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Cisco Government
Affairs E-Update
Volume
1, Issue 15
25 May 2001
Brought to
you by Cisco Government Affairs Online: www.cisco.com/gov
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This Week@Cisco in Government Affairs
CISCO@WASHINGTON, DC
CISCO REPRESENTATIVE PRESENTS TO CONGRESSIONAL INTERNET CAUCUS – Cisco’s
Washington Representative Michael Timmeny this week spoke to the Congressional Internet Caucus. The group was about 125 Hill staffers, both
House and Senate. Chairman of the Caucus, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
attended as did Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), who's on the Gov't Reform committee
and a broadband advocate. Timmeny
spoke about the practical need for broadband roll-out and about the
Cisco Networking Academy Program as an example of an e-learning and
training model.
HOUSE PASSES
EDUCATION LEGISLATION - The House of Representatives this week approved
the White House’s education reform bill, H.R. 1, “No Child Left Behind”
in a 384 to 45 vote. The Senate
is next to consider the legislation.
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE CLEARS NOMINATIONS - http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/press/107-59.html
- Former Cisco Employee Bruce Mehlman cleared for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology
Policy and FCC Chairman Michael Powell among the nominees cleared - Floor votes
expected soon.
REMARKS BY
CHAIRMAN ALAN GREENSPAN - Economic developments - Before the Economic
Club of New York, New York - May 24, 2001 - http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2001/200105242/default.htm
SENATE SHIFT SHINES ON E-GOVERNMENT - http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0521/web-power-05-25-01.asp
CONGRESS URGED
TO INCLUDE RURAL AREAS IN TELECOM REFORM - http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166120.html
FCC RELEASES
LATEST DATA ON LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPETITION - http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov:8835/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-212954A1.pdf
(Adobe Reader Required)
The data: http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats
The ILECs seized upon the report to promote their efforts to obtain regulatory
permissions to provide long distance service. (Section 271 of the Telecom
Act provides that the incumbent carriers cannot provide long distance
service in a state until it has opened its networks to competition in
that state.)
SBC release - http://www.sbc.com/News_Center/1%2C3950%2C31%2C00.html?query=20010521-1
Verizon release - http://newscenter.verizon.com/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=54828
FORMER FCC CHAIRMAN KENNARD STANDS UP FOR SMALL TELCOS - http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,24736,00.html
INTERNET TAX
- Creating a fair playing field for both online and off-line businesses
will require some level of Internet taxation and the ability by online
companies to gather personal user data for advertising purposes, Sen.
John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said recently. http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO60710,00.html
WIRELESS CONNECTIONS
TO THE HOME - The Federal Communications Commission and a technology
standards group are working to speed wireless Internet connections in
homes and businesses. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5083166,00.html
HOUSE JUDICIARY BROADBAND HEARINGS - The House Judiciary Committee held
a hearing HR 1698, the "American Broadband Competition Act of 2001,"
and HR 1697, the "Broadband Competition and Incentives Act of 2001,"
a pair of bills introduced on May 3, 2001 by Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT)
and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). The Committee also heard testimony on
HR 1542, a bill sponsored by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Rep. John
Dingell (D-MI), and reported by the House Commerce Committee on May
9.
Opening Statement
of James Sensenbrenner, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on
Broadband Bills -
http://www.house.gov/judiciary/sensenbrenner_052201.htm
TESTIFYING
AGAINST - Bob Barr, General Counsel of Verizon, testified against HR
1698 and HR 1697, as did John Malone, a telecom industry consultant.
Terry Harvill, a Commissioner on the Illinois Commerce Commission, and
Jeff Blumenfeld, managing partner of the law firm of Blumenfeld and
Cohen, testified in favor of the two bills.
Prepared
testimony of:
Barr
- http://www.house.gov/judiciary/barr_052201.htm
Malone
- http://www.house.gov/judiciary/malone_052201.htm
Harvill
- http://www.house.gov/judiciary/harvill_052201.htm
Blumenfeld
- http://www.house.gov/judiciary/blumenfeld_052201.htm
TEACH
ACT OF 2001 - The Senate Judiciary Committee amended and reported S
487, the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act
of 2001, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT).
The bill would amend §§ 110(2) and 112 of the Copyright Act to extend
the distance learning exemptions enacted in 1976 to digital delivery
media. Under current law, there are exemptions for "face-to-face"
and "transmission" teaching activities; but, Internet based
education is not referenced.
POWELL TESTIMONY ON FCC FUNDING - The House Appropriations Committee's
Subcommittee on Commerce, State, Justice and the Judiciary held a hearing
on the FY 2002 budget of the FCC. FCC Chairman Michael Powell testified
that the FCC seeks $248,545,000, which is $18.5 Million more that the
previous year's appropriation, an 8 percent increase.
Powell testimony [PDF] - http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/Statements/2001/stmkp125.pdf
BROADBAND EXCERPT FROM POWELL TESTIMONY -
"We are
now only beginning to appreciate and deploy the new advanced architectures
and technologies of
services like broadband. The cost characteristics may differ substantially
from those of traditional
networks to which we are accustomed. Broadband Internet products are
still being developed
and we all wait to see what service offerings consumers will and will
not embrace. It is a
world of dynamic and chaotic experimentation and unpredictable change.
I believe government
policy needs to migrate steadily toward the digital broadband future,
but recognize that we will be unable to anticipate every change before
it happens. I submit
that this digital broadband migration should be built around incubation,
innovation and investment.
At the Commission, our policy direction will focus on this migration
and will have several
directional guideposts:
§ Facilitate
the timely and efficient deployment of broadband infrastructure. Endeavor
to promote the growth
of a wide variety of technologies that can compete with each other
for the delivery of content and will strive not to favor—or uniquely
burden— any particular
one.
§ Pursue the
universal service goals of ubiquity and affordability as new networks
are deployed, and do
so in creative fashion.
§ Redirect
our focus onto innovation and investment. The conditions for experimentation
and change and the flow of money to support new ventures have often
been misunderstood or neglected. If the infrastructure is never invented,
is never deployed, or
lacks economic viability we will not see even a glimmer of the bright
future we envision.
§ Harness competition
and market forces. Drive efficient change and resist the temptation,
as regulators, to meld markets in our image or the image of any particular
industry player.
§ Rationalize
and harmonize regulations across industry segments wherever we can and
wherever the statute
will allow.
§ Validate
regulations that constrain market activity that are necessary to protect
consumers, or we will
eliminate them. Be skeptical
of regulatory intervention absent evidence of persistent trends or clear
abuse, but we will be
vigilant in monitoring the evolution of these nascent markets.
§ Shift from
constantly expanding the bevy of permissive regulations to strong and
effective enforcement
of truly necessary ones. Request Congress' help to put real teeth
into our enforcement efforts.
R&D TAX CREDIT - The Senate approved the Restoring Earnings to Lift
Individuals and Empower Families (RELIEF) Act of 2001, the $1.35 trillion
tax cut compromise bill, by a vote of 62 to 38. Several amendments were
adopted, including one offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) which makes
permanent the research and development tax credit, and increases the
increases alternative incremental credit. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166065.html
FCC E-RATE RULES - this week was the deadline to file
comments with the FCC in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM) regarding revisions to the method of subsidizing schools and
libraries under its e-rate program. The FCC's e-rate program subsidizes
schools' and libraries' expenses for telecommunications, Internet access,
and internal connections. The FCC has set the total subsidy level at
$2.25 Billion per year. The total annual requests for these free subsidies
now exceeds $2.25 Billion. The FCC published 13 comments received on
May 23 in in web site.
See comments submitted by:
Qwest - (PDF)
- http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6512567979
WorldCom – (PDF) http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6512567960
NY Public Library -
(PDF) - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6512567956
American Library Association – (PDF) - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6512567942
Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) – (PDF)
- http://www.itic.org/policy/fcc_010523.pdf
FINDING ACCESS FOR THOSE WITHOUT - Prodded by high-profile efforts to close
the gap between students with access to technology and students without,
98 percent of the country’s public schools have been wired for Internet
connections
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/23/technology/23EDUCATION.html
(Free Registration Required)
MILITARY QUIZZED
ON STREAMLINING - After praising the Navy and Marine Corps outsourcing
effort, a House subcommittee chairman asked Air Force and Army officials
to give him a five-year
plan to improve their network interoperability and achieve information
dominance while saving money. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0514/web-nmci-05-18-01.asp
BUSH TECH ADVISOR FLOYD KVAMME SPEAKS - http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/tc/kvamme_bush_dc_1.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1014-201-5961732-0.html
CISCO@US STATES
BROADBAND COMES
TO THE CORN BELT - In rural
regions of the U.S., fixed wireless is taking hold and going head-to-head
with DSL and cable. http://www.msnbc.com/news/575384.asp
GLENDENING
VETOES WORKER TAX CREDIT - Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening, D, last
week vetoed a bill that would have provided a tax credit of up to $1,500
for people seeking training in areas deemed critical to Maryland's economic
future. Bill supporters said the bill's demise harms not only Maryland
residents who need critical skills training but also the state's economy,
which has grown dependent on a dwindling supply of skilled workers.
(TechDaily)
DIALING SOUTH
DAKOTA - The South Dakota state government has switched from using a
printed phone directory of state offices and staff to one that is available
on the Internet. Republican
Gov. Bill Janklow, who assigned the state's Bureau of Information and Telecommunications to replace the print version
with an electronic version, said the move was one of convenience and
cost. Last year, the state printed 6,000 copies of the 116-page phone
directory at a cost of $1.70 per copy.
The new Internet directory is available on the state's Web site
and can be searched by name, phone number or state agency. Having the
directory on the Internet allows state agencies to update information
on a daily basis. (TechDaily)
UTAH LEADERS
STRIKE DEAL ON TECH COLLEGE -
Utah House Republican leaders have struck a deal with Republican Gov.
Michael Leavitt to combine applied technology centers in the state into
a new college, reports The Deseret News. It would be Utah's 10th state
college. The state Senate also backs the deal, which was finalized Wednesday.
(TechDaily)
CALIFORNIA
FUNDING CREATIVE E-GOVERNMENT - California is launching a technology
innovation council to foster new approaches to e-government. The council
begins meeting in June and will have a $5 million budget to fund creative
government technology projects.
http://www.civic.com/civic/articles/2001/0521/web-calif-05-21-01.asp
FIRSTGOV TO
ADD STATE LINKS - FirstGov, the Internet portal that provides access
to all federal government Web pages, plans to add links
to most state Web pages beginning this week. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0521/news-first-05-21-01.asp
REASSESSING
PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS Doing a property assessment for a whole county
at once can give a more accurate snapshot than doing a few assessments
at a time. But as Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has learned, it can
also lead to a whole lot of appeals — nearly 50,000, to be exact. To
streamline the appeals process, the county’s Common Pleas Court has
set up an online appeal process. Without using any paper, residents
and lawyers can now instantly file an appeal. The service can only be
used for second appeals, however, because initial appeals are conducted
through the property assessment office, not the court. http://prothonotary.county.allegheny.pa.us/allegheny/welcome.htm
CORE OF US
BROADBAND USE IN NEW YORK - Over 10 percent of all broadband users in
the US are located in the New York metropolitan area, according to Nielsen
NetRatings. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356764&rel=true
INTERNET ACCESS
GOES MAINSTREAM - Internet access among African-American households,
low-income households, and seniors in the US rose steadily last year,
according to ComScore Networks. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356775&rel=true
Ethnic and
racial minority groups in the US increased their internet usage significantly
between 1998 and 2000, according to a survey known as The Media Audit.
44% of African American households
were online, up 45% during the period. Usage among Hispanic households
increased to 42% (a 45% gain), while Asian usage grew from 63% in 1998
to 70% in 2000.
TV WATCHING
DOWN AS NET USE RISES - According to a new study from Scarborough Research,
23 percent of US Internet users watch less television since they began
using the Net. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356757&rel=true
STATE CIO ASSOCIATION
NAME CHANGES - “Nothing is constant except change” is a tenet clearly
taken to heart by the national association whose members are chief information
or technology officers in state
government. For the third time since the association was formed in 1969,
it has changed how it identifies itself. The organization formerly known
as NASIRE this week officially became NASCIO, the National Association
of State Chief Information Officers.
TEXAS SENATE
OKS BILL TO DO AWAY WITH PUNCH-CARD VOTING - The punch-card balloting
system that plagued Florida during the presidential election would be
phased out in Texas under a bill the Senate approved Thursday. http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/370401_vote_18tex.ART.html
CISCO@INTERNATIONAL
SWEDEN AND
CANADA BOAST WORLD'S TOP INTERNET USAGE RATES IN 2000 -
Internet usage
levels in Sweden and Canada in 2000 were 65% and 60%, respectively.
They have therefore surpassed the US which claimed only 59% last year.
http://www.emarketer.com/estatnews/estats/edemographics/20010518_ipsos.html?ref=wn
CHINA - BANDWIDTH
LIMITATIONS STIFLE INTERNET GROWTH - China's telecom networks are suffering
from narrow bandwidth, which is hampering the pace of Internet development
inside the country, according to Vice-Minister of Information Industry
Zhang Chunjian. The information
minister revealed that China had 22.5 million Internet users by the
end of 2000, roughly one out of every 60 Chinese citizens.
Zhang claimed that bandwidth limitations were responsible for
the low numbers, keeping China's Internet from developing fast enough
and leaving the majority of people ignorant in the information age.
(USITO e-mail)
ONLY 1 PERCENT
OF SINGAPORE FIRMS NOT ONLINE - Newsbytes reports that 98.7 percent
of all companies in Singapore now have Internet access, and B2B trading
is taking off. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356758&rel=true
B2B GROWING
FOR CANADIAN SMALL FIRMS - Online transactions by small businesses in
Canada have jumped almost CAD540 million in the past year, according
to SES Research. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356759&rel=true
SURF’S UP IN
BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG - The first data on Belgium and Luxembourg from
Nielsen NetRatings offers some interesting insights into Internet usage
patterns in those countries. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356765&rel=true
SITE
OF THE WEEK – BROADBAND WEEK
MAGAZINE
Covering broadband
policy and business, BroadbandWeek is all the broadband news fit to
print – http://www.broadbandweek.com
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS HIGH TECH COMMUNITY
Issue of the week:
Broadband Deployment - Add your thoughts at Cisco’s High Tech Community
- http://forums.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Community/HtCom?page=main.
FACTS
AND STATS OF THE WEEK:
MORE OF LATIN
AMERICA ONLINE THAN EVER - America Online Latin America announced that
its membership has topped the 750,000 mark as of May 2001. The company
launched its first service in the region, America Online Brazil, just
18 months earlier. The service now reaches 186
cities in the region, with members logging on for an average of nearly
30 minutes per day.
UK: WHAT’S
THE USE? - Research from Jupiter MMXI reveals that there are about 14
million home internet users in the United Kingdom as of April 2001.
Users spent an average of seven hours online that month, up from four
hours in October 1999. Despite representing just 20% of all internet
users in the UK, "heavy" users -- those who spend more than
10 hours a month online -- account for 80% of the country’s total time
on the web. 68% of the UK’s heavy users are male.
DSL GROWS,
THEN SLOWS - Digital subscriber line (DSL) access skyrocketed among
North American consumers between the first quarters of 2000 and 2001,
according to TeleChoice. The market research firm found that there were
3.5 million DSL subscribers in Q1 2001, a 297% jump from the same period
a year earlier. Growth slowed during the course of the year, however,
as the number of subscribers in the US at the beginning of 2001 increased
just 20% from Q3 2000.
THE REAL INTERNET
GENERATION - Dubbed "Generation 2001," in a 2001 Harris Poll,
college seniors in the
US have gone online in record numbers. 99% use the internet, while 90%
send and receive e-mail on a daily or frequent basis. The study also
shows that the amount of time Gen2001 students spend online has increased
to an average of 11 hours per week from 6 hours when they were college
freshmen.
For more Facts and Stats on the New Economy, visit our
Facts and Stats page. Also,
see our special State of the Internet report on this page.
For daily, topical
Facts and Stats visit our Hot
In Tech page.
TECH
NEWS STORIES OF THE WEEK
CYBER LAW JOURNAL:
COOL SITES FOR 2001 - http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/25/technology/25CYBERLAW.html
(free registration required)
HOSPITAL
OFFER NEW BABIES THEIR OWN DOMAIN NAME - http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/baby052401.htm
("Old" babies, of course, are on their own.)
MICROSOFT’S
GATES BULLISH ON TECH, BUT SEES BROADBAND WEAK LINK - http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010523/tc/tech_microsoft_gates_dc_3.html
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT39ZU8U3NC&live=true&tagid=ZZZC00L1B0C&subheading=information%20technology
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,24723,00.html
OLDER CONSUMERS
FLOCK TO NET FASTER THAN ANY AGE GROUP - Marketers take notice as 'silver
surfers' send e-mail, shop, track investments
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010524/3347013s.htm
United Business
Media's Mediamark Research's semi-annual "Cyber Stats" report
showed about 43% of US adults aged 55 to 64 used the internet as of
April 2001, up from 36% six months earlier. Email use among this demographic
is up 20% from six months ago and 46% from 18 months ago. Of all 201.7
million US adults, 133 million (66%) have internet access from work
or home, and 101 million (50%) went online in the past 30 days. Most
adults accessed the internet through major online services. 43 million
adults used America Online, 18.7 million used MSN, 3.8 million used
CompuServe and 2.3 million used Prodigy.
3G 'SQUEEZED'
BY OTHER WIRELESS SYSTEMS - MERRILL LYNCH -
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/165960.html
TWO-WAY SATELLITE:
CAN IT COMPETE WITH THE MAJORS? - Does your house or business have an
unobstructed view of the sky? Then you've got an open path for high-speed
internet access via satellite connections. Broadband analyst Ben Macklin
reviews the alternative broadband provider. http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/broadband/20010515_bband.html?ref=wn
'PITY THE SCIENCE
STUDENTS' - by Kathy Foley - A new survey from the US Department of
Education’s National Center for Education Statistics showed that 98
percent of all public schools in the US now have Internet access. This
is great - there’s no denying it. I have, however, just read another
report relating to US schools and to be honest, I am horrified.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial.html
INSIGHTS RESEARCH:
SMES WANT FIXED BROADBAND WIRELESS - A new report from Insight Research
says that small and medium-sized businesses will soon be clamoring for
fixed broadband wireless services. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356774&rel=true
TELEMEDICINE
LINKS HOME WITH THE HOSPITALIZED -
http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/globe_story.html?uri=/dailyglobe2/142/science/Telemedicine_links_home_with_the_hospitalized-.shtml
LIVING WITHOUT
BROADBAND, AND HAPPILY SO - http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010523/wr/column_nettrends_dc_12.html
JIANG'S SON,
UNSEEN 'PRINCE OF TECH' - He is the son of Chinese President Jiang Zemin
and is dubbed the "Prince of Information Technology", but
Jiang Mianheng goes out of his way to keep a low profile. http://special.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&Id=ZZZEKA6UTMC
(free registration required)
CISCO
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS@2001
Cisco’s
top policy focuses for 2001 are the areas of Education, Broadband Deployment
and eGovernment. To read or
listen to our thoughts on these issues, please visit our Government Affairs home page or our visit
our multimedia section . http://www.cisco.com/gov/multimedia/index.html
E-UPDATE ARCHIVE
To view past issues
of Cisco’s Government Affairs E-Update, visit our E-Update Archive page . http://www.cisco.com/gov/archive/eupdates/index.html
DISCLAIMER
Positions in articles
and papers from outside sources are in no way endorsed by Cisco Systems'
Office of Government Affairs. We offer articles on topics of interest
to our audience to further the debate on the issues that are important
to high-tech. To view our positions
on the policy matters that we care about, please visit our Government Affairs homepage. – http://www.cisco.com/gov
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