Trade Tech, Entertainment Groups Want Action On Trade by David Hatch      LAS VEGAS -- The Consumer Electronics Association on Monday joined the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America in urging congressional leaders to pursue a strong trade agenda this year.      The groups sent a letter to House and Senate leaders as CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro emphasized trade in his opening keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics show here.      While sales of electronic gadgets are projected to top $171 billion this year, Shapiro warned that the industry's success is not guaranteed. Innovation can be slowed, products can be priced out of reach, competition can be choked and services can be restricted.      "Never before have I been this concerned that some in our country might hurt our leadership of the digital revolution," he said. "Storm clouds are gathering."     Other CES Coverage • Distribution In Changing Media World • Tech Said To Boost Political Process And visit our blog, Tech Daily Dose      Shapiro, MPAA chief Dan Glickman and RIAA leader Mitch Bainwol signed the letter to Congress. It asks lawmakers to pass pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and to renew authority "that would allow the president to more easily negotiate additional trade agreements."      "This unprecedented request reflects the depth of our concern," Shapiro told the audience at the Venetian, one of several locations for the convention.      The parties also support a separate agreement to remove global trade barriers impacting electronics products. Shapiro emphasized that eliminating "harmful tariffs" does not mean tolerating child labor or lax environmental standards.      After decades of support for free trade in both parties, Shapiro warned that some voices in Congress, the media and on the presidential campaign trail are advocating protectionism as a solution to the nation's economic woes.      "We see isolationism gaining favor from those who want to build a wall around our nation. This is a dangerous and a disturbing trend" that could lead to economic disaster, he said. Noting that sales of U.S.-made high-tech products totaled $220 billion in 2006, Shapiro argued that trade is critical to encouraging ideas and innovation.      Trade has influenced Shapiro's thinking about the 2008 presidential race as well. He is so enthusiastic about Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney that he is helping to organize a group called "Tech Executives for Romney."      "Of all the candidates, he has been the strongest on free trade and attracting the kind of skilled workers our nation needs to prosper," Shapiro revealed in an essay in Vision, a CEA publication widely distributed at this week's show.      Shapiro did not mention Romney, who finished second in last week's Iowa caucuses and narrowly trails John McCain in polling for Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, during Monday's speech.

Business Experts Ponder Distribution In Evolving Media World by Andrew Noyes      LAS VEGAS -- Media habits have changed in the Internet age and business models traditionally employed by television networks will not work in the modern marketplace, an industry official said during a Sunday keynote here.      "It doesn't make sense for the distribution paradigm to stay same -- and that's the cause of angst that we're feeling and are likely to feel," said Shelly Palmer, president of the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which bestows the Emmy Awards. He spoke to a Distributed Computing Industry Association summit that preceded the Consumer Electronics Show.      Three basic business models -- "I pay, you pay and someone else pays" -- combined with varying consumer preferences for downloadable media, "video snacking" and longer-format, Internet-based television, have the industry scrambling in several directions, Palmer said.      Add to that the difficulty faced by some firms that are testing subscription-based content. That model has only proven successful with what Palmer called "the four Gs -- girls, God, gaming and gambling." If a company is offering content that falls into any of those categories, "you can go carrier pigeon [because] you'll still get paid."      Palmer, a well-known musical composer for television, advised file-sharing industry representatives that when navigating the new media world in the next few years, "try not to say the words 'revenue-sharing' and 'ad revenue' with networks." "No one you talk to will be interested in building your business at the expense of their own," he said.      A panel that followed Palmer's speech gave additional insight into what the content community thinks of innovators in peer-to-peer technology. Despite several years of legitimate industry growth, the stigma of rampant, illegal file-swapping remains, said MediaPass Network CEO Daniel Harris, whose firm connects rights holders and brands with lifestyle audiences.      Even after the Supreme Court's MGM v. Grokster ruling against unlawful P2P services in 2005, content creators and others who could benefit from Grokster's legal successors are still distrustful of the business, he said.      Brent Muhle, whose recording label Nettwerk Music Group is best known for representing singer Sarah McLachlan, agreed. P2P would be more appealing "if more advertisers were open to this type of environment." Currently, Muhle said, "it's not a viable revenue model."      "There are a million ways for artists to get their content out, but there aren't a million effective ways," added Steve Gonzalez, vice president of DeviantART, an online community for content creators.      Harris argued that his rivals are "missing the boat" and that is good news for MediaPass, which works with reputable file-sharing services. "If the eyeballs are there and the advertiser is there and we can control the content, we'll push it out over P2P networks."      One factor that could work in P2P's favor is the view that "giant monoliths are dominating the media business," said David Lee, whose production company Fun Little Movies specializes in online and mobile video. "Anything that gets around that and gives out to the world a grassroots message I see as a good thing."

Politics Technology Seen As A Boon To Political Process by Andrew Noyes      LAS VEGAS -- New technologies like the popular video-swapping site YouTube have changed the political process forever and for the better, policy experts at the Consumer Electronics Show here said Monday.      The session, which was held on the eve of the New Hampshire presidential primary, featured former Reps. Charles Bass and Dan Glickman; pundits Peter Leyden and Grover Norquist; and YouTube communications and global affairs chief Ricardo Reyes. CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo moderated.      Bass, a former congressman from the Granite State who runs the Republican Mainstreet Partnership, said politicians who are currently in office "feel threatened by [new media] because of the loss of control." Those who are no longer in office like the medium.      "Everyone is beginning to realize that it's changing the way you communicate with constituents," Bass said. "It's dramatically broadening the opportunity to talk to people without paying a lot of money and running sound bites."      Reyes said creative uses of YouTube by candidates running for president "is the very beginning of what's going to happen." "You've seen citizens engaging in a way they've never engaged in before and it's been fascinating to watch."      He said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is using the platform to show her lighter side, while the campaign of Republican Mitt Romney "is a machine" when it comes to uploading content to YouTube. The former Massachusetts governor has posted 600 videos to the site.      Online videos created by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have been "runaway hits," he said. "I think all the candidates have been good at showing their qualities on YouTube."      Glickman, who heads the Motion Picture Association of America, argued that "there's nothing miraculous about this new media"; it just offers a new avenue for getting a message across. "But the message still has to be there, real and authentic," he said. "If it's not, it won't add value over the longer term."      "Our political system has been dysfunctional and brain-dead for a long time," with little participation from the public, Glickman said. Australians have tackled that problem by instituting mandatory voting, and "the way we'll address it is through new technologies."      The proliferation of bloggers, user-created video and other Internet innovations have caused candidates "to be more human" because they never know when they might be caught on tape, Leyden said. Norquist, who is president of Americans for Tax Reform, added, "Everything is on the record, 24/7."      In New Hampshire, Democrat Barack Obama "is taking off [in the polls] as we speak" because he has successfully mobilized a giant band of supporters through Internet-based outreach, Bass said. "He's going to blow Hillary away."      Glickman was more cautious to make the connection between Obama's lead in the state and his Web presence. "We need more time to evaluate this. Howard Dean did a lot of the same thing, then he yelled and it was over," Glickman said, referring to the former Vermont governor's "scream" after losing the Iowa caucuses that some believe hurt his 2004 campaign.

Politics Candidate Sites Change As Presidential Votes Begin by Heather Greenfield      For the candidates that took second place in the Iowa caucuses, seconds count -- literally. Both Democrat John Edwards and Republican Mitt Romney now feature countdown clocks on their campaign Web sites that subtract the seconds before the New Hampshire primary Tuesday.      But it's not just the clocks. Edwards and Romney have made some of the biggest changes to their Web sites over the weekend in hopes of directing undecided voters to video advertisements and weekend debate excerpts to show why Edwards or Romney warrant support.      Romney's opening page offers a link to three campaign ads that say GOP rival John McCain, who now leads in New Hampshire polls, is not as conservative as Romney.      Romney also offers a collage of feedback from conservative pundits and bloggers on his performance at Sunday's Republican debate in New Hampshire. His performance at another debate a day earlier was heavily criticized, but you won't learn that on his campaign Web site.      Edwards' Web site, meanwhile, includes an excerpt from Saturday's Democratic debate in New Hampshire, which followed the Republican one. In the YouTube clip, Edwards mentions his work on health care while in the Senate and denounces an insurance decision that kept a teenager waiting for a liver transplant until she died. The teen's family joined Edwards on the trail over the weekend.      Edwards' site promotes a page with details on housing for volunteers, telephone-bank assignments and text-messaging primary reminders. The page also includes a dozen issue-specific videos for undecided voters.      The Web site of the GOP's Iowa winner, Mike Huckabee, also includes a new video. It outlines reasons why he can win the GOP race. And Republican John McCain features an ad that asks New Hampshire voters for a primary win. Just a day before the primary, a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll shows McCain leading Romney 34 percent to 29 percent.      The site of new Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama added new video over the weekend. It shows footage of lines of supporters waiting to see his New Hampshire events.      Various news reports have credited the youth vote as a big factor in helping Obama win the Iowa caucuses last week. Exit polls showed a 30 percent jump in voters younger than 30 compared with 2004 and said nearly 60 percent of them caucusing for Democrats backed Obama.      Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who narrowly finished third behind Edwards in Iowa, launched an "Ask Hillary" feature to her Web site over the weekend to reach Facebook supporters. It promises video responses to the top five questions posed online. "I want to hear from young voters about their concerns and encourage them to participate in this incredible process," Clinton said in a statement.      Micah Sifry, co-founder of the blog techPresident, said Clinton made the move just weeks after Clinton campaign workers poked fun at Obama Facebook supporters as possibly not being old enough to deliver votes.      Sifry speculated that Iowa winners Obama and Huckabee succeeded in attracting to the caucus -- and their causes -- people who were unlikely to vote.

Labor Legal Experts, Labor Leaders Decry E-Mail Ruling by Aliya Sternstein      A recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that lets employers block employees from using company e-mail for "non-job-related solicitations" flies in the face of a labor law meant to protect democracy in the workplace, some professors argue.      The decision arose after an employee at The Register-Guard, a daily newspaper in Eugene, Ore., received written warnings for sending numerous union-related e-mails. The employer prohibits the use of the company e-mail "to solicit or proselytize for commercial ventures, religious or political causes, outside organizations, or other non-job-related solicitations."      Subsequently, charges of unfair labor practices were filed by the Eugene chapter of the Newspaper Guild, Communications Workers of America. The chapter represents about 150 employees within the newspaper's parent company, Guard Publishing. The complaint alleged that the employer's policy was unlawful.      On Friday, Dec. 21 the board announced it had ruled that Guard Publishing did not violate national labor law by banning the union solicitations. The board found no basis "to refrain from applying the settled principle that, absent discrimination, employees have no statutory right to use an employer's equipment or media for [unionizing] communications."      Saint Louis University law professor Matt Bodie predicts that as a result of the finding, instead of banning all personal communications, employers worried about unionization now simply will ban all e-mails related to unions.      Based on the decision, the employment law firm Jackson Lewis advised employers to consider revising handbooks and policy manuals. "For the first time, with some assurance, employers can promulgate a policy lawfully prohibiting personal use of e-mail systems, at least to the extent enforcement is possible," the firm said.      New York Law School professor Carlin Meyer said the board's finding contradicts the labor act, which was supposed to guarantee a fair shot at unionizing. "This is one more decision that tilts against that goal and creates even more employer-dominant workplaces," Meyer said.      Bodie added, "This seems to eliminate the protections that the [labor act] generally has for collective activity."      Many employers try to restrict e-mail use to only work activities in order to prevent employees from accessing game, shopping and porn sites, as well as to prevent union solicitations, Meyer said. The board's finding will make it less complicated to target union solicitations, she noted. It is "easier to scan for the word 'union' than to cover all the things one might shop for."      Labor officials also criticized the ruling.      Andy Stern, president of Service Employees International Union, said that permitting employers to discriminate against union-related communication in emails "caps off a season of bad, anti-worker rulings by the NRLB. Even on their way out the door, the Bush team is intent on allowing big corporations to deny workers the freedom to unite together to improve their jobs and the services they provide."      He added, "This ruling is more proof that we need a new president, Congress and labor board who will represent America's hardworking, taxpaying men and women, and not just corporate special interests."      Linda Foley, president of the Newspaper Guild, CWA, said the finding is "particularly galling because this is a newspaper. It's censorship -- pure and simple. It's censorship of the worst kind."      Newspaper officials were not available for comment by press time.

Intellectual Property Tech Groups File Briefs Over New Patent Rules by Andrew Noyes      An impressive roster of intellectual property stakeholders have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in a lawsuit involving Patent and Trademark Office rules unveiled last fall in order to make the patent system more efficient.      An Alexandria, Va., judge issued a preliminary injunction to the rules changes in October after pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline complained that the modifications could jeopardize about 100 of its pending patent applications.      The new procedures, published in August, limit applicants to filing two new continuing applications and one request for continued examination. Each application could contain up to 25 claims -- no more than five of them independent claims.      PTO, GlaxoSmithKline and an individual plaintiff, Dr. Triantayllos Tafas, submitted their main filings Dec. 20, and briefs from interested parties were due a week later. A hearing is set for Feb. 8 but may be delayed until later in the month, court watchers said.      The Biotechnology Industry Organization and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America voiced support for the court's initial action and are pressing U.S. District Judge James Cacheris to issue a permanent halt to the rules.      "We recognize that the PTO has a workload challenge, but these rules are not the answer," BIO President Jim Greenwood, a former member of Congress, said in a statement. His trade association and others have pledged to help the agency develop a more workable solution.      Two prominent IP groups -- the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the Intellectual Property Owners Association -- filed briefs describing why they believe PTO should go back to the drawing board. IPO said the principles would apply retroactively and impose "substantial new duties" on those who already filed applications.      The seniors' group AARP; the Consumer Federation of America; the Computer and Communications Industry Association; Public Knowledge; the Public Patent Foundation; the Software Freedom Law Center; and several other public-interest groups told the court they support the rules.      They argued in a joint filing that "patent law and policy should be crafted to ensure that it benefits the public interest, and not just the special interests of patent holders and patent attorneys," and the modified rules would do that.      In a separate filing, Intel called the litigation "a facial challenge to a regulation that merely requires applicants to supply information." The company urged the court to "exercise judicial restraint" and said improper implementation of the rules by PTO could be decided on a case-by-case basis.      A collection of technology firms whose business models depend on licensing patented inventions, however, sided with the plaintiffs. They called the PTO rulemaking "an about-face" on an issue of national importance involving global industrial competitiveness.      PTO Director Jon Dudas' brief said the rules would "improve the timeliness, efficiency and quality of patent application examination." He said his office faces a 700,000-plus application backlog and "had no choice but to act if it was to keep pace with the burgeoning patent system."

Telecom Foes Of Verizon Sale Continue New England Fight by Michael Martinez      Union leaders and other opponents of the pending sale of New England telephone lines belonging to Verizon Communications are not dropping their quest to derail the deal.      The Maine Public Utilities Commission last week approved the $2.7 billion sale of Verizon's wireline businesses in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to the North Carolina-based company FairPoint. Local labor unions and consumer advocacy groups are now hard at work trying to convince regulators in New Hampshire and Vermont to block the sale.      The deal also must be approved by the FCC.      The AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and others have raised concerns about FairPoint's ability to serve the markets Verizon wants to leave. The Maine PUC imposed conditions on its approval of the deal to ensure that FairPoint invests adequately in the New England network. FairPoint also agreed with Maine's regulators to take steps to reduce its debt by $120 million over the next four years.      FairPoint CEO Gene Johnson said in a statement that the company is committed to closing the deal in a timely matter and that Maine's approval is a big step. The company already operates 30 local exchanges in 18 states.      But CWA research economist Kenneth Peres said in a conference call on Monday that he is hoping regulators in New Hampshire and Vermont will stop the deal. CWA represents Verizon employees.      According to Peres, the conditions imposed by the Maine PUC still would leave consumers with a company on shaky financial footing. "There are alternatives here," he said.      An advisory panel to the Maine PUC warned about many of the same things earlier this year. A hearing examiner's report submitted to the commission in November said the risks of the transaction outweigh any potential benefits. It also cited FairPoint's debt as a major obstacle.      The commission did not follow the non-binding report's recommendation to reject the deal. It decided instead to accept the deal with conditions, including the requirement that FairPoint's financial health improves.      Scott Rubin, a lawyer representing CWA and the IBEW, said the groups are considering their legal options if the deal is approved by the remaining states. But he said they are still focused on making their case to regulators.      "We think there's still a good opportunity to make it clear to at least Vermont and New Hampshire why they should not approve it," Rubin said.

Correction An article in the Dec. 21 PM Edition incorrectly stated that an amendment to a pending patent bill, S. 1145, was rejected. The provision, which would permanently end the diversion of Patent and Trademark Office fees to unrelated purposes, was adopted.

Today's Feature: Issue of the Week In March, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will begin reviewing progress made by the body that manages the Internet-addressing system -- and in anticipation of that occasion, leaders from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers have been making the rounds in Washington. Every Monday, read the Issue of the Week by the Technology Daily staff.

E-briefs Business:   CNBC and The New York Times will share business, technology and financial news and video online as part of an agreement announced Monday. AP reports that both news organizations are gearing up for a surge of competition from News Corp., which is making a major push into business news with its recent purchase of Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and the launch of the Fox Business Network cable channel. The agreement calls for the Times to receive video and other online features from CNBC's Web site, while CNBC will get access to business and economics coverage from the Times' newspaper and Web site. New York Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty said no money is involved in the agreement. She declined to say how long the deal would be in effect or disclose other terms of the arrangement.

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