…digital radio two months later, and another from North Carolina, Representative Howard Coble, who co-sponsored a plan in mid-2002 to let copyright holders disable PCs used for illicit file trading. And Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican, once called for remotely destroying pirates' computers.
The Motion Picture Association of America said on Wednesday that it encountered bipartisan opposition in the House — from Republican Joe Barton and Democrat Rick Boucher — when trying to enact a broadcast flag bill before. Such a law is designed to curb digital TV piracy by making certain receivers illegal to sell.
Because of Barton and Boucher's opposition, "we have bipartisan challenges on that, and we hope to have a bipartisan solution," said John Feehery, MPAA's executive vice president for external affairs. "We'll have to see how it all shakes out with the [new] chairmen."
Key chairmen
One question worrying Washington insiders is who will be the next chairman of key subcommittees, such as one dealing with writing copyright laws.
"We're going through a process right now of just deciding what those priorities are going to be for the next year," Feehery said. "We've been working hard on the analogue hole and broadcast flag — the bottom line is [that] we want to limit the impact of piracy on our industry."
If Boucher gets the nod as chairman, a broadcast flag becomes far less likely and changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's "anti-circumvention" sections become politically feasible. "He would be a big boost to our efforts to allow innovation to develop," said Art Brodsky of Public Knowledge, an advocacy group that has opposed content providers on many digital copyright bills.
If Representative Howard Berman, however, gets the job, the recording industry and motion picture industry will have a staunch ally as subcommittee chairman. Berman, a Hollywood Democrat, has sponsored legislation in the past that would let copyright holders legally hack into peer-to-peer networks. (Berman currently is the subcommittee's top Democrat, but there's speculation that he'd take a different chairmanship.)
Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, said that his group's strategy to oppose to the broadcast flag won't change much. "Our strategy is [to] work with both parties," Shapiro said. "Technology is the field that's growing the national economy. It's not a partisan issue."
Shapiro is worried about what might happen in a so-called lame-duck Congress, which will reconvene briefly this fall under Republican control. Tennesseean Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is retiring, could "try to hurt us badly", Shapiro said. "He indicated he's going to try, with the broadcast flag and audio flag, possibly attached to a spending bill. We're very concerned about that and we're going to be very vigilant."
AT&T and BellSouth
Representative Dingell on Wednesday reiterated concerns about rushing into approval of a proposed $80bn merger of AT&T and BellSouth. The merger won unconditional approval from the US Department of Justice but has stalled in another layer of review by the Federal Communications Commission.
"I think it would be in [the FCC's] interest, I think it would be in the interest of the committee, and I think it would be in the broad public interest [if the FCC delayed its decision until the new Congress is seated] ", Dingell said. That would let the Democrats hold hearings into its advisability.
House leadership
High-tech companies have reason to be optimistic about the Democrats passing laws in an industry-friendly direction under Representative Pelosi's leadership, said Josh Ackil. Ackil is the vice president of government affairs for the Washington-based Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Cisco and Intel.
That's in part because the San Francisco representative emerged last November with a Democratic "innovation agenda" lauded by high-tech companies. The move signalled that "she understands the importance of a strong technology and innovation economy, and the effect that innovation economy has on every other industry," said Ackil, a former staffer to one-time House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt. "She gets it."
Data retention
The Bush administration, led by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has been pushing Congress relentlessly for new laws requiring internet companies to keep records on what their customers do. Because Democrats generally have been more critical of this move, the proposal could run into more opposition next year.
The Markey factor
Representative Ed Markey, the Massachusetts Democratic firebrand, has antagonised tech companies for a decade — but with a Republican majority in place since 1995, he's had little luck enacting legislation. Now that may change, especially because Markey is in line to take over the chairmanship of a key internet and telecommunications subcommittee.
In the past, Markey has complained about privacy concerns in Intel chips and tried to force websites to delete information about visitors. He attacked AOL after it disclosed user search histories and said that HP's boardroom scandal means more privacy laws are necessary.
