurately and demonstrably" show whether the $7.2 billion in broadband funds contained in the economic stimulus package are being used appropriately and whether the program is achieving the goals established under the statute. His comments on the program were part of written responses to questions asked by Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison after his confirmation hearing Tuesday. The committee approved his nomination and that of Aneesh Chopra, Obama's choice to become the government's first chief technology officer, on Wednesday afternoon.
"There are a number of outcomes that could be used to show that unserved communities benefit from this program, including households passed with broadband service, speed of Internet service, jobs created, affordability of broadband offerings, and adoption of broadband service," Strickling wrote, noting NTIA will require grant recipients to regularly report their progress. In addition to transferring $10 million to the inspector general for oversight, NTIA has pursued transparency through public meetings and by soliciting public comment, he said. If confirmed, Strickling said he would ensure a "robust program of inspection and audits" is implemented and as the program expands, will provide information about applicants and recipients as well as quarterly reports.
Strickling also pledged to work with the committee to "find the most appropriate way to prevent copyright piracy and other illegal activities" in connection with the stimulus mandate that funded networks adhere to yet-to-be-determined "openness" requirements. "Although the Internet has, of course, fundamentally altered our lives for the better, as you know, every year billions of dollars in stolen copyrighted works are exchanged over the Internet," Hutchison warned.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy wants the public to weigh in by June 19 on how the U.S. government can embrace 21st century tools to increase openness and transparency and facilitate better communication with citizens. OSTP is expected to run a notice in the Federal Register on Thursday, which stems from President Obama's Jan. 21 memorandum on a proposed open government directive. The inquiry will ask questions like:
• What information should be more readily available online or more easily searched?
• How might the operations of government be made more transparent and accountable?
• How might federal advisory committees, rulemaking, or electronic rulemaking be better used to improve decision making?
• What alternative models exist to improve the quality of decision making and increase opportunities for citizen participation?
• What are the limitations to transparency?
• What strategies might be employed to adopt greater use of Web 2.0 in agencies?
• What policy impediments to innovation in government currently exist?
• What changes in training or hiring of personnel would enhance innovation?
• What performance measures are necessary to determine the effectiveness of open government policies?
Comments can be submitted by one of the following methods:
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/open (which will go live Thursday)
• E-mail: opengov@ostp.gov
• Mail: Office of Science and Technology Policy, Attn: Open Government
Recommendations, 725 17th Street, Washington, DC 20502
Internet auction giant eBay has emerged on the front lines of a congressional movement to restore a century-old ban on vertical price-fixing that was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2007. The company's vice president, Tod Cohen, testified before a Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing Tuesday in favor of legislation that its chairman, Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has advanced to reinstate a regime that was overturned by the high court's split decision in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. "Retail price-fixing, as allowed for in the Supreme Court's Leegin decision, is anti-competitive, and hurts small businesses and consumers," Cohen said, noting that citizen benefit from of an open Internet and open competition. He testified at a similar House Judiciary Courts and Competition Policy Subcommittee hearing last month.
"Because of the Leegin decision, large manufacturers and their biggest retail partners are able to use price-fixing to curtail Internet and small business based competition. These established players are threatened by innovative online businesses, such as eBay sellers, that offer consumers better prices, more options and new services," he said in a statement. "During difficult economic times, consumers should not be denied the choice and value that robust small business competition provides." Cohen said that his Web site has experienced a surge in takedown requests since the court's ruling, with one firm called Net Enforcers making more than 1.2 million complaints about low-price listings. FTC Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour and an executive from Burlington Coat Factory also testified in support of Kohl's bill, which the American Bar Association and the National Association of Manufacturers oppose.
Read CongressDaily's hearing coverage here.
During his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, federal chief technology officer-designate Aneesh Chopra gave a shout-out to his wife and daughters; his parents; and a woman named Linda Bruschi. He explained that shortly after President Obama announced his nomination, Bruschi -- Chopra's third grade teacher -- "friended" her former student on Facebook. "Because of her efforts, she helped me see the future and opened up a door for an exciting new world of opportunity," Chopra said in his testimony. "In the way she opened a door for me, I want to open a door for others. It's this wondrous idea of extending personal opportunity, fueled by new technologies, which especially excites me."
Tech Daily Dose reached out to Bruschi (on Facebook) to ask a few questions about what she remembers of little Aneesh Chopra. Here are some of her responses:
Q: Did Aneesh have an early interest in technology? If so, what specifically do you remember?
A: When Aneesh was in second grade, we were only beginning to hear about computers being used in elementary schools. It wasn't until a few years later that the school system provided computers for all the classrooms.
Q: What were the subjects in which he excelled and which were the subjects that challenged him most?
A: Aneesh excelled in all areas, but in particular, in math. I needed to provide him with more advanced math work to challenge him and develop higher levels of thinking. I was not surprised to learn that he was invited into the district's math gifted and talented program when he moved to grades 4 to 6.
Amid protests by black radio stations back home in Detroit and growing opposition on Capitol Hill, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers is stressing important carve-outs in a bill he introduced that would end a long-standing royalty exemption for AM and FM broadcasters. Conyers, whose committee approved his bill last week, released a statement Tuesday touting modifications he made to the bill with the help of Congressional Black Caucus members. The amended measure creates a sliding scale where small stations would pay as little as $500 a year. Three-quarters of America's radio stations will be eligible for the scale and 90 percent of black-owned stations would be protected, he said. Additionally, all music stations that gross less than $1.25 million annually will be eligible for a flat fee.
Due to the current economic conditions that have hit both musicians and broadcasters particularly hard, he and his colleagues changed the bill so stations that gross more than $5 million per year will be on the hook for payment one year after enactment. For stations that gross less than $5 million per year, no royalties will be due for three years. "I know times are tough, and it is not the intention or goal of this legislation to drive broadcasters into bankruptcy or to bring about a widespread consolidation of the industry. That is why I have been, and remain, committed to finding a middle ground on this issue," Conyers said.
To further sweeten the pot, Conyers, Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith and others requested that the Government Accountability Office conduct a study on the impact of the legislation on diversity in media, including minority and minority-owned, female and female-owned, and religious broadcasters and artists. The bill would direct the Copyright Royalty Board to factor in the study's results when determining the rate, so that the impact on minority, female, and religious broadcasters and artists will be taken into account. The compromises earned Conyers the support of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the NAACP and a number of unions.
Caroline Fredrickson, the woman who shepherded the American Civil Liberties Union through a number of prominent battles in the nation's capital ranging from the U.S. government's warrantless wiretapping program to Internet free speech challenges, is leaving to become executive director of the American Constitution Society -- a center-left rival of the conservative Federalist Society. This is the second high-profile loss for the ACLU in recent months. Tim Sparapani, who was the group's senior legislative counsel, became public policy director for social networking site Facebook.
"Caroline will provide us with the vision and energy to deepen ACS's influence on legal and policy issues and to strengthen a diverse and dynamic progressive legal network," Goodwin Liu, chair of the ACS board and associate dean and professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, said in a statement. Frederickson is replacing Lisa Brown, who joined the Obama administration as White House staff secretary. Before the ACLU, Frederickson was general counsel for NARAL-Pro Choice America, and prior to that worked for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
(Hat tip, Under The Influence)
The European Newspaper Publishers' Association said Monday that Google's decision to allow advertising on its news section will hurt newspapers' advertising revenue online and make it difficult for newspapers to form productive partnerships with Google. "With such a move, Google does not follow its public statements to publishers that it would not place advertisements on its news service. It also sends a very negative signal that there is no intention by Google to negotiate in an open and fair basis with newspaper publishers," wrote ENPA, an international association that seeks to promote the interests of the European newspaper industry. "ENPA encourages newspapers publishers, where this is found appropriate, to consider all legal and other means to ensure that Google understands the harm it is causing to readers, journalists and other employees and its impact in the industry, democracy and employment," ENPA said.
Meanwhile, The Times reported Tuesday that Google is arguing that newspaper mergers in the United Kingdom should be allowed to take place because of the competition from Internet firms. "Google supports the position of many newspapers for the need to allow for a 21st century merger regime, allowing local and regional news services to merge and consolidate in order to create...competitive news offerings," wrote Matt Brittin, the managing director of Google U.K., in a letter to the U.K. Office of Fair Trading.
-- Winter Casey
The United States is deploying new high-tech tools to meet challenges associated with the humanitarian crisis that is affecting Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced during a Tuesday briefing with the White House press corps. She said in addition to providing $100 million in aid, the State Department is working to support the Pakistani government in launching a text-messaging system that will alert local communities to assistance efforts and will help family members keep in touch. The initiative is part of a broader effort to help those who have fled their homes in Swat Valley, where troops are engaged in a battle with Taliban militants.
"We have been hard at work in this area for a number of weeks, looking for ways that we can get communications directly to people on the ground," Clinton said. "We know that a lot of the Pakistanis who are being displaced by the conflict have cell phones. So we're going to try to reach directly to them, not only to give them information that will be of assistance to them, but also to provide a way of connecting them up with other people, with the military, with the governing authorities." She said Americans can also help by texting the word "swat" to the number 20222 to make a $5 contribution for tents, clothing, food, and medicine to hundreds of thousands of affected people.
The Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday heard from two of President Obama's key tech-related nominees: Larry Strickling, who would head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Aneesh Chopra, who would serve as the nation's first chief technology officer. If confirmed, Strickling said NTIA would perform its duties with "clarity, commonsense and creativity." Chopra said he would help "harness the power and potential of technology and innovation to advance our nation's goals." Read more in CongressDaily.
The man praised by many GOP technorati as the one thing their party had going for it says new chairman Michael Steele never asked him to stay -- although, Cyrus Krohn says, his mind was made up to leave. Krohn, who had worked at Yahoo and Slate before taking over the RNC's Web efforts in July 2007, is credited with expanding the party's e-mail list from 1.8 million to 12 million while dramatically improving the party's social media outreach. In his first interview since leaving the Republican National Committee in March, Krohn explained why he quit his job as e-campaign director and returned to the Pacific Northwest and the technology industry. If the party is ever to compete online, Krohn told NationalJournal.com's Lucas Grindley, it needs stability among those fostering its innovation. And, he said, it would help if Steele bit his tongue on occasion. Read edited excerpts here and more Insider Interviews here.
As Congress and the Justice Department continue to examine Ticketmaster's planned $2.5 billion all-stock merger with Live Nation, the ticket-selling giant has found itself in hot water again. TicketsNow.com, a secondary ticket resale site owned by Ticketmaster oversold thousands of tickets to a Monday night Bruce Springsteen concert in Washington and then contacted customers who bought passes at inflated prices to tell them they didn't have the premium seats they thought they had. As a result, D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has issued subpoenas in an investigation into Ticketmaster's resale practices. Nickles told FOX 5 News it will take about 10 days for his office to receive documents pertaining to those transactions. Ticketmaster apologized and promised never to link concertgoers to their own resale Web site in a manner that would create any future confusion.
Meanwhile, Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who first brought congressional attention to the Ticketmaster/TicketsNow relationship, has proposed banning the use of automated ticketing programs and reign in the secondary ticket market. Pascrell testified before a House Judiciary Courts and Competition Policy Subcommittee hearing earlier this year and a similar examination was held by the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. Pascrell also asked the FTC to launch an investigation. "Time and time again Ticketmaster has claimed that these repeated incidents of price gouging and consumer fraud represent exceptions and not the rule," Pascrell said in a statement. "This most recent incident makes it clear as day that we need more transparency and accountability in the secondary ticket market." Read CongressDaily's Ticketmaster coverage here, here, and here.
The Future of Privacy Forum is embarking on a research project that will examine different methods for communicating with Internet users about advertising and privacy practices, the think tank announced Tuesday. The study will explore potential tools and notices that companies could use to raise consumer awareness regarding the use of online behavioral advertising data and will offer more transparency about how information is used in relevant advertising practices. The initiative follows a recent FTC report that called on the private sector to examine the issue. FPF launched in 2008 to advance a national privacy agenda that promotes transparency and user control that is practical for businesses and ensures personal autonomy for online users.
In the coming weeks, FPF will work with experts to develop notices and begin to test them with users, officials said in a press release. Assisting in the efforts are AOL, AT&T, eBay, Facebook, Intel Corp., Verizon, Yahoo and others. FPF hopes to release materials from the initial phase of the research by late summer. "Privacy policies will continue to play an important role in legally binding companies to commitments and providing essential details regarding their data practices," FPF Co-Chair Jules Polonetsky said. "Widespread agreement now exists, however, that more candid, prominent, and engaging methods are needed to ensure that trustworthy and meaningful communications are provided to users."
A trio of cybersecurity groups launched a new initiative Tuesday to combat malicious software known as malware by establishing a "chain of trust" among all organizations and individuals that play a role in securing the Internet. The project developed by the Anti-Spyware Coalition, National Cyber Security Alliance and StopBadware.org will link together security vendors, researchers, government agencies, Web firms, network providers, advocacy and education groups in a systemic effort to stem the rising tide of malware, officials said in a press release. By creating a united front against the threat, the chain of trust will apply many of the same approaches used to bring nuisance adware under control, they said.
"Strong security in any one organization or sector is not enough to combat an agile, fast evolving threat like malware, which exploits security breakdowns between entities," ASC coordinator and Center for Democracy and Technology Vice President Ari Schwartz said. "We all need to work together to build a system that withstand and repel the next generation of exploits." Leaders of the initiative have already begun reaching out to key players and identifying critical areas for collaboration. In the next six months, officials will produce a paper tracking the results of its initial work and propose recommendations for how to proceed. The project's launch coincided an ASC workshop in Washington.
A government civil liberties panel established in 2004 at the behest of the 9/11 Commission that has laid dormant since the terms of its members expired Jan. 31, 2008 could probably not be fully operational as an independent body until mid-2010, the panel's former executive director told Tech Daily Dose. Mark Robbins, who staffed the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board under former President George W. Bush, said the new administration has not nominated any new members and once they are selected, vetted and confirmed by the Senate, it will take time to set up office space and hire a staff. Last Congress, lawmakers statutorily distanced the board from the Executive Office of the President after concern grew it was not fully autonomous.
"We warned Congress before they passed the law making PCLOB independent that they would be killing it well into the next administration -- who's ever it was," said Robbins, now a rule of law advisor for the State Department in Iraq. "Congress killed the imperfect in search of the perfect, and ended up with nothing." "My guess is that the new board will be as welcome to the Obama administration as it was to the Bush administration," he said in an e-mail. Meanwhile, key senators have begun pressing the White House to set up the reconstituted panel. Read more about that effort in CongressDaily's AM Edition here.
A trade group representing Dell, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft and other high-tech titans lauded President Obama's decision over the weekend to nominate Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to serve as the country's next ambassador to China. Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield said the Republican whose name has appeared on some lists of potential nominees for the 2012 presidential election, is a "smart choice and a good friend of the tech industry." During his tenure as governor, Utah has become a magnet for high-tech businesses and employment, Garfield said. ITI Vice President of Global Policy John Neuffer, a former colleague of Huntsman's while at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said he "knows the importance of trade to American competitiveness, is cool under fire, and is a seasoned China-hand, which will serve the United States well at a time when U.S. trade relations with China are a complex mix of opportunities and challenges." Huntsman served terms as deputy USTR, deputy assistant secretary of Commerce for East Asia, and U.S. ambassador to Singapore. He has held positions in the private sector, including as president of Huntsman Cancer Foundation and CEO of Huntsman Corporation. In November 2008, Huntsman was elected to a second term as governor of Utah. A bonus for his potential new gig: He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and has one adopted daughter from China.
The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus on Wednesday will unveil its 2009 watch list of countries that maintain inferior intellectual property protection regimes. The annual release comes on the heels of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's own analysis known as the "Special 301" report, which was made public in late April. Traditionally, the two documents are closely aligned in the nations they put in the spotlight. Rampant illicit copying of compact discs, online sharing of movies and music, and other violations in China, Russia, Spain and Thailand were emphasized by the USTR and Canada was added to the agency's "priority watch list" at the behest of U.S. music, movie, software and video-game industries.
At the time, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Canada's spot on the list next to China and Russia "underscores how widespread Internet piracy has become" and that legislative steps are needed. Hatch co-chairs the Caucus with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. and Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. The USTR report, now in its 20th year, moved Algeria and Indonesia to priority status and removed South Korea from a lower-level list in recognition of improvements its government has made since 2008. Caucus members will be joined at the briefing by Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman; Entertainment Software Alliance President Mike Gallagher; Business Software Alliance President Robert Holleyman and others.
CongressDaily's Chris Strohm writes in TechCentral's latest Issue Of The Week that after four years of effort, federal and state officials believe they are finally closing in on new legislation to replace a controversial 2005 law that set national standards for driver's licenses and identification cards. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, is expected to introduce the bill -- called the PASS ID Act -- that would repeal card requirements set forth under the so-called REAL ID law. State governments -- several of which rejected the REAL ID law outright through acts of their legislatures - are expected to back the new bill because many of its key provisions originated with the National Governors Association.
The Obama administration, while silent about the emerging bill, has been engaged in talks with the NGA over legislative changes to REAL ID. The bill would require the Homeland Security Department to conduct a nine-month rulemaking process to establish security standards for state identification cards. One year after the regulations are issued, state motor vehicle departments would have to begin issuing cards that are in compliance, according to the most recent draft of the bill, obtained by CongressDaily. All states must be in compliance within five years or their citizens could not use those cards for federal purposes, such as entering federal buildings. Read the full story here.
As Congress gets ready to take off for a week-long recess following Memorial Day, the Senate Commerce Committee holds a Tuesday hearing on two key tech-related nominations: Larry Strickling to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration -- which is part of the Commerce Department -- and Aneesh Chopra, now Virginia's secretary of technology, to serve as the nation's first chief technology officer. Confirming Strickling -- a former telecom executive, FCC official and adviser to President Obama's 2008 campaign -- is a priority, given the forthcoming June 12 switch to digital television broadcasts and the NTIA playing a major role in the distribution of $7.2 billion in broadband funds contained in the Obama economic stimulus program. The hearing gets underway at 11 a.m. in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will address the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee Thursday, as the committee plans to discuss vulnerabilities in the federal government's information networks. The session comes as the Obama administration is expected soon to announce the findings and recommendations of a major national cybersecurity review. The Telecommunications Advisory panel is also expected to discuss satellite security issues. Portions of the meeting -- which starts at 2:30 p.m. at U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters, 1615 H Street, N.W. -- will be closed to the public. On a related front, FBI Assistant Director for the Cyber Division Shawn Henry and Cyber Division Section Chief Jeffrey Troy Tuesday will speak at an Anti-Spyware Coalition conference about how their agency is combating high-tech threats. The day-long session gets underway at 9 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H Street, N.W.
TechNet's Washington-based fundraiser Meredith Simpson is leaving the association of CEOs of high-tech companies to join Lezlee Westine, who recently resigned as CEO at TechNet to take over as president and CEO of the Personal Care Products Council. TechNet is currently searching for its next leader and expects to hire additional staff in its Washington office this year, according to a source familiar with the organization. TechNet Senior Vice President Jim Hawley is serving as acting CEO. TechNet's Washington office is now down to Betsy Mullins, who serves as vice president of government and political affairs, and Nicole Dorris, who serves as director of political outreach, according to the source. A tech industry official also said that despite rumors that Information Technology Industry Council and TechNet could merge, such a union is not likely. The source added that TechNet is not financially unstable. TechNet, which was founded in 1997, is focused on attempting to shape the public policies that impact the technology industries. The association seeks to achieve it goals through political advocacy directed at both Democratic and Republican candidates and elected officials, meeting with government officials, and financial support of political candidates. -- Winter Casey
Update: A spokesman for TechNet said the group is "in strong financial position and has added a number of new members to its roster in the last few months." TechNet also had its largest fundraising cycle in the organization's history, its largest CEO fly-in ever, and celebrated a big win on economic stimulus provisions for green IT and broadband, he said.
An article in CongressDaily's AM Edition on Friday notes that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is an opponent of legislation intended to rework how patents are granted and litigated in the United States. Rohrabacher said at a House Science Committee hearing that the measures currently moving through the House and Senate have been driven by major high-tech firms that are "trying to destroy the patent system." The story points out that Rohrabacher's top 2008 campaign donor was Intellectual Ventures, a firm founded by Nathan Myhrvold, a former Microsoft executive who has been highly critical of changing the patent system. He also accepted money from manufacturers -- another sector that has panned portions of the legislation.
On the flip side, it is worth noting that backers of the bills -- House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy -- have each benefited from the generosity of companies that have been lobbying for the legislation's passage. Conyers has accepted money from News Corp.; Berman has received funds from News Corp., Time Warner, Warner Music Group and others; and Leahy has benefited from TechNet, Time Warner, Microsoft, Google, and Cisco Systems. The Senate bill passed Leahy's committee last month and is awaiting floor time. Conyers held a hearing on his bill in April.
Tucked inside House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman's wide-ranging 320-page Foreign Relations Authorization Act for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 is a section intended to boost resources and training for intellectual property enforcement, especially in countries identified by the U.S. government as failing to live up to international obligations. Berman is a longtime leader on IP issues and chaired the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property in the 110th Congress. Under the bill, the Secretary of State would appoint 10 new IP attachés to serve in embassies or other diplomatic missions with priority placement given to countries with particularly egregious IP regimes. The White House IP Enforcement Coordinator, a position created by Congress last year that has not been filled, would coordinate the attachés' activities abroad. Berman's bill also requires the State Department to submit an annual year-end report to Congress on the appointment, designation for assignment, and activities of all IP attachés.
The effort complements one by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus who will soon introduce a broad trade enforcement bill that would include IP provisions. Baucus and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, co-sponsored stand-alone legislation last Congress to beef up the USTR's "Special 301" report, but it stalled in the Finance Committee. Stakeholders have argued the report, the latest installment of which was released last month, needs more muscle. The prior Baucus-Hatch bill required trade officials to create an action plan for the worst offenders and establish harsh consequences for countries that do not comply. The bill would have given additional enforcement powers to the president, including banning federal procurement from and stopping international financing to nations that violate American IP rights. It would have also authorized a funding boost for new USTR attachés.
Read CongressDaily's recent story here (subscription required).
Honolulu became the first American city to run an all-digital election last week, allowing voters to cast their ballots online or over the phone for neighborhood board members. The 115,000 eligible voters can also use laptop computers at polling sites, but mail-in ballots are no longer an option in this year's election, which is running from May 6 to May 22. The city previously experimented with online voting in 2007, and budgetary concerns appear to have pushed them towards using it exclusively this time around: The city claims it is saving more than $100,000 in mailing costs by going digital. "If you look at the world as it is today, people are looking for different ways to do business in a bad economy," said Lori Steele, CEO of Everyone Counts, the firm running the election for Honolulu. While officials aren't releasing turnout figures yet to avoid influencing the election, Steele said voters are opting for the online ballot over the telephone option by a 2-to-1 margin. The number of votes cast online already exceeds the total from 2007 with more than a week of voting remaining. -- David Herbert
The FTC has dismissed its case against computer memory manufacturer Rambus, which the Commission argued had engaged in unlawful market monopolization. The end to the high-profile litigation follows a recent denial of the FTC's request that the Supreme Court review the case. "We are pleased to have finally put this matter behind us," Rambus General Counsel Thomas Lavelle said in a statement, noting that his firm prevailed on related claims at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in front of a jury, and before a district court. The FTC first brought charges against Rambus in 2002.
"While we remain disappointed by the decision of the Court of Appeals, we of course respect the Court's opinion and will move forward," FTC Competition Bureau Director Richard Feinstein said. "The standard-setting issues that were at the heart of this case remain important, both as a matter of antitrust policy, and in order to protect consumers, and we will remain vigilant in this area." The FTC brought charges against Rambus relating to the firm's participation in an industry standard setting committee for dynamic random access memory. In 2008, Appeals Court Judge Stephen Williams said the commission "failed to sustain its allegation" that Rambus deceptively hid the fact that four of its technologies were incorporated into the standard.
Daniel Caprio, a former chief privacy officer and acting assistant secretary for technology policy at the Commerce Department, has joined the government affairs practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP as managing director. Caprio, who has been consulting on various technology projects since serving as an unofficial adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, will provide guidance to clients, particularly in the areas of radio frequency identification, data and information privacy, and cybersecurity. Caprio left his Bush administration post for the job of executive vice president and senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a free market think tank. Prior to working at Commerce, Caprio served for six years as chief of staff to FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle, where he worked as principal technology policy advisor with specific emphasis on IT security, privacy, and global electronic commerce. Caprio will join a number of notables on MLA's government affairs team including former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Gordon Giffin; former Democratic presidential candidate Gov. Howard Dean; and others.
The French Senate overwhelmingly approved a proposal pushed by President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday that gives the government the ability to disconnect Internet users who illegally download music and movies. The bill was adopted a day earlier by the parliament's lower house. Under the "three strikes" law, users who download content without paying for it will get an e-mail from a government officials followed by a letter and a third warning before their Web connectivity is cut off for as long as one year. "The new French law takes the right approach and sets an example to the rest of the world," John Kennedy, head of International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said in a statement. "It will introduce sensible, proportionate measures that will have a real impact on piracy while respecting ordinary, legitimate Internet users."
"Creative industries everywhere, including music, film, TV and books, are facing a fundamental challenge from the way online piracy is eroding the ability of creators to get rewarded for their work," Kennedy said. "In France the government has understood better than any other country the crisis which is looming if firm action is not taken to address the problem." Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement majority party voted to make up for the surprise rejection of the law last month, Bloomberg reported. The Socialists Party says it plans to ask the Constitutional Council, France's highest authority, to rule on the legality of the law, Agence France-Presse said. Concerns about a similar three strikes proposal have permeated talks between the United States and a handful of trading partners as they work toward completion of an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
NationalJournal.com's new blog, The Ninth Justice, reports....
It's the calm before the Internet storm. Interest groups, influential bloggers and others are anxiously waiting to see who President Obama will pick as his first Supreme Court nominee after Justice David Souter announced his retirement May 1. Once the news is out, they will rally their online supporters and rake through the nominee's court decisions on controversial topics like gay marriage, abortion and affirmative action to speculate on how he or she will influence the high court for decades to come. "Every chink in the armor, every flaw, gets magnified" on the Internet, said Tony Mauro, a reporter with the National Law Journal who has covered the Supreme Court for nearly 30 years. The Web makes what would otherwise be normal criticism or flaws seem "like deal breakers," he said.
In the last battle over a Supreme Court nominee, conservatives roundly criticized President Bush's choice of Harriet Miers and forced her to withdraw; liberals then attempted to filibuster Samuel Alito's nomination, charging that he was too far to the right. As the legal and political blogs have grown in influence since 2005, Mauro said, the mainstream media, in turn, has acknowledged their higher profile. It only seems natural that the process will be much more intense this time around, he said. Indeed, the Web has woven itself into nearly every part of politics and policy since the 2008 presidential campaign.
Read the full post by Amy Harder here.
After nearly four hours of debate, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill, 21-9, that would end a long-standing copyright royalty exemption for AM and FM radio stations, with significant concessions aimed at protecting small and minority-owned broadcasters. The action was a big win for the Recording Industry Association of America, American Federation of Musicians, the Recording Academy and others who have been pressing lawmakers to force terrestrial radio to pay performers for songs carried on their airwaves. It was a blow to the National Association of Broadcasters, which has lobbied fiercely against the bill they believe to be a "tax" on local radio.
Moments after the committee's vote, NAB issued a press release giving a nod to those who voted against the bill: Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith; Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; Howard Coble, R-N.C.; Dan Lungren, D-Calif.; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; Ted Poe, R-Texas; Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; and Gregg Harper, R-Miss. "We were pleasantly surprised by the considerable bipartisan opposition to a performance tax, even in a committee where support for the record labels is strongest," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said, noting that outside of the committee, a group of 192 House lawmakers have signed onto a resolution sponsored by Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, opposing the bill.
The MusicFirst Coaltion, which has championed the royalty bill, cheered its committee passage. "Our continued momentum in Congress is proof that it's well past time to recognize the importance of fairly compensating the artists and musicians whose talent and hard work allows radio to generate billions of dollars in ad revenue each year," the group said. "Corporate radio's days of hiding behind a loophole in the copyright law are over," MusicFirst continued. "All other music platforms... pay artists, musicians and rights holders for the use of their music. It's only fair that AM and FM radio be held to the same standards." Read CongressDaily's PM Edition story here and the lengthier mark up report here (subscription required).
For about 10 seconds I felt really special to have an e-mail from President Obama in my inbox. But then I clicked open the message titled "Health care news worth sharing" and realized the e-mail alerts I signed up for when the administration unveiled the new, improved WhiteHouse.gov had begun. Wednesday's email blast was in fact the first time Team Obama has utilized the Web tool to reach out to constituents, a spokesman told Tech Daily Dose. This message came after Obama and Vice President Biden met with House leaders and received their commitment to pass a comprehensive healthcare reform bill by July 31. In the email, Obama urged readers to get involved in the debate and visit HealthReform.gov for more in-depth information. While officials would not say how many people had signed up for the White House e-mail alerts or how frequently the list would be used, the spokesman did note that future messages will come from Obama and other top officials. So, if you get an e-mail from Timothy Geithner or Larry Summers, you'll know what's up.
AT&T Chief Privacy Officer Dorothy Attwood responded Wednesday to a recent letter from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., to the telecom giant's CEO asking for clarification on whether the company is engaged in any activity that involves tracking its broadband Internet subscribers' online activities to target advertising. The lawmaker was confused by Attwood's testimony at an April hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee that focused on "deep packet inspection," a controversial type of network filtering that could be used to build customer profiles and offer specialized content and advertising without consent.
In her letter, Attwood assured Eshoo that AT&T does not engage in behavioral advertising that was the focus of her inquiry and said the company "has articulated at every turn what it does and does not do in the context of any behavioral advertising model that has been the subject of congressional interest." Attwood also addressed AT&T relationship with Audience Science, "one of a number of online marketing firms that assist AT&T in reaching potential customers and placing AT&T's advertisements on other Web sites." She said Audience Science does not use DPI but does use cookie-based methods to offer the most relevant ads to Internet users.
Attwood added that AT&T has not only asked its advertising partners to improve transparency and control for consumers, "we have called on the entire online advertising ecosystem... to adopt a unified, consumer-centric policy framework built on a foundation of transparency, consumer control, privacy protection, and consumer value." That includes ad networks, search engines, Internet service providers, advertisers and publishers, she said. "We are more than willing to work wit hall entities in that ecosystem to create standards that can advance consumer interests," she wrote.
Cynthia Logan, whose 18-year-old daughter took her own life after a nude picture of her was passed around by e-mail, will join Miss Utah: Kayla Barclay; Internet safety expert Parry Aftab; and Mary Heston, director of Teenangels & Wired Moms on Wednesday for a Capitol Hill conversation about "sexting" (sending sexually charged messages or images via text message), cyber-bullying, and youth behavior on the online marketplace Craigslist.org and Internet gaming sites. Among other topics in the news, the panel will address whether charging teens as felony sex offenders for sharing nude pictures online is the right approach. Attendees will also preview the Stop Cyber-Bullying Toolkit for schools, a free resource with videos, animations, games, presentations and risk management guides for educators, parents and students of all ages.
The event coincides with the introduction of legislation by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., that would authorize $175 million in funding over five years to programs educating children on how to safely, securely and ethically use the Internet and mobile technologies. The bill would create a competitive grant program for state and local education agencies and non-profit organizations that would be administered by the Justice Department in collaboration with the departments of Health and Human Services and Education. "The way to meet the challenges and opportunities the Internet presents isn't to deny our children access to this great resource but to make sure they know how to use it wisely," Menendez said in a press release.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was tapped by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday, to lead the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force, a group aimed at ensuring the nation's technology firms remain at the forefront of the world economy. The news came on the heels of Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte's appointment to lead a similar organization in the House. Hatch said in an interview with Tech Daily Dose that he will work closely with Goodlatte as both chambers examine issues critical to U.S. competitiveness. Some of Hatch's priorities include promoting private sector innovation; creating a business environment that attracts the leading tech firms; spurring investment through incentives and tax reforms; encouraging fair industry standard development processes; enhancing the nation's workforce; improving antitrust review; and eliminating barriers to trade.
"Even in the midst of the worst recession in decades, the nation's tech industry as a whole was able to add 77,000 jobs last year," Hatch said. "Given the current economic climate, it is critically important for lawmakers to enact legislation that will spur innovation, create jobs and maintain our nation's technological edge. I am confident this task force can do that and will do everything in my power to ensure that it does." He added that Utah is fast emerging as a major player in the IT industry. Inc. magazine reported there are more than 5,200 IT and life-science firms in the Beehive State that create nearly 66,000 high-paying jobs. The growth of IT firms in Utah in 2004 and 2005 outpaced the growth rates in Arizona, California, Colorado and Washington.
Joining Hatch on the GOP task force are: Jim Bunning of Kentucky; Richard Burr of North Carolina; John Cornyn of Texas; Mike Crapo of Idaho; John Ensign of Nevada; Mike Enzi of Wyoming; Judd Gregg of New Hampshire; Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas; Pat Roberts of Kansas; John Thune of South Dakota; and David Vitter of Louisiana. The group's Democratic counterpart, led by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., last Congress, has not been officially formed this year but sources said an ad hoc group of members have held briefings on a range of issues.
As U.S. military and government officials consider the best approach to fighting cyber threats, they are considering the relevance of historic approaches to national security dangers such as nuclear weapons and terrorism. Herbert Lin, chief scientist at the National Research Council's computer science and telecommunications board, said a range of topics are currently being weighed such as "strategy, escalation, and deterrence, as well as issues related to doctrine and employment policy for cyber weapons." Doctrine and employment policy refer to how the military plans to operate during a conflict and strategy refers to thinking beyond immediate engagement to develop a roadmap for how to win, he said. Deterrence involves persuading a bad guy to not attack and escalation refers to how to keep a war from getting out of hand, he said.
"The very concepts of what constitutes offense versus defense and what is contained within either is a new and nascent debate in cyber," wrote Rod Beckstrom of the Homeland Security Department's National Cybersecurity Center, in an email. Historic concepts that have emerged include preemptive war strategy or when an attempt is made to combat a perceived inevitable threat before the threat becomes a reality and, the "no first use pledge," or when a state with nuclear weapons promises not to use the weapons first. Another approach, known as mutually assured destruction, "reflects the idea that one's population could best be protected by leaving it vulnerable so long as the other side faced comparable vulnerabilities," NuclearFiles.org states. The U.S. has waged past wars against threats that are not easily defined and geographically diverse such as terrorism and drugs.
Microprocessor giant Intel Corp. took a beating by the European Commission on Wednesday as regulators fined the company $1.45 billion for violating antitrust rules by engaging in illegal anticompetitive practices to exclude competitors from the market for computer chips called x86 central processing units. The Commission ordered Intel to cease the illegal practices immediately to the extent that they are still ongoing. The company has vowed to fight the ruling. "We believe the decision is wrong and ignores the reality of a highly competitive microprocessor marketplace -- characterized by constant innovation, improved product performance and lower prices. There has been absolutely zero harm to consumers. Intel will appeal," CEO Paul Otellini said.
But EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes disagrees. She issued a statement saying Intel has harmed millions of European consumers "by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years." "Such a serious and sustained violation of the EU's antitrust rules cannot be tolerated," she said. Intel rival AMD cheered the decision, saying it was a critical step toward a truly competitive market. "After an exhaustive investigation, the EU came to one conclusion - Intel broke the law and consumers were hurt," AMD Executive Vice President Tom McCoy said. "With this ruling, the industry will benefit from an end to Intel's monopoly-inflated pricing and European consumers will enjoy greater choice, value and innovation."
Mom-and-pop Internet radio services from across the United States wrote to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and ranking member Lamar Smith urging them to extend small broadcaster protections, which could be included in a bill before their committee on Wednesday, to Web sites that offer music as well. "Small webcasters are the smallest of small, but our programming is the most innovative and our playlists the most diverse," they argued in a Tuesday letter. "Small webcasters play more independent music, more local artists, and more unusual genres than broadcast radio, satellite radio and cable radio combined!" they said.
To ensure that small AM and FM stations are not bankrupted by a proposed new fee, Conyers' legislation lets let those making less than $1.25 million annually pay only $5,000 in royalties. Additionally, he is expected to offer an amendment so that radio stations earning less than $500,000 will pay only $1,250 and stations earning less than $100,000 will pay only $500. By contrast, webcasters pointed out that their sector pays far higher rates. Those earning $1.25 million pay $150,000 in royalties; webcasters earning $500,000 pay $50,000 in royalties; and webcasters earning $100,000 pay $10,000 in royalties. Read more about Conyers' legislation here, here, and here.
As Tech Daily Dose reported last month, Jenner & Block attorney Philip Verveer has now officially been tapped for the impossibly titled position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Communications and Information Policy in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy. Verveer has practiced communications and antitrust law in the government and in private law practice for more than 35 years, according to a White House personnel announcement. From 1969 to 1981, Verveer was a trial attorney in the Justice Department's Antitrust Division; as a supervisory attorney in the Bureau of Competition at the FTC; and as the chief of the FCC's Cable Television Bureau, the Broadcast Bureau, and the Common Carrier Bureau.
Between 1973 and 1977, he served as the DOJ Antitrust Division's first lead counsel in the investigation and prosecution of United States v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., the case that eventuated in the divestiture of the Bell System. As a Bureau Chief at the FCC, Verveer participated in a series of decisions that enabled increased competition in video and telephone services and limited regulation of information services, the bio stated. Since 1981, Verveer has practiced law in the private sector and in 1995 and 1996 he chaired the federal advisory committee that identified spectrum requirements necessary to afford public safety organizations efficient and interoperable wireless communications. He has also served on the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago Law School and the Executive Committee of the Alumni Board of Governors of Georgetown University.
A pair of high-tech watchdog groups on Wednesday offered a series of privacy safeguards and conditions they believe should be met in order to allow federal agencies to implement the use of analytics tools on their Web sites. The paper co-authored by experts at the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation also calls on providers of analytics technology to build their products to higher privacy standards than are currently found in commercial products. Because agency Web sites will play a role in President Obama's plan for participatory government, special attention must be paid to protecting citizen privacy, they wrote.
Recommendations for agencies include crafting robust policies to ensure that data collected for measurement purposes is adequately protected and updating current federal policy on persistent tracking technologies, such as cookies. Current federal policy requires, among other things, that the agency head authorize each use of these technologies, CDT and EFF said. The result has been a near prohibition of persistent tracking technologies. While the policy should remain extremely protective of privacy, it should also allow federal agencies to take advantage of advances in Web technology, the groups said. Read the report here.
As CongressDaily and Tech Daily Dose reported earlier, aides for House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers have been hard at work on a manager's amendment intended to calm broadcasters' fears that legislation his committee will mark up Wednesday could harm local radio and diversity on the airwaves.
Some details have emerged about what Conyers plans to offer:
Affordable payment for small, rural, nonprofit, minority, religious and educational broadcasters: Any station that makes less than $100,000 annually will pay only $500 annually for unlimited use of music. Any station that makes less than $500,000 but more than $100,000 annually will pay only $2500 (half of the amount in introduced bill) annually for unlimited use of music. Any station that makes less than $1.25 million but more than $500,000 annually will pay only $5,000 (the amount in introduced bill) annually for unlimited use of music.
Some relief from the current economic situation: No payment for two years by any station that makes less than $5 million annually; No payment for one year by any station that makes more than $5 million annually.
Parity for all radio services: Establishes a "placeholder" standard to determine a fair rate for all radio services that will encourage negotiations between the stakeholders.
Cannot hurt local communities: Assures that this legislation cannot affect broadcasters public interest obligations to serve the local community.
Assures consideration of relevant evidence: Evidence relevant to small, noncommercial, minority, and religious broadcasters and religious and minority royalty recipients must be considered by the Copyright Royalty Judges.
President Obama's pick to run the Office of Management and Budget's administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday that Regulations.gov, the government's e-rulemaking hub, requires a major redesign. "It just isn't as accessible as it ought to be to citizens. That's where I would start," Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein said at his confirmation hearing. Obama's CIO Vivek Kundra told an audience recently that his team is working with OIRA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to retool the Web site after a high-level American Bar Association task force slammed the site. In soliciting public comment on potential regulations, Sunstein said, "simplicity, clarity, and publicity should be watchwords." He also told the committee that OIRA is looking to hire a person whose full-time responsibility at the agency would be ensuring privacy protections. -- Carrie Dann
CongressDaily's AM Edition reports that House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers on Wednesday will try to calm broadcasters' fears that legislation he co-sponsored with Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa could harm local radio and diminish diversity on AM and FM airwaves. When Conyers' panel marks up the bill, which would end a long-standing copyright royalty exemption for over-the-air radio, he plans to propose slashing the fee small commercial stations would have to pay performers and record labels. Rather than paying the flat $5,000 annual royalty proposed in the current version, Conyers' potential amendment would require the smallest stations to offer as little as $500 per year while others that generate less than $1.25 million in annual revenue would pay based on a sliding scale.
Another possible amendment would create a two-year payment delay for a number of small stations with the hope that the economy will rebound, Hill sources said Monday. A third potential proposal would require AM and FM radio to be held to the same rate standard as cable, Internet and satellite radio, which currently pay performers under dissimilar fee structures. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., pushed the "platform parity" idea last Congress as a similar bill sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy was being debated in his committee. Leahy reintroduced his measure in February but has been focused on patent legislation. Under Feinstein's January 2007 proposal, various platforms would pay a fair market value for the performance of digital music and would require the use of anti-piracy technologies that are technologically and economically feasible.
Meanwhile, broadcasters are complaining that the Conyers bill could harm local radio and diminish diversity on AM and FM airwaves. Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins argues his sector is in dire straits and they cannot afford to pay performers. Liggins, whose enterprise is the largest minority-owned U.S. media company, owns several stations in Conyers' congressional district and over the last 18 months has laid off 21 employees. As the legislation moves forward, Liggins said he would direct his on-air talent in Detroit to take to the airwaves in opposition. Read more in CongressDaily here.
The United States, Japan, New Zealand, and Luxembourg had the lowest rates of software piracy in the world in 2008 -- all near 20 percent -- while Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, and Zimbabwe had the highest instances of infringement, each with over 90 percent, according to the Business Software Alliance's sixth annual piracy study with market research and forecasting firm IDC. The report, being released Tuesday, shows that governments are software firms are making progress in slowing the spread of illegal programs but progress has stalled in the United States and the challenge is greatest in the world's fastest growing emerging markets.
Overall, the rate of PC software piracy last year dropped in about half (52 percent) of the 110 countries studied and remained the same in about a third (35 percent), the study found. However, the worldwide piracy rate went up from 38 percent in 2007 to 41 percent in 2008 because PC shipments grew fastest in high-piracy rate countries. Meanwhile, piracy-related losses to legitimate software vendors grew by more than $5.1 billion (11 percent) to $53 billion from 2007 to 2008, although half the growth stemmed from changing exchange rates. Excluding the effect of exchange rates, losses grew by 5 percent to $50.2 billion and the legitimate software market grew by 14 percent.
"We are continuing to make progress against PC software piracy in many countries, which helps people working in the U.S.-led global software industry. That's the good news," BSA President Robert Holleyman said in a press release. "The bad news is that PC software piracy remains so prevalent in the United States and all over the world. It undermines local IT service firms, gives illegal software users an unfair advantage in business, and spreads security risks." BSA noted the impact of the economic crisis appeared to be muted in its effect on piracy in 2008, in part because significant spending cutbacks did not start until late in the year. Read the full report here.
Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., will reintroduce a bill Tuesday that will allow many months of royalty negotiations between the music and Internet industries continue while delaying full implementation of a controversial rate-setting for webcasters imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board. The legislation, which will be cosponsored by Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and California Democrats Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo, is simple but effective, sources said. It would replace a Feb. 15, 2009 deadline that was part of legislation that passed the 110th Congress, with a 30-day window from the date of enactment for a deal to be reached between digital royalty collector SoundExchange, which is negotiating on behalf of copyright owners and performers, and Internet radio services represented by the Digital Media Association and others.
The bill is on a fast-track and is scheduled to be marked up by Conyers' committee the following day. Sen. Ron Wyden , D-Ore., sponsored a companion measure last session but it was unclear whether he planned to follow Inslee's lead. SoundExchange and the National Association of Broadcasters already reached agreement on Internet radio royalties earlier this year that provides discounts on previously set rates for 2009 and 2010 and establishes rates for 2011-2015. Under the arrangement, which involves AM and FM radio stations that simulcast programming over the Internet or that create new stand-alone Internet stations, simulcasts or Web channels operated by local stations are reduced for the first two years by about 16 percent then gradually increase through 2015 -- from $0.0015 per streamed sound recording in 2009 to $0.0025 per stream by 2015. Read more on the topic here.
Update: A spokeswoman for Wyden confirmed late Monday that her boss would be introducing the Senate version of the bill, potentially this week.
The season of springtime communications policy summits continues this week when the advocacy group Free Press -- a relentless critic of the Bush administration that starting getting its calls returned after Jan. 20 -- hosts a Thursday event featuring acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps and White House technology adviser Susan Crawford. The conference also will include a roundtable discussion with two former FCC chairmen, Reed Hundt and Michael Powell; Senate Commerce Committee staff member Jessica Rosenworcel; high-tech venture capitalist and Google investor Ram Shriram and Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott. It kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Newseum.
The Free Press summit takes place as the telecommunications community eagerly awaits a new chairman and two new commissioners for the FCC. The Senate Commerce Committee last Thursday abruptly postponed this week's scheduled confirmation hearing of Julius Genachowski to be the next FCC chairman -- amid indications that Republicans are coalescing around Meredith Baker, a former Commerce Department official, to fill a GOP vacancy on the commission. Pending that, the FCC Wednesday holds its monthly public meeting with a noticeably modest agenda -- as it stays focused on the June 12 completion of the nation's switchover to digital television.
Meanwhile, key Senate and House committees will summon Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to Capitol Hill for a series of hearings on the department's FY10 budget request, unveiled late last week. Napolitano is slated to testify Tuesday before the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee as well as the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. On Wednesday, Napolitano is scheduled to go before the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. On Thursday, the DHS' Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee will meet to hear presentations on the US VISIT and E-Verify programs.
Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents Dinner: "Who's idea was it to give the Queen an iPod? What is she gonna do? Download Lady Gaga? What are you gonna give the Pope? A Bluetooth?" Watch full coverage from C-SPAN here.
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law this week urged the House Judiciary Committee to delay any action on legislation that would end a longstanding royalty exemption for AM and FM radio until the panel holds a hearing to weigh the bill's impact on minority-owned broadcast radio stations. Noting "two significant voting rights cases" before the Supreme Court, the groups explained that "the chief remaining resource to ensure that African Americans can participate fully in the democratic process will be the continued engagement of minority radio broadcasters to drive turnout."
Passage of the Performance Rights Act, which was sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, "would eviscerate this remaining, powerful resource," the letter from Rainbow PUSH and the Lawyers' Committee said. LCCR sent a separate letter to Conyers expressing similar concerns. The letters raise "important questions regarding the negative impact of the performance tax on minority broadcasters, niche programming formats and media diversity," said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, which is leading the lobbying effort against the legislation. He added that "minority broadcasters often serve as the only voice for African-American and immigrant communities."
A handful of education and business groups Thursday criticized the Obama administration's proposed drastic downsizing of the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program as part of the FY10 budget proposal. Under the plan, the Education Department program would shrink from $269 million to $100 million, according to the Consortium for School Networking, International Society for Technology Education, Software & Information Industry Association and State Educational Technology Directors Association. The organizations urged Congress to invest in EETT at levels higher than last year's appropriation because the program importantly spurs innovation and provides teacher training in the use of technology to improve student achievement.
The cut came as a major shock since the economic stimulus package signaled that the White House was prepared to invest significantly in educational technology, they said. The Obama administration has outlined a vision of educational innovation and improvement to enable American children to compete in the global economy but the FY10 budget request "falls far short of the targeted investments needed to ensure all students have the modernized classrooms and technology-rich instruction needed to achieve this vision," they wrote. "We have seen what works to boost student achievement, and technology is a key component in the equation to accelerate change, but we must have a sustained commitment of leadership and resources." Read more about EETT here.
From the May 9 issue of National Journal magazine...
Google is rising fast. It has a near-monopoly on Internet searches, holds a commanding share of the growing online advertising market, and is expanding into myriad online services now dominated by its politically wired corporate rivals. That trajectory matches Microsoft's, but with a major difference. Microsoft spurned Washington and was subsequently humbled by a 1998 antitrust lawsuit backed by its rivals. Google has carefully cultivated friends and political clout in Washington, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, to help it withstand the inevitable pushback from aggrieved competitors.
Google's influence is illustrated by reaction to the book deal that it signed with publishers and authors last year. The agreement gives Google 37 percent of any revenue derived from the company's digitizing of an estimated 7 million "orphan" books whose copyright owners can't be found and makes it difficult for other companies to get any revenue from those works. "Google is the huge, 2-ton gorilla, with resources from here to kingdom come," said former Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., the former president of the Association of American Publishers. Executives in publishing and other media industries are nervous about the Google's expansion, she said, but "mainly feel [that the company's executives] have contributed a tremendous amount to the culture by this tremendous search engine, and everybody is using it. That builds goodwill."
Read the full story in National Journal magazine here (subscription required).
A pair of technology programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology that were routinely zeroed out by the Bush administration but rescued annually by appropriators would get a new lease on life under President Obama's budget request. It included $124.7 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a public-private initiative that provides technical assistance to small manufacturers, and $69.9 million for the Technology Innovation Program, which provides financing to small high-tech entrepreneurs to support cutting-edge technologies. Former President George W. Bush cut both programs in his FY09 budget, but Congress provided MEP with $110 million and TIP $65 million in its FY09 omnibus.
A White House summary lauded MEP's network of 59 centers for their "proven record of accomplishment for delivering cost-effective services that improve competitiveness and help companies retain or expand jobs." The summary also points out that in TIP's first competition in January nine cost-shared grants were awarded for research on advanced sensing technologies for monitoring and inspection of the structural health of the nation's bridges, roadways and water systems. That research is expected to generate $90 million worth of research over five years, officials said. Read more FY10 budget briefs from CongressDaily here (subscription required).
FY10 Budget Briefing: Telecommunications
The Obama administration proposes that the FCC receive $335.8 million in FY10 funding, a decrease from the $341.9 million Congress allotted for FY09 -- a figure that included $20 million to assist with this year's digital television changeover. In its FY10 budget released Thursday, the administration said it supports overhauling the $7.1 billion universal service program, a federal effort subsidizing telecom and Internet services in rural and underprivileged areas. "The administration supports universal service fund reforms that will help ensure subsidies are well-targeted, demonstrate results and minimize the burden to ratepayers," the White House said in its budget request, adding that it will seek to reduce waste, fraud and abuse.
Read the full story in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
FY10 Budget Briefing: Science
President Obama's emphasis on climate change and clean energy investment was reflected Thursday in the administration's $147.6 billion FY10 budget for research and development, but his overall R&D portfolio proposal is about the same as his predecessor's. Former President George W. Bush asked for an R&D budget of $147 billion last year, and Congress appropriated $151 billion in the FY09 omnibus bill. The economic stimulus package provided an additional $21.5 billion for federal R&D programs, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Obama's budget lays out about $3.1 billion for clean energy technology initiatives and $2 billion for climate change research across more than a dozen departments.
Read the full story in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
Trade groups representing Internet music providers, e-commerce firms and electronics manufacturers fired back this week at an attempt by composers, songwriters and performance rights organizations (PROs) to persuade House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to amend copyright law to extend the "public performance right" so that it will apply to digital downloads of audiovisual works. The Digital Media Association, the Consumer Electronics Association, TechAmerica and others claim the request by ASACP, BMI, the Harry Fox Agency and the Songwriters Guild of America, would "impose a licensing obligation and potentially significant royalties on activities that are unequivocally unrelated to public performance."
This debate could complicate an ongoing examination by both committees of bills sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy that would bring AM and FM radio in line with Internet, cable and satellite music platforms that pay performers for their works. Groups like the Recording Industry Association of America, SoundExchange and the American Federation of Musicians are carrying the torch for that effort while over-the-air broadcasters who have long been exempt from the fee argue it should remain that way. The National Association of Broadcasters claims the bills could bankrupt local radio.
President Obama will propose cutting or scaling back 121 programs in the detailed budget he will unveil Thursday, saving the federal government an estimated $17 billion in FY10, two senior administration officials said Wednesday. About half of the savings would come from defense programs and almost $12 billion would come from discretionary spending, the officials said. The administration aides defended the proposed level of savings, which amounts to only about 0.5 percent of the $3.4 trillion budget Congress recently approved for FY10. The figure, by "anyone's accounting, is a significant amount of money; that is in one year alone," one official said.
On the call, the officials listed two examples of the downsizing that involve technology. The U.S. government's long-range radio navigation system will be eliminated. They said it's a system that is now made obsolete by the prevalence of GPS: "It's not used, it's unnecessary, it costs us $35 million a year, and we perpetuate it just through inertia." Additionally, the administration is saying bon voyage to the Education Department's educational attaché in Paris. Team Obama is proposing that the agency instead use e-mail and videoconferencing and does not need a full-time representative there. The savings: $632,000 per year.
Stay tuned for more budget coverage on Thursday in CongressDaily
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., has become increasingly concerned about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which has been in the works, largely behind closed doors, for more than a year. Amid fears from watchdog groups who argued the process between the U.S. government and a handful of key trading partners was too secretive, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in April released a six-page summary of ACTA talks. Lofgren told a crowd of high-tech executives Wednesday the outline may not be sufficient in quelling fears about requirements that could be imposed on Internet service providers and others. She said the document "makes me very nervous," particularly as European proposals have surfaced to regulate ISPs as part of efforts to crack down on copyright infringement.
In her remarks to the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Lofgren also spoke about the congressional movement to overhaul the U.S. patent system. Silicon Valley executives told her in recent meetings that a compromise bill, which last month passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, could be worse than no bill at all due to what they believe is watered down damages language. "Last year we had a strong bill," Lofgren said of the version that passed the House. The Senate measure stalled last spring after Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and then-ranking member Arlen Specter could not see eye to eye on damages text. "Now we have a bill that opponents of patent reform are rallying around," she said of Leahy's legislation as amended.
Lofgren also said the so-called "orphan works" issue is still on her radar. Legislation aimed at reworking a portion of U.S. copyright law that deals with musical tracks, writings, images, videos or other content whose owners cannot be easily gained some traction in the 110th Congress but did not make it to the House floor. Later in her speech, Lofgren said a bill she sponsored to provide for a five year moratorium on any new discriminatory wireless tax or fees should collect "a lot of cosponsors on both sides of the aisle." "I think we have an opportunity to move that," she said.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., reintroduced his Global Online Freedom Act on Wednesday with the bipartisan backing of Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., Frank Wolf, R-Va., and others. The measure would prevent U.S. technology companies from working with repressive foreign governments that seek to conduct Internet surveillance to find, capture, convict and often torture citizens for engaging in democracy promotion and human rights advocacy online. Smith's bill passed several House committees last Congress but he could not secure a floor vote before the session ended.
The latest version of Smith's bill would require American IT companies that do business with countries known for clamping down on free speech to keep records on and notify the Justice Department of demands for personal information about Internet users. The legislation also would give the attorney general authority to order tech firms not to comply with those demands if there is a reasonable likelihood that the request is not made for legitimate law enforcement purposes. Additionally, the bill would require the U.S. firms to disclose data they block when asked by foreign governments and disclose how they filter search engine results.
Smith's measure would prevent U.S. IT firms from blocking U.S. government Web sites and would create an Office of Global Internet Freedom within the State Department to promote freedom of expression online. "The reality is that dictatorships need two pillars to survive -- propaganda and secret police," Smith said in a press release. "The Internet -- when misused by authorities --gives them both in spades." He added that it is "unconscionable that American businesses... would even consider enabling repressive governments that seek to stifle basic freedoms."
House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon is ready to launch his panel's examination of the Obama administration's recently completed 60-day review of the U.S. government's cybersecurity posture as soon as the highly anticipated document is made public. Gordon told the Computer and Communications Industry Association's annual meeting Wednesday that he expects the report, written by Melissa Hathaway -- a top adviser to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair -- to surface in a matter of days. A spokeswoman for Hathaway could not confirm when the document would be released. Gordon said his committee has already scheduled a hearing later this month that will focus on recommendations of the report. Witnesses could include representatives from the Homeland Security Department, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, he said. Follow up hearings will ask industry representatives, watchdog groups and other stakeholders for their thoughts on the matter. Gordon hopes the hearings will serve as a basis for legislation that would improve network security. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, were the first to introduce a cybersecurity bill this Congress. Other committees are expected to offer their own measures in the coming weeks and months. Read more about CCIA's summit in CongressDaily.
David Rehr, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, is stepping down after three years on the job, a source confirmed. Other news outlets are also reporting on his departure. NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton declined to comment. Rehr joined the NAB in December 2005 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association, where he had been CEO. He is departing as the industry faces a number of critical and thorny public policy issues, including the digital television transition and a battle with the music industry over royalty fees. We'll update this story as we have more information.
Update: "I have enjoyed leading America's broadcasters through this time of change and challenge," Rehr said in a press release. "Our efforts to educate America about the digital television transition have been enormously successful, and our effort to reinvigorate radio through the Radio Heard Here campaign is positioning radio broadcasters well for the future." "I am looking forward to building on these experiences and working with the broader Washington community to further advocacy efforts through marketing, communications and education," he continued. Rehr will continue in his role during a transition phase and during the interim period, NAB Chief Operating Officer Janet McGregor will work closely with Rehr and assume day-to-day duties.
Update: The MusicFirst Coalition, which has been battling with NAB over AM and FM copyright royalty legislation issued a statement saying: "While we wish Mr. Rehr well, we look forward to working with new leadership at the NAB -- one that is more responsive to the bipartisan request from Congress to create a Performance Rights Act that is fair to artists, musicians and labels, and one that is fair to other radio platforms and to radio."
High-tech attorney Jim Pooley, one of several top contenders for the job of Patent and Trademark Office director, has confirmed to Tech Daily Dose his nomination to become deputy director of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Pooley is a partner in the litigation department of the Palo Alto office of Morrison & Forrester and has practiced in Silicon Valley since 1973. He is immediate past president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and president of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Foley & Lardner IP attorney Hal Wegner noted in an email that when an American is sent to WIPO, the final decision rests with the State Department and that is usually based upon the recommendation of the PTO. It would go against tradition to name this spot without the input of the new PTO chief, he said. Pooley is part of a slate of WIPO nominees that are subject to election. The list of candidates should be announced soon, Wegner said. Other names in the mix for the PTO job include Q. Todd Dickinson, who already ran the agency under former President Bill Clinton, and David Kappos, who is vice president and assistant general counsel for IP at IBM.
Supporters of legislation that would create an exemption to a U.S. ban on Internet gambling for licensed and regulated businesses like their odds in the 111th Congress as House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank prepares to unveil the latest version of his bill Wednesday. The measure is expected to include safeguards against compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identity theft in an attempt to pacify critics who blasted the societal ills of Web wagering last session. Frank's previous legislation, which would have prohibited implementation of the 2006 gambling ban and replaced it with a formal rulemaking process, passed the Financial Services Committee in September. The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve issued a final rule shortly before former President George W. Bush left office despite Frank's call for a delay due to problems he said it would cause for banks. Read the full story in CongressDaily's AM Edition (subscription required).
A handful of major high-tech companies wrote to House Transportation Chairman James Oberstar and ranking member John Mica on Wednesday to voice their opposition to a proposed ban on the usage of wireless telecommunications on U.S. commercial flights. The Consumer Electronics Association, CTIA-The Wireless Association, the Satellite Industry Association, Technology Association of America, and the Telecommunications Industry Association joined passenger rights and business groups that recently complained about a legislative rush to prohibit the activity as part of a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill without meaningful public input. Rather than eliminating the option of using devices on airplanes, CTIA Vice President Jot Carpenter called for a study to determine whether there is consumer demand.
Their letter was also sent to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton. "Legislation prohibiting the use of technology is as problematic as legislation mandating the use of technology," CEA lobbyist Michael Petricone said. "An outright ban slipped into an authorization bill is not warranted for a technology that is as safe and widely accepted as voice communications." "An outright ban leaves too many benefits for society on the table without a serious weighing of the facts," TechAmerica lobbyist Joshua Lamel added. The groups point out that airplanes have been equipped with mobile phones for decades and for 18 months, 16 commercial carriers have offered in-flight wireless services on three continents. Those systems have been launched successfully in Europe, Asia and the Middle East and have not posed safety concerns, they wrote.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., have claimed the title of "High-Tech Defenders" for their voting records and leadership roles on technology issues in the 110th Congress. The distinction bestowed by the Computer and Communications Industry Association is part of the trade group's congressional scorecard, which was released on the eve of its annual member meeting in Washington. CCIA represents Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other tech firms. Wyden and Lofgren, who are both slated to speak at CCIA's Wednesday summit, were given scores of 100 percent and 95 percent, respectively. Wyden was joined at the top by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. while Lofgren outdistanced her closest scoring House colleagues by 6 percent.
"It comes as no surprise that Senator Wyden and Representative Lofgren finished on top of our high-tech scorecard," CCIA President Ed Black said in a statement. "They are proposing forward-looking legislation, raising the prominence of technology issues in the press and pushing hard to get high-tech issues included in the often cramped legislative agendas of their respective chambers." Twenty-two senators scored above 80 percent on tech and innovation votes during the second session of the 110th Congress. In the House, 32 members scored in the top tier with a score of over 84 percent. The top tier scorecard included four presidential candidates - Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., as well as former Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Senate Rules Committee Chairman Charles Schumer and ranking member Bob Bennett took a large but simple step this week toward modernizing the way the chamber provides information about roll call votes by instructing the Secretary of the Senate to embrace XML format. The change will allow the public to use computers to search, sort, and visualize Senate voting records in new ways and the costs associated with the transition are minor, said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who has championed the effort. By moving forward on XML, Schumer and Bennett are helping to increase Senate transparency and accountability, DeMint said in a statement. In a letter last week to the Rules Committee leaders, DeMint pointed out the existing policy was implemented because "senators want to provide their voting records to their constituents themselves." "The idea that the Senate would intentionally hamstring the distribution of roll call votes so Senators could put a better spin on them is concerning," he wrote. "The public is capable of interpreting our votes on its own." For a number of years, the House has provided roll call votes to the public in a format that allows them to be easily read, processed, and shared.
Fans and foes of legislation that would end a longstanding copyright royalty exemption granted to AM and FM radio are each hoping to win the support of Hispanic members of the House and Senate. The Free Radio Alliance and the National Association of Broadcasters, which believe the proposal would slap a "tax" on local radio, held a Tuesday briefing on Capitol Hill with Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo, host of a popular morning show on Univision Radio and radio executives from Salem Communications, Entravision Communications, Top Line Broadcasting and others. Panelists discussed how the legislation would impact diversity in voice and thought in the Spanish-language radio market and broader problems they have with the bills, which were sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy.
In a same-day press release, the MusicFirst Coalition pointed out that the National Hispanic Conference of State Legislators recently approved a resolution that calls on Congress to pass the Performance Rights Act. In its resolution, the organization that represents Hispanic state legislators noted that broadcasters enjoy a "unique government-created exemption from having to compensate creators" and that AM and FM radio stations are the only "radio platform that does not compensate creators." MusicFirst Executive Director Jennifer Bendall, whose group is backed by record labels, unions and other industry stakeholders, said grassroots Hispanic policymakers are "strong supporters" of the legislation and their voice is an essential part of the debate. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has not formally weighed in but the Spanish Broadcasting Association has urged opposition.
Google Vice President Marissa Mayer and HuffingtonPost.com co-founder Arianna Huffington are among seven witnesses scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, which is holding a hearing to examine the future of newspapers during turbulent economic times. Hearing details were announced Monday as news surfaced that the New York Times Co. had reached a tentative deal with unions at the Boston Globe, and would hold off on its threat to shut the Globe down. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will chair the hearing. Other witnesses include Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Knight Foundation President Albert Ibarguen; former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon; former Washington Post managing editor Steve Coll; and Dallas Morning News CEO James Moroney. The hearing follows one held last month by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy called "A New Age for Newspapers: Diversity of Voices, Competition and the Internet."
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., will become the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking member after reaching a deal with Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, aides familiar with the talks said on Monday. The official announcement could come as early as this evening after the panel's GOP members meet, CongressDaily reports. The appointment requires endorsement of the full Republican Conference, which aides said should not be a problem. So what do we know about the former Alabama attorney general's track record on tech policy? The Information Technology Industry Council's congressional scorecard, which has been rating members since 1998, says Sessions had an 80 percent voting record in the 110th Congress.
Sessions voted in lockstep with ITI in favor of the America Competes Act; the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement; comprehensive energy legislation; and a Senate Finance Committee tax extender package, which included a provision to expand the research and development tax credit for two years. But Sessions voted against the financial bailout package. At the time, Sessions issued a statement saying government "can and should be part of the solution, but we should tailor its role to have maximum benefit with minimal market interference." He called the Obama administration's plan well-intentioned but said it represented "unprecedented governmental intervention in the economy." "Its enactment will be a signal to the world that America has turned its back on the free market," Sessions said.
On Wednesday, a parade of lawmakers will meet with high-tech executives at the Computer and Communications Industry Association's 36th annual Washington Caucus. Among those slated to speak are House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va.; House Science Chairman Bart Gordon; and Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Kevin Brady, R-Texas, are also scheduled to make appearances, along with FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz and several other Obama administration officials. The day-long session kicks off at 8 a.m. at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Meanwhile, the Wireless Communications Association holds a "policy summit" on Tuesday and Wednesday keynoted by Sean Maloney, an executive vice president at Intel. Congressional staffers, industry executives and advocacy group representatives are slated to speak, including AT&T lobbyist Jim Cicconi and Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott. The event is headquartered at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H Street, N.W. Sessions will address the broadband stimulus program, network neutrality and spectrum policy, among other topics. The WCA holds the event as federal regulators shape a $7.2 billion loan and grant program that seeks to expand broadband connectivity to rural regions and other areas with limited or no service. For more details, read "This Week's Highlights" at CongressDaily's TechCentral Web site.
Social networking site MySpace unveiled a new White House community Friday that will allow users to connect directly with the Obama administration and stay informed about the priorities and activities of the U.S. government. The platform also lets members voice their thoughts and concerns directly to the White House by leaving comments and participating in discussion forums. The White House will be uploading new blog posts and videos regularly to populate its profile. Hundreds joined as "friends" of the White House within an hour of the announcement and the page was slow to load, potentially due to high traffic.
President Obama is the first president on MySpace and he has more than a million friends on his individual page. He also has almost 60 other official profiles -- one for each state and many constituencies, according to a MySpace press release. The Web site has been active in the political and policy sphere, most recently with a project that let citizens define potential issues for Obama's agenda before he took office. MySpace engaged in a number of campaign season activities including a content partnership with NBC News; a voter registration drive; and a series of events with MTV featuring presidential candidates. MySpace was also the official online partner for the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Update: Lest you think Obama is showing support for one platform over another, a White House blog post points out that his Web team has joined Facebook and Twitter too. And don't forget about Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube and iTunes. "Technology has profoundly impacted how - and where - we all consume information and communicate with one another. WhiteHouse.gov is an important part of the Administration's effort to use the internet to reach the public quickly and effectively - but it isn't the only place," the blog stated.
From the May 2 issue of National Journal magazine...
In response to an unprecedented wave of attacks on the Defense Department's computer networks, and possible theft of information about U.S. weapons systems by foreign governments, the Pentagon has quietly begun sharing classified intelligence about hackers and online threats with the country's biggest defense contractors. The intelligence-sharing program began almost two years ago, after top Pentagon leaders realized that hackers were trying to steal information not just by breaking into government computers but also by going after corporations that contract with the government. These private computers and networks often contain the same sensitive and classified information found in the government's systems.
The new intelligence partnership, which has not been previously reported, is known as the Defense Industrial Base initiative, or "the DIB." The department formally launched the program in September 2007, but it took a year to work out a legal arrangement by which the contractors and the government could confidentially share information. In mid-2008, the effort ramped up after what was described as a hair-raising meeting in a secured facility at the Pentagon in which officials gave temporary security clearances to chief executives from the biggest defense firms and delivered a no-holds-barred briefing on the range of successful cyberattacks launched against the government and their companies.
Read the full story here (subscription required).
As health policy experts around the world continue to monitor the spread of the serious disease formerly known as "swine flu" (now called the "2009 H1N1 flu"), Nobel laureate Peter Agre offered attendees at an annual science and technology summit this week an easy way to greet one another without grasping hands. Agre is president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Watch his demo video above. Read more about the AAAS conference here.
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