The FTC and DOJ haven’t fully honored their clearance agreement while investigating big tech platforms for competition reasons, FTC Chairman Joe Simons said Tuesday. DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim said during the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing he can’t deny instances where time has been “wasted” on such squabbles.
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
The FTC is drafting a guidance document for applying antitrust law to tech platforms, Chairman Joe Simons said Friday at Fordham University. Tuesday, Simons testifies with DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee.
Introducing a privacy bill bilaterally with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., separate from the Senate Commerce Committee working group, is a “thought,” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told reporters Thursday. After the group’s apparent fracturing, focus shifted (see 1908010043) to bilateral negotiations between Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. But Moran and Blumenthal are continuing their own talks, though Blumenthal claims the group is moving forward as one.
The House Judiciary Committee cleared legislation that would establish a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office (see 1909100069), despite warnings from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. The measure passed by voice vote Tuesday. The Senate Judiciary Committee in July unanimously advanced the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (HR-2426/S-1273) to the floor, despite opposition from Public Knowledge and the Center for Democracy & Technology. Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., successfully offered an amendment with technical revisions, including provisions that freeze caps on fees and monetary damages for three years. Lofgren supports the goal -- to allow creators filing copyright claims an alternative to federal court -- but cited free-speech concerns from the American Civil Liberties Union, Computer and Communications Industry Association, Internet Association and Mozilla. She ultimately supported this legislation, but said if speech issues on notice and takedown aren’t addressed, the plan won’t pass the Senate. It’s sad if one senator holds up bill, which has been out for a long time, said ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., who sponsored the bill with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Groups like the ACLU should have participated in the public process, he added. Copyright infringement isn’t a victimless crime, and the bill will aid content creators like musicians and photographers who can’t justify costs of taking claims to federal court, said Jeffries. The Copyright Alliance applauded Tuesday's passage, saying it will help hundreds of thousands of content creators. PK said the legislation “falls short.” A small claims court “needs to be accountable, appealable, and limited to reasonable damage levels,” said Policy Counsel Meredith Rose Wednesday. “The system envisioned by CASE is none of those. It lacks meaningful appealability, and offers damage caps that are higher than the median income for over a quarter of all Americans.”
Tech industry representatives and experts disagreed about the wisdom of legislation from Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to “strengthen” the U.S. patent system. Introduced in July, the Support Technology and Research for Our Nation's Growth and Economic Resilience (Stronger) Patents Act (S-2082) would alter the Patent and Trademark Office inter partes review system and partially reverse the Supreme Court’s 2016 eBay decision.
Enforcers in 50 states and jurisdictions are investigating Google’s advertising business for antitrust violations, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and 12 other AGs announced Monday, as expected (see 1909030053). Texas launched the probe Monday, issuing civil investigative demands to Google, South Dakota Jason Ravnsborg (R) told reporters after a news conference in Washington.
Staffers for House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., met throughout the August recess to negotiate a bipartisan privacy bill, an aide familiar with House Commerce Committee discussions told us. A committee spokesperson said Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., is collaborating with members. Pallone is “developing comprehensive data privacy and security legislation with Chair Schakowsky and other committee members,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Bipartisan discussions continue, which he hopes will produce strong consumer privacy protections for all Americans.”
Google will pay $170 million to settle allegations that YouTube illegally collected personal data from children without parental consent, the FTC said Wednesday in a 3-2 party line vote.
A group of state attorneys general plans to announce a bipartisan, multistate antitrust investigation of Google and potentially other tech companies (see 1908200066) Monday, state officials told us Tuesday. Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) expects to lead the event, possibly at 2 p.m. outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., according to one state official. The group leading the broader investigation of the industry is nearing 40 state AGs, the official said.
The White House’s potential draft executive order directing the FCC and the FTC to police social media content moderation blatantly violates the First Amendment and is likely to face years of legal battle, representatives from the tech industry and academia told us. Days before President Donald Trump’s proposal emerged, senators from both parties said the tech industry’s content liability shield, which the draft order seeks to modify (see 1908090053), needs re-examining.