Automotive and technology trade association leaders backed allocating more government spectrum for IoT purposes and for Congress to exercise restraint in drafting or passing legislation on the enforcement of privacy restrictions, in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Wednesday. The four witnesses agreed there should be a national consensus on what information collected or monitored by IoT devices should and shouldn't be protected and that companies should give notice of the sharing of any information, and that the FTC is providing sufficient oversight in this area by working on a case-by-case basis, so congressional intervention isn't immediately needed.
Several members of the Senate Commerce Committee expressed willingness to consider and saw a need for spectrum legislation in the months ahead, they said during a Wednesday hearing. CTIA President Meredith Baker and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel lauded several of the spectrum bills already introduced in the committee, and Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., sketched out a plan of future hearings and a greater legislative package.
A voluntary country-of-origin food labeling law would receive scant support from U.S. industry and ultimately put consumers and U.S. agriculture producers at risk, said more than a hundred local food associations, unions and other advocacy groups on July 28. The organizations pushed Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., to keep the current COOL laws in place, despite the looming threat of World Trade Organization-sanctioned retaliation against U.S. exports.
Privacy advocates and consumer groups, as expected, weren't present at the NTIA’s multistakeholder meeting on facial recognition Tuesday (see 1507270044). But FTC staff attorney Amanda Koulousias did attend and said the agency has reviewed both draft documents that were circulated among stakeholders ahead of the meeting, and has concerns about the enforceability of the proposed code of conduct and the strength of the privacy protections in both. The FTC understands these are working drafts, but wanted to raise concerns early in the process to ensure the agency’s concerns were addressed, she said.
The near-certainty of a prolonged timeline for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) oversight transition and a set of upcoming policy forums mean Internet governance could become an issue in the 2016 presidential election campaign under the right set of circumstances, but that time hasn’t come yet, stakeholders said in interviews. ICANN and NTIA are now operating under the assumption that the IANA transition won’t be finished until at least July 2016 (see 1507080044), about the time the Democratic and Republican parties will be officially naming their presidential nominees.
Privacy advocates and consumer groups, as expected, weren't present at the NTIA’s multistakeholder meeting on facial recognition Tuesday (see 1507270044). But FTC staff attorney Amanda Koulousias did attend and said the agency has reviewed both draft documents that were circulated among stakeholders ahead of the meeting, and has concerns about the enforceability of the proposed code of conduct and the strength of the privacy protections in both. The FTC understands these are working drafts, but wanted to raise concerns early in the process to ensure the agency’s concerns were addressed, she said.
The near-certainty of a prolonged timeline for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) oversight transition and a set of upcoming policy forums mean Internet governance could become an issue in the 2016 presidential election campaign under the right set of circumstances, but that time hasn’t come yet, stakeholders said in interviews. ICANN and NTIA are now operating under the assumption that the IANA transition won’t be finished until at least July 2016 (see 1507080044), about the time the Democratic and Republican parties will be officially naming their presidential nominees.
House Republicans intend to drill down on FCC process overhaul, the broadcast TV incentive auction and its designated entity (DE) rules and the implications of the net neutrality order on privacy, said the GOP memo for a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee FCC oversight hearing. Chairman Tom Wheeler will push back against the criticisms and say the agency is well on track toward accomplishing all its goals, according to his written testimony, in contrast to concerns Commissioner Ajit Pai plans to raise.
House Republicans intend to drill down on FCC process overhaul, the broadcast TV incentive auction and its designated entity (DE) rules and the implications of the net neutrality order on privacy, said the GOP memo for a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee FCC oversight hearing. Chairman Tom Wheeler will push back against the criticisms and say the agency is well on track toward accomplishing all its goals, according to his written testimony, in contrast to concerns Commissioner Ajit Pai plans to raise.
Regulators must exercise "regulatory humility" when addressing potential harms of big data and the IoT because it’s difficult to anticipate future business models and unintended consequences of regulatory action, FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen said Thursday during a Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) event. Europeans say Americans have no privacy protections, but that’s not true, Ohlhausen said, citing the such laws as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act , the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.