Department of Commerce
Works to promote American business and trade. Claims it's the most "versatile agency in government." And you thought the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was busy.

Electronic Industries Association
The primary trade organization for the US high-tech industry. Groups covering telecommunications, consumer electronics, manufacturing, and components. They do standards and a lot of market analysis for their members.

The Environmental Organization WebDirectory
Information on environmental organizations throughout the world.

TRUSTe
With an auspicious membership including CommerceNet, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Firefly, and Coopers and Lybrand, TRUSTe is bringing a standardized privacy disclosure to merchants on the Web. The idea is to make people comfortable enough to buy products online by giving them a little logo to refer to. Sort of like the UL symbol on the bottom of your toaster. I hope they succeed.

Information Infrastructure Task Force
The Clinton administration's interagency working group, which creates policies on telecommunications and information technology issues. One of the most interesting things here of late is the administration's position on online commerce. According to a Netizen article in the March Wired, Clinton's stand gives too much power to the publishing industry. See the IITF's "A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce" or search this site's domain using HotBot:

STAT - USA
The commerce department's trove of business, economic, social, environmental data and market research. Registration is $150 per year.

US Trade Representative
The USTR coordinates international trade policy, resolves agency disagreements, and frames issues for the president's decision.

World Trade Organization
Used to be GATT. With 130 member governments, the WTO is a mediator between nations on trade policy. One issue the group has put at the top of their list is intellectual property, online and otherwise. Read about TRIPS - or Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement - and other WTO actions on the site.