Tauzin, Hollings Duel over Bells in Senate Commerce Committee
WASHINGTON — Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) today brought his Bell-deregulation act before a harsh critic: Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), a Southerner as ornery and eloquent as Tauzin and staunchly opposed to it.Tauzin and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the chairman and ranking member of the House Commerce Committee, were pitching their bill (H.R. 1542), which would largely deregulate Bell broadband...
Powells Broadband Explosion
WASHINGTON — The average American might be excused for thinking, on the basis of the output of the hyperactive Washington press corps, that our nations capital is a place of constant activity. Not so.In fact, most issues of grave public import enter the governmental consciousness with a media-generated splash, then disappear into a void for a long, sometimes very...
Towards a Secure Public Network
The Network Reliability and Interoperability Council, the cross-industry group that makes best-practices recommendations on reliability, on Sept. 11 inherited an intense new focus on homeland security. Paul Coe Clark III talked to James Crowe, outgoing chairman of NRIC and CEO of Level 3 Communications, about the new focus and the challenges facing incoming chairman Joe Nacchio of Qwest.Q: You...
Microsoft: Secure out of the Box?
Howard Schmidt is chief security officer at Microsoft. He recently testified before the House Subcommittee on Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection about the state of Internet and computer security. We tracked him down later to ask him about, among other things, cyberterrorism and the Microsofts level of responsibility for the success of large virus attacks.Schmidt served in the US....
Lets Play Monopoly
WASHINGTON — Theres a bad idea percolating in this city.I know, I know, youre thinking thats not possible. Washington is a wellspring of wisdom and a fountain of intelligence. Nonetheless, I assure you its true.But theres no point in blaming Washington for this idea. Like many bad ideas that emerge here, it was generated somewhere else: In Littleton, Colo.,...
Panic on the Hill
In the current state of tension on Capitol Hill, it only takes one casual remark to start a panic.No, Im not talking about anthrax, although I spent much of the morning in the newly (I hope) disinfected Rayburn House Office Building. Im talking about broadband deregulation.The case in point is the now-famous (for a piece of telecom legislation, anyway)...