The Senate Commerce Committee’s privacy hearing Wednesday will be the first in a series with various stakeholders, a Senate aide said Friday, responding to criticism for announcing an all-industry witness panel (see 1902210055). The committee received similar criticism last year when then-Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., hosted an all-industry panel (see 1809260050) before holding a follow-up hearing with privacy experts.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
Uniform software bill of materials (SBOM) standards will lead to more cyber-secure industry and government entities (see 1806060036), NTIA working group officials said Wednesday on a conference call. The agency is gathering feedback from software vendors, IoT manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, civil society and various sectors to improve transparency of software components and digital security.
Regulators and policymakers should find ways to maximize international data flow through legislation and trade deals that recognize the public’s right to data privacy, Apple, IBM and BSA|The Software Alliance representatives said Thursday. It’s not about reducing data privacy enforcement, said Apple Global Trade and International Affairs chief Lisa Pearlman, moderating a Washington International Trade Association panel. Finding balance between restricting and enabling data transfers is “one of the biggest challenges,” she said. IBM Market Access and Trade Director Steve Stewart said the more stringent data localization requirements, the less businesses can operate and compete. He noted two-thirds of IBM’s revenue comes from outside the U.S. It’s critical to get cross border data flow rules correct, said BSA Policy Director Joseph Whitlock. He claimed 98 percent of all international data ever gathered was created in the past two or three years. China is the most significant threat to international data flows, C&M International CEO Robert Holleyman said. In China, domestic companies have a clear advantage over international competitors because of data localization standards, he said. Artificial intelligence will have broad, economywide impacts on trade, said Brookings Institution Global Economy and Development Senior Fellow Joshua Meltzer. Large data sets are necessary to improve AI accuracy, he said.
The House Consumer Protection Subcommittee’s Feb. 26 hearing is a starting point for developing “comprehensive privacy legislation,” House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., told reporters Wednesday, the day the hearing was announced. Asked if he has his own privacy bill in the works, Pallone said, “We’re working on it, but we want to have the hearings, and we’re gradually putting something together.”
Expect to hear from consumer groups, industry and privacy law experts at the Feb. 27 data privacy hearing (see 1902080051), Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us. A tech lobbyist and two industry officials said the committee is considering the Internet Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau for testimony. The industry people said a potential third witness is former FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, part of a group that discussed privacy with committee members in January (see 1901240036). The committee hasn't confirmed witnesses, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
Understanding how firms like Facebook and Google profit from zero-price models can help enforcers identify anticompetitive behavior, said DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim at a Silicon Flatirons event Monday. Offering products for “free” is nothing new, he said, citing radio, broadcast TV and newspaper models that existed before the internet. He argued internet users have become the “input” of products sold to advertisers. Enforcers shouldn’t exempt zero-price model firms from antitrust scrutiny, he said. Just because there’s no price doesn’t mean there’s no market or potential for abuse, he argued. Market power isn't unlawful on its own, he said: The question is whether an incumbent, regardless of size, is harming competition. Privacy is best dealt with through legislation, not antitrust law, said FCC Chief Economist Babette Boliek. EU enforcers might have “merger remorse” over Facebook’s buys of Instagram and WhatsApp, she said, citing recent antitrust action against Facebook in Germany (see 1902070060). State attorneys general and federal agencies are “rightfully focusing more attention on whether [tech] firms are living up to existing [competition] laws on the book,” said FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra Sunday: “Three threats and challenges” posed by the tech sector relate to fair economic competition, civil rights and threats to democracy. Enforcers should question whether merger activity promotes innovation or allows “corporate royalty to hold on to their reign,” he said.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing federal agencies to “prioritize investments” in artificial intelligence R&D. The American Artificial Intelligence Initiative promotes long-term research, access to federal data, novel AI applications and AI skills training for the federal workforce.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should defend U.S. interests against intellectual property threats in the EU, China and various countries, tech groups commented through Thursday night. USTR collected comments for its Special 301 report on international IP practices. Copyright safe harbors included in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and exceptions like fair use are critical, the Internet Association said, citing IP threats from the EU, China and others. Efforts to chip away at the safe harbor framework “threaten the ability of internet companies to expand globally by eliminating” copyright certainty, IA said. BSA|The Software Alliance cited “digital protectionism and isolationism.” Restrictions on “cross-border data transfers; coercive technology transfer; and discrimination against foreign companies, products, and technologies” are counter to U.S. interests, BSA said. The Computer & Communications Industry Association asked USTR to recognize that Europe is attempting to weaken liability protections and enact “copyright policies that will likely have significant negative consequences for the digital economy” like “snippet taxes.” Counterfeiting and piracy in China “remain at epidemic levels,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said. Ongoing trade negotiations offer opportunity for the U.S. and China to address IP protection and technology transfer issues, the chamber said. Theft and infringement in China continue to put the software industry at risk, ACT|The App Association said, recommending China remain on the priority watch list. Algeria, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia and Ukraine also should remain on the list, ACT said. Public Citizen raised concerns about Malaysia, which hasn't been on the watch list since 2012.
Intelligence agencies need to re-examine federal guidance, last updated in 2011, for collecting public-facing online and social media data, Alexander Joel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence civil liberties chief, told the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Friday. Basic principles guiding agencies are “good ones,” Joel said during PCLOB’s first public hearing since May 2015. Agencies worry about First Amendment protections and whether officials should be explicitly linked to a person’s social network to collect public-facing data, Joel said. Collecting publicly facing data on individuals can be critical to developing overseas intelligence and preparing data for policymakers, he said.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is working to reintroduce the Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (see 1804240071) but wants to secure a lead Republican sponsor to replace retired Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., Jeffries told us Wednesday (see 1901170048). The bill as originally written would establish a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office, allowing copyright owners an alternative to bringing infringement claims to federal court. Jeffries noted support for the bill from House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., and former Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. “We’re committed to getting that [bill] done,” Collins told us. Jeffries said he’s in talks with several offices to decide who’s in the best position to lead Republicans. Collins said he supports the bill but wants another Republican to work on the legislation. The bill last year had 10 Democrat and six Republican sponsors.