Senate Judiciary Committee will be involved in telecom issues thi...
Senate Judiciary Committee will be involved in telecom issues this year, Chmn. Hatch (R-Utah) said in floor statement this week. He said committee would look at “the countervailing rights and duties of local phone companies and cable companies,” asking…
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questions about “what rights of access to broadband lines should competitors have, and what right to content should competitive distribution services have.” Hatch expressed willingness to look at content rules on Internet and, by extension, on other media, asking “how do we cope with different media competing toward largely the same goal, but with differing rules?” Ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.) said Committee would pay close attention to implementation of last year’s satellite loan bill, to which he added provision allowing use of loans for Internet access: “We want to make sure that gets done and done right.” As usual, Committee also expects to hold hearings on variety of intellectual property and copyright issues, including Napster case aftermath. Hatch said U.S. needed to join international efforts to increase intellectual property protection online, specifically calling on govt. to accede to Madrid Protocol. Clinton Administration sent accession request last year to Senate, which didn’t act. Leahy said he hoped President Bush would urge action this year because U.S. ratification “would help create a one-stop international trademark registration process.”