Technology Forecast

Despite the partisan gridlock in Washington, some tech and telecom stakeholders realized big victories in 2011 with the passage of patent reform and the Federal Communications Commission’s overhaul of an $8 billion phone subsidy called the Universal Service Fund. But other key policy priorities remain unresolved entering 2012, and the question is whether Congress will be able to take action in the face of budget politics and the election cycle.

• Spectrum: Work must be done to relocate federal users and possibly broadcasters from choice airwaves, set up auctions and begin work on the board overseeing the new public safety broadband network.
• Cybersecurity: Congress enters 2012 with some momentum behind cybersecurity legislation, but differences between parties and chambers need to be resolved.
• Copyright: Congress quickened efforts in late 2011 to boost the protection of copyright holders online by cracking down on piracy. New bills in the House and Senate command big Hollywood support but alarm Web companies, many of which are fighting regulations that could hold them responsible for copyright infringement on their networks. The Internet players have congressional allies, but the push to protect American-made content is bipartisan.

Five key players to watch: NTIA’s Lawrence Strickling, House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Chairman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), the Department of Homeland Security’s Mark Weatherford, Cary Sherman of the Recording Industry of Association of America, and Michael Petricone, senior vice president of government affairs at the Consumer Electronics Association.