4/14. The FCC issued a Report and Order which
adopted new procedures and standards to select among mutually exclusive TV, FM,
and FM translator applicants to construct new noncommercial educational (NCE)
broadcast stations or to make major changes in existing facilities of such
stations. See, FCC
release.
4/14. Karen Onyeije will become FCC
Chairman Wm. Kennard's legal advisor on mass media and cable policies at the end
of April. She will replace Tom Power, who will become General Counsel at Fiberlink, a
Pennsylvania-based provider of virtual network connectivity, starting on May 8.
See, FCC
release and Fiberlink
release.
4/14. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, gave an address at the National Press Club on the Role of the
Library of Congress in the Information Age. He stated that the Library of Congress will not digitize books. See,
TLJ story.
4/14. DoubleClick, an Internet
advertising company, announced that it has extended its "Internet Privacy
Education Campaign" to serve at least 100 million impressions. The banner
advertisements link users to www.privacychoices.org,
a DoubleClick site devoted to educating consumers about online privacy and
giving them the ability to opt-out of the DoubleClick cookie. See, release.
4/14. U S WEST and Qwest announced they have reached agreement
with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Office of the
Attorney General on key service, competition and investment issues. The two
Minnesota public offices have also agreed to support expeditious approval of the
merger. See, Minn.
release and USW release.
4/13. Rep. John Dingell (D-MI),
ranking minority member of the House
Commerce Committee, wrote a letter to
SEC Chairman Arthur
Levitt asking that he submit a report by July 21 regarding previous
enforcement actions against the NYSE.
4/13. The SEC issued an Order suspending
the deadlines for decimal pricing implementation set out in its Orders of
January 28, 2000 and March 10, 2000. This action was necessary due to the NASD's
recently announced inability to meet the originally planned implementation
schedule for decimalization. See, SEC release.
4/13. The House passed HR 3615, the Rural Local Broadcast Signal Act, by a vote
of 375 to 37. See, TLJ story.
4/13. The House passed HR 3439,
the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act, by a vote of 274 to 110. The bill
limits the FCC's authority to issue LPFM licenses. See, TLJ story.
4/13. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard lashed back at broadcasters for supporting HR
3439. "Special interests triumphed over community interests today. While
the National Association of Broadcasters
frequently opposes new competitive services, I'm particularly disappointed that National Public Radio joined with commercial
interests to stifle greater diversity of voices on the airwaves." See, FCC
release.
4/13. The House Telecom Subcommittee held a hearing on HR 3525, the Religious
Broadcasting Freedom Act, and HR 4201, the Noncommercial Broadcasting Freedom of
Expression Act.
4/13. The Senate Commerce Committee
approved the following bills: S 1407, Technology Administration Authorization
Act, a bill authorizing appropriations for the Technology Administration of
the Dept. of Commerce for FY 2000, 2001, and 2002; S 1912, Electronic
Commerce Technology Promotion Act, a bill to promote the use of electronic
commerce within federal government agencies and small and medium-sized
businesses; and S 2046, Next Generation Internet Act. (All three are
sponsored by Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN).
4/13. The House Science Committee's
Subcommittee on Technology held a hearing on wireless Internet
technologies. See, TLJ story.
4/13. Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) introduced HR 4246,
the Cyber
Security Information Act [PDF], a bill to encourage the disclosure of
information about cyber-security by exempting information voluntarily submitted
by industry to the government from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act.
4/13. The FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking to resolve issues regarding the compatibility between cable
television systems and digital television receivers, set top boxes and other
consumer electronics equipment. The FCC seeks comment on (1) how to label DTV
receivers with different features, including the proper designation for
receivers providing two-way interactive capability, and (2) licensing terms for
copy protection technology. See, release.
4/13. The FCC adopted new rules to combat
the illegal practice of slamming.
See, FCC
release and Bell
South release.
4/13. The FCC confirmed that it would fund
the schools
and libraries program at $2.25 Billion this year.
4/13. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) hired Jason Leuck as the new
director of global technology policy and Latin America programs.
4/12. Rep. David Dreier (R-CA)
commented on demonstrations in Washington against PNTR status for China.
"A few thousand people bussed today to Washington by AFL-CIO labor bosses
can’t change the fact that the sky is blue, the earth is round, and trade is
key to the United States creating 20 million new jobs and the lowest
unemployment in four decades," said Dreier. "David Bonior, Pat
Buchanan and their professional protesters are just flat out wrong when they try
to whip up fear over China joining the WTO and opening their markets to American
goods." See, release.
4/12. Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS),
Rep. Al Wynn (D-MD), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
announced the formation of the Wireless Telecommunications Caucus. Among
the issues of concern to the caucus are repeal of the federal excise tax
on phones, lifting the spectrum cap, and implementation of CALEA.
See, CTIA
release.
4/12. The House Judiciary Committee's
Immigration Subcommittee approved HR
4227, the Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act. This is the Rep. Lamar Smith's latest H1B
bill. One minor amendment was approved. See, TLJ
story.
4/12. The Senate passed S 2323, the Worker Economic Opportunity Act, sponsored
by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), by a vote
of 95-0. The bill would exempt stock options, stock appreciation rights and
employee stock purchase plans from the Fair Labor Standards Act.
4/12. The Senate Commerce Committee
held a hearing on S 2255, a bill to extend the moratorium on Internet taxes
for five years. See, statements of John McCain
(R-AZ), Sen. Ron
Wyden (D-OR), Rep.
Chris Cox (R-CA), Gov. Mike Leavitt
(Utah), John
Berthoud (National Taxpayers Union), Donald Bruce (U.
Tenn.), David
Bullington (Wal-Mart), Burr Morse
(Morse Farm Sugar Works). Jonathan Zittrain
(Harvard).
4/12. The House Judiciary Committee
held an oversight hearing on antitrust law enforcement by the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Department of
Justice". See, opening statements by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), Robert Pitofsky, and Joel Klein.
4/12. The House Rules Committee
adopted a closed rule for HR 3615, the Rural Local Broadcast
Signal Act.
4/12. The House Rules Committee
adopted an open rule for HR 3439, the
Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000 (Rep. Mike Oxley's (R-OH) bill to prevent
the FCC from issuing low power FM
licenses).
4/12. The SIIA released the results
of a survey indicating a steep rise in the occurrence of illegitimate software
being distributed over online auction sites. See, release.
4/12. The RIAA named Amy Weiss
as SVP for Communications. See, release.
4/11. The FCC named Michele Walters Assoc. Division Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau's Accounting Policy
Division. She will handle consumer protection rulemaking proceedings, including
billing and slamming proceedings. See, release.
4/11. FCC
Chairman Wm. Kennard gave a speech [MS
Word] to the NAB in Las Vegas. He addressed
digital transition ("Analog is dead ... Resistance is futile.")
and low power FM ("Why won't you work with the FCC ...?").
4/11. The Senate Judiciary Committee
issued it report on S 2045, Sen. Orrin
Hatch's (R-UT) H1B visa bill. The Committee amended and approved the
bill on March 9. See, Report No. 106-260.
4/11. Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) attacked
the government case against Microsoft in a speech on the House floor. "The
case against Microsoft is not fundamentally about protecting consumers, it is
really about competing businesses in the States in which those businesses reside
seeking to get the upper hand on one another by using litigation where
innovation has failed, by using the power of the government to usurp the power
of the marketplace."
4/11. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
introduced HR 4232, a bill to provide free home computers and Internet access to
all government employees.
4/11. The House Commerce Committee's
Telecom Subcommittee held a hearing on the status of the deployment of broadband
technologies.
4/11. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
introduced HR 4227, a new version
of his H1B visa bill. It removes the cap on these visas for three years.
See, TLJ story.
4/11. The Senate Foreign Relations
Committee held a hearing on permanent normal trade relations for China.
The committee heard testimony from Wei Jingsheng (Columbia Univ.), Arthur
Waldron (AIE), Greg Mastel (New America Foundation), and Robert Kapp (U.S.-China
Business Council).
4/11. The Senate Commerce Committee
held a hearing on the effects of permanent normal trade relations with China
on the U.S. economy. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley provided testimony
[HTML] on his recent visit to China. See also, prepared statements [in PDF] of Sen. John McCain
(R-AZ), Richard
Kahler (Caterpillar, Inc.), Jack Valenti
(Motion Picture Assoc. of America), Lori Wallach
(Global Trade Watch), and Harry Wu
(Chinese dissident.)
4/11. Bell Atlantic was named the local
telecommunications provider for the 2000 Republican National Convention, to be
held in Philadelphia July 31 - August 3.
4/11. The CTIA released its semi annual wireless survey
[10 pages in PDF].
4/11. NCTA CEO Robert Sachs gave a
speech in San Antonio criticizing broadcasters regulatory efforts. "In the
digital must carry context, broadcasters are asking the FCC to increase
regulatory burdens on the cable industry by mandating carriage of not just the
original broadcast channel but also a digital duplicate of every channel? In
essence, broadcasters are saying to the government, 'deregulate us where we want
to be deregulated, protect us where we want to be protected… and, oh, by the
way, place more regulations on our competitors, the cable industry.' The victim
of such a policy could be the very public affairs, educational, and local
programming that helps our industry meet community needs ..."
4/10. America Online announced the appointment of Keith Fulton as
Executive Director of Corporate Outreach. Fulton will handle AOL's "digital
divide" activities.
4/10. The House approved S 777, The
Freedom to E-File Act, by a vote of 397 to 1. The bill will allow farmers,
ranchers and others doing business with the USDA to file required forms online.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) managed the
bill. The bill passed the Senate last November. See, Goodlatte
release.
4/10. The ITAA released a study
titled Bridging the Gap: IT Skills for a New Millennium. It finds that
the IT workforce is over 10 million, and demand for new workers of approximately
1.6 million over the next 12 months. Also, hiring managers foresee a shortfall
of almost 850,000 appropriately skilled workers. See, summary of study.
4/7. Genuity (formerly GTE
Internetworking, and before that, BBN) filed a registration
statement with the SEC for the initial public offering of the company's
shares. GTE CEO Charles Lee said that
"GTE's foremost priority continues to be completion of our merger with Bell
Atlantic, which we are targeting for later this quarter. The transition of
Genuity to a public company is part of a comprehensive proposal we have filed
with the FCC in order to complete the merger." See, GTE
release and Genuity
release.
4/7. The FCC released its FY99 Annual Performance
Report [PDF] for Bill Clinton. See also, cover letter to
Clinton [HTML].
4/7. Sec. of Commerce Wm. Daley gave an address
in Beijing on e-commerce and trade with China. "I plan to come right back
to China -- one week from today. This time, I will bring with me several members
of the United States Congress. These are the people who really run our country.
They will vote the week of May 22, on whether America should grant China
permanent normal trade relations with China."
4/7. Wm. Daley (U.S. Sec. of Commerce) and Shi Guanghseng (Minister of Foreign
Trade and Economic Cooperation of the PRC) issued a Joint
Statement on trade, the WTO, and PNTR status.
4/7. See, Full Text of US-China WTO Market
Access Agreement [PDF documents].
4/6. Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) introduced HR 4184 [PDF], a bill to
permit small business people to immediately deduct the cost of business software
and to cut the amortization period for software not immediately expensed from 15
to three years.
4/6. The SEC filed a securities fraud
action against Enterprises Solutions, Inc. (ESI) and others in U.S. District
Court, SDNY.
The SEC's complaint alleges that ESI claims to be in the business of developing
products and encryption technology for Internet security. It also alleges that
ESI is controlled by a Florida stock promoter who has twice been convicted of
felony fraud.
4/6. The FTC
and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ announced that they
would make changes to their merger review processes. See, FTC release, DOJ release, and Text of the Guidelines
[PDF].
4/6. The Commerce Dept.'s NTIA
announced it has received 662 TOP grant applications totalling $270 Million.
This year NTIA will award about $12.5 Million for these TOP grants (formerly
called TIIAP)
to support the use of advanced information technologies in underserved areas.
See also, NTIA's Digital Divide page.
4/6. The House Judiciary Committee
approved HR 3125, the
Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, by a vote of 21 to 8. The Committee
approved an amendment
offered by Rep. Goodlatte (Indian gaming) and an amendment offered by Rep. Pease
(state lotteries) on April 5. All amendments offered on April 6 were either
defeated or withdrawn.
4/6. The Senate Judiciary Committee
again postponed markup of S 1854, a bill to amend the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
4/6. The House Judiciary Committee's
Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing on the 4th Amendment and the
Internet. See, testimony
of James Dempsey of the CDT.
4/6. Sec. of State Mad. Albright gave a speech
at Agilent Technologies, in Andover, MA,
in support of PNTR
status for China. The company, which was recently split off from Hewlitt
Packard, operates four areas: test and measurement, semiconductor products,
healthcare, and chemical analysis. "High tech and financial services are
identified as two of the top three employment industries in the greater Boston
area. And both will benefit significantly from the market-opening measures
required by the WTO. Agilent's own prospects tell this story well. Under our WTO
deal signed in November, the tariffs on your hi-tech medical equipment sold in
China will be cut by more than a half," said Albright.
4/5. AG Janet Reno spoke about cybercrime to a group of government
officials and technology industry representatives at a conference at Stanford
University sponsored by the ITAA. "It is
imperative that law enforcement and industry work together to address this
challenge in a way that protects both public safety and individual
privacy," said Reno. "We can no longer rely solely on laws written two
decades ago or more to address the challenges we face in the 21st Century,"
See, DOJ release.
4/5. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley began a three day trip to China to meet with
Chinese political leaders and businesses, and to address a summit on e-commerce
in Beijing. See, release.
On arrival in Beijing he stated that the purpose of the visit is "to
discuss China's ongoing reform efforts and ways to enhance China's transition to
a rules-based global trading system." See, speech.
4/5. The House Judiciary Committee
began markup of HR 3125, the Internet
Gambling Prohibition Act. It approved an amendment offered by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) which exempts
certain Indian gambling operations. The Committee is scheduled to continue
deliberation of an amendment
offered by Rep. Ed Pease (R-IN)
regarding state lotteries on April 6.
4/5. The House Education and
Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a
hearing on OSHA’s Employee Work at Home Policy.
4/5. SEC
Chairman Arthur Levitt responded to
criticism of plans to use a webcrawler to search for online securities fraud.
See, SEC release and TLJ story.
4/5. Microsoft Chief Software Architect Bill Gates visited Washington DC.
He met with legislators on Capitol Hill and gave an address at a
White House event. He stated: "Look at the impact technology can have on
democracy. The Internet will increasingly help citizens learn more about the
issues that are important to them; it will encourage voter participation and
serve as a tool for people around the world to work for change."
4/5. FRB
Chairman Alan Greenspan gave a speech
in which he credited high tech for economic growth. "While there are
various competing explanations for an economy that is in many respects without
precedent in our annals, the most compelling appears to be the extraordinary
surge in technological innovation ..."
4/5. Bill Clinton held a meeting at the White House on "the new
economy." Said Clinton: "I believe the computer and the Internet give
us a chance to move more people out of poverty more quickly than at any time in
all of human history. I believe we can harness the power of the new economy to
help people everywhere fulfill their dreams."
4/5. Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK), Chairman
of the House Republican Conference, released a statement on the effect of
the Microsoft case on the stock markets. "The Justice Department has
demonstrated that, with one major decision, they can send the entire world’s
economy into total disarray. The dive in the Nasdaq market is a direct result of
the Clinton-Gore Administration meddling with the private sector."
4/5. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Jackson scheduled oral argument on the
issue of remedies in DOJ v. Microsoft for May 24.
4/4. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley gave a speech
at Microsoft's Government Leaders Conference in Seattle. He addressed net taxes,
the domain name system, privacy, software piracy, and the digital divide. He
said: "The Internet may know no borders, but governments' entire existence
is based on borders. These differences make it hard for government policy to
cope with the Internet."
4/4. Judge Robert Bork stated at a ProCompetition
press conference that "the prospects that Microsoft can reverse this
decision are slim." Bork, who has been hired to advocate against Microsoft,
added that reversal of the Conclusions
of Law on the tying claim would have "almost no impact on the case. The
important point is that this is a violation of Section 2 – monopolization and
attempted monopolization." See, release.
4/4. The US Trade Representative issued its
annual review of certain foreign countries' compliance with telecom trade
agreements under § 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.
The countries covered included the U.K., Germany, and Canada. Charlene
Barshefsky stated that "this agreement has allowed U.S. firms to build and
operate global telecommunications and information networks around the world. In
most of the cases considered in the Section 1377 review, governments and
regulators are now taking steps to address the complaints of U.S.
carriers." See, release.
4/4. USTR
Charlene Barshefsky urged the WTO to take steps to make its activities
and procedures more open and accessible, including greater use of the Internet.
See, release.
4/4. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
6th Circuit issued its opinion
reversing the U.S. District Court decision
in Junger v. Daley. The appeals court held that the encryption
export regulations at issue in the case violate First Amendment free speech
rights.
4/3. Sun Microsystems called for Microsoft to
be split up into five companies, banned from "buy[ing] its way into new
markets", and required to "publish its programming interfaces openly
and freely". See, release.
4/3. Janet Reno and Joel Klein praised the Conclusions of Law in DOJ v.
Microsoft. See, release.
4/3. Judge Thomas Jackson issued his Conclusions of Law and Order in
the Microsoft antitrust lawsuit. He held that "Microsoft maintained
its monopoly power by anticompetitive means and attempted to monopolize the Web
browser market, both in violation of § 2. Microsoft also violated § 1 of the
Sherman Act by unlawfully tying its Web browser to its operating system."
See, TLJ story and TLJ summary of case.
4/3. EPIC released its third annual
international survey of encryption policies. The report found that
"Governments attempting to develop e-commerce are recognizing that
encryption is an essential tool for transactions, and are reversing decades old
restrictions based on national security concerns." See, Amazon.com
page for ordering hard copy. See also, TLJ
story.
4/3. House Majority Leader Dick Armey
(R-TX) said that the House will vote on granting PNTR status for China before
May 29, when Congress begins the Memorial Day recess.
4/3. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) gave a speech in which she announced her support
for PNTR status for China. She said that "[e]ngaging China and
exposing China to the sunlight of free market economics and democratic political
values is the best way to bring about evolution towards freedom in China."
4/3. NYC Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani announced that NYC
may transform an unused water main system into a conduit for high-speed
telecommunications cables, such as fiber optic lines. The new network would
provide more capacity for NYC's growing Internet and new media industries. See, Giuliani release.
4/3. Bell Atlantic and GTE stated they expect FCC approval of their merger
"in the second quarter of 2000". They also announced that they will
rename the merged entity Verizon (rhymes with horizon). See, BA release
and FCC BA-GTE
merger page.
4/1. Judge Richard Posner issued a statement announcing the end
of mediation efforts in the Microsoft case. Posner stated that "it is
apparent that the disagreements among the parties concerning the likely course,
outcome, and consequences of continued litigation, as well as the implications
and ramifications of alternative terms of settlement, are too deep-seated to be
bridged." Posner added, "I particularly want to emphasize that the
collapse of the mediation is not due to any lack of skill, flexibility, energy,
determination, or professionalism on the part of the Department of Justice and
Microsoft Corporation." This statement omitted reference to the state
plaintiffs. See also, Microsoft
release and DOJ release.