Two Democratic senators who have strongly backed the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority handover told us Wednesday they oppose a potential compromise on the short-term continuing resolution to fund the government when FY 2016 ends Sept. 30 that would delay the move. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other Senate Republicans were pushing for the inclusion of CR language that would extend an existing rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using its funds during the fiscal year to execute the IANA transition (see 1609130050).
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
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said she's close to circulating draft legislation aimed at establishing a voluntary copyright small claims process. Chu's bill would be the second bill on copyright small claims floated this year. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Tom Marino, R-Pa., bowed their Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (HR-5757) in July (see 1607140035). Chu and Jeffries have been working separately on their bills but both proposals similarly mirror elements of the 2013 Copyright Office recommendation for establishing an alternative copyright small claims process (see 1606080068). Both bills, for instance, would house the small claims process within the CO.
Senate leaders remained divided Tuesday in negotiations on the short-term continuing resolution to fund the government when FY 2016 ends Sept. 30. Leaders of both parties said a proposal to attach language to the resolution that would delay the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition is a top point of contention. The proposed CR language would extend an existing rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using its funds during the fiscal year to execute the IANA transition. Capitol Hill debate over the transition has been seen as turning markedly partisan as the planned Oct. 1 transition date drew nearer (see 1606090067 and 1609090062).
U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton's summary judgment against a portion of DOJ's review of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. consent decrees on 100 percent licensing likely sets the stage for additional legal battles, several lawyers and others told us. The rate court judge in charge of adjudicating the BMI consent decree ruled Friday that the Antitrust Division erred in its concluding statement saying the department continues to believe existing decrees mandate 100 percent licensing. BMI sought a declaratory judgment from Stanton immediately after Justice released its concluding statement in early August (see 1608040066).
Twelve Republican senators spoke out again Friday in opposition to NTIA's plans to proceed with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority switch Oct. 1. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and nine other GOP senators jointly issued a statement urging Senate Democrats to join them in opposing the transition. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a Fox News opinion piece he wants to delay the move but supports the IANA transition eventually occurring once there's further assurance that ICANN is ready. The 12 senators were on record as supporting either a delay or full cancellation of the IANA transition. Cruz, Grassley and other GOP senators criticized aspects of the transition during a sometimes contentious Wednesday Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee hearing (see 1609140062).
Federal officials highlighted the need for improved metrics on industry use of cyber-risk management best practices, and restated their commitment to using public-private partnerships to address cybersecurity issues. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews emphasized metrics development, during an Internet Security Alliance (ISA) event Thursday. He announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology was releasing a draft version of its Baldrige Cybersecurity Excellence Builder voluntary cyber-risk management self-assessment tool for industry. ISA released a cybersecurity policy plan for the next administration and Congress aimed at streamlining the federal regulatory process and increasing incentives for the private sector to improve their cyber practices.
A Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee hearing Wednesday delivered on widely anticipated fireworks over the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition (see 1609020038). The hearing failed to change perceptions that the simmering debate over whether to delay has shifted from a partisan fight, stakeholders told us. Congressional Republicans appear to be continuing to coalesce around a proposal to delay the transition via language in the short-term continuing resolution to fund the government once FY 2016 expires Sept. 30, while Democrats appear united in opposing it, lobbyists told us. Republicans have been working to finalize the CR language, which would extend a rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using its funding to execute the transition. Senate GOP leaders had hoped to pass the CR this week but the debate could spill into next week (see 1609130050).
House IP Subcommittee members alternated during a Tuesday hearing between criticizing the Patent and Trademark Office for employees' fraudulent billing for almost 290,000 hours of work in late 2014 and 2015 that they didn't perform, and exploring possible elements of a patent law revamp. House IP framed the hearing as focusing on a variety of PTO oversight issues, but homed in on a Department of Commerce inspector general August report on PTO employees' fraudulent billing practices, which netted those staffers a collective $18.3 million in pay for the non-worked hours. Had PTO employees worked all of the hours they claimed, they would have been able to reduce the office's backlog of patent applications by almost 16,000 cases, the IG said (see 1609060064).
Capitol Hill Republicans are finalizing language in the short-term continuing resolution aimed at preventing the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday. The language would extend a rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using federal funds on the transition. The CR may move on the Senate floor this week. A GAO report released earlier in the day found the transition won't result in a transfer of U.S. government property and likely resolves one of the many issues posed by critics. Resolution of the of property issue won't by itself drastically shift the debate on the Hill on delaying the changeover, lobbyists said in interviews.
Domain name registrars and others urged ICANN to further revise its metrics for measuring the health of the generic top-level domain market, noting in comments filed through Friday that further details are needed to best measure its state. ICANN sought comment on its draft gTLD marketplace health index, which measures the market based on geographic diversity, overall changes in the number of registered gTLDs, changes in the number of registrars, accuracy of WHOIS records and dispute resolutions.