Ehrlich on Washington column, October 9, 2000

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of October 9, 2000 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. THE TECHNOLOGY CONGRESS: EXPANDING ACCESS, REDUCING COST My colleagues and I in Congress have been working on several issues that accomplish two important objectives: expand your access to telecommunication devices and reduce the cost of these services to you and your family. The following is a brief list of the issues we have addressed during this Congress: • Spamming: One of the more annoying aspects of the Internet is the ability of commercial entities to bombard you with unsolicited e-mails that offer various goods and products or invite you to visit their website. While these unsolicited commercial e-mails (called spamming) seem merely bothersome, they also clog Internet networks — slowing down your online experience and forcing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to upgrade their networks at your expense. In response, my colleagues and I have passed legislation to require unsolicited commercial e-mails to identify who they are from; offer an opportunity to "opt-out" of receiving future messages; and give ISP’s the ability to regulate their networks to prevent spamming. • Digital Signatures: Internet business is booming. In order to make commercial transactions secure and legal, digital signatures are needed to verify on-line agreements. Since the Internet knows no boundaries, my colleagues and I recognize the need to enact national uniform rules with respect to what is a valid signature in the context of an Internet transaction. This new law is giving companies and consumers a higher comfort level in the transaction of business over the Internet. • Internet Moratorium: In an effort to encourage investment and use of the Internet, my colleagues and I passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act in 1998. This law establishes a national policy against state and local interference with interstate commerce on the Internet by placing a moratorium on any taxes related to the Internet. It is important to note that the Internet tax moratorium prohibits only new and discriminatory taxes; thus, state sales taxes have and will always be valid. Recently, Congress passed an extension of the current moratorium by an additional five years, until October 2006.