The EDUCAUSE Washington Update 7-08-98 (formally FARNET)

[Jeff Ogden]

FYI
  -Jeff Ogden
   Merit

>From: Garret Sern <gsern@educause.edu>
>To: "'legup@farnet.org'" <legup@farnet.org>
>Subject: The Washington Update 7-08-98
>Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 11:03:48 -0600
>
>EDUCAUSE: Transforming Education Through Information Technologies.
>
>THE WASHINGTON UPDATE --- JULY 7, 1998
>
>IN THIS ISSUE:
>
>APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES LEAVE MARK ON FEDERAL TELECOM PROGRAMS
>
>INTERNET STAKEHOLDERS MEET TO DISCUSS FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF DOMAIN NAME
>SYSTEM
>________________________________________________________________________
>____________________________________________________________
>
>APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES LEAVE MARK ON FEDERAL TELECOM PROGRAMS
>
>Recent congressional appropriations committee markups suggest that
>funding for the National Telecommunications and Information
>Administration's (NTIA) TIIAP program will be cut, that the National
>Science Foundation will be directed to more broadly distribute its KDI
>funds, and that a federal mandate for filtering software in schools and
>libraries is still very much a possibility.
>
>Funding for the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure
>Program (TIIAP) will probably be slashed.  The Senate Appropriations
>Committee on Thursday approved $11 million in funding for TIIAP
>(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/tiiap/index.html) for the 1999 fiscal
>year.  The Clinton Administration had requested $22 million as part of
>the 1999 budget.
>
>It appears some members of the committee believe that TIIAP duplicates
>other federal telecommunication-funding programs.  The committee wants
>the NTIA to stop providing TIIAP grant money to elementary and secondary
>schools, which they feel are adequately covered by the controversial
>universal service "e-rate" program. (Reports that Committee Chairman,
>Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Ak) planned to introduce an amendment eliminating
>the e-rate program did not materialize.)  Instead, the committee calls
>for the NTIA to direct funds toward public safety programs that
>currently have no other funding sources.
>
>TIIAP is a matching grant program run by NTIA at the Department of
>Commerce, and is designed to help non-profit organizations such as
>schools, libraries and local governments improve access to public
>services. Unlike the "e-rate" program, TIIAP allows funds to be spent on
>telecommunications hardware (such as computers) and on training for end
>users. According to the NTIA, TIIAP is one of the most competitive
>federal grant programs.  For the 1998 fiscal year, the program received
>757 grant applications requesting $323 million in matching federal
>funds. The NTIA plans to announce this September which applicants will
>receive part of the $20 million available for the 1998 program.
>
>Final funding for the TIIAP 1999 program is far from settled. The House
>Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and the
>Judiciary was less harsh than its Senate counterpart, approving $16
>million for TIIAP. Changes may still be forthcoming as the bill moves to
>the full House Appropriations Committee.
>
>
>***
>
>This Senate Appropriations Committee increased the National Science
>Foundation's budget by over $215 million for fiscal year 1999 when it
>passed the VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill.
>However, unlike past bills that granted the NSF more leeway in
>distributing funds via a competitive, merit-based review system, this
>latest version contains language directing the NSF to ensure monies are
>more evenly distributed. It specifically mentions the NSF's Knowledge
>and Distributed Intelligence (KDI) initiative, directing the agency to
>ensure that KDI funds are targeted toward those universities and
>colleges that are not part of the top 100 higher education institutions
>that normally receive federal research support.
>
>***
>
>On the House side, Congressman Ernest Istook (R-OK) introduced an
>amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
>appropriations bill that would require public schools and libraries that
>receive federal funds for computers to install filtering software.  The
>amendment was passed with the bill by the appropriations subcommittee
>and awaits passage by the full House Appropriations Committee. This idea
>of tying federal information technology funding to filtering content is
>not new to Congress. Senator John McCain (R-Az), Chairman of the Senate
>Commerce Committee, introduced similar legislation last February (See
>FARNET's Washington Update - 2/16/98 issue:
>http://www.farnet.org/contents/update/1998/19980216.html) that is
>currently waiting a floor vote in the Senate.
>
>
>INTERNET STAKEHOLDERS MEET TO DISCUSS FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF DOMAIN NAME
>SYSTEM
>
>An eclectic group of over 200 Internet community "stakeholders"
>representing industry, trade associations, non-profits and "interested"
>individuals gathered in a Washington, D.C. suburb last week to discuss
>the Clinton Administration's plan to transfer management of the Internet
>Domain Name System from the federal government to the private sector.
>Released on June 5, the Department of Commerce "White Paper"
>(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/domainhome.htm) recommends
>that a private, non-profit organization be created to take over this
>function from the government The White Paper only provides initial, very
>general recommendations for how this transfer is to be accomplished,
>leaving the details to be hammered out by the private sector.
>
>Under the umbrella process of the  "International Forum for the White
>Paper " (IFWP), the two-day event last week was the first in a series of
>international meetings on the DNS privatization process. The meetings
>are intended to gather the Internet community's input for the creation
>of a set of guiding principles for the new non-profit DNS management
>organization (referenced as "the entity" by conference organizers).
>Future regional meetings are planned in Geneva on July 24 and 25, and in
>Singapore on August 11 and 12.
>
>Ira Magaziner, senior advisor to President Clinton for technology policy
>development, opened last week's conference by reiterating the
>Administration's intent to allow the private sector to take the lead in
>future development and management of the Internet. However, echoing the
>White Paper's priority for the security and smooth functioning of the
>Internet, Magaziner emphasized that government withdrawal from DNS
>management is contingent upon the new entity proving itself adequately
>prepared.
>
>While not expecting to create a detailed government structure for the
>new entity, the meeting attendees were asked to try to reach a rough
>consensus on how the new entity should be organized and what procedures
>it should follow when confronted with various issues. Divided into
>working groups, participants discussed several topics: the functions and
>power of the new entity; how the new entity will make decisions; the
>makeup of its board of directors and membership; the process for
>creating the new entity; how to address concerns of trademark owners in
>cyberspace; and security/privacy issues.  At the end of each day, each
>working group reported principles on which they had reached general
>consensus.
>
>Most of the "rough consensus" reports were predictably general: the new
>entity's board should have clear limits to its authority; the new entity
>should have the authority to create effective, equitable policies; all
>board processes should be open, fair, and transparent; all members
>should have the right and the time to respond to "significant policy
>issues."   Despite the general agreement reached on these issues,
>meeting participants appeared to realize that they did not represent the
>entire Internet community and that further discussion was needed between
>meetings. Meeting organizers were pleased with the results and viewed it
>as a first step to building trust and consensus among the different
>Internet community stakeholders - an absolute necessity as the
>discussion progresses from generalities to details.
>
>For more information on the IFWP: http://www.ifwp.org/
>
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>________________________________________________________________
>
>Written from EDUCAUSE's Washington office, "The Washington Update" is a
>free service of EDUCAUSE. If you would like more information about the
>Update or would like to offer comments or suggestions, please contact
>Garret Sern at gsern@educause.edu.
>
>EDUCAUSE: Transforming Education Through Information Technologies.
>
>(http://www.educause.edu)