Thanks to iPod, Apple's Rolling in Gravy

CNET reported: "In a catch-all spending bill, Congress agreed to a number of changes to the controversial H-1B and L-1 visa programs. President Bush on Saturday said he plans to sign the legislation. Among the visa program changes in the bill are a requirement that companies attest that an H-1B worker will not displace a U.S. worker and a $500 'antifraud' fee tied to visa applications. In addition, up to 20,000 foreigners who earn a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution will not be counted toward the annual cap of 65,000 new H-1B visas," CNET said.
• CNET's News.com: Bill Adds 20,000 H-1B Visas

Ask Tech Policy Questions Today

Rick White, head of the Silicon Valley-based TechNet policy group, will be online today at noon ET on washingtonpost.com to take questions about technology issues -- including the H-1B expansion news -- facing next year's Congress and the second Bush administration. Submit questions now or during the chat. I will moderate the discussion and hope to see you online.

Time Warner's Settlement Dance

Time Warner might give itself a holiday gift -- nipping America Online's accounting woes in the bud -- but it will cost the company millions. "The Securities and Exchange Commission and Time Warner Inc. are nearing agreement on a deal in which the media giant would pay about $750 million to settle wide-ranging allegations of accounting irregularities at Dulles-based America Online Inc.," The Washington Post reported today. "As part of the agreement, neither Time Warner nor its AOL division would admit or deny SEC allegations that AOL improperly pumped up its revenue and profit before and after the high-flying Internet firm bought Time Warner in 2001, according to people familiar with the settlement talks."
• The Washington Post: Time Warner Nears Deal Over AOL Accounting (Registration required)

All this might want to make AOL and Time Warner executives take a vacation. Good thing they can call on a former company insider, ex-AOL chief Steve Case. Case is now chairman and majority stakeholder of D.C.-based luxury travel firm Exclusive Resorts LLC, The Washington Post reported in a separate article. Customers can shell out big dough to stay in luxury vacation homes across the globe.
• The Washington Post: Former AOL Chairman Heads Luxury Travel Firm (Registration required)

No High Five for This WiFi

Some telecom players don't want any one else to dance on their WiFi parade. The technology standard, which helps people connect to high-speed Internet service without wires tethering their PCs and other devices down, has been embraced by cities from Philadelphia to San Francisco. But the Baby Bells don't like it and the Wall Street Journal today explains more on the tiff.

"Dozens of cities and towns across the country are rushing to provide low- or no-cost wireless Internet access to their residents, but the large phone and cable companies, fearful of losing a lucrative market, are fighting back by pushing states to pass legislation that could make it illegal for municipalities to offer the service," the Journal reported. Cities say their WiFi plans "will spur economic development and help bridge the digital divide, making Web access nearly ubiquitous. But that's bad news for the large Bell telephone companies and cable operators, who are looking to their digital-subscriber-line (DSL) and cable-modem businesses for growth."

The paper reported on recent efforts by Verizon Communications in Pennsylvania to lobby the Pennsylvania General Assembly, which "passed a bill with a deeply buried provision that would make it illegal for any 'political subdivision' to provide to the public 'for any compensation any telecommunications services, including advanced and broadband services within the service territory of a local exchange telecommunications company operating under a network-modernization plan.' Verizon is the local exchange telecommunications company for most of Pennsylvania, and it is planning to modernize the region using high-speed fiber-optic cable. The bill has 10 days for the governor to sign it or veto it. The Pennsylvania bill follows similar legislative efforts earlier this year by telephone companies in Utah, Louisiana and Florida to prevent municipalities from offering telecommunications services, which could include fiber and Wi-Fi."
• The Wall Street Journal: Telecom Giants Oppose Cities on Web Access (Subscription required)

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