Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asked the FTC to delay an appointment to lead the Consumer Protection Bureau. The lawmakers penned a Monday letter to Chairman Joseph Simons, saying Andrew Smith represented Equifax, Facebook, Uber and other companies that have been accused of “some of the worst abuses of consumers” and is therefore “unable to function as the FTC’s top consumer advocate.” The lawmakers cited a recent New York Times article, saying Smith would likely have to recuse himself from some of the agency’s highest profile cases, including the Facebook privacy breach and the Equifax data breach. Blumenthal told us Tuesday he hadn't received a response from the agency, nor was he given any indication why Simons supported the appointment. The FTC didn’t comment.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said the broken music royalty system needs to be fixed, during a hearing Tuesday on the Music Modernization Act (MMA) (S-2823), proposed by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Lawmakers across the board expressed willingness to resolve any remaining issues and move forward with the bill, so artists can be properly compensated.
Social media platforms are “absolutely not” capable of self-regulating and protecting consumer privacy, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us before Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing (see 1805100038). Durbin hopes Republicans realize what it will take to properly protect user data because platforms are free to collect sensitive information with little regard for consumer rights.
The Senate Judiciary Committee appears poised to advance a package of music copyright legislation recently passed with unprecedented consensus in the House (see 1805100072, 1804250078 and 1804200052), Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and industry stakeholders told us. Six months ago, sponsors Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., came to Grassley with a stand-alone bill that drew deep skepticism. Despite the addition of two more controversial bills, Grassley said the majority of players remain in support. “I think it’s going to go fairly smooth, and I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of opposition. You’re going to find a lot of people praising" the package, he said.
The White House established a select committee on artificial intelligence under the National Science and Technology Council to advise the president on interagency AI efforts, White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios told about 40 industry representatives, 25 government officials and 10 academics Thursday (see 1805090048). The “most senior” R&D officials will be members, he said. The panel will consider federal partnerships with industry and academia and leverage federal data to promote the national AI ecosystem, he said.
It’s likely to take a “few more weeks” before the Senate Judiciary Committee reports FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen’s judicial nomination to the Senate floor, a committee aide said Wednesday. President Donald Trump nominated Ohlhausen to be a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge. The committee held her confirmation hearing Wednesday, moving Christine Wilson one step closer to replacing Ohlhausen on the commission (see 1805020044).
The FAA is working “as fast as” it can to introduce a proposed rulemaking on remotely identifying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), though there's no set deadline, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office Director Earl Lawrence testified Tuesday. FAA’s UAS Identification and Tracking Aviation Rulemaking Committee submitted a final report in September with recommendations for setting an agency standard for identifying and tracking drones. Remote tracking of drones will have significant implications for commercial use, law enforcement and emergency response.
Facebook, Google and Twitter executives defended content moderation transparency efforts Monday, the day a coalition of digital rights advocates urged online platforms to release specific information on the scope and reasoning for content removal. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy & Technology and New America’s Open Technology Institute were among groups unveiling their Santa Clara Principles. The document said platforms should report the volume of removed content, offer detailed explanations for takedowns and give opportunity for appeal.
Baseline data privacy legislation is unlikely to gain traction in the U.S. but American and international companies are likely to view EU General Data Protection Regulation compliance as a competitive advantage, GDPR experts told us. Microsoft and Accenture publicly committed to end-to-end, global GDPR compliance. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told House lawmakers his platform will comply globally with certain aspects of the GDPR, specifically on privacy controls and consent transparency (see 1804110065). “My hypothesis is companies that do not provide [GDPR compliant services] will begin to stand out in a negative way to consumers and their users,” said World Privacy Forum Executive Director Pam Dixon. “There is a possibility that companies are going to see a domino effect where they feel a lot of pressure to comply.”
With anti-sex trafficking legislation signed into law, tech groups are ready to oppose further legislative efforts that might weaken liability protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, an industry representative told us. Proponents of the recently passed bill said this is the start of a larger conversation about online platforms’ responsibilities to the public on privacy, propaganda and criminal behavior.