Washington Update

BILL WOULD FUND CAMPUS EXPERIMENTS TO REDUCE UNAUTHORIZED DOWNLOADING

Rep. Rick Keller (R-Fla.) has introduced H.R. 1689, the Curb Illegal Downloading on College Campuses Act of 2007. The bill would allow money appropriated for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to be used for "model programs and policies" aimed at reducing unauthorized downloading on campus networks.

At a hearing last month on piracy on university networks, Keller noted that his district includes Disney World and Universal Studios and warned that "the hammer is coming" for campuses that "don't want to get serious" about unauthorized file sharing.

While the legislation itself speaks generally of improving network security and integrity and saving bandwidth, the Findings section of the bill includes assertions that illegal downloading "has increased significantly on college and university campuses" and that it "exposes campus networks to computer viruses and worms and can put sensitive personal and proprietary information at risk." The Findings also refers to "additional staff and resources...costing more money," which are required to handle infringement complaints, and maintains that solutions "can be developed that will stop illegal downloading while still maintaining student privacy and academic freedom."

In addition to questioning these findings, some observers have also expressed concern that use of FIPSE funds for this purpose would undercut other, more valuable uses of the limited resources. The bill currently has no cosponsors and has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Additional resources and commentary:

• The bill in Thomas: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h1689:
• Rep. Keller's statement: http://keller.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=61586
• Reuters report: http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN2934796120070329
• p2pnet report: http://p2pnet.net/story/11812

CAN JAPAN'S "BROADBAND MIRACLE" BE REPLICATED IN THE UNITED STATES?

On April 4, a group of IT policy analysts and lobbyists, along with local and federal government officials, packed a conference room in downtown Washington, D.C., to learn why Japan is the global leader in broadband deployment. Hosted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) http://www.itif.org/, Takashi Ebihara, senior director of the Corporate Strategy Department at NTT East Corporation and a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discussed the current Japanese broadband market factors that contribute to Japan's broadband leadership and the implications of robust broadband deployment for Japanese society. He also focused on his country's "u-Japan" strategy and the anticipated economic impact of creating a ubiquitous nationwide information communication technology network by 2010. Attendees' questions covered a wide swath of telecommunications policy issues, including Japan's unbundling mandates, phone number portability for IP telephony, and net neutrality. Ebihara noted that net neutrality mandates were not needed in his country due to Japanese consumers' numerous choices of Internet service providers over the two NTT companies' networks.

Ebihara's PowerPoint presentation and a video of the event can be viewed at http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=38.

PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE TO LAUNCH COMMUNITY PATENT REVIEW PILOT

Beginning this June, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will launch a new pilot program to enable peer review in the patent application and granting process. Patent applicants who consent to participate in the program will have their applications entered into the system online, where they will be available for four months. During this time the public can provide information, including relevant prior art and any aspects of the application that might require more research. Once annotated and ranked, the top ten pieces of information will be forwarded to the patent examiner to assist in the application review process.

The Peer to Patent Project is the brainchild of Prof. Beth Noveck, director of the New York Law School's Institute for Information Law and Policy. On March 26, the ITIF hosted a lunch in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where Noveck explained the program with the help of representatives from IBM and Microsoft. Both companies will contribute applications for use in the pilot program, and IBM announced that it will have its employees contribute to the patent review process.

Information on the Peer to Patent Project can be found at http://dotank.nyls.edu/communitypatent/. More information on the ITIF event panelists and their PowerPoint presentations are available at http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=36.

CLINTON INTRODUCES THE RURAL BROADBAND INITIATIVES ACT

Building on the success of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, which allowed the federal government to make low-cost loans for the purpose of bringing electricity to rural America, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) has introduced the Rural Broadband Initiative Act of 2007 to bring affordable broadband to the same demographic. Introduced as an amendment to the original Electrification Act, Clinton's bill would establish an office of rural broadband initiatives within the Department of Agriculture to coordinate all federal broadband programs as well as develop a strategic vision, conduct outreach, coordinate federal resources, assess all relevant technologies, and act as a resource for effective practices at the local level. The bill would also help fund experimental and pilot rural broadband projects. The bill appears to support the higher education community's stated goal of a national broadband strategy, and Clinton's high profile as a presidential candidate should improve the chance that broadband will be on the agenda for the upcoming presidential election. To read the bill, go to http://www.thomas.loc.gov and search for S. 1032. For more information on the Rural Electrification Act go to http://www.answers.com/topic/rural-electrification-act.

CALEA TECHNICAL STANDARD IS AVAILABLE

The long-awaited industry standard for Internet access providers and Internet service providers to assist law enforcement agencies in intercepting Internet broadband data is now available through the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Standards (ATIS). The standard defines the communication-identifying information and content to be intercepted and reported, as well as the delivery format. Additionally, the standard provides for a "safe harbor" as specified in Section 107 of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). A download of the standard is available at https://www.atis.org/docstore/product.aspx?id=22665. For more information on CALEA, go to http://www.educause.edu/CALEA.

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