Rising nationalism and authoritarian governments' ability to adapt to social media are a threat to promotion of U.S. stakeholders' vision of the internet as a force for global democracy, but that doesn't mean the U.S. should temper its efforts to share that viewpoint, said experts Tuesday. New America Editorial Director-Future Tense Andrés Martinez said at a New America event that U.S.-based companies like Google and Netflix continue to hold “staggering” dominance over the internet sector. U.S. dominance of the internet sector was one of the factors that drove the now-completed effort to spin off oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority from NTIA (see 1403170069 and 1610030042).
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
Republican FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen stopped short Monday of confirming speculation that President Donald Trump will appoint her as the commission's acting or permanent chairwoman, as many expect. She laid out her vision during the State of the Net conference for a majority GOP FTC, which she said should shift its focus to investigating “real” instead of “speculative” harms to consumers. Trump is expected to at the least appoint an acting FTC chair when outgoing Chairwoman Edith Ramirez resigns Feb. 10 (see 1701200002). Ramirez's planned resignation will leave the FTC with three vacancies and a 1-1 Democratic-Republican split. Experts say the agency can continue to function effectively under those circumstances (see 1701130030).
The federal government's response to the Russia-backed hacking of IT systems associated with Democratic Party entities aimed at influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election should be part of a more holistic strategy for changing the U.S.' approach to cybersecurity, policy experts said Monday during the State of the Net conference. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he now believes U.S. intelligence agencies' finding that Russia sponsored the hacking of servers associated with the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (see 1701130039).
This is unlikely to be the year for broad legislation on revamping U.S. patent law, but the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to be friendly to patent owners, tech lobbyists said Tuesday during an American Enterprise Institute event. Patent revamp legislation factored into the House and Senate Judiciary committees’ work in the past two Congresses but repeatedly stalled. The issue is expected to emerge again at the committee level in the 115th Congress (see 1610190047).
Various ICANN stakeholders applauded the general direction of the organization’s proposed anti-harassment program, but urged ICANN to further clarify the policy, in comments due Thursday. ICANN sought feedback on the proposal, which the organization said it created after implementing its revised standards of behavior. ICANN began exploring a potential enhancement of anti-harassment language in the standards of behavior last year after allegations of sexual harassment during the organization’s March meeting in Marrakech, Morocco (see 1603250060).
Internet freedom advocates should highlight how support for their policy positions would further the goals of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, to generate that administration’s interest, policy experts said Wednesday. A turnaround in messaging on internet freedom-related issues would be wise given the imminent shift from President Barack Obama's administration, particularly in light of international trends, a New America event heard. Its Open Technology Institute recommended in December that the new administration build on the pro-internet freedom agendas of the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, including bolstering the multistakeholder model of internet governance. The Trump administration should ensure bilateral and multilateral agreements are “compatible with global internet freedom” and that domestic U.S. policies advance internet freedom, OTI said. Trump’s agenda should focus on fostering strong encryption and surveillance reform that defends privacy, OTI said: He should promote the need for free flow of information, including increasing domestic access to broadband.
President-elect Donald Trump publicly acknowledged he now believes the Russian government orchestrated the hacking of IT systems of the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. U.S. intelligence agencies said Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hacks of Democratic and Republican campaigns (see 1701060060). Trump earlier criticized the intelligence agencies’ assessment (see 1701050062). "I think it was Russia,” Trump said during a Wednesday news conference. “I think we also get hacked by other countries and other people.” Trump suggested the focus on the hacks was disproportionate with previous cyber incidents, citing the reaction to the Office of Personnel Management data breaches revealed in 2015. “When we lost 22 million names and everything else that was hacked recently, they didn’t make a big deal out of that,” Trump said. “That was something that was extraordinary. That was probably China. We had much hacking going on.” In fact, the hack made headlines nationwide then. Trump also said the DNC’s cybersecurity practices were “totally open to be hacked." Senate Intelligence Committee Republicans this week pointed to a possible disparity between the relative vulnerability of DNC and Republican National Committee servers to cyberattacks. Senate Intelligence Democrats disputed those assertions (see 1701100076). Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson said during his confirmation hearing Wednesday he would need to examine existing and proposed additional sanctions against Russia aimed at responding to the hacks before deciding how to act. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Tillerson’s answer, saying on the Senate floor that to “duck the question and refuse to commit to continuing these sanctions is tantamount to sweeping international laws under the rug.” Secretary of Homeland Security nominee John Kelly said during his confirmation hearing Tuesday (see 1701100081) he accepted the intelligence agencies’ report on the Russia hacks “with high confidence.” Kelly told the Senate Homeland Security Committee he's still reviewing a Department of Homeland Security-backed proposal to reorganize the department’s National Protection and Programs Directorate as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency. Kelly said he backs “evolving” DHS’ authorities to allow a faster response to cyberthreats.
A Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday at times focused on whether a disparity in the scope of Russia's hacks against Democratic and Republican targets aimed at influencing 2016 U.S. elections was the result of Russia's perceived preference for President-elect Donald Trump or of better cybersecurity tactics on Republicans' networks. Senate Intelligence aimed the hearing at parsing out the details of an unclassified report from U.S. intelligence agencies on its investigation into the Russia-led hacks. The intelligence agencies found that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hacking of IT systems associated with the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as part of a campaign to “denigrate” Clinton “and harm her electability and potential presidency” (see 1701060060).
The 2017 federal regulatory and legislative landscape at first glance is likely to be a net positive for the virtual currency industry, executives and experts said in interviews. That's despite concerns about the IRS bid to execute a “John Doe” summons on Coinbase’s customer records (see 1612010046), though stakeholders disagreed whether that will be an isolated incident. Virtual currency businesses appear likelier to end the year with more certainty about federal regulation of their businesses as money transmission services if an ongoing proceeding at the Office of the Comptroller of Currency ends well, experts said. Other regulatory actions involving virtual currency businesses are likely to slow amid President-elect Donald Trump’s push to cut federal regulations, including a temporary moratorium on most new rules, stakeholders said.
Incoming White House aides of President-elect Donald Trump’s pending administration attempted Sunday and Monday to redirect the focus on U.S. intelligence agencies’ report on Russia’s hacking of IT systems associated with the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The office of the Director of National Intelligence Friday released an unclassified version of the agencies' report, which said Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hacks as part of “an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at” the U.S. presidential election that “aspired to help” Trump’s electoral chances (see 1701060060). Trump “is not denying that entities in Russia were behind this particular hacking campaign,” but similar incidents happen “every election period,” said incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Fox News Sunday. “We also have a problem when [the DNC] allows foreign governments into their system with hardly any defenses or training. That's a huge story, and that's what people aren’t talking about as well.” Incoming Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway told USA Today Monday it’s “curious and a bit humorous” that congressional Democrats are pushing for an independent bipartisan joint House-Senate commission to do an 18-month investigation into Russia’s election-related hacks. There’s already a “great deal of information out there” on the hacks and it’s “very ironic that the uptick in and the hue-and-cry of 'investigation' and 'information' has occurred after the election results are in,” Conway said. Trump will attempt to “make sure that our actions are proportionate to what occurred, based on what we know” about the hacks, Conway said. President Barack Obama’s announced retaliatory actions against Russia (see 1612290040) were a “disproportionate response,” she said.