Aerospace Corp. hires Audrey Allison, former Boeing vice president-global spectrum management; she joins Center for Space Policy and Strategy as senior project leader ... Cable Center CEO-President Jana Nelson Henthorn retiring, effective year-end and remaining on the board as immediate past president ... Vivint Smart Home announces DLA Piper’s Daniel Garen as chief ethics and compliance officer.
The FCC “absolutely” still has a role in interpreting Communications Decency Act Section 230, Commissioner Brendan Carr told us last week on the sidelines at the Technology Policy Institute conference in Aspen. He believes ISP-like transparency rules can be used “as a foundation” for increasing social media content moderation transparency.
ASPEN, Colorado -- The Facebook oversight board may gradually expand its membership and could theoretically double from 20, the Technology Policy Institute was told Monday. More members could handle additional cases, TPI heard. Though there's no current plan to vastly increase its size, some members probably will be added, including later this year, the Facebook panel's representatives told us on the event's sidelines.
As ISPs face a growing number of lawsuits by music labels accusing them of complacency in battling piracy by their subscribers, intellectual property and copyright experts say it's not clear whether broadband internet access service providers have modified their procedures in response or whether such contributory and vicarious copyright infringement suits will continue to be filed and potentially won for years to come.
FTC Chair Lina Khan’s open meeting approach is drawing the ire of some Senate Republicans. Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told us he stands by his vote for Khan’s confirmation. Last week, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., wrote Khan expressing concerns about the “FTC’s level of transparency.” They drew attention to the lack of opportunity for public comment leading to recent party-line votes (see 2107210061 and 2107010081).
Latham & Watkins adds videogames, software, telecom and other IP expert Anthony Sammi from Skadden as partner, Litigation & Trial Department and global vice chair, Intellectual Property Litigation Practice ... Alteryx taps David Colberg, ex-Palo Alto Networks, as vice president-global government affairs and public policy ... Hired by SAP: Emily Coyle, ex-Ernst & Young, joins the software maker as senior director-U.S. government affairs and head-U.S. cybersecurity and privacy policy ... Blockchain Association taps CTA's Curtis Kincaid as director-communications.
House Commerce Committee Republicans released Wednesday 32 discussion drafts aimed at holding “Big Tech accountable by improving transparency and content moderation accountability, reforming” Communications Decency Act Section 230, “promoting competition, and preventing illegal and harmful activity.” Committee Republicans want “Big Tech to be transparent, uphold American values for free speech, and stop their abuse of power that is harming our children,” said ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington. The drafts include one from McMorris Rodgers and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to amend Section 230 to “remove liability protections for companies who censor constitutionally protected speech on their platforms, require appeals processes, and transparency for content enforcement decisions.” Jordan in June previewed plans for the legislation in response to House Judiciary advancement of Big Tech competition measures he saw as a bid at pursuing “radical” antitrust policy (see 2106240071). House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, proposes amending 230 “to remove liability protections from companies that act as Bad Samaritans and knowingly promote, solicit, or facilitate illegal activity.” Former House Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., seeks to remove liability protections for actions the FTC takes against a company. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, proposes barring companies from blocking or preventing access to lawful content, along with degrading or impairing access. Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., wants to require companies disclose how they develop their content moderation policies. Additional content moderation measures target revenge porn, child porn and doxxing. A bid by Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma would require edge providers contribute to USF. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi and other committee Republicans propose the FCC explore such a requirement (see 2107210067).
The prospect of an FTC privacy rulemaking is facing a partisan divide in the agency and on Capitol Hill. House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us the agency shouldn’t issue a rule because it’s a legislative issue Congress needs to fix.
The federal government can’t force companies to “censor or publish speech to comport with its view of the truth,” American Civil Liberties Union Senior Legislative Counsel Kate Ruane in an emailed statement Tuesday. She made the comment in reaction to the Biden administration’s announcement that it’s reviewing Communications Decency Act Section 230 and social media company accountability for misinformation. The government can’t “be trusted to label ‘truth’ or ‘fiction’ any more than Facebook or Twitter,” said Ruane. “The First Amendment protects people -- and social media companies -- from legal risk for misinformation, but also for information that is thought to be false and later turns out to be true. That’s essential.”
The House Appropriations Committee advanced increased CPB funding Thursday along party lines. The committee was considering legislation early Thursday evening that would boost NTIA, Patent and Trademark Office and other Commerce Department agencies' appropriations. The committee advanced its FY 2022 Department of Homeland Security funding bill earlier this week, which included $2.13 billion for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (see 2107130056).