Tech companies urged the FCC to let Wi-Fi share the 6 GHz band. Cisco, Google, HP Enterprise, Microsoft and Qualcomm representatives met aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. "Quickly resolve any outstanding issues in a manner consistent with our previous advocacy and" issue an order "for unlicensed use throughout the band,” they asked. Meanwhile, in meetings with aides to Carr and Starks, iRobot said a proposal to “introduce Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band at the power levels being discussed in this proceeding would render ultra-wide band devices inoperable due to the interference that would be caused,” the company said: The 2 billion UWB devices in use are "estimated to increase to 3.1 billion by 2025.”

Amazon, Apple and Google took bipartisan heat Friday in a Boulder, Colorado, field hearing on online platforms and market power, by the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. The hearing followed a discussion at CES about whether the government should break up dominant platforms (see 2001100007). The hearing was streamed from the University of Colorado Law School.

Washington state's Senate overstated House support for its privacy bill, said Democratic and Republican heads of the committee overseeing the issue in the House. The chambers are edging toward agreement, said House Innovation and Technology and Economic Development Committee Chairman Zack Hudgins. Hudgins, a Democrat, and the panel's ranking Republican Norma Smith told us they remain concerned about enforcement and other parts of SB-6281. Compromise is possible, said Future of Privacy Forum Senior Policy Counsel Stacey Gray.

Washington state's Senate overstated House support for its privacy bill, said Democratic and Republican heads of the committee overseeing the issue in the House. The chambers are edging toward agreement, said House Innovation and Technology and Economic Development Committee Chairman Zack Hudgins. Hudgins, a Democrat, and the panel's ranking Republican Norma Smith told us they remain concerned about enforcement and other parts of SB-6281. Compromise is possible, said Future of Privacy Forum Senior Policy Counsel Stacey Gray.

Amazon, Apple and Google took bipartisan heat Friday in a Boulder, Colorado, field hearing on online platforms and market power, by the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. The hearing followed a discussion at CES about whether the government should break up dominant platforms (see 2001100007). The hearing was streamed from the University of Colorado Law School.

Washington state's Senate overstated House support for its privacy bill, said Democratic and Republican heads of the committee overseeing the issue in the House. The chambers are edging toward agreement, said House Innovation and Technology and Economic Development Committee Chairman Zack Hudgins. Hudgins, a Democrat, and the panel's ranking Republican Norma Smith told us they remain concerned about enforcement and other parts of SB-6281. Compromise is possible, said Future of Privacy Forum Senior Policy Counsel Stacey Gray.

Amazon, Apple and Google took bipartisan heat Friday in a Boulder, Colorado, field hearing on online platforms and market power, by the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. The hearing followed a discussion at CES about whether the government should break up dominant platforms (see 2001100007). The hearing was streamed from the University of Colorado Law School.

Six Democratic lawmakers asked ICANN to block the Internet Society's sale of the .org registrar to a private equity firm (see 2001150013). Information from parties to the deal "raise significant questions about the new arrangement, and fail to provide assurances that" buyer "Ethos Capital will be a responsible steward of the .ORG registry, or that the registry will be operated under meaningful oversight," the lawmakers wrote Thursday. A contract gives the Public Interest Registry that ISOC is selling "nearly free rein to regulate the content of websites in the name of implementing 'protections of the legal rights of third parties," wrote Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, the latter also a 2020 candidate for president, and the others. "Ethos Capital has stated that the new parent entity of PIR would act in the public benefit, but it has not proposed a structure of governance and accountability that would bind this commitment in a meaningful way." Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Reps. Anna Eshoo of California and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin also signed the letter. ICANN didn't comment. The three parties to the deal disagree with views in the letter, believing it doesn't "acknowledge the strong merits of this transaction -- namely the immense opportunity it will create for both PIR and the Internet Society to advance their important work for the public benefit and the Internet at large." The deal "serves the public interest," contend Ethos, ISOC and PIR, emailed a spokesperson on their behalf. It would let PIR "expand its work and the services it provides to the nonprofit community and other .ORG users" and give ISOC "essential support" via "a substantial endowment that will ensure its ability to continue its efforts to build a more accessible, inclusive and secure Internet around the world," the representative said. "PIR and Ethos will provide the resources to grow .ORG and develop innovative products and services that will strengthen the ability of mission-driven organizations and others."

Six Democratic lawmakers asked ICANN to block the Internet Society's sale of the .org registrar to a private equity firm (see 2001150013). Information from parties to the deal "raise significant questions about the new arrangement, and fail to provide assurances that" buyer "Ethos Capital will be a responsible steward of the .ORG registry, or that the registry will be operated under meaningful oversight," the lawmakers wrote Thursday. A contract gives the Public Interest Registry that ISOC is selling "nearly free rein to regulate the content of websites in the name of implementing 'protections of the legal rights of third parties," wrote Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, the latter also a 2020 candidate for president, and the others. "Ethos Capital has stated that the new parent entity of PIR would act in the public benefit, but it has not proposed a structure of governance and accountability that would bind this commitment in a meaningful way." Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Reps. Anna Eshoo of California and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin also signed the letter. ICANN didn't comment. The three parties to the deal disagree with views in the letter, believing it doesn't "acknowledge the strong merits of this transaction -- namely the immense opportunity it will create for both PIR and the Internet Society to advance their important work for the public benefit and the Internet at large." The deal "serves the public interest," contend Ethos, ISOC and PIR, emailed a spokesperson on their behalf. It would let PIR "expand its work and the services it provides to the nonprofit community and other .ORG users" and give ISOC "essential support" via "a substantial endowment that will ensure its ability to continue its efforts to build a more accessible, inclusive and secure Internet around the world," the representative said. "PIR and Ethos will provide the resources to grow .ORG and develop innovative products and services that will strengthen the ability of mission-driven organizations and others."

The tariffs on billions of dollars worth of European goods because the World Trade Organization found the EU illegally subsidized Airbus puts Europe in a position where it will need to take similar action, assuming the WTO rules that state tax credits for Boeing also distorted trade. “This is where I don't want to be,” European Union Commissioner Phil Hogan said during a press roundtable with reporters late Jan. 16.