Week ending June 23, 2000
On Wednesday, the Computer Coalition for Responsible Exports (CCRE) sent a letter to all U.S. Senators encouraging them to support an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reduce the waiting period for new computer export controls from the current 180 days to 60 days. ITI president Rhett Dawson is the co-chair of CCRE.
In May, the House passed, by a vote of 415 to 8, approved an amendment to the NDAA to shorten the waiting period from 180 days to 60 days. The Senate is expected to consider the amendment sometime next week.
Late this week the Senate Leadership indicated it would bring Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with China to the Senate floor before the end of July. Earlier this year the House passed, by a vote of 237 to 197, to approve PNTR status for China.
ITI has made trade with China one of its top priorities. Earlier this year it notified Congress that it would double weight the PNTR vote in the annual ITI High-Tech Vote Guide.
ITI is Founding Member
This week the Privacy Leadership Initiative was launched with a series of ads in papers across the country. The PLI is a CEO driven effort to develop innovative and practical solutions to protect privacy online and off. The initial group is made up of more than 20 corporate CEOs and trade association executives.
Some of the actions that the PLI will undertake include: speeding the adoption of privacy technologies available to consumers, improving current accountability programs, and undertaking a business and consumer education campaign to improve privacy.
ITI is a founding member of the group and will play an active role in helping build greater trust and confidence about individual privacy.
A House subcommittee approved H.R. 4049, the Privacy Commission Act, late last week. Only a few minor amendments were made to the bill which would create an 18-month study commission to report on all aspects of privacy, including Internet, medical, and employment.
ITI Led Industry Negotiations
After a lengthy, 18-month negotiation, industry and the Environmental Protection Agency have concluded negotiations on a new voluntary agreement that will determine whether new printers and fax machines qualify for the Energy Star energy efficiency label. Manufacturers were represented by the ITI-sponsored "Printer Discussion Group" (PDG), which included non-ITI companies and served as a precursor to the Global Energy Efficiency Consortium.
Among other things, the PDG won concessions on specifications for printers used in networks, as well as on expansion of the program to include high-end digital color printers. Under most conditions, federal agencies are prohibited from buying other than Energy Star-compliant office equipment.
ITI's technical committee for Telecom Regulations submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission supporting the FCC's proposed streamlining of the Part 68 regulations on telephone terminal equipment approvals. Under ITI's proposal, suppliers could formally declare compliance of their equipment by means of Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) without the requirement to use an accredited laboratory. The significant review of these rules provides an excellent opportunity to endorse SDoC facilitating market entry of the latest information technology and telecommunications equipment.
A House Government Reform subcommittee this week held a hearing on H.R. 4236, the Cyber Security Information Act, that was introduced earlier this year by Congressmen Davis (R-VA) and Moran (D-VA). The bill would exempt, under the Freedom of Information Act, cyber security data from disclosure by federal agencies, and it would provide protection from antitrust laws when companies share information regarding cyber security attacks.
Earlier this year ITI spoke out in favor of the bill.
ITI's technical committee for Product Safety met this week with Underwriters Laboratories and the Canadian Standards Association to discuss proposed changes to international product safety standards and testing and compliance programs. Product safety standards discussed included international efforts at measuring electromagnetic fields (EMFs), fire safety, proposed changes to the international product safety standard (60950), recent changes to the national electrical code, and updates of international and national standards development.