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Editor's note: Tech Daily will not publish on Monday, May 28 due to the Memorial Day holiday. We will resume publication on Tuesday, May 29.
Lobbying
Tech Industry Rallies Around Immigration Amendment
by Heather Greenfield
The technology industry is celebrating a proposed amendment to the Senate's immigration bill that would preserve employers' ability to identify and hire highly skilled workers. Lobbyists plan to spend the weeklong Memorial Day recess seeking support ahead of a vote after the break.
Four senators submitted the amendment late Thursday and hope to attach it to the broader measure, S. 1348. The proposal would create an employer-based merit system with 140,000 green cards for higher skilled immigrant workers identified by employers.
The point-based merit system proposed in the legislation still would exist parallel to the employer-based merit system, much as Australia handles its high-skilled immigration program.
"It is a strong, strong improvement to the bill," said Kara Calvert, director of government relations at the Information Technology Industry Council. "This represents the key to getting us in line and in full support of the bill."
She added: "A lot of members focused on the success of the Australian system. They also have a parallel system, and it's working for them."
The worry is that without the employer-based system, tech companies may find plenty of chemical engineers in a government-selected hiring pool when they need electrical engineers. Another worry is that workers technically would be competing in the same pool for green cards as many of the 12 million illegal immigrants, according to Jeff Lande, senior vice president at the Information Technology Association of America.
The amendment also would exempt from the H-1B visa cap people with advanced degrees from U.S. universities, and it would make it easier for H-1B holders to stay and apply for green cards. Another provision would loosen restrictions on what degrees an immigrant has so that someone with an advanced mathematics degree could be hired as a software engineer.
"It's actually a good amendment," Lande said. "Restoring the exemptions is great and restoring the degree equivalency presumption is critical."
There are still measures the tech industry does not like in the evolving immigration bill. An amendment adopted Thursday would increase the fees for H-1B applications by several thousand dollars, Lande said. Now the normal filing fee is $830.
Some tech lobbyists also said they still have concerns with the structure of the merit-based system, but all said the new amendment would make the overall immigration bill something they could support.
Robert Hoffman, the vice president of Oracle and co-chair of the Compete America coalition, said having an actual amendment to lobby for is a big step.
"It's one thing to say there are problems with the bill and another to say how to improve it," Hoffman said. "[The amendment] significantly addresses the concerns we have with the legislation and would vastly improve it if the Senate were to pass it."
Hoffman was pleased that senators sensitive to the innovation agenda proposed the amendment before the holiday break. The sponsors are Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Orin Hatch, R-Utah; and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
"Having these leaders behind it is a very good sign the tech industries' concerns have resonated on the Hill," Hoffman said.
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Lobbying
Web Radio Fans Accused Of Hiding Truth About Rates
by Andrew Noyes
SaveNetRadio, the grassroots group of webcasters, artists and listeners leading the fight against a forthcoming Internet radio royalty hike, faced criticism this week from a music industry attorney who claims the coalition's recruitment efforts are suspect.
The alliance, which has collected glowing testimonials from many prominent and up-and-coming artists, has not been telling the whole truth about the Copyright Royalty Board's March royalty ruling, attorney Jay Rosenthal told Technology Daily on Thursday.
SaveNetRadio spokesman Jake Ward called Rosenthal's claims "ludicrous" and insisted that his group's "message to every artist is the same" and potential supporters are provided with all the pertinent facts.
Rosenthal is legal counsel to the Recording Artists Coalition and represents individual bands, including two that were allegedly duped by SaveNetRadio. He is also a board member for the royalty collector SoundExchange, which believes that the new fee structure is needed and is based on the fair-market value of artists' work.
"[SaveNetRadio] presented a scenario and left out a lot of facts and perspectives that may have changed artists' minds and may have impacted whether they gave testimonials," Rosenthal said. The pitch his clients received focused on the ruling as being "a small webcaster problem" but left out the fact that major webcasters also would be impacted.
When Phil Kominski, the lead singer for the Lloyd Dobler Effect, lent his voice to SaveNetRadio, the Washington-based rocker thought he was "supporting the small boys" but then had second thoughts when he learned more about the issue, Rosenthal said. "The pitch wasn't false but certainly false by omission," he said.
Kominski's testimonial, like many others provided to SaveNetRadio, stated that up-and-coming bands like his that rely on Internet radio to reach new fans and groups "don't need another road block in the way of our music career." "We wholeheartedly support SaveNetRadio." That blurb has been taken off the SaveNetRadio site.
Rosenthal said another more prominent band that he would not name also was contacted by SaveNetRadio and given a similar sell. "They thought about it, discussed it internally and decided not to give a testimonial," he said. "These guys were blindsided by a one-sided argument ... and are being played like little ping-pong balls in this game."
While Rosenthal has no evidence that other musicians were approached in the same way, he could not rule out the possibility. The attorney said he plans to take his warning message to Congress, which is currently contemplating a pair of bills, S.1353 and H.R. 2060, that would reverse the rate increase.
"Anybody who understands the importance of Web radio knows what this fight is about," countered Ward of SaveNetRadio. "This is about ensuring that the industry survives so that artists can receive airtime. It doesn't matter how large the webcaster is or if there's a corporate logo on it."
The Lloyd Dobler Effect is the only band out of 6,000 that have shown support for SaveNetRadio to sever ties with the group, he said.
Meanwhile, SaveNetRadio on Friday slammed a discounted fee proposal offered by SoundExchage to small webcasters at the behest of Howard Berman, who chairs the House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee. In a letter to the California Democrat, the group said the offer is only a "temporary fix affecting only a small portion of the Internet radio industry."
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Privacy
Sex Offenders Want Data Pulled From Public Lists
by Michael Martinez
Convicted sex offenders in several states are accusing law enforcers of violating their privacy by listing personal information in public registries.
Sex offenders in Maine, North Carolina and Virginia all want their names and other information removed from the lists. They have taken legal action as states around the country consider measures to keep better track of sex offenders online and offline once they are released from prison.
The Maine Supreme Court is reviewing a lawsuit filed by an anonymous plaintiff who was convicted of having sexual contact with a minor more than 20 years ago. According to The Portland Press Herald, a lawyer for the plaintiff said in court this week that his client is afraid of being targeted by vigilantes and recently lost his job after his picture was posted in the registry.
Maine's sex-offender database was linked to a murder-suicide case last year in New England. Law enforcers temporarily halted access to the registry after two men listed in it were murdered. The alleged killer committed suicide in Boston a few days after the shootings in Maine.
Authorities said the killer obtained the addresses of the victims through the database, which has been publicly available on the Internet since 2003. The registry also includes photographs.
In North Carolina, meanwhile, four sex offenders have asked a judge to remove their details from a similar database. All of the men were convicted of sex crimes more than 10 years ago.
Until last December, details about sex offenders in North Carolina were deleted automatically after 10 years if they were not convicted of other crimes. A law enacted last year now requires them to seek court approval. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported this week that only two sex offenders have made successful appeals since the law took effect.
North Carolina lawmakers have been particularly active on the sex-offender front this year. The state Senate this week passed a bill that would make it a felony for registered sex offenders to join online social networks like Facebook and MySpace. State Attorney General Roy Cooper also recently relinquished information on hundreds of sex offenders who were MySpace members.
In Virginia, a circuit court this week rejected an attempt by a sex offender to take his name off the state's registry. Commonwealth Circuit Judge Frederick Creekmore ruled that the offender, Dennis Craig Corbett, should be included in the database. Corbett was convicted in 2000 of inappropriately touching a minor.
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Spectrum
Pending Airwaves Auction Spurs Industry Debate
by David Hatch
Watchdogs and telecommunications firms clashed this week over the rules for an upcoming auction of spectrum that will usher in the next generation of wireless services.
The recommendations were part of the public comment round for the January auction of the 700-megahertz band of spectrum that analog television broadcasters will relinquish while transitioning to digital signals. The frequencies, which feature exceptional propagation characteristics, are being eyed by cable, Internet and telecom companies seeking to offer the latest mobile voice and high-speed data technology.
A coalition of consumer advocates urged the FCC to ensure that smaller players can participate and that big firms do not dominate. Among the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Public Interest Coalition are "use or lose" rules that would require the build-out of infrastructure or the loss of airwaves for auction winners, and anonymous bidding, which is designed to prevent tactics aimed at deterring new entrants from participating.
"It is imperative that we learn the lessons of the wireline market and make the appropriate policy corrections in the launch of the most promising wireless broadband markets," said the coalition, whose members include the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Free Press, the Media Access Project, Public Knowledge and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
CTIA, the wireless association, emphasized that its carriers want "the right to compete at an open auction under fair, non-discriminatory rules." While CTIA shares the FCC's goal of widespread deployment, it cautioned against geographic build-out mandates that could result in overlapping construction of networks in rural areas where demand is light.
Echoing those views, AT&T, the nation's leading mobile provider, said the agency should not abandon its longstanding position that "market forces," not regulation, should determine auction winners and losers. "The record of wireless competition demonstrates that incumbent carriers have strong incentives to develop and deploy new services such as broadband," AT&T wrote.
Google emphasized that the challenges and costs for any new entrant would be substantial. "Whether any single entity bidding in the upcoming auction can assemble the amount of spectrum necessary to meet the bandwidth needs of a robust broadband platform is still unknown," Google wrote.
The National Cable and Telecommunications Association challenged a proposal by the Ad Hoc Coalition that cable and local phone companies be excluded from bidding to encourage a "third" broadband pipe competing with dominant cable and telecom providers.
"Designing spectrum auctions to promote a preordained outcome is a major departure from ordinary commission practice," NCTA said. It argued that the FCC has long recognized that awarding spectrum to the highest bidder maximizes revenue to the federal treasury and enables the most efficient use.
Verizon Wireless urged the FCC to reject proposals that would restrict eligibility because they would "disqualify entities with a proven track record of capital investment, network quality, job creation, customer service and innovation in providing wireless services."
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Education
House Bill Calls For More Instructional Technology
by Aliya Sternstein
A cadre of House members has introduced a bill that would boost funding for instructional technologies in schools, despite a March Education Department study that found educational software had no significant effect on academic performance.
On Wednesday, California Democrat Lucille Roybal-Allard, who serves on the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education funding, proposed legislation that would give money to schools serving disadvantaged and low-income students for purchasing computers, software and other technology. The co-sponsors are Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas; Ron Kind, D-Wis.; and Judy Biggert, R-Ill.
The group wants the bill incorporated into the 2002 federal law known as the No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for reauthorization.
For the past three years, President Bush has proposed cuts to an educational technology program, created by the law, which awards state grants for high-tech equipment, curriculum development and teacher training to ensure that students become technologically literate. Many education and industry groups who support the threatened program are endorsing the new bill, H.R. 2449.
However, a major report on the effectiveness of educational technology in reading and mathematics that was mandated by the law concluded that, after one year, software products did not substantially increase or decrease test scores.
Roybal-Allard acknowledged that technology alone is not a panacea for low-performing schools but noted that other studies have shown properly implemented technology can make a real difference in student grades and engagement.
"More than anything else, what the Department of Education study highlights is the pivotal role that teachers, technology, knowledge and skills play" in successfully weaving technology into classrooms, she said Thursday. The bill "responds to this critical need by increasing the level of professional development in our schools and encouraging administrators to guide their districts to best utilize innovative technology tools."
Kind added that before dismissing the benefits of educational technology, "a broader and more meaningful study ... is needed to highlight best practices that schools could actually use."
The House Education and Labor Committee -- which is supervising reauthorization of the 2002 law -- has yet to determine the fate of technology funding.
Democratic spokesman Aaron Albright said the committee has been exploring numerous proposals and, at first glance, the bill proposed Wednesday "has some positive features, and it is something we would like to explore further."
But committee ranking Republican Howard (Buck) McKeon of California "believes school districts themselves should decide how much to emphasize" educational technology, spokesman Steve Forde said. Under the law, schools can transfer up to half of the funding that is not specifically earmarked for high-poverty schools to any programs they choose. McKeon wants to let states and school districts transfer up to 100 percent of the money.
"If bolstering education technology is a high priority for a school, Washington should not tie its hands and restrict the federal dollars that could be flowing to these programs," Forde said, adding that McKeon soon will introduce legislation that reflects this flexibility.
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On The Hill
Security, Visa Bills Coincide With Immigration Debate
by Theresa Poulson
As the Senate immigration debate began this week, lawmakers introduced several bills aimed at two topics in the broader bill: increasing security and regulating visas for temporary workers.
On the security issue, one new House measure, H.R. 2490, would require a pilot program of mobile, biometrics-based screening of visitors coming to the United States by sea. Another bill, H.R. 2431, would authorize funds for both personnel and technology for border and transportation security. And two more pieces of legislation, H.R. 2413 and S. 1442, call for an increase in border patrol agents.
The visa-related measures include a House resolution, H. Res. 440, that would express the chamber's view that any immigration legislation must include, among other things, more resources for border patrol, a system to verify the rights of immigrants to work in the country, and a limited program for temporary workers. The measure also calls for giving priority to law-abiding, highly skilled immigrants applying for legal citizenship.
Two other bills, H.R. 2538 and S. 31, aim to reduce fraud and abuse in temporary worker programs, including the H-1B visa system for highly skilled immigrants.
Lawmakers introduced a high volume of other tech-related measures this week before the start of the Memorial Day recess. They include:
-- S. 1453, which would extend the moratorium against taxing Internet access while also closing what the lawmakers say is a loophole harmful to state and local tax revenues (see separate story);
-- S. 1439, which would reauthorize the rural loan program for high-speed Internet access (see separate story);
-- S. 1455, which would establish a health information technology and privacy system; and H.R. 2406, which would authorize the National Institute of Standards and Technology to increase support of the integration of health IT (see separate story);
-- S. 1456 and S. 1490, which would establish an electronic health records program for individuals and family members enrolled in federal employee benefits plans;
-- S. 1492 and S. 1493, which aim to improve the quality of federal and state data regarding broadband services, to promote innovation and research in communications technologies, and to promote the deployment of affordable broadband nationwide (see related story);
-- H.R. 2449, which would help schools to purchase computers, software and other technology (see separate story);
-- S. 1487, which would require paper receipts for e-voting machines;
-- H.R. 2545, which would increase the amount of public information accessible online via the Congressional Research Service Web site;
-- H.R. 2455, which would prohibit the public sale, purchase and display of Social Security numbers;
-- H.R. 2407 and S. 1509, which seek to enhance early-warning systems for hurricanes, improve hurricane tracking and prediction capabilities, and develop emergency communications networks for disaster response and recovery;
-- S.J. Res. 13, which would express Congress' support of a emergency-responder network that includes New England states and several Canadian provinces;
-- H.R. 2433, which would prohibit making any Homeland Security Department entities independent;
-- H.R. 2440, which would reauthorize the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network;
-- H.R. 2400, which would establish an integrated ocean- and coastal-mapping plan;
-- And H.R. 2436, which aims to strengthen the capacity of institutions to provide instruction in nanotechnology.
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Today's Feature:
Executive Summary
The Supreme Court this week dismissed an antitrust case against a handful of dominant telecommunications firms accused of conspiring against competitors in local telephone markets.
Every Friday, read the Executive Summary by K. Daniel Glover.
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E-briefs
On The Hill: Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday sent a letter to the attorney for White House adviser Karl Rove, asking for him to voluntarily provide e-mails related to an investigation involving the firing of U.S. attorneys. Panel Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and ranking Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania sent the letter to Patton Boggs partner Robert Luskin. Rove has been linked to the campaign that resulted in the prosecutors' removal, according to information gathered by the committee. White House officials have claimed that many Rove e-mails were "lost," although some reportedly were shared with the Justice Department as part of its investigation into another matter, according to a committee press release. Leahy's panel issued a subpoena to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales earlier this month, unsuccessfully requesting that his agency provide all Rove e-mails in its possession related to attorneys' probe.
Intellectual Property: The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to issue a decision late Friday in a patent dispute between Broadcom and Qualcomm. The commission ruled last year that Qualcomm infringed on a patent held by rival Broadcom for a chip that conserves the battery in certain cellular telephones. The commission held a two-day hearing on the topic in March that featured testimony from Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., as well as industry experts. If the decision is adverse to Qualcomm and its wireless company allies, they likely would file a petition for a stay with the ITC and perhaps with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, analysts with the investment firm Stifel Nicolaus said in an e-mail.
E-Commerce: Unsolicited commercial e-mails are on the rise, but people are less irritated by them, according to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that was released Wednesday. Of those surveyed by telephone from Feb. 15 to March 7, 18 percent said spam is "a big problem," while three years ago 25 percent reported that complaint. Some 37 percent of users are receiving more spam in their personal e-mail accounts than before, and 29 percent cited increases at work. Two years ago, 28 percent of respondents reported getting more spam at home, and 21 percent did at work. The study also indicated that e-mail users are becoming more adept at dealing with spam, as 71 percent use filters offered by their e-mail providers or employers, up from 65 percent two years ago.
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