The House will likely have a floor vote...
The House will likely have a floor vote this week on HR-1123, the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, which House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced last year. It’s scheduled for a vote this week (http://1.usa.gov/1jRD6DM), and…
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a House Judiciary spokeswoman said it will likely be Tuesday. But Public Knowledge revoked its support, citing a perceived failure in the latest version of the five-page bill (http://1.usa.gov/1dbtwH2) unveiled last week. “The amended version fails to address the flawed law at the root of the unlocking problem: the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,” said Public Knowledge Vice President-Legal Affairs Sherwin Siy in a statement (http://bit.ly/1jlhlwr). “The new language specifically excluding bulk unlocking could indicate that the drafters believe that phone unlocking has something to do with copyright law.” Public Knowledge does not see this as a copyright problem and now favors the Unlocking Technology Act (HR-1892), from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Goodlatte’s bill lists 10 co-sponsors, including Lofgren. Responding to a press question about Public Knowledge’s concerns, a Republican committee aide told us the Goodlatte legislation was never intended to tackle the broader issues Public Knowledge wants. “Our focus has really been on individual cellphone unlocking,” the aide said. The bill’s new language doesn’t say that bulk unlocking is bad or add penalties for that -- the bill simply doesn’t address the question, the aide said. Those issues will likely be addressed in the broader copyright review House Judiciary has embarked on, he said. No other members’ offices or other stakeholders have objected to the latest bill text so far, the aide said, although he pointed out Congress is out on recess.