Newly introduced Trade Promotion Authority legislation would strengthen Congress' ability to slow trade agreement implementation bills, lawmakers and congressional aides said. The heavily-anticipated legislation, introduced on April 16, will also give the American public improved access to trade negotiations and lead the way for a number of other trade measures. Aside from procedural and transparency modifications, the bill largely mirrors the TPA legislation introduced in the last Congress, as many lawmakers and trade experts predicted (see 1501300023).

Telecom and tech industry executives said the federal government should address issues that executives believe will be fundamental to the tech sector’s continued growth, including cybersecurity, privacy and patent reform. The federal government “needs to adjust dramatically” on those issues and do so at a faster pace than they have in the past, said Cisco CEO John Chambers during a joint 1776-TechNet event Wednesday.

On a party-line vote, HR-1770, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act, was passed by the House Commerce Committee Wednesday. Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said during Wednesday’s markup that the legislation is “not quite ready,” but bipartisan amendments could be added before the bill is brought to the House floor next week. The bill’s co-author Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., voted against the bill being sent out of committee along with his Democratic colleagues after all proposed Democratic amendments were defeated.

On a party-line vote, HR-1770, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act, was passed by the House Commerce Committee Wednesday. Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said during Wednesday’s markup that the legislation is “not quite ready,” but bipartisan amendments could be added before the bill is brought to the House floor next week. The bill’s co-author Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., voted against the bill being sent out of committee along with his Democratic colleagues after all proposed Democratic amendments were defeated.

Telecom and tech industry executives said the federal government should address issues that executives believe will be fundamental to the tech sector’s continued growth, including cybersecurity, privacy and patent reform. The federal government “needs to adjust dramatically” on those issues and do so at a faster pace than they have in the past, said Cisco CEO John Chambers during a joint 1776-TechNet event Wednesday.

Telecom and tech industry executives said the federal government should address issues that executives believe will be fundamental to the tech sector’s continued growth, including cybersecurity, privacy and patent reform. The federal government “needs to adjust dramatically” on those issues and do so at a faster pace than they have in the past, said Cisco CEO John Chambers during a joint 1776-TechNet event Wednesday.

CTIA, NCTA and the American Cable Association filed legal challenges Tuesday to the FCC’s net neutrality rules in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The appeals weren't a surprise -- industry officials had predicted the trade associations would largely carry the load this time around (see 1503300055). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is the former president of both NCTA and CTIA. Wheeler defended the order Tuesday in a speech to the Broadband Communities Summit in Austin (see 1504140045).

CTIA, NCTA and the American Cable Association filed legal challenges Tuesday to the FCC’s net neutrality rules in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The appeals weren't a surprise -- industry officials had predicted the trade associations would largely carry the load this time around (see 1503300055). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is the former president of both NCTA and CTIA. Wheeler defended the order Tuesday in a speech to the Broadband Communities Summit in Austin (see 1504140045).

USTelecom filed another appeal of the FCC’s net neutrality order, as expected, Monday, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to declare it “unlawful.” The commission’s “overreach is not only legally unsustainable” but “unwise given the enormous success of the commission’s [Communications Act] Title I approach for consumers, businesses and Internet entrepreneurs,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick said in a statement. USTelecom and Alamo Broadband (see 1503230066) filed appeals March 23 in the D.C. and 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals respectively under a theory that a 10-day deadline for appeals to be eligible for a lottery to determine which circuit will hear the cases ended that day.

USTelecom filed another appeal of the FCC’s net neutrality order, as expected, Monday, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to declare it “unlawful.” The commission’s “overreach is not only legally unsustainable” but “unwise given the enormous success of the commission’s [Communications Act] Title I approach for consumers, businesses and Internet entrepreneurs,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick said in a statement. USTelecom and Alamo Broadband (see 1503230066) filed appeals March 23 in the D.C. and 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals respectively under a theory that a 10-day deadline for appeals to be eligible for a lottery to determine which circuit will hear the cases ended that day.