CongressDaily's David Hatch visited India recently where he spoke to Google about its "magic bus." "In teeming cities and dusty towns, Brahmans and peasants alike are lining up by the hundreds, even thousands," to experience the Internet, Google style, Hatch writes in the latest issue of National Journal magazine. "When you can't put a permanent Internet cafe in place, then you put a mobile one in," says Vint Cerf, Google's vice president and "chief Internet evangelist." Read more here (subscription required).
Internet industry stakeholders are keeping an eye on legislation intended to provide the Securities and Exchange Commission with additional authorities to protect investors. The bill, introduced by Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., earlier this month, could come before the House Financial Services Committee as soon as next week, sources tell Tech Daily Dose.
According to the bill text, "any Internet service provider that, on or through a system or network controlled or operated by the Internet service provider, transmits, routes, provides connections for, or stores any material containing any misrepresentation... shall be liable for any damages caused thereby, including damages suffered" by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, an entity that protects investors from financial harm if a broker-dealer company fails.
Under the measure, the ISP would be liable if it has "actual knowledge that the material contains a misrepresentation [or] in the absence of actual knowledge, is aware of facts or circumstances from which it is apparent that the material contains a misrepresentation [and] upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness, fails to act expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material."
Senate Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions, introduced legislation Friday to reauthorize three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act two weeks after his panel approved 11-8 a related reauthorization bill offered by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., joined Sessions in offering the new bill.
Sessions said his measure "provides a common-sense and uncontroversial path to timely reauthorization." Bond said the bill "makes clear to our intelligence professionals that keeping our nation safe is their highest responsibility and ensures they have the tools needed to get the job done." Lieberman cited FBI Director Robert Mueller's recent urging that Congress reenact the provisions as essential tools in the FBI's counterterrorism efforts. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., has also introduced a PATRIOT Act bill.
Feingold and civil liberties groups criticized Leahy's measure for not going further in reworking the anti-terrorism statute. The expiring sections include authority to go after the individual terrorist suspects -- the "lone wolf" -- who may not readily be associated with a foreign power, power to institute roving wiretaps on multiple phones or computers, and authority to require third parties such as telecommunications or computer companies to secretly turn over records.
Senate Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions, introduced legislation Friday to reauthorize three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act two weeks after his panel approved 11-8 a related reauthorization bill offered by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., joined Sessions in offering the new bill.
Sessions said his measure "provides a common-sense and uncontroversial path to timely reauthorization." Bond said the bill "makes clear to our intelligence professionals that keeping our nation safe is their highest responsibility and ensures they have the tools needed to get the job done." Lieberman cited FBI Director Robert Mueller's recent urging that Congress reenact the provisions as essential tools in the FBI's counterterrorism efforts. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., has also introduced a PATRIOT Act bill.
Feingold and civil liberties groups criticized Leahy's measure for not going further in reworking the anti-terrorism statute. The expiring sections include authority to go after the individual terrorist suspects -- the "lone wolf" -- who may not readily be associated with a foreign power, power to institute roving wiretaps on multiple phones or computers, and authority to require third parties such as telecommunications or computer companies to secretly turn over records.
A high-tech watchdog group is circulating a petition to President Obama regarding transparency of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Knowledge Ecology's letter asks that negotiations regarding the intellectual property enforcement pact with a handful of U.S. trading partners be opened up for more public vetting. IP protection is critical but is also "a complex area where the 'solutions' to the enforcement issues are often controversial," the letter states.
Unlike nearly all other multilateral and plurilateral discussions about IP norms, the ACTA negotiations have been held in deep secrecy, the document argues. That has led to "a chorus of criticism," which prompted the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to offer some individuals access to documents in the negotiation after signing a non-disclosure agreement. Knowledge Ecology was not asked to review the paperwork.
The letter goes on to state that "the only rationale for keeping the proposed ACTA text from the public is to suppress criticism and critical thinking about the norms that are being proposed." The group calls it "Orwellian and an insult to our intelligence" to claim the secrecy of the ACTA text has anything to do with national security. Read more here.
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., on Thursday released an analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation on the opportunity to generate up to $41 billion in new government revenue over the next decade through the regulation and taxation of Internet gambling. McDermott and Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank introduced companion bills earlier this year to regulate Web gaming rather than banning it entirely. The activity is currently prohibited in the United States under a 2006 law.
"I suspect that many of my colleagues, especially those on the fence, will take more interest in this issue once they see $41 billion available that they can match up with any number of worthy programs," McDermott said in a press release. "I would suspect it's only a matter of time before Congress appropriately moves to regulate the industry in order to protect consumers and reverse the flow of billions of dollars currently lost offshore as Americans gamble billions online despite attempts to prohibit the activity."
"Given the many critical government programs currently going under-funded or not funded at all, Internet gambling regulation should be given fair and immediate consideration, " McDermott said. "Prohibition in various guises has failed before and is failing once again. There is a better way." Read the Joint Committee on Taxation document here (PDF).
The Republican transparency train rolls on with Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., introducing legislation Wednesday that would require each of the 21 standing committees in the House to record votes on their Web sites within 48 hours. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., sponsored a resolution last week calling for cameras to be installed in the House Rules Committee hearing room and freshman Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., recently sponsored a measure to require committees to post the text of adopted bills and amendments online within 24 hours.
"The American people deserve to know how their representatives vote in all cases, and frankly, in the current information age it makes no sense that we're not already providing this service," Reichert said in a press release. "When we're debating a trillion-dollar health overhaul, constituents deserve to know how legislation takes shape - throughout the entire process." House Minority Leader John Boehner said Reichert's resolution "is a common-sense reform that should have been adopted a long time ago in Congress."
High-tech group Arts+Labs and George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy & The Internet are hosting a network and technology policy forum on Thursday morning. The event, moderated by former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley, is being webcast live here. Here's the rundown:
Panel #1 - Networks for the Future (9:30-10:30)
Bret Swanson (Entropy Economics, WSJ Contributor)
S. Derek Turner (Research Director, Free Press)
Robert Curtis (FCC Director, Network Deployment)
Christopher Yoo (University of Pennsylvania Law School)
Panel #2 - Network Management and Delivering for the Consumer (10:45-11:45)
Richard Bennett (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation)
Robb Topolski (New America Foundation)
Dave Farber (Carnegie Mellon University)
Harold Feld (Legal Director of Public Knowledge)
High-tech, consumer, health and child advocacy groups wrote to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton on Wednesday backing legislation that would ramp up the FTC's authority. The letter from the Center for Democracy and Technology, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumers Union, Public Knowledge, Media Access Project and others was sent on the eve of the committee's scheduled vote on the bill.
The measure, which would also create a separate Consumer Financial Protection Agency, would allow the FTC to conduct consumer protection rulemakings under expedited processes; provide it with aiding and abetting liability for violations of the Section 5 of the FTC Act involving unfair or deceptive practices; and enable it to seek civil penalty liability for unfair and deceptive practices found to violate Section 5. The watchdog groups also support giving the FTC independent litigating authority in civil penalty cases.
Advertising and marketing interests are worried about several provisions of the bill. Association of National Advertisers lobbyist Dan Jaffe wrote to Waxman Tuesday arguing that "critical aspects of this proposal have received inadequate focus and analysis." The bill, which was approved by the House Financial Services Committee last week, could confusion among regulators and harm business interests groups like the ANA, Interactive Advertising Bureau and Direct Marketing Association have warned.
Read a Wednesday CongressDaily PM Edition story here about adjustments that Waxman may make to the bill; FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz's thoughts on the measure here; and an earlier story here that details advertisers' complaints (subscription required).
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday that his agency wants to play an active role in encouraging technologies that can reduce injuries and loss of life due to distracted driving. The Commission is examining whether there are ways in which it can act to create a climate that will allow consumers and industry to have more options in addressing the problem, he said.
Genachowski said he wants the FCC to set a good example and recently reinforced to agency employees the importance of complying with President Obama's recent executive order that banned the use of federal devices to text while driving. The order also prohibited the use of personal devices while driving government vehicles.
During his testimony, the FCC chief emphasized personal responsibility as well as input from companies in the wireless space and government. "Everyone involved can and should take appropriate action, with the goal of dramatically reducing and ultimately eliminating the risk of distracted driving due to the use of communications devices," he said. "We should develop a cultural norm that driving while texting is totally unacceptable."
GOP candidates for the 2010 gubernatorial race in California are making a modern campaign move on Wednesday, TechRepublican.com reports. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former Rep. Thomas Campbell will be participating in what is believed to be the first ever candidate debate on the micro-blogging site Twitter. Poizner issued a statement saying: "There is no doubt that we need to grow the Republican party and engaging new and young voters through social media outlets like Twitter is an excellent start."
During the debate at Brandman University, both GOP candidates will respond to questions submitted via Twitter as well as questions from Sacramento Bee reporter Dan Walters and other panelists. Poizner urged California voters to watch the debate live on television or online and share their thoughts throughout the night on Twitter. "We need to make California the innovation capital of the world again," he said. The debate can be viewed online here. Follow on Twitter @StevePoizner and @TeamPoizner.
On the eve of a Capitol Hill high-tech showcase, Intel Executive Vice President Sean Maloney and Vice President of Legal and Corporate Affairs Peter Cleveland sat down for an Oktoberfest themed dinner at Chinatown's PS7 with a handful of Washington tech reporters. The conversation, fueled by creative beer-inspired dishes, covered a range of topics from broadband deployment and network neutrality to patent reform and competition. Here are some highlights (from Maloney unless otherwise noted)
• Economic stimulus money for health IT, broadband and other tech related priorities is going out as quickly as one should expect. Intel is not applying for any stimulus funds directly but is working with groups that are trying to get money for rural broadband.
• Intel has taken a "nuanced stance" on net neutrality and supports pipeline providers "intelligently managing traffic." Grossly exaggerated worst case scenarios on either side of the debate have not helped. "This isn't impossible as long as we listen to each other."
• The two most insular places in America are Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., which makes bridging the gap between the two locales difficult. Silicon Valley ought to be more involved in policy and politics.
House Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee Chairwoman Jane Harman, D-Calif., and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Susan Collins wrote to President Obama Monday urging him to appoint members to the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, CongressDaily reported Tuesday. The letter urged Obama to "fulfill the pledge you made earlier this year to reconstitute the board and accelerate the selection process of its members."
A fully engaged and independent privacy panel in the Executive Branch is particularly important as Congress works on reauthorizing expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and other issues, they wrote. Their message followed a similar effort in April by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who called the board "a critical government component" vital to "ushering in a new era of responsibility." Read the Harman-Collins letter here (PDF), the CongressDaily story here and an earlier report on the privacy panel here (subscription required).
Defense Department Deputy Chief Information Officer David Wennergren on Tuesday issued the Pentagon's much-anticipated memorandum clarifying the use and development of open source software. The memo dated Oct. 16 notes that there are many open source programs in operational use by the department today, in both classified and unclassified environments, but there have been misconceptions and misinterpretations of the existing laws, policies and regulations that deal with the technology. Read the memo here (PDF).
There has been significant recent momentum for the increased adoption of open source solutions in the federal government, and the memo from DoD represents "a major tipping point," said David Thomas, principal at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti and spokesman for Open Source for America. He said his group hopes Wennergren's action will help break down roadblocks for open source adoption in defense agencies and increase the DoD's contribution back to the open source community.
OSA's members include a range of interests including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google, Mozilla Foundation, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and others. The group is dedicated to highlighting the many advantages open source -- particularly for government -- including security, lower total cost of ownership, rapid innovation, faster deployment and lack of vendor lock-in. In related news, the White House Web site recently switched to an open source code.
A group of privacy watchdogs are pressing for a congressional investigation into the Department of Homeland Security's Chief Privacy Office. According to a letter to the House Homeland Security Committee from the Electronic Privacy Information Clearinghouse, American Civil Liberties Union and many others, DHS is unrivaled in its budget authority to develop and deploy new systems of surveillance. The document cites the agency's use of so-called state-based "fusion centers," whole body imaging, funding of CCTV surveillance, and suspicionless electronic border searches as examples of where DHS is allegedly eroding privacy protections.
The letter to Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson and ranking member Peter King argues that the primary statutory duty of Mary Ellen Callahan, DHS's top privacy official is to assure "that the use of technologies sustain, and do not erode, privacy protections" but the office has not done so, focusing instead almost exclusively on the fourth statutory duty, conducting a "privacy impact assessment" on each department action. "[Callahan] has shown an extraordinary disregard for the statutory obligations of her office and the privacy interests of Americans," the letter states.
It was announced last week that Motion Picture Association of America
Chairman Dan Glickman would be stepping down from his influential post as Hollywood's top lobbyist in Washington -- and now his spokeswoman says she's departing as well. Angela Martinez will be joining the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration where she will work for senior adviser to John Fernandez, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. In her new role, Martinez will be overseeing legislative and public affairs.
Before joining MPAA in 2007 as vice president of communications, Martinez worked with several PR firms, as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Midwest Regional Political Director and in various roles in government and politics in her home state of Indiana. This is her encore performance working for Fernandez. She worked on the former Bloomington, Ind. mayor when he campaigned for Indiana secretary of state in 2002. Martinez's last day at MPAA is next Friday and she'll start her job at Commerce in mid-November.
Three cheers for Revenge of the Nerds, the hottest new monthly high-tech happy hour in the nation's capital. The event, held Monday night on the chic second floor of Darlington House in Dupont Circle, attracted a diverse crowd of tech lobbyists, journalists, PR pros, philanthropists, grassroots activists and others. The gathering's invitation asked: "Could you possibly turn off your BlackBerry (or other fine consumer electronics device), deactivate your left brain and get a little geeky among friends?" Indeed, and the smooth tunes of the Kevin Cordt Quartet helped! Hat tip to hosts Jenny Toomey of the Ford Foundation, Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn, Consumer Electronics Association Vice President Michael Petricone and the rest of the "nerds."
Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., continued the GOP's transparency crusade by introducing a resolution Friday calling for cameras to be installed in the House Rules Committee hearing room, which is among the smallest on Capitol Hill and one of the last without cameras. Under his proposal, the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, which provides operations support services to the chamber, would install the equipment and coordinate with the committee to record and broadcast its proceedings. Dent said he is concerned the American public lacks access to the actions that control and determine the legislative process in the House.
"As Congress considers some of the most pivotal policy of our time, the American people deserve full transparency in all legislative proceedings, particularly those of the powerful Rules Committee," Dent said in a press release. "There has been unprecedented civic engagement since the 2008 election. Americans understand the importance of the policy that Congress is considering and they are watching the process closely." The lawmaker said hefty amendments have stealthily come before the committee and key policy proposals have been rejected on a straight party-line vote without proper consideration -- and absent videotaped evidence.
[Update: 2:05 p.m.] A spokesman for Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter said: "We invite TV cameras to every single meeting we have. We can't dictate what the press decides to cover but cameras are always welcome at our meetings. Like all Americans, we love C-SPAN. And it's worth noting that Rules is far more open under us than it ever was under Republicans. We meet earlier, post more information online and we do it faster than ever before so the public knows exactly what happens at each of our meetings. "
A snippet from CongressDaily's TechCentral Issue Of The Week on Monday:
A broadening feud between video providers in key communities throughout the country is driving the adage home that all politics is local. Verizon Communications brought its battle over regional sports networks to Capitol Hill last week, urging lawmakers to close a 17-year-old "terrestrial loophole" through which cable operators with programming assets can avoid FCC program access requirements.
The exemption to the 1992 Cable Act rules, which apply to satellite-delivered content, has allowed cable companies to maintain exclusivity on certain content in certain cities, said Verizon Vice President Terrence Denson, whose company offers the fiber-optic FiOS video service. AT&T, which has a similar product, has joined with Verizon to wage war against Cablevision at the FCC, and the two have a case pending.
In New York City, Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden and offers coverage of professional sports teams, concerts and more. Verizon was denied standard definition format of MSG networks' sports programming until it filed its initial FCC complaint. It is currently unable to tap MSG's high-definition broadcasts, and Cablevision has asserted the HD feed is excused from program access rules.
Read the full story here (subscription required).
Lawmakers' Internet-based town hall meetings increase constituents' approval ratings for the politician, enhance citizen engagement in politics and ultimately impact the probability of participants voting for that member of Congress, according to a new Congressional Management Foundation report. CMF Executive Director Beverley Bell said online meetings offer lawmakers a flexible tool for communication in addition to traditional in-person meetings, tele-town halls and newsletters. "People like hearing from - and feeling heard by - their representatives in all formats, including online," she said Monday.
Researchers from CMF, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Northeastern University, Ohio State University, and the University of California-Riverside found that members who engaged in online town halls experienced an average net approval rating jump of 18 points with similar increases in trust and perceptions of personal qualities. Town hall meetings also attract people from demographics not traditionally engaged in politics as well as those frustrated with the political system. About 96 percent of those polled said they would like to be included in similar events in the future.
Among those taking part in the study were Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Michael Capuano, James Clyburn, Mike Conaway, Anna Eshoo, Jack Kingston, Zoe Lofgren, Don Manzullo, Jim Matheson, David Price, George Radanovich, and Dave Weldon. The town halls with the House members were conducted in the summer and fall of 2006, prior to the 2006 election, and the session with Levin was conducted in the summer of 2008.
Click here (PDF) to read the full CMF report.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' proposed expansion of top-level domains -- such as .biz, .info and .us -- as well as the group's introduction of non-Latin language Web addresses are still "some months away," ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush told reporters Monday in Seoul, South Korea at the organization's 36th global meeting. He said ICANN officials and the Internet community at large are "going through a problem solving phase" to address concerns about potential malicious use, trademark abuse and other issues.
Thrush was hesitant to offer more specificity about when the first round of applications for new generic top-level domains would be accepted. The timing "is up to the community [and] when the community is satisfied, they'll tell us," he said. ICANN has argued that bringing potentially hundreds of new domains to market will benefit consumers and companies that do business online but intellectual property owners have expressed skepticism. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and others in Washington have been highly critical.
ICANN's board is poised to approve the related international domain name proposal when it meets on Friday. Thrush said that after several years of hard work by stakeholders, he was "reasonably confident that the board will find [the IDN plan] ready to launch." ICANN President Rod Beckstrom said the first non-Latin script entries into the so-called root zone would likely be in mid-2010.
From the White House on Friday:
During his speech in Cairo on June 4, the President announced that the United States would "launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries." As the latest step in delivering on this commitment, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation announced this week a call for proposals for a Global Technology and Innovation Fund. This fund will help catalyze and facilitate private sector investments that promote access to and growth of technology in OPIC-eligible countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. OPIC will provide financing ranging between $25 million and $150 million in total capital for each selected fund.
The Global Technology and Innovation Fund is part of an on-going U.S. government effort to expand partnerships that advance economic opportunity and job creation - including in Muslim-majority countries. Specifically, the sectors of interest for prospective funds may address issues that can have a transformational impact in these regions such as technology, education, telecom, media, business services and financial technology and clean-tech.
More information is available here.
If the last week has taught us anything, it's that everyone -- and we do mean everyone -- seems to have an opinion on FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan to enhance the Commission's so-called network neutrality rules. Here are links to a few recent CongressDaily stories on the subject (subscription required).
Divided FCC OKs Proposed Neutrality Rules (Oct. 22)
Genachowski Revises Proposed Rules In Nod To Critics (Oct. 22)
FCC Chairman Drafts Neutrality Rules Exempting Google (Oct. 21)
Group Targets Lawmakers On Net Neutrality (Oct. 21)
Executives, Trade Group Take Sides On Pending FCC Vote (Oct. 20)
Computer giant Hewlett-Packard has pulled out of the Coalition for Patent Fairness over concerns that legislation currently moving through Congress does not go far enough to curb what some high-tech firms believe are excessive damages in patent infringement lawsuits. HP, which was a prominent member of the ad hoc group, is still very supportive of patent reform and will continue to lobby for strong damages language, sources familiar with the issue told Tech Daily Dose.
The so-called "gatekeeper" compromise struck by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Arlen Specter, D-Pa., helped ensure the bill's passage out of committee in April but if it were to become law, HP believes it would be "a huge missed opportunity," the source said. Leahy and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are working to bring the bill to the floor before the end of the year. The House Judiciary Committee has not yet moved forward on its bill and, as introduced, retains the more controversial damages language.
Industry groups like CPF, which span multiple years and sessions of Congress, gain and lose members due to variations in strategy, individual companies' budget priorities and other reasons. Amazon.com, Time Warner, Visa and Verizon were members of CPF at one point but are no longer listed on the group's Web site. Google was not an original member of the coalition but has since signed up.
For its part CPF wants "the strongest possible provisions on all elements," including damages, a spokesman told CongressDaily last week.
The federal agency charged with developing and promoting standards for government computer networks has halted the reorganization of its information technology laboratory amid mixed reviews from high-tech stakeholders, the House Science Committee learned Thursday. Cita Furlani, who runs the lab within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said she received "expressions of concern and support" and plans to reevaluate how to ensure ITL's structure is as flexible and efficient as possible.
A key goal of the proposed reorganization was to strengthen NIST's cybersecurity efforts by relocating the NIST chief cybersecurity advisor to the central laboratory office as an associate director. Officials believed that would provide the authority and wide purview needed to ensure that cybersecurity projects throughout the lab are well coordinated and strengthened through new multidisciplinary collaborations.
Experts who joined Furlani at the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee witness table cheered the news. Sun Microsystems engineer Susan Landau, who served on the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, said she was "delighted" to hear the reorganization is off the table. Cornell University computer security scholar Fred Schneider echoed her remarks, saying the shake up offered few benefits -- but said discussions about a more sensible restructuring should continue.
With nine days left to go in October, the House on Thursday unanimously passed Rep.Yvette Clarke's, resolution honoring National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The Senate approved a similar measure several weeks ago."This Congress understands that our citizens rely on information technology in every aspect of our lives - from managing businesses to social networking," the New York Democrat said in a statement. "As innovation spurs increased access and demand for the internet and information technologies, cyber warfare and cyber crime are increasing in sophistication and frequency."
Clarke, who chairs the House Homeland Security Emerging Threats Subcommittee, added that in the digital age, "we are all interconnected and our national cyber infrastructure is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain." "The passing of this resolution is a clear message to the American people that our government will continue to protect and strengthen our critical cyber infrastructure," she added. Clarke is hosting a pair of related events next week geared toward members and staff to promote good cyber hygiene on congressional networks.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology meets Thursday and Friday at the National Academy of Sciences building to discuss, among other things, the role of science and technology in foreign policy and development assistance. Scheduled speakers include Kerri-Ann Jones, assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs at the State Department and Nina Fedoroff, the department's science and technology adviser.
PCAST members will also be briefed on a report from the National Research Council called "A New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution." Speakers include Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Phillip Sharp, and Thomas Connelly, executive vice president for DuPont. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) federal programs and education initiatives will also be discussed.
Google and Verizon brought out the big guns in anticipation of Thursday's FCC meeting to begin discussing an expansion of the Commission's so-called network neutrality rules. Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam wrote a post on the companies' policy blogs detailing the Internet and innovation areas they agree upon. Some snippets from Wednesday's can't-we-all-just-get-along themed message:
"The Internet revolution has been people powered from the very beginning, and should remain so. The minute that anyone, whether from government or the private sector, starts to control how people use the Internet, it is the beginning of the end."
"Advanced and open networks are essential to the future development of the Web. Policies that continue to provide incentives for investment and innovation are a vital part of the debate we are now beginning."
"The FCC's existing wireline broadband principles make clear that users are in charge of all aspects of their Internet experience--from access to apps and content. So we think it makes sense for the Commission to establish that these existing principles are enforceable, and implement them on a case-by-case basis."
Read their full post on Google's blog here and Verizon's here.
NamesOfTheDead.com, a Web site intended to honor the 44,000 people who die annually because they do not have health insurance, is the latest attempt by Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., to draw attention to the healthcare reform effort on Capitol Hill. "I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives. If you have lost a loved one, please share the story of that loved one with us," the freshman lawmaker wrote on the site. "Help us ensure that their legacy is a more just America, where every life that can be saved will be saved."
Grayson announced the site on the floor of the House on Wednesday and the National Republican Congressional Committee was quick to post a clip on YouTube (see above), calling it the Democrat's "most shameless stunt yet."
Thursday's witness list for the House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee hearing on video competition is pretty standard fare -- Benjamin Pyne of Disney Media Networks (big content); Verizon Vice President Terrence Denson (big telecom); Sunflower Broadband Chief Operating Officer Patrick Knorr (little cable/Internet); Cablevision Chief Operating Officer Thomas Rutledege (big cable/Internet); and Progress & Freedom Foundation President Adam Thierer (think tanker). The wild card, however, is "Battlestar Galactica" executive producer and Peabody Award winner Ronald Moore.
Moore, who is also known for his work on several iterations of "Star Trek," will most likely be at the table because of his prominent role during the massive Writers Guild of America strike, which began in November 2007 and lasted 14 weeks. His show and other popular series made available for download on iTunes were flashpoints during the feud between writers and Hollywood studios over compensation for online content.
Moore might be on hand to advocate for the revival of so-called "Fin-Syn" regulation. The FCC put the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules on the books in the 1970s to restrict formal relationships between TV networks and those who produced programming for the networks. The purpose was to encourage a vibrant market for independently produced programming. The regulations were repealed in the early 1990s after court challenges but some want them back, arguing that a structural separation between content production and distribution would be good for business. "This is a huge fracture line in the Hollywood community," one observer said.
The House late Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution introduced by House Science Committee member Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., designating the week of Dec. 7 as National Computer Science Education Week. The resolution also honors the birthday of Grace Murray Hopper, one of the first female computer scientists. Ehlers has spent much of his career on Capitol Hill fighting for improved research and education, particularly education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.
"I believe these subjects hold special promise for the future of our nation and its workforce, and it is very critical that all of our nation's students receive a foundation in STEM," Ehlers said in a statement. "This prepares students to become the innovators of tomorrow. Without innovation, our nation and its economy will be on a declining path." Introducing students to computer science at an early age and providing them with learning experiences at all educational levels can help stem the tide of declining enrollments in computer science training, he said.
The Association for Computing Machinery and others from the computing community cheered the resolution's passage. National Computer Science Education Week will help draw attention to the need for an educational system that values computer science as a discipline and provides students with critical thinking skills and career opportunities, said Bobby Schnabel, chair of ACM's Education Policy Committee and dean of Indiana University's School of Informatics.
More than 20 open government and high-tech watchdogs on Tuesday wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader John Boehner, House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter and Rules ranking member David Dreier calling for a Rules Committee hearing to explore the benefits of requiring that legislation be posted online for 72 hours prior to consideration. Along with the letter, the groups delivered a petition with 21,000 signatures of individuals who joined the Sunlight Foundation's Read the Bill campaign. They, too, want Congress post legislation and conference reports on the Web for 72 hours before debate begins.
"House and Senate leaders understand the importance of providing online access to legislation and have indicated some willingness to make health care legislation available prior to a vote. Those promises are appreciated, but an ad hoc approach to allowing the public to read the bill is not sufficient," Sunlight's Lisa Rosenberg wrote in a Wednesday blog post. "Members of Congress should be governed by a rule that ensures that all legislation is available to the public at specific online locations for a minimum number of hours." Reps. Brian Baird, D-Wash., and John Culberson, R-Texas, have introduced a 72-hour rule resolution.
The Information Technology Industry Council, which sat on the sidelines three years ago as the network neutrality battle raged on Capitol Hill, is poised to enter the fray as the FCC begins to take up the issue. The trade group that represents Apple, Cisco, Dell, eBay, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and other high-tech firms plans to meet with all of its members next week and officials anticipate a vote in favor of ITI getting engaged in the debate. It is unclear how the vote will turn out or what the vote will be on since details of the FCC's notice of proposed rulemaking won't be revealed until Thursday.
A paper released this week by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson that shows some in the tech community have serious concerns about the direction that the FCC is headed could be an indicator of how ITI weighs in. ITI and ITIF are co-located and ITI helped found ITIF four years ago. Atkinson's three page memo (PDF) states that regardless of how the FCC votes, making the right decision on net neutrality depends on careful and reasoned analysis. He lays out 10 key questions he believes are critical to answer accurately before any regulatory decisions are made.
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg took issue Wednesday with proponents of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's so-called network neutrality plan who have suggested that network providers like Verizon and content providers like Google, Amazon and others occupy fundamentally different parts of the Internet ecosystem. The view that the Web is made up of "dumb pipes" on the one hand and "smart applications" on the other is a mistake, he told an industry conference in Chicago. "It fundamentally misreads how innovation happens in a dynamic and collaborative industry," he added.
"Our industry has shown that we can work with the government as well as our partners and competitors to achieve mutually desirable goals of more competition, consumer choice and broadband expansion. But we can't achieve these ends if we interrupt the flow of private capital and delay the cascading productivity impacts of a more networked world," Seidenberg said in a keynote at SUPERCOMM 2009 on the eve of a critical FCC meeting where commissioners will start crafting so-called network neutrality rules. He also warned against "pitting network providers and applications developers against each other in a zero-sum game."
Meanwhile, an open letter signed by 30 business investors in technology companies was sent today to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Wednesday. Prominent venture capitalists --including five of the top ten ranked investors on the 2009 Forbes "Midas List" - support "the Commission's ongoing efforts to adopt rules to safeguard the open Internet." The proposal will drive "investment, job creation, and consumer welfare," they wrote.
Read more about Genachowski's game plan and Thursday's Commission meeting in CongressDaily AM Edition here (subscription required).
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers joined Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Bobby Scott, D-Va., on Tuesday to introduce legislation that would revise and extend expiring sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and related provisions. They also introduced a measure intended to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to safeguard the constitutional rights of Americans while ensuring that the government has the tools it needs to collect foreign intelligence.
Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith, Minority Whip Eric Cantor and GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana introduced their own version of a PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill in March, which would simply extend the provisions, which sunset Dec. 31, for 10 years. "Over the past eight years, Americans grew tired of the same old scare tactics, designed to fool the public into believing that we needed to give up freedom to be safe from terrorism," Conyers said. "It is a new day and an opportunity for reform."
The Conyers-Nadler-Scott measures include language that would bring sweeping changes to the way controversial administrative subpoenas known as "national security letters" are handled. Americans would be able to use libraries and bookstores "without fear that their choice of books will be monitored by overzealous federal agents," noted Nadler, who chairs the Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee.
NBC-Universal general counsel Rick Cotton, who chairs the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, on Tuesday lauded legislation that would bolster intellectual property enforcement resources and tools for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He testified at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the bill that Chairman Max Baucus and ranking member Charles Grassley introduced in August. CongressDaily's AM Edition reported the bill could move through the committee before Thanksgiving.
Overall, CBP must ensure that U.S. innovation and creativity "is used to produce jobs here and is not stolen abroad -- endangering our economy, killing our jobs, threatening our citizens' health and safety, and nourishing organized crime," Cotton said in his written testimony. He went on to call IP theft "a stealth job killer" and warned that if the U.S. fails to take bold steps now, the country will be committing "slow-motion economic suicide."
The IP provisions of the broader CBP reauthorization bill would, among other things, establish an IP coordination center within ICE to prevent importation or exportation of pirated and counterfeit goods. The measure also strengthens CBP's targeting efforts to detect goods that violate IP rights and requires CBP to dedicate port personnel with primary responsibility for enforcing those rights. The bill requires strategic plan to decide where best to position those agents but in the meantime would assign at least one full time IP specialist at each of the top 10 ports.
Read the full CongressDaily story here (subscription required).
House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Tuesday took a swipe at an ongoing push by the Obama administration and high-tech companies to beef up so-called network neutrality rules at the FCC, describing effort as "the fairness doctrine for the Internet." The Commission rescinded that doctrine, which required TV and radio broadcasters to air opposing political viewpoints, in 1987.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in September that he does not intend to revive the fairness doctrine amid concerns raised by Republicans and conservative talk radio hosts. He is, however, championing a controversial plan to consider new rules aimed at preserving and promoting consumers' unfettered access to Web content. The FCC will begin its work on that topic Thursday.
Information broker ChoicePoint will pay a $275,000 fine and has agreed to strengthened data security requirements as part of an FTC settlement announced Monday. The agency charged that the company failed to implement a comprehensive information security program to protect consumers' sensitive information, as required by a previous court order. The failure left the door open to a 2008 data breach that compromised the personal information of 13,750 people and put them at risk of ID theft, the Commission said.
ChoicePoint, now a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier, switched off a key electronic security tool used to monitor access to one of its databases in April 2008, and for four months failed to detect that the security tool was off, the FTC said. During that time, an unknown person conducted unauthorized searches of a ChoicePoint database containing sensitive consumer information, including Social Security numbers. After discovering the breach, the firm brought the matter to the FTC's attention.
The FTC's prior action against ChoicePoint involved a data breach in 2005, which compromised information of more than 163,000 consumers and resulted in at least 800 cases of ID theft. The settlement and resulting 2006 court order required the company to pay $10 million in penalties and $5 million in consumer redress. ChoicePoint also agreed to beef up its security operations and obtain independent assessments every other year until 2026. The new court order extends those record-keeping and monitoring requirements.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk will travel to Guangzhou and Hangzhou, China, next week to co-chair the 20th session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, according to a Commerce Department press release. While there, Locke will stress the importance of strong intellectual property rights protection and enforcement around the world. The JCCT, established in 1983, is the main forum for addressing bilateral trade matters and promoting commercial opportunities between the United States and China.
On Tuesday, Locke will deliver a keynote address at an IP forum and meet with university students to discuss the criticality of IP rights for the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. On Wednesday, he will host roundtable meeting with energy companies to discuss opportunities and barriers to entry for U.S. firms in China's clean energy market. Thursday brings the JCCT ministerial meeting with Kirk and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan. For more information click here.
Duke Law School professor Arti Rai quietly reported for work at the Patent and Trademark Office on Monday as administrator for external affairs, according to sources within the agency. Rai, an expert in patent law and legal issues facing the biopharmaceutical sector, will make her maiden speech at an award ceremony for collegiate inventors in Chicago on Tuesday. She will talk about the importance of a strong intellectual property regime, economic recovery and job growth. At PTO, Rai will oversee domestic and international policy and intergovernmental relations and will be a strong voice for the agency as Congress advances legislation to overhaul the U.S. patent system.
Rai has close ties to the administration. She was a classmate of President Obama's at Harvard Law School and served on his transition team as a member of the agency review team on science, technology, space, arts and humanities. Computing Technology Industry Association Director for Global IP Chris Katopis, who previously served as PTO deputy administrator for external affairs, said Rai is a "provocative choice" for the administrator job since she hails from academia, which is seen as "notoriously anti-patent."
Intel CEO Paul Otellini said Monday that he dislikes cap-and-trade provisions to address global warming, which are being considered as part of broad energy legislation on Capitol Hill. In an interview on Fox Business Network, the tech executive said the measure "doesn't take into account the fact that people build things for a global basis and you have global competition." "This either has to be done on a global basis; otherwise all you're doing is moving the pollution and making the U.S. less competitive," he said.
Otellini commented the controversial public option proposal that some want to ensure is part of healthcare reform legislation. "At face value, I don't think it would help our employees," he said. "They get a fairly good health package today... I would be afraid of any option that took away that choice." He also said government should take the uncertainty out of doing business in the United States. "Give businesses a clear view of taxation, healthcare costs, can you get H1B visas for employees you want to hire, those kinds of things."
Ending the recession is directly tied to the nation's confidence, Otellini added. "Rebuilding confidence, it's not about a different structure of the banks or anything. Do people have confidence that the economy is going to be better tomorrow than today. That will happen as the GDP improves and I think people will expand if you take the variability out," he said.
The House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee on Thursday will explore video competition in the digital age, including access by multichannel programming providers and consumers to content via TV and the Internet. A prime focus of the hearing will be a provision of the 1992 Cable Act that forces vertically integrated cable operators -- those that own both cable systems and content -- to make their owned cable networks available to satellite firms like Dish Network and DirecTV and to telecom companies like Verizon, which offers the FIOS video service, a source familiar with the issue said.
The hearing may also address the so-called "terrestrial loophole" through which a cable operator with programming assets can avoid program access requirements that apply to satellite delivered content. Witnesses scheduled to appear include Verizon Vice President Terrence Denson; Sunflower Broadband CEO Patrick Knorr; "Battlestar Galactica" executive producer Ronald Moore; Disney Media Networks President of Global Distribution Benjamin Pyne; Cablevision Chief Operating Officer Thomas Rutledge; and Progress and Freedom Foundation President Adam Thierer.
More than 20 CEOs and founders of major Internet and technology companies wrote to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday in support of his controversial plan to begin considering new rules aimed at preserving and promoting consumers' unfettered access to Web content. The letter from executives for Google, Facebook, Sony, Amazon, eBay, Twitter and other tech titans comes as the FCC prepares to vote Thursday on a proposal to expand and fortify its so-called neutrality regulations.
"An open Internet fuels a competitive and efficient marketplace, where consumers make the ultimate choices about which products succeed and which fail. This allows businesses of all sizes, from the smallest startup to larger corporations, to compete, yielding maximum economic growth and opportunity," they wrote. Lobbying on the topic reached a fevered pitch last week with Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison signaling she might pursue legislation to block new rules if Genachowski doesn't modify his proposal to reflect her concerns.
Also last week, 18 GOP senators -- including John McCain of Arizona, a former chairman of the Commerce Committee -- insisted in a separate document that the FCC's proposed revisions "will be counterproductive and risk harming the great advancements in broadband speed and deployment that we have witnessed." Yet another letter from 70 House Democrats urged Genachowski to "carefully consider the full range of potential consequences that government action may have on network investment."
Lawmakers backing a stalled patent overhaul bill are looking at fresh ways to move the measure by the end of the year, despite GOP opposition, CongressDaily reported Friday. The bill, which cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, seeks to address the Patent and Trademark Office's chronic application backlog and improve internal efficiencies. It would also change the protocol for challenging patents - a move that has divided small innovators, the life-sciences sector and the IT industry.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy said Thursday he wants to work with Majority Leader Harry Reid to schedule debate before the end of the year. Leahy made his comments the same day that PTO Director David Kappos told the American Intellectual Property Law Association's annual meeting that a legislative fix is needed immediately. "Not everyone is getting everything they want" in the bill, Kappos said, but it is a "major positive step" for the stakeholders involved.
But on the same day, 12 senators, including Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, sent a letter to Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stating the bill needs more work before it is brought to the floor. Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions and Minority Whip Jon Kyl have questioned the bill's approach to challenging a patent after it is granted and want to modify the language.
Read the full story here (subscription required).
Dan Glickman, Hollywood's top lobbyist, will step down from his post at the Motion Picture Association of America when his contract ends in September 2010, Politico reported Monday. Glickman, a former congressman and Clinton administration agriculture secretary, has served as chairman and CEO of the MPAA for the past five years. He succeeded the iconic Jack Valenti, who held the position for nearly 40 years.
"My guess is that I'll end up in the nonprofit or academic world," Glickman told Politico. Speculation about who will be named to the powerful post has already begun. Among those mentioned in the article: House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Rep. Harold Ford Jr., Universal Music's Matt Gerson, Richard Bates of Disney, MPAA COO Bob Pisano and federal affairs chief Michael O'Leary. Read the full story here.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and other Obama administration notables joined Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn, the watchdog group's staff, and tech and telecom policy watchers on Thursday night at PK's annual IP3 awards. This year, the group honored Virginia Deputy Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson; University of Virginia media studies professor Siva Vaidhyanathan; Sascha Meinrath, founder of the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative; and Verizon Vice President and Associate General Counsel Sarah Deutsch.
Among those spotted in the crowd at the Sewell-Belmont House on Capitol Hill were White House science and technology policy advisor Susan Crawford; President Obama's pick for intellectual property enforcement coordinator Victoria Espinel; Office of Science and Technology Policy Chief of Staff Jim Kohlenberger; and National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Larry Strickling.
For more on the IP3 awards, click here.
Greg Farmer is expected to head the D.C. office of Qualcomm, according to a K Street sources. Farmer currently works in government affairs with Nortel Networks. Earlier in his career, Farmer was chief of staff to then-Rep. Buddy MacKay, D-Fla. Farmer also worked as an undersecretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration, and he was also secretary of Commerce for the state of Florida, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Qualcomm is a wireless technology company based in San Diego, Calif. According to CRP, Qualcomm ranks fourth in political donations for the 2010 election cycle among all telecom service and equipment companies. During the 2008 election cycle, Qualcomm gave 76 percent of its money to Democrats. In the 2010 cycle so far, the company has contributed 87 percent of its donations to Democrats, and 13 percent of donations to Republicans.
Think tankers at the Progress and Freedom Foundation will play musical chairs on Friday as the group's president, Ken Ferree, steps down to become a senior fellow and longtime senior fellow and director of PFF's Center for Digital Media Freedom Adam Thierer assumes the top job. Ferree, a former chief of the FCC Media Burea, became president of PFF in November 2007 after an executive-level exodus. Thierer formally joined PFF in 2005 but has been involved with group since its creation 16 years ago. He is an expert on content regulation and child safety, Internet governance, and intellectual property.
PFF Chairman and co-founder George "Jay" Keyworth said Thierer is "the perfect choice" to lead the group and said under Ferree's leadership, PFF has "played a leading role in the debate about technology policy issues in Washington issues." Ferree had been splitting his time between D.C. and Lake Tahoe, Calif., where he moved his family in 2007. Thierer said he looks forward to continuing the organization's vision of defending individual liberty, free markets, freedom of speech, and property rights.
The group is also working to re-launch its annual tech policy summit after PFF cancelled this year's event, which was to be held in August at Robert Redford's swanky Sundance Resort in Utah, Thierer said. Ferree cited the nation's ongoing economic woes as the rationale for pulling the plug on the popular outside the Beltway soiree. The summer retreat for lobbyists and policy experts had been held in Aspen, Colo. for 14 years before the group decided to relocate for 2009. The 2010 conference will be held in the Beehive State.
Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., introduced a resolution to change House rules and require committees to post the actual text of adopted bills and amendments online within 24 hours. She argued in a press release that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's pledge for an open and transparent Congress has fallen short and lawmakers have failed to require transparency for one of the most powerful components of Congress -- congressional committees. "The federal government functions best when it governs in the light of day," she said.
Over the past nine months, major bills have repeatedly been drafted, filed and then changed in the dark of night or behind closed-doors, Jenkins added. The freshman lawmaker argued that it happened with the economic stimulus package, the House Energy and Commerce energy bill, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's healthcare overhaul legislation. "This is only my first year in Washington, but if this is 'business as usual,' then it's time for business to change," she said.
House Minority Leader John Boehner praised Jenkins saying that "the practice of secretly adding 'phantom amendments' to major bills after they pass committee is outrageous, and it should be banned." He argued that Senate HELP Democrats quietly made more than 70 changes to the healthcare bill after it was voted on in committee. Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and John Culberson, R-Texas, have petitioned to change House rules to require all bills be posted online for at least 72 hours before being brought to a vote.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Thursday called on the FTC withdraw recently issued enforcement guidance regarding the opinions and commentary of bloggers online marketers and others, saying the rules unfairly and unconstitutionally impose penalties on online media for practices in which offline media have engaged for decades. In an open letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, IAB President Randall Rothenberg called the agency's distinction between offline media and online media, "constitutionally dubious."
The FTC this week has been trying to quiet a growing chorus of concern over the guidelines that require bloggers and others to inform consumers when they are paid or given free products to write positive reviews. The rules, which take effect Dec. 1 and were the focus of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in July, were made public last week. FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Associate Director Mary Engle has been doing the rounds with reporters to stress there are ample misconceptions about the guidance. See CongressDaily's coverage here (subscription required).
"What concerns us the most in these revisions is that the Internet, the cheapest, most widely accessible communications medium ever invented, would have less freedom than other media," Rothenberg said. "These revisions are punitive to the online world and unfairly distinguish between the same speech, based on the medium in which it is delivered." He said the practices have long been afforded First Amendment protections in traditional media but the FTC is saying the same speech deserves less protection online.
The Government Accountability Office on Thursday warned that although NASA has made progress in information technology security controls, "it has not always implemented appropriate controls to sufficiently protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information and systems supporting its mission directorates." The report, which was directed by a 2008 NASA reauthorization bill, said the space agency has not yet fully implemented key activities of its security program to ensure that controls are appropriately designed and operating effectively.
During fiscal years 2007 and 2008, NASA reported 1,120 security incidents that have resulted in the installation of malicious software on its systems and unauthorized access to sensitive information. To address these incidents, GAO reported that NASA established a Security Operations Center in 2008 to enhance prevention and provide early detection of security incidents and coordinate agency-level information related to its security posture.
"GAO's findings remind us that much remains to be done to ensure the security of all of our federal agencies' IT networks," House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon said in a press release. "Regulation and legislation alone will not suffice. Agencies and departments must follow through with corrective actions to mitigate identified vulnerabilities." NASA generally concurred with GAO's recommendations that the NASA administrator take steps to mitigate control vulnerabilities.
House Homeland Security Emerging Threats Subcommittee Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., will host a cybersecurity roundtable Friday that will bring together industry representatives and policymakers. The event, which is closed to press and the public, is expected to cover the White House 60-day cyberspace policy review; legal technical and operational obstacles; discussions of current legislative proposals; and recommendations for moving forward, according to the invitation sent to participants.
Clarke spoke at a Tuesday event where she called for the swift appointment of a White House cyber czar and highlighted the urgent need for collaboration and information-sharing among federal agencies, academia, and industry. She will host two additional events this month sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance. They will take place Tuesday, Oct. 27 and Friday, Oct. 30. The events are primarily geared toward members and staff to promote good cyber hygiene on congressional networks.
Clarke said earlier this week that ignorance about safe computing "creates vulnerabilities right here on Capitol Hill." October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos on Thursday urged industry stakeholders and lawmakers to "move together in the spirit of compromise and get patent reform done now." Speaking at the American Intellectual Property Law Association, he pressed the group's members to "show leadership" because "50 years is long enough to wait" for meaningful overhauls to the U.S. patent system. He stressed that "not everyone is getting everything they want" from the bill that emerged from the Senate Judiciary Committee in April but the measure is a "major positive step" for the life sciences sector, small innovators and the IT industry.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy earlier this month said he wants to work with Majority Leader Harry Reid to schedule, before the end of the year, Senate debate his bill. His announcement came as Commerce Secretary Gary Locke indicated the Obama administration's support of the controversial measure. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers introduced a companion bill but it remains to be seen how the bill will evolve and whether it will look similar to the compromise that Leahy brokered with Sens. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is slated to mark up legislation Thursday that would reauthorize sections of the Satellite Home Viewer Reauthorization Act set to expire Dec. 31. A key Energy and Commerce subcommittee approved a narrowly tailored version of the bill in June. The House Judiciary Committee, which shares jurisdiction, overwhelmingly approved its version of the bill in September.
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman's amendment in the nature of a substitute would make several changes. The proposal would:
• Insert new grandfathering language to ensure that consumers who are lawfully receiving distant network programming do not lose access to that programming due to Judiciary Committee changes.
• Insert a new section to account for the Judiciary Committee's decision to establish a process by which a federal court could lift an injunction that prevents one satellite carrier, Dish Network, from using the distant compulsory copyright license once it provides local into local service in every U.S. market.
• Insert a new section to ensure that nothing in this legislation, the Communications Act, or any FCC regulation stands in the way of private negotiations over the retransmission of programming.
• Require the Commission to issue a report to Congress concerning the ability of consumers to access in-state programming and the use of the designated market area system to define local markets for the purposes of receiving in-state programming.
Duke Law School professor Arti Rai should be landing at the Patent and Trademark Office any day now to take the reins as administrator for external affairs (see original Tech Daily Dose post here) -- but in the meantime another familiar name has surfaced at PTO. Peter Pappas, who previously served in several capacities in the Clinton administration, has been brought on to head up the agency's communications and public outreach operation.
During the Clinton years, Pappas was associate chief of the FCC's international bureau, developing international telecommunications policy on a broad range of issues, including satellite regulation and licensing, international spectrum management, and third generation wireless standards and licensing, according to a bio. He also served as the State Department's director of communications for economic affairs and at one point was assistant White House counsel.
In September 2000, the Georgetown Law School graduate joined Pappas Telecasting -- which at the time was the largest privately-held, commercial television broadcast group in the United States -- where he served as executive vice president for legal and governmental affairs. He was responsible for overseeing all federal government and federal agency regulatory affairs of the company, including the supervision of all filings before the FCC and other agencies.
In related PTO personnel news, Jefferson Taylor, director of congressional relations, has moved on and a permanent replacement has not been named.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, on Wednesday called for Congress to "act in the best interest of the economy" and Patent Trademark Office users by permanently ending fee diversion at the agency. Such a change would let the PTO set fees and recover costs, which Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and PTO Director David Kappos have said would better address the agency's operational funding needs in a time of economic uncertainty.
Hatch's remarks came at a ceremony recognizing the PTO's grant of the 600,000th design patent to Goal Zero, a subsidiary of Provo Craft and Novelty, and a small business located in his home state. The patent was issued for the design of a battery system, which works in conjunction with a solar briefcase that recharges in the sun.
Lawmakers should improve the quality of patents at the front end so as to avoid costly and counterproductive litigation that stifles innovation at the back end, Hatch added. "Improving patent quality and reducing litigation uncertainty are the central tenets of the bipartisan congressional mandate for patent reform," he said, arguing that consensus is possible "but it will take willing partners from within Congress, the administration, and the patent community."
A prominent open government group on Wednesday unveiled its vision for a revamped FCC Web site after weeks of online public discussion and input from Commission officials and key stakeholders. What made the FCC redesign different from the Sunlight Foundation's previous efforts to show how federal sites can be easier to access was the dense content. "Most visitors find it difficult to understand the vast majority of the content for good reason: it can be highly-technical and the FCC's operations are foreign to most people," the group said in a blog post. Click here to read a detailed summary of the changes Sunlight proposes, plus screenshots of its FCC mock up.
A group of minority groups and civil rights organizations on Tuesday wrote to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy in opposition to legislation he has introduced that would force AM and FM radio stations to pay new fees to performers and record labels. The bill, which the groups argue would be detrimental to minority-owned stations and the communities they serve, could be teed up for a vote by the Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Some have estimated that the measure would throw at least a third of minority broadcasters into bankruptcy.
Among those signing onto the letter include: the Black College Communication Association, the Hispanic Institute, International Black Broadcasters Association, Telecommunications Professionals, Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, National Black Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Spanish Broadcasters Association and UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.
A similar measure sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers underwent a major rewrite before his committee took up the bill. The version that ultimately passed his panel included a number of carve-outs aimed at appeasing small and minority owned stations and ultimately won the support of the NAACP, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and a number of unions. It remains to be seen what changes could be made to Leahy's bill in hopes of calming the fears of broadcasters.
President Obama's former senior cybersecurity adviser Melissa Hathaway, who resigned effective Aug. 21 after working for months on a comprehensive review of the government's ability to identify and thwart high-tech attacks, opened up about her experience in an interview with Federal News Radio. Hathaway said her decision to leave had as much to do with fixing her work-life balance as it did with not getting the cyber coordinator role Obama began talking about early in his tenure.
"I knew when the president gave his speech I wasn't going to be named," she said of the cyber post, which was mentioned in Obama's late May speech. "I helped put names on the list and establish evaluation criteria for the person... The person needs to have a strong background in not just national security policy, but also economic security policy." She said her impact from outside government can be meaningful and she has hung her own shingle.
Hathaway plans to work with cybersecurity industry players and with Harvard University and MIT on research and writing.
A day after watchdog group Knowledge Ecology International slammed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for allegedly handpicking a group of mostly industry executives to review and provide feedback on a controversial section of a proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the watchdog has filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking for "all records at USTR on the topic of the policy and practice of USTR regard the transparency of trade negotiations, including but not limited to [ACTA]."
KEI Director Jamie Love's appeal for information, which spans Jan. 1, 2009 to today, will be used "to evaluate the degree to which the USTR is providing the public timely and relevant information about important norm setting activities in the area of intellectual property right rules and practices." Among the documents expected to be relevant are the communications within USTR and between USTR and other federal agencies, the White House and the Congress, and between USTR and the private sector, on the policies regarding transparency of trade negotiations, he said.
In a same day e-mail to USTR IP negotiator Stan McCoy, Love asks whether the current ACTA text, which will be the focus of a November meeting in Seoul, South Korea, makes it clear that there is no obligation to stop goods at borders in cases where there is legitimate parallel trade of products. A global IP treaty known as TRIPS has a carve-out for such cases. "If we could review the text, as apparently every corporate lobbyist in Washington, D.C. can do, we might know the answer to this question," Love added. See original Tech Daily Dose post on this topic here.
A team from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will head to Seoul, South Korea, early next month to resume talks with a handful of trading partners on a proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A portion of the discussion will focus on transparency issues since negotiators have been dogged for months over the secrecy of their meetings and a dearth of viewable treaty text. See CongressDaily's story here (subscription required).
In preparation for the latest round of talks, USTR broadened its consultations to include views from domestic stakeholders with expertise on Internet and digital issues. Officials from nongovernmental organizations and industry leaders in intellectual property and technology offered their insights -- after signing nondisclosure agreements. Watchdog group Knowledge Ecology International sent a Freedom of Information Act request for a list of all individuals who signed what amounts to a gag order.
USTR responded late last week with the roster of 42 Washington insiders who saw a highly controversial draft chapter pertaining to Internet piracy. Those who viewed the document include executives from the Business Software Alliance, Google, Dell, Intel, eBay, Verizon, Consumer Electronics Association, News Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Time Warner. Representatives from think tanks like the Center for Democracy and Technology and Public Knowledge were also privy to the proposal.
The General Services Administration on Tuesday announced a new application that allows government employees to shorten their Web addresses. Go.USA.gov lets officials create short .gov URLs out of any .gov, .mil, or .si.edu URLs. As of 5:30 p.m., Go.USA.gov has shortened 249 URLs that have been clicked 14,299 times.
A handful of the most popular Go.USA.gov links:
• NASA satellite images of autumn foliage at Lake Superior and Lake Michigan
• Recovery.gov, the government's economic stimulus accountability Web site
• A 2009 flu prevention public service announcement contest
• U.S. earthquakes from the last seven days
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's healthcare public option page
In related Web news, the White House unveiled a new Spanish site and Twitter feed.
Public Strategies and Live Nation have parted ways as the Justice Department continues probing the music giant's pending $2.5 billion all-stock merger with Ticketmaster. Live Nation, which spun off from media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications in 2005, hired Public Strategies and Brunswick Group to manage its image during the merger process and has worked with attorneys at Latham & Watkins, CongressDaily reported earlier this year (subscription required).
Public Strategies spent $270,000 advocating for Live Nation in the first quarter of 2009 and $30,000 in the second quarter, according to lobbyists' filings. The firm also registered to represent Ticketmaster in April and racked up $30,000 in the second quarter. Additionally, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher spent $60,000 in the second quarter lobbying for Ticketmaster. In March, Akin Gump registered to represent Live Nation. The firm spent $80,000 in the first quarter and $30,000 in the second quarter on that work.
In related news, former Recording Artists' Coalition national director Rebecca Greenberg registered to lobby last month on behalf of Ticketmaster. Greenberg joined Irving Azoff's team at Ticketmaster when the coalition founded by Don Henley of The Eagles was folded into the Recording Academy in January. Azoff served as a RAC board member and is a longtime manager for Henley and his band.
Google is hiring an academic relations manager to be based at the Internet giant's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. The new position, which would be part of the public policy team, would serve as the primary liaison to university faculty, economists, researchers, and scholars across the country, according to the job listing. The individual would be responsible for commissioning research papers and studies on public policy topics; organizing academic conferences; and conducting outreach to academics regarding Google's public policy positions.
The company has increasingly turned to the higher education community to fuel its growth. One such example is its controversial effort to create the world's largest digital library and bookstore. That ambitious book-scanning project has resulted in a pending $125 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit with authors and publishers. Google also has a robust university relations program that offers research awards; a visiting faculty program; Creative Commons-licensed educational resources for educators; and more.
The Republican National Committee has launched a new Web site, which is heavy on collaboration, user interaction -- and features a tiny talking GOP Chairman Michael Steele. RNC New Media Director Todd Herman hinted at the redesign in June at the Personal Democracy Forum annual conference in New York City. At the event, he said his party was preparing for a Web-based revolution and tech-savvy conservatives had finished licking their campaign 2008 wounds. "Conservatives online are dying to organize," Herman said. A memo he posted on GOP.com promised "[a] new look and a more enjoyable, modern, open and participatory way to share our ideals with the country." Read a more thorough review of the site at RedState.com.
Want to find a congressional office phone number or a Hill aide's e-mail address? Review a bill or peek at a member's Twitter feed? There's an app for that. Several, actually. One of the most popular appears to be "Congress in Your Pocket," which ranges from 99 cents to $99.99 depending on the version, National Journal magazine reports. The software, which has more than 20,000 iPhone and BlackBerry users, will soon feature note-taking and sharing capabilities, as well as Cook Political Report rankings, according to its creators at the Cohen Research Group. Fox News Channel has also hinted at a partnership for the 2010 midterm elections. "It's quick, easy, and essential," says Morgan Reed, a lobbyist for the high-tech sector. He says he loves the app for what it's not: "another spiral-bound facebook to be lost, stolen, or obsoleted every time a member or staff person leaves."
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz on Monday lauded former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson -- a member of the corporate boards of both Google and Apple -- for stepping down from Google's board. The news follows an announcement earlier this summer that Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who had also been a director of both firms, was stepping down from the Apple board. Federal antitrust law prohibits, with certain exceptions, one person from serving as a director or officer of two competing corporations. Levinson's resignation takes effect immediately. He had been on the Google board since April 2004.
"Google, Apple, and Mr. Levinson should be commended for recognizing that overlapping board members between competing companies raise serious antitrust issues and for their willingness to resolve our concerns without the need for litigation," Leibowitz said in a statement. "Beyond this matter, we will continue to monitor companies that share board members and take enforcement actions where appropriate."
In a press release, Schmidt said Levinson has contributed to Google's success by "offering unvarnished advice and vital counsel on every big issue and opportunity." "Though he leaves as a member of our board, Art will always have a special place at Google," Schmidt said. Levinson, who left Genentech's day-to-day operations upon the biotech firm's $47 billion merger with Swiss drug maker Roche, called his time with Google "a remarkable experience" and said the company has "a terrific future."
The FCC on Friday launched a formal inquiry into Google's Internet-based telephony service on the heels of reports that the company blocked calls to rural areas and as a result is reducing its access expenses. A letter from FCC Wireline Competition Bureau Chief Sharon Gillett to Google Washington Telecom and Media Counsel Richard Whitt requests answers to a number of questions about Google Voice by Oct. 28. The Commission wants an explanation of how Google Voice calls are routed and whether calls to particular numbers are restricted and the technological means by which those restrictions are implemented.
Other questions concern how Google informs its customers of restrictions in the numbers to which calls can be placed; the extent to which Google Voice functionalities are offered for free; and details about pay services. The FCC also asked for an explanation of the "invitation-only" manner in which users subscribe to the service and how Google believes the application fits within the law and FCC regulatory classifications. Twenty members of the House who represent rural communities urged the FCC earlier this week to open the investigation. Google has argued that in order to offer free or low-cost access, it restricts certain outbound calls from its Web platform to high-priced destinations.
Whitt responded to the FCC inquiry, which he said was spurred by an AT&T complaint, on the Google policy blog. "Google Voice is a free Web application, one intended to supplement and enhance existing phone lines, not replace them," he wrote. Whitt also said AT&T's approach "is what a former FCC chairman has called 'regulatory capitalism,' the practice of using regulation to block or slow down innovation."
Legislation to make Congressional Research Service reports publicly available was introduced in the House on Thursday by freshmen Reps. Frank Kratovil, D-Md., and Leonard Lance, R-N.J. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman introduced a companion bill in April, restarting the perennial attempt by some lawmakers and open government advocates. Last Congress, he introduced a resolution with Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Susan Collins that called for a more accessible system. Over the past decade, a series of bills requiring public access to CRS reports has made little progress, including a 2007 measure by former Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.
Under the chairmanship of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., last Congress, the Rules Committee authorized CRS to create software to let senators place individual reports on their Web sites. Lieberman and his allies believe that didn't go far enough. As public debate becomes increasingly partisan and polarized, "it is more important than ever for citizens to have full access to the same neutral, unbiased information that many of us rely on to help us formulate important decisions," Kratovil said. Lance added that making taxpayer-funded research available to the American people is simply "good government."
In addition to piecemeal disclosures by lawmakers, CRS reports are made available through pay services and more intermittently at OpenCRS.com, a free Web database offered by the Center for Democracy and Technology.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz on Friday urged the public to take steps to protect themselves, their privacy, and their personal information online as part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. "The Internet has connected Americans to each other and the rest of the world like never before. But those connections can also be exploited by scammers, so consumers need to be alert for online fraud and safeguard their personal information," Genachowski said in a press release. "Consumers should stay alert, recognize the potential risks associated with cyber crimes and take some simple precautions to help reduce their chances of falling victim to scams."
Leibowitz noted his Commission is committed to protecting consumers by stopping con artists from committing fraud online, working to preserve the privacy of consumers' sensitive personal information, and educating people on how to use technology safely and securely through sites like OnguardOnline.gov. The FTC is also committed to working with the FCC to promote consumer protection in the online marketplace, he said. Some tips from the chairmen include: Use security software that updates automatically; keep operating systems and Web browsers up-to-date; keep passwords private and secure; always back-up important files.
The latest National Journal features a profile of former Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., the new head of the National Association of Broadcasters. Here's a snippet:
During his 12 years in the Senate, Oregon Republican Gordon Smith earned a reputation as a bridge-builder, team player, and nice guy. Now he hopes to bring that spirit of camaraderie to the National Association of Broadcasters, one of Washington's most powerful and fractious trade groups. Smith, who narrowly lost his seat to Democrat Jeff Merkley in 2008, will succeed David Rehr as president and CEO of the 8,300-member organization on November 1. Rehr resigned in May after a rocky four years in charge. "As a member of the Senate, I worked across party lines to get legislation passed," Smith said at the broadcasting guild's Radio Show last month in Philadelphia. "Now my politics are the interests of the [NAB]."
One of his biggest challenges will be in the boardroom. "NAB's governance model is badly divided," Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro said, contending that "aside from the word 'broadcasting,' radio and TV have nothing in common." He argued that the deep rift between the two sectors contributed to Rehr's demise--and the industry's estimated 30 percent loss of market share in recent decades. Smith told National Journal that the TV and radio camps "are stronger when they are together than apart, even though they have different interests." He said he will work hard to unify their message and satisfy the interests of both. Read the full story here (subscription required).
A long list of colleges and universities want Congress to fix what they believe is an outdated Internal Revenue Service record-keeping requirement governing use of employer-provided cell phones and other electronic communication devices. Current IRS rules impose an onerous burden on higher education and other employers across the country, they wrote in recent letters to leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee, which have bills to overhaul the policy pending before them.
Reps. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and Sam Johnson, R-Texas, and Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and John Ensign, R-Nev., introduced the legislation to change the regulation, which treats employer-provided phones as a taxable fringe benefit. A similar proposal was approved by the House in April 2008 but was never enacted. When Congress created the rule in 1989, cellular technology was in its infancy and devices were "big and bulky, expensive and rarely used," they wrote. Now they are "practically an appendage."
The IRS recently began enforcing the rules requiring employees to maintain detailed records of their business and personal use of phones, BlackBerrys and similar devices but has also acknowledged the law is burdensome. In June, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said he would work with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to urge Congress to repeal current law.
Privacy watchdogs on Thursday criticized the Senate Judiciary Committee's passage of legislation that would reauthorize expiring portions of the USA PATRTIOT Act, saying the version approved by the panel did not go far enough. The Center for Democracy and Technology argued the Obama administration secured changes to the bill that diminished some of the civil liberties safeguards initially proposed by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and opposed more sweeping changes that could have bolstered Americans' constitutional rights.
CDT was particularly disappointed in the defeat of an amendment that would have protected privacy by raising the standard for issuing administrative subpoenas known as national security letters. "As a result, NSLs will continue to be used to obtain sensitive records about people who are two or three steps removed from the target of an investigation," CDT senior counsel Gregory Nojeim said. Michael Macleod-Ball, acting director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office called the action "a missed opportunity."
Read full coverage of the Judiciary Committee's mark up in CongressDaily's PM Edition here (subscription required).
Google's Washington office is growing (again). Frannie Wellings, a top aide to Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has announced she will join the Internet giant in three to six weeks as a federal policy outreach manager. It's a new role for Google that will utilize Wellings's background in consumer protection and technology issues. She will lead the company's work with trade groups, think tanks, and advocacy groups, serving as a liaison to the community and soliciting input and advice on Google's public policy positions. Before joining Dorgan's office in 2007, Wellings was associate policy director for media watchdog Free Press. She has a master's degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Arizona State University. Google also welcomed Mistique Cano as manager of global communications and public affairs. Cano previously served as vice president of communications for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Pennsylvania press secretary for the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. She has a degree from the George Washington University.
Twenty members of the House who represent rural communities have requested the FCC open a formal investigation into the nature and function of Google's Internet telephony service known as Google Voice. In a Wednesday letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the lawmakers said they are concerned with Google's assertion that it is not offering a "traditional" telephone service -- despite its use of 10-digit numbers and its ability to connect calls over a local exchange carrier -- and therefore should not be treated as a common carrier service like AT&T and Verizon.
Google "should not be able to evade compliance with important principles of access and competition set forth by the FCC by simply self-declaring it is not subject to them," they wrote. "If Google is allowed to operate its telephone service outside the rules by which all other common carriers operate, we worry that the market and support for universal service will be undermined." Rural consumers, whose calls would only be selectively connected, would be most harmed, they argued. The letter was signed by Reps. Steve Buyer, R-Ind.; Charlie Melancon, D-La.; John Shimkus, R-Ill.; John Barrow, D-Ga., and others.
AT&T last month asked the FCC to force Google to play by the same rules as its competitors on the heels of reports that the Internet giant blocked calls to rural areas for users of its Google Voice service and, as a result, is reducing its access expenses. Google defended itself on its blog saying that the company's goal is to provide consumers with free or low-cost access to as many advanced communications features as possible. To do that, Google Voice restricts certain outbound calls from its Web platform to high-priced destinations.
The Library of Congress on Thursday released the fifth in a series of landmark studies that highlight challenges facing cultural institutions that specialize in the preservation and public access to historic recorded sound materials. The absence of a federal copyright law to protect pre-1972 recordings is inhibiting the preservation and accessibility of much of America's aural heritage because that audio is governed by a confusing array of state laws, common law and judicial decisions, the library said.
The paper, commissioned by Congress and published by the Council on Library and Information Resources, examines copyright laws in 10 states related to sound recordings released before 1972. It authors conclude that state anti-piracy laws alone do not define the legal uses of pre-1972 recordings. Legal uses of the recordings are also impacted by common law copyright, unfair-competition laws, rights of privacy, and federal copyright law related to underlying works, such as musical compositions. Read the full report here.
House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa has given the committee's minority Web site an overhaul. The enhanced site is designed to create a user-friendly hub for information about the panel's work and Republicans' oversight of federal programs. Features include an interactive calendar; custom-built pages for each GOP committee member; a rotating front page video module, allowing users to simultaneously watch live hearings and explore documents; and a Twitter feed, displaying minority committee member's tweets in real time.
"Our expanded online presence highlights important investigations and efforts to achieve real accountability and transparency in government," Issa said in a statement. "Our watchdog Web site is a straight-forward platform from which we will call out Washington's fiscal irresponsibility, engage all Americans in the daily fight for effective governance and transport users into the trenches of federal oversight."
House Homeland Security Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., on Tuesday introduced a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The Senate passed a similar resolution last week, which was sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Additionally President Obama issued a proclamation in honor of the month.
"Americans rely on information technology in every aspect of our lives - from managing businesses to social networking," Clarke said in a press release. "In this digital age, we are all interconnected and our national cyber infrastructure is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain." She pointed out that cybersecurity vulnerabilities can impact national and economic security. The Homeland Security Department logged 5,499 such incidents in 2008 -- a 40 percent increase over the previous year.
Clarke will join industry executives at a Tuesday event on Capitol Hill to discuss emerging threats, vulnerabilities and challenges. Additional speakers at the TechAmerica briefing include: Microsoft's Vinny Gullotto; RSA's Uri Rivner; Eric Cole of Lockheed Martin; IBM's Kristin Lovejoy; and John McCumber of Symantec.
The New York judge overseeing Google's pending $125 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit involving book authors and publishers has set Nov. 9 as the date by which the parties must provide a revised proposal for the court's preliminary approval. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, who was nominated by President Obama on Tuesday for a spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, acknowledged at a Wednesday hearing that the original deal was not longer viable.
The arrangement agreed to by the Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers was criticized by Internet industry competitors, librarians and public interest groups. It also got the Justice Department's attention and was the focus of a congressional hearing. The Internet Archive's Peter Brantley, who co-founded the Open Book Alliance to oppose the initial Google settlement, said whatever the parties offer up next month must be subject to "full review and scrutiny" by those who have spoken out.
With less than four weeks to go in Virginia's gubernatorial race, supporters for Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds have turned the Internet into a digital battlefield. On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America effort e-mailed hundreds of thousands of voters in the Commonwealth to lay out the differences between the Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell. The DNC also unveiled a same-day advertisement on popular social network Facebook that draws attention to McDonnell's "far right wing social views... including that women should not work outside the home."
The ad will appear on Facebook accounts in Virginia wherever McDonnell's name appears and will link to a site called BobMcDonnellBluePrint.com. The DNC said this is the first in a series of planned ads that will target women, young people and other voters. Last month McDonnell rallied prominent female backers to help mend his image after the publication of his 1989 master's thesis. In it, he wrote that working women and feminists had been "detrimental" to the traditional family and slammed federal child care tax credits because they encouraged women to be employed outside the home.
On the heels of the Sunlight Foundation's "Apps For America" and the Washington, D.C. government's "Apps For Democracy" contests, the Consumer Electronics Association on Wednesday unveiled its own challenge for Web heads called "Apps For Innovation." Submissions to the high-tech trade group's competition will be judged by a panel of experts (Center for Democracy and Technology's Leslie Harris, pollster John Zogby and others). The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 and a free trip to the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 7-10.
The apps contest is part of the group's broader grassroots movement to mobilize Americans in support of public policies such as broadband, alternative energies and international trade, will encourage software developers to deploy apps that illuminate how innovation and entrepreneurial activity are at work across America. One example is an app that uses publicly available FCC broadband data and Internet mapping tools to show the need for high-speed Internet access in rural areas, CEA said. The contest is open to apps for any type of device or any type of Web platform.
For more information about the CEA contest, click here.
Scott Corley, the director of government affairs at Microsoft, is leaving to join Monument Policy Group where he will be senior vice president of government affairs.
At Microsoft, Corley was charged with lobbying Senate Republicans. He worked with Compete America, an immigration coalition, in favor of immigration reform. Republicans will remain his focus, he said, with his issues including immigration and technology. Corley's own Hill experience includes tenures on the staffs of former Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and former Rep. Jim Rogan, R-Calif.
Before joining Microsoft, he was director of government relations for the Information Technology Industry Council. He hails from Fort Worth, Tex.
Publishing giants like Reed Elsevier, Dow Jones and the New York Times will face off against freelance authors Wednesday as the Supreme Court considers whether federal judges have the power to approve settlements in copyright fights, CongressDaily reports. The case stems from a New York court's approval of an $18 million settlement of a class-action brought by writers who argued their work was improperly reproduced for electronic distribution.
Absent from the bench will be Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who gave no reason for her recusal. As a district court judge in 1997, she heard a similar case brought by individual freelancers. Sotomayor sided with publishers, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the reversed her decision on the basis that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over claims relating to unregistered works. The Supreme Court upheld the appellate ruling, 7-2.
In the current case, a district court approved the settlement, but the 2nd Circuit, citing federal law limiting copyright lawsuits to those who have registered their works, ruled that the lower court had no jurisdiction and should not have approved the deal. Publishers want a reversal of the appellate court's ruling, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association filed a brief supporting the publishers. Read the full preview story here (subscription required) and look for more coverage in CongressDaily later in the day.
In a big win for companies like Skype, AT&T announced Tuesday that it has taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) applications on iPhone to run on AT&T's wireless network. Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled only for Wi-Fi connectivity but AT&T has offered a variety of other devices that allow VoIP applications on 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi networks. AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets President Ralph de la Vega said the decision was made after evaluating customers' expectations and use of the iPhone compared to dozens of other products offered to subscribers.
Telecom analysts Rebecca Arbogast and David Kaut said the announcement was not only good for Skype but also for AT&T's "political and rhetorical position as the FCC attempts to write network neutrality rules, including for wireless broadband providers." The AT&T move is noteworthy, but not a surprise, in light of the AT&T August response to FCC questions about Apple's decision not to allow Google Voice to be carried on the iPhone through the App Store, the wrote. The announcement does not change Apple's position on Google Voice -- a situation the company said it was still "pondering."
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski issued a statement late in the day commending AT&T for its action. "Opening wireless services to greater consumer choice will drive investment and innovation in the mobile marketplace," he said.
The New York judge overseeing Google's pending $125 million settlement in a copyright-related class-action lawsuit was tapped by President Obama on Tuesday for a spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, who requires Senate confirmation, is also known for ruling that Cablevision's planned remote storage digital video recorder would violate copyright. Cablevision appealed and the Second Circuit agreed with the cable operator. Programmers petitioned the Supreme Court to take the case but they were rebuffed this summer. The high court's refusal to hear the case was considered a big win for cable industry innovation.
Meanwhile, Chin has scheduled a Wednesday status hearing on the Google case, which stems from the company's plan to create the world's largest digital library and bookstore. The effort -- and the deal Google reached with authors and publishers -- has raised eyebrows within industry, at the Justice Department and on Capitol Hill. In advance of the hearing, the Open Book Alliance, a group whose members include Amazon.com, Microsoft, the Internet Archive, Yahoo and others, called on Google and its partners to detail how they expect to remedy perceived flaws the original settlement.
Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos reiterated on a call with reporters Tuesday the Obama administration's support of a Senate bill that would make big changes to the U.S. patent system. Kappos said that while no industry stakeholders have gotten exactly what they want out of the measure, "it moves us forward [and] that is better than the status quo." Major high-tech and pharmaceutical companies spent months divided over the bill's handling of how damages are assessed in infringement lawsuits and recent debate has focused on administrative procedures for challenging granted patents.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke wrote to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy on Monday saying the bill "incorporates the essential elements of patent reform," but lawmakers should go further to address related issues as it heads toward the floor. Leahy, whose panel approved the measure in April, said he wants to work with Majority Leader Harry Reid to tee the bill up for a vote before the end of the year. Read more in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
On the same teleconference, Commerce Department General Counsel Cameron Kerry, who is the younger brother of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., told reporters that provisions of the Leahy bill are "important to jump-starting the economy again and getting innovation going again." He said the bill is "long overdue" and, if passed, would help the PTO "make the American patent system function the way that it ought to."
Legislation that would force AM and FM radio stations to pay fees to performers and record labels whose songs they broadcast has been added to the Senate Judiciary Committee's mark up agenda for Thursday. The controversial bill, sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, was the focus of an August hearing. A similar measure passed the House Judiciary Committee in May after key members added carve-outs intended to help small broadcasters cope with the charge. Resolutions have been introduced in the House and Senate opposing the fee.
It is unlikely that the Senate bill will see action this week because of a rule that allows any Judiciary Committee member to postpone consideration of legislation for one week after it is added to the line up for the first time. The panel has its hands full with other issues including legislation to extend and modify provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act; a bill to protect reporters who decline to reveal confidential information or sources; and a bill that would bar pharmaceutical companies from making deals with other drug companies to halt production of generic drugs.
Legislation that would let states to petition to operate wireless jamming devices in particular correctional facilities won unanimous Senate approval on Monday. The measure, sponsored by Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, would require the FCC to conduct a rulemaking on the topic and establish rules and criteria for the approval of jamming systems and devices. Amid fears of signal interference in nearby areas, the bill also requires the FCC to conduct field testing of all devices submitted for approval and requires approved devices operate at the lowest possible power output necessary. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, sponsored a companion bill in the House.
"This legislation will disconnect the communications networks that prisoners and criminal enterprises have patched together using smuggled cell phones," Hutchison said in a press release. "With innocent lives on the line, Congress has a responsibility to give the nation's law enforcement community the tools necessary to effectively fight this growing problem." In 2008, corrections systems nationwide reported large numbers of confiscated phones. California reported nearly 3,000 phones found with inmates, while Mississippi had nearly 2,000. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported the confiscation of more than 1,600 phones.
The top Republican on a House Science Committee panel thinks the Obama administration is dragging its feet when it comes to pursing its scientific integrity and transparency agendas. Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight ranking member Paul Broun, R-Ga., wrote to White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren in July and again Friday requesting details about recent events at several agencies that could reveal "a troubling pattern" of political motives clashing with scientific debate.
Broun requested a plan from the administration to reconcile the discrepancies associated with the events with the administration's principles of scientific integrity and transparency as outlined in President Obama's Jan. 21 and March 9 memos to agency heads. To ensure whistleblower protections, Broun asked for a plan to guarantee that negative employment actions will not be taken against individuals who present information contrary to the administration's policy goals.
"As additional issues regarding scientific integrity continue to mount, I sincerely hope your office's recommendations will ensure this administration's actions will match its rhetoric," Broun added.
Apple Computer is the latest company to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the group's stance on climate change legislation, highlighting the ongoing internal dissension within the business lobbying group on its advocacy approach to legislation aimed at curbing greenhouse gases. The story was broken by the New York Times. See here.
Apple joins Pacific Gas & Energy, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and Exelon in withdrawing from the group over the issue. Nike last week withdrew from the board of the chamber but remains a member. In response to Apple's move, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. and chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said: "While the U.S. Chamber has been looking to shoot down clean energy legislation at every turn, the defection of more and more companies over these issues are turning them into an 'empty chamber.'"
"We need a constructive discussion of the issues, not scare-mongering and Scopes monkey trials. Clean energy represents the future of business, and American companies and workers are ready to lead the world in the race for new technologies."
The Senate Commerce Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee Wednesday will wade into the debate over how to reauthorize sections of the Satellite Home Viewer Act slated to expire Dec. 31. The House and Senate Judiciary committees passed their versions of the legislation last month and the House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee approved its bill in June. The Judiciary and Commerce committees share jurisdiction over the statute, which permits satellite systems to retransmit local and distant television signals.
The Senate Commerce Committee announced its witness line-up on Monday:
• DirecTV Senior Vice President Robert Gabrielli
• Dish Network Executive Vice President Stanton Dodge
• Meredith Corporation President Paul Karpowicz
• West Virginia Public Broadcasting Technology Director Bill Acker
Starting Dec. 1, bloggers, online marketers and others will have to inform consumers when they are paid or given free products to write positive reviews, the FTC said Monday in updated guidance for advertisers on how to keep their endorsements and testimonials in line with federal law. Under a 1980 rule, advertisers were allowed to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as "results not typical." The revised version no longer contains that safe harbor.
The FTC also added new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that "material connections" between advertisers and endorsers - connections that consumers would not expect - must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other "word-of-mouth" marketers. While decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement, the agency said.
Celebrity endorsers also are addressed. While previous guidance did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised language reflects Commission clearly states that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement. Celebrities also have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements on talk shows or in social media.
Read more from the FTC press release here.
The final round of friend-of-the-court briefs have been filed in a case pending before the Supreme Court that will mark the first time since 1981 the panel has ruled on the types of innovations covered by the U.S. Patent Act. The high court agreed in June to consider what types of business methods qualify for patent protection after the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the Patent and Trademark Office's appeals board. The case has sweeping ramifications for the software, biotechnology and financial services sectors.
At issue is the PTO's rejection of an application by inventor Bernard Bilski, who tried to patent what some believe is an abstract idea to reduce risk in buying and selling commodities. The case has generated immense interest in the high-tech and intellectual property communities. Among those submitting briefs were the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Computer and Communications Industry Association, American Bar Association, Bloomberg, and Microsoft. Click here to read the Patently-O blog's summaries of amicus briefs.
... Sen. (and Saturday Night Live alumnus) Al Franken, D-Minn., appearing at the Future of Music Coalition's annual policy summit, which runs Monday and Tuesday at Georgetown University. Franken delivers a day one keynote at noon in the university's Gaston Hall, 37th and O Streets, N.W., followed by another keynote at 2 p.m. -- in the same location -- by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. In addition, Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., a House Energy and Commerce member, as well officials from the U.S. Copyright Office and Justice Department will join high-tech and entertainment industry executives for numerous panels on the challenges and opportunities facing creators and fans in the rapidly evolving music business.
Read a full rundown of this week's tech policy events at CongressDaily's TechCentral here.
President Obama is facing pressure from House Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor over FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan to prevent telecommunications and cable broadband providers from blocking or degrading competing content and services on the Internet. In a Friday letter, the pair wrote that the Commission should direct its energy on developing the national broadband plan, which is due to Congress in February.
"We believe that network neutrality regulations would actually thwart further broadband investment and availability, and that a well-reasoned broadband plan would confirm our view," Boehner and Cantor wrote. "To hastily begin the process of adopting network neutrality rules months before issuing such a plan implies that politics are driving the FCC's decision-making process." The FCC is slated to vote on the proposed net neutrality rules at its Oct. 22 meeting.
Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge and a proponent of Genachowski's effort, called it "truly unfortunate" that the House Republican leadership has tried to slow what she called "the greatest economic engine for job creativity and innovation ever created." The FCC's aim is to establish a set of principles to preserve an open Internet for all Americans, she said. "Net neutrality is simply a guarantee of fairness, a prohibition on discrimination," Sohn added.
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, Homeland Security Committee ranking member Peter King and others wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday asking them to delay for one year implementation of a 2006 law that bans Internet gambling in the United States. The members referred to the regulations as an "unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis."
In May, Frank introduced legislation to put off the execution of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which is slated to take effect Dec. 1, 2009. Lawmakers have complained that the rules were completed by the Bush administration at the last minute and his bill would stop regulators from enforcing the measure until Congress has had a chance to decide national policy. Frank also sponsored legislation to create a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which online gambling operators could obtain licenses allowing them to accept bets from individuals in the United States.
National Thoroughbred Racing Asssociation, the American Greyhound Track Operators Association and the Poker Players Alliance has petitioned the Obama administration to extend the date of compliance for 12 months. A copy of the letter from Frank, King and others can be found here.
House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., on Friday said he has lingering questions about an agreement that the Obama administration signed this week with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers that loosens the U.S. government's grip on the entity that administers the domain name system. Chief among his concerns are the plan's implications for potential legal and security risks if foreign powers are involved with the oversight and handling of data.
Under the agreement, which replaces a multiyear contract between ICANN and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that expired Wednesday, a handful of expert panels will supervise a range of Internet governance related activities from the security and stability of domain names to ICANN's internal functioning. The U.S. government will have only one permanent seat as part of an accountability panel.
"Surely, the United States should have a permanent seat on all four panels," Stearns said in a statement. "The United States has been the leader in the Internet's development and should provide leadership into the future. All countries may participate in it's continue development, but the United States should still retain a prime leadership role." Others have been critical of the NTIA-ICANN deal as well. Read Thursday's CongressDaily PM Edition for more (subscription required).
The International Spy Museum on Friday unveiled a new exhibit showing how a team of cyber spies, terrorists or other criminals, armed with weapons no more sophisticated than common laptops, can turn power lines into battle lines. The Homeland Security Department's top cybersecurity official, Philip Reitinger, and former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell were on hand to help launch the exhibit. Read more about their remarks in CongressDaily's PM Edition and learn more about SPY here.
President Obama on Thursday issued a proclamation recognizing National Cybersecurity Awareness Month saying that throughout October "we rededicate ourselves to promoting cybersecurity initiatives that ensure the confidentiality of sensitive information, the integrity of e-commerce, and the resilience of digital infrastructures." Obama announced a focus on cyber issues early in his presidency and in May vowed to handpick a White House official to oversee that mission. The post remains vacant.
The proclamation points out that Americans are "constantly adopting new and innovative
technologies" and that exposure increases the public's thirst for computers, smartphones, and other digital solutions at work and at home. "In the Information Age, the very technologies that empower us to create and build also empower those who would disrupt and destroy," he wrote. "Cyber attacks and their viral ability to infect networks, devices, and software must be the concern of all Americans."
The Senate passed a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month on Tuesday but the House has yet to act.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood pledged an administration-wide effort to combat the growing problem of texting-while-driving on Thursday, noting that President Obama had signed a same-day executive order directing federal employees not to engage in the practice while driving government vehicles or private vehicles on government business. He also outlined a department-wide effort to restrict the use of cell phones and electronic devices by rail, truck, interstate and school bus drivers, according to Fox News Channel.
Speaking at a national distracted driving summit, LaHood said "every time you take your eyes off the road or talk on the phone while you're driving -- even just for a few seconds -- you put your life in danger." LaHood citied National Transportation Safety Board research showing nearly 6,000 people died in crashes in 2008 that involved distracted or inattentive drivers. On any given day last year 800,000 vehicles had someone using a hand-held device at the wheel, the study showed.
Other speakers at the two-day conference included Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who urged the administration and auto and phone industry associations to endorse a bill he introduced in July that asks states to ban texting while driving or risk losing a quarter of their annual federal highway funding. He said texting is more dangerous than drunk driving. Read more about the conference here.
As the Commerce Department works on the near-term release of a letter providing the Obama administration's views on a Senate bill aimed at overhauling the U.S. patent system, key Republicans are pressing Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking member Jeff Sessions to resist proposals they believe could weaken the measure.
Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; James Risch, R-Idaho; Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.; and Robert Bennett, R-Utah, asked them to build on "careful compromises" reached when the panel approved the bill in April, 15-4. At the time, Leahy lost the support of Hatch, a key ally who was upset the amended version failed to address the issue of "inequitable conduct" claims at the Patent and Trademark Office.
Hatch, who chairs the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, said Wednesday that he voted against the bill because he "wanted to make sure patent reform was done right." Nonetheless, he said there were good provisions in the bill and he wants to make sure Leahy and Sessions are "vigilant in preserving what has been achieved." Stakeholders are divided over the bill's approach to administratively challenging a patent's validity after it is granted.
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The Justice Department has overhauled Justice.gov and signed on to four of the major social networks -- Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube, the Sunlight Foundation's Jake Brewer pointed out Thursday. The effort shows the agency "is making an effort to connect more strongly with the outside world" and as a result is becoming more transparent, he wrote on an open government listerv. The initiative "can only be helpful when it comes time for the department to determine where its future time and energy will go," he added.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman capped off Wednesday's U.S. Chamber of Commerce intellectual property summit by touching on a range of issues -- from patents to copyrights to trademarks. How does the former head of the now defunct Judiciary Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Subcommittee keep abreast of the flurry of IP activity while heading up a panel with broad jurisdiction over international and diplomatic issues? "I can walk and chew gum at the same time," he said.
Berman said he hoped that the Senate will act on a version of a foreign relations reauthorization bill that would include language to increase resources and training for enforcement of IP rights. A bill he introduced, which overwhelmingly passed the House in June, would require the Secretary of State to appoint 10 new IP attachés to serve in embassies or other diplomatic missions with priority placement given to countries with particularly egregious IP regimes.
On the ongoing debate over whether and how to overhaul the U.S. patent system, Berman said he was hopeful that legislation could move forward. He noted that the Senate is poised to pave the way in the 111th Congress. Berman also said President Obama's nomination of the first White House IP enforcement coordinator last week should lead to "a more coherent and comprehensive federal policy." Rigorous enforcement and a focus on digital piracy should be at the top of that office's agenda, he said.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee easily approved two bills on Wednesday designed to require companies that store private information to better protect it against security breaches, and to warn consumers about potential dangers of downloading the "peer-to-peer" software that has been implicated in such unauthorized breaches, CongressDaily reports. The Data Accountability and Trust Act and the Informed P2P User Act, passed on voice votes with no individual amendments.
The Data Accountability and Trust Act requires entities that hold personal information to adopt appropriate security measures to protect it. In addition, if a breach occurs, such as inadvertent release of tax records or medical information, they must notify consumers. The FTC would be empowered to enforce the law, with penalties up to $5 million for violations. The Informed P2P User Act requires installers of peer-to-peer software, that allows many people to access information contained on a personal computer, to notify computer users that the software is about to be installed.
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Days after an agreement was reached aimed at ensuring a permanent relationship between the U.S. government and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, experts from civil society, government, industry and academia will gather to discuss their hopes and fears about the future of the Internet. Topics at the Friday summit, being held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, include cybersecurity, freedom of information in a Web 2.0 world, and privacy. Earlier this week, ICANN pledged to establish a review processes to help assess and improve its mission and operations. Read more in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
Speakers at the Internet Governance Forum-USA include Markus Kummer of the UN Secretariat for the global IGF; National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Larry Strickling; and Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Other participants include Electronic Privacy Information Center Executive Director Marc Rotenberg; and TechAmerica President Phil Bond. The closing plenary, which will feature Ambassador Phil Verveer and Richard Beaird of the State Department, will cover upcoming deliberations over the global IGF - a process now in its fourth year. Read more about the event here.
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