FTC made pitch to Senate for jurisdiction over common carriers Wed. in Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs. FTC Comr. Sheila Anthony said agency’s lack of jurisdiction had been “impediment” as “fraud and deception” had emerged from aggressive business activity in telecom sector. FTC argues that its exemption from common carrier regulation, which was enacted when telephone service was regulated monopoly, prevents it from bringing cases involving false advertisements by competitive telecom companies. “The bottom line is that the common carrier exemption has outlived its purpose,” she said. Both Sens. Dorgan (D-N.D.), subcommittee chmn., and Wyden (D-Ore.) expressed support for FTC’ gaining jurisdiction. “I seems like the FTC has a good argument here,” Wyden said. Congress must take legislative action to make jurisdictional changes, which FTC Chmn. Timothy Muris has said isn’t likely until next session.
“D.C. cypherpunks” were being rallied against digital rights management workshop set for tomorrow (July 17) by Commerce Dept.’s Technology Administration (TA). In July 12 posting, Serge Wroclawski said cypherpunks should take particular notice of TA roundtable’s focus on broadcast flag issues. Some people in Washington and N.Y. area “will be there to make our side of the issue known and possibly protest,” he said. There have been rumblings that TA panels are skewed toward content owners, we're told. Workshop is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. at Dept. of Commerce hq, and is to be hosted by Phil Bond, Undersecy. of Commerce for Technology and Chief of Staff to Secy. Donald Evans, and James Rogan, Undersecy. of Commerce for Intellectual Property. Speakers include Jack Valenti, MPAA; Rhett Dawson, Information Technology Industry Council; numerous others. -- Cheryl.Mendonsa@ta.doc.gov or 202-482-8321.
High costs for line capacity pressured WorldCom executives to reclassify those expenses in effort to battle declining margins, House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R- La.) said Mon. at Capitol Hill news conference. He released series of documents obtained by House Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee that he said showed several WorldCom employees were aware of, and concerned about, practices, but senior officials continued fraudulent actions. “This is the clearest and most definable violation of standard accounting practices we've seen,” said Tauzin, who said WorldCom employed more straight-forward efforts to fake expenses than did Enron, which used “all sorts of various techniques.” WorldCom may have employed faulty accounting techniques as far back as 1999, Tauzin said. What’s been uncovered so far will expand WorldCom investigation into “several other directions,” he said, and committee investigators had “a set of new inquiries.” Once committee’s investigation is completed, it will result in hearings or finding will be forwarded to Justice Dept. (DoJ), which also is investigating WorldCom, he said. Tauzin said criminal charges could apply and that govt. would try to reclaim “loot” he said had been taken by corporate executives.
NTIA announced Aug. 14 roundtable to address issues related to convergence of communications technologies such as ENUM (e-numbering protocol that ties domain name system with public-switched telephone network). Topics include: (1) How such technologies function. (2) Alternatives to ENUM. (3) Policy issues, including privacy and security, that may arise with use of such technologies. Roundtable is scheduled for 1-5 p.m. at Dept. of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Ave. NW, Rm. 4830 -- wlader@ntia.doc.gov.
Information Technology Assn. of America (ITAA) and Business Software Alliance (BSA) lauded House Govt. Reform Committee for including network vulnerability data-sharing exemption in homeland security bill (HR-5005). Committee last week approved an amendment by Rep. Davis (R-Va.) that would provide an exemption from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosures of critical infrastructure-related threat data voluntarily submitted to govt. by industry. ITAA said provision “would remove barriers that prevent companies from sharing information with the federal government.” BSA said Davis measure is crucial to collaborative cybersecurity efforts of public and private sectors, since it would “guarantee that the information they share is not used against them.” House Commerce Committee also marked up legislation (CD July 12 p6) to create cabinet-level Dept. of Homeland Security, but Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) dropped FOIA provision. Tauzin, who supports narrowly crafted FOIA exemption, said he’s working with Bush Administration on language that would better balance public’s right-to-know with need to keep critical network information out of the hands of terrorists. Critics of expanding scope of FOIA have urged Congress to reject nondisclosure proposal, saying it would enable industry to use exemption as means of hiding information that could affect consumers and environment. Electronic Privacy Information Center Gen. Counsel David Sobel recently urged Tauzin to drop proposed FOIA exemption from committee version of bill (CD July 10 p8), pointing out that industry was seeking additional avenues of secrecy at time when it was under increased scrutiny for falsifying and hiding data from investors. Despite conflicting committee positions on FOIA exemption, House Select Committee on Homeland Security has final say on matter and isn’t obligated to consider recommendations. Committee scheduled second hearing on issue for today (July 15), where Homeland Security Dir. Tom Ridge will testify. Hearing is 1 p.m., Rm. 345, Cannon Bldg.
Members of Congress have raised questions about FCC responsibilities in wake of WorldCom scandal in flurry of letters late Thurs. and Fri. House Financial Services Chmn. Oxley (R-O.) sent letter Thurs. to FCC Chmn. Powell asking about Communications Act requirement that FCC “inquire into the management” of communication common carriers. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.) wrote letter Fri. similar to one sent by Rep. Markey (D-Mass.) last week questioning whether FCC is prepared to handle potential WorldCom bankruptcy. And Ranking House Telecom Subcommittee Democrat Markey (Mass.) was critical of Powell’s response to his questions about continuity of service, particularly broadband, should WorldCom file for bankruptcy. Markey said in statement late Thurs. that Powell and other FCC commissioners should “rethink the wisdom” of FCC policies.
House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) urged FCC Chmn. Powell this week to provide blanket waiver for ground- penetrating radar (GPR) companies by revising ultra-wideband rules adopted earlier this year. In May, GPR companies asked FCC to provide interim relief on parts of UWB rules they said were more restrictive than necessary. GPR Industry Coalition said rules blocked “many needed and safe GPR applications” and asked FCC for short-term relief to eliminate regulatory uncertainty. Tauzin took up that theme in July 10 letter to Powell, also signed by 7 other committee members -- Reps. Engel (D-N.Y.), Bass (R-N.H.), DeGette (D-Colo.), Harman (D- Cal.), Shimkus (R-Ill.), Green (D-Tex.), Fossella (R-N.Y.). “The new rules could have the effect of eliminating numerous existing businesses that employ ground-penetrating radar,” they said. “In order to prevent this, we believe that the FCC should immediately provide a blanket waiver for the manufacture and operation of GPR equipment at the [Part 15] Class B emissions limit with no other restrictions.” Letter stressed GPR was “a special class of radar system” that penetrated solid materials and was used in engineering and public safety applications. Among applications cited by Tauzin and his colleagues was use by Energy Dept. and Federal Emergency Management Agency of GPR at World Trade Center after Sept. 11 attacks. “By its very nature, GPR is pointed at the ground (not into the air) for limited periods of time, thus making any interference unnoticeable,” letter said. Representatives said that in 30 years of GPR use there hadn’t been reported case of interference and there were no more than 1,000 units operating in U.S. “The new rules severely restrict emitted power in the frequency bands above 960 MHz, thereby eliminating many types of GPR systems and applications,” letter said. “High resolution of GPR systems are required to generate a frequency spectrum of sufficient bandwidth to achieve adequate range resolution and to emit sufficient power for ground penetration.” GPR coalition request for relief includes expansion of eligible users beyond law enforcement, fire and emergency workers, scientific researchers, commercial mining and construction companies. Group also sought changes in current emissions mask requirements. UWB order approved by FCC in Feb. takes effect Mon. and Commission is expected to take action on request by that date.
Proposed exemption from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosures of critical infrastructure-related data was dropped from homeland security bill (HR-5005) marked up Thurs. by House Commerce Committee. White House-initiated plan to create cabinet-level Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) includes language that would prevent public release of network vulnerability data submitted voluntarily by industry, move that’s backed by Internet and telecom interests and has gained momentum in Congress. However, Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.), who also advocates creation of narrowly crafted FOIA exemption for threat data shared with govt., said any changes in FOIA “must protect the purposes” of existing disclosure laws.
Amendment to homeland security bill (HR-5005) that would have removed state and local matching requirements for counterterrorism equipment and training grants was rejected by the House Science Committee Wed. Amendment by Rep. Larson (D-Conn.) would have exempted fire departments and other emergency service providers from contributing equivalent of 30% of grant funds received. Larson said money could be used for functions including interoperability of first responder communications equipment. Although Committee Chmn. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and others said measure was well- intentioned, he said it would be counterproductive and successfully urged members to reject it. It narrowly failed, 15-17, while manager’s amendment to HR-5005 by Boehlert and ranking Democrat Hall (Tex.) passed by voice vote.
FCC Chmn. Powell was appointed to serve on President Bush’s newly formed Corporate Fraud Task Force, which Bush described in speech to Wall St. as “financial crimes SWAT team.” Task force will be led by Deputy Attorney Gen. (AG) and will include many officials from Justice Dept., FBI and various U.S. Attorney offices. Powell will serve on branch of task force that focuses on specific functions along with Treasury secy., SEC chmn., Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chmn., Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) chmn. FCC chmn. has permanent seat on task force, Presidential Executive Order said.