Legislation introduced Thursday would require social media companies to “provide vetted, independent researchers and the public with access to certain platform data.” Introduced by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Chris Coons, D-Del., the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act is intended to increase transparency into companies’ internal data, which was a focus of the recent Facebook whistleblower testimony. Independent researchers would submit proposals to the National Science Foundation, and if approved, the companies would have to provide the “necessary data subject to certain privacy protections.”
China has told multinational corporations to break off ties with Lithuania or risk being shut out of the Chinese market, Reuters reported Dec. 9. The escalation comes after Lithuania's ruling coalition agreed in November 2020 to support "those fighting for freedom" in Taiwan, publicly challenging China's claim to the island nation. Further, the European Union noted that Lithuanian shipments are not being cleared through Chinese customs and that import applications from Lithuania are being rejected.
The House voted 363-70 Tuesday to pass a compromise conference version of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act using S-1605 as a legislative vehicle. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Cybersecurity Subcommittee Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., raised concerns before the vote about Capitol Hill leaders’ decision to jettison cyber incident response language from the conference NDAA (see 2112070067). The compromise measure jettisons some telecom language (see 2109240067) from the earlier House-passed NDAA (HR-4350), including the text of the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act (HR-2351) and Promoting U.S. Wireless Leadership Act (HR-3003). It retains House-passed language directing DOD to brief the National Security Council on “potential harmful interference” to GPS posed by Ligado’s planned L-band operations and an authorization for each secretary of a military department to establish a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of deploying telecom infrastructure to expedite 5G on military installations (see 2109020074). The revised NDAA now heads to the Senate, which earlier grappled with how to reach a deal on its own list of telecom and tech amendments.
A California fight is heating up over proposed broadband subsidies that the California Public Utilities Commission might award next week to carriers including Frontier Communications and Race Communications. Etheric, GeoLinks, LTD Broadband and others in recent weeks opposed proposed California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) resolutions up for vote at the CPUC’s Dec. 16 meeting because they said the projects overlap with places where they won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support. Commissioners may vote at the meeting on a proposed decision that could prevent LTD from qualifying for RDOF support in California.
Amazon artificially inflates consumer prices by charging third-party sellers exorbitant and unavoidable fees, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine (D) said Tuesday during a Senate hearing. Amazon declined comment.
Amazon artificially inflates consumer prices by charging third-party sellers exorbitant and unavoidable fees, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine (D) said Tuesday during a Senate hearing.
Judges raised many questions about practical effects of the FCC's January changes to over-the-air reception devices (OTARD) rules, at oral argument Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The court heard Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and four individuals’ challenge of FCC amendments that appellants said could lead to large-scale deployment of carrier equipment in residential areas despite alleged local harms (see 2110140031). Since the commission's goal was to reduce deployment barriers, said Judge Patricia Millett, “it seems to me the FCC itself anticipated that this was going to produce substantial proliferation of these antennas.”
John Butler, CEO of the World Shipping Council, said ocean carriers are getting mixed messages from the White House, which is encouraging carriers and ports to rev up their leverage on buyers and freight forwarders so that they pick up their cargo promptly, and from Congress. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on an Ocean Shipping Reform Act that would give the Federal Maritime Commission more authority to punish players for unreasonable demurrage charges -- the same fees used as leverage.
John Butler, CEO of the World Shipping Council, said ocean carriers are getting mixed messages from the White House, which is encouraging carriers and ports to rev up their leverage on buyers and freight forwarders so that they pick up their cargo promptly, and from Congress. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on an Ocean Shipping Reform Act that would give the Federal Maritime Commission more authority to punish players for unreasonable demurrage charges -- the same fees used as leverage.
The Court of International Trade granted a preliminary injunction against the liquidation of two plaintiffs' pig farrowing crate imports after they argued that their case raises serious legal questions over an antidumping and countervailing duty evasion case. In a Dec. 6 brief, the plaintiffs, Ikadan System USA and Weihai Gaosai Metal Product Co., said that since they have made a showing of irreparable harm, the burden in showing its success on the merits is lowered and that the mere questions raised by the case clear this hurdle. The Department of Justice also signed off on the injunction motion (Ikadan System USA, Inc., et al. v. United States, CIT #21-00592).