| Legislation |
1/31. Rep. Gene Green
(D-TX) introduced HR 347, the Consumer Online Privacy and
Disclosure Act, a bill to require the FTC
to write online privacy regulations. Rep. Green stated
that "My legislation would prohibit Internet Service
Providers (ISP) and Web site operators from allowing third
parties to attach these persistent cookies to a consumer's
computer without his or her knowledge and consent. ... The
bill also requires a Web site or online service to provide
consumers with an option to prevent the use of their personal
information for any activity other than the particular
transaction. And finally, the privacy policy must clearly
state how any information, collected information will be
shared or transferred to an external company or third
party." The bill was referred to the House Commerce Committee.
1/30. Rep.
Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) introduced HR 260, Wireless
Privacy Protection Act of 2001, a bill to require customer
consent to the provision of wireless call location
information. The bill has been referred to the House Commerce Committee.
1/30. Rep. Phil
English (R-PA) introduced HR 267, the Broadband
Internet Access Act. The bill is intended to encourage the
deployment of high speed Internet access facilities in rural
and underserved areas through tax credits. This bill would
offer a 10% tax credit per year for five years to companies
that deploy "current
generation broadband" telecom technologies to
both residents and businesses in rural or underserved urban
areas, and offer a 20% tax credit per year for five years to
companies that invest in "next
generation broadband" services to all
residential customers. See, Rep.
English's summary. The lead cosponsor is Rep. Robert
Matsui (D-CA). There are 48 original cosponsors. The bill has
been referred to the House Ways and Means
Committee.
1/30. Rep. Asa
Hutchinson (R-AR) spoke in the House about his proposal to
create a federal privacy commission. He stated that
"the protection of the individual privacy remains one of
the most important issues that we could address. Several bills
have been introduced. They should be considered. I encourage
Congress to take up privacy legislation, but I believe it
should be done in a responsible manner that allows for the
appropriate flow of information without compromising the
privacy of individuals. I believe a privacy commission is the
right way to address this very important subject." |
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|
| House Commerce Committee |
| 1/31. The House
Commerce Committee postponed indefinitely its
organizational meeting for the 107th Congress. It had been
scheduled for Jan. 31. However, Chairman Billy
Tauzin (R-LA) did release a list of Republican
subcommittee assignments. The Telecom Subcommittee, which has
jurisdiction over many high tech issues, will include the
following: Fred Upton (R-MI) (Chairman), Cliff Stearns (R-FL)
(Vice Chairman), Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Joe Barton (R-TX),
Paul Gillmor (R-OH), Chris Cox (R-CA), Nathan Deal (R-GA),
Steve Largent (R-OK), Barbara Cubin (R-WY), John Shimkus
(R-IL), Heather Wilson (R-NM), John Shadegg (R-AZ), Chip
Pickering (R-MS), Vito Fossella (R-NY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Thomas
Davis (R-VA), Robert Ehrlich (R-MD), and Billy Tauzin
(R-LA) (Ex Officio). Rep. Davis, who represents a northern
Virginia district, is active on computer and Internet related
legislation. He is new to the full committee and this
subcommittee. Chairman Tauzin also announced that Rep. Richard Burr (R-NC)
will be Vice Chairman of the full committee. |
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|
|
| Exit Furchtgott-Roth |
| 1/31. FCC
Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth will soon leave the FCC.
He announced that "I have decided not to seek
reappointment. Nonetheless, in order to facilitate a smooth
transition, I will continue to serve until a mutually
agreeable departure date is worked out with the
Administration." He did not announce what he would do
next, except that it would be in the private sector. See, statement.
Furchtgott-Roth has been a Commissioner for three years. Prior
to that he was chief economist for the House Commerce Committee,
then chaired by former Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA). On many issues
he has been the FCC's most passionate (and sometimes only)
advocate of free markets, deregulation, regulatory rollback,
and FCC non-regulation of Internet activities. He has also
advocated that FCC adherence to the statutes that it enforces.
He has also been the FCC's sole opponent of the exercise of
antitrust merger review authority. Rep.
Billy Tauzin (R-LA), the new Chairman of the House Commerce Committee,
stated that "Harold Furchgott-Roth is going to be greatly
missed at the FCC." See also, NAB
reaction. |
|
|
| Spectrum |
1/31. The FCC postponed,
yet again, the auction of licenses in the 747-762 and 777-792
MHz band. The auction had been set for March 6, 2001. This
postponement is until September 12, 2001. See, FCC
notice. This auction, which is required by statute to be
conducted by Sept. 30, 2000, would make available more
spectrum for use for broadband Internet access services. FCC
Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth wrote in a dissent
that "With each succeeding delay the credibility of our
spectrum and auction management policies becomes more
suspect."
1/31. The NTIA
hosted a public meeting to discuss the results of tests
conducted by the NTIA's ITS to
develop methods for characterizing ultrawideband (UWB)
systems and to assess the compatibility between UWB devices
and selected federal radio communications or sensing systems.
UWB is a developing technology that may be used for wireless
networks, remote sensing or tracking, and ground penetrating
radars. UWB systems make use of narrow pulses and time-domain
signal processing. These systems, which have very wide
emission bandwidths, might affect the efficient use of the
radio spectrum or cause interference. Current regulations
would have to be amended to permit the use of unlicensed UWB
devices. Both federal agency and private sector spectrum is
affected; hence, both the NTIA and FCC are studying the issue.
The meeting was attended by about 65 representatives of the
NTIA, FCC, and other federal agencies, communications
companies, law firms, consulting firms, and tech publications.
See also, NTIA
Special Publication 01-43 [1.9 MB PDF file], titled
"Assessment of Compatibility Between Ultrawideband
Devices and Selected Federal Systems," and NTIA
Report 01-383, titled "The Temporal and Spectral
Characteristics of Ultrawideband Signals." |
|
|
| Quote of the Day |
"... the privacy of Americans is under attack. With the
explosion of the Internet, changes in financial and medical
laws and an increasingly intrusive Federal Government,
people's personal information seems to be collected, sold, and
transferred without adequate protections."
Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), statement in House of
Representatives, Jan. 30. |
|
|
|
| Internet Filtering |
| 1/31. The FCC issued a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding implementation of the
Children's Internet Protection Act
[PDF]. This statute provides that in order to be eligible to
receive FCC e-rate subsidies, schools and libraries
that have computers with Internet access must have in place
certain Internet safety policies, such as the use porn
filtering software. Comments are due on or before February
15, 2001. Reply comments are due on or before February 22.
2001. See, Federal Register, Jan. 31, 2001, Vol. 66, No.
21, at Pages 8374 - 8377. |
|
|
| The Revolving Door |
| 1/31. Bertelsmann AG
hired Joel Klein to be its chief U.S. liaison officer.
Klein is the former Asst. Atty. Gen. for the Antitrust Division of the
U.S. Dept. of Justice who was the architect of the antitrust
suit against Microsoft which is now on appeal to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Bertelsmann is
a German music and publishing company. The proposed merger of
Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and EMI still needs to win
approval from antitrust regulatory agencies. Bertelsmann has
also recently acquired an interest in Napster. David Boies, the
attorney hired by Klein to be trial counsel in the Microsoft
case, is now an attorney for Napster in a copyright
infringement case brought by music companies. |
|
|
| Today |
| 12:30 PM. Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of
Consumer Protection, will deliver the luncheon address at the
Emerging Law of Cyberbanking and Electronic Commerce
Conference. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert
Street, NW, Washington DC. |
|
|
| New Documents |
FCC: NPRM re Children's
Internet Protection Act, 1/31 (HTML, TLJ).
FCC: notice
of postponement of auction, 1/31 (HTML, FCC).
English:
summary
of Broadband Internet Access Act, 1/30 (HTML, TLJ). |
|
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