The Senate failed to approve an amendment, 59-37, that would have banned warrantless searches of browsing and internet search data under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Offered by Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., the amendment fell one vote short of 60 votes required to pass, with 10 Democrats and 27 Republicans voting against.
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
Facebook should take a hands-off approach to content moderation, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told us in arguing the company's new oversight board injects political bias and lets the platform avoid responsibility. Carr criticized the board in a series of tweets, calling it Facebook "speech police" and arguing most members have left-leaning bias. Facebook and several board members didn’t comment Tuesday.
Online misinformation has reached “dangerous levels” due to COVID-19, said House Homeland Security Committee Vice Chair Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., Monday during a virtual hearing. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., cited disinformation efforts by malign actors in China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela, citing evidence Chinese groups are sending disinformation texts to Americans. Domestic actors are motivated by personal gains in promoting false cures and treatments for COVID-19, said Stanford Internet Observatory Research Manager Renee DiResta. Wilson Center Disinformation Fellow Nina Jankowicz urged Congress to pass “common sense” social media regulation that “respects Democratic standards and human rights law,” increasing transparency so consumers can make informed decisions. Public Knowledge proposed developing a super fund to compel platforms like Google and Facebook to “invest in tools ... to fight misinformation online.”
Chairman Joe Simons suggested the FTC is examining Zoom’s privacy practices in light of COVID-19 concerns (see 2005070044). During a Monday teleconference with the House Consumer Protection Subcommittee, Simons didn’t directly link the company to any specific agency effort but said the agency monitors major events in the news media. “If you’re reading about it in the press, then you can be assured that either we’re looking at it already, or if we’re not, we will as a result of that media attention,” he responded to questions from Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., about Zoom. The company didn’t comment.
If Amazon was untruthful in July when it testified about third-party seller data, a perjury referral would be "appropriate,” said House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., on Thursday. Last week, Cicilline said he was considering whether a perjury referral is warranted due to discrepancies between a Wall Street Journal report (see 2004300054) and testimony from Amazon Associate General Counsel-Litigation and Regulatory Legal Nate Sutton. “It certainly appears as if the testimony Mr. Sutton gave was contradicted directly by the WSJ report, and so I’m going to review all of that carefully,” Cicilline said during a Politico livestream.
The Senate Intelligence Committee will vote “as soon as possible” to advance the nomination of Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to be national intelligence director, Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said during Tuesday’s hearing. Fielding questions from supportive Republicans and skeptical Democrats, Ratcliffe vowed to run an apolitical office free of outside political influence, while highlighting threats from China in the race for 5G.
At least four Supreme Court justices questioned why Booking.com can’t trademark its domain as companies do with toll-free phone numbers, in oral argument Monday. Four other justices raised concerns about enabling monopoly power by granting such trademarks, which might preclude rivals like ebooking.com from using "booking" in marketing materials.
Antitrust enforcers are weighing the competitive impacts of Amazon’s collection of seller data, but it’s unclear whether it will result in concrete action, academics and antitrust attorneys told us. Amazon got antitrust scrutiny last week after a Wall Street Journal article said the company uses seller data to build products that compete with third-party sellers on the platform. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called for a DOJ investigation, and Public Knowledge wrote Congress asking lawmakers to consider dramatic policy changes. The company didn’t comment.
China, India, Indonesia and Chile are among the top countries the U.S. is targeting for weak intellectual property protections, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Wednesday in its annual special 301 report (see 1904250052). In a controversial move, the administration singled out Amazon. President Donald Trump and the company have been at loggerheads over some issues.
A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel Tuesday was skeptical about DOJ arguments to seal a lower court’s ruling blocking the agency's attempt to force Facebook to break Messenger encryption. Judges Margaret McKeown, Randy Smith and Jacqueline Nguyen questioned the potential harm to investigations, while weighing the public’s right to access. Livestreamed argument was in ACLU Foundation v. DOJ (19-15472, in Pacer).