December 18, 2007
Copyright Royalty Panel Benefits From Spending Bill
A $516 billion Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill passed Monday by the House would ensure that the U.S. governmental body charged with determining music royalty rates would no longer be funded by copyright owners and creators, the National Music Publishers Association said Tuesday.
The legislative package would fund the salaries and benefits of the Copyright Royalty Board, NMPA President David Israelite said in a press release. "For too long, a small amount of copyright owners, including songwriters and music publishers, have funded the costs of the CRB through their royalties," he said.
The panel, housed at the Library of Congress, has three judges -- William Roberts, James Sledge, and Stanley Wisniewski -- and a very small staff. Read more about the omnibus bill in Technology Daily's AM Edition.
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March 23, 2007
Union Blasts NASA Over Education Budget
Reprinted from today's PM Edition
NASA's largest union complained in a March 16 letter to congressional appropriators that the space agency is "shirking its outreach and educational responsibilities."
On Friday, Lee Stone, vice president for legislative affairs at the Ames Research Center chapter of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, said that as a scientist, he is most concerned about the deterioration of a post-doctoral fellows program that had recruited much of NASA's talent in the past.
"Twenty years ago, people like myself and [many senior staff in his division] were brought in as post-doctoral fellows," said Stone, a human factors researcher. "The funds for that have almost completely dried up." Like interns in medical school, the fellows supplied NASA research centers with extra manpower and gave NASA scientists the chance to tap -- and usually keep -- the talented ones for permanent positions.
The union called on appropriators to give NASA about $1 billion more than President Bush proposed for fiscal 2008, or a total of $18.3 billion.
"Given that the Department of Defense's military space programs have been funded in excess of $20 billion annually and that NASA's exploration activities will likely produce new dual-use capabilities, we recommend that you consider moving some space funding from DOD to NASA to cover the plus-up," the letter said.
On Friday, NASA defended the agency's commitment to education. "Education is and will continue to be a fundamental element of NASA's activities reflecting a diverse portfolio of higher, pre-college and informal education programs," spokesman Bob Jacobs said.
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