Infotech and the Law | Open-source licensing is at the crossroads

Users of open-source general public licenses should be prepared to decide early next year whether to stick with Version 2 of their GPL or opt for GPLv3.

Homeland watch | In brief

The Transportation Security Administration's re-baselining of the Secure Flight airline passenger prescreening system, which is set for completion in September, may get a boost from the uncovering this month of the London airline terror plot.

Buy Lines | Panel charts course for future of contracting

The Acquisition Advisory Panel, which Congress created to assess the government's procurement and management of services, will issue its final report in a matter of weeks. Hard at work for 18 months, the panel has heard from more than 100 witnesses and held numerous public meetings.

All ears: Industry seeks answers at upcoming Networx summit

When the General Services Administration holds its Networx Transition Summit early next month, industry members expect GSA to tell them what steps it is taking to help federal agencies smoothly switch from the FTS2001 telecommunications contract to the Networx program.

Challenges confront Army's next generation combat system

The Congressional Budget Office said the Army should consider alternatives that would scale back the ambitious Future Combat Systems program and cut its costs by nearly $5 billion

TSA to wrap up Secure Flight reassessment

The Transportation Security Administration expects by next month to complete its reassessment of its controversial Secure Flight airline passenger-prescreening program, according to a GAO letter to Congress.

DOD revises security clearance guidance

The Pentagon has cleared the way for defense industrial workers who are facing delays in renewing their security clearances to remain on the job, Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., said last week.

Senate ratifies international cybercrime treaty

The Senate has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Cyber Crime, the first multinational, multilateral treaty to require cooperation among law enforcement agencies in the investigation and prosecution of computer network crimes.

Infotech and the Law | Supreme Court expands Title VII retaliation claims

IT services companies need to be especially careful about employment discrimination issues, which, if mishandled, inevitably divert management and employee attention from project work and lead to lower productivity and delay.

More dollars for DHS

Congress is building a Homeland Security Department funding piñata, with technology-laced spending sweeteners for every state and congressional district, and it's on a fast track for enactment before fiscal 2007 begins Oct. 1.

Not an easy climb

Losing out on small business set-aside contracts and plunging headlong into the mid-tier market is not necessarily an attractive proposition for some small businesses, industry analysts said.

Small business | In brief

After factoring in $12 billion in miscoding errors, said Democrats on the House Small Business Committee, just 21.6 percent of all federal prime contracts in fiscal 2005 went to small businesses. ? and more briefs

Acquisitions, succession highlight second quarter

Second quarter earnings reports have been filed for most of the publicly traded companies in the government IT space.

Who goes there?

National credentialing efforts for emergency responders have been advancing and branching out to include telecommunications specialists, utilities workers and other private-sector disaster response workers.

Inside track | New federal projects

The Comptroller of the Currency needs content management solutions to replace the technologies it uses to produce and distribute publications and Web content.

New IT services schedule recommended

To increase competition among services contracts, the General Services Administration should develop a new schedule for IT services and expand the Defense Department rule of three to the rest of government, according to the Acquisition Advisory Panel.

Buy Lines | Flowcharts as a procurement management tool

No growing business would try to operate without documented business processes, illustrated by flowcharts, but when it comes to the many business processes where taxpayer money is spent, such process documents are hard to come by.

Annual size recertification may become part of SBA regs

Large federal businesses preying on weaknesses in the Small Business Administration's contracting programs to win work intended for small companies could face more robust requirements intended to aid small businesses.

Report: DHS contracting lacks accountability, controls

Lawmakers today grilled Homeland Security Department procurement officials over consistent poor contract management over the past three years.

Denett a step closer to becoming OFPP head

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today approved Paul Denett's nomination to lead the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.