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Commerce secretary to promote new export policy as aiding tech companies

At a conference on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will tout President Obama's outline for reforming the nation's protocols for controlling exports. The reforms aim to streamline a system currently divided between the State and Commerce departments — the president's plan will establish a new, central database of all technologies and products that companies are restricted or banned from exporting. The departments of Commerce, State and Defense are all expected to be integrated into the new system by next year. Locke will argue that the new framework will increase competitiveness in the technology sector. Trade group TechAmerica hailed the news on Monday, saying it would help fix the "unnecessary complexity" that "discourages smaller companies from entering the export market" and "weighs down larger firms." http://bit.ly/aLB1u9

Companies reach "general agreement" on net neutrality, analysts say

Companies negotiating a net-neutrality compromise at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) have reached a general agreement, according to a note issued Monday by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. The agreement reportedly includes concessions on some of the most divisive topics in the debate, including the questions of wireless Internet, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority, and managed services. The ITI talks include Verizon, AT&T, Skype, Microsoft, NCTA and others. 

New concessions from wireless companies could mean the agreement is stricter than the Google-Verizon proposal issued this month, which exempts wireless traffic from the toughest rules. Still, it's unlikely the companies would submit to a full non-discrimination rule for wireless services, which they see as the future of their businesses and say are technically too different from wireline services to be subject to the same rule. Various scenarios are possible for regulating wireless without applying the full weight of a non-discrimination rule and without entirely exempting them, either; the companies, for instance, could be prohibited from blocking websites but not applications, among other possible variations. 

$1.4 billion — Total assets for the 50 wealthiest lawmakers in 2009, according to a count published in The Hill on Tuesday. Half of the lawmakers in the Top 10 are members of the Commerce committees, including Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and House Energy and Commerce member Jane Harman (D-Calif.). Kerry topped the list with a net worth of $188.6 million. Second was Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who clocked in at $160.1 million. Read more: http://bit.ly/b1A02I

Can't-Miss News

Industry Notes

Scientific advances could shrink chips. Scientists say recent discoveries will allow them to make computer chips smaller, The New York Times reports. Chip-makers had feared that the pace of miniaturization had slowed, but the scientific advances, being pursued by companies like IBM and Intel, suggest that "the brake will not be applied any time soon," the report says. http://nyti.ms/b9diS7

Executive Notes

White spaces vote could come in September. The FCC could vote on its "white spaces" proceeding as soon as its next meeting, The Wall Street Journal reports, noting that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski had previously said he wanted it done before October. The order would devote unused TV airwaves to wireless broadband. "The FCC agreed almost two years ago to allow these 'white space' airwaves to be used for wireless communication services. But the effort stalled as companies waited for regulators to clear up some technical issues and broadcasters sued," the WSJ reports. http://bit.ly/b0uJC3

RIM averts BlackBerry ban in India with 60-day security test. "Research In Motion averted a ban on its BlackBerry services in India that would have affected more than a million users and halted the Canadian company’s expansion in the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market," Bloomberg reports. RIM offered tools that will allow agencies to monitor messages by BlackBerry users. The government said it will test the solution for 60 days to see if it suffices. http://bit.ly/cV9knS

Moving on. Former Department of Interior Deputy Chief information Officer Ed Meagher is leaving his position at SRA International to become vice president of healthcare strategy at the consulting firm CSC. A longtime federal employee, Meagher is one of the most outspoken among technology experts when it comes to the highlighting the cybersecurity threat facing the federal government. He starts at CSC on Wednesday.

Leaked CIA memo examines fallout from perception of U.S. National Journal examines a leaked CIA document posted by WikiLeaks this month. The memo "raises concerns about how foreign governments might react if the United States is viewed as 'an exporter of terrorism,' " NJ writes. http://bit.ly/aTopXi

Watchdog says Bush White House ignored warnings on archiving e-mails. A new report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims the Bush administration willfully ignored several warnings that it was likely to lose millions of e-mails sent between 2003 and 2005. Many of the missing e-mails appear to be related to the Valerie Plame affair; for example, former White House staffer Scooter Libby's inbox was among those not included on the backup tapes restored by the Obama White House. The Obama administration settled the case last year by releasing thousands of previously withheld documents. http://bit.ly/aAseVY

Watercooler

PERSONAL VIDEO — An interactive music video for Arcade Fire's "We Used to Wait" creates a film that is handmade for every viewer using images from Google's Streetview application. The video prompts the viewers to enter the address of their childhood home. Try it here: http://bit.ly/bzhT8X.