A range of domain name policy proceedings and internal issues is expected to compete for attention with the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability’s ongoing work on a second set of recommended changes to ICANN's accountability mechanisms during the organization’s meeting in Copenhagen, several stakeholders told us before the conference. The Copenhagen meeting was to begin Saturday and run through Thursday.
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
President Donald Trump's administration should focus on improving the Department of Homeland Security's existing cybersecurity information sharing programs rather than making an attempt to increase the role of the Department of Defense in the information sharing space, cybersecurity experts told the House Homeland Security Subcommittee Thursday. Witnesses and House Homeland Security members acknowledged DHS must continue to improve its Automated Indicator Sharing (AIS) and Cyber Information Sharing and Collaboration Program (CISCP) programs. The 2015 Cybersecurity Act made DHS the main civilian portal for cyber information sharing (see 1512180052).
The Computer & Communications Industry Association, Internet Association and other industry groups again focused on concerns about EU member states’ adoption of ancillary copyright laws and some countries’ failure to comply with international norms on intermediary liability protections, during testimony Wednesday on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2017 Special 301 proceeding. It's aimed at identifying countries and issues that threaten enforcement of U.S. entities’ IP rights. Ancillary copyright laws, seen as a tax on use of news snippets, and less robust intermediary protections that could be barriers to U.S. platforms were issues industry groups repeatedly raised to USTR last month in comments (see 1702100044).
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) appears to be in the final stages of its work on development of a standardized application programming interface (API) for encrypted media extensions (EME), several W3C participants told us. W3C began work on the EME API in 2013 in a bid to create an interoperable open standard to enable communication between web browsers and digital rights management (DRM) software and allow HTML5 playback of streaming video and other DRM-protected content without the need for third-party plug-ins.
Music licensing legislation remains under development, with key House lawmakers and industry parties telling us they're negotiating the bills’ parameters. Stakeholders signaled varying degrees of willingness to compromise on legislation from the outset of this Congress. Some are willing to ease off from pushing more controversial proposals like requiring most terrestrial radio stations to begin paying performance royalties amid concerns that compromise may remain elusive on those issues (see 1702020064). House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in February he remains interested in pursuing a policy proposal to address music licensing issues but cautioned it was “an area that is very hotly contested” (see 1702010069).
House Commerce Committee Democrats filed three bills Thursday aimed at requiring the FCC to strengthen cybersecurity policies. Industry lawyers and lobbyists said the bills appear unlikely to advance even beyond the House Communications Subcommittee given the current political climate, and appear to be more designed to send a message. Committee Democrats filed the bills a day after the FCC voted 2-1 to stay data security aspects of the ISP privacy rules (see 1703010069). FCC reversal last month of several other cybersecurity-related proceedings and proposals promulgated under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler was seen as a sign of an agencywide shift on cybersecurity policy under new Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1702060059). Introduction of the bills came as former NSA Director Keith Alexander called for the federal government to shift away from its existing “stovepiped” cybersecurity apparatus (see 1703020074).
The House Science Committee advanced an amended version of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework, Assessment and Auditing Act (HR-1224) on a largely party-line 19-14 vote Wednesday. HR-1224 would require NIST to develop guidance for the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Science and Technology and other federal agencies to use to incorporate the framework into their information security risk management efforts (see 1702270055 and 1702280035).
Communications sector-specific language in draft versions of President Donald Trump's upcoming cybersecurity executive order (EO) drew mixed reviews from industry lawyers and lobbyists. The White House has continued to revise the anticipated executive order in the weeks since officials first delayed Trump's planned late January signing of the order, several lobbyists said. Then, the order would have directed the Office of Management and Budget to assess all federal agencies' cybersecurity risks and required agencies to manage their risk using the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework (see 1701310066).
Draft legislation on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework set for a House Science Committee markup Wednesday may result in long-anticipated progress in creating cybersecurity metrics, industry stakeholders said in interviews. House Science said it plans to mark up the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, Assessment and Auditing Act Wednesday. The markup is set to begin at 10 a.m. in 2318 Rayburn. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-La., planned to file the bill late Monday, an aide told us.
The rollback of plans to develop a voluntary third-party mechanism to address infringement disputes with the domain name sector raises questions about those plans' future, stakeholders said in interviews. Public Interest Registry, the domain registry for the .org top-level domain, said Thursday it will pause implementation of its planned Systemic Copyright Infringement Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy (SCDRP) to "reflect” on concerns raised by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others (see 1702100054, 1702170058 and 1702230065). PIR was implementing SCDRP in concert with the Domain Name Association's proposal for its Copyright Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy (ADRP), which was modeled on ICANN's trademark-centric uniform dispute resolution policy. DNA made the proposal in Healthy Domains Initiative recommendations (see 1702080085).