U.S. entities’ progress over the past year in adopting IPv6 makes NTIA’s recent request for comment on factors influencing adoption of the protocol particularly opportune amid the inflection point in the transition to new technologies like 5G and the IoT, officials said in interviews. NTIA said last week it’s particularly interested in feedback from firms that have adopted IPv6 on the “benefits, costs and challenges they have experienced, as well as any insight into additional incentives that could aid future adoption, implementation, and support of IPv6” (see 1608180029). The Internet Engineering Task Force developed IPv6, which uses longer Internet Protocol addresses, to succeed IPv4 as the number of that protocol's addresses dwindled. The switch to IPv6 has been seen as increasingly necessary as the number of connected devices has increased, particularly due to the IoT.
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
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged DOJ to “reconsider” its decision in its review of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. consent decrees. Justice's Antitrust Division said earlier this month it decided against altering the existing decrees to allow music publishers to partially withdraw from the agreements, and clarified that the department continues to believe the existing documents mandate 100 percent licensing (see 1608040066). Abbott’s Monday letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch followed earlier concerns expressed by members of Congress (see 1608260056).
A European Commission-produced draft impact assessment for its planned copyright law revamp proposal is prompting some U.S.-based digital rights and tech sector stakeholders to renew their concerns about the proposal’s scope, before its planned release in late September. The draft, leaked by EU watchdog group Statewatch, discusses possible impacts of multiple copyright issues. U.S. officials emphasized their concerns about a possible pan-EU ancillary copyright aimed at allowing publishers to claim royalties from news aggregation services like Google News. Officials told us they also believe the document indicates the EC won’t seek to fully end European “geoblocking” policies that make cross-border portability of digital content in the EU more difficult. In its original copyright revamp proposal released in December (see 1512110018), the EC proposed both an end to geoblocking and the ancillary copyright, which some critics labeled a “snippet tax.”
House IP Subcommittee Vice Chairman Doug Collins, R-Ga., has been collecting stakeholder feedback in recent weeks on possible legislation or other actions to address the DOJ Antitrust Division's decision in its review of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. consent decrees. Justice said earlier this month it decided against altering the existing decrees to allow music publishers to partially withdraw from the agreements, and issued language clarifying the department continues to believe the existing documents mandate 100 percent licensing (see 1608040066). Collins' pursuit of further action on DOJ's decision follows an earlier call for the department to “independently review” the finding's impact on the music marketplace, which Justice left unaddressed (see 1607200075 and 1608090054).
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., released a long-awaited draft online sales tax bill Thursday aimed at bridging the gap between supporters and opponents of existing bills like the Marketplace Fairness Act (S-698) and the Remote Transactions Parity Act (HR-2775). The Online Sales Simplification Act, as expected (see 1606030050), would address online sales taxes via an “origin sourcing” framework. Introduction before the end of the August recess appears designed to influence debate on online sales taxes during the remainder of the 114th Congress, industry lobbyists said.
Infidelity website Ashley Madison parent ruby violated privacy laws in Australia and Canada by falsely presenting itself as a secure service while having inadequate cybersecurity, a panel reported Tuesday. Ashley Madison and other services owned by ruby -- then known as Avid Life Media -- were hacked last year, resulting in the theft of sensitive and personal records of about 40 million people (see 1507200017). The offices of Australian Information Commissioner and of Canada Privacy Commissioner identified violations of privacy laws, particularly because the company's lack of a comprehensive privacy and cybersecurity framework despite ruby's awareness that discretion and security were key to Ashley Madison's business model. The website marketed itself as a “100% discreet service” and used a fabricated security trustmark online to back up its security claims, the privacy offices said. They said cybersecurity protections “were insufficient or absent and, although [ruby] did have some personal information security protections in place, the company fell short when it came to implementing those security measures.” There were “inadequate” authentication processes for ruby employees who accessed the company's systems remotely, and the company had “poor” key and password management practices, the privacy offices said. Ruby encrypted all web-based communications but stored the encryption keys on its systems in “plain, clearly identifiable text” that put the keys at risk of unauthorized disclosure, the privacy offices said. Stored passwords displayed as “clearly identifiable text” in emails, while text files containing the passwords were stored on ruby's systems, the privacy offices said. They said ruby retained personal information on users who left, and failed to ensure email addresses on file were accurate. “Privacy breaches are a core risk for any organization with a business model based on the collection and use of personal information,” said Canada Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien in a news release. “Where data is highly sensitive and attractive to criminals, the risk is even greater. Handling huge amounts of this kind of personal information without a comprehensive information security plan is unacceptable.” The firm cooperated with and entered into a court-enforceable compliance agreement on recommendations for improvements. “We hope that by openly speaking about the breach and our commitments to the [privacy offices], we can help other organizations and business leaders who are facing increased cyber security challenges,” said CEO Rob Segal in a statement. “The company has cooperated with the Commissioners throughout their investigation and will continue to share information with them as we honour the terms of the compliance agreement and enforceable undertaking.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's legacy on cybersecurity remains up for considerable debate in what are likely the closing months of his chairmanship, stakeholders said in interviews. Wheeler's stated focus on improving sector cybersecurity through public-private partnerships generated early progress, but more-recent FCC actions stemming from Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband as a telecom service raise uncertainty about that commitment, experts said. The FCC announced in 2014 that it would be making cybersecurity a bigger public safety focus (see report in the Feb. 19, 2014, issue). Wheeler that year began calling for what he called a “new paradigm” on cybersecurity risk management in which the private sector would lead development of standards on cybersecurity issues (see report in the June 13, 2014, issue).
Library stakeholders strongly supported the Copyright Office proposal to expand its existing requirement that online-only publications must deposit works with the CO to also include online-only books and sound recordings, while multiple industry groups raised concerns about the proposal given what they view as deficiencies in the Library of Congress e-deposit strategy. The CO proposed expanding the scope of its deposit requirement in May from the current 2010 interim rule that requires deposits only for online-only publications, which it viewed as a limited exception to the office's exemption of online-only works from mandatory deposit requirements. Comments are expected to help the CO decide how to focus requests for further written comments and potential stakeholder meetings (see 1605180067).
A proposal by the DOJ and FTC to update joint guidelines for enforcing antitrust policy on IP licensing matters appears to be effective in modernizing the guidelines' high-level approach and avoids addressing several hot-button patent issues, said IP stakeholders in interviews. The agencies proposed last week to update their IP licensing antitrust guidelines to reflect IP-related court cases and changes in copyright, patent and trade secrets law since the original guidelines took effect in 1995. The changes included expansions in the lengths of copyright and patent terms, and enactment of the 2016 Defend Trade Secrets Act (see 1608120045).
NTIA “intends to allow” its current contract with ICANN to administer the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to expire just before midnight Sept. 30 and therefore allow the IANA transition to occur Oct. 1 as planned, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said Tuesday. NTIA believes a Friday report from ICANN on its progress with pre-transition implementation work shows the transition can occur “barring any significant impediment,” Strickling said in a letter to ICANN CEO Göran Marby. ICANN told NTIA it believes it will be able to complete all necessary governance changes before the IANA transition, including all but three of the recommendations NTIA made in its June assessment of transition-related plans. The three remaining recommendations require ICANN’s Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) subsidiary, which will be in charge of administering the IANA functions post-transition, to be engaged in post-transition operations (see 1608150056).