congress

House proposal would imprison SSN fraudsters

A sweeping attempt at curbing use of Social Security numbers by the government and the private sector has just emerged in the U.S. Congress.

Reversing a frequent trend of new bills sitting around for a while, this one is already scheduled to go up for a preliminary vote in the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday. The idea, framed as necessary to reduce instances of identity theft, is nothing new.

In May, the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee speedily endorsed a similar bill chiefly sponsored by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) that would instruct federal … Read more

Court rejects Webcasters' plea for relief

A federal appeals court has declined to grant a petition by Webcasters to delay the onset of new royalty fees that they argue could imperil their offerings.

In a one-page order filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the opponents of the fees "have not satisfied the stringent standards required for a stay pending court review" and rejected their request for an emergency stay.

Barring an 11th-hour agreement, then, between Internet radio operators and the music industry, the new fees are scheduled to kick in on Sunday.

Jonathan Potter, executive … Read more

Politicos want veto of cell phone import ban

WASHINGTON--Politicians from both parties on Wednesday said they were protesting a recent decision that would ban the U.S. import of all future models of mobile phones containing Qualcomm chips found to have violated Broadcom patents.

The president has the authority to overturn the U.S. International Trade Commission decision, and some members of a U.S. House of Representatives panel said at a lengthy hearing about wireless consumer issues that they have been urging that to happen.

"I will be active in talking to the ambassador and trying to find a different remedy that doesn't potentially affect … Read more

Net neutrality on Congress's fall agenda?

Never mind that federal regulators discouraged so-called Net neutrality regulations in a report unveiled Wednesday. Democrats in Congress say they still believe it's necessary to enact a new law to clamp down on the perceived threat posed by broadband operators that want to charge content owners extra fees for priority placement.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), one of the chief sponsors of such legislation that was rejected on multiple occasions by a Republican-controlled Congress last year, plans to revive the effort this year, an aide said Thursday.

The congressman declined to comment on the Federal Trade Commission report itself but … Read more

Internet radio is dead for today; democracy, on the other hand...

In case you've haplessly been attempting to listen to Internet radio streams throughout the day, you might have noticed most are dead. This is by no means a fluke, and on a wider scale, it's a mass protest to the royalty rate increase that passed legislation in early March. The rate increase, which gives the RIAA (whose Web site is coincidentally down today) more money for every track served to listeners, has been the focus of much debate and controversy. The new fees go into effect July 15th.

The new fees don't just affect the smaller broadcasters … Read more

Congress set to issue virtual taxation report in August

For months, the community of virtual world publishers, players and economists has been holding its breath, waiting for the U.S. Congress to issue its report on the potential taxation of virtual goods.

Well, we don't have to wait much longer.

Dan Miller, a senior economist with the Congress' Joint Economic Committee, told CNET News.com on Friday that he expects the committee to issue its report during the upcoming Congressional recess next month.

What that report will say is unknown, as the committee has kept entirely quiet about its thoughts.

However, it's clear that something will happen. … Read more

Low Power Radio Bill Introduced in Congress

Early this morning, Free Press announced the introduction of a new bill in both the House and Senate that would remedy legislation from 2000 which prevented low power FM stations from obtaining licensing in major media markets. The Local Community Radio Act of 2007 has achieved bi-partisan support and is sponsored by Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.) in the House, and Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the Senate.

With media consolidation at an all-time high and Clear Channel dominating the airwaves, the vital role of local radio programming is being eroded away. Five years ago a train derailed in Minot, North Dakota and thousands of gallons of dangerous chemicals were released into the environment; many people were injured and one person died. The commercial radio stations in the area were all owned by Clear Channel and none of them carried any advisories about the disaster. Low powered FM stations will ensure that local information will be readily accessible amongst a landscape of national stations.

… Read more

Congress to grill Homeland Security on cyberweaknesses

A congressional panel that has been none too pleased about various federal agencies' responses to cyber threats plans on Wednesday to put the Department of Homeland Security's chief information officer in the hot seat.

The title of the latest House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee hearing--"Hacking the Homeland: Investigating Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities at the Department of Homeland Security"--suggests another bruising may be on the horizon for CIO Scott Charbo and the oft-criticized agency chiefly responsible for overseeing the nation's cybersecurity efforts.

The event follows an April hearing that focused primarily on cyberattacks involving computers at the State and Commerce Departments. … Read more

House OKs $50 million in Real ID grants

More than half of the states have passed some sort of measure scorning national drivers license standards known as Real ID, but that didn't stop congressional politicians on Friday from attempting to sweeten the deal by approving an additional $50 million aimed at helping them out.

By a 268-150 vote on Friday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives approved those new grants for states as part of a Homeland Security spending bill covering the next fiscal year.

But will the extra dough appease states that have balked at the estimated $14 billion pricetag --according to the Office of … Read more