No significant Internet-related legislation is likely to pass this year due to a lack of consensus and the tight congressional schedule, Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, told a group of high tech commerce activists Monday.
"I would be very, very surprised" if any of the bills are approved, Oxley said in a speech to the Association for Interactive Media.
Oxley, a member of the House Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee, listed four areas of possible action: taxation, on- line commerce, encryption, and indecency.
Even his own bill, which would put a five-year moratorium on Internet taxes, is not likely to move this year, Oxley said. Faced with resistance from the National Governors' Association and state legislators, Oxley said he has decided to follow their wishes and go slowly on the issue.
While the encryption bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R- Va., is cosponsored by a majority of the House, Oxley noted it will be difficult to find a compromise between the different versions of the legislation passed by five House committees. "The five versions are literally irreconcilable, and no one seeks a divisive floor vote on the issue," he said.
However, Oxley, a former FBI agent, supports language designed to help law enforcement authorities decode encrypted criminal messages. That language was rejected last year by the House Commerce Committee.
Supporters of the Communications Decency Act, which was included in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 but struck down by the Supreme Court, are set to take another swing at legislation, but Oxley warned they will have a hard time.
By crafting "ideologically motivated" legislation that tested "indecency" of a Web site instead of whether it is harmful to children, Congress "really served to poison the well," he said. Oxley added he hopes advances in filtering software will begin to address the problem.
Appearing after Oxley at the trade association meeting, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said he will continue to strongly fight any CDA-like legislation, and warned that even filters can be used to censor content.
A hearing is scheduled today in the Senate Commerce Committee on the issue, which will feature an undercover detective and an operator of adult web sites.<>P As chairman of the House Commerce Finance and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, Oxley said that he recently spoke to SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt about on-line securities trading. Oxley said protecting consumers in such an unregulated marketplace while allowing commerce to take place will be a major priority.
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