Tech groups push for R&D credit, Internet tax ban
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WASHINGTONÂ -- With the U.S. Congress winding down its work for 2004, technology lobbying groups are stepping up their push for lawmakers to pass several pieces of legislation, including extensions to a research and development (R&D) tax credit and an Internet access tax moratorium.
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Company weighs idea after thousands of users vote for it online.
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Patent law impedes innovation, needs reform, say Tech Policy Summit speakers.
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Senators debate whether to extend or limit a ban on access and other Internet-only taxes.
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Group including Amazon, Google, and TiVO lobbies for a national broadband policy that would provide affordable access for all.
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By Kara Rowland, The Washington Times  Sep. 14--A U.S. technology trade group yesterday accused the European  Union of declaring a "war on innovation" through its antitrust and regulatory  policies.   At a Capitol Hill press conference, Rep.
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A plan to help network various consumer devices is getting a boost this week thanks to a newly formed group of consumer electronics companies and chipmakers.
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(InfoWorld) - Three Republican U.S. senators on Thursday called on Congress to pass a permanent Internet tax ban before a moratorium expires Nov. 1. The current Internet tax moratorium, which Congress has extended twice since 1998, bans taxes on Internet access, as well as other taxes unique to the Internet. It's important for Congress to pass a permanent ban soon before state and local governments begin to tax Internet access, said Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican. Those who wonder what impact Internet taxes could have should look to U.S. telephone and mobile phone bills, where taxes are up to 20 percent of the cost, McCain said. "We cannot allow that to happen to the Internet -- likely the most popular invention since the light bulb," McCain said at a press conference. Several senators, many of them former state governors, have opposed a permanent extension of the tax ban. Earlier this year, Senators Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, and Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, introduced a bill that would narrow the moratorium's definition of Internet access and extend the ban for four years. That bill would close what supporters have called a loophole allowing telecom providers to argue that voice and other services bundled with Internet service shouldn't be taxed. In addition, nine states that were allowed to maintain their Internet taxes would lose a total of up to $120 million a year under a House of Representatives version of the moratorium extension, The National Governors Association has argued. The House version of the moratorium bill strips these states' exemptions. If Congress makes the ban permanent, nothing would stop Internet providers from trying to expand the number of untaxed services, David Quam, director of federal relations for The National Governors Association, said in June. "The temporary provision keeps everyone honest," Quam said then. But Senator John Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican, argued Thursday that a permanent ban is needed. If there's a problem with bundled services, that can be worked out in the bill, he said. The Internet is "critically important to interstate and global commerce," Sununu said. "It makes no sense to have a national and global communications and business network to be subject to taxes by every state, city, and county in the country." The news conference came a day after the American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance, an advocacy group, sent letters to Congress calling on lawmakers to extend the tax ban. New Internet taxes would hurt telecommuters and home-based businesses, the group said. Supporters of a permanent ban say it will help more U.S. residents connect to the Internet, a policy goal of many lawmakers. Asked if they would support another temporary tax ban, the three Republicans rejected that option. "If it's the right thing to do, we ought to make it permanent," said Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican.
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A group composed of the RIAA, MPAA, BSA and other groups representing corporate intellectual-property interests are pressing the U.S. government to keep China and Russia at the top of a government watchlist for violations.
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By Andrew Eder, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.  Sep. 15--Five area technology companies whose enterprises range from  television retailing to license plate recognition systems were honored  Thursday for contributions to business and the community.
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The initiative is evidence that U.S. companies and universities are searching for ways to be less hampered by legal wrangling about who holds the patents to research.
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The government is about to start opening up the process of reviewing patents to the modern font of wisdom: the Internet.
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A proposed technology for identifying the source of e-mail messages suffered a blow last week when a group within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) established to study the proposal sent it back for more work, citing concerns over vague intellectual property claims made by Microsoft Corp. covering some of the technology.
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WASHINGTON - A coalition of technology and advocacy groups on Friday asked the U.S. Senate to kill copyright legislation that might result in jail time for people who trade copyrighted files online.
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At a House hearing in Washington, polticians debated whether or not to renew the ban on taxing net access. Opponents say its original purpose, to spur net usage, has long been accomplished.
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Civil liberties and privacy advocacy groups often have the effect of stopping technological innovation when they protest the use of new technologies for domestic security, a technology expert at a Washington, D.C., think tank said Wednesday.
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ONE OF THE founders of the Web warned that the interweb was in danger of being stunted by patent hungry software companies. Tim Berners-Lee called on companies to resist the temptation to lock up key technologies by demanding royalty payments.