The U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations said they reached a final deal on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which would affect a range of e-commerce, IP and other areas of trade law. The deal will now go through a technical review before going to the U.S. Congress and other national legislatures for consideration. Although a range of industry stakeholders expressed optimism Monday about TPP, many reserved judgment until they're able to review the final text of the agreement. Members of Congress also raised skepticism Monday about TPP’s final contours. It’s unclear the extent to which TPP’s IP provisions will factor into Congress’ consideration of the deal, stakeholders told us.

House lawmakers unveiled a discussion draft Monday of legislation called the Spectrum Pipeline Act, four pages of legislative text that wireless industry observers told us is a good start but will need more substance. That measure and the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act (S-887/HR-1641) are slated for discussion Wednesday during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on improving federal spectrum systems, scheduled for the same morning as a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on wireless broadband deployment barriers.

The U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations said they reached a final deal on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which would affect a range of e-commerce, IP and other areas of trade law. The deal will now go through a technical review before going to the U.S. Congress and other national legislatures for consideration. Although a range of industry stakeholders expressed optimism Monday about TPP, many reserved judgment until they're able to review the final text of the agreement. Members of Congress also raised skepticism Monday about TPP’s final contours. It’s unclear the extent to which TPP’s IP provisions will factor into Congress’ consideration of the deal, stakeholders told us.

At 4:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, the European Court of Justice will issue its decision on whether the U.S.-EU safe harbor agreement should be rendered invalid. With the ruling coming so quickly after European Court of Justice Advocate General Yves Bot, citing concerns with U.S. government surveillance practices, declared the agreement invalid and recommended it be suspended (see 1509230001), some speculate the court will agree with Bot’s opinion and abolish the agreement. Others don’t think there will be any winners Tuesday and, regardless of how the court rules, they argue privacy reforms must be made. U.S. and EU consumer groups support having the agreement declared illegal and are going to issue a statement after the ruling encouraging the U.S. to enact a comprehensive privacy law that reflects the EU privacy framework.

Nearly half a year has gone by since Republicans introduced Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval to kill the FCC’s February net neutrality order -- a long-shot measure that the White House would likely have vetoed. But neither chamber has taken up its resolution. Political observers now question whether the resolution could even advance as a message bill, despite what was intense initial GOP outrage over the FCC order.

FirstNet moved several more steps toward the launch of a public safety network for first responders, with the board approving elements of its request for proposal (RFP) and 64 final interpretations from the first and second public notices on its network. FirstNet's CEO Mike Poth said after its Friday meeting that it will have room to negotiate deals with industry.

Nearly half a year has gone by since Republicans introduced Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval to kill the FCC’s February net neutrality order -- a long-shot measure that the White House would likely have vetoed. But neither chamber has taken up its resolution. Political observers now question whether the resolution could even advance as a message bill, despite what was intense initial GOP outrage over the FCC order.

The Center for Digital Democracy, National Consumer Law Center and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group filed comments Wednesday citing privacy concerns in response to the Treasury Department’s request for information on expanding access to credit through online marketplace lending. “Among the most challenging issues confronting consumers and other borrowers are new threats to their privacy and the ability to control how data are collected and used by online financial services companies,” CDD and USPIRG said in joint comments. Online lenders and financial service companies can use an array of big data-driven digital applications to “tap into the explosive growth of online, social and internal data to make better customer decisions,” they said. Given the lack of privacy protections online for American consumers, with their data freely gathered across devices by data brokers and many others, and the increasing expenditure of the financial services industry to use this information for actionable purposes, a key challenge for the Treasury Department is to propose a national consumer and small-business framework to protect privacy for online lending and related credit and lending sectors, CDD and USPIRG said. In its comments, the National Consumer Law Center expressed concern about the use of data in ways that are “potentially inconsistent with the protections of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, privacy rights and fair lending laws.” NCLC said it shared the privacy concerns other groups raised about the impact targeted advertising has on Americans, especially since most don’t know their personal data is used to “shape the offers they receive and the prices they pay online,” and particularly since lead generators gather data about potential borrowers and sell it to the highest bidder. In the payday loan market, that data can sometimes include sensitive financial information such as Social Security numbers and bank account numbers, NCLC said.

The Center for Digital Democracy, National Consumer Law Center and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group filed comments Wednesday citing privacy concerns in response to the Treasury Department’s request for information on expanding access to credit through online marketplace lending. “Among the most challenging issues confronting consumers and other borrowers are new threats to their privacy and the ability to control how data are collected and used by online financial services companies,” CDD and USPIRG said in joint comments. Online lenders and financial service companies can use an array of big data-driven digital applications to “tap into the explosive growth of online, social and internal data to make better customer decisions,” they said. Given the lack of privacy protections online for American consumers, with their data freely gathered across devices by data brokers and many others, and the increasing expenditure of the financial services industry to use this information for actionable purposes, a key challenge for the Treasury Department is to propose a national consumer and small-business framework to protect privacy for online lending and related credit and lending sectors, CDD and USPIRG said. In its comments, the National Consumer Law Center expressed concern about the use of data in ways that are “potentially inconsistent with the protections of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, privacy rights and fair lending laws.” NCLC said it shared the privacy concerns other groups raised about the impact targeted advertising has on Americans, especially since most don’t know their personal data is used to “shape the offers they receive and the prices they pay online,” and particularly since lead generators gather data about potential borrowers and sell it to the highest bidder. In the payday loan market, that data can sometimes include sensitive financial information such as Social Security numbers and bank account numbers, NCLC said.

Standardization in mobile technology is helpful for collaboration and interoperability in the marketplace, but outside forces, including the current patent system and the threat of businesses heading to non-standard environments, could hurt collaborative innovation, industry experts said Thursday at a conference on IP hosted by the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property.