The Minn. PUC approved a negotiated settlement of charges against McLeod USA of inadequate service, violation of tariffs and improper assessment of termination penalties. The agreement (Case P5323/C-03-140), made with the Attorney Gen. and Minn. Dept. of Commerce, requires McLeod to implement a year-long service quality compliance plan. That plan requires that McLeod disclose the termination charges and the conditions under which those charges would be waived before customers signed a term agreement. If a customer has good cause for termination, such as excessive service failures or lack of timely response to complaints, penalties would be waived. McLeod also agreed to waive or refund penalties improperly assessed on customers between Jan. 2001 and Feb. 2003 and to pay a $40,000 penalty to the state.
Instead of barring the govt. from doing business with MCI, a House Appropriations Committee amendment adopted Thurs. would require the General Services Administration (GSA) to issue a report on the suitability of MCI to receive govt. contracts. Rep. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) had said he would propose an amendment to the Transportation & Treasury appropriations bill that would have barred the GSA from granting MCI govt. contracts. However, industry sources said the Administration stepped in on behalf of MCI before the markup to help reach a compromise, although one Capitol Hill source disagreed that the White House was involved.
Delegates made better progress than expected at last week’s “intercessional” meeting leading up to Dec.’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) but left several key issues unresolved, David Gross, State Dept. U.S. coordinator- international communications & information policy, said Mon. The week-long meeting produced a winnowed-down version of the draft principles govts. would be asked to adopt at WSIS, with a revised plan of action due out around mid-Aug., he told us. But the documents aren’t yet ready for prime time, Gross and industry groups said.
The Commerce Dept.’s proposal to move the NTIA into the Technology Administration (TA) received a lukewarm reception on Capitol Hill Thurs. Neither House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) nor Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) expressed much interest in the proposal, which was submitted by Commerce Secy. Donald Evans.
E911 legislation passed the Senate Commerce Committee Thurs. after almost no discussion. The bill (S-1250), by Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.), probably will be modified before it’s approved by the full Senate. Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) said there were concerns about the role the FCC would be given and the agency’s authority should be “carefully prescribed.” The bill would give the FCC authority to monitor state spending on E911, reviewing it twice each year. Burns said many states, while assessing a fee on cellphone bills for E911 spending, had used the funds on other budgetary matters. Rep. Shimkus (R-Ill.) is expected to introduce similar legislation in the House next week. Shimkus and Burns are co-chmn. of the Congressional E911 Caucus, along with Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Eshoo (R-Cal.). S-1250 also would distribute $500 million to states for E911 deployment. States that have raided their E911 funds wouldn’t be eligible for the federal grants, which would be distributed through NTIA after consultation with the Dept. of Homeland Security. The bill also would establish a NTIA task force that would help coordinate E911 deployment. CTIA supports the bill.
High-ranking Commerce Dept. official held his ground last week against Internet technology experts who challenged his defense of govt.’s intellectual property protections.
A high-ranking Commerce Dept. official held his own late Wed. against Internet technology experts who challenged his defense of intellectual property protections. “People deserve reimbursement” for their creative work, said Bruce Mehlman, the Commerce Dept.’s asst. secy.-technology policy, on a panel at a Supernova technology conference in suburban Washington sponsored by Pulver.com. When a member of the audience justified file sharing on the basis that it was not fair to turn a successful technology into a “federal crime,” the audience clapped. However, Mehlman responded that he assumed the speaker wasn’t suggesting a similar stance on patents: “People need to feed their families, they expect to be paid for their intellectual property.”
NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory plans to step down from the agency next month after nearly 2 years in the post, she confirmed Thurs. Hers is the agency’s 2nd major departure since May, when Deputy Dir. Michael Gallagher left to become deputy chief of staff for policy to Commerce Secy. Donald Evans. Gallagher hasn’t been replaced, and plans for an interim successor to Victory or as deputy weren’t clear. In an unrelated development, a House subcommittee omitted any funds in the Commerce Dept.’s Technology Administration (TA) FY 2004 budget approved Wed.
There’s “the maverick’s way” of doing business that’s hybrid of new and time-honored business methods and “struggles to determine what is truly effective regardless of traditions or trends.” That’s “the principle that has guided me” for career spanning more than 60 years, writes 84-year-old industry veteran Sidney Harman in coming book, Mind Your Own Business: A Maverick’s Guide to Business, Leadership and Life, due for Nov. 1 release from Random House.
The U.S. govt. has begun a formal review of whether MCI/WorldCom should receive govt. contracts in the wake of one of the largest corporate fraud cases in history, the Senate Govt. Affairs Committee said. The General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees procurement for federal agencies, began a “suspension proceeding” against MCI/WorldCom. The proceeding comes as the Govt. Affairs Committee continues to investigate the company’s worthiness to receive federal contracts. “We need to make sure that the federal government is diligently reviewing the companies with whom it does business,” said Committee Chmn. Collins (R-Me.). MCI has more than $770 million in govt. contracts.