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Labor
Tech Industry Balks At Immigration Point System
by Heather Greenfield
A proposed point system in the Senate immigration bill is designed to shift priority away from reuniting families to bringing more skilled workers into the United States. But some technology industry groups, which senators are counting on for support, are balking at the idea and hope to amend the legislation to eliminate or at least alter the proposal, industry officials said.
Under the current system, companies pick the workers they want to hire and initiate green-card applications. Robert Hoffman, a lobbyist for Oracle and co-chairman of the Compete America coalition, said having the government develop a pool of hirable workers is like asking the San Antonio Spurs basketball team to pick their players from a government draft pool.
"The fact that a point system dramatically shifts focus from employers to a bureaucratic method is problematic," AeA lobbyist John Palafoutas said, because it creates uncertainty for companies. Some employers said they had not heard that lawmakers were considering adding such a system to the bill until senators did so this month without hearings.
James Carfano, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said he is not sure the current bill is optimal but sees a need for a point system. "Otherwise we'll be stuck with chain migration forever," Carfano said.
He said the point structure is critical. He would like to see general emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills rather than specified numbers of software engineers versus biotech experts.
In addition to wanting the point system altered so employers could identify workers they need, the tech industry ideally would prefer the H-1B visa and green-card numbers from the legislation proposed last year by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
The current bill would boost H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000 with some extra visas added if the country runs out in the first six months. Tech lobbyists will be pushing for more extra visas and also ask for an amendment to exempt from the H-1B visa cap foreign workers with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.
The Information Technology Industry Council "remains committed to comprehensive immigration reform, but the Senate bill, in its current form, simply does not address the critical, highly skilled labor shortage in the high-tech industry and needs to be fixed," said Ralph Hellman, a lobbyist for the group. "Even the modest increase in the H-1B visa cap -- still well below the level approved by Congress a few years ago -- falls well short of what the U.S. high-tech industry needs to lead the global innovation economy."
Tech lobbyists who may really want Congress to staple a green card to the diploma of every foreign graduate student were on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in hopes of stapling the latest New York Times column by Tom Friedman to every cubical.
"I think any foreign student who gets a Ph.D. in our country -- in any subject -- should be offered citizenship. I want them," Friedman wrote Wednesday. "The idea that we actually make it difficult for them to stay is crazy."
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Taxes
Senators Seek To Close Loophole In Net Taxes Ban
by Winter Casey
Two senators on Wednesday introduced legislation that would extend the moratorium on Internet access taxes while also closing what the lawmakers say is a loophole harmful to state and local tax revenues.
The legislation, offered by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Tom Carper, D-Del., would extend the ban on taxing Internet access for another four years. The bill also would change the definition of Internet access and "close a loophole in the original 1998 moratorium that could allow an Internet service provider to bundle access with other services and make them all tax free," according to a statement from Carper.
Both Alexander and Carper are former governors who have expressed concern about the potential loss in state and local revenues from the moratorium. "This is a common-sense compromise that would extend the moratorium for another four years without blowing a hole in the budgets of state and local governments," Alexander said in a statement.
The legislation was introduced the same day that the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the moratorium, which is set to expire Nov. 1.
"While many debate the size of sales-tax revenue currently lost from the growth in Internet commerce, most observers agree that the tax loss is significant and will grow robustly over time," committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said during the hearing. "It is important that we encourage ongoing efforts to simplify state tax codes in the hopes that such action may facilitate further congressional action that would permit states to treat online and offline sales transactions in a nondiscriminatory fashion."
David Quam of the National Governors Association said his group supports a temporary extension of the ban that "clarifies the definition of Internet access and does not further limit state authority or revenues." Jeff Dircksen of the National Taxpayer Union Foundation also urged lawmakers to extend the moratorium.
But two other pending measures, H.R. 743 and S.156, would make the moratorium on Internet access taxes and multiple and discriminatory taxes on e-commerce permanent. California Democrat Anna Eshoo, the sponsor of the House bill, said it is more critical then ever to protect the Internet from new taxes.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., one of the original backers of the Internet tax moratorium, said he also supports making the moratorium permanent. He said the moratorium, first imposed in 1998, was never about giving the Internet a "free ride" but about keeping the Internet discrimination free.
Annabelle Canning of Verizon Communications said a permanent ban would benefit consumers by lowering prices and "prevent the imposition of excessive new taxes and administrative burdens on businesses that compete in the global economy."
But Harley Duncan of the Federation of Tax Administrators urged "Congress to refrain from enacting measures that abrogate, disrupt or otherwise restrict states from imposing taxes that are otherwise lawful under the U.S. Constitution. The current prohibition on the imposition of taxes on charges for Internet access ... is the type of law that should be avoided, especially on a permanent basis."
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Security
Ex-NTIA Chiefs Sketch Emergency Communications Plan
by David Hatch
Two former chiefs of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Wednesday outlined a proposal for raising billions of dollars to bolster communications for fire, police and rescue squads. The plan is largely based on the assumption that the upcoming auction of television spectrum will garner far more revenue than estimated.
Larry Irving, who ran NTIA during the Clinton administration, and Michael Gallagher, who headed NTIA under President Bush, said their recommendations are critical to ensuring that "first responders" can talk across jurisdictions.
"This is an opportunity to do something this country has needed for well over a decade," Irving said during a teleconference. "There aren't billions of dollars laying around," he added, emphasizing the difficulty of obtaining more funding through the budget process. "This auction brings that opportunity."
In November, the duo released a blueprint for ensuring that sufficient spectrum is available for emergency use. Now they are seeking to harness the unique opportunity presented by the auctioning of spectrum currently used by broadcasters to fund the plan.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the auction, part of the transition to digital TV signals, could raise $12.5 billion to $15 billion, but the former NTIA chiefs said it could draw up to $5 billion more. Half of the extra revenue would go to deficit reduction, and the other half to first responders under their approach.
"Virtually every spectrum auction that's ever been held in this nation has understated what was actually realized by the federal treasury," Irving said. To receive the money, state and local governments would provide matching grants.
The proposal would augment $1 billion that Congress already has reserved and an additional $3 billion in the appropriations pipeline.
Both Irving, who runs a telecom consulting firm and sits on Covad Communications' board, and Gallagher, who will soon step down as a partner in the Washington office of the Perkins Coie law firm to become president of the Entertainment Software Association, dismissed suggestions that the auction might be a dud. "We see very exciting components that are all aligned to make this a very successful auction," Gallagher said.
To raise more money, they would divert revenue from the federal excise tax on telephone bills toward emergency purposes before the tax is phased out by Washington. The duo has set a deadline of Sept. 11, 2011 -- 10 years after the devastating terror attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington -- for achieving full interoperability for first responders.
In their written proposal, they warn against "open access" restrictions, which would make portions of the auctioned airwaves available to smaller competitors on a wholesale basis. "Aside from stifling future innovation and potentially stranding the spectrum, it could potentially deprive public safety of the windfall funding source," they wrote.
Open access is emerging as a key flashpoint in the debate over how the frequencies -- considered "beachfront property" -- should be used. During the briefing, Irving and Gallagher said such access could devalue the spectrum and undermine their plan, but their proposal is not conditioned on barring it.
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Games
N.Y. Senate Quickly Passes Restrictions On Videogames
by Michael Martinez
Legislation targeting violent and sexually explicit videogames was rushed through the New York Senate this week. Lawmakers passed the bill Monday -- just four days after it was introduced by Republican state Sen. Andrew Lanza.
The proposal would require retailers to label the games they sell and establish an advisory panel to examine the effectiveness of the current videogame rating system. The bill also includes a provision that would prohibit vendors from selling or renting games to certain audiences based on their content ratings.
The measure does not detail the types of penalties retailers would face for selling restricted games to minors. A Lanza spokeswoman said lawmakers are still discussing those details with Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has made videogame legislation one of his top priorities.
A call to Spitzer's office was not returned before deadline. He said last month that videogames are an important part of the child-safety package he wants to enact this year.
All similar state attempts to restrict videogame sales to minors have been blocked by courts. Last month, a federal judge in Louisiana ordered the state to pay the videogame industry nearly $100,000 it spent in legal fees challenging a failed law there. The industry also has won legal battles in California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Oklahoma.
But the lawmakers behind the New York bill are optimistic that it will make it to Spitzer's desk and be signed into law. It first needs the approval of the state's General Assembly.
The bill's supporters also have tried to link the issue to the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in April. In a release issued after passage this week, Lanza pointed to an online game that allows players to recreate the Virginia Tech shooting spree. The Australian creator of that game, "VTech Rampage," has asked for money from people who want him to take it off the Internet.
According to Lanza, the game is "a painful reminder of the culture of violence, which has severe consequences on our youth and society." He added that the "emotions of children are far too often shaped by the virtual reality of violent movies and videogames."
Federal legislation on videogames has been introduced in both chambers of Congress this year. A Senate bill by Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, would commission a government study into the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the body that determines the ratings for games. It also would require the board to review the entirety of games before rating them.
A House bill by Reps. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Bobby Rush, D-Ill., targets deceptive videogame advertisements and content ratings.
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E-Government
Librarians Use 'Wiki' For Updates On EPA Facilities
by Aliya Sternstein
As lawmakers and the library community continue prodding the Environmental Protection Agency for details about its plans to consolidate the regional EPA library system, one organization has launched a collaborative "wiki" to let federal librarians anonymously air what they know about the changes.
Since the 109th Congress, House Democratic leaders have expressed fears that library documents will become inaccessible as the agency shutters many physical facilities and shifts to a primarily digital library set-up. After the president's fiscal 2007 budget recommended major cuts in library funding, EPA closed three regional libraries and its headquarters library.
In response to confusion about the EPA's plans, the American Library Association recently created a Web site that uses wiki software so anyone with an Internet browser can add to or modify information about threatened federal libraries.
"You'd hear things like they were closing all the libraries and that wasn't really true," said Lynne Bradley, director of the association's government relations office. She said EPA was not clear about which libraries were closing, what the agency meant by a "digital library," and what level of service would be provided to researchers.
The association has tasked a volunteer with posting content to the wiki on behalf of people who are concerned about being identified via their e-mail or Internet protocol addresses. "For especially federal librarians who might be at risk and are likely to hear these rumors, they can still post -- or ask questions -- but not be threatened," Bradley said.
She said she hopes that word of the wiki's launch a couple weeks ago is getting to users of all federal libraries, agency managers and lawmakers.
On Tuesday, EPA officials said they are committed to increasing access to environmental information through a combination of online and traditional library services.
"EPA is engaged in a planning process for the future of the library network and is soliciting, receiving, and responding to input from key internal and external stakeholders," said Molly O'Neill, assistant administrator for EPA's environmental information office. No further changes are being made until EPA has reviewed its methods for delivering library services.
In late April, the chairmen of the House Science and Technology, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees wrote a letter to agency Administrator Stephen Johnson, asking for an update by May 4 on the status of the digitization project. The letter provided a list of specific information requests, including details on issues related to continued public access, digitization, reference support and any user fees that may be levied on non-EPA libraries or the public.
On May 3, O'Neill and another EPA director from the environmental information office met with committee representatives. Science and Technology spokeswoman Alisha Prather said committee staff received some of the requested materials.
"We are in the process of setting up an ongoing dialogue with EPA to follow this issue ... to continue to make sure that all the questions in our letter -- and others -- are answered," she said.
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Intellectual Property
'Fair Use' Advocates Think IP Bills Are Constructive
by Andrew Noyes
The 110th Congress has lacked the surplus of copyright legislation offered in previous sessions, but the few bills introduced so far would make constructive changes to the U.S. intellectual property regime, Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said Wednesday.
For example, a bill introduced in February would correct what some argue is an erosion of consumer rights when it comes to "fair use" of digital media. The measure, H.R. 1201, would amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by changing some the provisions that ban the use of technologies aimed at defeating IP protections.
Two other bills, S.1353 and H.R. 2060, would nullify a recent hike in Internet radio royalties imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board. Webcasters have complained that the change would put many of them out of business and decrease the offerings of those whose services survive.
Sohn told a University of Maryland University College copyright summit that when Democrats took control of the House and Senate, the party's ties to Hollywood worried her because the music and movie industries have been grappling with growing piracy problems and changing business models.
Howard Berman, the new chairman of the House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, was "the scourge of all copyright reformists when he was in the minority," Sohn said. But the California Democrat, who has focused on overhauling patent laws, has been "very mellow" with respect to copyright this year, she said.
Miriam Nisbet, legislative counsel for the American Library Association, added that the House and Senate Judiciary committees, which have jurisdiction over IP issues, have been preoccupied with other problems, such as the Bush administration's firing of a group of U.S. attorneys.
Her group is still waiting "breathlessly" for the reintroduction of several bills, like a measure that would clarify rules for "orphan works" -- a class of musical tracks, writings, images or videos whose owners cannot be easily identified.
Sohn said she also wants to get an orphan works bill "back into circulation" and has heard that the Senate may act first this session. In the 109th Congress, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, introduced a bill that never reached the House floor for a vote.
Another reason that Congress has not been active on the copyright front is that several key issues are awaiting action in the courts. One major case involves Google's controversial effort to digitize the world's books, which prompted a lawsuit from the Association of American Publishers and Authors Guild.
The media company Viacom also slapped Google and its YouTube video-sharing site with a $1 billion lawsuit in March for allegedly infringing copyrights and profiting from the illegal conduct of YouTube users. And Cablevision Systems is fighting opposition from movie studios who claim that its experimental digital video-recording service would harm content creators.
Meanwhile, the growing consensus among policymakers that a one-size-fits-all approach to copyright is inapplicable in the 21st century has slowed the introduction of what Sohn sees as bad bills. "Sometimes the status quo as technology moves on and as consumer practices move on is not such a bad thing," she said.
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Today's Feature:
International Roundup
The Canadian government on Thursday released its science and technology strategy aimed at helping the country become a world economic leader and innovator.
Every Wednesday, read the International Roundup by Winter Casey
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E-briefs
Privacy: The Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies on Tuesday that they have 120 days to review their practices related to how they obtain Social Security numbers and establish a plan to eliminate the unnecessary collection and use of the numbers within 18 months. AP reports that Clay Johnson, OMB's deputy director for management, issued the order, which is part of the government's ongoing response to a privacy breach by the Veterans Affairs Department a year ago this week, which jeopardized the private information of 26.5 million military personnel. Johnson's order formalizes the recommendations of the Identity Theft Task Force formed by the Bush administration after the VA breach, OMB spokesman Sean Kevelighan said. It is based on the theory that "the federal government should not unnecessarily collect or maintain personally identifiable information," he said. Agencies also were told to look at how they can reduce the collection of other identification information.
Intellectual Property: A group of intellectual property experts charged with examining potential changes to a section of copyright law that allows libraries and archives to make certain use of protected materials has faced inner turmoil in the two years since its creation, a member of the panel told a conference at the University of Maryland's University College on Wednesday. Miriam Nisbet, legislative counsel for the American Library Association, said the 19 members of the panel do not see eye-to-eye on recommendations to include in a report to the Copyright Office. "It's been a very tough process," she acknowledged, noting that some questions may be left unanswered. "There are a lot of issues that we might simply have to agree to disagree about," Nisbet said. The group most recently met in April for a closed-door session to review public comments and continue drafting its report.
Intellectual Property: A Virginia federal court on Friday ruled that Michilin Prosperity Inc., a Taiwanese and Chinese paper-shredder manufacturer, infringed on valid patents held by U.S. competitor Fellowes, Inc. A jury decided that Michilin infringed one of two Fellowes' patents and was deadlocked 10-1 in favor of Fellowes on the second, which is being dealt with in post-trial negotiations. Fellowes' attorneys said this was the first patent verdict handed down in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in KSR v. Teleflex late last month. In that case, the high court ruled that the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit incorrectly decided when an invention is "obvious" and thus cannot be patented. Fellowes' attorney William Atkins said the positive post-KSR ruling for his client "demonstrates strategic IP claims will remain a critical tool for manufacturers in highly competitive sectors, and can be effectively pursued in spite of the developing patent climate."
Nanotechnology: A nanotechnology report released Wednesday calls for an oversight system that would identify any potential adverse health or environmental effects from the technology. "More research is urgently needed, but the gaps in knowledge should not be used as an excuse to delay work on an oversight system," the report said. Nanotechnology focuses on matter at the atomic and molecular levels. The study, by J. Clarence Davies, a senior adviser at the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, said he hopes nanotechnology will be a catalyst to revitalize all the functions of the Environmental Protection Agency. "The nanotechnology revolution provides an opportunity to institute new kinds of regulation, to create an oversight system for nano that will be more effective but less intrusive than existing forms of regulation and that will require fewer resources from both the public and private sectors," according to the report.
Business: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce voiced support Wednesday for the Securities and Exchange Commission and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's decision to approve major revisions to the implementing rules of a 2002 corporate accounting law known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Reuters reports that the SEC voted in favor of new guidance to help companies comply with Section 404 of the act, which requires public companies to establish and maintain internal controls and financial reporting procedures. In the past, some lawmakers and business groups have said the rule is too costly and burdensome. "The new guidance allows managers to identify the highest risks to their books as opposed to forcing them to test a long list of controls," according to Reuters. "This major re-write is a clear step forward and recognizes how seriously off-track Section 404 implementation has become," Michael Ryan, senior vice president and executive director of the chamber's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, said in a statement.
E-Commerce: The Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers on Wednesday released a new report indicating record Internet ad revenue for the fourth quarter of 2006. For all of last year, Web-based ad revenue totaled $16.9 billion, a new record that exceeded the 2005 total by 35 percent. The tally for the final quarter of 2006 was $4.8 billion, a record for a single quarter and a 35 percent gain over the same period in 2005. "Interactive advertising revenues continue to show solid growth as advertisers and agencies recognize that it is a medium that can uniquely affect consumer behavior, from product awareness, to purchase intent, to actual purchase and then brand loyalty," Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB, said in a statement. "We have every confidence that this growth trend will continue as marketers allocate more of their total marketing dollars to interactive."
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