Oct. 18, 2000
8:00 AM ET.
Alert No. 44. |
TLJ Home Page
News from
the Web
Calendar
Search
Tech Law Journal is a free access online publication that
provides news, records, and analysis of legislation, litigation, and
regulation affecting the computer and Internet industry.
This email service is offered free of charge to anyone who requests
it.
Contact TLJ:
202-364-8882.
E-mail.
P.O. Box 15186, Washington DC, 20003.
Notices
& Disclaimers
Privacy
Policy
Copyright 1998 - 2000 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All rights
reserved. |
|
|
| News Briefs |
10/17. Bill Clinton signed S 2045, the American Competitiveness
in the Twenty-First Century Act, a bill which temporarily raises the
annual cap on H1B visas. Clinton also signed HR 5362, a bill which
raises the fee for H1B applications from $500 to $1,000. See, Clinton
statement.
10/17. The GILC released a letter
to the Council of Europe
stating its objections to the Draft
Convention on Cyber-crime [MS Word]. GILC wrote: "we object
to provisions that will require Internet Service Providers to retain
records regarding the activities of their customers. ... We further
object to the conception of 'Illegal Devices' set out in Article 6.
... We also object to the dramatic extension of copyright crimes in
the proposed Article 10." Moreover, GILC alleged that
"Police agencies and powerful private interests acting outside
of the democratic means of accountability have sought to use a
closed process to establish rules that will have the effect of
binding legislation." GILC is a coalition of many groups,
including the EPIC, CDT, ACLU, and Privacy International.
Marc Rotenberg, Exec. Dir. of the Washington DC based EPIC stated
that "government efforts to respond to computer crime must not
undermine the political rights of Internet users."
10/17. The Commerce Dept.
announced that it will give away "thousands of
'state-of-the-art' Census 2000 computers and equipment" at a
campaign event in Seattle WA on Oct. 18. The donees will be
"Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal College
and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions". See, release.
10/17. The SIIA
filed a complaint in U.S. District Court against Alpha Train, Inc.
alleging copyright infringement. Alpha Train, a company based
in Newark, NJ, provides computer software training to corporate and
individual clients.See, SIIA
release.
10/17. WINfirst signed a 5
year, $800 Million agreement with Lucent
for equipment, software and services to build a fiber to the home
residential network that will provide 100
Mbps of symmetric bandwidth for voice, data and video
applications. Lucent stated: "This will enable people to
download a DVD movie in eight minutes or an entire album of MP3
songs in only five seconds -- a process that would take eight hours
and five minutes, respectively, over today's high-speed connections.
Additionally, having the same bandwidth both upstream and downstream
will enable people to share files directly with each other through
true peer-to-peer networking." See, Lucent
release.
Editor's Note: This column includes all News Briefs added to
Tech Law Journal since the last Daily E-Mail Alert. The dates
indicate when the event occurred, not the date of posting to Tech
Law Journal. |
|
|
| New Documents |
GILC:
letter
to Council of Europe opposing Draft Convention on Cyber-crime, 10/18
(HTML, GILC).
|
| New and Updated Sections |
Calendar
(updated daily).
News
from Around the Web (updated daily).
|
| Quote of the Day |
"The growing demand for workers with high-tech skills is a
dramatic illustration of the need to "put people first"
and increase our investments in education and training. Today, many
companies are reporting that their number one constraint on growth
is the inability to hire workers with the necessary skills. In
today's knowledge- based economy, what you earn depends on what you
learn. Jobs in the information technology sector, for example, pay
85 percent more than the private sector average. My Administration
has made clear that any increase in H-1B visas should be temporary
and limited in number, that the fee charged to employers using the
program should be increased significantly, and that the majority of
the funds generated by the fee must go to the Department of Labor to
fund training for U.S. workers seeking the necessary skills for
these jobs. This legislation does those things."
Bill Clinton, on signing the H1B visa bill.
|
|
