Blockchain technology could potentially enhance data privacy using digital identities, digital currency company Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told the Senate Banking Committee during a hearing Tuesday. But skeptical University of California-Irvine law professor Mehrsa Baradaran said policymakers should rely on the Federal Reserve to offer digital currency options, rather than allowing industry to become a dominant money-making authority.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to ban malicious caller ID spoofing of text messages and international calls is expected to be approved Thursday with bipartisan support. CTIA last week raised the lone questions in the record. FCC officials said Monday the order could be tweaked to address the CTIA concerns.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to ban malicious caller ID spoofing of text messages and international calls is expected to be approved Thursday with bipartisan support. CTIA last week raised the lone questions in the record. FCC officials said Monday the order could be tweaked to address the CTIA concerns.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., again (see 1905150061) criticized the C-Band Alliance's proposal for clearing spectrum in 3.7-4.2 GHz, saying during a Thursday House Commerce Committee hearing it could disrupt the opportunity for using proceeds from sales of the spectrum to pay for rural broadband deployment. Several tech and telecom policy topics came up during Thursday's hearing on the policy priorities of lawmakers who aren't its members. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, urged House Commerce to probe the tech sector's Communications Decency Act Section 230 liability shield and make further CDA changes.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., again (see 1905150061) criticized the C-Band Alliance's proposal for clearing spectrum in 3.7-4.2 GHz, saying during a Thursday House Commerce Committee hearing it could disrupt the opportunity for using proceeds from sales of the spectrum to pay for rural broadband deployment. Several tech and telecom policy topics came up during Thursday's hearing on the policy priorities of lawmakers who aren't its members. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, urged House Commerce to probe the tech sector's Communications Decency Act Section 230 liability shield and make further CDA changes.
INDIANAPOLIS -- There are alternatives to Congress and the FCC requiring carriers and others to remove from their networks equipment made by Chinese telecom gear makers, NARUC was told. Though some state commissioners later expressed skepticism, industry panelists (see 1:30 p.m. event listing) largely backed monitoring networks of U.S. companies for cyberattacks, including from Huawei or ZTE, and testing all equipment before installation for vulnerabilities. Stakeholders generally want testing and monitoring across the board, not limited to one company or manufacturers based in one country.
The FTC requests comment on 2013 amendments to the children’s online privacy protection rule and whether additional changes are needed, the agency announced Wednesday. The comment period will be open for 90 days after Federal Register publication. A workshop is scheduled for Oct. 7. “In light of rapid technological changes that impact the online children’s marketplace, we must ensure COPPA remains effective,” Chairman Joe Simons said of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The agency included specific questions. It wants to know if the rule affected “availability of websites or online services directed to children” and if it considers the right factors for determining if websites are directed at children. It asks about implications “for COPPA enforcement raised by technologies such as interactive television, interactive gaming, or other similar interactive media”; if the commission should consider exceptions to parental consent for educational purposes; and if the rule should be modified to “encourage general audience platforms to identify and police child-directed content uploaded by third parties.” This appears to be a move by the Trump FTC to help Google and “other child-directed digital marketers escape responsibility" for big data and manipulative marketing practices, said Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester. “I am worried that this commission is more concerned about the profits of big platforms than the privacy of the public, especially America’s youth.”
The FTC requests comment on 2013 amendments to the children’s online privacy protection rule and whether additional changes are needed, the agency announced Wednesday. The comment period will be open for 90 days after Federal Register publication. A workshop is scheduled for Oct. 7. “In light of rapid technological changes that impact the online children’s marketplace, we must ensure COPPA remains effective,” Chairman Joe Simons said of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The agency included specific questions. It wants to know if the rule affected “availability of websites or online services directed to children” and if it considers the right factors for determining if websites are directed at children. It asks about implications “for COPPA enforcement raised by technologies such as interactive television, interactive gaming, or other similar interactive media”; if the commission should consider exceptions to parental consent for educational purposes; and if the rule should be modified to “encourage general audience platforms to identify and police child-directed content uploaded by third parties.” This appears to be a move by the Trump FTC to help Google and “other child-directed digital marketers escape responsibility" for big data and manipulative marketing practices, said Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester. “I am worried that this commission is more concerned about the profits of big platforms than the privacy of the public, especially America’s youth.”
It should be “no surprise” that people “have different views about repair restrictions,” said Lois Greisman, associate director of the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, in closing remarks Tuesday at the commission’s Nixing the Fix workshop (see 1907160058). The agency organized the event to examine whether manufacturer repair restrictions undercut the consumer protections in the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
A dearth of good radar data about debris in low earth orbit and a lack of congressional action on establishing a civil space situational awareness (SSA) operation were among concerns of space experts at an International Astronautical Congress briefing Wednesday about monitoring the growing orbital debris problem. “This is problem ripe for disruption,” said Commerce Department Office of Space Commerce-Director Kevin O’Connell.