Google is revamping its corporate structure, placing itself under the auspices of the new Alphabet holding company, CEO Larry Page said Monday in a blog post. Page is now Alphabet CEO, with Sergey Brin as the holding company’s president and Eric Schmidt as its executive chairman, Page said. Sundar Pinchai, previously Google’s product chief, is now Google CEO, Page said.
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
House Judiciary Antitrust Law Subcommittee ranking member Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Consumer Watchdog became the latest to raise concerns about Expedia's planned $1.3 billion buy of Orbitz, which has been facing Justice Department and interest group scrutiny. Johnson said in a Monday letter to Justice that DOJ “should do everything in its power to protect consumers by preventing a duopoly in this market.” Justice is reviewing Expedia/Orbitz after requesting additional information and documentary material in March (see 1503260018). Expedia/Orbitz, originally announced in February, has raised concerns among other groups and lawmakers, who said the deal would effectively give Expedia and Priceline a duopoly in the online travel market.
Increased lobbying on copyright and music licensing issues over the past year may be a natural stakeholder reaction to the House Judiciary Committee’s ongoing Copyright Act review, but it doesn’t necessarily signify that stakeholders believe any sort of comprehensive legislation is likely to result in the short term, lobbyists and other stakeholders told us in interviews. Eighty-one entities disclosed lobbying on copyright or music licensing issues in Q2, up from 69 during the same period last year, according to available lobbying data. Interest in lobbying Congress and federal agencies on those issues is likely to continue to increase through the rest of the year, lobbyists said. Industry lobbying on most tech issues increased in Q2, including on cybersecurity, Internet governance and privacy issues (see 1507210063).
NAB, Pandora and other groups sided with Sirius XM in proposed amicus briefs posted by Wednesday urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to reverse earlier U.S. District Court rulings in New York that the company owed performance royalties to Flo & Eddie, who own the copyright to The Turtles' “Happy Together” and the rest of that band's music library, and other artists for the performance of pre-1972 recordings. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled against Sirius XM in November, saying then that “general principles of common law copyright dictate that public performance rights in pre-1972 sound recordings do exist” (see 1411170043). McMahon later largely affirmed that decision in a January ruling.
Senate leaders agreed Wednesday to a deal to advance consideration of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. The deal would allow consideration of 22 amendments to S-754 but delayed further votes on the bill until after the August recess. The deal, announced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also set up a Senate debate in September on the White House's nuclear deal with Iran. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., separately told reporters that making a deal on the Iran debate was crucial in final negotiations on the S-754 schedule. Senate Republicans will offer 10 amendments on S-754, while Senate Democrats will offer 11. The agreement on further S-754 debate followed contentious behind-the-scenes negotiations that appeared as late as Wednesday afternoon to be at a stalemate.
A revised package of proposed changes to ICANN accountability mechanisms indicates the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) is moving closer to a consensus, though some important issues are unresolved, stakeholders told us. The CCWG-Accountability proposal would grant new powers to the ICANN community over the nonprofit’s board, including giving the community the power to veto ICANN board-passed budgets and the power to recall some or all members of the board. CCWG-Accountability has been developing its proposal in connection with work to develop a plan for transitioning Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) oversight away from NTIA, with the two proposals now seen as highly interdependent (see 1505060067).
A first procedural vote on the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act is forecast Wednesday, following Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., move Monday to file for cloture on the bill, as expected (see 1507300069). McConnell continued Tuesday to press for a Senate vote on S-754 this week, saying on the Senate floor that there will be an “opportunity for members of both parties to offer amendments.” McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., were continuing to negotiate a deal Tuesday to limit floor debate on the bill after Reid rejected McConnell's offer to give Senate Democrats and Senate Republican 10 amendments each. Several amendments were already filed or were continuing to circulate Tuesday, including a manager’s amendment from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Vice Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. The proposed manager's amendment gave McConnell the cover to move forward on the bill before the impending August recess, though it doesn’t guarantee the bill will pass, an industry lobbyist told us.
The recent Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach signals that the federal government needs to address serious policy issues involving cybersecurity and privacy protections, said Congressional Privacy Caucus Co-Chairwoman Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus Co-Chairman Jim Langevin, D-R.I., on an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators Saturday. The OPM breach has been cited as a reason for Congress to pass legislation dealing with cybersecurity information sharing and data breach notification requirements (see 1506080061), along with having implications for the ongoing Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition.
ICANN’s Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) said it believes the combined proposals from three ICANN stakeholder groups for an IANA transition plan collectively meet NTIA’s criteria for the plan and should be approved following a public comment period. The combined proposal released Friday contains elements of proposals from the Cross Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions (CWG-Stewardship), the Consolidated Regional Internet Registries IANA Stewardship Proposal (CRISP) Team and the Internet Engineering Task Force’s IANAPLAN working group. ICG began evaluating the three proposals as a collective package after ICANN’s chartering organizations cleared CWG-Stewardship’s proposal during the June ICANN 53 meeting in Buenos Aires (see 1506250059). Portions of the proposal remain dependent on an associated plan for changing ICANN’s accountability mechanisms that the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) is set to release Monday.
Senate Republican leadership reversed course again Thursday on the prospects of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-754) for a pre-August recess vote, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., telling reporters he wants to make the bill the Senate’s next priority if Senate Democrats unite to oppose a bill to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood (S-1881). The Senate is to vote on S-1881 Monday, but if the measure as expected fails to get 60 votes for cloture, “then we’re going to turn to cybersecurity,” McConnell said. Senate opponents of S-754 continued to criticize the bill Thursday, saying the Senate should wait to consider it until after the August recess, while privacy and civil liberties advocates continued to campaign against the bill.