Three-Dotted Internet Caucus Conference

The Congressional Internet Caucus annual "State of the Net Conference" took place yesterday in Washington, DC.... Here's a quick Caenian review.  It's a full-day, inside-the-Beltway perspective on tech policy issues and how Congress may or may not address them in the coming year.  Nearly 300 people registered for the conference.  Half of them were congressional staffers and the bulk of the other half were government affairs folks from tech and telecom firms and associations....  16 reporters covered the conference....   

Senator Ted Stevens, the new chair of the all-important Senate Commerce Committee, told the attendees that he will be looking to reopen the 1996 Telecom Act, but only after much discussion on how legislation can be platform/technology agnostic.   There is great desire to create a bill that won't need to overhauled when the Next Big Thing comes around the corner in a few years....   Stratton Sclavos of VeriSign gave the lunch keynote and emphasized the importance of "intelligent infrastructures" in making the coming wave of true convergence truly transformational in its impact on on society and key sectors like health care, communications, entertainment and government....   463 hosted a dinner Tuesday night for the visiting delegation of U.K. ministers of Parliament, including Ian Stewart, Ian Taylor and Derek Wyatt. Others attending were representatives from Cisco, VeriSign, the Digital Media Association, Americans for Competitive Technology, WashingtonPost.com and National Journal Technology Daily. The U.K. contingent appeared on a panel this morning to discuss “Internet Cooperation in the Digital Age".... 463's Tom Galvin moderated a panel called "100 mb by 2010: A Broadband Forecast or Fantasy?"....  Senator Ensign's staffer gave a preview on the new Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness subcommittee.  This year, the group will look at IP, spyware and how disruptive technologies like P2P VOIP (Skype) impact legacy systems and regulations....  One staffer said that Congress "will adjust" if the benefits of a relatively minimal Internet tax structure begins swing to a balance where the costs impact society more.  Expect local government lobbyists to press this issue in months to come.... Sleeper issues for the year?  One is patent reform.  The IP vacuum filled by the Grokster Supreme Court case will allow those committees who care about IP to try to make the patent system "less strong."  Tech firms are generally not for this....  The other sleeper will be spectrum management.  Much was made of the power that new spectrum might have on enabling universal service in rural areas via cellular to WiFi roaming.  This also seen as a key driver of broadband demand and deployment.... Tim Lordan of the Caucus is one of the hardest working men in tech policy.  463 thanks him and the rest of the Caucus team for their graciousness and strong work in both the preparation for the event and the big day itself.