ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee convened Friday in Hyderabad, India, to plan its future role in the organization amid ongoing changes related to the recently completed Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition. The full ICANN meeting in Hyderabad is expected to be dominated by internal community and domain name policy issues that had been put on the back burner amid the IANA oversight handoff, which occurred Oct. 1 (see 1610030042 and 1611020057). The Hyderabad meeting is to run through Wednesday.
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
Recent dueling critiques of possible bias in copyright policymaking at the Library of Congress and Copyright Office appear aimed at influencing the conversation on the register of copyright’s decision-making role amid the search for a permanent replacement for ousted former Register Maria Pallante, lawyers and lobbyists said in interviews. Pallante resigned from the LOC last week, days after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden removed her as register and reassigned her as LOC adviser for digital strategy. Associate Register of Copyrights Karyn Temple Claggett will be acting register until the LOC can select a permanent replacement (see 1610250062 and 1610210061). Stakeholders questioned the circumstances and how the move would affect the CO’s policy advisory role (see 1610240052).
Some internal ICANN community and domain name policy issues are expected to dominate the organization's meeting in Hyderabad, India, as the recently implemented Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition recedes in ICANN's rear-view mirror, stakeholders said in interviews. The IANA oversight handoff, which occurred Oct. 1 (see 1610030042), had been the main focus or an underlying influence at every ICANN meeting since NTIA announced the transition in March 2014, stakeholders said. The Hyderabad meeting isn't going to result in final resolution of ICANN's outstanding organizational and policy issues, but it will help the community better focus on its future, they said. The meeting is to run from Thursday through Nov. 9.
The consistency of arguments on a Copyright Office study of implementation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s Section 1201 makes it likely the office will make recommendations for a revamp of the process for granting exemptions to the statutory ban on the circumvention of technological protection measures, said copyright lawyers and lobbyists in interviews. Comments on possible new permanent exemptions to the circumvention bar largely hewed to stakeholders' existing positions, as expected (see 1610270063). CO sought comment on proposed new permanent exemptions to the ban for mobile device unlocking, assistive technologies for individuals who are blind or vision impaired and some categories of software and “obsolete” technologies. It also sought comment on possible amendments to existing permanent exemptions (see 1609270030).
A settlement between Sony Music Entertainment, the National Music Publishers Association and the Nashville Songwriters Association International in the Copyright Royalty Board's 2018-2022 statutory mechanical royalty rates further reduces the contentiousness of the rate-setting proceeding, said industry executives and lawyers in interviews Monday. The settlement, filed Friday, likely solidifies the mechanical rates for CDs, digital downloads and ringtones, they said. Other parts of the mechanical rate-setting remain open to change but are likely to be less volatile following the Sony settlement, the experts predicted.
Copyright stakeholders were expected to hew largely to their existing positions in comments due after our deadline Thursday on the need for new permanent exemptions to Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201's provisions barring the circumvention of technological protection measures. The Copyright Office sought comment last month on exemptions for mobile device unlocking, assistive technologies for individuals who are blind or vision impaired, and some categories of software and “obsolete” technologies. The CO also sought comment on possible amendments to existing permanent exclusions for security testing, encryption research and reverse engineering to address concerns that the current regime doesn't adequately cover good-faith research into security flaws and vulnerabilities (see 1609270030).
The distributed denial of service attacks that DynDNS experienced last week have drawn congressional scrutiny in recent days, and Congress is likely to address the attacks as part of a large examination of the security of IoT-connected devices, said industry executives and lobbyists in interviews. The attacks against Dyn caused outages and latency for multiple major U.S. websites, including Netflix and Twitter (see 1610210056). House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Senate Cybersecurity Caucus Co-Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., are among lawmakers who raised concerns about the DDoS attacks (see 1610240038 and 1610250035).
The Copyright Office confirmed Tuesday that ousted Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante resigned from the Library of Congress entirely. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden removed Pallante as head of the CO Friday, reassigning her as LOC adviser for digital strategy. Stakeholders quickly questioned the circumstances of Pallante’s ouster and how the move would affect the CO’s policy advisory role (see 1610210061 and 1610240052). Pallante said she will leave the LOC effective Saturday, noting in a copy of her resignation letter we obtained that “I do not accept the reassignment to work on Library matters that was announced on Friday.” Pallante appeared to confirm in the letter earlier reports that her access to the CO’s IT system had been cut Friday after learning of her ouster. “I would be grateful for your accommodation as I say goodbye to colleagues and collect personal items this week, and would appreciate the reinstatement of access to my computer and email so that I may appropriately archive records and remove photos of my family,” she said in the letter. Hayden didn’t detail her reasoning for Pallante’s “reassignment” in a memo obtained by us, but noted that she and Law Librarian of Congress David Mao would closely supervise Pallante’s activities. “If you need research assistance, contact [Mao] or me before tasking anyone,” Hayden said in the memo. “I do not anticipate that this assignment will require any communications with Members of Congress or congressional staff.” The CO didn't comment. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a backer of greater CO autonomy, noted his concerns Tuesday about Pallante’s removal. The move “underscores the longstanding challenges associated with housing the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress,” Hatch said in a statement. “Ultimately the Register’s primary duty is to our nation’s copyright system, including providing expert opinion to Congress. In the coming months, I look forward to exploring this relationship and considering possible legislative actions to ensure the viability of our copyright system.” Lobbyists across the copyright spectrum pointed Monday to Pallante’s backing of CO independence as a major factor in her removal as register. Pallante’s “service as Register has laid the groundwork for important modernization efforts in the Copyright Office, which I intend to pursue working in close collaboration with Congress and stakeholders,” Hayden said in a CO statement. Future of Music National Organizing Director Kevin Erickson echoed other content-side copyright stakeholders in a blog post Tuesday in raising concerns about Pallante’s ouster, but cautioned against speculating whether the move reflects Hayden’s copyright policy stance.
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, which began Tuesday, is drawing interest from U.S.-based internet governance stakeholders. Some told us they will be watching for potential clues about the future trajectory of ITU internet policymaking. WTSA is set to run through Nov. 3 in Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia. The standards conference is the ITU’s first major meeting since implementation earlier this month of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, which most U.S. stakeholders had identified as crucial to the credibility of the multistakeholder internet governance model (see 1610030042).
Maria Pallante's sudden departure Friday as register of copyrights drew dueling perspectives from stakeholders on the potential impact on the Copyright Office’s future under Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Pallante's replacement as the CO's leader. Hayden didn't technically fire Pallante, having appointed her LOC adviser for digital strategy. Associate Register of Copyrights Karyn Temple Claggett will be acting register until the LOC can select a permanent replacement (see 1610210061). A CO spokeswoman confirmed Monday that Hayden "received [Pallante's] resignation today" from the LOC. Content-side executives and lobbyists said they viewed Hayden’s replacement of Pallante as a reaction to recent controversial CO policy recommendations. Tech sector executives and lobbyists told us the ouster was a product of internal LOC politics, albeit with potential implications for the push to give the CO more autonomy from the library.